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AMC_0807_p002

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08_07 toc

6/30/07

2:04 PM

Page 3

The International Journal of Film & Digital Production Techniques

Features 32
44
54
62

Let There Be Light

Alwin Kchler, BSC launches a life-or-death space
mission in the sci-fi epic Sunshine

Rock Em, Sock Em Robots

Mitch Amundsen uses big toys to bring Transformers
to the big screen

Ghost Writer
Benot Delhomme, AFC creates a haunted
hotel room for 1408

44

Dance Fever
Bojan Bazelli brings a stylized Sixties aesthetic
to the lively musical Hairspray

Departments
On Our Cover:
A physicist named
Capa (Cillian Murphy)
joins a group of
astronauts on a mission
to reignite Earths dying
sun in Sunshine, shot by
Alwin Kchler, BSC.
(Photo by Alex Bailey,
courtesy of Fox
Searchlight Pictures.)

8
10
16
22
72
76
86
88
90
91
92
94
96

Editors Note
Global Village
DVD Playback
Production Slate
Short Takes
Post Focus
New Products & Services
Points East
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up

54

62

Visit us online at

www.theasc.com

08_07 masthead p4

7/3/07

1:43 PM

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A u g u s t

2 0 0 7

V o l .

8 8 ,

N o .

The International Journal of Film & Digital Production Techniques Since 1920

Visit us online at

www.theasc.com

PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter

EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Douglas Bankston
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Robert S. Birchard, John Calhoun, Bob Davis, Bob Fisher, Simon Gray,
Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Noah Kadner,Ron Magid, Jean Oppenheimer,
John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Elina Shatkin, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich, Kenneth Sweeney,
Patricia Thomson, David E. Williams, Jon D. Witmer

ART DEPARTMENT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore
DESIGN ASSOCIATE Erik M. Gonzalez

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CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina
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American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 88th year of publication, is published
monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.
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POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.

AMC_0507_p015

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1:04 PM

Page 1

08_07 board

6/29/07

1:32 PM

Page 6

We make the movies

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The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but

an educational, cultural and professional
organization. Membership is by invitation
to those who are actively engaged as
directors of photography and have
demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC
membership has become one of the highest
honors that can be bestowed upon a
professional cinematographer a mark
of prestige and excellence.

OFFICERS - 2007/2008
Daryn Okada
President

Michael Goi
Vice President

Richard Crudo
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Owen Roizman
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Victor J. Kemper
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Michael Negrin
Secretary

John Hora

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MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

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Owen Roizman
Dante Spinotti
Kees Van Oostrum
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ALTERNATES
John Hora
Stephen Lighthill
Matthew Leonetti
Russ Alsobrook
Sol Negrin
MUSEUM CURATOR

Steve Gainer

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1/24/07

11:13 AM

Page 1

ONE-YEAR FILMMAKING PROGRAM

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08_07 editor's note

6/30/07

1:54 PM

Page 8

Dale Brooks, ABC-TV / Walt Disney Co

Editors Note

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8

Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor

Photo by Douglas Kirkland.

ight is the primary tool of all cinematographers, and this

months cover movie generates suspense with their
biggest source: the sun. In Sunshine, a visually ambitious sci-fi thriller shot by Alwin Kchler, BSC for director
Danny Boyle, a group of astronauts is sent on a life-ordeath mission to revive Earths dying star. But before the
crewmembers of the spacecraft Icarus II can save the
world, they must confront not only daunting logistical
problems, but horrific fallout from a previous failed
mission.
In Jay Holbens detailed piece on the production
(Let There Be Light, page 32), Boyle says he became
very interested in not just washing the audience with light, but actually reaching out to
them, through them, with light. To accomplish this, Kchler employed a number of clever
techniques, including the capture of dazzling sun flares that could be incorporated into
the shows CG elements by visual-effects supervisor Tom Wood. I think the relationship
between the cinematographer and the visual-effects supervisor should be just as close
as the relationship between the cinematographer and the production designer, says
Kchler. Everyone brings a different taste, aesthetic and experience to a film, and its
important that youre all working from the same philosophy and toward the same goals.
The goal of integrating CG effects into live-action photography is this months
special theme, and few films highlight the challenges more than Transformers. Cinematographer Mitch Amundsen knew director Michael Bay would stop at nothing in his
pursuit of explosive action involving the tales giant robot combatants, and he interfaced
closely with visual-effects supervisor Scott Farrar and special-effects supervisor John
Frazier to realize Bays vision. Having previously served in the trenches on Bays second
units, Amundsen clearly understood the importance of good preparation: Michael never
stops shooting, he tells AC scribe Noah Kadner (Rock Em, Sock Em Robots, page 44).
We were often doing more than 50 setups a day.
Benot Delhomme, AFC also confronted the specter of CG effects on the horror
film 1408, in which a skeptical writer (John Cusack) must endure a nightmarish stay in
an aggressively haunted hotel room. The movie contains some 350 effects shots, but
Delhomme had already forged a smooth working relationship with visual-effects supervisor Sean Farrow on a previous project. This time around, they worked together to lend
extra menace to the evil rooms paranormal attacks. Many elements normally associated with exteriors, such as rain, fire and ice, all come into play in this interior,
Delhomme notes in his interview with London-based correspondent Mark Hope-Jones
(Ghost Writer, page 54).
Hairspray uses much merrier strategies to entertain audiences. In helping to
adapt the 2002 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical for the big screen, cinematographer Bojan Bazelli came to the conclusion that every element lighting, costumes,
choreography, and so on had to be slightly surreal in order to make it not seem so
strange that the characters were singing to each other rather than talking. Bazelli saved
a dance for AC senior editor Rachael Bosley, who put him through his paces during an
impressively thorough interview (Dance Fever, page 70).

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08_07 global village

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Page 10

Global Village
Day Watch Continues Russias Supernatural Showdown
by David E. Williams

he recently released Russian film Day

Watch continues the story introduced
in Night Watch, which was a major
box-office success upon its release in
Russia in 2004. Day Watch (Dnevnoi
dozor) finds our hero, the vampiric Anton
(Konstantin Khabensky), being hunted by
dark forces as he tries to locate the Chalk
of Fate, a magical relic with the power to
change history. Meanwhile, he also
grapples with the notion that his son,

10 August 2007

Yegor (Dmitry Martynov), has become a

powerful dark force.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
and photographed by Sergei Trofimov,
Night Watch and Day Watch are based
on a trilogy of best-selling novels by
Sergei Lukyanenko. The premise is that
members of a supernatural race
(witches, vampires, lycanthropes, etc.)
must choose between a life of good or
evil, light or darkness. A delicate state of
dtente exists between the opposing
forces, casting mere mortals in the
middle. In Night Watch, Anton decided to
join the light and become a member of
the Night Watch, a vigilant team tasked
with patrolling the streets of modern-day
Moscow and keeping dark evildoers on
their side of the law.
When Trofimov met Bekmambetov, the cinematographer was on a very
different career path. He had recently
graduated from the Moscow Institute of
Management and was working at an
automobile factory, but I knew my
career in management was over, he

says. I wanted creative freedom, and I

had started to learn about still photography and cinematography from two
teachers, Arkady Nissky and Yakov Davidovich Feldman. At the time, Bekmambetov was working on a TV movie in
Odessa, and Trofimov joined the production as a camera assistant, though my
real job was shooting stills.
Trofimov gained experience
observing cinematographer Rifkat Ibragimov. He was one of the most famous
Soviet cinematographers in Central
Asia, and he was a real artist and very
expressive in his work. Trofimov later
found work as a camera operator at a
state-controlled TV station. Three years
of that gave me the foundation I
needed, he says. When I was 28, I got
my first assignment as a cinematographer. The project was Bekmambetovs
directorial debut, Peshawar Waltz, a
drama about Soviet POWs trapped in
Afghanistan. I was the second-unit
director of photography, and it was a
great opportunity: four months of hand-

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Right: Tamerlan
and his warriors
battle their way
to the Chalk of
Fate, whose
bearer can
change the
course of history.
Below: Director
of photography
Sergei Trofimov
makes a point
about his next
composition.

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Because the F350 has time lapse, slow shutter and over and undercranking, I got more
creative options and my client got higher production value for the budget, Humeau says.

With XDCAM HD, we shot a big show on a tight budget.

Thierry Humeau, director of photography and president of Tlcam Films recently
used his PDW-F350 XDCAM HD camcorders to create Bombs, Bullets & Fraud, a
documentary on the US Postal Service Inspectors for Smithsonian Networks, a
new HD TV channel from Smithsonian Institution and Showtime Networks.
They needed a big movie that had to meet their high standards of quality on a
fairly tight budget, Humeau says.Some scenes we shot movie-style with a big crew,
dollies and jibs. Some are ENG-style, following cops at night. Some are highly
produced interviews. In every instance, the XDCAM HD camcorder came through.
The shows producer, Tim Baney of Baney Media is also a fan. He says, The camcorder is very producer-friendly. You can
instantly play back a scene on the LCD monitor and say okay, good, lets move on to the next take. Its a huge time saver
and safety net that gave me confidence, knowing we got it in the can.
And the Smithsonian Networks reaction? They love it, says Baney.In fact, theyre already talking to us about another film.
To see a trailer of Bombs, Bullets & Fraud and find out how to receive up to $500 back on the purchase of an XDCAM HD
camcorder, visit sony.com/xdcam.

2007 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Features and specifications are subject
to change without notice. Sony and XDCAM are trademarks of Sony. Smithsonian Networks is a joint venture of Smithsonian Institution and Showtime Networks.

08_07 global village

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Page 12

Right:
Yegor (Dima
Martynov) and
Alisa (Zhanna
Friske)
celebrate the
boys birthday,
when he will
become a Great
Other with
formidable
powers.
Below: Yegors
transformation
begins.

held night shooting in Kazakhstan in the

mud and dirt, with all this war action
going on.
At this time, the capitalist market
in Russia was just taking off, and there
was a sudden need for commercials. I
call it Russias romantic period of
commercial production, because we
worked directly with clients, and they all
wanted something extraordinary, says
Trofimov. Timur and I started a production company with a composer, Alexan-

12 August 2007

der Voitinsky, and a producer, Dmitry

Yourkov, and we started shooting. Of
the nearly 350 ads to his credit, Trofimov
points to a 16-spot series they did for
Imperial Bank as a favorite. They were
short historical movies about czars and
emperors, and they were shot in different countries on good budgets.
In 2003, Trofimov and Bekmambetov started production on Night
Watch. Originally, it was going to be
one feature film followed by a TV
series, recalls Trofimov. The budget
was very tight, so we divided the picture
into sections, with interiors to be shot
on 35mm and exteriors on 16mm. The
first scenes we shot were winter exteriors that actually ended up in Day
Watch. So we started production on
Night Watch by shooting its sequel!
Using Arri cameras and Zeiss
Ultra Prime lenses, Trofimov began
shooting with Kodak Vision 320T 7277,
but when Kodak introduced the Vision2
line I moved over to [500T] 7218, which
had even less grain and more latitude. I
never had to push it because it had

enough sensitivity to shoot even in the

nighttime streets of Moscow. For one
car chase, we couldnt use any additional light, so we just shot at 18 fps,
which gave us enough exposure using
fast [T1.3] lenses. I shot interiors on
5218. He adds that most of Day Watch
was shot in Super 35mm.
The most difficult part of the
production was trying to find a balance
between reality and an art-house look,
because all these mystical events in the
film take place in the real Moscow. For
that purpose, I tried to be realistic with
the lighting, especially with Anton, as
he is the hero. We also purposefully
tried to use real locations or build sets
that could exist. We also decided that
everything would be very colorful, very
contrasty; this was a large responsibility
for our production designers, from the
bright green offices of the Night Watch
to the golden wallpaper of the Hotel
Cosmos.
Built for the 1980 Olympic
Games, the Cosmos was just one major
Moscow landmark used in the films.

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Right: Eyepopping
stuntwork
lends energy to
the narrative.
Below: The
budding
romance
between
Svetlana
(Maria
Poroshina, left)
and her Light
Other mentor,
Anton
(Konstantin
Khabensky,
right), takes a
surreal turn
when Anton
exchanges
bodies with
one of
Svetlanas
female
colleagues.

We tried to use familiar and famous

places whenever possible, from the
Kremlin to the subways, because that
reality would help the fantasy elements
stand out. However, one real-world
dilemma faced by the filmmakers was
solved by the addition of fantasy. In the
film, there is a parallel universe where
Anton chases a Dark Other. This
sequence was shot at dusk in very low
light, and focus was very difficult, so a
few shots were a little too soft. We
couldnt reshoot the scene, but Timur
came up with a way to solve the problem: adding clouds of mosquitoes. So as
the main image goes soft, mosquitoes
fill the frame in sharp focus! It was a
good solution, and we used it a couple

14 August 2007

times when we had focus trouble.

Trofimov credits his second-unit
cinematographers Levan Kapanadze,
Maxim Shinkarenko, Lena Ivanova and
Ruslan Gerasimenko with helping
both films run smoothly. As we moved
further into production, I learned how to
more effectively use the second unit,
and to trust them, he says. When we

started, I thought I could do it all myself,

like on commercials, but thats very difficult, especially when time is tight. He
also credits Ulugbek Khamraev for
shooting the extensive period flashback
filmed in Kazakhstan that opens Day
Watch, and Andrey Makarov for the
outlandish scene in which a character
races a sports car across the curved
faade of the Hotel Cosmos.
Trofimov recently completed
Mongol, which he shot in China and
Kazakhstan for director Sergei Bodrov.
The film, which depicts the 12th-century
exploits of Genghis Khan, is scheduled
for U.S. release in December. I never
thought I would become a cinematographer, he muses. I always loved
movies, and cinema always played a
great role in the old Soviet Union. In the
famous words of Lenin, Cinema is the
most important of all arts. But I never
thought I would have the opportunities I
have now.
I

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DVD Playback
The Sergio Leone Anthology:
A Fistful of Dollars; For a Few
Dollars More;
The Good, The Bad and
The Ugly;
Duck, You Sucker! (1964-1971)
2.35:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital 5.1
MGM Home Entertainment,
$89.98
In an interview featured on The
Sergio Leone Anthology, biographer
Christopher Frayling asserts that Leone
deserves to be ranked in the pantheon of
great directors with John Ford and Stanley Kubrick. After watching the four classics contained in this boxed set, few
movie buffs will find it possible to argue
with Fraylings claim. These classics
from the directors most creatively fertile
period have been given fine new transfers and are accompanied by hours of
previously unreleased supplementary
material. (MGM is also selling the titles
separately.)
The set begins with A Fistful of
Dollars, a Western remake of Yojimbo
that established Leone and star Clint
Eastwood as international icons. It also
introduced the directors characteristic
motifs: an impressionistic manipulation
of time and space, human experience
stripped to its most brutal impulses, and
sound design aiming for emotional truth
over literal reality. In this film and its
sequel, For a Few Dollars More, cinematographer Massimo Dallamano (cred16 August 2007

ited in the first movie as Jack Dalmas)

used the 2-perf Techniscope format, a
widescreen process that was both
economical and aesthetically appropriate. In an insightful commentary track,
Frayling analyzes the style and provides
details about the production.
Like all of the films in this set, A
Fistful of Dollars includes a second disc
packed with supplements that are
educational and entertaining. Frayling
contributes a featurette in which he
expands upon some of the ideas
addressed in the commentary track, and
Eastwood provides further context in a
separate interview. Another featurette
includes remembrances by three of
Leones collaborators: producer Alberto
Grimaldi, screenwriter Sergio Donati,
and actor Mickey Knox. (Additional interviews with Frayling, Eastwood, Grimaldi,
Donati and Knox are featured on the disc
of supplements that accompanies For a
Few Dollars More.)
For the 1977 TV broadcast of A
Fistful of Dollars, network execs required
a new prologue that would give the films
violence a moral justification, and to that
end they hired Monte Hellman to direct
some new footage. The filmmaker
created an opening in which he shot
around a new actor disguising the
fact that it wasnt Eastwood by framing
the hero from the back and below the
waist and gave all the lines to a
lawman played by Harry Dean Stanton.
This sequence and an interview with
Hellman are included in this package.
Dallamanos dynamic juxtaposition of faces in extreme close-up and
landscapes in glorious long shots continues in For a Few Dollars More, which
features more densely composed frames
and even more elliptical storytelling than
Fistful. In addition to the aforementioned
supplements, For a Few Dollars More
contains a commentary track by Frayling
and a featurette on the alternate release

versions of the film.

The movies epic scope allows it
to serve as a transition to the even
grander The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly (photographed by Tonino Delli
Colli, ASC, AIC), which appears in this
set in the same extras-laden special
edition that was released in 2004.
The highlight of the set for Leone
enthusiasts is the DVD debut of the
1971 release Duck, You Sucker! (a.k.a.
A Fistful of Dynamite). This ambitious
tale of the collaboration between an
apolitical thief and a troubled ex-IRA
explosives expert is perhaps Leones
most underrated film. Cinematographer
Giuseppe Ruzzolini keeps the intimate
and the social elements in perfect
balance, often contextualizing interpersonal relationships against epic backdrops in a logistically elaborate tale of
revolutions implications for society and
the individual. Frayling discusses the
films politics and Leones aesthetic
development on his commentary track
and in a separate interview.
Other supplements include an
interview with Donati, a look at the
Leone exhibition that was mounted in
2005 at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, and
featurettes on the movies restoration
and locations. (Locations featurettes
accompany both Dollars pictures as
well.) An additional documentary
explores the different cuts of Duck, You
Sucker! The film was drastically shortened for its U.S. release, and Leones
original 157-minute cut is the version
presented on this DVD.
This sets bonus materials also
include radio spots and theatrical trailers for all four films.
Aside from some unfortunate
flaws in the source material (particularly in Duck, You Sucker!), the transfers
are generally solid, with great tonal
range and subtlety in the evocatively lit

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#3TYLE?!3#?!$?2PDF

0-

08_07 dvd playback

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Page 18

close-ups as well as clarity and detail in

the sweeping vistas. The soundtracks
have all been superbly remastered; the
psychological complexity of Leones stylized sound design remains intact, with
separation that is effective but not
distracting.
Jim Hemphill

Matador (1986)
1.85:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital Monaural
Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment,
$117.95 (Viva Pedro boxed set)
In a key scene in Pedro Almodvars brazen thriller Matador, beautiful,
high-powered attorney Maria (Assumpta
Serna) sits in her car applying lipstick on a
steamy afternoon in Madrid. In her mirror,
she catches a glimpse of a sinister man
whom she hopes is following her. He is.
Maestro Diego Montes (Nacho Martinez),
a retired matador who now teaches aspiring bullfighters, is infatuated with Maria,
and follows her into a movie theater
where Duel in the Sun is playing. During
the final sequences of the torrid melodrama, Maria and Diego exchange smoldering glances and comments, then flee
to his mansion. There, among Diegos
matador paraphernalia, these two sexual
predators begin a dark and passionate
affair.
Both are obsessive-compulsive
murderers; he is sexually aroused by
killing some of his female students, and
she, a longtime fan of his, emulates his
deft bull-killing skills on unsuspecting
young men. They make a great match, but
their affair is complicated by one thing:
Maria is representing one of Diegos
students, Angel (Antonio Banderas), who
has turned himself in for attempting to
rape Diegos girlfriend, Eva (Eva Cobo).
18

