AC Mar 2012

MARCH 2012
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M E M B E R P O R T R A I T
Tobias Schliessler, ASC
W W W . T H E A S C . C O M
TO SUBSCRIBE BY PHONE:
Call (800) 448-0145 (U.S. only)
(323) 969-4333 or visit the ASC website
grew up in Germany,
where my father was a
documentary filmmaker
and my mother was his editor.
Loading magazines and
rewinding film on a Steenbeck
was part of my life from an
early age, and my love for
photography and narrative
movies made me realize I
wanted to pursue a career in
cinematography.
After high school, I
moved to Canada to study film
at Simon Fraser University. It
was there I first became
acquainted with American
Cinematographer, which
immediately became my most
important resource.
To this day, every issue
sparks the same excitement and
fascination in me that it did
when I began my career. AC
continuously inspires me to do
my best work.
Tobias Schliessler, ASC
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The International Journal of Motion Imaging
30 Varied Visions
The cinematographers on Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead
and Homeland detail their approaches
42 Power Trip
Matthew Jensen takes found footage to a new level for
Chronicle
50 Blazing Trails
William Wages, ASC recalls the path that led to the Societys
Career Achievement in Television Award
58 A Wholly Justified Honor
Francis Kenny, ASC is feted with the Presidents Award
DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM TO ENJOY THESE WEB EXCLUSIVES
Podcasts: Conrad Hall, Jr. on OKA! Amy Vincent, ASC on Footloose
DVD Playback: Godzilla Tora! Tora! Tora! Fright Night
On Our Cover: The romantic fate of Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) and her
fathers heir, Matthew (Dan Stevens), hangs in the balance in Downton Abbey. (Photo by
Nick Briggs, courtesy of Carnival Film & Television Ltd.)
8 Editors Note
10 Presidents Desk
12 Short Takes: When You Find Me
18 Production Slate: The Ghastly Love of Johnny X Project X
68 Filmmakers Forum: Vincent De Paula
72 New Products & Services
76 International Marketplace
77 Classified Ads
78 Ad Index
79 In Memoriam: Torben Johnke, ASC
80 ASC Membership Roster
82 Clubhouse News
84 ASC Close-Up: Jonathan Taylor
M A R C H 2 0 1 2 V O L . 9 3 N O . 3
42
50
58
M a r c h 2 0 1 2 V o l . 9 3 , N o . 3
T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f M o t i o n I m a g i n g
Visit us online at
www.theasc.com

PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter
EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Stephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,
John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring,
Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer,
John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich,
Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson
ART DEPARTMENT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore
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e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com
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e-mail: sburnell@earthlink.net
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e-mail: diella@ascmag.com
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 Corey Clark
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 92nd year of publication, is published
monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.
Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international
Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood
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Sheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail hrobinson@tsp.sheridan.com.
Copyright 2012 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA
and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.
POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.
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TRULY CINEMATIC
The high quality of television programming has been a hot
topic in recent years. Critically acclaimed series like The
Sopranos, The Wire and Battlestar Galactica helped raise
the bar for the current crop of shows, the best of which
boast a variety of virtues, including top-shelf cinematogra-
phy and writing.
Suffice to say that more and more TV series are
being considered for coverage during ACs editorial meet-
ings. We mulled over a range of titles for this months
special focus on teleproduction, eventually assigning writ-
ers to cover three that have drawn rave reviews and
devoted audiences: Downton Abbey, a British period
drama whose recently broadcast second season was shot
by Gavin Struthers, David Marsh and Nigel Willoughby, BSC; The Walking Dead, an apoca-
lyptic zombie thriller shot by David Boyd, ASC and Rohn Schmidt; and Homeland, a psycho-
logical thriller that benefits from fine lighting and camerawork by Nelson Cragg III and
Christopher Manley, ASC. Our detailed reports (Varied Visions, page 30) were penned by
Mark Hope-Jones, Iain Stasukevich and Pat Thomson, respectively.
Television experience proved a boon for cinematographer Matthew Jensen, whose
credits include the HBO series True Blood and Game of Thrones. Thanks in part to his work
on those shows, he was offered Chronicle, his first feature. Designed as a found footage
drama, the movie put Jensens small-screen savvy to good use. They were looking for [a cine-
matographer] who had experience with visual effects, stunts and high-end television, and
who was used to working with a modest budget, Jensen tells Jay Holben (Power Trip,
page 42).
At last months ASC Awards ceremony, the Society saluted two other cinematogra-
phers who have honed their skills on television: William Wages, ASC received the Career
Achievement in Television Award, and Francis Kenny, ASC was feted with the Presidents
Award.
Wages place of honor at the awards ceremony probably felt familiar he has won
two ASC Awards and earned six additional nominations for his work on telefilms. He has also
contributed to a number of acclaimed series. Episodic is the hardest thing Ive ever done,
and I came away with a whole new respect for people who do it, he tells David Heuring
(Blazing Trails, page 50). Some of the most creative work is being done in that arena
against all odds.
Kenny is currently the director of photography on the hit series Justified, but he has
also shot documentaries and an eclectic array of features, including Heathers, New Jack City,
Jasons Lyric, Harriet the Spy and Scary Movie. The ASC Presidents Award honors both his
contributions to filmmaking and his service to the Society. Francis brings a spirit of collabo-
ration and camaraderie to everything he does, ASC President Michael Goi tells Jean Oppen-
heimer (A Wholly Justified Honor, page 58). This [award] reflects our deep appreciation
for how his work represents our craft, and how his selfless contribution of time to ASC and
industry issues moves [our organization] forward with clarity and purpose.
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
Editors Note
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Although I have a fairly sizeable collection of movies (more than 15,000 Blu-rays, DVDs and
laserdiscs) and a pretty good collection of art and photography books, I find that more and
more, I turn to music as my inspiration for the visuals of a project Im working on. The music
doesnt necessarily have to be a match for the setting of the film; in fact, sometimes the
contrast of eras or styles conjures up the most interesting ideas. For example, Marvin
Hamlischs use of Scott Joplins ragtime music was out of context for the 1930s milieu of The
Sting, but they seem to belong together when you watch the movie.
To me, one of the bright spots in the movie-music scene of the early 1980s was Basil
Poledouris marvelous score for Conan the Barbarian. In an era dominated by soundtracks that
featured wall-to-wall pop tunes, director John Milius fought to give Conan a classic orchestral
score, and the result is one of the best examples of motion-picture scoring of that decade.
The music moves from Wagnerian, epic brass, backed by a chorus of bold operatic voices, to
gentle themes of profound longing. One of my favorite tracks is The Search, which starts
out as a simple theme on the oboe and builds to an emotional swell that gives you a feeling
of the vastness of destiny. I had this music in my head when I was filming many scenes for the
telefilm Judas in Morocco. Poledouris also composed a beautiful piece in waltz time, The
Sands of Time, for Randal Kleisers The Blue Lagoon. I loved his work; he evoked the spirit of
Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Sometimes a specific performance of a classical composition can be a revelation and
conjure images in your minds eye. I have heard many versions of Gustav Mahlers Symphony No. 6 as live performances and record-
ings, but none has affected me as deeply as the recording by Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker. The third move-
ment of this recording, with its measured pace and 17-minute blossoming of massed strings, is almost achingly lovely. It evokes a
memory of pastoral bliss tinged with the sadness of loss. Many times have I delved into this recording to find the emotional co re of
the visual heart of a scene. It is one of the best pieces of movie music never composed for the movies.
But it isnt only music with high-falutin pedigrees that makes my imagination soar. For a recent gig shooting the TV series
American Horror Story, I found myself listening to Goodnight Moon from Shivarees album I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head
on my way to work every morning. In a strange way, it just fit, and it helped me get into the mindset of the shows photographi c
style. The song has a cool, quirky vibe, aided by the use of the theremin and by Ambrosia Parsleys smoky vocals.
One of my favorite songs that I hope to someday find a visual match for is Virginia Astleys Darkness Has Reached Its End
(from her album Hope In A Darkened Heart). Many forms of music have the power to free your imagination. You just have to find
the one that clicks.
While driving one day, I stopped at a light next to a gentleman who appeared to be really grooving out to whatever was play-
ing on his stereo. I rolled down my window to take a listen. It was The Ecstasy of the Gold from Ennio Morricones score for The
Good, the Bad and the Ugly. That particular tune accompanies one of the greatest marriages of music and visuals ever created, as
Eli Wallach searches through thousands of gravestones for one name. The gentleman in the car saw me watching him. I said, That s
from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ! He smiled and said, Yes, The Ecstasy of the Gold. As the light turned green, I pointed
to him and said, That makes you cool!
Michael Goi, ASC
President
Presidents Desk
10 March 2012 American Cinematographer
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Moving Pictures
By Iain Stasukevich
Shot by Andre Lascaris and directed by Bryce Dallas Howard,
the short film When You Find Meis the culmination of producer Ron
Howards Project Imagin8ion, a Canon-sponsored, crowd-sourced
competition wherein photographers from all over the world were
asked to submit a photo in one of eight categories: character, mood,
relationship, time, setting, goal, obstacle and the unknown. After
choosing eight finalists, Howard developed a story for the short with
Bryce, his daughter, and screenwriter Dane Charbeneau.
When You Find Me tells the story of sisters Aurora and Lisle
(played as children by Karley Collins and Devon Woods, and as adults
by Jacy King and Erin Way), whose bond is tested by their mothers
death. The narrative alternates between past and present while blur-
ring the line between dreams and consciousness.
The creative team initially assumed that Lascaris would shoot
When You Find Me with Canons EOS 5D Mark II DSLR, but when the
cinematographer signed onto the project, rumors of a new Canon
camera began to surface. After making some inquiries, Lascaris was
given access to a prototype of the Cinema EOS C300, Canons first
cinema camera. I like the 5D, but the C300 is more cinematogra-
pher-friendly, he notes. Its small and lightweight, but what really
sold me on it were its color space and dynamic range. The cameras
Canon Log gamma setting offers up to 12 stops of latitude.
Also attractive were the two EF-mount Cinema EOS lenses
that came with the C300, a 14.5-60mm T2.6 and a 30-300mm
T2.95-3.7, which Lascaris describes as proper cine lenses. He
notes, They have that Canon crispness; they breathe very little; and
theyre well-machined, with big barrels that are easy to pull focus
on.
One of the projects key creative challenges was incorporat-
ing the winning still photos into the story in an organic way. Often
that meant reinterpreting the photos and the photographers
intent, Lascaris explains. An example of this comes early in the film,
when young Aurora and Lisle arrive at a hospital mere seconds after
their mothers death. The original black-and-white photo, Too
Much by photographer Lexia Frank, depicts an embrace between
a man and a sick woman in a gloomy hospital room.
The goal was to create a feeling of trauma that suited the
scene, but we didnt want a broody look, so we flipped it and made
the scene brighter and the mother more angelic-looking, says
Lascaris. The original photo features a strong window source, but
Lascaris and gaffer Evan Pesses lit the scene primarily with daylight-
balanced fluorescent tubes they swapped into the locations existing
ceiling fixtures. Outside a heavily NDd window, an Opal-gelled 12K
HMI created a halo of daylight around the mothers lifeless form.
Running from Wind is one of my favorite photos, Lascaris
says of Brooke Shadens still, which shows two girls in their night-
gowns dashing through a field of tall grass in the pale half-light of
magic hour. Because its a magic-hour shot, we needed to set the
camera up and then wait for the right moment to get it, he says.
I had to shoot the scene where Lisle sneaks out of the house at the
tail end of magic hour so it would blend better into the nighttime
shots that follow.
One of the main challenges posed by the night shoots was
the limited time the filmmakers had with the child actors: three
hours per night during the week, five per night on weekends.
Short Takes
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Sisters Lisle
(Devon Woods,
left) and Aurora
(Karley Scott
Collins) struggle
to understand
their mothers
death in When
You Find Me,
directed by Bryce
Dallas Howard
and shot by
Andre Lascaris.
The short was
inspired by the
eight winning
photographs in
the Canon-
sponsored Project
Imagin8ion
competition.
I
Lascaris and Pesses took advantage of the
C300s native 800 ISO by devising a lighting
setup that could quickly be adjusted for the
kids blocking: a Condor crane with two
Nine-light Maxi-Brutes and a 10K Fresnel.
The Maxis took care of the deep back-
ground, and the 10K served as a key, says
the cinematographer. The lights were gelled
with a sandwich of Rosco
1
4 CTB,
1
4 Cyan
and 250 diffusion. Im not a big fan of blue
moonlight, and that gel combination gave us
a slightly green cast with just a hint of blue.
Aurora follows Lisle to the town
graveyard, where the younger girl believes an
old spaceship is hidden. The spaceship Lisle
discovers looks more like the rusty chassis of
a derelict prop plane concealed within a
tangled bramble of shrubbery. After she
works the planes creaky levers, the gauges
and meters roar to life, and she is instantly
transported into The Unknown. She then
finds herself lying in a field. The sun shines
brightly in a black sky, and before her, jutting
out of a sea of white grass, is a tall tree with
strong branches covered in pure white
leaves. Thats when you realize its an
infrared image, says Lascaris.
The scene is a faithful reproduction of
Kelly Shipps still, Where One Day Ends, One
Day Begins, which was chosen to represent
The Unknown. As it happened, reproducing
an infrared still with a digital-cinema camera
carried its own share of mysteries. The team
worked with a modified Canon 5D wherein
the built-in Low Pass Filter was replaced with
Top left: The sisters
mother (Marianna
Palka) passes away in
the hospital. Top
right: The scene was
based on Lexia
Franks photograph,
Too Much.
Middle: The girls run
through a field at
magic hour. Bottom:
The scene was
inspired by Brooke
Shadens still,
Running from
Wind.
angenieux@tccus.com www.angenieux.com
lenses transform light into the imagery of
your story. Employing the finest optics and mechanics
to capture i mages beyond ever y expectati on.
Available in 17-80mm and 24-290mm.
optimo
a 715nm filter that allowed the slow
infrared light to pass through. The modifica-
tion allowed a marginal amount of red visi-
ble light, creating an image that Lascaris
describes as 95 percent infrared and 5
percent visible spectrum.
Instead of capturing three different
colors of visible light, the camera saw three
different wavelengths in the near-infrared
spectrum, he continues. This allowed for
better tonal range in the highlight areas,
particularly with the grass and trees, which
was important to us in terms of matching
Shipps still.
At f/2.8, with the cameras color
temperature set to 5,600K and an ASA
between 320 and 640, the resulting images
are largely monochromatic, with reds domi-
nating the shadows and mid-tones. From
there, you increase the contrast and then try
to bring color back in order to make it feel
more real, says Lascaris. Blue tends to
look better.
The frosty foliage is a side effect of
capturing infrared light, as are pale, translu-
cent skin tones. After a day of testing with
the modified 5D on location at Big Sky
Ranch in Simi Valley, Calif., Lascaris noticed
that the actresses veins were visible
beneath their skin. The effect was so
pronounced that during production,
makeup artists had to apply a layer of sun
block beneath the makeup to keep infrared
light from penetrating their skin.
The other thing we had to consider
was the lenses we used, because newer
lenses tend to have better IR-blocking coat-
ing, says Lascaris. After doing some
research, he chose the Canon EF 24-
105mm f/4L, using a Tiffen polarizer to
control the contrast in the black midday sky.
The production recorded to
Compact Flash cards, netting an 8-bit 4:2:2
MPEG-2 long-GOP sequence at 50Mbps
wrapped in the Canon XF file format. (The
HD/SDI output allows 10-bit recording to an
external source.) At 24 fps, the C300
produces a 1920x1080 image downsam-
pled from its 4K CMOS sensor.
Lascaris monitored in Canon Log for
the duration of the shoot. Its weird to not
look at what your negative is, he muses.
Afterwards, I would view the shots in the
Canon MXF utility to see how some of the
colors would feel when they were cleaned
up in terms of contrast. When Im shooting,
Id rather look at whats really happening
rather than trust an algorithm.
The final color correction was done at
Company 3 by colorist Stephen Nakamura,
who used a DaVinci Resolve. We wanted
the present day to be a little less colorful,
because the characters are in a kind of stasis
until their issues are resolved, says Lascaris.
The [C300s] color depth is compa-
rable to that of the other digital cameras Ive
dealt with, including the Red [One] and [Arri]
Alexa, notes Nakamura. The skin tones
look very natural, and theres a lot of
dynamic range in the shoulder and the toe.
On set, I felt like I was one of the
few people who could really see the differ-
ence the camera made, but when I got to
post, I didnt feel like I was alone, says
Lascaris. This was one of the best coloring
experiences Ive ever had. We had time to be
creative instead of clawing through a raw
image to try to get somewhere.
The infrared look of The Unknown (top left)
was informed by Kelly Shipps photo, Where
One Day Ends, One Day Begins (bottom).
Top right: Lascaris (seated behind camera)
and Howard set the frame with Canons
Cinema EOS C300 digital camera.
An Unusual Swan Song for Plus-X
By Robert S. Birchard
When one contemplates Paul Bunnells retro sci-fi rock musi-
cal, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X, the lyrics of Bob Dylan come to
mind. The film has been a long time comin production started
in 2004 and was completed in late 2011 and the medium with
which it was photographed, Eastman Kodak Plus-X 5231, is going to
be a long time gone. Kodak has stopped manufacturing the stock,
and whatever the movies reception may be, The Ghastly Love of
Johnny X will go down in history as the last feature to be shot on it.
The concept for Johnny X began to take shape in 1997, when
Bunnell saw Teenagers from Outer Space (1959), Tom Graeffs
cult favorite. The script was developed over several years with input
from Bunnell and several other writers, including Steve Bingen, Mark
D. Murphy and George Wagner. The idea to add songs came just
as the film was about to go before the cameras, and Scott Martin
was tapped to write lyrics and music while Ego Plum did the
orchestrations.
From the inception of the project, Bunnell wanted to shoot the
film in black-and-white and widescreen. This was partly an homage
to the films that inspired him, but he also felt monochrome would
work best for his tale of an outcast teenager from another planet
whose ticket home is to commit one selfless good deed. Potential
financiers did not share Bunnells enthusiasm for black-and-white,
however, so he financed the first phase of production on his own.
That meant tapping into his home equity, a move that seemed much
less risky in the mid-2000s than it later proved to be. With faith in his
vision, Bunnell produced and edited a 20-minute section of the movie
that would show off the concept, music and talents of the cast and
crew. He hired cinematographer Francisco Bulgarelli to shoot the film.
Paul and I met when I was working at Clairmont Camera,
recalls Bulgarelli. He and his associate producer, Joe Rios, who also
worked at Clairmont, were renting a camera package to shoot some
time-lapse scenes for their science-fiction movie. From the begin-
ning, I was really fascinated by his ideas and his enthusiasm for
movies.
Clairmont Camera served as Bulgarellis film school. Denny
and Terry Clairmont were always willing to share their knowledge
with me; they knew I wanted to shoot and always offered their
support, either by answering technical questions or allowing me to
take out equipment on the weekends. Having the opportunity to
work in the lens department proved to be very valuable later on,
when I decided to go freelance. Working with lenses for all those
years came in handy when it was time to choose the right tools for
the job.
When Bunnell and Bulgarelli were ready to shoot what
turned out to be only the first round of footage on The Ghastly Love
of Johnny X , Clairmont supplied a full Moviecam package with
Hawk C-Series anamorphic lenses.
When I showed the early footage of Johnny X to Terry
[Clairmont], he nodded his head in approval and said, I want to
watch this movie, recalls Bulgarelli. That left me with a great feel-
ing because Terry was a very genuine person who meant what he
said.
With cinematography experience mainly in short films and
music videos, Bulgarelli saw Johnny X as an opportunity and a chal-
lenge. Few things can match the beauty of the anamorphic
format, he observes. It offers two things: more resolution,
because it uses the full dimension of the Academy 35mm frame,
and the shallower depth-of-field that is inherent in anamorphic
optics. But Paul wanted to shoot in black-and-white on Plus-X,
Production Slate
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Johnny X
(Will Keenan),
an outcast
teenager from
another planet,
makes waves
in The Ghastly
Love of Johnny
X, a black-and-
white feature
shot in
anamorphic
35mm on
Eastman Kodak
Plus-X 5231.
I
which meant an ASA of 80. My first thought
was, We are going to need quite a bit of
light, and we sure did! Our lighting package
at times required five 20Ks, several 10Ks and
5Ks and some smaller units. I have to say,
we cheated a bit: we used [200-speed]
Double-X 5222 for a few scenes, mainly
night exteriors.
After getting 30 minutes of footage
in the can, Bunnell had to suspend produc-
tion when his resources thinned. He began
knocking on doors in an effort to raise the
money needed to complete the picture.
Black-and-white continued to be a deal
breaker for several potential investors, who
were convinced it would limit exhibition
opportunities. Bunnell was advised to shoot
in color and rely on the digital-intermediate
process to take the color out in post. But he
held out, believing that if he shot it in color,
the color version would be the only one that
would ever be shown. And although he has
an appreciation for digital cinema, it was his
dream to complete The Ghastly Love of
Johnny X on 35mm film.
Years ticked by. Finally, in 2010, Mark
Willoughby stepped in to finance the
completion of the picture. Id known Paul
for a number of years, recounts
Willoughby, and I liked the footage hed
completed. By 2010, circumstances put me
in a position where I could contemplate
investing in his film, and I decided to take the
plunge.
By the time Johnny X was ready to
resume production, however, shooting 5231
was becoming problematic. On May 1,
2010, Kodak announced that the stock
would be discontinued and removed from
[our] motion-picture products catalog. The
caveat, Small stock may remain and will be
supplied until depleted, offered little
comfort to Bunnell, who estimated he
would need at least 70,000' to finish his
film.
Kodak went the extra mile for us,
says Bunnell. Chris Russo was our rep at
Kodak at the time, and she literally combed
the world to assemble enough stock to
allow us to shoot.
Surprisingly, despite the six-year
break, Bunnell and Bulgarelli were able to
pick up right where they left off. All the cast
members returned as well, with little
evidence that Father Time had changed their
Top to bottom:
Johnny and his
gang
communicate
with their queen
(Christine
Romeo) on the
cliffs of
Damnations
Hole; the cliffs
were built on
the Robert
Aldrich Stage at
Occidental
Studios in Los
Angeles; the
filmmakers
employed rear
projection for a
driving scene
with De Anna
Joy Brooks and
Les Williams; a
frame grab
from the
driving scene.
features in any noticeable way. The fact that
Bulgarelli had made extensive tests in
preparing to shoot the film also added to his
sense of confidence, although for the
second round of shooting, he had to use a
different camera and different lenses.
When we got ready to resume production,
Clairmont didnt have any anamorphic
lenses available, says the cinematographer.
Fortunately, Panavision opened its doors to
us and provided us with a Panaflex Plat-
inum, a Millennium XL2, and Primo and C-
series anamorphic lenses. We were so lucky
to have those two rental houses helping
us!
Before he shot Johnny X, Bulgarelli
had little experience with black-and-white,
but he loved classic, pre-color cinema and
was determined to achieve a similarly rich
look. Black-and-white is about contrast,
he notes. Color film offers you an infinite
range of hues to help you create separation
between the actors and the background,
but with black-and-white you have to
create this separation with light and
shadow.
Tungsten light contains an abun-
dance of yellow-red hues, and through test-
ing I found that adding
1
2 CTB to our tung-
sten units would give me a cleaner high-
light, thus helping the overall contrast. All of
our tungsten lights were gelled with
1
2
CTB.
One of the time-tested techniques of
working in black-and-white is the use of
contrast filters to manipulate the stocks
response to natural daylight. I used Harri-
son & Harrison Yellow 1 and Red 5 filters,
primarily in wider exterior shots to increase
contrast, darken the sky and make the
clouds pop, says Bulgarelli. However, we
ultimately decided to use minimal filtration.
The script called for a lot of interior/stage
work. I wanted to be able to shoot at a
decent stop, and the slow film stock and
anamorphic lenses had already created chal-
lenges in that regard. I was very pleased
with the way the skin tones reproduced
without filtration. We achieved any small
variations we wanted by carefully enhancing
the makeup.
We also used Mitchell diffusion for
some close-ups, but rarely. Kodaks black-
and-white stocks had seen very little
improvement in terms of grain structure
through the years, so even though we
wanted to make a period piece, I felt the
film stocks were already soft and didnt
need to be softened up even more. Our
images needed to be a little gritty and dark
at times.
To help create the movies period
look, Bunnell and Bulgarelli utilized a
number of outdated techniques during
production. Realism is not really a word
you can use to categorize this film, says
Bulgarelli. The idea was to create a fantasy
world using some of the techniques from
the past. Paul loves in-camera effects; some
of the old techniques we tried included rear-
process projection, utilizing plates shot on
black-and-white film and projected on a
background process projector made by
Mitchell Camera Corp. that used a carbon
arc light. It was placed 100 feet away from
the screen, and a long lens was used in
order to avoid the possibility of a hot spot on
the rear-projection screen. The arc made the
machine so hot it required a water-cell cool-
ing system between the light and the film
gate so the film wouldnt melt! [ASC associ-
Above:
Cinematographer
Francisco
Bulgarelli meters
the light on the
Grand Inquisitor
(Kevin
McCarthy). Right:
Director Paul
Bunnell checks
the frame on
location.
ate member] Bill Hansard Jr. did an amazing
job supervising the rear-screen projection.
Another old trick we used was to smear
Vaseline on the lens for a sequence that
called for a dreamy feel.
For another scene, I wanted to
shoot a candlelit scene with only the candle
and a single 650-watt light, he continues.
The idea was to create a sort of flicker or
twinkle by having someone wiggle his
fingers in front of the light, a very organic
way of achieving the effect. The exposure
was so low I knew I was going to have very
little density on the negative. I ended up
pushing the Plus-X one stop and shooting
almost wide open. I think it worked really
well, because the image has a very distinct,
unique quality.
Although most of The Ghastly Love
of Johnny X was shot using pre-digital tech-
niques, there were a number of visual
effects that required a digital assist. For this
work, FotoKem scanned the negative at 2K;
visual-effects composites were then created
by Glenn Campbell and Tim McHugh at
Area 51 and transferred back to film. These
shots were intercut with the original camera
negative and conformed into six A/B print-
ing rolls by Magic Film Works. The compos-
ite show print was struck on Eastman 2302
directly from the original negative. The
movie will premiere this month at the
Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, Calif.
Before we started shooting Johnny
X, Paul and I looked at various films for
reference, specifically The Elephant Man ,
Bride of Frankenstein and Touch of Evil ,
says Bulgarelli. But Johnny X is a very
unique film, and Paul had a really good idea
of what he wanted to achieve. He cares infi-
nitely about the image and was always very
supportive of my ideas. In all, this was a
dream come true for a cinematographer.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Anamorphic 35mm
Moviecam Compact; Panaflex Platinum,
Millennium XL2; Arri 535, 435
Hawk C-Series; Panavision Primo, C-Series
Kodak Plus-X 5231, Double-X 5222
Documenting Teen Debauchery
By David E. Williams
In the new comedy Project X, a small
birthday celebration planned for a nebbish
teen explodes into a nocturnal rave fueled by
booze and drugs, and the hosts and guests
document the action vrit style with a vari-
ety of personal digital devices. Its a reflec-
tion of todays youth culture, which expects
everything to be photographed, says direc-
tor Nima Nourizadeh, whose music-video
and commercial work landed him the job,
his feature debut. Our goal was to invite
the audience into that party on the screen.
Nima and I wanted to push the POV
film into new territory, including fashion,
drugged-out states and high action, says
Project X cinematographer Ken Seng (Quar-
antine). We decided the way to do that was
through a progression of looks that paral-
leled the mental states of our lead charac-
ters. The film starts out beautiful and sunny
and degrades to a very dark and seedy look
as it progresses.
Some of the references we
discussed were actually our own experiences
from when we were in our twenties,
continues the cinematographer. We both
love a documentary-style aesthetic, even the
look of using an on-camera hard light with
little or no diffusion; it reminds me of flash
photography and creates this dark-edged
vignette that draws your eye right to the
subject. It creates a feeling that youre spying
on things youre not supposed to see.
Though many POV films present the
perspective of a lone character, the Project
X team wanted to literally crowd source
their images, with units distributed to multi-
ple performer/operators. Wed frequently
hand 10 Flip cameras out to the party
crowd and just tell them to shoot whatever
they saw and try to keep our production
cameras and movie lights out of the
frame, Seng says. The prospect of having
their footage get into the film excited
people, and that sort of rough, messy oper-
ating gives the film a lot of its character.
Most of it was unusable, but the small bits
that did work were crucial to the texture of
the movie.
During prep, Seng tested an array of
cameras, including the Red One; Sonys F23,
F35 and PMW-EX3; Canons 5D Mark II and
7D DSLRs; Silicon Imagings SI-2K Mini;
Blackberries; iPhones; two kinds of Flip
cameras; the Iconix Studio 2K; and the
GoPro HD. We wanted dynamic lighting in
the dance areas, which involved strobe
lights, and we wanted to avoid the rolling-
shutter artifacts you get with CMOS-sensor
cameras, he notes. We liked the depth-
of-field and zoom-lens choices we could get
with a
2
3-inch camera, so we chose the
F23, which we got from Panavision Holly-
wood, as our main camera. That added
depth-of-field made it just a little easier to
use the Canon [HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC] 11x
zooms. If wed shot full sensor with full-
J.B. (Jonathan Daniel Brown, left), Costa (Oliver Cooper, center) and Thomas (Thomas Mann)
set out to make a name for themselves by throwing a party for the ages in Project X.
I
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sized zoom lenses, it would have been next
to impossible to walk through the crowds
with the camera. Theres nothing like a small
pop zoom to add that feeling of reality and
discovery to a shot, and those Canon lenses
work great while wide open [F2.1]. Theyre
very robust.
We used a
1
8 Schneider Black Frost
on the lens just to take the digital edge off,
and we used some Antique Suede filters for
one scene, but apart from that, we kept the
image clean, he adds.
The additional shooting was done
with the Canon DSLRs, Sony PMW-EX3s,
Iconix and Flip cameras, as well as various
smartphones. Coming up with creative
ways to get those cameras into the action
without making them visible to our other
cameras was a constant challenge, says
Seng. At one point, we dressed operator
Keith Dunkerly in a police uniform and cut a
small hole in his riot shield for the lens of the
EX-3!
As the party begins and guests arrive,
we start introducing all these different
cameras, Nourizadeh says. Early on during
the shoot, we cut some of this material
together and discovered how we could cover
action in different ways. For example, we
couldnt do conventional coverage to allow
for standard editing, but we could introduce
quick whip pans and other operating errors
to conceal cuts we had to make.
So how was this quest for impromptu
imagery at odds with shooting a big-budget
studio feature on the Warner Bros. backlot?
We were basically shooting a 360-degree
night movie with a thousand extras, a splin-
ter unit and up to 16 cameras at once, and
its tough to make that look good while
maintaining control, Seng replies with a
chuckle. It was a chaotic shoot, but, fortu-
nately, our producers at Green Hat and Silver
Pictures wanted to make something that
seemed authentic, and the photography had
to support that, sometimes by being what
some people would consider imperfect. Our
dailies made it look like the movie was being
shot by all these little cameras randomly
strewn about a party, so everybody had to be
onboard with that approach and understand
what we were doing.
To that end, one of the most vital
aspects of the production was to provide
dailies that represented the final look of the
Top:
Cinematographer
Ken Seng
(gesturing)
discusses a setup
with director
Nima Nourizadeh
(right). Middle:
Seng holds the
productions
main camera, a
Sony F23, above
the teeming
partygoers.
Bottom: Seng
takes hold of a
rig conceived by
key grip Brady
Majors (left) to
capture what the
cinematographer
calls a poor-
mans motion-
control shot [in
which] the
camera had to
sprint toward a
flamethrower
and dramatically
drop from
shoulder height
to the ground,
landing next to
the lead
characters. We
had to do
multiple passes,
and the camera
needed to move
on the same axis
for each [take].
Behind Seng are
1st AC Peter
Geraghty
(holding remote-
focus control)
and gaffer
George Maxwell.
film as closely as possible. When so many
decision makers are looking at dailies, you
dont want to get their eyes used to one
look, only to change it later, Seng observes.
If you do, youre fighting what they already
have in their heads, and thats not easy.
When AC visited the set at Warner
Bros. Ranch, in August 2010, Seng demon-
strated his on-set color-correction setup,
toggling between the raw image coming
from the F23s and the image while applying
a look-up table that had been devised for
that particular setup. His mobile FilmLight
Truelight system communicated directly with
the Baselight system colorist Jan Yarbrough
would be using in the final color correction at
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. Jan
set it all up and made sure our production
monitors were calibrated to match his in the
DI suite, says Seng.
To ensure that the recorded images
would give the filmmakers as much flexibility
as possible in post, we designed the lighting
so we could pull faces out of the darkness
whenever necessary, adds the cinematogra-
pher. If someone thought something was
too dark, we always had the picture infor-
mation we needed [to brighten it].
Working with gaffer George Maxwell,
Seng devised lighting for the party that
comprised concentric circles. We had light-
ing for the house and the yard, and then we
had what we called flare lights, which were
located just past the property, shooting
through trees and right down the lens, says
Seng. Uplighting the trees in the distance
was another layer of lights gelled with a
blend of Rosco Urban Vaporand a sodium-
vapor pack [Lee 103 and 147] to mix color
temperatures. Beyond that, we lit up some
of the other houses in the neighborhood.
We were constantly looking to create depth.
To give the entire party a constant,
subtle edgelight, we used Condors that
usually each had two 12-light Maxi-Brutes
going through our sodium-vapor gel pack
and a 12-by-12-foot frame of Light Grid
with a control grid in front of that, he
continues. Underslung on each Condor
was an Arri MaxMover mounted with a 20K
and a Chimera that had its diffusion fabric
removed to control spill from the 20K in the
lightest possible way. The falloff of the big
sources was critical to give the party depth,
but the center areas, where most of the
action took place, were slightly under.
Seng credits Maxwell and key grip
Brady Majors with effectively wrangling
these big sources throughout the shoot. At
one point, our producer, Todd Phillips, gave
me the nickname Flight of the Condors,
because we had six of them going during
the last two weeks of the shoot, he says. It
may have looked like overkill, but shooting
360 degrees with up to eight cameras at a
time called for it.
Also hanging over the party was a
12'x12' cube balloon lamped with sodium-
vapor bulbs that we used just to fill things
in, says Seng. At any given time, we could
be shooting in the front yard with six
cameras while we had a thousand extras in
the background with the second unit work-
ing at the rear of the house, so being able to
quickly float the cube over was a time
saver. He adds that a longtime collaborator,
Joseph Aguirre, was the second-unit cine-
matographer.
Throughout much of the third act, a
police helicopter flies overhead and moves
its searchlight through the crowd, and TV-
news crews capture the action from their
own choppers. George Maxwell and Brady
Majors devised an amazing box-truss rig that
held a Libra head/F23 rig and two spotlights,
a VL3500 and a ClayPaky Alpha Spot 1500,
and we hung it from a construction crane,
says Seng. It gave the party so much
production value and scale.
Creating more separation and depth
were practicals that were slightly cool,
which worked well with the sodium-vapor
look edging out the party, he continues.
The Condors and the balloon were just
giving us this back edge, while these practi-
cals, as well as our on-camera lights, went a
bit blue. A lot of the practicals were Husky
Cool White-type CFL lights that you can get
from Home Depot.
To shoot some of the party coverage
at 60 fps, Seng had to boost his light level.
He notes, I rate the F23 at about 250 ASA,
and to get a stop of T2.8 at 60 fps, you need
quite a bit of light. For the high-speed work,
wed sometimes mount a Par can right on
top of the F23 as our on-camera light.
While shooting with F23s and EX3s,
Seng used Codex digital recorders. I knew
Id have a better image to work with [in
post] if we recorded 4:4:4 rather than
compressing and recording to SR tape, he
says. Also,because we were shooting with
so many formats on so many different
cameras, bringing all of the material into
Codex simplified the data management.
Toby Gallo, the productions data-acquisition
supervisor, designed the workflow, which
involved the equivalent of about 2 million
feet of film, and the application of all our
pre-set looks to the dailies footage, says
Seng.
Catching reality between the
moments when people were acting for the
camera added so much to this movie,
Nourizadeh concludes. The time is just
right for a movie like this.
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.85:1
Digital Capture
Sony F23, PMW-EX3;
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 7D;
Iconix Studio 2K;
Research in Motion Blackberry;
Apple iPhone; Flip HD
Canon HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC 11x
A 12'x12' cube balloon with sodium-vapor