Filled with shame and self-hatred, Angel

begins to boast that he has killed the
women who have disappeared from his
matador class and buried them in Diegos
garden. With several women missing,
young men turning up dead, and a confused
Angel claiming to be responsible, the local
detectives know something doesnt add up.
Fortunately, an imminent solar eclipse will
present the key to all of these mysteries.
Unusual plot devices, over-the-top
melodrama, and exotic sexual obsessions
are all trademarks of Almodvars work, but
his acute sense of visual style and his flair
for light and color are perhaps his most
acclaimed gifts. Matador, his sixth feature,
has a rich color scheme that favors violent,
passionate reds, ranging from Diegos alluring cape to Marias provocative lipstick. To
make the film, Almodvar turned to cinematographer ngel Luiz Fernndez, AEC,
who had previously shot four of his
features, including Dark Habits and
Labyrinth of Passion. Matadors lighting
scheme, while generally soft and romantic,
is filled with noirish shadows that help
underscore the sense of danger and
intrigue.
This passionate, beguiling cult film
has been unavailable for U.S. home
screens for several years, existing only in
scarce VHS and laserdisc versions. It
recently made its Stateside DVD debut in
Sonys boxed set Viva Pedro: The Almodvar Collection. (It is not for sale as a single
title.) This picture transfer is the best homevideo version to date, a marked improvement over the cheaply pressed laserdisc
and the Region 2 DVD released in Europe,
both of which suffered from poor contrast
and muted colors. This new DVD fully
fleshes out Fernandezs layered reds and
warm shadows, and although red is a color
often plagued with chroma noise problems
in the digital domain, Sony has done a good
job of re-creating the correct image
balance; there is barely a trace of chroma
noise in the deepest hues.
Slightly tight framing of the 1.85:1
image trims a sliver of picture information
a flaw that was also present on the
laserdisc and European DVD. Although this
flaw is seldom noticeable during the
feature presentation, it slightly crops the
end titles. The monaural soundtrack is solid

AMC_0607_p043

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S U P E R M A N R E T U R N S DP: Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC . D: Bryan Singer

C L I C K DP: Dean Semler, ACS, ASC . D: Frank Coraci FLYBOYSDP: Henry
Braham, BSC . D: Tony Bill SCARY MOVIE 4DP: Thomas E. Ackerman, ASC . D: David Zucker
A P O C A LY P T O DP: Dean Semler, ACS, ASC . D: Mel Gibson L A M A I S O N D U B O N H E U R
DP: Jean-Marie Dreujou, AFC . D: Dany Boon E M P T Y C I T Y DP: Russ T Alsobrook, ASC
D: Mike Binder G R I N D H O U S E DP: Robert Rodriguez . Ds: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino
A T I G E R S TA L E DP: Seamus Deasy . D: John Boorman D E J V U DP: Paul Cameron
D: Tony Scott NEXTDP: David Tattersall, BSC . D: Lee Tamahori THE LOOKOUTDP: Alar Kivilo, ASC
D: Scott Frank T H E F E R RY M A N DP: Aaron Morton . D: Chris Graham A S T R I X DP: Theirry
Arbogast, AFC . D: Frederic Forestier B A L L S O F F U R Y DP: Thomas Ackerman, ASC
D: Robert Ben Garant BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOURE DEAD DP: Ron Fortunato . D: Sidney
Lumet C O N D E M N E D DP: Ross Emery . D: Scott Wiper H I S M A J E S T Y M I N O R
D & DP: Jean-Jacques Annaud S L I P S T R E A M DP: Dante Spinotti, AIC, ASC . D: Anthony Hopkins
R E V E N G E O F T H E N E R D S DP: Lukas Ettlin . D: Kyle Newman T H E C O M E B A C K S DP: Tony
Richmond . D: Tom Brady T H E O T H E R B O L E Y N G I R L DP: Kieran McGuigan . D: Justin Chadwick
I N O W P R O N O U N C E Y O U C H U C K A N D L A R RY DP: Dean Semler, ACS, ASC . D: Dennis Dugan
S U P E R B A D DP: Russ T. Alsobrook, ASC . D: Greg Mottola I K N O W W H O K I L L E D M E
DP: John R. Leonetti . D: Chris Sivertson T H E T O U R I S T DP: Dante Spinotti, AIC, ASC
D: Marcel Langenegger

f e a t u r e

f i l m s

NIGHT STALKERDPs: Bob Primes, ASC, Rick Maguire, Sandy Sissel, ASC (SERIES)
C O N V I C T I O N DPs: Ernie Holzman, ASC ( P I L O T ) . John Thomas, ASC ( S E R I E S )
W H AT A B O U T B R I A N DPs: Russ Alsobrook, ASC, Joe Pennella ( S E R I E S ) FA C E L E S S
DP: Mauro Fiore, ASC ( P I L O T ) ) I N C A S E O F E M E R G E N C Y DP: Victor Hammer ( P I L O T ) BROTHERS
& SISTERSDP: Tom Yatsko (PILOT)) 52 FIGHTSDP: David Hennings (PILOT) P R O T G DP: Adam
Sliwinski ( P I L O T ) J U S T I C E DP: Dermott Downs ( S E R I E S ) ) 3 L B S . DP: Dejan Georgevich, ASC ( S E R I E S )

d r a m a t i c

T H E

t v

F I R S T

c o u n t r i e s

co n t i n e n ts

l e a d e r

Y E A R

+
www.panavision.com

08_07 dvd playback

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Page 20

and seems free of age-related wear.

The Matador disc includes no
supplements, but the boxed set in which it
is packaged contains a DVD of worthy
bonus material. In addition to a smattering
of trailers for upcoming Sony releases,
there are three well-developed documentary featurettes about Almodvars work:
the 51-minute Deconstructing Almodvar, the 27-minute Directed by Almodvar, and the 24-minute Viva Pedro. Each
includes substantive interviews with
actors and key crew, who speak to numerous aspects of the directors unique vision.
Film scholar Richard Pea also offers interesting conjecture.
Matador was eclipsed by the popularity and critical acclaim of Almodvars
followup feature, Women on the Verge of
a Nervous Breakdown, but it has attracted
a loyal following over the years, and fans
who have long awaited this DVD will not
be disappointed. The reasonably priced
Viva Pedro set offers seven other features,
including another DVD first, the erotic
comedy Law of Desire. Also included are
the previously issued DVDs The Flower of
My Secret, Live Flesh, Talk to Her and Bad
Education, and remastered editions of
Women on the Verge and All About My
Mother. Full of romance and eroticism,
kaleidoscopic imagery and unpredictable
characterizations, this terrific cross-section
of Almodvars oeuvre is a wonderful addition to any DVD collection.
Kenneth Sweeney

The Chocolate War (1988)

1.85:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital 5.1
Fox Home Entertainment/MGM,
$19.95
The ongoing collaboration of director Keith Gordon and cinematographer Tom
Richmond has so far yielded one of the
20 August 2007

best love stories of recent years (Waking

the Dead), two incisive World War II films
(A Midnight Clear and Mother Night), and
an inventive postmodern musical (The
Singing Detective). This pristine DVD of
their first collaboration, The Chocolate
War, indicates that right from the beginning, the duo was interested in big ideas
and original ways of visualizing them.
Based on the novel by Robert
Cormier, The Chocolate War tells the
story of Jerry, a loner at a Catholic high
school who clashes with his conformist
classmates and with Brother Leon, the
oppressive authority figure who controls
them. When Jerry refuses to sell chocolates as part of Brother Leons annual
fundraising initiative, the administrator
and his minions do everything they can to
crush Jerrys spirit before his independent
ways can spread throughout the school.
Gordon uses the battle of the title
as a metaphor for all forms of struggle
between individuals and institutions, and
the films framing emphasizes this
premise. Many of the compositions are
almost oppressively symmetrical, as
though the students are being suffocated
by the very order of the school, and these
rigid images are juxtaposed with handheld camerawork that symbolizes the
kids desire to break free.
One can read larger societal implications into Jerrys war against his peers
and Brother Leon, but The Chocolate War
is most effective as a beautifully
observed tale of a young mans struggle
for self-definition. Gordon gets the
details of adolescent growing pains
exactly right, from Jerrys awkward interactions with girls to his disillusionment
when he discovers what his skirmish has
really accomplished.
The complexity of characterization
is mirrored in the nuances of Richmonds
lighting, which is impeccably rendered on
this DVD. (For years the film was only
available on murky VHS and laserdisc
editions.) In a strange way, the films
examination of power and control makes
it a kind of teen version of The Godfather,
and Richmonds images are extremely
reminiscent of that film in their reliance
on shadows to convey the darkness of
the characters souls and their pervasive

secrecy. This transfer preserves the rich

blacks of Richmonds palette without
obscuring the subtle details his lighting
reveals, and the day exteriors nicely
convey the sense of harsh cold that the
filmmakers sought to achieve even in
sunny scenes.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is
equally layered, offering a clear and
powerful balance between dialogue,
effects and a great soundtrack. The
Chocolate War was mixed by Mark
Berger (The Right Stuff, Amadeus), and
the sound is as detailed and purposeful as
every other aspect of the film, with understated effects that add definition to characters and relationships.
The Chocolate War is a remarkably assured debut feature, visually
dynamic without being overly selfconscious. On his commentary track,
Gordon credits Richmond with helping
him develop this style, explaining how the
cinematographer would take Gordons
more flamboyant ideas for shots and
modify them so they were beautiful and
expressive. The disc also contains an
outstanding 50-minute interview with
Gordon in which he discusses The Chocolate War in the context of all the artistic
and pragmatic considerations that influence a first-time director. Theres some
repetition between the commentary track
and the interview, but Gordons observations are unique and intelligent. His
account of The Chocolate Wars journey
to the screen and the excellent transfer
make this DVD a must for fans of independent cinema.
Jim Hemphill
I

NEXT MONTHS REVIEWS

The Third Man (1949)
Cinematographer:
Robert Krasker
Straight Time (1978)
Cinematographer:
Owen Roizman, ASC
Prince of the City (1981)
Cinematographer:
Andrzej Bartkowiak, ASC

AMC_0407_p101

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Production Slate

Father Lorenzo
(Javier Bardem)
is one of the
priests who
play a central
role in the
Spanish
Inquisition in
Goyas Ghosts.

22 August 2007

Immortalizing Spanish Strife

by Jean Oppenheimer
One of the artists who dared to
address the Spanish Inquisition in his
work was 18th-century painter Francisco
Jos de Goya y Lucientes, who
witnessed its horrors firsthand. Goyas
Ghosts hews closely to details of the
artists life, but it is less a biopic than a
look at the tumultuous period through
which he lived, one that saw not only
the inquisition but also Napoleons invasion of Spain and, five years later, the
restoration of the Spanish crown. These
events are explored through the relationship that Goya (Stellan Skarsgrd)
has with two fictitious characters: the
smug priest Father Lorenzo (Javier
Bardem), and Ins (Natalie Portman), a
woman wrongly imprisoned for heresy.
Goyas Ghosts marks the first
collaboration between cinematographer
Javier Aguirresarobe, AEC and director
Milos Forman. A graduate of the Official

Film School in Madrid, Aguirresarobe

has worked predominantly in Europe on
such features as The Others, The Sea
Inside and Talk to Her. In American Cinematographers 80th anniversary issue
(March 99), his film Secrets of the
Heart was listed as one of the best-shot
films of the latter 20th century.
AC recently spoke to Aguirresarobe with the assistance of translator
Mary Kay McCoy. At one of our first
meetings, Milos told me he wanted an
image with strong contrasts, where the
black was really black and the skin tones
looked like skin, the cinematographer
recalls. That was the premise that
guided my work. Of course, Goyas
paintings were also key, and Aguirresarobe spent hours at the Prado in
Madrid, studying not only Goyas work
but also that of classical predecessors
such as Velzquez and Ribera.
The paintings inspired the filmmakers choice of format (standard
1.85:1) and Aguirresarobes approach to

lighting and choice of lenses. He shot

the picture with an Arricam package
(provided by EPC in Madrid) that
included Cooke S4 prime lenses and an
Angenieux Optimo zoom. He relied
primarily on what he calls the noble
lenses: 32mm, 40mm, 50mm and
75mm. Their optical nobility or quality
is due to the fact that they do not
deform the space they represent, he
notes. They come close to seeing the
way the human eye sees and they
approach the spatial [rendering] of the
classical painters. He praises the
Optimo for its extraordinary quality
but acknowledges that he favors fixed
lenses.
A strong proponent of realism in
lighting, he works almost exclusively
with Softlights, fluorescent fixtures he
discovered in Paris while shooting the
1999 film Salsa. I consider them an
essential lighting tool for close-ups and
medium shots. They save considerable
time on a shoot and the quality of their
light is extraordinary. Each T5 lamp
contains eight tubes that are much thinner than standard fluorescents. Each
unit is very lightweight and very practical. They have incorporated ballasts and
their dimensions are such that they can
be situated in the most difficult places.
Another advantage is that each
unit can be connected to a dimmer
[board], so the intensity of light can be
varied easily. This proved extremely
useful on The Others, allowing me to
fluctuate the light in relation to the
candles, as well as to lower the intensity of the ambience when Nicole
Kidmans character closed the curtains,
leaving the space in semi-darkness.
One of the first sequences in
Goyas Ghosts finds a conclave of monks
arguing over Goyas work. They are
gathered in a cavernous room in the

Goyas Ghosts photos by Phil Bray, courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.

A Portrait of an Artist and a Secret History of the CIA

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No

Sh

ipp

ing

08_07 prod slate

Right:
Imprisoned for
heresy, Ins
(Natalie
Portman) tries to
convince Father
Lorenzo she is
on the right side
of the law.
Below: Actor
Cayetano
Martinez de
Irujo (in costume
as the Duke of
Wellington) and
focus puller
Pepe Martinez
look on as
director of
photography
Javier
Aguirresarobe,
AEC finalizes his
plan.

24 August 2007

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Page 24

Monastery of Veruela, a magnificent

Gothic monastery with high, narrow
windows covered by alabaster and two
skylights in the ceiling. The morning
sunlight streaming through the skylights
was so intense that Aguirresarobe used
Tiffen Pure Gray filters to knock it down.
Even then, the scene required digital
manipulation to further cut the lights
intensity. (The film was finished photochemically, but the DI process was used
on select scenes.) A [bigger] problem
for me was the strange and dominating
color reflected from the alabaster, a
translucent yellowish stone. I had to
correct the fill light to try to match its
chromatic characteristics; I used an LLD
filter.
The cinematographer acknowl-

edges that his realist philosophy about

lighting was complicated by the lowintensity light sources of the period:
candles and oil lamps. One night interior, a tavern scene in which Ins and
her brothers celebrate her birthday, was
filmed in a 15th-century cellar that was
almost entirely underground. The space
featured a couple of very high windows,
and Aguirresarobe wanted to contrast
the cold, blue tones filtering through the
windows with the pubs colorful,
candlelit interior. When there are two
complementary color tones in a scene,
you have to ask yourself what the
difference in color temperature
between the two should be. I usually
will not go over 1500K.
Ambient light came from fluorescents gelled with 14 CTO that were
taped to the ceiling at irregular intervals; the faces in the foreground were
lit by eye-level fluorescents gelled with
14 CTO. I am somewhat fussy when it
comes to the color temperature of the
lights, says Aguirresarobe. I always
have Minus and Plus Green [filters] on
hand when I work with fluorescents
and HMIs, although on Goyas Ghosts
there werent any sequences that
required their use. He adds that a 18 or
14 Tiffen Black Pro-Mist was always on
the lens.
Aguirresarobe prefers to shoot a
picture on a single stock, and Goyas
Ghosts was no exception. He used
Kodak Vision2 500T 5218 and occasionally pull-processed it one stop to soften

contrast. The footage was processed at

Technicolor Madrid, where the filmmakers also carried out the final color
timing.
The movie was shot over 12
weeks in the fall of 2005, and thanks to
Spains National Heritage Foundation,
the production was able to film in
locations that had rarely opened their
doors to filmmakers spaces that
emanate truth, Aguirresarobe offers.
These included the aforementioned
Monastery of Veruela in Aragon, where
most inquisition scenes were shot. We
were able to bring the monks meetings
to life inside the monasterys nooks and
crannies, says the cinematographer.
Napoleons rousing speech to his generals was filmed in the palace at Aranjuez, and Velquezs Las Meninas,
Hieronymus Boschs Garden of Delights
and Goyas portrait of the royal family
were filmed where they hung inside the
Prado.
Forman still cant believe the
productions good fortune. Speaking to
AC from New York, he says with a
laugh, I was nave I thought we
could rent those priceless paintings, put
them in a studio, and shoot our scenes
with the actors in front of them. But the
insurance for the paintings would have
been more than the entire budget of the
film! To my amazement, we were
allowed to shoot the actors and the
paintings in the Prado.
In the end, only three sets had to
be built; everything else was an actual
location. Of course, shooting inside
historic buildings comes with certain
restrictions. Light cables had to be
protected and laid at least 10 centimeters from the walls, recalls Aguirresarobe. If they accidentally touched
anything, loud words of disapproval
were heard from the employees, who
guarded our every move. As you can
imagine, setting up lights proved to be a
real feat. We managed to hide little
metal bars in the drapes without touching anything; we then mounted structures on the bars that could support our
lightweight fluorescent tubes.
An old wine cellar doubled as
the inquisition dungeon. The walls

AMC_0507_p005

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Americas
ill-fated
invasion of
Cuba at the Bay
of Pigs is one of
the events
depicted in the
TNT miniseries
The Company,
which follows
young agent
Jack
McCauliffe
(Chris
ODonnell,
foreground) as
it surveys the
history of
the CIA.
26 August 2007

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12:56 PM

Page 26

were whitewashed, and we were not

allowed to paint them any other color,
notes the cinematographer. That was a
real handicap for me. I had to use a
gloomy, sinister light tightly [focused on]
the actors so that not even a speck
would escape onto the walls and ruin
the atmosphere. It was perhaps the
most complicated location to work in.
The result doesnt suggest the meticulous work that went into it!
Aesthetically, Goyas Ghosts
comprises two parts: the grim period of
the monasteries, and the French occupation (when Father Lorenzo returns
from exile as a proponent of the Enlightenment.) The sets change considerably, says Aguirresarobe. He credits
production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein and costume designer Yvonne
Blake for making everything look more
brilliant, less sinister. The set decorations and the costumes have much livelier colors.
He notes that the real energy of
the story comes from the actors rather
than the camerawork, which tends to
remain subtle and serene. He praises
his regular A-camera/Steadicam operator, Josu Inchaustegui, as well as all
my new collaborators, such as [focus
puller] Pepe Martinez, [gaffer] Arcadio
Sequeira, and [best boy] Alberto
Snchez, who gave their best.
The cinematographer is particularly pleased with two scenes: Lorenzos
execution and Ins release from prison.
The execution is a complicated
sequence that lasts nearly 12 minutes
onscreen and took four days to shoot.
Using four 6K HMIs, we had to create
and maintain an atmosphere of dusk
throughout the sequence, he recalls. I
had to plan the order of the shots meticulously. I should add that I always use a
remote control to vary the iris on the
lens; I find it to be an indispensable
piece of equipment.
Ins is released from the
dungeon after 16 years of imprisonment. Stumbling into the open light, she
has clearly lost her sanity. The scene
was shot in Salamanca on a very cold
morning. The natural fog that enveloped
the area lasted throughout the scene. It

looks as if we used smoke, but we

didnt. It was pure luck. The Steadicam
follows Ins from the dark threshold of
the door out into the middle of the
square. The camera moves around her.
Sometimes it reveals her surprised
expression before this new reality; at
other times, the camera becomes her
POV. The days natural light was extraordinary, diffused by the fog. My job was
to adjust the iris as we moved from one
place to another, or when the background proved too bright. This was one
of those scenes when ideal conditions
occurred and all we had to do was start
rolling. That doesnt happen very often.
Covert Ops
by Simon Gray
Directed by Mikael Salomon,
ASC and shot by Ben Nott, ACS, the
miniseries The Company, which will air
this month on TNT, examines the internal intrigue of the Central Intelligence
Agency. The story follows freshman
agent Jack McCauliffe (Chris ODonnell)
as he strives to maintain his humanity in
the murky world of international espionage. Set against events that defined
and delineated the Cold War, such as
the Warsaw Pact, the Bay of Pigs debacle, and the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991, The Company is described by
Salomon as a complex 40-year story of
courage, betrayal and cowardice.
Salomon and Nott had previously

collaborated on Salems Lot (see AC

June 04), which garnered Nott an ASC
Award nomination, and Nightmares
and Dreamscapes: The End of the
Whole Mess. Both of those projects
originated on 35mm film, whereas The
Company was shot mostly on high-definition (HD) digital video. I decided that
if we where going shoot digitally, I
wanted to use the Arri D-20 because of
its Super 35-sized 6-megapixel CMOS
sensor and optical viewfinder, explains
Salomon. That way we could use
lenses designed for 35mm photography,
which was the first step in achieving a
look as good as film. (The camera package, supplied by Arri Munich, comprised
three D-20s and an Arri 235 and 435.)
The A and B cameras rolled on nearly
every setup, while the third was
stripped down for use on the
Steadicam. The D-20 was used in log
mode, outputting a 10-bit-log DPX
signal at 2K resolution.
The Company was Notts first HD
production. Ben is a very talented
image-maker, and I knew hed take to
shooting digitally like a duck to water,
notes Salomon, who had previously
directed a pilot shot on HD. Nott
observes that a hi-def Super Grade
Monitor and a waveform are tools that
provide distinct advantages with digital
acquisition. It was very beneficial to
have an HD image so I could trim with
the gaffer and key grip during the
setup, Nott says. Also, removing the

The Company photos by Erik Heinila, courtesy of TNT.

08_07 prod slate

08_07 prod slate

6/29/07

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Page 27

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Above:
McCauliffe
finds himself in
hot water on
the other side
of the world.
Below:
Director of
photography
Ben Nott, ACS
on location in
Budapest.

28 August 2007

6/29/07

12:57 PM

Page 28

dailies colorist from the post process

meant I controlled the subtleties of light
and shade, so there were no surprises in
the dailies.
At first Nott used his light meter,
but then he began working by eye, using
the monitor to finesse the lighting.
Given the tightness of the schedule and
the fact that we sometimes had two or
more moves in a day, I needed to start
lighting as soon as I walked in the door,
he says. The camera and monitoring
system can take awhile to put into place
and power up, so I referred to the monitor only for final checks. It was a great
way to work.
Principal photography spanned
88 days and required no second unit. The
main locations were filmed in Canada,
Budapest and Puerto Rico, and much of

Notts prep time was spent scouting

locations. Essentially projects of this
magnitude have to be lit on the scout,
he says. This was doubly true for The
Company. After discussing with Mikael
what the general blocking would be at
each location, I worked out the positions
for the Condors and decided what practical lighting would have to be changed
or introduced.
The shadowy world of Cold War
espionage suggested a specific visual
style. The subject matter required a
high-contrast look similar to black-andwhite photography, with separation of
densities rather than colors, says
Salomon. Nott took as inspiration the
chiaroscuro techniques of artists such as
Rembrandt, Caravaggio and van
Honthorst. Rather than use backlight, I

crosslit the actors with a fairly dynamic

contrast range and then silhouetted the
dark side against a lit area on the background. This gave the images a strong
sense of depth and a cohesive style.
This was also the best approach to take
to the HD format, he adds. During testing, I established that the images
looked great if I didnt emphasize the
midtones but instead operated at the
ends of the curve. He used Kino Flos to
light the actors and employed Molebeams to create hot spots and patches
of light on backgrounds.
The D-20 offers approximations
of characteristic curves for 50-ASA,
100-ASA, 200-ASA and 320-ASA film
stocks, and Nott found rating the
camera at 200 ASA for interior and
night exteriors and 100 ASA for day
exteriors provided the best results.
Those two settings had the most latitude, but there were implications for the
amount of lighting required, particularly
on night exteriors. To avoid the blacks
blocking up, I was lighting into the toe
of the curve more than I was accustomed to. I created a base ambience
above the location sets with Dinettes
mounted facing down on Condors;
these were pushed through full grid
cloth that was wrapped with a Duvatyn
skirt. Attached to the same bucket was
a cluster of Very Narrow Par 64s that I
used to shape the architecture. To
obtain a pleasing wrap of light on an
actor, three lamps of differing intensities were required rather than one. The
crosslight came from the side, with
another placed three-quarters in front,
and a third, the least intense, right by
the mattebox. It was a bit more work,
but the results are really pleasing.
The favored lenses were Arri
Master Primes; an Arri Master Zoom
and Optimo zooms were also in the kit.
The Master Primes were used at T1.3
and T2 during night scenes and interiors. Theyre the best pieces of glass
Ive ever had the pleasure of looking
through, says Nott. They performed
so well without compromising the
contrast at the wide apertures that the
shallow depth of field became a significant part of the photographic philoso-

AMC_0807_p029

6/29/07

12:01 PM

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08_07 prod slate

Two 25K cube

balloons
provided base
ambience for
the Bay of Pigs
sequence,
which was
shot in Puerto
Rico.

30

6/29/07

12:57 PM

Page 30

phy. Nott singles out 1st AC Christopher Raucamp for his work: Working at
T1.3 is very difficult, particularly with
Mikaels predilection to keep each shot
moving. Without Chris technical ability
wed probably still be shooting! One of
the main lenses used was a 35mm
Master Prime. We often shot our
master and occasionally the close-up on
that focal length. The wider angle of
view really keeps the viewer involved
with the geography of the location,
which is an integral part of The

Companys visual style.

Nott used several types of diffusion on the production. In front of the
lens, he used Tiffen Classic Soft filters
to pull back the inherent sharpness of
the digital image so as to slightly mimic
the film stocks produced before the
advent of anti-halation backing. I felt the
up-front diffusion would make the
images more suggestive of the 1950s
and 1960s, when much of our story is
set. On focal lengths of 25mm to 50mm
I used a 14, and for 75mm to 135mm a
18. Although the diffusion was light, the
Classic Softs have a pronounced halo
signature in the highlights yet maintain
the integrity of the blacks. Overall, the
image appears sharp, but the fine
details of skin imperfections are
smoothed out. The combination of
Classic Soft filters and a shallow depth
of field in close-ups proved helpful to
the hair and makeup departments, who
had to age the cast over the 40-year
span of the story.
Apart from Raucamp, 1st AD

Michael Zimbrich, production designer

Marek Dobrowolski and HD technician
Jasper Vrakking, crewmembers were
hired locally in each country. Its difficult
on a TV schedule because there is simply
no time to get into the swing of things,
but we had three very professional and
enthusiastic crews, says Nott. In
Toronto, gaffer Franco Tata and key grip
Mark Manchester were absolutely brilliant; they ran their teams wonderfully
and relieved much of the logistical pressure, allowing me to concentrate on the
task at hand. In Europe, key grip Mark
Ramsey and gaffer Gabor Hevesi were
also first class. With Marks help in
particular, we were able to finish our
work in Budapest half a day early.
In Hungary, Nott and his crew
contended with winter temperatures and
short days, as well as working in buildings whose architects were obviously
challenged by the whole notion of elevators! Shooting on location offered
authenticity and variety, however.
Mikael felt using interior locations such

08_07 prod slate

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Page 31

as those in Budapest offered more depth,

detail and variety than we could have
achieved onstage, says Nott. The
textures inherent in European architecture
brought so much to the look of the show.
Muted colors and dark tones in the
production design achieved what the
cinematographer describes as a pool-oflight philosophy. I was constantly dealing
with ceilings, so we didnt use toplight
much on interiors. Instead we concentrated on a combination of window and
practical sources. Marek Dobrowolski and
I did exhaustive tests to find sconces that
would provide interesting patterns on the
walls, and we deliberately chose light
shades that were a little denser in both
color and material so they wouldnt overexpose too much in the digital image.
Given that daylight in Hungary
ended around 3 p.m., the production
would either shoot French hours, working straight through until there was no
light, or move to an interior location to
continue shooting. The natural light in
Europe at that time of the year is so soft

and beautiful the D-20 just loved it, and

it was easy to get fantastic images,
recalls Nott.
Shooting exteriors in Puerto Rico,
which doubled for Cuba, was another
matter. With the clean air and the
strong overhead quality of the light,
shooting day exteriors was almost like
working with a completely different
medium! says the cinematographer.
To cope with this extended dynamic
range, I used a lot more fill and shot on
deeper stops to control the highlights.
The major sequence shot there recreated the Bay of Pigs invasion, an
abortive attempt by the Kennedy administration to overthrow Fidel Castro.
That was a pretty big setup, recalls
Nott. Gaffer Leslie Colombani mounted
two 25K cube balloons [set at 4500K]
in a truss framework on the end of a
200-foot construction crane to create
the base ambience. Four Condors along
the beach, each containing an 18K and
a Dino [corrected to 4200K], gave us a
back edge and could be used to light the

background when required. The cube

balloons are great units; their shape
makes rigging easier, and coupled with
the massive reach of the crane they
saved us a great deal of time by providing a broad, soft, top source we could
move quickly over any part of the set.
Given that we had to shoot six
hours of material on a tight schedule
across three countries with three different crews, I asked myself what could go
wrong, he concludes. In the end, it
was surprisingly little!
I

Director Mikael
Salomon, ASC
lines up a shot.

31

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Page 32

Let There
Be

Light
Alwin Kchler, BSC
uses three formats and
creative visual effects to
realize Danny Boyles
Sunshine, which sends a
team of astronauts on a
mission to revive
the dying sun.
by Jay Holben
Unit photography by Alex Bailey
32 August 2007

he sci-fi drama Sunshine is set 50

years from now, and global
warming is no longer a threat. In
fact, the sun is dying and the
world has started to freeze. In an
attempt to reverse the suns slow
fade, a team of scientists has been
sent into space aboard the Icarus II
with a large nuclear bomb that they
hope will reignite the dying star.
Capa (Cillian Murphy), the crews
physicist and the films narrator,
explains that another crew set out on
an identical mission several years
earlier and disappeared before reaching the sun.
Sunshine marks the first

feature collaboration between director Danny Boyle and Alwin Kchler,

BSC, whose credits include The
Claim (AC March 01), Code 46 (AC
Sept. 04), The Mother and Proof. A
native of Dsseldorf, Germany, who
has lived in England since 1989,
Kchler worked with Boyle briefly in
2002, when he shot some pickups on
28 Days Later (AC July 03) for
Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF, BSC.
According to Boyle, the first of
many challenges the team
confronted on Sunshine was how to
craft visuals that would differentiate
the film from its well-known predecessors. If youre going to make a

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. Additional photos courtesy of Reuben Garrett.

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6/30/07

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Page 33

space movie, youve got to make

something a bit different you
cant just remake Alien, says Boyle.
In other genres theres a lot of
terrain to work with, but in space
movies you cant escape tight corridors and little rooms surrounded by
metal. And when youre working in
those tight corridors, youre keenly
aware of all the filmmakers whove
done amazing work before you in
the same kind of corridors; you can
feel them right there with you, and
that challenges you to make your
own mark in that corridor for future
filmmakers to bump into.
Although Alien was a reference for the filmmakers, the German
film Das Boot was more influential,
according to Kchler. That movie
really helped us lock onto the idea of
a very claustrophobic world and the
tension that can arise when a group
of people have to share a tight space
for a long period of time, he says.
Boyle adds, Space is infinite but
claustrophobic at the same time.
Theres no real reprieve you cant
step outside for a breath of fresh air.
To heighten the sense of claustrophobia aboard the Icarus II, produc-

tion designer Mark Tildesley built

hard ceilings into the sets, and
Kchler slowly increased the focal
length of the lenses as the story
progressed to compress the space
further. Danny wanted to play
around with scale, recalls the cinematographer. As they approach the
sun, the sun takes up more space in
each characters psyche and the
tension ratchets up.
Another challenge was how
to sustain a film about light, especially when that light has to become

more powerful as the characters get

closer to it, says Boyle. In a movie
theater you can only get so bright,
and you can only sustain that kind of
white-out brightness for a second or
so before the effect is totally lost. We
had to very carefully parcel out when
the audience was able to go into the
light, yet we always had to keep light
alive as a character in the film.
Part of the solution was the
use of color.We had the color police
on set every day, making sure that no
orange or yellow or red was

Opposite: As
the Icarus II
approaches
the sun,
crewmember
Searle (Cliff
Curtis) studies
the dying star
through a filtered
window in
the ships
observation
room. This page,
top: The sidelit
actor plays the
scene to a
greenscreen
backing. To give
the actors more
to interact with
during reverses,
cinematographer
Alwin Kchler,
BSC and gaffer
Reuben Garrett
created a disco
curtain that can
be seen on page
34. Bottom:
Director Danny
Boyle (far right)
blocks out a
scene with
Kchler.

American Cinematographer 33

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Page 34

Let There Be Light

Above: The
missions
physicist, Capa
(Cillian Murphy),
joins Searle in
the observation
room. Below: The
disco curtain
gave the shows
actors something
tangible to react
to. The curtain
was made from
thin strips of gold
Mylar hung
behind hundreds
of gold discs
attached to
fishing lines.
Dinos and Source
Four Lekos
provided lighting
for the setup,
and fans were
used to create
fluttering
reflections.

34 August 2007

anywhere in sight, recalls Boyle.

The films gray-blue palette is a
convention of space movies; its a
diet the audience expects. We take it
a step further and starve them of any
warm colors until they see the sun
itself.
Notes Kchler, There are
certain things you plan, like starving
the audience of warm colors to
make the visuals of the sun more
powerful, but there are some things

you just stumble across that almost

end up being more important. For
example, we started shooting macro
close-ups of eyes now and then, and
without even talking about it we
started shooting more and more of
them. We realized the pupil of the eye
is like a negative image of the sun
itself, and looking into someones eye
like that is like looking into his soul.
You find these abstract images that
express a lot, and its a lot of fun to

discover them.
To suggest the suns presence
when it isnt onscreen, the filmmakers decided to make lens flares a
significant player in the visual
scheme. A flare is atoms of light
coming into your eyes, a moment
when the surface of the screen seems
to be broken and things are out of
control and the relationship between
the audience and the screen is penetrated, says Boyle. I became very

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Page 35

To create the
impression of a
fireball tearing
through the
payload area
toward Capa
(left), Kchler
and Garrett
created
a 60'-wide
traveling rig of
180 Par cans
that could be
moved toward
the actor at a
rate of 5-7 mph
(below). The
foreground
hardware was
part of the set;
the wall of Par
cans is
suspended on
four tracks
mounted to the
stage ceiling.

interested in not just washing the

audience with light, but actually
reaching out to them, through them,
with light.Kchler shot anamorphic
and Super 35mm to create two
different types of flares, using Hawk
anamorphic lenses to film the ships
artificially lit interiors and Zeiss Ultra
and Master Primes to film any scenes
featuring sunlight (including ship
exteriors and interiors such as the
observation room). Mixing formats
enabled us to get horizontal flares in
interiors and circular flares for all the
scenes involving the sun, says
Kchler. This was my first anamorphic shoot, and I tortured myself for
three weeks over which lenses to
choose, but in the end the Hawks
won, mainly because we wanted to
look different than Alien and Event
Horizon.
Kchlers main cameras were
an Arricam Studio, two Arri 435
Xtremes, and an Arri 235, and Arri
Munich manufactured a special
ground glass that marked a 2.40:1
anamorphic center extraction on the
Super 35mm area so he wouldnt
need another camera for anamor-

phic work. I tend to favor Arri

cameras when Im dealing with tight
spaces because I find Panavision
cameras arent as advanced in adaptability you cant move the
viewfinder from one side of the
camera to the other, for example, and
in tight spaces that can be a lifesaver.
We used the 235 in tight spaces and
when we had to be very physical and

fast, like in the fight scenes where we

got into the action.
The rule on the set was no
protection for the lens no matteboxes, no flags around the lens.
Kchler chose lights specifically for
their flaring potential, selecting
mainly smaller bulbs with small filaments to hit the lens with hard, point
sources. We collected flares like

American Cinematographer 35

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Page 36

Let There Be Light

Mace (Chris
Evans), Capa
and Harvey
(Troy Garity)
take stock of
their grim
predicament
after another
crewmembers
mistake forces
them to make a
difficult choice.

people collect butterflies! he says.