bulbs provided fill light for the party. Visible
at top right is a box-truss rig fitted with
spotlights to simulate a police helicopters
searchlight.
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F
or this months special focus on television production, we
go behind-the-scenes on three acclaimed shows: the PBS
miniseries Downton Abbey, the AMC series Walking Dead
and the Showtime series Homeland.
Downton Abbey
Cinematographers: Gavin Struthers, David Marsh
and Nigel Willoughby, BSC
Downton Abbey depicts the interdependent but
contrasting lives of a late Edwardian aristocratic family and
their servants above and below stairs at an English country
house. It was created and is principally written by Julian
Fellowes, best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay for
Gosford Park (AC Jan. 02), which also examined the British
social classes of the early 20th century.
The first series of this hugely successful drama
(produced by Carnival Films for the UKs ITV network)
covered the years between the sinking of the Titanic in 1912
and the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The war is the
defining event of series two, with domestic staff from
Downton fighting side-by-side at the front with the heir to
the estate, Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), and the house
itself functioning as a convalescent home for injured British
officers.
The first series was primarily shot by David Katznelson,
DFF, BSC, who won an Emmy Award for his effort. (At press
time, he had just earned an ASC nomination as well.) The
second series is mainly the work of Gavin Struthers, a gradu-
ate of the National Film and Television School whose credits
include documentaries, features and the recent television
productions Garrows Law and The Reckoning.
The biggest change the producers wanted to make in
the look of the second series pertained to the downstairs
scenes, says Struthers. They didnt want the smoky feel those
scenes had in the first series, partly because electricity had
replaced gaslight and candles by the time the second series
begins, but also because the smoke created some complica-
Varied Visions
The cinematographers on
the hit series Downton Abbey,
The Walking Dead and
Homeland discuss their
creative strategies.
By Mark Hope-Jones, Iain Stasukevich
and Patricia Thomson
|
w ww.theasc.com March 2012 31
tions in the edit. In general, though,
theres not as much visual difference
between upstairs and downstairs in this
series, which seems appropriate because
in the story, the people downstairs are
starting to question whether this kind of
life is going to continue after the war.
One character who represents
this very well is Thomas (Rob James-
Collier), a conniving footman who goes
to war and returns to a post above stairs,
managing the temporary convalescent
home at Downton. Hes a unique char-
acter who can move about both above
and below stairs, says Struthers. He
was quite interesting in terms of camera
and lighting because he occupies all
three areas of the story: downstairs,
upstairs and the war. We very rarely shot
handheld upstairs, but for the scene
where Thomas returns from the front
and comes in through the front door,
which would have otherwise been
unthinkable for a servant, it made sense
to go handheld.
The first series of Downton Abbey
was shot on Arris D-21, but the
production switched to the Arri Alexa
for series two, equipping the cameras
with Cooke S4 prime lenses and
Angenieux Optimo zooms. A lot of
Alexa users typically shoot at 800 ASA
and ND down when required, but I
didnt do that on this show, says
Struthers. I used a wide range of ASA
ratings, from 200 to 1,600, and there is
definitely a difference, as there is with
neg stock. At 200 its more contrasty, so
you have to fill the shadows in more,
whereas at 1,600 its a much flatter
image and the camera sees a lot further
into the blacks. I changed the ASA in
the same way Id swap film stocks out. I
find it easier to light that way, and also I
dont like too much [filtration] in front
of the lens.
Footage was captured in ProRes
4:4:4 and recorded to SxS Pro cards.
The cards went straight to the digital-
imaging technician, who checked
everything as the footage was taken off
and then copied it to a G-Raid trans-
port drive as well as my own Drobo
Raid system, says Struthers. That way
we had a copy of everything at full reso-
lution with us at all times. The editing
team would receive a G-Raid transport
drive every evening and return one the
following morning.
Whereas scenes set below stairs
were shot on sets built at Ealing
Studios, exteriors and almost all other
interiors were filmed on location at
Highclere Castle, the Jacobethan
mansion that serves as Downton
Abbey. Being a historic property,
Highclere comes with strict limitations
on how and where equipment can be
used. The fact that nothing could be
attached to the walls, and that floors had
to be kept uncluttered, led gaffer Phil
Brookes to use balloon fixtures for an
ambient level. He notes, We used
several types of balloon lights, the
primary one being a 4K tungsten tube.
In the main hall, which is a three-story
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Opposite (from left): Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) in
Downton Abbey; one of the many zombies on the prowl in The Walking Dead; CIA agent
Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) in Homeland. This page, top: Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley
(Hugh Bonneville) pays close attention to a dinner conversation. Bottom: Cinematographer Gavin
Struthers (foreground left) prepares to shoot a scene in the family library, where smaller fixtures
and balloon lights were integral to the look.
atrium with a glass roof, we used a
2.4/2Kdaylight-tungsten combination
unit, which enabled us to alter the color
temperature when we started to lose
daylight.
As far as possible, the filmmakers
tried to light interior scenes from
outside the windows. The house is
built on quite a nice sun path, notes
Struthers. We would control the sun
with silks and frames, and then push 6K
or 18K HMIs in through the windows
and add a small amount of soft light
inside, a diffused Kino or poly wedge, to
give us a little bit of modeling. Onother
occasions, wed add a well-chopped
harder light from outside, a 2.5K with a
little spot or a 4K Mole beam, to give us
some interest on the dark wood panel-
ing or bookcases in the background.
On the eve of Downtons trans-
formation into a hospital, a sequence of
sunset scenes required a slightly differ-
ent approach. I wanted to create the
feeling that the sun was setting on the
house, says Struthers. The interiors
needed to change with the changing
light outside, so as the sun sets, the
ambient light in the rooms becomes
slightly cooler while the highlights get
warmer.
That was quite interesting
because those scenes were spread over
several weeks of the schedule, so we had
to develop a plan that we could refer
back to each time, adds Brookes. To
get a warm feeling, we changed the
outside lights to 24K tungsten units
with added CTO and then cooled the
interior, where there were some tung-
sten practicals turned on because its late
afternoon. We had to play around quite
a lot with CTO and CTB to achieve a
good balance. The sequence ends
outside, so we brought in a 50K SoftSun
gelled with CTO to get a low-sunlight
effect on the actors faces and under
their hats. We actually had to shoot that
scene on quite a bright day, and we were
really fighting the daylight, but keeping
the camera angles tight and using the
SoftSun made it believable and a good
match for inside.
Many of the existing lighting
fixtures at Highclere fit the storys
period and proved extremely useful as
practicals, with bulbs swapped out when
necessary. The library, the main hall
and the dining room all had lovely,
ornate table lamps with six or eight little
lights branching off with individual
light shades, says Struthers. They were
of the period, so we used them. For
other rooms, our production designer,
Donal Woods, brought in other fixtures
hed sourced, and Phil would wire them
in before we arrived.
Using the existing fittings was
complicated by the protectiveness of the
Highclere staff. Brookes recalls, Their
rule was that if we wanted to change a
bulb or move anything, they had to do
it. Theyd come in with their white
gloves on and take 20 minutes to change
two bulbs, so it quickly became obvious
that using dimmers would be easier. The
only snag was that the lights were wired
into the house system, so I made some
adapters that allowed us to interrupt the
feed and get control of them. I also
made tiny dimmers we christened
sneaky dimmers, because you could
hide them in the tablecloth or behind a
table leg, and they were all constructed
with period-correct braided cable. No
matter how hard you try, someones
going to spot a cable, so it might as well
be the right sort of cable!
In certain situations, the crew
also made use of old lightbulbs to lend
an authentic feel to these early days of
domestic electricity. The most interest-
ing bulb changing we did was actually
on the kitchen set at Ealing, says
Struthers. Phil got hold of some period
bulbs that were beautiful, huge glass
things with thick filaments that
produced a really warm light. They
made me think that early electricity
must have looked pretty warm, so I
made anything that was lit by the new
electric lights [look] a lot warmer than
the electric fixtures we saw in series
one.
Brookes says he remembered the
period bulbs from a previous shoot, and
dug them out of the specials box at
Panalux. The filament is huge and is
strung back and forth all the way
around the glass envelope, he says.
Nowadays they use a coil construction,
so filaments are a lot smaller; you can
tell a modern bulb because its a very
point source to your eye. These period
bulbs are perhaps only 60-100 watts,
but as the filament is so long, they dont
burn out as much on camera. I only had
a few, so we couldnt use them every-
where, but the kitchen was a good place
because the bottom of the bulbs would
protrude below some of the glass shades
and into shot. They looked really good.
Most people dont notice such things,
but Gavin and I liked it.
For the time during which
Downton Abbey serves as a hospital,
Struthers wanted a cooler, more austere
look. The house is a character in the
show, so it had to have a character arc,
he says. We wanted the house to
Varied Visions
Lady Sybil
Crawley (Jessica
Brown Findlay,
right) ventures
downstairs for
some cooking
tips from Mrs.
Patmore (Lesley
Nicol, center) and
Daisy (Sophie
McShera).
initially feel relatively similar to the first
series, and then, as the war starts to filter
in, we wanted to strip away the veneer of
grandeur before restoring it for the later
episodes.
It was not Struthers who shot
the two episodes for which this cooler
look was intended, but David Marsh.
(A third cinematographer, Nigel
Willoughby, BSC, was on second unit
and also shot the finale, which aired in
the U.K. as a Christmas special.) Marsh
had shot a couple of episodes in the first
series and was able to share his experi-
ences with Struthers. It was very
collaborative, says Marsh. Gavin and I
agreed that the general feeling for my
episodes would be much busier and
bleaker. The woman who owns
Highclere told us that the house really
had been used as a convalescent home in
World War I, so it was exciting to re-
create something that had actually
occurred in that place.
Scenes set in the trenches on the
Western Front were limited in number,
but Struthers relished the opportunity
to do something different and gave a lot
of thought to his approach. We wanted
a look that would feel horrific but also
sit in the world of Downton, so I spent
quite a while grading stills in Photoshop
[for the colorists reference]. We ended
up with a yellowy-khaki feel, but with a
coldness, a tiny bit of blue in the blacks.
The camerawork had to put the
audience on the battlefield and also
achieve continuity between exteriors
and bunker scenes. I came up with a
rough design and asked one of my
camera assistants, Scott Rodgers, to
create what we called a Wobbleator,
which was basically a motorized, rotat-
ing weight, says Struthers. We put
them on both cameras, and whenever
an explosion went off, a little button was
pressed that made the camera wobble so
the operator had to fight to control the
frame. Its quite an old trick, but that
judder at the moment of an explosion
really helped to sell the experience of
being in the trenches.
Mark Hope-Jones
The Walking Dead
Cinematographers:
David Boyd, ASC
and Rohn Schmidt
On the surface, AMCs The
Walking Dead seems like zombie apoca-
lypse stories weve seen before: a small,
scrappy group of survivors, in this case
led by small-town sheriff Rick Grimes
(Andrew Lincoln), struggles through the
aftermath of a mysterious worldwide
pandemic that causes the dead to rise as
walkers.
At the heart of the rotting flesh
and pulpy horror is a story about the
strength of the human spirit, and series
cinematographer David Boyd, ASC
believes thats the key to the franchises
success. My interest in The Walking
Dead lies in seeing how the human spirit
responds to a brave, new world how
we all adapt to weather the times, he
says.
The shows pilot was shot in and
around Atlanta, GA, by David
Tattersall, BSC; Boyd shot the first
season as well as some of the second,
which were also based in Atlanta. Boyd
theorizes that his work on NBCs Friday
Night Lights helped him land the job; he
shot that show in Super 16mm with
multiple cameras, and The Walking
Deads original showrunner, Frank
Darabont, wanted the same thing.
The Walking Dead uses Panavised
Arri 416 cameras, rented from
Panavision offices in Dallas and Atlanta,
and mainly two Kodak Vision3 nega-
tives, 250D 7207 (for most day exteriors)
and 500T 7219 (for most interiors and
night work). Shooting 16mm was a
fantastic choice in terms of what it
enables us to achieve, and the pace of the
shoot is a perfect fit for the Arri 416,
says Boyd. The camera is small and
light; it moves fast; its totally self-
contained; and it can handle all the
accessories that are necessary for a good
photographic outcome.
With a Canon 10.6-180mm
zoom on each body, we can move these
cameras around freely at no cost in terms
of production time, even between takes,
he continues. The compulsory shots can
be accomplished with speed, leaving
time to do the unique shots that help
make the show visually interesting. The
production benefits greatly from the ease
of use the 416s give us. Shooting 16mm
easily buys us an hour-and-a-half a day
in production time, maybe more,
compared to any other format.
As part of his prep for the series,
Boyd delved into the comic books that
inspired the show. The illustrations
convey what the characters are thinking
as well as what theyre saying, he notes.
My goal was to construct a method of
shooting that would do justice to some
Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) wrangles a zombie in a scene from The Walking Dead.
McGinn and Angela Holford aver-
age 70 to 80 shots a day. At the end of
the first season, film loader Tracy
Minnis tallied about 2,000 rolls between
A and B cameras, including short ends
and reloads.
The storys decaying urban envi-
ronments and rural, wooded areas are
well suited for handheld and tripod
work, and a single grip was assigned to
each camera team, providing the opera-
tors and camera assistants with support
wherever they went. Crane moves are
rare, but our great dolly grips, Frank
Boone and Mike Besaw, were very busy,
often putting dolly runs in the woods
where it seemed impossible, says Boyd.
Handheld or not, we were stretched out
on the lens so the camera was farther
away from the actors. It makes them feel
more trapped, and it allows me and the
directors to play with different depths of
field.
The shows roster of directors
includes Ernest Dickerson, ASC, whose
directorial credits include episodes of
Dexter, The Wire and Treme. As might be
expected from a former cinematographer,
Dickerson maintains a close relationship
with the camera department. I rely on
the camera as our primary storytelling
tool, so I am pretty clear with the opera-
tors about how I want a shot framed, he
says, noting that he was often looking
over Boyds shoulder as the setups came
together.
I do my work near the cameras,
and I encourage all of our directors to get
out from behind the monitor and partic-
ipate, says Boyd. Good things happen
when theres a director close to the
camera. In lieu of a video village, the
directors use three 5" standard-definition
monitors attached to a mobile board
equipped with video receivers.
Boyd also used his proximity to the
camera to gauge filtration and T-stops,
freeing the first assistants to concentrate
on pulling focus. For day exteriors, ND
filters were stacked to achieve a more
selective depth-of-field. At dawn or in
the late afternoon, Boyd corrected the
7219 500T with a Tiffen 81EF filter. Its
what I use with tungsten film to bias it
toward the cool side, he says. It gets you
to that early dawn/magic hour look quite
nicely.
For each season so far, the produc-
tion has spent six months shooting on
location in Georgia, usually in sweltering
heat. The grip team is often using its
equipment to shield the actors from the
sun as well as control the natural sunlight.
Almost all of our day exteriors have been
done in available light, says Boyd. Id get
by with a 12-by Griffolyn or
UltraBounce something soft that put
a bit of light in the actors eyes. If we were
working underneath a tree, Id consider
putting a light up, but if I did, it would be
a 4K HMI. We used 18Ks for wide fills.
The show works best when it
pretty brilliant thinking on the parts of
[comic-book creators] Robert Kirkman,
Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard.
This method was greatly influ-
enced by Boyds experiences as a docu-
mentary filmmaker in the 1980s. Im so
glad I had that early experience, he
remarks. Every chromosome is trained
to size up a scene fast and start shoot-
ing. On The Walking Dead, he scrupu-
lously avoided complex lighting setups,
indoors and out, in favor of natural light
and practical motivation.
The primary camera crew
operators Mike Satrazemis, Chris Jones
and Glen Brown (the latter two on
Steadicam); 1st ACs David Galbraith
and Bruce Robinson; and 2nd ACs Matt
Varied Visions
Top: Cinematographer David Boyd, ASC lights the undead. Bottom: Episode director
Ernest Dickerson, ASC points toward a setup.
looks rough, because it portrays a danger-
ous world, he adds. From time to time,
I had to stop myself from making it look
better!
In the shows second season, the
survivors took refuge in a secluded farm-
house, much to the dismay of its secretive
landlord, Herschel Greene (Scott
Walker). For these scenes, the production
rented a farmhouse property in Henry
County, Ga., which served as the shows
base of operations for the entire season.
For day scenes in the farmhouse
that called for bright sun outside, Id try
to get big lights outside the window,
usually Nine-light Maxi-Brutes with
narrow Firestarter [1.2K tungsten Par
64] bulbs, says Boyd. When you bring
them in through a window, its good
sunlight. Night interiors relied mainly
on practicals and a bit of augmentation in
the form of Master Blasters and Barger
Baglites with fairly directional hard grids.
Night exteriors were often lit with
18Ks, 12K Pars and Nine-light Maxis
placed deep in the background, freeing
the cameras to capture the maximum
number of angles. Small units 400-
watt and 800-watt Jokers and individual
1.2K Firestarter Par cans were kept
nearby to put a kiss of light into the
world and the actors faces, says Boyd.
I can get lights up faster than the
actors can get ready, he adds. Night
exteriors require a bit of planning, but by
the time the company arrives were ready
to shoot.
Boyd moved into the directors
chair for Secrets, the sixth episode of
season two, and Rohn Schmidt took over
the cinematography duties, which he
then assumed for the rest of the season.
If it aint broke, dont fix it, Schmidt says
of his approach to the show. David left
some big shoes to fill, and there were a
few areas where our tastes were different,
but those were handled in an evolution-
ary way.
Schmidt recalls that when he
interviewed for the job, he received two
notes from Darabont and executive
producer/head writer Glen Mazzara,
who had both previously worked with
him on The Shield. They didnt want to
do a lot of handheld, and they wanted the
style to be very cinematic, says Schmidt.
With this show, shots evolve and
play without a lot of editing, he contin-
ues. We were almost never just on sticks;
we had a lot of very carefully designed
dolly and crane shots.
Schmidt introduced more prime
lenses into the shows visual vocabulary,
favoring wide Zeiss Compact Primes.
Primes really force you to commit to the
shot, he observes.
In the climactic midseason
episode, Pretty Much Dead Already, a
swarm of walkers was discovered in
Herschels barn, and Ricks group grimly
put them down in a hail of gunfire. The
walker effects, designed by executive
producer Greg Nicoteros KNB Efx, were
largely practical, but shots portraying
physical trauma were accomplished digi-
tally by a team at Stargate Studios led by
visual-effects supervisor Victor Scalise.
Greenscreen backings and body-
suits helped Stargate artists key out
portions of the frame. Shots that needed
to be rescaled were shot on 35mm film,
and lens, camera position and T-stop
were recorded, but we were not encour-
aged to lock the camera off that much,
says Schmidt. Shooting on zoom lenses,
dollying and handheld were all fine with
Victor.
For both seasons of the show,
Atlanta post house Cinefilm processed
the negative, and Crawford Media (also
in Atlanta) created the HD dailies.
(Colorist Steve Johnson handled season
one; David Cardinale handled season
two.) The final color timing was done at
the Burbank facility Modern VideoFilm
by colorist Dan Judy.
Once season two was in the can,
Boyd moved on to other projects, but
Schmidt says he is likely to return for
season three. I remember Frank
[Darabont] saying, Just finish the year
youll like it so much youll want to come
back, he recalls. And he was right! The
producers, the network, the cast and the
crew made it a decidedly satisfying expe-
rience, and Im really looking forward to
next season.
Iain Stasukevich
Homeland
Cinematographers:
Christopher Manley, ASC
and Nelson Cragg III
One of the most popular new
shows of 2011 was Homeland, a psycho-
logical thriller that was loosely adapted
from an Israeli series about prisoners of
war who return from captivity. The story
concerns U.S. Marine Sgt. Nicholas
Brody (Damian Lewis), who returns to
the United States after spending eight
years as an Al Qaeda captive, and CIA
officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes),
who collects intelligence suggesting
Brody may have been turned by the
terrorists. Mathison also struggles
privately with bipolar disorder.
The pilot was shot by Christopher
Manley, ASC, perhaps best known for his
regular work on Mad Men (AC Oct. 09),
and the series was shot by Nelson Cragg
III, the only cinematographer so far to
win both the ASC Heritage Award for
student cinematography ( AC June 04)
and an ASC Award for a professional gig
(CSI: Crime Scene Investigation).
Cragg has also shot episodes of the
series Flash Forward and Breaking Bad,
and he notes that his experience on the
latter show taught me that you can
produce great, intimate stuff and take
chances [on premium channels] that you
cant take on network television.
Homeland co-executive producer
Michael Cuesta, who directed the indie
features Twelve and Holding and L.I.E.
(AC Oct. 01), directed Homelands pilot
as well as the finale and pivotal seventh
episode. Michael likes to work very
organically, Manley says. His ideas
come out of what he sees the actors doing
in rehearsal. Hes open, intuitive and
improvisational.
Cragg describes Homeland as a
jazz-based show the score is jazz,
Carrie listens to jazz, and the show
became very improvisational in the hands
of directors like Michael and Clark
Johnson.
In that vein, Homeland had no
look book to follow. But there was the
equivalent of a musical key: an emphasis
Varied Visions
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Andree Martin
VP Technical Services
on naturalism. The story is based on
whats going on around us now, so I
wanted it to feel as real as possible, says
Cuesta. I didnt want it to come off as an
action thriller, but as a psychological
piece. You have to hang onto the shot,
stay with these characters, get into their
heads. The look is not stylized. Im
always turning lights off on set, saying,
Let it be real.
While prepping the pilot, the
creative team revisited the 1970s thrillers
Three Days of the Condor and The
Conversation, which feel like documen-
taries in that they capture the action in a
simple way, Cuesta says. But their most
important touchstone, according to
Manley, was Michael Clayton, shot by
Robert Elswit, ASC.That became my
go-to point of reference, says Manley.
The photography is so naturalistic and
unobtrusive, yet every scene feels correct.
[Elswit] never tried to do anything flashy
or tip his hand and let his presence be
known, and thats really hard to do. Its
easier to make things look beautiful than
natural and correct.
As the storyline develops,
Homelands look evolves correspond-
ingly. It started as a show about people
observing people, and we created that
feeling of surveillance by emphasizing
longer lenses through episode four, says
Cragg. Then, as more of the story was
about 2 feet on each side, but beyond
that, they were pretty much practical
locations. We didnt have the luxury to fly
walls or put in backlights or sidelights
where we wanted, which was a good
thing. Cuesta adds, Its hard to get
cameras in there, but when you make it
too easy to shoot, it starts looking like a
TV show. So I prefer to be crammed in
the corner and not be able to get the
angle.
Both Manley and Cragg based
their lighting on practicals that were
augmented by China balls and small
instruments, bounced light and lots of
negative fill. With the Alexa, I was basi-
cally using smaller and lesser lights, says
Manley, who was working with the
camera for the first time. You think you
need a 4-foot double [Kino Flo], but
then you find you only need a 4-foot
single and then you end up putting
tape all over the front to knock it down
more. Its kind of amazing that way.
Craggs go-to units were Tommy
boxes, small softboxes created by gaffer
Tommy Ray Sullivan. Built in five sizes,
they accommodate different-sized
globes, all wired to dimmers. Theyre
incredibly versatile and low-profile, and
we used them all over the place, hiding
them or clipping them to things, says
Cragg.
The creative team worked with a
digital-imaging technician on the pilot,
but Cragg opted to do without one, using
a data loader instead. I dont think you
need a DIT with the Alexa, notes
Cragg. I just used Iridas SpeedGrade to
create our look-up tables. The Alexa can
save frame grabs, and Id just load them
onto the program, color-time them and
then have them sent off to FotoKem.
Cragg and FotoKem colorist Keith
Shaw calibrated their iPads so Cragg
could give notes on the QuickTime files
or DVD he received. Its not a perfect
system, but we achieve a lot of the look of
this show in-camera, says the cine-
matographer. We gel the lights if we
want a specific look, and because were
going for a raw, naturalistic feel, we let
fluorescent lights go green and let warm
colors play with cool ones. So there
revealed, our style got more visceral, with
more handheld [camerawork].
Showtime mandated that pro-
duction be based in North Carolina to
take advantage of local tax breaks, and
the network also mandated digital
acquisition. The team chose Charlotte,
and local rental house Illumination
Dynamics provided Arri Alexas,
Arri/Zeiss Ultra Primes and a range of
Angenieux Optimo zooms.
The pilot was shot on practical
locations in North Carolina, Israel and
Washington, D.C. The episodes were
shot on soundstages built in some vacant
tobacco-processing factories and ware-
houses in Charlotte.
The main sets are Brodys and
Mathisons residences. Brodys rambling
ranch house is designed to be the
warmest, most comforting place, says
Cragg, because we need to ground him,
to care about his family, because this
family is what ties him to reality and
keeps him alive. By contrast, Mathisons
townhouse has a cool palette, few
windows and spare lighting. The space
feels contained and closed, just like her
character, says Cragg.
The sets were copied closely from
the pilots practical locations. Michael
requested 8-foot or 9-foot hard ceilings
on every set, says Cragg. They were
expanded from the real locations by
Varied Visions
U.S. Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) endures eight years of captivity
in the Middle East in Homeland.
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werent many corrections to be made [in
the final timing].
However, the look of the show
changes completely for Brodys flash-
backs to his experiences in captivity in
the Middle East. For glimpses of beat-
ings and torture, we wanted something
that looked hot and frightening, says
Manley. He used the Alexas CC correc-
tion to warm the images in-camera and
then added some grain. To create an
image that might suggest Brodys frag-
mented memory, Manley used Arri
Swing & Tilt lenses and added flares
and fogging by shining a Scorpio flash-
light or Pocket Par straight down the
barrel.
When testing revealed that the
Swing & Tilt lenses could be removed
from its mount, Cragg had 1st AC
Patrick Borowiak maneuver it by hand.
You can jiggle it and shift the focus in
weird ways that you couldnt do by turn-
ing the little dials, says Cragg. We also
used a 90-degree shutter to give the
images a jarring crispness and went for
some supersaturation to give the color
extra pop.
As Brodys memories gradually
cohere and advance the story, the flash-
backs take on a less extreme look, and
when he embraces Islam, a different look
is established, characterized by strong
shafts of sunlight. Its his spiritual awak-
ening, so we felt we could get more styl-
ized, notes Cragg. We pushed a big
Molebeam through the window and
added more atmosphere to the set.
A special look was also required for
a drone attack, a critical plot point that
explains Brodys motivation. We shot a
lot of that at 48 fps, and I gave it a strong
bleach-bypass look in the timing, says
Cragg. Its an intense, hyper-realistic
look.
Intense also describes the 90-
minute season finale, which called for 200
Varied Visions
352
A moments
hesitation.
A knock. The
discovery of what
lies behind this
hollow-eyed
symmetry.
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40
Assigned to
determine
whether Brody
poses a risk to
his country, CIA
agent Carrie
Mathison (Claire
Danes) studies
some data in her
home office.
extras and extensive action. But contrary
to the norm for such big set pieces, we
decided to get closer to the characters,
says Cragg. The camera stays glued to
Mathison and Brody as they struggle
with their respective demons while racing
to overcome external obstacles. Youre
not sure whos good or bad, Cragg
observes. Carrie is possibly crazy, and
Brody, our terrorist, is possibly the sanest
person on the show.
Here and throughout the season,
Cragg shot as much as possible with
prime lenses. Often in television, youre
on an 11:1 zoom all the time, but that
distances you from the characters, and it
wasnt really appropriate for this show, he
remarks. We used prime lenses as much
as we could, generally staying between
the 20mm and the 65mm.
In Brodys climactic scene, Cragg
operated the camera himself, trailing the
soldier as he initiated a suicide bombing.
The actor moved without marks through
a dark, crowded bunker lit with narrow
spotlights. The images go from overex-
posed to really dark and back, Cragg
says. We had one shot up in the corner
on a 16mm, and then the rest was hand-
held on a 20mm or 24mm, right in his
face. Youre watching him and wonder-
ing if hes going to do this thing. Its
riveting.
The finale closes with Mathison
undergoing electroshock therapy, and
Cragg again took up the camera. I was
standing on the bed and holding the
Alexa right over Claires face as she was
convulsing, he says. Originally, we were
going to zoom in on her, but it didnt feel
right. We decided the camera should
move, so I pushed in to about 6 inches
from her face. After four takes, Craggs
legs were shaking. Those were intense,
draining scenes to shoot.
Patricia Thomson
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41
Series
cinematographer
Nelson Cragg III
eyeballs a setup
involving
Mathison and
a colleague.