We collected anything that was
interesting and used it when necessary for the right effect.
In one scene, Capa awakens
from a nightmare in which he is
falling to the surface of the sun.
Fellow crewmember Cassie (Rose
Byrne), the ships pilot, is there to
commiserate with him. Both actors
are shot in singles, and a prominent
flare takes up a large portion of the
frame in both shots, suggesting
Capas unsettled mental condition.
Kchler created the effect by holding
a small, low-voltage Luxeon LED
light with a spot lens at the end of a
flexible wire and positioning it for
the best flare. At that point in the
film, everybodys consciousness is
slightly warped because the presence
of the sun has become overwhelming, he explains.The flares, the feeling of light out of control, really
helped express that feeling.
Flares were also incorporated
into the films digital effects, which
were created at The Moving Picture
Co. (MPC) in London under the
36 August 2007

direction of visual-effects supervisor

Tom Wood. However, most of the
flares utilized in the CG elements
were real, taken from Kchlers test
footage and from additional flare
footage he filmed specifically for
Woods team. CG lens flares often
look too processed and clean, so I
prefer using proper camera flares
when possible, says Wood.We used
almost every flare Alwin had shot in
his tests, and when we started to run
out of them, he spent a day shooting
hundreds of feet of flares specifically
for us. He shot all of the flare work
on black, so they were incredibly
easy to composite into our work.
Prior to Sunshine, neither
Kchler nor Boyle had worked on a
CGI-heavy project, and the cinematographer says the experience
was a huge learning curve for both
of us. We both felt we should try to
do as much as possible in camera
and fill in the blanks with CG effects,
and Tom Wood agreed. I think the
relationship between the cinematographer and the visual-effects supervisor should be just as close as the

relationship between the cinematographer and the production designer;

everyone brings a different taste,
aesthetic and experience to a film,
and its important that youre all
working from the same philosophy
and toward the same goals. With
Tom, we were definitely all on the
same page. Wood adds, I wanted
everything we created to look like
something Alwin had shot. Most
visual-effects supervisors will say
theyre working to achieve the directors vision, and thats true, but I
think that making it look like the
directors vision shot through the
cinematographers camera is the key
to great effects work.
The filmmakers used 65mm
to achieve one particularly surreal
effect. In the scene, volatile
crewmember Mace (Chris Evans) is
trying to chill out in the Earth
Room, a virtual-reality environment designed to simulate earthly
environments that relax the spectator. Mace appears to be present as
massive waves crash into a pier and
spray bystanders with water; the

a-sunshine

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Page 37

After the ships

heat shields are
damaged in a
mishap, Capa
and his
commanding
officer, Kaneda
(Hiroyuki
Sanada), don
spacesuits and
make emergency
repairs. Notes
Boyle, We had
some big sets,
but we also had
the smallest sets
possible, like
inside a space
helmet where
theres just a
face and a
camera. It
doesnt get more
intimate than
that.

scene changes briefly to a forest, then

back to the pier. We wanted to give
the Earth Room a surreal feel, so we
decided to shoot the plates and Chris
on 65mm, says Kchler. That
footage was scanned and integrated
into the final film in the digital intermediate [DI].
During the DI, which was also
handled by MPC, most of the
footage was scanned at 4K through
the Spirit DataCine, but visualeffects sequences were scanned on a
Northlight. The 65mm sequences
were scanned at 5K and downrezzed to 2K for integration into the
final, which was filmed out on an
Arrilaser.
Kchler shot the picture on a
single stock, Kodak Vision2 500T
5218, but notes he would have liked
another option. I would have loved
to use reversal stock for our most
extreme images, but Kodak stopped
making its 400 [ISO] reversals, he
laments. Reversal stock has such a
great palette, and it behaves so differently than negative stocks. I tested
removing the remjet backing on the
emulsion to get a different kind of
chemical reaction to highlights, but
American Cinematographer 37

a-sunshine

6/30/07

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Page 38

Let There Be Light

Right: The
injured Capa
races through
the ship during
his surreal
confrontation
with Pinbacker,
the grotesquely
transformed
captain of
Icarus I.
Below: The cast
and crew take a
break on one of
the shows
cramped sets.

unfortunately, the insurance companies wont cover the negative if you

do that, so I was left with negative
stock. The blessing and curse is that
todays stocks are really good; I could
overexpose a scene by 5 or 6 stops
and easily bring it back to normal in
the digital grade. When we wanted
the image to really burn out, I had to
overexpose by 8, 9, even 10 stops to
really burn the information away to

38 August 2007

the point where we couldnt get it

back. We wanted to physically attack
the stock with light to get the right
effect. When Searle [played by Cliff
Curtis] is exposed to the sun, thats
10 stops overexposed, and what you
see is literally the only information
left on the negative theres nothing else there.
Kchler decided to light the
interior of the Icarus II primarily

with practical fixtures built into the

sets, which were constructed at 3
Mills Studios in London. About 80
percent of the lighting in the ship is
practicals, says Kchler.We worked
really hard with Mark Tildesley to
design the lighting into the set. Most
of the sets were so tight there wasnt
any room for us to bring in a 2K or
big Kino Flos, so we decided to integrate the lighting and supplement it
with small floor instruments when
necessary.
Working with practical-lighting specialist Joe McGee, Kchler
and his gaffer, Reuben Garrett, chose
a lot of Osram compact fluorescent
tubes, which were integrated into
custom fixtures and housings
throughout the set, as well as a
number of hi-tech LED fixtures.
The Osrams have a really high
output in a small, low-power fitting,
notes Garrett. They were built into
the ceilings in housings that could be
adjusted up and down, and most of
them had louver-like eggcrate
honeycombs on them to control spill

a-sunshine

6/30/07

2:01 PM

Page 39

and direct the light. You can get the

Osram and Phillips bulbs in a range
of colors; 930s are tungsten, 940s are
around 4500K, and 950s are
daylight. They all have a very high
CRI, so theres no green spike, and
they can all be dimmed down to
about 30 percent.
McGee and Garrett hooked all
of the fluorescent fixtures into
DMX-addressable high-frequency
ballasts that all ran back to a Light by
Numbers dimmer-control board
operated by Stephen Mathie. Light
by Numbers was really important to
us, states Kchler. We had more
than 800 practicals in the set, all individually controlled by that dimmer
board. Garrett adds, We had all
sorts of macros programmed that
we could trigger with the press of a
button and dim up or down, whatever we needed. Its fantastic to be
able to have the board operator next
to you with a little PDA in his hands
and have full and immediate control
over everything.
In the walls of the social
quarters, we also used long, skinny
cathode fixtures, bulbs that were
about 14-inch in diameter and 14
inches long, continues Garrett. We
also used a number of the Luxeon 1and 3-watt LED lights in special
fixtures that allowed us to choose the
lenses we wanted so we could get
some punchy, hot backlights or kicks
where needed. Also, Osram makes
these great strips of LEDs about 14inch wide with an adhesive backing.
We could slap that up anywhere. In
prep, Joe McGee gave us a wealth of
lights and fixtures to pick from.
When supplemental lighting
was required, Kchler and Garrett
used 15" Kino Flos and Kino fixtures
lamped with the same compact fluorescent U-tube bulbs used in the
practicals, and a smattering of Dedo
lights for extra punch.We often had
several actors in a scene and were
trying to squeeze three or four of
them into each shot, and the floor
fixtures helped fill in the gaps and

pick out faces, notes the gaffer. I

have to say we had a great collaboration with Mark Tildesley and his
crew. It was a tight partnership that
we certainly pushed to the limits in
prep. While they were building the
set, Alwin and I walked around with
a Kino Flo and said, We need a light
here, and here, and here and they
cut the holes where we needed
them.
Although most of the set is
filled with carefully placed soft
sources, Kchler occasionally used
very hard sources to accentuate the
emotions of a scene. I generally use
soft light, but there are times when I
want to make something scream a
bit. Its very much like a dissonant
chord in music, something that gets
into your head. Thats what hard
lighting can be. Sometimes you want
that hot, noisy light to really punctuate a moment. Sometimes you want
it to be ugly because its what the
scene is about. Thats usually when I
turn to harder, hotter lighting.
Kchler strove to create a delicate balance between bright and dim
areas throughout the Icarus II. The
ships oxygen garden, where masses
of plants are grown to produce
natural oxygen for the crew, is bright
and open, in contrast to the dark and
moody bridge. Some areas in a ship

are naturally dark, like the rooms

where they need to read lots of
instrument panels, he notes. Also,
the crew of a ship like this would
want to conserve energy and not use
unnecessary lighting. We felt we
couldnt totally starve the audience of
light, of course, but we did try to
design periods of darkness before
scenes that featured the sun, stretches
of maybe 10 minutes or so, so that
the light of the sun would be that
much more impressive when it
appeared.
The sunlight or lack thereof
was a significant challenge for
Wood and his team on shots of the
ships exterior. Usually in space
movies, the ship at hand is lit by an
apparent solar light source, but in
Sunshine the ship is traveling behind
a huge shield that protects it from the
suns intensity, says Wood. That
took awhile to get our heads around.
We had to create a ship that was traveling in the shadow of the universes
only light source, but, of course, we
had to see it. That meant the ship had
to be entirely self-illuminated. I took
a page out of Alwins book and put a
lot of little lights on the exterior that
we allowed to flare the lens and help
fill in the shadows. It continued the
visual concept of uncontrolled light
that the camera is struggling to cope

The bright,
open look of
the ships
oxygen garden
provides
contrast with
the ships
darker, more
confined areas.

American Cinematographer 39

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Page 40

Let There Be Light

Capas
showdown
with Pinbacker
reaches its
climax in
the ships
cavernous
bomb-payload
area, where
the scientist
has no escape.
Spotty
overhead
lighting
provides an
ominous
ambience
while
emphasizing
the enormity of
the space.

with, even artificial light generated

by the ship itself.
We had to be very literal in
our interpretation of how the sun
looked onscreen because its our
sun, continues Wood. Theres a
massive amount of footage available,
especially from the Solar and
Heliospheric Observatory, which
has a satellite that sits between Earth
and the sun. We wanted to hold on
to familiar images but add less familiar ones, such as gamma radiation
views, extreme X-rays and extreme
ultraviolet images all combined into
a single image. We wanted to create
an image of the sun that was familiar but also awe-inspiring.
Sunshine opens with Searle,
the ships psychologist, sitting in the
observation room looking at the
sun. We soon learn were seeing a
highly filtered image of the sun,
about 2 percent of its intensity.
Searle asks the ships computer to
dial down the filtration as far as is
safe, and he then sees the sun at 3.2
percent of its intensity, which is
blindingly bright. From that point
forward, says Wood, its understood that were looking at a manip40 August 2007

ulated image of the sun throughout

the film, a filtered image, even when
were outside of the ship, so the
audience can see detail in suns
surface, which wouldnt otherwise
be possible.
Although some might expect
filmmakers to merely bring in a lot
of very bright lights to represent the
sun, Kchler and Boyle wanted to
give the sunlight texture, life and
animation. In the observation
room, Danny was nervous about
shooting the actors in front of a big
greenscreen and not giving them
anything to react to when theyre
supposed to be experiencing the
majesty of the sun, recalls the cinematographer. Kchler decided to
create a large, animated light source
that was actually thousands of small
lights put together. Early in prep, he
had spotted a vendors sign made up
of hundreds of tiny reflective circles
that fluttered in the wind. He
decided to integrate this concept
into his version of sunlight in the
observation room. Garrett recalls,
During testing, we brought in a
board covered with tiny reflectors,
bounced a light into it and got a lot

of movement and individual flares

from hundreds of specular reflections. The light seemed to be dancing
all around the room, and that was
exactly the effect Alwin wanted.
Creating a large-scale reflector
board covered with thousands of
miniature reflectors turned out to be
too expensive, so Kchler and
Garrett had to improvise. They
ended up hanging a disco curtain
made of thin strips of gold Mylar
across the front of the observation
room, an area 35' high and 60' wide.
In front of that, they suspended
several hundred gold discs in various
sizes on fishing line. They split the
curtain in half and then angled the
halves at 45 so they could bounce
several Dinos into each side, and
placed fans on the curtain to flutter
the reflections. We had 10 Dinos on
each side and another six across the
top, along with a number of Source
Four Lekos randomly placed to add
extra punch, details Garrett. The
Dinos were lamped with CP62
medium-spot bulbs and were all on
dimmers. For shots when theyre
getting really close to the sun, we put
a 20K Molebeam in the middle of the

a-sunshine

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Page 41

Left: Suspended
from a truss and
supported by two
crewmembers,
Kchler captures
a handheld view
of Murphy while
filming the
movies climax.
Below: A
collection of
lighting fixtures
used on the
show. Clockwise
from top are
a T5 compact
fluorescent
U-Tube; a
Luxeon LED; and
two strips of
Osram LED
tape.

curtain and aimed it straight into the

observation room through the wall.
We dimmed down all the
Wendy lights [Dinos] to about 10
percent for normal sun viewing in
the room, but when they turn up the
brightness, we brought up the lights,
and you could really feel the sudden
increase in heat in the room, notes
Kuchler. That certainly gave the
actors something real to react to!
Having the support of the director
for an effect like this was crucial,
because it was not cheap.
At the end of Sunshine, Capa
is on a part of the ship that is
suddenly directly exposed to the sun.
The walls are literally ripped open
and a fireball tears through the ship
toward Capa. To achieve this effect,
Kchler and Garrett created a 60'wide traveling rig of 180 Par cans
that could be flown at the actor. We
wanted to move a whole wall of light
right at Cillian, says Kchler.
The Par cans were rigged in
sets of six on standard Par can bars,
then six sets of bars were lined up to
create 24 lights across. At its largest
point, the rig was 10 Par cans high by
24 wide. The whole grid was

suspended on rollers attached to Ibeams on the stages ceiling. Some of

the Par cans were lamped with CP62
medium-spot bulbs, while others
were lamped with CP61 spot bulbs.
Garrett used a mix of gels Yellow,
Primary Red, and CTO ranging from
1 2 to Double Full and placed
them at random throughout the rig.
All of the fixtures were connected to
the Light by Numbers dimmer
board, and a series of chases was
programmed to create a fire effect.
The rig itself was cable-controlled

and could move at 5-7 mph down its

60' track toward Murphy. When we
moved that massive light closer to
Cillian, it would start to wrap around
his face and go from a fairly direct
source to a very large soft source, and
you could feel it traveling toward
him like the fireball is supposed to
do, says Garrett.
During their mission, the crew
comes across the original Icarus still
orbiting the sun. Theorizing that two
bombs are better than one, they
decide to dock with the dead ship

American Cinematographer 41

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Let There Be Light

Kchler frames
the cosmos.

and try to obtain the original bomb

to double their chances of a successful mission. But the plan is a bust:
the ships power supply and controls
have been destroyed, and there is no
means of capturing or controlling
the bomb aboard. Upon returning to
the Icarus II, the crew discovers a

lethal stowaway: Capt. Pinbacker

(Mark Strong), the original missions
only survivor. Having lived alone in
close proximity to the sun for seven
years, Pinbacker has become something not entirely human, and he is
perhaps Sunshines most unique and
perplexing visual effect one

THE ART OF LIGHT

achieved entirely in camera.

Pinbacker is a human being,
but the forces of light hes been
exposed to have reorganized his
protons and neutrons, says Boyle.
Its something Im not sure I can
explain. Hes seriously burned by
prolonged exposure to the sun, but
the light has changed him in other
ways as well. Imagine the power the
sun has, the energy, and what might
be gained by being in close proximity to that power for seven years. Hes
not a god, but he has been exposed to
the extraordinary. The way hes seen
onscreen represents how the characters see him they cant quite focus
on him. Its like trying to stare at the
sun for too long.
Because Pinbacker appears in
some two-shots, Kchler had to find
a way to create the effect that
wouldnt affect anyone else in the
frame. We did a lot of testing and
finally came up with a fairly simple

Tel: 818-238-1220 www.leefiltersusa.com

42

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Page 43

solution: we put a prism in front of

the lens to distort the image and
manipulated it manually, he says. He
utilized a front-projection beam
splitter with a 45 half (50-percent
transparent) mirror. On the other
side, instead of a projector, Kchler
and key grip Adrian McCarthy
mounted a second camera so that
both cameras would shoot exactly
the same image through the aid of
the 45 half mirror. Each camera had
the same focal-length lens on it, and
Kchler handheld Schneider 10"
diopters in front of one of the
cameras to distort the image of
Pinbacker while the second camera
remained clean.
We moved the diopters in
and out and twisted them, explains
Kuchler. The rig was very large it
required two focus pullers and one
person operating the diopters,
usually me or my loader. Of course,
we had to tent in the lenses to avoid

any extra reflections on the 45degree mirror. In addition, Danny

wanted to Dutch the shots, but the
rig was so big and heavy we actually
broke our Dutch head after the first
week of working with it! Adrian
made a new Dutch head out of an
old heavy-duty video head and
combined that with our OConnor
head; that was the only way to withstand the weight of the rig and get
the shots Danny wanted. We used
two cameras so the images could be
combined later, and Danny could
pick and choose when he wanted the
effect and where it would fall in the
frame.
Making a film like Sunshine
is a bit like setting out on a journey
to the Arctic: youve got to have
everything you need when you set
off because theres no going back,
says Boyle. A film like this takes an
incredible amount of preparation
and planning. Theres a great quote

from John Boorman:Filmmaking is

the process of turning money into
light. Making Sunshine was literally
taking all of our lives, and a lot of
money, and turning it into light. I

TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
35mm and 65mm
Arricam Studio;
Arri 435 Xtreme, 235;
Arriflex 765
Hawk anamorphic;
Zeiss Ultra Prime,
Master Prime lenses
Kodak Vision2 500T 5218
Digital Intermediate

43

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RockEm,SockEm

Robots
T

Mitch Amundsen captures

large-scale action as
the Transformers wage
intergalactic war on Earth.
by Noah Kadner

Unit photography by
Phil Bray, SMPSP;
Robert Zuckerman;
and Stephen Vaughan, SMPSP
44 August 2007

ransformers is a sci-fi action

film based on the animated television series about warring
factions of cybernetic robots
who transform into cars, aircraft, animals and a variety of other
items, even household appliances.
The robots are divided into two
opposing camps that broaden their
conflict to Earth: the heroic
Autobots, led by Optimus Prime,
and the villainous Decepticons, led
by Megatron.
The popularity of the original series led to many waves of tiein merchandise, more series and, in

1986, an animated theatrical feature. Its latest incarnation, a liveaction feature directed by Michael
Bay, offered cinematographer
Mitch Amundsen (The Transporter
2) a chance to take over director of
photography duties for Bay for the
first time. (He performed additional photography with secondary
units on Bays previous films.) Ive
shot on all of Michaels second
units, says Amundsen. I operated
on Armageddon [see AC July 98]
and was second-unit director of
photography on Pearl Harbor [AC
May 01]. He has a very unique

Photos courtesy of DreamWorks LLC/Paramount.

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Page 45

style; you can watch a movie and

recognize his composition, lighting,
camera movement and cutting. We
both came from music videos,
where its all about a lot of quick
shots. Michael never stops shooting
we were often doing more than
50 setups a day on Transformers. Its
a language and film style weve been
using for years.
Amundsen shot Transformers
in anamorphic 2.40:1 using a
Panavision camera package. There
were multiple units, but the primary crew comprised other Bay
veterans, including gaffer Andy
Ryan, 1st AC Todd Schlopy, camera
operator David Emmerichs and key
grip Les Tomita. Most of the time
we had eight or nine cameras available on our truck, recalls Schlopy.
The A and B cameras were
Panaflex Platinums, the C was a
Millennium XL, the D was an Arri
435 Xtreme and the E was an Arri
235. We also had two modified Arri
2-Cs and some Eyemos. Tomita
adds, Michael loves to use an array
of toys, so its like having Showbiz
Expo everywhere we go! We used
an Ultimate Arm quite a bit to do
high-speed 360-degree moves
remotely. We also used a 50-foot
Technocrane with a Libra head,
often mounted on camera cars.

Amundsen shot the picture

on two Kodak Vision2 stocks, 250D
5205 (day exteriors) and 500T 5218
(everything else). We shot about
1.3 million feet of 5218, and
Mitchell often rated it at [ISO]
1,000, recalls Schlopy. He had no
problem pushing it; it held up
great.
The productions lenses
included C-Series anamorphic
lenses, Cooke 3:1 and 10:1 zooms,
and some lenses custom-designed
for Transformers by Dan Sasaki,
senior technical adviser at

Panavision. Michael likes to shoot

very wide and very long, notes
Amundsen. Some of our lenses
were the only sets in existence. We
had an amazing flat 25mm, which
is normally about a 12mm in the
spherical world. Panavision also
reworked a lot of lenses for us. We
used a 60mm close-focus lens and
an extremely long [zoom] that
went from 2400-3800mm. It was
incredibly flat with a lot of compression.
For filtration we used mostly NDs, 85s and flats to protect the

Opposite page:
Optimus Prime,
a shapeshifting
robot from an
alien race
called the
Autobots, comes
to Earths
defense against
the marauding
Decepticons.
This page, top: A
Decepticon
known as
Bonecrusher
goes on a
destructive
freeway
rampage.
Below: Sam
Witwicky (Shia
LaBeouf) turns
to Optimus
Prime for help
during the
battle.

American Cinematographer 45

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Rock Em Sock Em Robots

Above:
Bonecrusher
(left) and
Optimus Prime
square off for a
showdown on
the freeway.
Right: The titans
clash has fiery
consequences
for nearby
vehicles.

lenses, says Schlopy. To save

money, we often used Lexan and
clear glass flats. If we were shooting
with a tungsten stock outside, wed
use an 85. Michael and Mitchell
also like the Polarizer, but we never
use it fully saturated, where things
start looking too dark and weird
wed just dial an in-between setting
to give the sky a little pop.
I wanted a lot of contrast in
terms of blue nights, and I wanted
it edgy at times, explains Bay. We
opted for a lot of flares. I like the
old-school anamorphic lenses; I
like a big negative. I also wanted a
lot of aggressive, handheld camera
movement, to get that speed that
really creates the sensation youre
46 August 2007

being chased.
Amundsen and his crew
worked out a stylized approach to
lighting and photographing the
robots, which were CG creations
added to shots in post by Industrial
Light & Magic. (See sidebar on
page 50.) The challenge was
preparing and lighting for 30-foot
robots that werent there on set,
recalls Ryan. The Transformers
needed to look like part of our
world, so they couldnt be lit up like
Christmas trees. Mitch and I talked
a lot about the look of car commercials, and in keeping with that
kind of approach we created kickers and worked out interactive
lighting so there was something for

ILM artists to go on. When operating on such shots, says Emmerichs,

the trick was making sure there
was enough extra room in the shot.
I was sometimes doing a whip-pan
from an actors face to empty air, or
to a guy holding a tennis ball. And I
had to be careful to not end up
tracking right through a robots
head!
Transformers opens with a
prologue set in the 1890s, as an icebreaker ship exploring the Arctic
Circle comes across the gigantic
Megatron frozen in a cave. The
scene combined stage work with
second-unit location work in
Alaska. There were fissures in the
sides of the ice-cave set that we
filled with 7K Xenons and beam
projectors to make the cave look
like it was glowing, says
Amundsen. Ryan adds, We also
hung blue-gelled space lights above
the set, positioned some Dinos on
the floor and then moved a bounce
card around for fill. Bay notes that
lights were set on both sides of the
cave so we could do flip-arounds
very quickly. We had to accomplish
a lot in not much time 103
shooting days and the only way
to do that was with pre-rigged sets,
which Andy [Ryan] does really well.

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Its worth it to spend the extra

money pre-rigging so you can save
time on your $300,000 days.
The action transitions to the
present with the mysterious crash
landings of objects that appear to
be meteorites. Curious teenager
Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf)
investigates one crash site with his
girlfriend, Mikaela (Megan Fox).
The couple quickly discovers the
Transformers have arrived and
begun wreaking havoc. The mayhem continues as a rogue helicopter approaches an airbase in Qatar
at dusk and is ordered to land.
(Holloman Air Force Base in New
Mexico provided the location.) As
the helicopter lands, it transforms
and reveals itself as Blackout, a
nasty Decepticon who proceeds
to make short work of soldiers
and military hardware alike.
Capt. Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and
Sgt. Epps (Tyrese Gibson) fend off
the robot, but not before he
launches Scorponok, a burrowing
Decepticon, who takes the form of
a scorpion.
We used three BeBee Night
Lights for the broad strokes, with
nine or 15 6K Pars on their remote
heads, says Ryan. With Michael,
you have to figure out ways to light
so its not going to take an incredible amount of time to re-light, and
so you can photograph the units if
necessary. So we incorporated the
lighting into the scene. We put little
Honda generators in the backs of
jeeps and then mounted four 1K
Par cans and 1,200-watt HMIs on
them. When they drive up, theyre
actually lighting the shot, and you
buy them as military vehicles. Bay
adds, When Andy told me that
idea, I thought it was brilliant. We
had to shoot right as the sun was
going down, two days in a row.
Also, you dont get military equipment for long, just a day or two.
Aerial
cinematographer
David B. Nowell, ASC helped capture the action using a gyrostabi-

lized SpaceCam mounted to the

nose of an A-Star helicopter. The
SpaceCam uses a modified
Mitchell Mark II pin-registered
camera,
typically
with
a
Panavision-mount Angenieux HR
10:1 zoom with an anamorphic
back end, says Nowell. For the
nighttime battles we switched the
10:1 back to spherical and pushed
the 5218 one stop so we could
shoot at around a T4. For some
daytime desert scenes, we covered
an A-10 Thunderbolt air strike and
also brought in some V-22 Osprey
tilt-rotor aircraft.
A subsequent scene takes
place the next morning at a desert
Bedouin camp and garrison; this
was filmed at the White Sands
Missile Range near Alamogordo,
New Mexico. The week before we
got there, two of the construction
guys were sent to the hospital with
sunburn, says Amundsen. Its all
white sand, and the reflected light is
incredibly powerful. And we had to
wrap our cameras carefully because
the sand went everywhere. Ryan
recalls, We were out in 115-degree
heat for four days. The sky was
blue, the sun was out and the sand
was white, so there wasnt a lot of
extra lighting there! Michael rarely
let us put up a diffusion frame to
take an actor out of direct sun

because that would have taken too

much time. So we decided to go
with the toplight and use bounce
cards to add fill on the actors closeups. It ended up making for a better look.
The scene features a centerpiece shot of Scorponok bursting
out of the sand in slow motion to
ambush Lennox and Epps. It was
done in three passes at 360 fps on a
Photo-Sonics 4ER [with a spherical
Primo 4:1 zoom], says Amundsen.
First, we had the actors run at us
in slow motion. Then we did a second pass with a big explosion in the
sand, and finally we shot a clean
pass. ILM added Scorponok flying
out of the sand. We figured out that
shot in a previz animatic long

Above: Human
soldiers attempt
to fend off the
powerful robots
amid the
sandscapes of
Qatar. These
scenes were
shot at Halloman
Air Force Base
and the White
Sands Missile
Range in New
Mexico, where
the temperature
reached 115F.
Below: Director
Michael Bay
(right) leads his
troops through
the desert.

American Cinematographer 47

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Page 48

Rock Em Sock Em Robots

Above: While
exploring the
Arctic Circle,
the crew of an
icebreaker
ship discovers
Megatron, the
Decepticon
leader, frozen
in a cave.
Below:
Director of
photography
Mitch
Amundsen
finds his angle
in the icy set.

48 August 2007

before we got there, and it turned

out even better than wed planned.
The filmmakers relied greatly
on previsualization to test action
sequences and provide for proper
composition and camera movement for capturing giant robots.
Michael took the time in prep to
figure every scene out, and his animatics were invaluable, says Ryan.
He was literally directing to the
animatics. They helped us prepare
for everything each scene required.
The previz supervisor was Steve
Yamamoto. We use Autodesk

Maya, so everything was in 3-D,

says Yamamoto. Michael tends to
come up with signature shots that
are pivotal to a scene and then
build off those. He wanted everything to have that visceral, highspeed feel. For example, the
Autobots arent just standing still
when they transform; theyre cars
moving at 70 mph that then transform into robot form while keeping that high speed. Bay notes,
Steve is one of the rare [previz]
guys who has a real sense of camera
motion in his animatics. It can be

frustrating to try to explain to

somebody with a cursor how the
camera works. We were also very
judicious and used the less is more
approach in terms of our big effects
shots. Its all about how you tease
the robots, because the shots are
really, really expensive.
ILMs Scott Farrar provided
on-set visual-effects supervision
and stand-in reference devices to
allow Amundsen and Bay to properly set up compositions and predict camera movement. Im a big
fan of simple tools, says Farrar.
For occasional shots we had fully
3-D robot heads on set, but most of
the time we used simple poles
the kind used for window-washing
and extended them to match the
robots height. Michael shoots
everything with multiple moving
cameras, so wed do one take with
the poles to give the operators a
good sense of where the robots
would eventually be. Emmerichs
wryly observes, It looked a little
like a Cirque du Soleil act, but it
really helped us get the headroom
right and figure out the scale. The
25mm flat lens allowed us to get
wide enough to see multiple robots
and still have people in the frame
that didnt look like ants.

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Page 49

Left: A lighting
diagram shows
Amundsens
approach to the
hangar set.
There were
fissures in the
sides of the icecave set that we
filled with 7K
Xenons and
beam projectors
to make the cave
look like it was
glowing, says
Amundsen.
Gaffer Andy
Ryan adds, We
also hung bluegelled space
lights above the
set, positioned
some Dinos on
the floor and
then moved a
bounce card
around for fill.
Below:
Crewmembers
use a broom to
create a mini
avalanche.

Farrar, who started his career

as a visual-effects camera operator
on films such as Cocoon and Return
of the Jedi, brought a strong appreciation of physics and photorealism
to Transformers visual effects.
Wed create cutters, flags and nets
in the computer for the robots to
move around in, even though they
werent physically on the set, he
notes. We gave them interesting
shadows, kickers and backlights so
it would all blend together with the
live-action photography.
Although Transformers leans
heavily on the action side, there are
a handful of lighter moments. In
one whimsical night scene, a little
girl who believes the Tooth Fairy
has paid her a visit soon discovers
an Autobot named Ironhide has
taken refuge in the family swimming pool. Amundsen recalls,
That was one of Michaels favorite
scenes, and we knew he wanted to
use it in the films first trailer, so it
had to be shot and sent to ILM ear-

lier than the rest of the material.

The pool was half-filled with water,
with steam rising above it. We set
up a Technocrane shot that wraps
around the action with a few separate passes, sometimes clean, sometimes with the girl in the frame.
We did the scene over a
night at a house in Chatsworth
thats been shot a million times,
says Ryan. I couldnt get a BeBee

into the backyard because it was up

on a hill, so I put one far away to
backlight the steam rising from the
pool and some smoke we added to
help pull out the trees. I put
Redheads as up-shooters on trees,
along with some HMI Pars on the
ground and a lot of architectural
lighting. We also floated a tungsten
8K helium balloon to create an
overall ambience.

American Cinematographer 49

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Page 50

Unleashing CG Robots in the Real World

Starscream
clears a path
through traffic.

50 August 2007

LMs goal on Transformers was to

achieve photo-realistic 30'-tall CG
robots that had believable physicality, and visual-effects supervisor
Scott Farrar worked closely with
cinematographer Mitch Amundsen
and director Michael Bay to ensure
the careful integration of live-action
cinematography with this CG work.
Farrar began by looking at
how other sci-fi movies had incorporated robots. He found most had
used an actual mechanical figure, like
Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet,
or an actor in a costume, like C-3PO
in Star Wars. Robby the Robot was
simple but it really worked, and C3PO was one of the best-looking
man-in-a-suit robots, says Farrar,
but the movies with giant robots
were mostly done with very simplistic stop-motion animation.
Because the Transformers
were to be composited into shots in
post, Farrar used on-set reference
devices to give Bay, Amundsen and
camera operator David Emmerichs
guidance. I spent most of my time
with Michael and David, says
Farrar. Id recommend how wide
they needed to be, or say, Its okay if
you see part of the robot here. They
were always trying for messy compositions because that helps you

believe the robots are really there.

We were all thrilled when we saw the
first shots come in.
Amundsen added touches
such as interactive flares and shadows to help incorporate the robots
into his photography. Theres an
alley scene where all of the
Transformers show themselves, and
Optimus Prime rolls up to Sam and
Mikaela, he says. We shot clean
plates of the alley, often shooting
right into the BeBee Night Lights
and getting flares. Wed create shadows and knock lights out with flags,
knowing the shape would eventually be something else.
Michael likes to have the
camera moving, and in this film the
camera is often rising and swirling
around a robot, says Farrar. So
wed dress the robots to the camera,
with gears, wheels and pistons moving into position as the camera sees
them. That made the transformations look more complicated and
more real.
On the set, ILM relied on its
longtime practice of extensive reference photography and notation to
integrate its virtual camera with the
live-action work. Most important
was getting the reflection of the
environment each scene takes place

in, says Farrar. Our match-mover,

Duncan Blackman, was on set with
a digital still camera to photograph
the surroundings for each scene.
From that, we stitched together a
360-degree background sphere
environment that could be reflected
on the robots shiny chrome surface.
Michael didnt want clunky
robots, he continues. He had
[stunt coordinator] Kenny Bates
devise different styles of fighting for
the different robots. We also looked
at real-world physics and considered the weight and speed of something so big. On top of that, we
needed to make the robots look
cool. We had to walk a fine line, and
sometimes we threw away the
physics!
Bay wanted to film all of the
action involving the Transformers
with as many real elements as possible. This approach proved especially
successful during a freeway chase
that finds Decepticon Bonecrusher
smashing through a city bus, triggering an explosion. That bus is
real, all of it, says Amundsen. The
special-effects team spent a lot of
time rigging the explosion. I operated the hero shot, and we were leading just 20 feet in front of that bus.
When it blew, we thought the explo-

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Page 51

sion might catch up with us!

Despite the projects reliance
on CGI, the filmmakers found that
practical iterations of the robots were
occasionally useful. The question
was always, Can we get decent
mileage out of it if we build it for
real? recalls Farrar. [Special-effects
coordinator] John Frazier made a
full-sized [16'-tall] model of
Bumblebee, Sams Autobot buddy,
for a sequence where Bumblebee is
tied down to a train car. His movement was restricted in this case
because he was covered with a cargo
net, and the model could be photographed multiple times. Also, a
puppet for Soundbyte, a devilish
stainless-steel Decepticon, was used
for certain shots where the camera
was up close or he wasnt moving
around much. Finally, the lower part
of Megatrons body was built practically in the government-facility set;
they shot a lot of live-action material
of the actors walking around those
giant legs.
At one point Megatron
breaks loose, says Amundsen. We
had some debris flying around the
set and tried to make it look like his
legs were bending a little, but most of
the big action was ILMs work. We
didnt do much greenscreen or bluescreen because ILM was adding so
much into all of our shooting environments, even through explosions
and dust.
Adds Farrar,For the final battle, we had layers and layers of dust,
debris, fire and smoke, along with
bullets and missile trails, and bricksand-mortar chunks of buildings
blowing off. All of that had to be simulated or shot as real elements and
composited in. The city fight is dirty
and messy, and making it all look real
required incredibly complex work. A
lot of pieces have to be put together
to make everything look good in the
end.
Noah Kadner

Although
much
of
Transformers was shot on location,
several sets were built at the former
aircraft hangars in Playa Vista that
have played host to a number of
studio productions. Transformers
stage sets included a secret government facility that holds Megatron
while he is still in cryogenic stasis
(from the Arctic prologue). We
built Megatron from the waist
down and ILM added the upper
half, recalls Ryan.Michael wanted
to be able to photograph the lighting units, so we built 12 Art-Decostyle lighting clusters, each consisting of six MolePars. Above
Megatron I put eight Mac 2000
motorized lights, which we could
quickly reset as keylights, down-

lights or backlights. On the day, we

also used a couple of 10Ks, one as a
key through a diffusion frame, the
other as a hard edge.
Back on location, a huge
freeway chase scene showcases
Optimus Prime as he takes on a
bus-swatting Decepticon named
Bonecrusher. The filmmakers used
a special rig, dubbed the BayBuster, which was originally built
for the director during Bad Boys II
by special-effects supervisor John
Frazier. Its a 34-ton truck driven
by a stunt driver that has a cowcatcher type of attachment on the
front and roll cages all around that
house fixed remote cameras, says
Tomita. It can drive through anything and flip other cars and debris

Above:
Crewmembers
add some
finishing
touches to the
chaos and
mayhem on a
street set.
According to
Ryan, The
challenge was
preparing and
lighting for 30foot robots that
werent there on
set. Below: The
camera dollies
rapidly to
capture a
dynamic shot of
a special-effects
explosion.

American Cinematographer 51

b-transformers

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2:08 PM

Page 52

Rock Em Sock Em Robots

right over it. For Michael, its all
about putting viewers in the middle
of the action.
The films finale takes place in
the downtown area of a major city,
where a pitched air and ground battle between the Transformers is
joined by Sam and the U.S. military.
The sequence includes shots filmed
in Los Angeles and Detroit and on
Universal Studios New York Street.
The setting is Anytown, U.S.A.,
says Amundsen. Michael loves
Detroit because its a great-looking
city thats accessible and easy to lock
up [for shooting]. ILM created CG
set extensions to help tie everything
together. Bay notes, It was one of
the most complicated climaxes Ive
ever shot; there were many stories
going on at the same time. What
made it bearable was that we were
only able to shoot it over weekends,
so I had time to cut scenes together
during the week and see what I

needed the following weekend.

In downtown L.A., Amundsen
employed a Coptervision radio-controlled miniature helicopter rigged
with an Arri 2-C, shooting Super
35mm. We used the Coptervision
to shoot low-flying plates for scenes
where F-22 jets are supposed to be
flying above the streets, he notes.
We flew it down Broadway as fast
as it could go. Then we could composite whatever we wanted into the
shot, like an F-22 piece or an overthe-shoulder of a missile. We got
some very cool plates.
The beauty of a 103-day
schedule with Michael is that we
shoot every frame of film, notes
Ryan. Most days we were first unit,
but occasionally we were second or
visual-effects unit; we ran those
units with a reduced first-unit crew.
That way the look of the film
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b-transformers

6/30/07

2:08 PM

Page 53

Sonnenfeld also provided

ILM with color-corrected background plates as 2K DPX files. We
established a process on Pirates of
the Caribbean: At Worlds End that
we wanted to repeat on
Transformers, says the colorist.We
always corrected the plate shots
before sending them to the effects
house. Michael was in touch with
ILM every day during post, and as
we got further along hed look at
shots on our Barco DP-100 2K projector and make comments,
approve or disapprove.
For the DI on Transformers,
negatives were scanned on Arri
scanners at 2K, and sometimes at
4K or 6K for shots requiring
enlargements or additional detail.
We work with a da Vinci 2K Plus,
Autodesks Smoke, and Backdraft
Conform, says Sonnenfeld. The
DI process took four or five weeks,
and Michael was very hands-on.

EFilm will do the filmout and send

the digital negative to Deluxe for
release printing.Amundsen wasnt
able to participate in the DI every
day because of a prior commitment, but he notes that Sonnenfeld
is probably the best colorist there
is, and hes done all of Michaels
movies. We talked all the time during dailies. He has great taste.
Its hard to go from being a
second-unit director of photography to the main cinematographer
on a monster movie like this, but
Mitch did a great job, says Bay.
Andy Ryan also made it easier
because hes done so many big
shows and has worked with both of
us for so long. Transformers was a
great experience.
Amundsen has similarly
warm words for the crew: I was
spoiled rotten on Transformers,
working with people who are so
good at what they do. Id come up

with an idea and the execution just

came together flawlessly. We had
one of the best crews ever put
together. Good stuff just happened
all the time.
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c-1408

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1:12 PM

Page 54

Ghost

Writer

1408, shot by Benot Delhomme, AFC, traps a horror

author in a haunted hotel room.
by Mark Hope-Jones
Unit photography by Melinda Sue Gordon, SMPSP

ont enter 1408. This

warning, scrawled on a
postcard from New Yorks
Dolphin Hotel, is enough
to lure skeptical horror
writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack)
back to the city where his infant
daughter succumbed to a fatal illness
and his marriage fell apart.When the
anonymous warning arrives at his
new home in California, Enslin real54 August 2007

izes the Dolphin might provide an

ideal final chapter for his latest book,
a cynical survey of 10 supposedly
haunted rooms, nine of which he has
occupied for an uneventful night.
When Enslin arrives at the Dolphin,
the hotel manager, Olin (Samuel L.
Jackson), begs him to change his
plans; he claims 56 people have died
in room 1408, all of them in less than
an hour. Undeterred and unbeliev-

ing, Enslin demands the key and,

armed with his trusty minicassette
recorder, heads to the room.
Stephen Kings novels have
provided source material for dozens
of film and television projects,
including the features Carrie, The
Shining and The Shawshank
Redemption. The new film 1408,
directed by Mikael Hfstrm and
shot by Benot Delhomme, AFC, is

c-1408

6/29/07

1:13 PM

Page 55

Photos courtesy of Weinstein Co. Frame grabs courtesy of Framestore CFC. Additional photos courtesy of Benot Delhomme.