O
n a balmy Seattle night, three high-school friends exit a
barn in which their fellow students are enjoying a rave.
They enter a large, empty field. As the boys walk, they
happen upon a sinkhole that leads to a mysterious
subterranean passageway, where they find evidence of an alien
presence. The encounter changes the boys, endowing each
with incredible telekinetic powers. Soon, one of the friends
begins a steep descent into extremely bad behavior.
Directed by Josh Trank, Chronicle is the latest entry in
the found footage genre popularized by such features as The
Blair Witch Project (AC April 99), Cloverfield (AC March 08)
and Paranormal Activity. In Chronicle, the conceit is that one
of the three boys, Andrew (Dane DeHaan), carries his Canon
XL1 MiniDV camcorder everywhere, recording nearly every
aspect of his life, including the extraordinary changes in
himself and his two friends.
In actuality, the man behind the camera was cine-
matographer Matthew Jensen, whose credits include the
series True Blood (AC March 09) and Game of Thrones .
Chronicle marks his first feature for a major studio. I got
involved in Chronicle through Game of Thrones producer Mark
Huffam, who recommended me to [20th Century] Fox,
recalls Jensen. They were looking for [a cinematographer]
who had experience with visual effects, stunts and high-end
television, and who was used to working with a modest
budget. Based on Marks recommendation, I got the inter-
view, and HBO set up [pre-broadcast] screenings of Game of
Thrones for the Chronicle team. Josh and I got along very well,
and that was that.
I think Chronicle is an interesting experiment in style
in the sense that its more of a hybrid than any of the other
found-footage films Ive seen, he continues. It starts out very
documentary-like, with a lot of wobbly camerawork, but as
Andrews powers develop, he realizes he can telekinetically
operate the camera, at which point the feel of the camerawork
Chronicle, shot by Matthew Jensen,
gives the found footage genre a
new twist.
By Jay Holben
|
Power Trip
Power Trip
becomes much more fluid and cine-
matic.
Jensen acknowledges that work-
ing in a distinctly amateur visual style
was a challenge. Its hard to wrap your
head around these kinds of movies if
youre a cinematographer, because were
trained to put the camera in just the
right place to tell the story. On
Chronicle, the camera was often in the
wrong place, and for long takes!
Andrew is shooting from the hip, not
looking in the eyepiece, panning around
and snap zooming. At times, when he
gets distracted, he even pans away to
nothing in the middle of a conversation.
Another thing I found difficult
initially was justifying why the camera
would be rolling if Andrew is alone,
or if hes in the midst of an intense
conversation with someone, why would
he be shooting? We establish early on
that he always has the camera with him,
and we tried to make the camera behave
realistically in those [more solitary]
moments. When Andrew is involved in
an intense conversation, the camera
drops down to his side. Weve got badly
framed shots where were cutting people
off at the eyes or showing them from
the nose down! We had to get across the
important story elements, but at the
same time, we were always trying to
make the camerawork feel organic.
Andrew becomes a much better
camera operator as the story progresses,
a plot point that allowed Jensen and his
camera team to adopt a more traditional
approach. When Andrew starts oper-
ating the camera telekinetically, we
started doing dolly shots, and we even
brought in a Technocrane, although I
told the operators to avoid making any
perfect crane moves, says Jensen. We
wanted all the camera moves to be a
little wobbly. We wanted to swing right
when the action went left, and then
compensate. We wanted a little
randomness. With each shot, I told
them, Surprise me a little. The key was
to keep a floating feel, because the
camera is supposed to be literally float-
ing in the air.
As the story unfolds, we intro-
duce more visual effects and stunts, and
using a more traditional operating style
made it easier for us to create those
P
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.
Opposite: High
schooler Andrew
Detmer (Dane
DeHaan) lets his
newfound powers
get the better of
him in Chronicle.
This page, top:
Andrew and his
friends Steve
(Michael B.
Jordan, middle)
and Matt (Alex
Russell) toy with
their telekinetic
abilities. Bottom:
Andrew carries a
video camera
everywhere,
enabling
Chronicles
found-footage
aesthetic.
sequences, he adds. We also started to
incorporate more cameras, such as secu-
rity cameras, news cameras and the like,
opening the door for more coverage.
One challenge in post was
making the footage, which was shot
with an Arri Alexa (primarily with
Angenieux Optimo zoom lenses), look
like the output of a consumer DV
camcorder. Josh and the producers
wanted us to capture at maximum qual-
ity and resolution, and then degrade the
image in post, says Jensen.
In prep, the filmmakers tested the
Alexa side-by-side with a Red One
(upgraded with a Mysterium-X sensor).
Josh had experience with the Red, so
his instinct was to go with that camera,
but Im not a big fan of the Red I
dont find it to be very intuitive, says
Jensen. I was open to using it on this
project, but our shoot was going to be in
Cape Town, South Africa, with a lot of
expansive night exteriors, and I was
concerned about the cameras speed.
Id had a great experience with
the Alexa on Game of Thrones , he
continues, so we decided to test the
Red One and the Alexa [recording
ArriRaw] side-by-side. To my eye
and Im not ber-technical when it
comes to pixels and resolution the
Alexa image had a sharper yet more
filmic quality. Although the Red is 4K
and the Arri is 3.5K [with a 2.8K imag-
ing area], we found no problems with
the reduced resolution. The Alexa was
also faster: I got better results at 1,600
ISO and 1,280 ISO.
We took footage from both
cameras through color correction, and
the post house [HD Hub in Cape
Town] had a much easier time working
with the ArriRaw footage, he adds. On
top of that, our visual-effects team said it
strongly preferred the Alexa over the
Red. Once Josh saw the tests and took
all of this into consideration, he was
convinced as well.
When the time came to finish
Chronicle, we shrank the Alexa image
down and then blew it back up and
sharpened it, says Jensen. We played
with the contrast levels so that we lost
some details in the whites and made the
blacks a little crunchier. It was surpris-
ingly effective. Late in the story, Andrew
gets an HD camera, and we kept the
Alexas native look for that material. I
typically use a little diffusion with the
Alexa, but I didnt in this case because
we wanted to maintain that extra sharp-
ness.
The filmmakers recorded to
Codex ArriRaw drives, starting produc-
tion with three drives and later picking
up two more. You can only get 25
minutes per magazine, which was a
challenge for us because of our long
takes, recalls Jensen. We were also
backing up to ProRes via the Alexas SxS
card.
As compact as the Alexa can be,
once handheld brackets and a recording
magazine are added, the camera no
longer behaves like a small camcorder.
The filmmakers used several techniques
to combat this, including separating the
Codex recorder into a backpack worn by
the operator or a camera assistant. A
more elaborate solution was what Jensen
and A-camera operator Peter Belcher
call the pipe slider.
Jensen explains, Peter suggested a
very low-tech but ingenious rig, which
was basically a piece of speed rail
between two combo stands. A set of
skateboard wheels fit onto the speed rail
on a metal fitting, with a carabiner hang-
ing down from that. Wed hook the cara-
Power Trip
Above: As Andrew
develops his
powers, he begins
to telekinetically
operate his camera;
here, the filmmakers
employ a Cable Cam
rig to capture a shot
in which Andrew
levitates the
camera 120' in the
air. Right:
Cinematographer
Matthew Jensen
maneuvers the Arri
Alexa on skateboard
wheels to simulate
Andrews camera
being kicked across
the floor.
could, he explains. Often we were just
lighting the environment and letting the
characters exist in that environment. I
set steadfast rules to justify every light
source in a scene, and if I actually saw
the source in the shot, all the better. One
of my rules was if there wasnt a window
or a place for a practical, there wouldnt
be light. I took some liberties with those
rules, but rarely.
biner into an eyehook on the top of the
Alexa, and it allowed Peter to just roll
up and down the pipe with the camera
and pan and tilt in a very loose manner.
The rig took the weight completely out
of his hands and gave him a lot of free-
dom, and he could be as steady or
unsteady as we wanted. Peter had used
a similar rig while working with [cine-
matographer] Oliver Wood on Safe
House. Our rig evolved from theirs, so I
owe Oliver some thanks for doing the
R&D for me!
The production shot in South
Africa for budgetary reasons, and pass-
ing Cape Town off as Seattle created
some special challenges. Nothing in
Cape Town is even remotely like
Seattle, Jensen observes. It was proba-
bly the most challenging for the art
department, because every sign and
every storefront had to be changed.
They also drive on the opposite side of
the road, so we had to ship in [U.S.-
market] cars and shut down every street
we were on so we could have our char-
acters drive in the right lane.
The only real effect it had on the
photography was that we never really
opened up the frame, so the movie has
a slightly claustrophobic feel, he
continues. The imagery is supposed to
be spontaneous and free, but it was
carefully constructed to not reveal the
fact that we were on a different conti-
nent!
The found-footage aesthetic also
limited the range of lighting fixtures
Jensen felt he could employ. I
approached the lighting as naturally as I
Left: A 4K
tungsten balloon
provides ambient
fill for a night-
exterior house
party. This is a
perfect example
of how I lit
environments
rather than
individual shots,
says Jensen. The
balloon mixed
with the
practicals and
allowed me to
shoot in any
direction and still
have a believable,
soft and low
ambience.
Below: Although
Andrews
bedroom was a
set constructed
onstage, I set
steadfast rules to
justify every light
source, says
Jensen.
One such occasion was the night
scene in which Andrew and his friends
find the sinkhole in the field. I thought,
How the hell am I going to do this?
Jensen recalls with a laugh. I did a lot of
night-in-the-wilderness lighting on True
Blood, but thats a fantasy, so we could get
away with creating a back-moonlight
look with a cool, soft wrap. Here, I didnt
have that luxury. Luckily, Josh was keen
on Andrew having a light on the camera.
We used a Litepanels MiniPlus with a
bit of 250 diffusion and kept it dialed
way down, which helped us light the
immediate area.
We had to be able to see beyond
that, though. We had to see one of the
boys walk off about 200 yards in the
distance, way beyond the reach of our
Obie light. So I went with an old trick:
a 12K [tungsten/daylight] hybrid
balloon, which was not easy to find in
South Africa! It was extremely windy
out in that field, so we had to bring out a
huge construction crane, and then the
crew had to build a big cage that would
keep the balloon steady in the blowing
winds.
I shot the scene at a 1,280 ISO. I
put the balloon 2
1
2 to 3 stops under; it
wouldnt even register on my meter,
which just read Error. If an actor got
within about 4 feet of the MiniPlus on
the camera, he would go overexposed,
but the Alexa held all of that amazingly
well. The scene plays really well. The
balloon was the perfect solution; it
provided just enough of a soft, realistic,
toppy glow to help us see in the darkness
without making the shot look lit.
When the boys enter the tunnel
a set built onstage by production
designer Stephen Altman Jensen
eliminated all light sources except the
MiniPlus on the camera. All through
prep, Steve kept asking me, Do you need
me to cut holes anywhere in the tunnel
to put lights through? he recalls. He
was surprised at how minimally we were
going to do this! But it worked out great
for the scene. The MiniPlus only lets you
see so far into the tunnel, so theres this
foreboding darkness ahead of the boys as
they walk. Steve put a lot of curves in the
Power Trip
Top: A stuntman
is suspended
from a crane for a
scene in which
Andrew flies
down to a gas
station and stirs
up some
explosive trouble.
Middle: The wire
rig was again
used to fly a
stuntman during
the effects-heavy
finale, for which
Jensen rolled
multiple Alexas
and Canon EOS
7Ds. My lighting
was gelled with
Lee 651 Hi
Sodium to mix
with the natural
sodium-vapor
streetlight, he
says. Bottom:
Working onstage,
the crew straps
Russell into a
harness for a
flying sequence.
set, so it feels like a huge labyrinth.
As the boys begin to understand
their newfound powers, they continue to
go about their normal routines. We did
a lot of work in a high school, where we
lit through windows and with fluores-
cents, Jensen explains. We replaced all
the tubes with daylight Kino Flos and
blasted 18K HMIs through the
windows and softened them up. I also
built a little Kino Flo softbox that we
could move around inside to get some
directionless light and fill in the ceiling
fluorescents. For other interiors, we
were often working with large daylight
sources coming in windows, and then
letting the interior practicals play warm.
We were lucky to be shooting in
the winter, he adds. We had a lot of
overcast skies, which helped sell the
Seattle look.
Set in a barn on the outskirts of
town, the rave sequence that opens the
story required one of the productions
most elaborate lighting setups. Jensen
used Kino Flo Image80s with both
traditional tubes and SuperBlue tubes
that mimicked a black-light feel, and he
used deep golds, pinks, reds and vibrant
color washes intermixed with data flash-
ers, all rigged to a dimmer board so they
could be synced with the music. We
also had the extras carry glow sticks, he
says. It was amazing to see what the
Alexa could read on peoples faces from
the glow sticks alone!
As the boys hone their abilities,
they discover that their telekinesis allows
them to fly. We had two weeks of
greenscreen work just for the flying
sequences, Jensen recalls. Ive got a
Power Trip
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48
Jensen lines up
a frame with
director Josh
Trank (right).
great deal of respect for all the filmmak-
ers whove made movies with sequences
like that, because its so difficult to make
it feel real. I felt as though we had a
smaller margin for error in that depart-
ment, though, because of the documen-
tary style of our camerawork. Plus, we
only had four weeks of prep to figure out
how we were going to create the effects
in that style!
The trick was to get some move-
ment from the actors in the rigs and
some movement through the move-
ment of the camera, and then emulate
the sunlight by moving a source around
the actors. We rigged the stage with a
60-by-40-foot softbox with
1
4 Grid
Cloth under it and space lights inside,
all dimmable and controllable. We had
some Xenons for light kicks and high-
lights, and we brought in a 50K SoftSun
on a Lenny Arm as our sunlight source,
which we put on tracks so we could
move it up and down and around our
flying actors.
When production commenced,
HD Hub was the only Cape Town post
facility capable of working with
ArriRaw. It provided the Chronicle team
with DVD dailies, but Jensen preferred
to visit the facility each night and sit
with the colorist, Craig Parker, to set the
look for the days footage. On set I
looked at a Rec 709 image [on a 24-
inch HD monitor] just to get us in the
ballpark for color and exposure, but I
didnt want to be futzing around with
color and contrast on the set, so I
decided to go to HD Hub each night,
he says. In the United States, a lot of
digital-imaging technicians are fairly
well versed in coloring, even though
theyre not colorists, but Ive found thats
less common in Europe and Africa.
Colorist Walter Volpatto handled
the final timing at FotoKem in
Burbank. Id worked with Walter
before, on a feature. Hes got great taste
and hes fast, which came in handy for
the rush at the end of the post sched-
ule, says Jensen. I was only able to time
a few selects of the final to lay the
groundwork, and Josh and Walter
finished the timing while I began prep-
ping another feature.
Chronicle has a crazy style that
took me awhile to get used to, he
concludes. I had to adopt a very techni-
cal mindset rather than base my deci-
sions on character or the emotional
content of a scene. I found myself fight-
ing my instincts a lot, but in time it
became easier, almost second nature. I
like a good challenge like this. It helps
shake things up!
49
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.85:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa; Canon EOS 7D
Angenieux Optimo, Cooke S4
I
n presenting its Career Achievement in Television Award
to Society member William Wages last month, the ASC
recognized a cinematographer who has shot more than 50
TV projects and so far earned eight ASC Award nomina-
tions (winning twice) and two Emmy nominations. This
latest award is the culmination of a journey that began in
Atlanta, Ga.
Wages early school experience was made difficult by
unrecognized dyslexia. His interest in photography was
sparked by his father and fanned into flames by a viewing of
John Hustons Moulin Rouge (1952), photographed by
Oswald Morris, BSC, and an encounter with a copy of
American Cinematographer. The camera-store proprietor saw
the fire in Wages eyes and told him to keep the magazine. He
still has it. I had an epiphany, Wages recalls. I connected the
dots. Somebody actually made these films, and someone actu-
ally photographed and lit them. It was a revelation!
Blazing Trails
Blazing Trails
William Wages, ASC
receives the Societys Career
Achievement in Television
Award after years of
stellar work.
By David Heuring
|
His parents needed an explana-
tion as to what exactly his newfound
obsession entailed, but they were fully
supportive. Soon Wages was shooting
Super 8mm films in the backyard with
his brother, Bob. In one memorable
instance, the camera was crushed by a
car, but Wages was undeterred.
The next step involved a TV
program called The Now Explosion! ,
which aired on a local station. On week-
ends, a lack of programming meant that
Top 40 radio hits were broadcast on
television, usually accompanied by a
variety of images, including videotapes
of dancing teenagers and psychedelic
graphics, or films that were a precursor
to what later became music videos.
Wages made an 8mm film to accom-
pany Simon & Garfunkels Bridge over
Troubled Water; he brought the film, a
projector and the record to the shows
offices, and started everything running
to approximate sync. At the time, I had
just bought a 16mm Bolex with a
25mm lens, but I couldnt afford film to
put in it, he recalls. They liked my
little movie, so they gave me three
three-minute rolls of film, told me to
pick a song and said if they liked what
I did, theyd give me $25. I was in the
film business!
During the summer between his
junior and senior years of high school,
Wages made films for The Now
Explosion! He teamed with Robert
Whitney, the man behind the show,
and Ken Chambliss, an inventor who
owned Video Tape Associates and later
went on to develop the Da Vinci color-
correction systems. By the end of that
summer, I had a Miller tripod, a 12-
120mm zoom lens and $25 in my
pocket, says Wages. I was broke, but I
was rich!
Next Wages enrolled at Georgia
State University in Atlanta, where he
studied fine art and art history on the
advice of Stevan Larner, ASC, whom he
had met on a film set. He landed a
summer photography internship at the I
n
t
o