Opposite: The
Dolphin Hotels
haunted room
1408 ensures
that cynical
author Mike
Enslin (John
Cusack), whos
made a career
of discrediting
the paranormal,
is in for a long
night. This page:
At first, Enslin
finds the room
rather ordinary,
but soon ghosts
of 1408s
previous victims
begin to appear
(below).

based on a short story by King that

first appeared in audiobook form in
1999 (as part of Blood and Smoke)
and later surfaced as one of 14 dark
tales in the book Everythings
Eventual.
Delhomme was in Buenos
Aires on a break from a commercial
when he read the script for 1408. As
I read, I realized that for half the year
I was just like Mike Enslin sitting
in a hotel room, far from home, with
nothing but memories so I was
really scared by the story, says the
cinematographer. He was intrigued
by the projects visual potential; most
of the tale takes place in one room,
though it goes through a series of

dramatic changes. Many elements

normally associated with exteriors,
such as rain, fire and ice, all come
into play in this interior, he says. At
the time, Delhomme was still savoring his experiences working in the
Australian Outback on The
Proposition (see AC May 06), and
1408 presented a radical change of
environment and genre.I like doing
different genres, the way actors do,
he says. I thought doing a horror
movie after a Western would be
great.
Except for a few scenes, 1408
was filmed in London, mainly
onstage at Elstree Studios.
Delhomme decided to exaggerate

the differences between East Coast

and West Coast climates and cultures
in order to accentuate the idea that
Enslin is being drawn back into a
painful past.Mikes life in California
is a bit like the clich hes relaxed,
he surfs, its warm. He moved to Los
Angeles to escape what happened in
New York, to be in a place where the
sun shines every day and the sky is
always blue. I wanted to associate the
sun with positive thinking, so that
when he goes back to New York, we
could create a contrast to that with
darker and less saturated images. In
L.A., Delhomme shot on Kodak
Vision2 200T 5217 and 100T 5212
and used Tiffen White Pro-Mist fil-

American Cinematographer 55

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Page 56

Ghost Writer
After nursing a
hand wound
(right) caused
by an
apparently
cognizant
window, Enslin
attempts a
treacherous
escape (below)
but finds no
way back into
the building
except through
1408. Because
1408 was shot
mainly on
stage in
London, New
York City
backdrops
were added
in post.

ters to accentuate highlights. For

scenes set in New York, he used
Vision2 500T 5218 and Black ProMist filters for all scenes set in room
1408, as well as night shots. (Only
one New York scene was actually
shot there: when Enslins cab stops in
front of the Dolphin Hotel.
Delhomme notes the Dolphin exterior was actually two different hotels;
the bottom was the Roosevelt and
the top was a Marriott. The two
were combined in one tilting establishing shot by the visual-effects
team, he says.)
Hfstrm and Delhomme
had not worked together before, but
they quickly established a good rapport.When I met Mikael, I was reassured, says Delhomme. I wasnt
sure if a horror-film director might
56 August 2007

be kind of creepy, but Mikael was so

normal and sensitive and warm. It
felt like meeting an old friend, in a
way. Their visual references for 1408
included the films of Roman
Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock,and,
of course, Stanley Kubricks The
Shining, which is a masterpiece of
this kind of psychological horror
movie.
Kubricks picture, shot by
John Alcott, BSC, came to provide
inspiration for the filmmakers
technical approach. I love the wide
shots in The Shining and was so
impressed by the lighting, enthuses
Delhomme. The angles are so wide
that you see the ceilings and wonder
how on earth they lit it. While serving as director of photography of the
New York unit on The Talented Mr.

Ripley, Delhomme had met Roy

Walker, the production designer on
The Shining. We spent entire nights
talking about The Shining because I
wanted to know everything about it,
recalls Delhomme.He explained that
Stanley loved to work with practicals
and to have ceilings everywhere, with
light boxes you couldnt see, so he
could move from wide shots to closeups without having to relight. Roy
told me about the thousands of lampshades he bought for Stanley that
quickly got burned by powerful
Photofloods!
Delhomme worked with production designer Andrew Laws to
achieve similar freedom on 1408.We
knew light was going to be a big part
of the character of the room, says
Laws. The art department provided
practical lamps for the hotel suite;
some were rewired by gaffer David
Smith and his crew to accommodate
more powerful bulbs.When the ceilings were built, we worked out camera angles with Mikael and made
openings in the ceilings as big as we
could without the camera seeing
them, says Smith.We built softboxes
to fit exactly in those openings.
Each softbox contained two to
six space lights above layers of diffusion and was surrounded by a skirt to
keep spill off the walls. These, in combination with the practicals, provided
sufficient light levels in the suite for
Delhomme to expose at T2.5 on 5218.

c-1408

6/29/07

1:13 PM

Page 57

This stop proved ideal because I

wanted to have John Cusack a little
sharper than the walls, and working
with wide lenses at T2.5 was giving me
more than enough depth of field! The
walls were always so close that I wanted some separation. Sometimes he
used a Chinese lantern on a boom or
in his hands to get a little more light
on Cusacks face.Occasionally we put
some Chinese lanterns or Kino Flos
behind furniture, but there were mirrors in the room, and in general it was
nearly impossible to hide conventional movie lamps, he adds.
For much of the shoot, Cusack
had to play scenes entirely on his own.
It was very challenging, recalls
Hfstrm, because actors tend to
draw energy from other actors, but he
got used to it. The decision to make
heavy use of a Steadicam rig allowed
the director to give Cusack greater
freedom to explore the space. There
were a lot of things going on that were
very hard to plan, so we had to go with
the flow, and the Steadicam made it
very easy for us to improvise, says
Delhomme. Although the cinematographer typically does his own operating, using a Steadicam meant he was
often separated from the camera. Id
never worked with a camera operator
for a whole film before, he notes. I
interviewed several [Steadicam operators], and I chose Gerry Vasbenter

because we had the best communication. It was funny Mikael

directed John and I directed Gerry
like he was an actor, too! After a take,
Mikael would make a suggestion to
John, and I would make an immediate suggestion to Gerry. I wanted
him to react like Johns doppelgnger. It was a fantastic experience.
Working in Super 35mm,
Delhomme
used
Panaflex
Millennium XL cameras and Primo
lenses supplied by Panavision U.K.I
always tried to put two cameras on
the set, but it wasnt easy with the
Steadicam because it was on a wide
angle and very close to John. But
there was always [another operator]
standing by with a camera in case he
could grab something. For the action

sequences, we often had three cameras. In a way, this is a mini-action

movie that takes place in one room.
Delhomme prefers working
with a small range of prime lenses.
On The Proposition he stuck mainly
to the 35mm, 50mm and 75mm, but
1408 necessitated much shorter focal
lengths. I wanted to work with
wider angles on this film
14.5mm, 17.5mm and 21mm. At
times we even used a 10mm Primo, a
beautiful lens. We never really used a
long lens. He also used a Primo
14.5-50mm Macro Zoom, not so
much on the Steadicam, but for contra-zooms, usually on a dolly. We
did this quite a lot, but not with the
full zoom range; I just made short
changes of focal length, often with-

Once Enslin is
trapped inside
1408, the room
tests the authors
resolve by
drenching him
(above) and then
freezing him
(below). Note
Delhommes
switch to
ambient
fluorescent
lighting.

American Cinematographer 57

c-1408

6/29/07

1:14 PM

Page 58

Ghost Writer

Above left:
Enslin comes
face to face
with another
ghost while
trying to escape
through the
air-conditioning
ductwork.
Above right:
Delhomme
(right) directs
the lighting for
the ghost-in-aduct shot.
Below:
Delhomme takes
a meter reading
at Enslins
possessed
laptop computer.

58 August 2007

out telling anyone. I like to play with

the zoom myself.
The combination of wide
angles and Steadicam made it almost
impossible for Delhomme to move
props around for individual shots.
We designed the room big enough
to work around all the furniture. We
didnt really have the option to pull
walls, because with the wide angles
we often had three walls in shot. I
also wanted to give John the feeling
he was in a real room so he could fill
the space. Focus puller Dermot
Hickey had his work cut out for him,
thanks to the physical obstacles in
the room, the relatively wide aperture setting, and the roving camera.

Dermot had a lot to do because you

dont use any marks with a
Steadicam, says Delhomme. After
some time in the room, he got to
know the dimensions and the distances between pieces of furniture. It
was a difficult job, probably the
hardest job on this crew.
One of the main ideas of the
story is that Enslin is seemingly on
his own in this room, but really isnt;
hes surrounded by ghosts or spirits.
When youre on your own somewhere, its scary when you suddenly
see someone where no one should
be. We wanted to use the Steadicam
to create tension around John all the
time, to suggest another character is

there with him. Sometimes the

Steadicam is Enslins POV, and sometimes it seems to be someone elses.
Handheld would have been too
much, too specifically like a person. I
wanted the images to have ambiguity
because that increases the tension.
The filmmakers also wanted to
create the impression that the room
itself is sentient, and everything in it
possessed by the same sinister consciousness. The walls are characters,
every prop and lamp is a character,
says Delhomme. Once, John suddenly grabbed a lamp and swung it
around, and after the take he asked
me, Did you like what I did? I was
lighting myself! Delhomme was
quick to encourage such improvisation because it drew the light into the
story.John was very good with that,
he recalls. The light is a character in
the film when it flickers, its alive,
pushing to be something different.
Keen for the light to make
transitions through the film, just as
the room does, Delhomme proposed
gradually altering the color of the
walls with his lighting so they would
become brighter than Enslin, and he
would be silhouetted against them.
One of my favorite things when
working in a soundstage is to give
several different looks to the same
space. This makes me think of the
painter who works all his life with the
same background: his studio. The

c-1408

6/29/07

1:14 PM

Page 59

lighting transition was motivated in

part by the fact that the rooms thermostat never works properly; the first
look is warm, and once the rooms
temperature rises and Enslin becomes
uncomfortable, the maintenance
man fixesthe thermostat and it goes
wrong in the opposite direction, making the room quite cold. Laws
installed specially built mouldings
between the walls and ceilings that
were substantial enough to conceal
egg crates and fluorescent tubes.
When I started using fluorescent
light all around the room, suddenly
the walls were colder, more graphic
and more lit, notes Delhomme. All
the lighting effects were on keyboards,
so I could go from one setup to
another very quickly; only the gel on
the light box in the ceiling had to be
changed. For the first look, I used
dimmers to make the light box match
the practicals. For the second look, as
the fluorescents were about 4000K, I
used some blue gel in the light box.
By changing the nature of the

light, Delhomme realized the color

transitions without the art department having to re-dress the set for
the second look. We played with a
few different ideas of color in the
early stages, says Laws. We considered whether the color of the room
should actually change when the
light shifted from incandescent to
fluorescent. Ultimately, we came up
with a couple of colors that were
neutral but had enough tone that
when we shifted from one form of
light to another, they picked up that
change and exaggerated it.
1408 contains about 350 visual-effects shots, more than Hfstrm
had contended with on previous
projects. Visual-effects supervisor
Sean Farrow was brought onboard
fairly early in the films development
to assist the director. After Mikael
and I worked on storyboards, we
developed them into animatics or
previz, depending on the complexity
of the sequence, says Farrow. The
previz helped them decide camera,

crane and track positions, and calculate how much bluescreen they
wanted in different places. Farrow
had worked with Delhomme before,
on The Merchant of Venice (AC Jan.
05). Therefore they did not have to
have what Farrow calls the regular
discussions that every cinematographer and visual-effects supervisor
have at the beginning of a shoot: film
stock, bluescreen vs. greenscreen,
spill and lighting the stuff we
have to compromise on one way or
another. Delhomme knew he
would have to photograph some of
1408s bluescreen shots with the 200speed 5217, though this would not
be easy on a set lit by practicals.
In order to minimize delays
when Cusack was on set, a TransLite
was used behind the hotel-room
window for as many shots as possible. On the other five sets for room
1408, bluescreen was outside.
Farrow was able to conduct tests for
the bluescreen lighting during the
shoot, which helped save time. For

Six sets for room

1408 were
constructed
onstage at
Elstree Studios.
In this diagram
the large gray
circles centered
in each room
represent space
lights, each
containing six
800-watt bulbs.
The blue bars
around the
edges of the
rooms are TLD
840 fluorescent
tubes on
Tridonic Ballasts
and are
controlled by a
Digital
Addressable
Lighting
Interface system.
The small green
circles represent
practical wall
fixtures
containing
60-watt candlestyle bulbs. The
small yellow
rectangles are
practical lamps
containing
100-watt pearl
bulbs. The small
red circle in the
middle of the
diagram is a
Par 30 that
illuminates the
minibar. The
pink circles
represent
practical wall
fixtures that
light hanging
wall art.

American Cinematographer 59

c-1408

6/29/07

1:15 PM

Page 60

Ghost Writer
Manning the
overhead
camera,
Delhomme
prepares to
shoot Cusack
playing a
scene in
which Enslin
finally
concedes
that the
paranormal
may exist
after all.

the first setups, he tried two different

bluescreen materials and two different lighting approaches, then rushed
through a scan of the negatives in
order to compare their suitability. He
notes, I worked with Dave Smith,
the gaffer, on using tungsten fixtures
and lighting more traditionally, and
on a technique he had developed

60

using Kino Flos with special bluescreen gels. Ultimately we used the
Kino process for about 80 percent of
the bluescreen work. For closer shots,
where blue spill was an issue, we used
tungstens. We were fortunate to have
those minor bluescreen shots to test
the setups for the bigger ones. Being
on set enabled him to ensure that

images slated for 2-D effects were not

shot in a way that would necessitate
motion-control.
The visual-effects work was
divided among a number of companies, including The Moving Picture
Co. (MPC), LipSync Post, The Senate,
and Rainmaker, and Farrow assigned
shots to the facilities he thought were
best suited to the work. For example,
he gave the water shots to MPC, whose
artists had recently refined CG water
for Poseidon (AC June 06). He was also
conscious that the production might
add more CG shots later in the shoot,
and he didnt want a single facility to
be working at maximum capacity.
At one point in the film, Enslin
opens the small refrigerator in room
1408 and sees Olin walking down a
long corridor toward him. Farrow
recalls, There were all kinds of concerns about how we could make a
character inside a minibar seem
threatening. We did a lot of previz and

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Page 61

storyboarding just to draw out how

we could present the two characters in
the same frame. Ultimately, a bluescreen corridor was built, and liveaction images of Jackson and Cusack
were shot with a small motion-control
rig. The CG corridor, designed to
reflect the general look of the hotel,
was assembled in LightWave 3D and
Maya before being rendered through
Mental Ray. Farrows team captured
more than 1,000 high-dynamic-range
images of Olins office set so they
could incorporate every textual and
architectural detail. It was mostly
done with a small amount of geometry, and then projected textures that
were matte-painted to add extra
depth, detail and ruggedness,explains
Farrow. Delhomme participated in all
the discussions about matching the
CG and live-action elements. I am so
obsessed that the lighting should be
real and logical, notes the cinematographer.

1408 was finished with a digital intermediate (DI) at Framestore

CFC, where it was graded in a
Baselight 8 suite, using an NEC iS8
projector with Texas Instruments
chip and the Truelight color-management system. Delhomme
requested colorist Adam Glasman,
with whom he had successfully collaborated on The Proposition and
Breaking and Entering. Adam is part
of my team, he says. He knows my
taste and how I work. In a way, its
like continuing the relationship you
have with your gaffer on the set.
Adam sometimes created the top
chop we had no time to fix during
the shoot! Knowing that the film
would finish with a DI gave
Delhomme the freedom to light
with broad strokes on set, ignoring
time-consuming subtleties such as
elaborate flags.I created the suggestion of the lighting on set and did all
the finessing in the DI, he says.Ive

become used to it. He emphasizes,

however, that there are limits to the
DI process:I never go against what I
have done on set, I just take it further.
There is one thing the DI cant do for
sure: change the direction of the light
you created on the set. Digital tools
can alter the mood of your lighting
you can make it harder, softer,
warmer or cooler but theyre not
a magic wand.
I

TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Super 35mm
Panaflex Millennium
Primo lenses
Kodak Vision2
100T 5212, 200T 5217, 500T 5218
Digital Intermediate
Printed on Kodak Vision 2383

61

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DanceFever
Director of photography Bojan Bazelli revisits the Sixties
for Hairspray, a musical about an optimistic teen whos
determined to make a difference.
by Rachael K. Bosley
Unit photography by David James, SMPSP

hallenging to make and rarely

attempted, film musicals rank
close to Westerns as the genre
cinematographers
would
most like to try, and when
Bojan Bazelli read the script for
Hairspray, an adaptation of the 2002
Tony Award-winning Broadway
musical, he was pleased to discover
how much substance lay behind its
sunny faade. Set in Baltimore in
1962, the story follows Tracy
Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), a heavyset teen who dances her way to television stardom and then uses the
62 August 2007

platform to campaign for racial

integration. The film has a really
strong message about America in
the Sixties, and that made it an
unusual musical script, says Bazelli.
The Cold War is going on, theres
racial segregation, and alongside
those elements is the simple story of
a girl who wants to belong but is
told she cant because shes too fat.
Its a great story that operates on
many levels.
Despite the films roots in
reality, however, there was no getting
around the fact that every element

lighting, costumes, choreography, and so on had to be slightly

surreal in order to make it not seem
so strange that the characters were
singing to each other rather than
talking, he continues. This isnt
like Chicago, where the reality is
normal and the fantasy sequences
are musical numbers. In our movie,
the reality is the musical, and that
complicated things quite a bit.
When actors begin singing to each
other, it immediately throws you
into another sphere. That was my
first reaction to the script: this cant

Photos courtesy of New Line Cinema.

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look too real.

Hairspray is not only the first
musical on Bazellis rsum
which includes Mr. & Mrs. Smith
(see AC July 05), The Ring (AC Nov.
02), Kalifornia and Body Snatchers
it is also the first comedy, and
that posed another set of questions.
Comedy is usually scary to cinematographers because its hard to
know what that should look like,he
observes. Should it be light, shiny,
colorful? Its much harder to shoot
light images, transparent images,
than dramatic ones. Theres more to
it.
Indeed, there was quite a bit
more to it on Hairspray. In addition
to designing ways to photograph
energetic dance numbers in a variety of settings, Bazelli had to contend with an unconventional-looking lead actress; a key supporting
actor (John Travolta) who was in
drag as a 300-pound woman
(Tracys mother, Edna); a middleaged actress (Michelle Pfeiffer)
whose look had to clearly suggest
her characters beauty-queen past;
and, as the films title suggests, a
multitude of wigs. Every scene had
difficulties, says Bazelli. If it was a
simple dialogue scene, Travolta was
in it. If it wasnt, it was a dance number with 30 people in the shot, or a
scene where everyone was wearing a
wig, or a scene where a black actor
with really dark skin was next to a
girl in a white dress. And Nikki, who
is naturally plump, couldnt be photographed from every angle because
she had to look cute all the time.
Michelle also had to look a certain
way, and she was often moving
through the set and interacting with
others. Technically speaking it was a
very complicated shoot, even
though we didnt use any amazing
rigs.
Bazelli and his collaborators
were also tasked with re-creating the
look of the televised dance shows
that were must-see after-school
viewing for teens in the early Sixties.