t
h
e

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e
s
t

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h
o
t
o
s

c
o
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y

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.

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e
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s

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r
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.
Opposite: Director
of photography
William Wages, ASC
on location in
Moab, Utah, for the
ASC Award-
winning project
Riders of the Purple
Sage (1996).
This page: The
cinematographer at
work on Crash
Landing: The
Rescue of Flight 232
(1992), one of the
many projects he
shot for director
Lamont Johnson.
Blazing Trails
Atlanta Journal-Constitution and used
the position to contact every film
production that set foot in Georgia,
saying that the newspaper needed file
photos. Upon gaining access to the set,
Wages would approach the cinematog-
rapher, confess his ruse and ask if he
could learn from him. In this manner, he
began friendships with Society
members Larner and William Fraker, as
well as other cameramen. Those guys
took me under their wings, says Wages.
They let me ask any questions and
never said they were stupid questions.
Even though these were very short peri-
ods of time, they came at critical
moments in my life.
Stevan told me to skip film
school because I already knew the tech-
nical side, he adds. He told me to
study art history and keep shooting,
even if I worked for nothing.
After graduating from Georgia
State in 1976, Wages started freelancing
on locally produced industrials and
commercials. He shot a no-budget
feature with the Bolex that was never
released, but he started gaining some
traction in the commercial arena, even-
tually landing bigger jobs with clients
such as Budweiser. Often he did double
duty as director and cinematographer.
Still, his goal was feature filmmaking, so
he started turning down commercials
and taking on long-form documen-
taries. That led to First Strike, which
included a fake vrit depiction of a
Soviet nuclear strike. The first interview
was with the head of Strategic Air
Command, who allowed the filmmak-
ers unprecedented access to missile silos
in North Dakota and the war room
inside Cheyenne Mountain. Some of
that footage was picked up and used in
the popular ABC miniseries The Day
After, for which Gayne Rescher, ASC
earned an Emmy nomination.
Meanwhile, Wages was trying to
land an agent in Los Angeles. His work
caught the eye of Ray Gosnell, but
Gosnell didnt know how to sell Wages,
given that he lived in Atlanta and was
not a member of the Los Angeles
union. Another year passed, and then
Wages landed an assignment for
Hallmark Hall of Fame, the first of
several he would get over his career.
Resting Place starred Morgan Freeman
and John Lithgow, and it was directed
by John Korty, whom Wages credits
with giving him his first break in
Hollywood. Upon completing it, Wages
approached Gosnell again. I said, Ray,
you represent cinematographers from
Australia, England and Germany, and
Im from the South, which is like
another country. Cant you handle me
just like you do them? We made a deal
Top: Wages at
work with
Johnson, one of
his longtime
mentors, on The
Broken Chain
(1993). Bottom:
Ready for action
on location.
on the phone, and I had an agent.
Wages decided to stay based in
Atlanta for family reasons, but he found
there were other advantages. My wife,
Cathy, and I decided early on to invest
in my career and live well below our
means, which is easier to do in Atlanta,
he says. If I needed to take six months
off or work without pay, I could do it.
Staying there might look like a disad-
vantage, but it helped in many respects.
For one thing, I became known as that
guy in Atlanta!
Once his career began to take off,
opportunities to shoot more telefilms
proliferated. The shoots werent that
long, which allowed me to do more
projects. I also liked that I wasnt gone
for eight months at a time, because I
had four young boys.
One key association Wages made
during this period was with director
Lamont Johnson. Their first collabora-
tion was Gore Vidals Lincoln , which
brought Wages his first ASC Award
nomination (AC April 89), and they
subsequently reteamed for many
projects, including Crash Landing: The
Rescue of Flight 232, Broken Chain, Man
Next Door andVoices Within: The Lives of
Truddi Chase, the latter of which also
earned Wages an ASC nomination (AC
May 91).
Wages was invited to join the
ASC in 1992 after being proposed for
membership by Society fellows Allen
Daviau, Robert Primes and John Hora.
Around this time, he gained another
mentor, director Irvin Kershner, with
whom he made the HBO film
Traveling Man, among others. Lamont
and Kersh were always supportive and
brutally honest with me, and I stayed
Top: With his
WagBags in
position, Wages
(foreground right)
preps a shot for
the miniseries
Into the West
(2005), on which
he shared
cinematographer
duties with Alan
Caso, ASC.
Bottom: Wages
checks the light in
another interior.
friends with both of them until they
passed away, says Wages. They were
my fathers in this business. They told
me the truth instead of what I wanted
to hear. Until the very end of their lives,
they were engaged, involved and excited
about filmmaking. They wanted to
know everything that was going on. I
always ran my important decisions by
them and asked for their wisdom and
advice. It was sometimes painful but
always truthful.
Wages career hit its stride, and
he began taking on projects as fast as he
could shoot them. Between 1987 and
1997, he shot more than 30 telefilms
and pilots, as well as multiple features
and episodes of series. More ASC
nominations followed for Caroline? (AC
May 91), Ill Fly Away (pilot; AC May
92), The Moving of Sophia Myles (AC
May 01) and Miss Lettie and Me .
Wages won ASC Awards in 1997 and
1998 for Riders of the Purple Sage (AC
May 97) and Buffalo Soldiers (AC May
98), respectively. The latter project also
earned an Emmy nomination, as did
Into the West (AC June 05).
Buffalo Soldiers producer Don
Watson asked Wages during that shoot
if he had ever directed. He said he was
doing a pilot, and that if it went to
series, he wanted me to direct an
episode, says Wages. I thought it was
merely a nice gesture, but about four
months later he told me I would direct
Episode 11 of The Magnificent Seven.
Lamont, Kersh and Charles Haid, the
director of Buffalo Soldiers, wrote letters
to the Directors Guild on my behalf. I
asked Lamont what he thought of the
idea, and he said it was wonderful. Irvin,
on the other hand, asked me if I had lost
my mind! I asked him if he thought I
was capable. He said, Of course. The
least experienced person on a television
set is usually the director. But you
already have the best job in show biz
dont blow it! My heart sank, but over
time he gave me his support, and I
directed four episodes of the show.
At first, directing was over-
whelming. I saw the first iteration of
the schedule, and I was shocked by nine
pages a day! he says. I called Kersh and
asked, How do I do this? He said, One
shot at a time. It sounds trite, but its
absolutely true. You have to focus on
Blazing Trails
Clockwise from top left: Wages prepares to capture a shot for Iron Will (1994); on location in
Utah for Riders of the Purple Sage; at work in South Africa for King Solomons Mines (2004).
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each shot and make intelligent compro-
mises. I had never worked with a direc-
tor of photography, so I told Gordon
Lonsdale [ASC], If its okay with you,
Ill block and place the camera because
thats the only way I know how to do it,
but I will never question your lighting in
any way. Gordon said, Great, and it
was a wonderful collaboration.
Soon Wages had to make a deci-
sion. Pursuing a directing path would
mean moving to Los Angeles. What
finally made me choose to continue as a
cinematographer, though, was that I
love shooting so much, he says. I still
get an occasional chance to direct. For
example, I directed and shot the battle
scenes for Gods and Generals [AC March
03], which was the most fun Ive ever
had in the movie business.
In recent years, Wages has taken
on assignments shooting episodic tele-
vision, including stints on the series Big
Love, Surface and Burn Notice. Episodic
is the hardest thing Ive ever done, and I
came away with a whole new respect for
people who do it, he observes. Some
of the most creative work is being done
in that arena, against all odds.
Whether he is shooting or direct-
ing, a healthy dose of spontaneity helps
keep things fresh. When youre flying
without a net, it creates an energy and a
spark, he says. Kersh and Lamont
taught me that when everything is
perfect, you dont get a sense of reality.
Instead of planning everything, you
should let it evolve in front of your eyes
and then jump on in. That keeps every-
body on his toes.
After the first take of the first
scene on the first day of any project,
Lamont would immediately say, Print.
Move on. That got everyones attention
and got the ball rolling. It surprised me
at first, but later he told me it was a
method. And it works. On a TV series,
you work that way because you have to.
Its very hectic, and Ive learned a lot. I
am so much faster now, and I like to
think Im faster without compromising.
There is a way to do that.
Over the course of his career,
Wages has had a hand in developing a
number of tools that contribute to on-set
efficiency and flexibility, including Tiffen
Glimmerglass diffusion filters and two
devices named by his crew, WagFlags
and WagBags. Glimmerglass filters got
their start when Wages began experi-
menting with damaged filters. With
advice from Denny Clairmont, he
soaked them in acetone and separated
them to reclaim the glass. He experi-
mented with graphite and laminated the
filters himself with various optical
cements. Once he achieved the delicate,
net-like diffusion he was after, he gave
sets to Daviau and Steven Poster, ASC.
When I showed them to Ira Tiffen, he
loved the effect, so [his company] came
up with a way to manufacture them,
says Wages. Steve Tiffen has since
combined the Glimmerglass effect with
digital diffusion and created a filter that I
Blazing Trails
56
think makes hi-def video look like
film.
The WagFlag grew out of the
need for flexibility in practical locations.
He explains, Its an 8-by-6-foot flag
covered in black, rip-stop nylon thats 4
feet wide and can be rolled up on the
flag. By using this flag and a C-stand,
you can tease a ceiling bounce off a wall
in a practical location with no rigging.
Believe it or not, we use it at 6 inches all
the time. The WagBag is a 2-by-8-
foot black helium balloon that does the
same job as a WagFlag. For a wider
teaser, I use a black plastic tablecloth
clipped to the balloon with clothespins.
I came up with the balloon idea
when we were shooting in a beautifully
restored Victorian house that had
French hand-blocked silk-screened
wallpaper, Wages recalls. One tiny bit
of damage would have required a
complete repapering, which would have
cost $30,000. As an experiment, I had a
balloon company make the first one. It
worked great, but it cost about $500,
and one was not enough. All my
research says that helium will leak
through Visqueen, but I filled up a
garbage bag and it floated for two days,
which was plenty of time for our
purposes. I rounded up some 2-mil
black plastic, and we started making
them.
Unless theres a tremendous
amount of wind, they settle and stay
put, he notes. I also clip them together
into a U shape, which can be easily reset
when doing the reverse angle.
Thinking back to his education in
art history, Wages notes with irony that
photography changed painting. For
me, painting became more interesting
with the Impressionists, he says.
Impressionism came about as a
response to photography. Prior to that,
everyone wanted to paint as realistically
as possible, but [the Impressionists]
quickly figured out that the camera
could do that better, and that realism
was boring. Of course, there are shining
examples where this isnt true, like
Vermeer and Rembrandt. But for a lot of
painters, it was a technical quest for
perfection in composition and perspec-
tive with little regard for chiaroscuro.
Photography opened their eyes.
Toulouse-Lautrec, one of my
favorites, had a Brownie camera, and you
can see compositional and spatial aspects
of his paintings that came from that
camera and lens. His work is absolutely
astounding. Thinking about that takes
me back to Hustons Moulin Rouge,
which took color, composition and other
cues from his work. When Ossie Morris
won the ASC International Award, I
had the chance to tell him that hes the
reason I became a cinematographer.
Of his own ASC honor, Wages
says, Im deeply grateful. I love being a
cinematographer, and becoming a
member of the ASC was a high point in
my career. This accolade is astonishing,
to say the least.
57
A Wholly
JustifiedHonor
A Wholly
JustifiedHonor
Francis Kenny, ASC receives
the Presidents Award for
his contributions to the
Society and the craft.
By Jean Oppenheimer
|
T
he ASC presents its Presidents Award to an ASC cine-
matographer who has made a significant contribution to
the appreciation, celebration or practice of the art form,
and/or has demonstrated extraordinary service to the
Society. Receiving the honor last month was Francis Kenny,
ASC, who is serving his second term on the Societys Board
of Governors and his 10th year as chairman of its
Membership Committee. He is also busy as the director of
photography for the lauded FX series Justified (AC March
11), his third year in that position.
The ASC benefits from Francis contributions in ways
that go beyond his participation on committees, notes ASC
President Michael Goi. He brings a
spirit of collaboration and camaraderie
to everything he does. This Presidents
Award reflects our deep appreciation
for how his work represents our craft,
and how his selfless contribution of
time to ASC and industry issues moves
[our organization] forward with clarity
and purpose.
Nothing in Kennys background
pointed toward a career in cinematog-
raphy. He was born in Indianapolis,
where his grandfather was a test pilot
for the U.S. government. His mathe-
matician father specialized in corporate
analysis and traveled extensively, so
Indiana became the familys home base.
Still, the family moved frequently
enough that Kenny attended 15 schools
and three colleges. As a child, he
excelled at mathematics and flirted with
the idea of becoming an astronomer.
He was especially close to his
grandfather. I remember my childhood
being a lot of flying, he says with a
smile. I first went up when I was about
six months old. From then until I was
13, Id fly with him twice a week; hed
put my sister and me in the cockpit and
hed fly from the back. We used to think
we were flying the plane.
Despite his enthusiasm for
flying, however, Kenny had no desire to
be a pilot, and he definitely wasnt inter-
ested in being a mathematician. He
didnt know what he wanted to do until
his final semester at college, when he
signed up for his first film course. By
then, he was at Hofstra University,
having already taken classes at Harvard
University and the University of Texas-
Austin.
His film professor, documentar-
ian David Hoffman, expected every
student to make a short film. Kennys
choice of topic was unusual, to say the
least. When I met a Jewish mother for
the first time, I thought I had never met
anything as great as a Jewish mother,
he says. They had so much energy,
such great senses of humor and so
much love. I had never had that in my
life, because everything had been about
math and very serious. I found six
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Opposite: Francis
Kenny, ASC, the
recipient of this
years Presidents
Award, positions a
light on the set of
the series Justified.
This page, top to
bottom: Kenny
films a
documentary about
artist Harry Bertoia
in 1976; Kenny on
location in Venice,
Italy, shooting the
1986 documentary
The Creation of the
Universe; on the set
of Coneheads
in 1993.
terrific Jewish moms who were articu-
late and funny, and made them the
subject of my movie.
Hoffman loved the film, and
when he quit teaching and started a
production company soon thereafter, he
brought Kenny aboard as the director of
photography. Kenny explains his
mentors seemingly impulsive decision:
After winning the critics prize at
Cannes [in 1970], David decided he
hated the film business and switched to
teaching, only to find he hated teaching
even more!
Hoffman landed Exxon-Mobils
commercial account, and for the next
three years, Hoffman, Kenny and a
soundman circumnavigated the globe,
shooting commercials and a variety of
TV documentaries sponsored by the oil
company. Their first shoot was on an
oilrig in the Arctic Circle in
February. It was -80F. We went wher-
ever they were looking for oil, recounts
Kenny. We were in Singapore, Norway
and Iran. What an adventure that was!
Although he continued shooting
documentaries, which he still calls my
passion, Kenny also began shooting
music videos and other corporate
commercials. He transitioned into
fictional filmmaking in 1984, when Ed
Lachman, ASC, hired him to be the
camera operator on Desperately Seeking
Susan. Kennys first feature as director of
photography, the hit independent film