Much of Hairsprays story unfolds

in the studio of the Corny Collins
show, a local Baltimore program
showcasing the latest dance crazes.
After Tracys moves catch Collins
eye at a school dance, she lands a
spot on his show, much to the chagrin of Amber von Tussle (Brittany
Snow), and her mother, Velma
(Pfeiffer), the shows producer. We
didnt want to copy the look of
those shows exactly, but we wanted
to feature the same fixtures, those
scoop lights on panagraphs, because
you can see them in every photo of
those programs, says Bazelli. We
made a great effort find them, and
we ended up with 60 or 70. They
added a wonderful graphic element

to our compositions.
Hairspray was filmed in
Toronto over 65 days beginning in
September 2006, and about three
months prior to that, Bazelli began
sorting out how to achieve a period
look that would also suggest Tracys
rosy view of the world. Tracy is
happy and excited about everything,
and the films tonality and palette
are shaped by the fact that its presenting her point of view, he says.
Shes a charming, happy person
who sees Baltimore differently than
others do. There are rats in the street
and drunks on the corner, but the
tonality is clean and happy because
thats how she sees it. The goal was
to create a look that was polished

Opposite: Tracy
Turnblad (Nikki
Blonsky) makes
an instant
impression on
the Corny Collins
show. This page,
top: Performing
Good Morning,
Baltimore,
Tracy applies the
finishing touch to
her trendy do.
For most of
Blonskys shots,
there were six to
eight small lights
devoted to her
wig. This is a
movie about hair,
and I felt every
curve of her hair
should show,
says
cinematographer
Bojan Bazelli.
Left: Bazelli
(right) stays in
step with
director Adam
Shankman as he
runs through a
number, and
videographer
Gordon Weiske
captures the
moment.

American Cinematographer 63

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Dance Fever

Anxious to
keep all eyes
on her
daughter,
eagle-eyed
Corny Collins
producer
Velma von
Tussle
(Michelle
Pfeiffer, left)
spots and
swiftly deflates
another
dancers
unusually
generous
bustline.

64 August 2007

but not modern. We tried to give

the photography and the lighting an
older feel. It doesnt have a realistic
Sixties look, but it has the residue of
that era. This meant working with
lower-contrast images and a limited
palette of mostly pale greens, pale
blues and ochres nothing too
saturated.
During prep, we also decided to build hard ceilings into most
of the sets,he continues.We found
in our research that lots of homes in
Baltimore in the Sixties had design
elements in their ceilings, and I figured if theyre great to photograph,
why not photograph them? So
when [production designer] David
Gropman asked me what I wanted
to do about ceilings, I suggested he
build them for real. He was thrilled,
and said the only other cinematographer who had ever proposed that
to him was Conrad Hall [ASC]. I
said, Well, that settles it! Its like
committing to painting a picture
with a certain brush. Its an intriguing challenge, and thats what keeps
things interesting.
When he wasnt attending to
such details, Bazelli was observing
and videotaping rehearsals of the
pictures 27 musical numbers with

the
films
director, Adam
Shankman. By the end of prep,
every number had been mapped on
the floor of the rehearsal room, he
recalls. If they were rehearsing a
number that would take place in the
street, the floor was mapped to
match the dimensions of the street
where it would be staged, and we
framed accordingly.
Bazelli initially proposed
shooting in standard 1.85:1 in order
to best showcase the dancing, and
because there were several scenes
calling for 4'7" Blonsky to share the
frame with 6'5" Travolta. In order
to put Nikki and John in the same
shot in widescreen, the shot would
have to be fairly long and fairly wide,
and the same would be true if you
wanted to show dancers from head
to toe, he explains. But Shankman
was keen on widescreen, and after
seeing tests comparing 1.85 to Super
35mm, the studio agreed with him.
We studied musicals such as All
That Jazz and Chicago, but West Side
Story was a key reference, and Adam
liked its mix of bigger-than-life wide
shots and medium shots, says
Bazelli.When we watched the comparison tests, everyone agreed 1.85
was a better frame for us, but they

felt the movie somehow wouldnt be

as big. I didnt agree, but in the end
I think widescreen does give the picture a sort of presence.
Although shooting Super
35mm meant a digital intermediate
(DI) would be used for the final
anamorphic transfer, Bazelli decided early on that he would not
achieve any element of the palette
digitally. What distinguishes really
good photography from mediocrity
is that its there in the negative, he
says. The more you do in camera,
the better the result. If Hairspray
were 1.85, we wouldnt have needed
a DI.
During prep, Bazelli tested
film stocks at Deluxe in Toronto
with the three sets of lenses he
planned to use on the show: Cooke
Panchro and S4 primes and Arri
Master Primes.I used the Panchros
on the Corny Collins set because
Michelle is a regular presence there,
and our goal was to be very gentle to
her. Her character is a glamorous
diva whose glamour is mostly in her
imagination, and the Panchros are a
bit softer than modern lenses. We
used Master Primes for night material because I wanted to see lots of
detail in the shadows. None of the
black-and-white pictures from that
era have deep blacks; theres a transparency to the shadows, and I
thought [mimicking that] would
help our film look older. So the rule
was: if something is in the shadows,
it has to be visible. He used Cooke
S4s for the rest of the picture, as well
as an Angenieux Optimo 12:1 (24290mm) zoom that was used as a
long lens. Our longest prime was
150mm, and I used the zoom for
anything longer than that.
We were almost always
shooting wide open so the focus
would fall off as fast as possible
we wanted to have the pictorial
quality of anamorphic without the
pain of anamorphic and thanks
to our great focus pullers, Russel

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Page 65

Bowie [A camera] and Ciaran

Copelin [B camera], there wasnt a
single soft shot in the dailies.
I tried something with twocamera coverage on this film that I
hadnt done before, he continues.
On most of the straight [dialogue]
scenes, instead of doing the traditional wide and tight versions of the
same shot, I decided to try putting
the B camera in a totally different
area, out of the shot space, to find a
perspective that was nobodys point
of view. For example, if there was a
dialogue scene on the street, the A
camera [operated by Candide
Franklyn] covered the main angle,
and the B camera [operated by
Roger Finlay] would step back with
a long lens and shoot the scene
through a car window or through
the steering wheel, a neutral angle
that reflected something of the period. It was an independent angle that
was cuttable to other shots, and the
editor [Michael Tronick] loved it.
Pretty soon everyone started calling
the B camera the peeping camera.
Bazelli used three Kodak
Vision2 stocks, 50D 5201 for day
exteriors, 500T 5218 for night exteriors, and 200T 5217 for all other
material; these were rated normally
and pull-processed one stop. I
found that [underdeveloping] really
helped emphasize the period. When
I overexposed to compensate for it,
my printing lights were only about 5
points lower, so I thought Id see
what happened without compensating, and that gave me printer
lights around 28-30. That would be
fairly low for a photochemical finish, but my tests showed that a thinner negative yielded a better DI filmout; I wanted to create a range of
transparent blacks that was reflective of the period. But to play it safe,
I overexposed by 13 of a stop.
On projects finished photochemically Ive done lots of overexposure my lights would be in the
high 40s or low 50s but Ive
found its pretty much a waste of

The production
took over a big
intersection in
Toronto to film
Welcome to the
60s, a duet
between Tracy
and her mother,
Edna (John
Travolta), that
turns into a big
ensemble number
on the streets of
downtown
Baltimore. Even
on big exteriors
such as this,
Bazelli and his
collaborators
strove to keep
cool tones in the
background to
help flesh tones
stand out. The
bottom photo
illustrates
Bazellis lowangle approach to
dance numbers.

American Cinematographer 65

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Page 66

Dance Fever
Over the course
of the story, the
Corny Collins
show evolves
from a local
afternoon hit
(top photo) into
a live primetime
broadcast
(middle) that
culminates in
the big number
You Cant Stop
the Beat
(bottom). Bazelli
and chief
lighting
technician Tony
Nakonechnyj
worked out a
lighting scheme
for the set
(opposite page)
that bolstered
period fixtures
with an array of
modern
instruments,
including
moving
theatrical lights.
In many shots,
the TV cameras
monitors are in
frame and
display a live
image. Bazelli
notes, We
wanted to see a
real-time image
on the monitor
we didnt
want to put
bluescreen
there and comp
in an image
later so we
installed a
lipstick camera
where the
original lens
was and
connected it to
an LCD monitor
that the art
department
dressed to look
like the
original.

66 August 2007

energy. You spend a certain amount

of light to achieve density in the
negative, and then in post you have
to print it down to make it look normal. This time I decided I wouldnt
do 8 or 9 points of extra safety; I
decided to save that and light only as
much as we needed. But I wanted to
keep a close eye on [the negative],
because you cant make fine judgments when youre watching dailies
on tape. We had print dailies for the
first two weeks, and after that I could
print when I wanted to. Fortunately,
during prep I had developed a good
relationship with both of our timers
at Deluxe Toronto, [dailies colorist]
Tom Engleman and [photochemical
timer] Frank Leone, and after two
months of testing they were clear on
what I wanted.
It also helped that our schedule was determined by Travoltas
schedule, he adds. He works 12hour days, including travel and
makeup time, and his makeup took
six hours every day. When he was on
set our shooting calls were usually
12 or 1 p.m., so I could go to the lab
in the morning.
To portray Tracys obese, agoraphobic mother, Travolta donned a
rubber suit that added female features and many pounds to his
frame, leaving only his arms in their
natural state. This was coupled with
a complicated makeup-and-wig job
that had to look convincing as he
danced and sang. After 30 or 40
minutes of dancing, John would
start to pour sweat, and filming him
became a lighting and compositional nightmare, recalls Bazelli. We
often shot his close-ups first, when
the makeup looked best, and I
found myself putting up lots of little
bounce cards to try to level the contrast on his face and make him look
like a normal fat woman instead of a
decaying plastic face. I didnt use
special filtration on him, just the 12
Tiffen Soft/FX I used on the entire
picture. Nobody got anything
more.

6/29/07

1:25 PM

Page 67

Diagram and photo courtesy of Tony Nakonechnyj.

d-hairspray

American Cinematographer 67

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Page 68

Dance Fever
Near right:
Robert Polidoris
photo Calle
Cardenas 27
was a major
influence on
Bazellis
thinking about
Hairsprays
palette. Its the
cover image of
the book Moods
of La Habana,
and I actually
took that with
me into the DI
suite at EFilm,
he says. Far
right: Tracy gets
a pep talk from
her father
(Christopher
Walken) as her
worried mother
hovers nearby.

68 August 2007

Chief lighting technician Tony

Nako Nakonechnyj, the only
member of Bazellis regular crew
who accompanied him to Toronto,
notes that large soft sources were the
norm outside of the Corny Collins
set, and they were especially important with Travolta. Any kind of
prosthetic is always a challenge, he
says. You have to be very cautious
about giving it kicks and sheens
because that can make it look like
plastic, and you have to be especially
careful with the transitions from real
skin to artificial skin, like around the
eyes and lips. We tended to light
John with 12-light Maxis doublediffused with frames of 1 4 grid
because that was a more forgiving
light.
Knowing how Travolta would
play the light was tricky, given that
his time in the makeup chair cut into
and often eliminated rehearsal time.
He was only on camera for four or
five hours a day, so the moment he
arrived on set we had to start shooting, recalls Bazelli. We were only
able to rehearse a few crucial scenes
with him, so we often had to just
trust the director or work with our
own assumption of how the scene
would go. We had to anticipate quite
a bit and be very flexible.
In determining angles with
Shankman, Bazelli discovered a stylistic link between shooting dancing
and shooting more common movie

action: not every angle works. You

have to photograph dancing properly, especially if its doing the storytelling. On action movies you have
to place the camera at the angle that
reads action, the one that shows the
punch or the jump best. Its the
same with dancing. I realized that,
as with action, placing the camera
low and looking up at the dancing
created a much more dramatic
image than keeping it at eye level. So
we decided to put our cameras low
all of them. If we had three cameras on a number, we had three different angles, all low, and then,
when we changed the lenses, wed
change the angle and height slightly.
For a musical, you need a lot
of pieces to stitch the suit together,
he continues. You dont necessarily
need a lot of crazy camera moves,
but you need lots of shots, lots of
points of view the cutting is
quick and the shots only last a few
seconds. Time was of the essence;
we had a 135-page script, 27 musical
numbers and 65 days. So rather
than spend time designing big dolly
or crane moves that would only be
cut to pieces [in the edit], we
worked out a strategy that enabled
us to move three or four cameras
very quickly. We often set up three
layers of dolly track for each camera,
one for close shots, one for medium,
one for wide. For every change of
lens we had a change of dolly track;

if we had three different focal

lengths, we had three different camera positions. That way each camera
was capturing six to nine angles.
The filmmakers were especially keen to break up the twodimensional space of the Corny
Collins show. Even though the
show was televised a certain way, we
wanted to see all other angles of the
dancers, as well as the studio audience and the TV cameras, says
Bazelli.We were really striving for a
three-dimensional feel. We shot the
numbers with three and sometimes
four cameras, and at least one camera was always looking toward [the
main cameras]. If we were shooting
people from the front, we also shot
them from the back; if we were
shooting from the left, we also shot
from the right.
Most of the time we were
able to hide our cameras behind the
big TV cameras or below the frameline Super 35 leaves lots of room
on the bottom, and I love low-angle
shots, so if you look at the full negative youll actually see cameras and
operators stashed down below the
frame. Were all in the negative, but
were hidden because of the way its
cropped. When we couldnt do an
angle without seeing another camera, we shot it separately, but most
of the time our strategy worked.
Lighting for multiple angles is
not a prospect most cinematogra-

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Page 69

phers relish, but our shooting strategy clearly established the nice angle
and the not-so-nice angle, so our
lighting was designed to look great
for three cameras and acceptable for
the fourth, says Bazelli. If the light
looked flat when we were shooting
the dancers backs, it didnt matter,
because it was a shot of their backsides. They dont look backlit or
sidelit as much as frontlit, because
you always understand the direction
of the light. Those shots from the
back actually look interesting,
because the dancers are light and the
studio audience beyond them falls
off into darkness, and you can see the
vintage TV cameras in between. It
frames a nice composition, and the
editor used quite a few of those
angles.
The period fixtures visible in
the Corny Collins set served a practical function, providing clean, strong
front fill a throwback to the days
when you had to have 400 footcandles for TV, says Nakonechnyj.
Theyre scoop lights, 1,000-watt
mogul-based incandescent globes.
We picked some fixtures just because
they looked cool, and some of them
had to be rewired. They proved to be
a frugal way for the art and lighting
departments to meet their needs;
they were functional, they served as
part of the visual design, and they
suggested the period. The scoop
lights were hung from overhead pipe
on panagraphs, spring-loaded,

accordion-shaped hangers that were

common in TV studios in the early
Sixties. Shows were done for longer
periods of time back then, and they
had to be able to maintain the lighting and do quick, subtle adjustments, says Nakonechnyj. They
could take a gaff hook and pull the
panagraph down to working height
if they needed to change a globe, or
if they needed to light a close shot of
someone with deep eye sockets.
As Nakonechnyjs diagram of
the Corny Collins set illustrates (see
page 67), hanging above the period
fixtures was an array of contemporary movie lights: 5K and 10K
Fresnels, Arri T-12s, Par cans, Source
Four Lekos and Mac 2000s. It was a
combination of modern lights
designed to achieve a period effect,
he says. In the old days, when TV
needed a lot of light, they used Inkies
almost like regular lightbulbs, and
we used 5K and 10K Fresnels in the
same fashion. We used Par cans as
curtain warmers, and to create a
wash on the background cyc so we
could alter its tone. We used [Mac
2000] moving lights mainly to spice
up the look of the show for the
finale, but we used them like they
were follow spots or Lekos, little ballyhoos that wouldve been achieved
with an operator and a follow spot at
that time. Bazelli adds, We wanted
to use some theatrical lighting but
very subtly, while remaining respectful to the era. I think mistakes have

been made in the past with theatrical-lighting designers [on films]; if

youre not careful, theyre doing the
creating and youre just photographing someone elses work. Our work
with [theatrical-lighting designer]
Jason Jennings was a true collaboration.
The Mac 2000s also helped
the team achieve a period effect that
had caught Bazellis eye during prep.
He explains,Because of the lighting
they used on those shows, there were
shadows everywhere, so many it
looked unappealing. But I thought if
we could create just a few shadows
and shape them into a somewhat
artistic form, it would create an
interesting three-dimensional effect
and help break up the monotony of
that set, where we spend so much
time. Nakonechnyj elaborates, We
used movers to project shadow patterns, and we also used open-faced
5Ks and 10Ks projecting through
the panagraphs, treating the period
fixtures like gobos. Sometimes we
had a light on the floor projecting up
through the panagraphs and onto
the background cyc. In one scene,
the actors are walking through the
set while the TV crew is changing
globes on a truss in the foreground,
and we actually lit through the truss
to create shadows for the actors to
walk through.
Another theatrical touch on
the Corny Collins set is Bazellis lighting of tyrannical producer Velma

Left: Teen
heartthrob Link
Larkin (Zac
Efron) entertains
a racially
segregated
crowd at a
school dance.
Right: After
scandalizing
white
classmates by
trying to dance
with a black
friend, Tracy
wows everyone
with her smooth
moves. The
locations
handsome wood
floor proved
especially
responsive to
dancing feet,
prompting the
filmmakers to
scour Canada
for more
gyrostabilized
remote heads at
the last minute.

American Cinematographer 69

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Page 70

Dance Fever

Bazelli and
Shankman
discuss their
next shot of
Blonsky as 1st
AD Daniel
Silverberg (left)
and executive
producer Garrett
Grant (right)
stand by. Noting
Shankmans
background as a
choreographer,
Bazelli observes,
Adam has an
uncanny ability
to always know
where the best
point is to
experience the
choreography.
Dancing is hard
to photograph;
you quickly
realize not every
angle will
work.

70 August 2007

von Tussle, whose costumes occasionally dip into saturated colors.