A Wholly Justified Honor
Top: Kenny (right)
and documentarian
David Hoffman (in
white shirt) in
Sumatra in 1976.
Middle: Kenny
shoots a
documentary in
Herat, Afghanistan,
in 1983.
Bottom: The
cinematographer
prepares to get an
aerial view for the
1986 documentary
Riders in the Wind
(Aboard the
Calypso).
There is a reason
why youre telling a
story a certain way
with your camera
and with light.
Heathers (ACNov. 88), came three years
later. (His credits also include the
features New Jack City , Shes All That,
Scary Movie, Harriet the Spy and Jasons
Lyric ; the telefilm Sweet Bird of Youth ;
and the documentaries The Creation of
the Universe, Riders in the Wind (Aboard
the Calypso) and He Makes Me Feel Like
Dancin. The latter was an Academy
Award winner.)
When Kenny moved from New
York to Los Angeles to concentrate on
feature work, he called the local office of
the International Cinematographers
Guild and told them he would like to
join. Theyre probably still laughing
about it, he says, shaking his head at his
own navet.
Kenny has a wonderful sense of
humor about himself, and has no
qualms confessing gaffes he has made
along the way. The first major-studio
project he shot was a TV series called
The Flash. Someone came up to me and
asked if I needed greens. I thought he
was talking about ficus trees, and said,
No, I dont think so. Turns out, of
course, he was talking about green beds
that cost about $80,000 to put up. The
guy went back to the producer and said,
This guys brilliant; he just saved us
$80,000. A week before shooting, I
announced, Im going to need some way
to put lights up there. The guy looked at
me like I was a moron and said, I asked
you that before.
Even after 30 years as a cine-
matographer, Kenny still gets excited
about what you can achieve through
the power of an image. There is a reason
why youre telling a story a certain way
with your camera and with light.
Justified has a wonderful texture the
characters have dirt under their finger-
nails, their jeans are 10 years old so I
light in a way I call asymmetrical. On
most shows the actors are perfectly lit,
but the producers on Justified let me use
toplight. Its not smooth and perfectly
wrapped; instead, it looks real, and that
makes the story better. Of course, I
couldnt do any of it without my remark-
able crew.
Kenny maintains that nothing

Top: Kenny and
director Nicolas
Roeg on location for
the telefilm Sweet
Bird of Youth in
1989. Middle: The
cinematographer
quenches his thirst
while Roeg checks
the frame and star
Elizabeth Taylor
readies herself for
the scene at hand.
Bottom: Kenny lines
up a shot with
co-star Valerie
Perrine.
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looks as good as film, but he has enthu-
siastically embraced digital capture,
shooting the first two seasons of Justified
on Sony cameras and the current season
on the Red Epic. (He calls the latter a
21st-century miracle.) He likes shoot-
ing with four or five cameras simultane-
ously because it facilitates a continuity
in the acting. There is something magi-
cal when you shoot that way, and I have
learned not to compromise the light.
I refuse to use a DIT [digital-
imaging technician], he continues. I
dont want somebody else telling me
what [the image] should look like. I give
the card to a crewmember who down-
loads the data. Sometimes Ill follow a
little histogram. When I start to color
time, I throw away the look-up tables
every single one of them. I know
what the latitude is. Besides, if you
shoot raw images, you have a wider
palette to color correct. Id rather do that
work in a color suite than when Im
dealing with the pressure of the set.
Kenny joined the ASC in 1998,
after he was proposed for membership
by Robert Stevens, Sol Negrin and
Sandi Sissel. He refers to the Society as
the advanced school of cinematogra-
phy [because you learn so much] from
the other members. Some are 3-D
specialists, some excel at comedies,
others at dark movies.
He recently sat down with Owen
Roizman, ASC, and watched the
remastered version of The Exorcist,
which Roizman shot in 1973. To levi-
tate Linda Blair, they used a form-
fitting harness that suspended her from
the ceiling with four wires, relates
Kenny. I went right up to the TV and
said, Owen, where are the wires? He
said, Ill tell you a trick. Its a black wire,
but every other inch I painted white.
He had created an optical illusion that
your eye couldnt focus on. Now, do you
know any other place in the world
where you could learn something like
that? Thats whats magical about the
ASC!
Roizman, an ASC vice president
who also serves as vice chairman of the
Membership Committee, describes
Kenny as a very gentle soul and, at the
same time, very tough. Thats a rare
combination. He is a fantastic father to
his daughter, Kate, and hes a terrific still
photographer. He knows all about
printing, Photoshop, all those things
that I seem to take so much time to
figure out.
Kenny considers Roizman both a
mentor and a close friend. I listen to
Owen a lot, and not just about artistic
and technical matters. He taught me
that there are times when I need to keep
my mouth shut. If I feel somebody is
out of line, even in the ASC, I usually
want to confront them, but dont. Owen
has taught me that those types of argu-
ments dont really go anywhere.
However, he is always up for a
robust discussion. We have a lot of
spirited political conversations, affirms
Richard Crudo, an ASC vice president,
but we dont come away from them
feeling like weve been through a battle.
Francis is a good listener.
Crudo, who does second-unit
and additional photography on Justified,
considers Kenny one of the [most]
underrated cinematographers working
today. He has an artists eye and a terrif-
ically discerning taste on what will work
in the context of a scene. But he doesnt
blow his own horn; he likes to do his
work and go home.
Thats because Kenny considers
his most important role to be that of
father to Kate, his 10-year-old. Goi
marvels at how Francis balances being
a world-class cinematographer and a
first-class father without sacrificing
either in terms of importance. Before
Kate started school, she always accom-

Left: Kenny demonstrates working with the Red Epic to fellow ASC members (clockwise
from left) Daryn Okada, Richard Crudo, Owen Roizman and Steven Fierberg.
Above: Kenny and Doug McHenry, co-director of House Party 2 (1991), discuss a shot.
panied her father on location; today he
only takes jobs that shoot in Los
Angeles. Kate notes, The place weve
been to most often is Vancouver.
Like her father, Kate is an avid
reader. When she spoke to AC, she and
her father were on their way to a book-
store. Asked what she would like people
to know about her father, she thinks a
moment and then declares, He is really
awesome.
Kennys self-assessment is a bit
more complex. I know my limitations
both as an artist and as a human being,
he says. My hope is that I keep learning
and getting better. Will I ever be as good
as Owen or Caleb [Deschanel, ASC] or
[Vittorio] Storaro [ASC, AIC]? I dont
know. Whats important is that I strive
to be the best that I can be.
With his inquisitive mind, wide-
ranging interests and passion for learn-
ing, Kenny is a modern-day
Renaissance man. A voracious reader, he
can chat about everything from the
latest medical research to Edith
Whartons obsession with symmetry.
Roizman and Crudo both admit to
being constantly amazed by his
remarkable breadth of knowledge.
Kenny sees himself as a Will
Rogers kind of guy. I assume everyone is
a good person. I like people. I like hear-
ing what they have to say. Nevertheless,
he has no illusions about the state of the
world. Its sad. I talked to some kids the
other day who didnt know where
Vietnam is. And look at todays
economic [problems], and then remem-
ber what helped [lead] to World War II.
A bankrupt country looks for somebody
to blame.
Still, he holds tightly to his opti-
mism. I have faith that things will get
better, he says. Besides, whats our
choice? Its bleak out there. You have to
be optimistic.

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Top: Kenny and
camera operator
Eric Roizman find
their frame on the
set of Justified.
Middle: Key grip
Richard McCormick
awaits the next
take with Kenny.
Bottom: "My hope
is that I keep
learning and
getting better,"
says Kenny.
"What's important
is that I strive to
be the best that
I can be."
Negotiating the Best Shooting Format
By Vincent De Paula
Many years ago, when I decided I wanted to be a cine-
matographer, I looked to paintings as a strong visual reference. I
discovered Vermeers masterly treatment of light, de Hoochs use of
color and perspectives, Caravaggios chiaroscuro, and Monets
Impressionist style. I learned about the techniques these painters had
used to master their craft, and the tools they applied to their work.
Like other artists, cinematographers must understand the
tools that can be applied to our work, choose the tools that best suit
the story at hand, and apply those tools in ways that will maximize
their distinct characteristics. Because we are responsible for the look
of our projects, choosing the right format should be an essential part
of the process.
A couple of years ago, I flew to London to meet with direc-
tor Kelly Smith, who was looking for a cinematographer to shoot his
debut feature, Dont Let Him In. It was a low-budget independent
production, so the word digital arose quite frequently in our
conversation. We talked for a long time, discussing a lot of visual
references and the style Kelly had in mind for his movie.
Because of the projects budget (just under $1 million), the
producers had already decided on digital acquisition. When I read
the script, though, it became clear to me that shooting on film
would be more appropriate; the story had a very organic feel, and
most of the references Kelly and I discussed were films from the
1970s, such as Straw Dogs (1971). I knew I would have to struggle
to achieve that look with a digital format, and I believed film would
not only help us obtain the desired look, but also give us better
production value. It would give us a texture, color rendition, charac-
ter and resolution that no other format could, so I really pushed for
it. I didnt want to hear, Lets shoot on the Red and make it look
like film.
I decided Super 16mm would be the best format to help us
achieve the visual texture Kelly and I had discussed. To persuade the
producers that this was the right path, I had to show them that the
movies style was perfectly suited to film acquisition, and I also had
to prove that shooting film would be cost-effective. Producers often
cite the costs of processing negative and transferring footage when
they argue for digital capture, and one of the reasons I successfully
made a case for shooting Super 16mm was that it turned out to be
more cost-effective.
There are many hidden costs in digital acquisition, and these
combine to contradict the notion that it is a cheaper way to shoot.
When Im on a digital shoot, it seems to take more people to get the
same job done. You must also use expensive HD monitors, numer-
ous hard drives and a lot of cabling, whereas on a film shoot, I just
need a feed for the directors monitor (if he requires one). I can there-
fore move more quickly, saving production money.
Furthermore, the post path for projects that originate on film
is seamless and proven, whereas with digital files and hard drives,
the same work is a bit more complicated and technically challeng-
Filmmakers Forum
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Mandy (Gemma
Harvey) makes
her case in the
feature Dont Let
Him In. During
preproduction,
cinematographer
Vincent De Paula
made his own
case for why the
feature should
be shot on Super
16mm film.
ing. Most of the time, this results in a longer
post process and the need to involve more
people.
I have found that film-originated
features get more attention and support,
and this proved to be true for Dont Let Him
In. My contacts at Kodak were willing to
give us a fantastic deal on film stock, and
iLab in London gave us a great deal for the
processing and transferring of the negative.
Film-camera packages proved to be
cheaper to rent, and there was no need for
all the monitors, cards, hard drives, cabling
and tents. On the post end, Technicolor
London gave us a deal on the digital inter-
mediate. Overall, with the deals we got and
our workflow, it proved to be about 15
percent less expensive to shoot Super
16mm than to shoot with a high-end digi-
tal camera.
Of course, my choice was not based
on cost alone, but also on aesthetics. Dont
Let Him In follows two couples spending a
weekend in the English countryside, where
they cross paths with the wrong person.
The main setting was a Buckinghamshire
cottage whose rooms were all very small
and confined, with no places to rig any
lighting.
This precarious situation was actually
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De Paula (at camera) snaps a digital photo as a
reference for the colorist while director Kelly Smith
(left) studies the scene.
a good fit for the look we wanted, because
we were after a claustrophobic feel with a
minimal, naturalistic lighting style. The story
called for fairly dark environments, and the
budget meant that our lighting package
would be quite small. This was one of the
strongest points I made in my argument for
shooting film: film would enable us to do
faster setups on location, and I could really
dig into the shadows.
An example of this was a scene we
shot at dusk under a lot of foliage from
nearby trees. The light was fading very
quickly, and I didnt want the actors to lose
the rhythm of the scene, so instead of
switching from the film stock we were
using, Vision2 200T 5217, to a faster one,
Vision3 500T 5219, I carried on shooting,
knowing that the information would still be
there on the negative. Although I was
underexposed by as much as 2 or 3 stops,
the rushes proved me right.
Under these extreme lighting condi-
tions, I knew where the exposure would be
on the negative, and I knew how I could
manipulate that information later on in
post. Had I shot that scene on a digital
format, I probably would have spent time
playing with the settings in the cameras
menus, compromising the look while slow-
ing the production down and losing the
available light.
Also, I have found that although
digital cameras, especially the latest ones,
are very good at seeing in low-light condi-
tions, the resultant image can have digital
noise and other artifacts. Many times I find
it hard to rescue information from the
blacks when color correcting a digitally orig-
inated image. At the time we started prep-
ping Dont Let Him In, I wasnt happy with
the noise and quality of the blacks we could
get from a Red One shooting at our low
light levels.
As we began seeing our rushes
during the shoot, everyone was really
thrilled about the look of the picture. They
realized film had been the right choice. In
post, it was a huge advantage to be able to
go back to the negative, color correct on
the latest Baselight system in front of a 14'
screen, and have all of that picture informa-
tion in the negative. In the end, we
produced a picture that has the look and
style we envisioned from day one.
Its worth repeating: cinematogra-
phers are responsible for the look of the
stories we shoot, and we should be given
full responsibility when it comes to choosing
the format. In Kellys own words, The deci-
sion to shoot on 16mm [gave the movie] a
richness and depth that digital video hasnt
simulated yet. The [result] will look a lot
more expensive than it really was.
I want to believe that I can continue
to choose the proper formats for the
projects I shoot. It is one of the many
creative decisions cinematographers make,
and it is crucial to the success of our work.
In addition to the
films cramped
cottage location,
De Paula had to
contend with
night exteriors
while working
with a small
lighting package.
This was one of
the strongest
points I made in
my argument for
shooting film,
he says. Film
would enable us
to do faster
setups on
location, and I
could really dig
into the
shadows.
Elation Launches LED Display Panel
Elation Professional has introduced the EPV6 LED display
panel. Equipped with 3-in-1 Tri-Color SMD LEDs, this 6mm indoor
video panel features 2,500-nit brightness and a wide viewing angle
to produce extraordinarily clear, sharp, high-resolution videos,
graphics, text, special effects and other images.
The EPV6 boasts a slim cabinet design that
measures 22.7"x22.7" and a light weight of only
31 pounds, making it easy to transport and fit into
a variety of applications. Integrated onboard
power and data, along with fast and easy panel-
to-panel connections, allow users to quickly
assemble a video screen of any size.
Each EPV6 panel comes equipped with Ether-
con input-output for the video signal, with either
port having the capability to be used as an input
or output, allowing for extremely versatile setup.
The panel also features Powercon in/out for power
link. Additionally, each panel includes its own
built-in multi-voltage electronic power supply
offering 100-240-volt auto switching power.
Featuring a 6mm pixel pitch, the EPV6
contains 96x96 pixels (9,216 total) per panel and
a total of 27,777 pixels per square meter. Mini-
mum viewing distance for a crystal-clear image is
16.5'. The panels high-output 3-in-1 SMD LEDs measure 3.5mm x
2.8mm and have a long-life rating of 100,000 hours for reliable,
low-maintenance operation. Additionally, each panel consumes just
390 watts of electricity at maximum use, and 255 watts at average
use.
An integrated rigging system with fly bar and an optional
ground support structure are also available, offering multiple setup
options.
For additional information, visit www.elationlighting.com.
32Ten Studios Opens Doors
A group comprising former employees of Kerner Optical and
Industrial Light & Magic have announced the launch of 32Ten
Studios. The employee-owned venture is based at the former site of
ILM, 3210 Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael, Calif., and is headed by
industry veterans Tim Partridge, who serves as president, and Greg
Maloney, COO.
32Ten Studios will reopen the legendary ILM soundstage and
make it available for rent to all Bay Area film, television, commercial
and multimedia projects. The stage is approximately 6,000 square
feet and boasts a 20' high, two-walled coved greenscreen.
Adjacent to the soundstage is the 32Ten Theatre, a 138-seat
New Products & Services
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.
state-of-the-art screening room. Clients can rent the screening
room, as well as offices for wardrobe, makeup and production.
32Ten Studios will also offer fabrication services from full sets to
models and miniatures, drawing on the talent of the many model
makers and special-effects technicians in the area. A complete CG
pipeline will also be available to complete the practical shots.
32Ten Studios is a collaborative venture, one that will hope-
fully attract other service providers and filmmakers in need of a
vibrant location for their projects, says Partridge. We wanted to
make this unique stage available to everyone and also provide a
place where the uniquely talented artists in the area can come
together and create amazing work.
For additional information, visit www.32ten.com.
Rosco Rotates Gobos
Rosco has introduced a range of smart and silent Gobo
Rotators.
The Gobo Rotators feature complete DMX control and
indexing, even, in some models, without the need for an external
power supply. The Rotators are also all equipped with re-
cently developed high-
temperature silicon belt
drives to keep them
quiet at any operating
speed. Additionally, the
versatile and ultra-reli-
able Rotators stepper
motors are precise even
at the slowest speeds.
All of the Rotators can accept any gobo type, be it steel, litho glass
or effects glass, and an innovative threaded collar makes gobo
installation quick and easy.
For additional information, visit www.rosco.com.
Encore Adds New York Location
Encore, a Deluxe Entertainment
Services Group company, has announced its
expansion into New York. The move builds
on the companys long-established West
Coast network of postproduction facilities
for television, including Encore in Holly-
wood and sister facility Level 3 in Burbank,
Calif.
Encores New York location is based
out of Deluxes state-of-the-art facility and
offers the same high-caliber, cutting-edge
television post and visual-effects work
Encore in Hollywood is known for. Encores
New York visual-effects group makes use of
a highly skilled pool of local artists and
cutting-edge technology.
Having a location in New York and
working as a unified group is especially
exciting for all of us at Encore, says Bill
Romeo, senior vice president of television
for Deluxe. With television production in
New York growing at a compelling rate, the
timing is perfect for our move here. New
York TV productions now have easy access
to Encore-quality services with the ability to
make use of local tax incentives.
For additional information,
visit www.encorevideo.com and
www.bydeluxe.com.
Control Dailies Settles into
Nice Shoes
MTI Film Hollywood and Nice Shoes
New York have entered into a strategic rela-
tionship, dubbed Control Dailies at Nice
Shoes, to offer entertainment television
producers a digital dailies service for
episodic television shows originating in New
York and finishing on either coast.
According to MTI CEO Larry Cher-
noff and Nice Shoes CEO Dominic
Pandolfino, the relationship is the latest
chapter in a long history of cooperation and
friendship between the two companies.
Ive known Dominic for [more than] 25
years, says Chernoff. Two years ago,
when I decided to open MTIs service busi-
ness, I called Dominic to let him know I was
back in the game. Theres friendship, trust
and tremendous respect for each other and
the organizations we represent.
Pandolfino adds, Weve wanted to
extend our successful commercial post
To ensure rapid content delivery from
one location to another, the satellite office is
fully integrated with FotoKems GlobalData
platform, which facilitates delivery of
content via a secure Internet connection.
GlobalData can be linked directly to editing
rooms, creative offices, company media
centers or any location worldwide.
FotoKem customers shooting in the
region have prompted this expansion, says
FotoKem vice president Mike Brodersen.
The need for local, file-based postproduc-
tion and location mobile services is growing
as the state enjoys record-breaking produc-
tion stimulated by tax incentive programs.
We are looking forward to helping filmmak-
ers streamline post in the southeast region
with NextLab and experienced on-ground
staff.
Tom Vice, vice president and general
manager of FotoKems NextLab division,
says, The file-based workflow is increasingly
entrenched in the filmmaking process, and
the need for powerful and reliable tools
grows exponentially. We are excited to
bring our decades of postproduction experi-
ence to the region, and provide local support
for one of the most advanced tools the
industry has to offer.
The NextLab division of FotoKem
focuses on developing new and efficient
workflows of the highest quality while
addressing the unique challenges of the vari-
ous digital camera technologies on the
market. The division has developed propri-
etary file-based workflow software that
securely stores media, archives to LTO and
provides quality-control tools, offering access
to metadata, audio syncing, color manage-
ment and transcoding.
FotoKems NextLab Mobile systems
are built on NextLab software, and consist of
integrated, portable units that bring power-
ful postproduction capabilities on set or near
location. An extension of the companys in-
house technological advancements and
professional services, NextLab Mobile units
can be deployed to assist with streamlining
workflow and the dailies process and provid-
ing fast delivery to editorial and finishing.
The expansion into New Orleans is
being overseen by industry veteran Peter
Santoro, FotoKems vice president of feature
and commercial services. For more informa-
tion, visit www.fotokem.com.
IQstor Goes Big With IQ-XL
Storage-solutions provider IQstor has
introduced the IQ-XL, the latest in the
companys emerging line of high-perfor-
mance RAID storage systems. It is an ideal
product for multi-streaming HD/2K/4K video
formats for digital content creation, postpro-
duction, broadcasting and off-line archival
applications.
The 16-bay IQ-XL is designed to offer
unparalleled performance with built-in video-
streaming technology that eliminates frame
drops. The system can scale to maintain a
sustained throughput well in excess of 4,000
MB/s at an affordable price. With eight 8-gig
FC ports in a dual active/active controller
configuration, the IQ-XL can readily support
an eight-user production workgroup. The
system can also scale via expansion chassis to
support up to 720 TB. For transaction-inten-
sive database applications, the IQ-XL provides
up to 500,000 IOPS. The system is also
CommandSoft FibreJet Certified.
For additional information, visit
www.iqstor.com.
GoPro Enhances CineForm
Studio Software Line
GoPro has released the latest version
of its professional family of 2-D and 3-D
production software, GoPro CineForm
Studio, CineForm Studio Premium and Cine-
Form Studio Professional, all of which add
powerful features that will appeal to
consumers and professionals alike.
This announcement represents a
significant milestone in GoPros efforts to
provide a complete camera-to-software solu-
tion for 2-D and 3-D productions for its entire
customer base, says David Newman,
GoPros senior director of software engineer-
ing. The updated GoPro CineForm Studio
software line has huge implications, not only
for consumers and enthusiasts, but for
professional cinematographers and filmmak-
ers who are increasingly embracing new
camera technologies to help them tell their
stories in ever more exciting and unique
ways. The new software maintains an intu-
itive user interface for basic tasks but also
services into the entertainment area for some
time now, so partnering with MTI provides
both companies with added ability to service
customers in this very important space.
At the core of their cooperation will be
the Control Dailies service with a high-speed
Internet connection between the two cities,
which will ensure that customers receive on-
time and compatible dailies. Unique to the
operation will be a real-time connection
between the two facilities, allowing for coast-
to-coast interaction. This will allow our
customers on both coasts to be able to see
their images in high-quality video when
needed, says Chernoff.
MTI has been at the leading edge of
digital dailies technology for 10 years, says
Pandolfino. When no one else was thinking
about digital dailies, I remember Larry being a
lone voice in the post wilderness evangelizing
the virtues and efficiency of tapeless dailies
workflows. My partner, Chris Ryan, and
Robert Keske, our chief information officer,
flew to L.A. to demo the product. Their
conclusion was that Control Dailies is the best
and most complete solution theyve seen in
the space.
At the heart of our choice to collab-
orate with Nice Shoes was the fact that while
being a leader in the creative space, they also
have a reputation of having a strong technol-
ogy backbone, says Chernoff. Im very
happy that we were able to bring together
this relationship, and that Nice Shoes will
house our technology in New York. Knowing
the creative and engineering talent Nice
Shoes brings to the partnership ensures that
our Los Angeles-based customers will be well
served.
www.niceshoes.com and www.mtifilm.com.
FotoKem Expands NextLab
to Louisiana
FotoKem has opened a satellite office
in New Orleans, La., to support local produc-
tions and provide quick deployment of its
award-winning NextLab services and exper-
tise. The downtown location, near the French
Quarter, provides a range of postproduction
services and support, with an infrastructure
for file-based dailies, file-delivery services and
offline editorial systems. FotoKem is currently
working with multiple television productions
and feature films in the region.
provides sophisticated Active Metadata-
driven capabilities that slipstream into the
most advanced production pipelines in the
industry.
Available for both Mac and Windows
platforms, GoPro CineForm Studio enables
users of every skill level to adjust aspect ratios
and instantly correct distortions that
frequently occur when resizing images. For
high-impact, dramatic time-lapse sequences,
CineForm Studio now enables users to add
key frames anywhere in the video, and add
effects such as pan and zoom to introduce
movement and drama to time-lapse
sequences. Other new features include auto-
matic recognition for 3-D videos for YouTube
uploads, auto-update of HD Hero2 camera
firmware, and support for popular .mov and
.mp4 video formats to bring in content from
other camera systems.
For professionals, GoPro has also
strengthened its CineForm Studio Premium
and CineForm Studio Professional applica-
tions. CineForm Studio Premium captures the
most popular features of both CineForms
Neo HD and Neo 3D into a single solution
ideal for 2-D and 3-D broadcast and feature
production. CineForm Studio Professional
extends even more powerful stereo 3-D post
capabilities and is optimized for multi-camera
stereo rigs. Additional features include a new
and improved user interface; non-destructive
color correction, reframing/image manipula-
tion and 3-D correction; support for a wide
range of consumer and professional 2-D and
3-D video cameras; and support for HD and
beyond. Additionally, CineForm Studio Profes-
sional offers independent eye control for
professional 3-D camera rigs.
GoPro CineForm Studio Premium is
priced at $299 and CineForm Studio Profes-
sional is priced at $999; both can be down-
loaded from www.cineform.com.
www.gopro.com.
SilhouetteFX Updates
Visual-Effects Suite
SilhouetteFX LLC has released Silhou-
ette v4.5, the latest iteration of its rotoscop-
ing, paint, keying and visual-effects suite. All
Silhouette capabilities are stereo enabled,
and v4.5 features OpenColorIO color
management.
Developed by Sony Pictures Image-
works, OCIO manages color transforma-
tions and image display in a consistent
manner across multiple graphics applica-
tions. Unlike other color-management solu-
tions, OCIO is geared toward motion-picture
postproduction, with an emphasis on visual-
effects and animation color pipelines.
Color management is one of the
trickiest and most challenging aspects of
digital motion-picture production, says
Marco Paolini, partner at SilhouetteFX and a
veteran visual-effects artist. This is particu-
larly true of visual effects and animation,
where images often flow through multiple
software applications and production
houses, each often using [its] unique color
processes. Virtually every facility must rein-
vent a color workflow, for every application,
which is hard to get right. OpenColorIO
addresses this critical issue.
By providing a unified color environ-
ment, OCIO greatly simplifies the task of
creating and validating multi-application
color workflows. For smaller facilities, Open-
ColorIO allows artists to work in a properly
color-managed process with minimal effort.
For larger facilities, off-the-shelf OCIO
compatible tools can be extensively
customized, matching existing facility color
practices.
Silhouette v4.5 is a free feature
release to current v4 customers. New
licenses start at $995. For more information,
visit www.silhouettefx.com.
75
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78
New York production houses. I was soon
working on industrials, documentaries,
independent features and a variety of TV
projects. Then came TV commercials, which
have dominated a great deal of my career.
Johnkes growing body of work
attracted attention in Hollywood, and in
1956, Ray Fern-
strom, ASC recom-
mended Johnke for
ASC membership.
Johnke was voted
into the Society on
Sept. 10, 1956.
Graciously accept-
ing the honor, he
wrote to the Board
of Governors, I am
very proud and
pleased at this occa-
sion, and I shall always do my best to be a
good member of your organization.
Around the same time, Johnke
served as vice president of Astor Pictures
Corp., where he produced and shot the
opera pictures La Traviata and Cavalleria
Rusticana, both of which were
photographed in Eastmancolor.
Johnke held successive positions as a
staff cinematographer at Robert Lawrence
Productions, E.U.E. Screen Gems and
TeleVideo Inc. In 1962, he revived Illustra,
opening facilities in New York and at the
Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood. In
1968, he took a job as staff cinematogra-
pher for M.P.O. of California.
In 1973, Johnke moved to Toronto,
Canada, to work for Glen Warren Produc-
tions, and he lived in that area for the rest
of his life. He taught cinematography at
Ryerson Universitys School of Image Arts.
He also co-created and co-produced the
educational video series Craft of Cine-
matography.
Johnke is survived by his son, Erik,
and three grandchildren.
Jon D. Witmer
Torben Johnke, ASC, a Clio Award-

winning cinematographer who shot more
than 2,000 commercials in addition to
features, shorts and documentaries, died
Dec. 25, 2011, at the age of 89.
Johnke was born on April 5, 1922, in
Copenhagen, Denmark. His interest in
photography was
sparked when he
inherited a camera
from his brother,
and he followed his
growing passion
through to the
Robertson School
of Photography
and the Danish
Polytechnic Univer-
sity, where he stud-
ied photochemistry
and optics. He also earned a Master of
Photography degree from the Copenhagen
Institute of Technology.
Johnke worked as an apprentice to
cameraman Hans Robertson before form-
ing his own company, Illustra Films, in 1943.
Illustra produced commercials, shorts and
animation. In a 2008 conversation with AC,
Johnke recalled his time at Illustra: I
contacted Technicolor in London to rent a
successive-frame Technicolor camera. They
were unable to provide one, but they sent
me the blueprints for the construction of
one. In an antique store, I managed to find
a camera built by Path in 1905. Using it as
a basis, I built a successive-frame camera,
photographed a cartoon and sent the nega-
tive to London, where it was processed and
returned with comments about the excel-
lent quality of the negative.
By 1948, Johnke felt ready for a
change. I had the urge to get out and see
the world, he told AC. I arrived in New
York in the spring of 1948 and planned to
go straight to Hollywood, but friends
convinced me to stay. At that time, very few
features were produced in New York, but
there was work on independent produc-
tions of many kinds. Fortunately, I had a
35mm sample reel that gave me an entry to
Torben Johnke, ASC, 1922-2011
In Memoriam
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79
American Society of Cinematographers Roster
OFFICERS 2011-12
Michael Goi,
President
Richard Crudo,
Vice President
Owen Roizman,
Vice President
John C. Flinn III,
Vice President
Victor J. Kemper,
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich,
Secretary
Stephen Lighthill,
Sergeant-at-Arms
MEMBERS
OF THE BOARD
John Bailey
Stephen H. Burum
Richard Crudo
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
Fred Elmes
Michael Goi
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Isidore Mankofsky
Robert Primes
Owen Roizman
Kees Van Oostrum
Haskell Wexler
Vilmos Zsigmond
ALTERNATES
Michael D. OShea
Rodney Taylor
Ron Garcia
Sol Negrin
Kenneth Zunder
Allen Daviau
Roger Deakins
Jan DeBont
Thomas Del Ruth
Bruno Delbonnel
Peter Deming
Jim Denault
Caleb Deschanel
Ron Dexter
Craig Di Bona
George Spiro Dibie
Ernest Dickerson
Billy Dickson
Bill Dill
Anthony Dod Mantle
Stuart Dryburgh
Bert Dunk
Lex DuPont
John Dykstra
Richard Edlund
Eagle Egilsson
Frederick Elmes
Robert Elswit
Geoffrey Erb
Scott Farrar
Jon Fauer
Don E. FauntLeRoy
Gerald Feil
Steven Fierberg
Mauro Fiore
John C. Flinn III
Larry Fong
Ron Fortunato
Jonathan Freeman
Tak Fujimoto
Alex Funke
Steve Gainer
Robert Gantz
Ron Garcia
David Geddes
Dejan Georgevich
Michael Goi
Stephen Goldblatt
Paul Goldsmith
Frederic Goodich
Victor Goss
Jack Green
Adam Greenberg
Robbie Greenberg
Xavier Grobet
Alexander Gruszynski
Changwei Gu
Rick Gunter
Rob Hahn
Gerald Hirschfeld
Henner Hofmann
Adam Holender
Ernie Holzman
John C. Hora
Tom Houghton
Gil Hubbs
Clark Mathis
Don McAlpine
Don McCuaig
Seamus McGarvey
Robert McLachlan
Geary McLeod
Greg McMurry
Steve McNutt
Terry K. Meade
Suki Medencevic
Chris Menges
Rexford Metz
Anastas Michos
Douglas Milsome
Dan Mindel
Charles Minsky
Claudio Miranda
George Mooradian
Donald A. Morgan
Donald M. Morgan
Kramer Morgenthau
Peter Moss
M. David Mullen
Dennis Muren
Fred Murphy
Hiro Narita
Guillermo Navarro
Michael B. Negrin
Sol Negrin
Bill Neil
Alex Nepomniaschy
John Newby
Yuri Neyman
Sam Nicholson
Crescenzo Notarile
David B. Nowell
Rene Ohashi
Daryn Okada
Thomas Olgeirsson
Woody Omens
Miroslav Ondricek
Michael D. OShea
Anthony Palmieri
Phedon Papamichael
Daniel Pearl
Edward J. Pei
James Pergola
Dave Perkal
Lowell Peterson
Wally Pfister
Bill Pope
Steven Poster
Tom Priestley Jr.
Rodrigo Prieto
Robert Primes
Frank Prinzi
Richard Quinlan
Declan Quinn
Earl Rath
Richard Rawlings Jr.
Frank Raymond
Shane Hurlbut
Tom Hurwitz
Judy Irola
Mark Irwin
Levie Isaacks
Peter James
Johnny E. Jensen
Frank Johnson
Shelly Johnson
Jeffrey Jur
Adam Kane
Stephen M. Katz
Ken Kelsch
Victor J. Kemper
Wayne Kennan
Francis Kenny
Glenn Kershaw
Darius Khondji
Gary Kibbe
Jan Kiesser
Jeffrey L. Kimball
Adam Kimmel
Alar Kivilo
David Klein
Richard Kline
George Koblasa
Fred J. Koenekamp
Lajos Koltai
Pete Kozachik
Neil Krepela
Willy Kurant
Ellen M. Kuras
George La Fountaine
Edward Lachman
Ken Lamkin
Jacek Laskus
Denis Lenoir
John R. Leonetti
Matthew Leonetti
Andrew Lesnie
Peter Levy
Matthew Libatique
Charlie Lieberman
Stephen Lighthill
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
John Lindley
Robert F. Liu
Walt Lloyd
Bruce Logan
Gordon Lonsdale
Emmanuel Lubezki
Julio G. Macat
Glen MacPherson
Paul Maibaum
Constantine Makris
Denis Maloney
Isidore Mankofsky
Christopher Manley
Michael D. Margulies
Barry Markowitz
Steve Mason
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Thomas Ackerman
Lance Acord
Lloyd Ahern II
Herbert Alpert
Russ Alsobrook
Howard A. Anderson III
Howard A. Anderson Jr.
James Anderson
Peter Anderson
Tony Askins
Charles Austin
Christopher Baffa
James Bagdonas
King Baggot
John Bailey
Michael Ballhaus
Andrzej Bartkowiak
John Bartley
Bojan Bazelli
Frank Beascoechea
Affonso Beato
Mat Beck
Dion Beebe
Bill Bennett
Andres Berenguer
Carl Berger
Gabriel Beristain
Steven Bernstein
Ross Berryman
Michael Bonvillain
Richard Bowen
David Boyd
Russell Boyd
Jonathan Brown
Don Burgess
Stephen H. Burum
Bill Butler
Frank B. Byers
Bobby Byrne
Patrick Cady
Antonio Calvache
Paul Cameron
Russell P. Carpenter
James L. Carter
Alan Caso
Michael Chapman
Rodney Charters
James A. Chressanthis
T.C. Christensen
Joan Churchill
Curtis Clark
Peter L. Collister
Jack Cooperman
Jack Couffer
Vincent G. Cox
Jeff Cronenweth
Richard Crudo
Dean R. Cundey
Stefan Czapsky
David Darby
www.theasc.com March 2012 81
Tami Reiker
Robert Richardson
Anthony B. Richmond
Bill Roe
Owen Roizman
Pete Romano
Charles Rosher Jr.
Giuseppe Rotunno
Philippe Rousselot
Juan Ruiz-Anchia
Marvin Rush
Paul Ryan
Eric Saarinen
Alik Sakharov
Mikael Salomon
Harris Savides
Roberto Schaefer
Tobias Schliessler
Aaron Schneider
Nancy Schreiber
Fred Schuler
John Schwartzman
John Seale
Christian Sebaldt
Dean Semler
Ben Seresin
Eduardo Serra
Steven Shaw
Richard Shore
Newton Thomas Sigel
Steven Silver
John Simmons
Sandi Sissel
Bradley B. Six
Michael Slovis
Dennis L. Smith
Roland Ozzie Smith
Reed Smoot
Bing Sokolsky
Peter Sova
Dante Spinotti
Terry Stacey
Ueli Steiger
Peter Stein
Tom Stern
Robert M. Stevens
David Stockton
Rogier Stoffers
Vittorio Storaro
Harry Stradling Jr.
David Stump
Tim Suhrstedt
Peter Suschitzky
Alfred Taylor
Jonathan Taylor
Rodney Taylor
William Taylor
Don Thorin
John Toll
Mario Tosi
Salvatore Totino
Luciano Tovoli
Jost Vacano
Theo Van de Sande
Eric Van Haren Noman
Kees Van Oostrum
Checco Varese
Ron Vargas
Mark Vargo
Amelia Vincent
William Wages
Roy H. Wagner
Ric Waite
Mandy Walker
Michael Watkins
Michael Weaver
Jonathan West
Haskell Wexler
Jack Whitman
Gordon Willis
Dariusz Wolski
Ralph Woolsey
Peter Wunstorf
Robert Yeoman
Richard Yuricich
Jerzy Zielinski
Vilmos Zsigmond
Kenneth Zunder
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Alan Albert
Richard Aschman
Kay Baker
Joseph J. Ball
Amnon Band
Carly M. Barber
Craig Barron
Thomas M. Barron
Larry Barton
Wolfgang Baumler
Bob Beitcher
Mark Bender
Bruce Berke
Bob Bianco
Steven A. Blakely
Mitchell Bogdanowicz
Michael Bravin
William Brodersen
Garrett Brown
Ronald D. Burdett
Reid Burns
Vincent Carabello
Jim Carter
Leonard Chapman
Mark Chiolis
Denny Clairmont
Adam Clark
Cary Clayton
Dave Cole
Michael Condon
Robert B. Creamer
Grover Crisp
Peter Crithary
Daniel Curry
Ross Danielson
Carlos D. DeMattos
Gary Demos
Mato Der Avanessian
Kevin Dillon
David Dodson
Judith Doherty
Cyril Drabinsky
Jesse Dylan
Jonathan Erland
Ray Feeney
William Feightner
Phil Feiner
Jimmy Fisher
Scott Fleischer
Thomas Fletcher
Gilles Galerne
Salvatore Giarratano
Richard B. Glickman
John A. Gresch
Jim Hannafin
William Hansard
Bill Hansard, Jr.
Richard Hart
Robert Harvey
Josh Haynie
Charles Herzfeld
Larry Hezzelwood
Frieder Hochheim
Bob Hoffman
Vinny Hogan
Cliff Hsui
Robert C. Hummel
Roy Isaia
George Joblove
Joel Johnson
John Johnston
Marker Karahadian
Frank Kay
Debbie Kennard
Milton Keslow
Robert Keslow
Douglas Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Timothy J. Knapp
Karl Kresser
Chet Kucinski
Chuck Lee
Doug Leighton
Lou Levinson
Suzanne Lezotte
Grant Loucks
Howard Lukk
Andy Maltz
Steven E. Manios, Jr.
Steven E. Manios, Sr.
Peter Martin
Robert Mastronardi
Joe Matza
Albert Mayer, Jr.
Bill McDonald
Karen McHugh
Andy McIntyre
Stan Miller
Walter H. Mills
George Milton
Mike Mimaki
Michael Morelli
Dash Morrison
Nolan Murdock
Dan Muscarella
Iain A. Neil
Otto Nemenz
Ernst Nettmann
Tony Ngai
Mickel Niehenke
Jeff Okun
Marty Oppenheimer
Walt Ordway
Ahmad Ouri
Michael Parker
Warren Parker
Dhanendra Patel
Kristin Petrovich
Ed Phillips
Nick Phillips
Joshua Pines
Carl Porcello
Howard Preston
David Pringle
Phil Radin
Christopher Reyna
Colin Ritchie
Eric G. Rodli
Domenic Rom
Andy Romanoff
Frederic Rose
Daniel Rosen
Dana Ross
Bill Russell
Kish Sadhvani
David Samuelson
Steve Schklair
Peter K. Schnitzler
Walter Schonfeld
Wayne Schulman
Juergen Schwinzer
Steven Scott
Alec Shapiro
Don Shapiro
Milton R. Shefter
Leon Silverman
Garrett Smith
Timothy E. Smith
Kimberly Snyder
Stefan Sonnenfeld
John L. Sprung
Joseph N. Tawil
Ira Tiffen
Steve Tiffen
M A R C H 2 0 1 2
Arthur Tostado
Jeffrey Treanor
Bill Turner
Stephan Ukas-Bradley
Mark Van Horne
Richard Vetter
Dedo Weigert
Franz Wieser
Evans Wetmore
Beverly Wood
Jan Yarbrough
Hoyt Yeatman
Irwin M. Young
Michael Zacharia
Bob Zahn
Nazir Zaidi
Michael Zakula
Les Zellan
HONORARY MEMBERS
Col. Edwin E. Al drin Jr.
Neil A. Armstrong
Col. Michael Collins
Bob Fisher
David MacDonald
Cpt. Bruce McCandless II
Larry Parker
D. Brian Spruill
Gantz Joins Society
New active member Robert Gantz,
ASC credits a film class he took during his
freshman year at the University of Michigan
with sparking his love for cinema. He went
on to earn a bachelors degree in film and
television from the university while shooting
commercials for local businesses in his spare
time.
Gantz was then accepted into the
American Film Institutes cinematography
program, and after graduating he found
steady work as a gaffer. He transitioned into
cinematography by way of music videos
and soon began shooting commercials. He
shot hundreds of videos and spots for direc-
tors such as Gore Verbinski, Michael Bay
and Matthew Rolston, and then got his
feature break on Renny Harlins Mind-
hunters.
Gantz has shot three features for
director Jean-Franois Richet: Assault on
Precinct 13, Mesrine: Killer Instinct and
Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (AC Sept. 09).
His other credits include the feature Lake
City and episodes of the series CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation, The Forgotten, Dark
Blue and Chase. Most recently, he shot the
pilot and first season of the series Hart of
Dixie.
Kirkland, Bumler, Mrtin
Named Associates
New associate member Mark Kirk-
land is a three-time Emmy-winning direc-
tor, an independent filmmaker and a
vintage-movie-camera collector with a
passion for cinematography. He began
making Super 8 films and working for his
father, ASC associate Douglas Kirkland,
when he was in his early teens, and he
earned a bachelors degree from the film
school at CalArts. He began his professional
career as a storyboard/layout artist and crew
supervisor at Hanna-Barbera Productions;
he has worked as a producer/director in the
advertising arena; and he currently holds
the record for directing the most episodes
of The Simpsons. Kirkland is also assisting
Steve Gainer, ASC with the curation of the
Societys camera collection.
Wolfgang Bumler and Peter
Mrtin, managing directors of Vantage
Film, have joined the Society as associate
members. Lifelong friends, Bumler and
Mrtin fell in love with filmmaking when
they were both 7 years old. While Mrtin
focused on his Super 8 camera, Bumler
began learning how to frame shots, and
before long he was developing film in the
family bathtub. They were both fascinated
with lens optics and the mechanics of
cameras, and Bumler pursued those inter-
ests as a camera assistant and cinematogra-
pher, while Mrtin went on to direct. They
regularly collaborated on commercials and
short films, and in 1993 they founded
Vantage Film to address filmmakers tech-
nological needs. The company is renowned
for numerous technical innovations, includ-
ing Hawk anamorphic lenses and the
Vantage PSU-3 Digital Video Assist system.
In addition to its headquarters in Weiden,
Germany, Vantage has offices in Paris,
Prague and Berlin.
Seale, Lachman Honored
at Camerimage
The 2011 Plus Camerimage Interna-
tional Film Festival of the Art of Cinematog-
raphy included special honors for John
Seale, ASC, ACS and Ed Lachman, ASC.
Seale was presented with the Life-
time Achievement Award, and Lachman
and director Todd Haynes shared the Cine-
matographer-Director Duo Award. The
festival program included screenings of
several of Seales feature films, as well as
screenings of Lachman and Haynes collab-
orations, Far from Heaven (for which Lach-
man won the Camerimage Silver Frog), Im
Not There (a Bronze Frog winner) and the
TV miniseries Mildred Pierce.
Clubhouse News
P
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Top to bottom: Robert Gantz, ASC; associate
member Mark Kirkland; Ed Lachman, ASC
on the set of Mildred Pierce.
When you were a child, what film made the strongest
impression on you?
The Red Balloon (1956) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most
admire?
Robert Krasker, BSC and Gregg Toland,
ASC for their groundbreaking, beautiful
and inspiring work. David Watkin, BSC
for his innovative use of bounce lighting
and the Wendy Light. Roger Deakins,
ASC, BSC for his ability to adapt his
lighting style to complement the narra-
tive. Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC for his
use of delicate, soft and realistic source
lighting.
What sparked your interest in
photography?
Picking up my dads Leica and learning by
taking pictures of just about anything. He
had a contact at the lab, so my film
processing was free.
Where did you train and/or study?
After college, I started as a film loader and learned by watching
and working with other technicians. I was lucky to learn my craft
in a practical environment. I learned early on the importance of
understanding all the various jobs within a film crew.
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
My father, Peter Taylor, an Academy Award-winning film editor,
inspired me to enter the film industry. Paul Wilson, BSC gener-
ously shared his vast knowledge with me. Stanley Kubrick taught
me the importance of careful composition. Over the years, highly
talented camera assistants, operators, key grips and gaffers
helped me hone my craft.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
Photographers: Henri Cartier-Bresson and Frank Capra. Automo-
bile designers: Ettore Bugatti,Delahaye and Malcolm Sayer.
Music: R&B and classic rock. Painters: Turner, Constable and
Vermeer.
How did you get your first break in the business?
I started as a film loader at Century 21, a company best known
for producing the British TV show Thunderbirds.
What has been your most satisfying moment on a
project?
Directing and shooting the second unit on Captain America: The
First Avenger. The dual role was challenging, but a fantastic
experience.
Have you made any memorable
blunders?
Very early on in my career, I asked a person
I assumed was a production assistant to
perform a menial task, only to discover
later that day that he was, in fact, the films
director.
What is the best professional advice
youve ever received?
Stay calm, listen, observe and lead by
example.
What recent books, films or artworks
have inspired you?
Denise Minas crime-novel trilogy based in
Glasgow, and the films A Single Man, True
Grit (2010)and Midnight in Paris.
Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would
like to try?
I would like to shoot a low-budget drama that is meaningful and
has a great human story and a great soundtrack like Ameri-
can Graffiti.
If you werent a cinematographer, what might you be
doing instead?
Classic-car restoration.
Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for
membership?
Bill Pope, Russell Carpenter and Philippe Rousselot.
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
As a second-unit director of photography and, more recently, a
second-unit director, I get to work with many talented ASC
members, each with a unique and clever way of shooting. As a
result, I come off of each film with a stronger sense of knowl-
edge. Its always a humbling experience.
Jonathan Taylor, ASC Close-up
R E E D MOR ANO
ONFILM
To order Kodak motion picture lm,
call (800) 621-lm.
Eastman Kodak Company, 2012.
Photography: 2012 Douglas Kirkland
I love looking through the viewnder
because Im transported to another
world where I just fall into the story
and forget about everything else. The
idea that where the camera is placed,
how it moves and how the light falls in
the scene can inuence the audiences
emotions is what inspires me when I
work.
As I begin to read a script, I start to see
fragments of images in my mind and the
most fascinating part of the process is
guring out how to make those pictures
come to life. Finding a directors unique
vision and bringing it to fruition really
making sure that each story is told
in its own organic wayis dif cult, but
very gratifying. You can conjure up so
many diferent reactions with the way
you decide to execute a scene. A single
moment on screen that you created can
have a massive efect on people. Thats
an incredible feeling.
Reed Morano started out shooting short
lms and documentaries. Her feature
lm credits include Frozen River, Yelling
to the Sky, Little Birds, For Ellen, The Magic
of Belle Isle, Free Samples and Autumn
Blood, and the documentary features Of
the Grid: Life on the Mesa and Shut Up
and Play the Hits. Reed was recognized
as one of Varietys 10 Cinematographers
to Watch and is a recipient of the Kodak
Vision Award for cinematography.
For an extended Q&A with Reed Morano,
visit www.kodak.com/go/onlm.

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MARCH 2012

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