We primarily lit Michelle with a T12 and kept her face light neutral or
slightly cool, then adjusted the coloring of the background light to
play off her wardrobe, says
Nakonechnyj. If she was in a red
dress, for example, wed give her a
touch of red backlight motivated
by the studios on the air warning
light or rake the background
with a red light.
In general, however, the filmmakers strove to maintain a palegreen hue in the background
because it always helped the flesh
tones stand out a bit more, says
Bazelli. This even carried over to a
big night exterior, the Welcome to
the 60s number that takes Tracy
and Edna to downtown Baltimore
for makeovers at Mr. Pinkys Hefty
Hideaway. The song starts as a
mother-daughter duet but turns
into a big ensemble piece when they
emerge from Mr. Pinkys and are
joined by dozens of bystanders. We
shot that on a real street in Toronto,
and the art department dressed
about 60 storefronts, recalls
Nakonechnyj. We were able to light
from 20 rooftops, and those fixtures,
Arri T-12s and 12-light Maxis, were
gelled with 1 4 or 1 2 CTS and
dimmed down to provide warm
backlight on the actors. In addition

to the rooftop lighting, we had an

LRX and a Piranha, a Condor-based
unit with three 12K incandescent
roboheads, from Dwight Crane; a
BFL, a 150-foot construction crane
with four 36-light Dinos; a 100-foot
Condor with four Maxi-Brutes; and
two smaller Condors, one with a
20K, the other with a Maxi-Brute.
The LRX or another unit on the
ground was always creating a deep,
raking, blue-green background
light; this was usually Lee 241 or a
paler version, 12 CTB and 12 Plus
Green.
Some of the productions
locations posed challenges that were
totally unexpected. One of these
was the high-school gymnasium
where Tracy impresses Collins with
her dancing. The location was chosen primarily for its period authenticity and beautiful wood floor,and
once all the kids got out there and
started dancing, the floor started
vibrating really hard, recalls Bazelli.
We didnt spot the effect in the
shots right away because we started
with wide shots, where it wasnt that
noticeable. But as soon as we went
tighter, we spotted it. We were using
three cameras, and the only one that
didnt shake was the one on a
gyrostabilized Scorpio head. We
immediately tried to get two more
gyrostabilized heads, and we got
one right away but the other had to

be sent from Vancouver. So we shot

two cameras for the first day, then all
three for the last two days.
The gymnasium also presented lighting difficulties because it was
on the second floor of the building
and had no windows or balconies.
Nakonechnyj recalls, We had to go
into the ceiling and pull some panels,
and the grips created a truss that
spanned one side of the gym that
enabled us to rig some T-12s and Par
cans. It wouldve cost too much to do
a truss on both sides, so on the other
side we put up three towers that the
art department dressed to look like
elements of the dance decorations,
and we put a 20K on each one.
A quick last-minute alteration
was necessary in another location, a
garage that was converted into
Motormouth Maybelles (Queen
Latifah) record shop, a popular
hangout for black teens. During
prep, the filmmakers decided on a
blues-club feel low light levels,
practical sources, and smoke for
atmosphere but when the young
actors arrived at the location, they
were dressed in such elegant costumes that the contrast between the
gritty look of the location and their
wardrobe was just too great, recalls
Bazelli, so we changed the lighting
on the spot. Nakonechnyj details,
We spiced up the windows and gave
them a little more punch, and we
rigged a lot of Pars and J-Boxes,
which Id brought up from L.A. We
created more fill than we initially
planned on, and we used 10Ks and
T-12s for hard rims and kicks. The
ambience is a little over key; its a full
look with bright, hard edges. In
keeping with our overall lighting
scheme, the background colors were
pale blue-green and the backlights
were warm.
No matter how carefully you
plan in prep, when you see a scene
for the first time you can tell immediately when something isnt right,
says Bazelli.Things always change as
you go, and you have to make it

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work. Most of the articles in

American Cinematographer make it
sound like everything on the shoot
was perfect, but its never perfect. It
would be interesting to see a story
where the cinematographer says,
Everything went wrong and I had to
scramble to survive. Most of us do.
As a final touch to the palette,
Bazelli had Deluxe Hollywood
underdevelop the interpositive (IP),
made on Kodak 5242, by 12 a stop.
[Colorist] Steve Scott did a fantastic
job at EFilm, but I was seeing a little
too much contrast and saturation on
the initial filmouts from the dupe
neg, so I suggested we pull-process
the IP slightly, he explains. The
subsequent IN was made on Fuji
Eterna 4503, and release prints were
made on Fuji Eterna-CP 3513DI.
Shooting on Kodak and finishing
on Fuji, which has beautifully soft
colors, was a little unconventional
but the perfect combination, he
adds.
Despite the complexities of the
production, Bazelli says what really
distinguished Hairspray was our
very happy set, a vibe created in part
by the genre itself. We had all these
difficulties and the usual creativity
cramps, but having music present all
the time and being surrounded by
people who were singing and dancing lightened the daily workload. It
kept me light on my feet. It beat any
drama Ive done so far.
I

TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Super 35mm
Arricam Studio, Lite
Cooke, Arri, Angenieux lenses
Kodak Vision2
50D 5201, 200T 5217, 500T 5218
Digital Intermediate
Printed on Fuji
Eterna-CP 3513DI
71

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Short Takes
Writing With Light for The Willowz
by Elina Shatkin

irector Toben Seymour and cinematographer Ross Riege grew up

together in Wisconsin, and they
shared a passion for stop-motion animation and puppetry. With the Jubilee
music video for The Willowz, they found
an opportunity to try a technique they
had been interested in for some time:
stop-motion long-exposure photography. Wed had the idea tucked away in
our archive for a long time, says Riege.
We wanted to find the right project,
something that would allow us to really
push the concept.
Inspired by Pika Pika, a group of
Japanese artists who created whimsical videos from still images adorned
with light doodles, Seymour and Riege
began laying the groundwork for a stopmotion video composed entirely of still
images. Although the images would
require significant refinement in post,
they wanted to create all the light-

72 August 2007

doodle effects in camera. It was really

important to us that the video be
organic, says Riege. We wanted to
create something that couldnt be done
in post.
Set at night, Jubilee begins
with a series of casual shots of outdoor
scenes adorned with simple light
doodles (a bouncing ball, a box, a
flower), and then transitions to shots of
people interacting with and creating
larger, more complex light doodles; for
example, two people feed light-doodle
fish to a light-doodle pelican, and a lightdoodle tree grows and swallows a man.
As the songs tempo picks up, the video
builds to a frenzied scene of The Willowz
performing amid an electronic storm of
light doodles.
The video was largely shot over
three days in November 2006. Riege had
at his disposal 12 digital still cameras:
six Canon 350Ds (8 MP), four Nikon D50s

(6 MP), and two Canon 20Ds (8 MP). I

made sure the Canons were operating in
the same RGB color space, but aside
from that I left the cameras presets at
their base levels. I knew Id be performing all the color correction in post, so I
decided to shoot images as clean as
possible.
Most of our cameras came from
contacts who were willing to rent or
loan them to us, so we were all over the
map in terms of lenses, he continues.
On the 20Ds, which we used for firstunit photography, we used a package of
three lenses I would have preferred to
use on all the cameras: a Canon 2470mm f/2.8L, a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L,
and a Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 prime.
However, we couldnt afford to rent
those lenses for everything, so we used
what we had: Canon 17-85mm f/4-5.6
on the 350Ds and Nikkor 18-55mm
f/3.5-5.6 on the D50s.

Photos courtesy of Ross Riege.

The Willowz
perform amid
an explosion of
practical
lighting effects
for the video
Jubilee, shot
by Ross Riege.

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Left: Director
Toben Seymour
(second from left)
provides
guidance during
filming. Below:
Riege (at camera)
shoots a frame for
the opening setup.

The main variable was the

shutter speed, which depended more
on the animators than the operators. If
we had an artist drawing at a certain
speed, we had to determine how long
the exposure needed to be. They ranged
from 8 to 30 seconds.
Riege set the ASA on all the
cameras at 400 to give the operators
wide latitude regardless of exposure
length. At 400 ASA, I figured the exposure would be high enough that wed
be able to maintain enough detail in the
shadows while not compromising the
integrity of the images in terms of noise
and digital grain, he says. His goal was
to keep everything at a T4.
He chose to shoot at a much
higher resolution (3500x2400 JPEGs)
than the video would ultimately be
finished at, because, Riege says, we
wanted to shoot at the highest resolution possible while still being able to
shoot efficiently. We would have shot
at a higher resolution if that didnt
increase the amount of storage we
needed and the turnaround from shot to
shot. This was the right balance of efficiency and quality. He shot the images
at 4:3, knowing he would crop and
American Cinematographer 73

08_07 short takes

Above: A test
image of incamera effects.
Below left: An
angel (Marin
Panunzio)
gains wings
and a halo.
Below right:
Aliens
surround
guitarist Aric
Bohn.

74 August 2007

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Page 74

reframe later as necessary.

However, he opted not to shoot
at full resolution because he had to
maximize the number of images that
could be contained on the memory
cards, which ranged from 512MB to
2GB. Media manager and interactive
programmer Michael Lew, who helped
establish the videos workflow, was on
set to oversee the process. As soon as
a memory card was full, a camera
assistant would run it to Lew, who
would download the images onto his
laptop and organize them to preview
sequences for the team.
The video contains more than 60
setups, and instead of shooting one

setup at a time, the filmmakers broke

the crew into small units that worked on
different scenes simultaneously. When
Toben and I werent shooting images
that were essential for the script, we
spent most of our time walking around
and facilitating each shot, recalls
Riege. With so many cameras on set
and an individual operator for each one,
I had to step back from my normal role
and focus on overseeing the technical
aspects of the production. As the
production wore on, the artists became
faster and more proficient at drawing
the light doodles, but even so, some
shots required up to six hours to
complete.

The only scene that was shot

with all 12 cameras was the wide setup
of the bands climactic performance.
The videos limited budget allowed for
three Hensel Integra 500 strobe lights,
and for this setup they were rigged with
a Pocket Wizard wireless control that
set off all three flashes at the push of a
button. If there were fraction-of-asecond differences between when each
operator pushed the shutter on his
camera, it didnt matter. The flash of
the strobes froze a single moment of the
action that was recorded on each
camera, regardless of the slight variation in when each shutter was
depressed, says Riege. The strobe
was the only way to accomplish what
we wanted in camera; the only way we
could justify the long exposures was by
using flash photography. I knew we
werent going to be lighting with hot
lights that were always on and needed
to have the same level of exposure.
As soon as Riege pushed the
button, more than 30 animators would
run in and create their light drawings
using a mix of flashlights, keychain
lights, LED lights, Christmas lights, neon
lights, rope lights, and a remotecontrolled disc light that production
designer Matt Lackie found in Chinatown.
The most painstaking shots in
the video were the ones that involved
singing. Animation supervisor Johnny
Sweeney broke down the sections of
the song where Seymour wanted coverage into 13 mouth positions, and then
explained to the singer which position

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Page 75

his mouth needed to be in for a given

shot. When all the shots were strung
together, it looked like he was singing to
the music.
The main shoot yielded more
than 10,000 raw images, and once it
wrapped, Seymour and Riege continued
to work in smaller groups to shoot pickups and fix problems that arose in the
edit. Riege organized the images by
setup and shot; he then viewed a series
of thumbnails of the images in Photoshop to see how the action played.
After I previewed a series of shots, I
would find a key image and create a
new action that recorded a series of
commands: crop, color correction, occasionally a grad filter or a vignette. I
could save that as one action and apply
it to an entire group of images. For me,
that was the most time-consuming
task. He cropped the images to their
final size of 1280x720.
He passed the images to editor
Ryan Bartley, who began to string out
the images in Final Cut Pro, holding
each shot for three frames. As he
imported more images, the application
slowed down almost to a halt. Bartley
suggested they export each series of
images as a DV clip (rendering it at DV
resolution) and then bring these clips
back into the timeline. Instead of working in HD, the videos final format, Bartley had down-rezzed the images to DV
so he could work at a normal pace. After
Bartley finished his cut, he re-imported
all the stills into FCP, laid them on top of
the video, deleted the video files,
changed the timeline settings to HD,
and reconnected the original images.
The edit then came back to
Seymour and Riege, who went through
the video and refined the timing of the
animation, holding some shots for one
frame and others for up to six frames.
After picture was locked, Riege
performed additional color correction in
Photoshop and exported the timeline at
full HD resolution to create a master.
We actually delivered the video on
DV, he says. So far it has only aired
online. The only place an HD cut exists
is on my hard drive!
I

75

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Post Focus

Adding Hocus-Pocus to
Harry Potter
by Iain Stasukevich
Visual-effects supervisor Tim
Burke has something in common with
young wizard Harry Potter, and it isnt
just an English accent: both have proven
adept at magical effects. Burke has
worked on all of the Harry Potter films,
and for the latest installment, Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he
supervised a team of visual-effects
artists for 18 months; 1,400 of the resultant 1,800 shots made the final cut.
Throughout this work, Burkes collaboration with cinematographer Slawomir
Idziak, PSC and gaffer James McGuire
played a vital role in bringing Potters
world to life.
Idziak, a seasoned director of
photography known for his creative and
dramatic use of color and composition,
had previously worked with Burke on
Black Hawk Down (see AC June 02),
which helped them forge a strong rela76 August 2007

tionship. Idziak and McGuire, who had

been his gaffer on King Arthur and The
Last September (AC June 00), were
brought onto Harry Potter three months
ahead of principal photography. Three
months sounds like a long time, but its
also a time where a lot of important
decisions are being made, says Idziak.
In Poland, the cinematographer is
always one of the first people to be
hired. Working on Hollywood films is
always a different experience.
Of course, the preceding four
films had well established the Harry
Potter look, whose consistency Idziak
attributes in large part to production
designer Stuart Craig, who has worked
on all of the films. [Production] wouldnt
let you change the look of the movies,
anyway, he notes. My ambition was to
bring a slightly different color palette to
it, and to make sure the transitions
between in-camera effects and digital
effects were as imperceptible as possible.
By the time Idziak was brought

onboard, the film was completely storyboarded, and many of the key visualeffects sequences had been roughed
out in CG animatics. One of the more
challenging of these sequences
involves the Weasley twins, Fred and
George, and their plans to escape the
wizarding school of Hogwarts once and
for all. They intend to go out with a
bang literally.
The scene takes place in
Hogwarts Great Hall, one of the largest
practical sets designed by Craig at
Leavesden Studios, just outside of
London. [Director] David Yates
described a series of small explosions
that would culminate in one large
event, explains Burke. The twins
throw some fireworks into the air, and a
big, dragon-shaped firework then
chases and attacks the Hogwarts headmistress [played by Imelda Staunton].
Burke and Idziak began by
conducting a series of practical fireworks tests. We bought a lot of fireworks and went out onto the backlot at

Harry Potter frame grabs courtesy of Warner Bros. Diagram courtesy of Light by Numbers.

Hogwarts
headmistress
Dolores
Umbridge
(Imelda
Staunton) is
chased from the
Great Hall by a
supernatural
burst of
fireworks in a
scene from
Harry Potter
and the Order
of the Phoenix,
shot by
Slawomir
Idziak, PSC.

08_07 post focus

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Page 77

Leavesden, and we were able to create

a library of different fireworks that we
all liked, recalls Burke. Because using
real pyrotechnics was out of the question on the indoor set, Burke, Idziak and
McGuire put their heads together to
come up with a way to blur the line
between CG firework effects and the
practical set elements. We felt
strongly about interactive lighting,
says Burke. Sometimes you dont need
to do that and can add [the lighting
effect] in post, but we thought it was
important to have real lighting there,
casting real shadows and bouncing off
different surfaces.
The best idea was to use
moving lamp heads, says McGuire.
What Tim was looking for when the
fireworks go off was a high-intensity
burst that would then spread out and
diffuse, so we called in Chris Gilbertson
of Light by Numbers to rig about 50
Mac 2000 rotating lamp heads in the
ceiling of the Great Hall. Burke adds,
The effect wasnt something we could
do off a traditional lighting board; we
couldnt use lamps that could be quickly
dimmed up and down.
Over the course of two to three

days, the team designed a rolling lighting effect that would travel from one
end of the Great Hall to the other and
back, changing color as the CG fireworks explode along the neck and body
of the dragon. The lighting program
required six 1200-watt units at a time
in spot mode and focused them in one
area, using whatever colors were
needed. The program fired the appropriate colors and then faded out over a
two-second period. At the same time,
those six units were flooding out and
panning away from the set while the
next group followed the same action.
Despite the immense proportions of the Great Hall set, CG set
extensions were required to complete
the ceiling. For added realism, practical
smoke was used on the set whenever
the camera was set up for a shot that
wouldnt require the use of set extensions, so that the practical lighting had
an atmospheric element.
To enhance the effect of the
Mac 2000s, McGuire programmed a
cue that would drop the overall light
levels in the Great Hall by 2 stops while
the special lighting effects were taking
place. When the dragon leaves the

hall, there is a cue to bring the levels

back up very slowly, almost imperceptibly. The result was fairly impressive, says the gaffer. Were looking
down at the kids at their tables and see
color on their faces, and it looks as
though the color is coming from the
fireworks.
The spell doesnt stop there.
The Great Hall elements were merely
background plates for the cause of this
ruckus: the Weasleys flying around on
broomsticks and setting off fireworks
in their wake. To accomplish this gag,
the filmmakers had to work out what
would need to be filmed in order for
the twins bluescreen elements to fit.
Yates and editor Mark Day cut the
sequence together using the plate
elements and assembled the scene so
they could determine where to put the
mischief-makers a process Burke
calls post-visualization. He explains,
We went back to rough animatics
again. Using the colors derived from
the practical lighting, we designed
light effects that we used when we
filmed the bluescreen elements of the
twins.
Once the team determined

A diagram of the
Great Hall set
illustrates the
lighting scheme
devised for the
sequence by
Idziak, gaffer
James McGuire,
visual-effects
supervisor Tim
Burke and Light
by Numbers
creator Chris
Gilbertson.

American Cinematographer 77

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Page 78

A Hogwarts student conjures her Patronus in

another sequence that called for close
collaboration between Idziak and Burke.

78 August 2007

where the twins would be flying, the

visual-effects artists exported that
information from a computer onto a
motion-control camera rig and a
motion-control base on which the
broomsticks would be mounted. The
mo-co camera was synced to the
motion base, and the corresponding
angles on the young actors sitting on
their broomsticks were then filmed and
dropped back into the live-action plate.
A critical element of this
process was ensuring the lighting cues
working on the twins fit in with the
background plates. When Burke and
his team knew they wanted to do
something specific, such as light off the
fireworks that created the dragon
effect, they triggered lights that corresponded to those effects.
After compositing the foreground elements into the scene, the
visual-effects team decided where to
put the smaller fireworks. Additional
CG smoke layers were dropped into
shots to help blend the background
plate, the CG elements, and the foreground action together.
There are many scenes in Order
of the Phoenix where CG effects play
an equally large role including the
action-packed climax in the all-CG Hall
of Prophecies but there are also
sequences where CGI plays only a
small part of the action. In one such
scene, Potter instructs Hogwarts
students in how to conjure a
Patronus, a light source that
emanates from the tip of their wands
and takes shape as some type of
animal. That set was full of mirrors,
which made it very difficult to work
on, says Burke. This was one of the
scenes where our collaboration with
Slawomir was absolutely critical.
There was no way to put a practical light source in the room because it
would have reflected off all the mirrors.
Also, the filmmakers werent entirely
sure where the Patroni would go. As
they shot the scene, some actors were
given specific eyelines, while others
were allowed to find their own.
Idziak tends to make extensive
use of his own colored grad filters for

dramatic effect, but he did not do so on

Harry Potter because of all the effects
work. It was important to leave the
image clean so the effects artists could
make their changes easily, he says.
Also, today its much easier to achieve
the same effect using digital color
correction. Burke adds, Slawomir
always exposes a good, dense negative, and that gave us a lot of latitude
to create a slightly overexposed light
effect and re-light the scenes wherever
the Patronus moved.
With the complexity of visual
effects these days, its vital for effects
supervisors to work closely with cinematographers, Burke concludes.
Everyone needs to have the same aim
and goal, and dialogue is very important.
The Foundry Gets Nuked
Visual-effects software developer The Foundry acquired the powerful
compositing application Nuke from
Digital Domain and recently introduced
version 4.7, the first major release of
Nuke under The Foundry brand. Nuke
4.7 will feature support for The
Foundrys full range of OFX plug-ins and
new Foundry FlexLM licensing.
Nuke began as the in-house
compositing and effects application at
Digital Domain, where it won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement.
It has been used in effects work on
more than 45 features and hundreds of
commercials and music videos. In
March, Nuke became part of The
Foundrys portfolio of visual-effects
products and is now being developed in
London.
Since the transition, Nuke has
seen a number of enhancements,
including a brand-new optical flow
node for accurate retiming operations.
Tracker sports a new user interface
with enhanced tracking markers and
improved selection methods. There is
support for reading/writing HDRI image
formats, the color wheel has been
updated, and the Framecycler engine
has been upgraded to Framecycler
Professional 2006, offering full support
for The Foundrys visual-effects- and

08_07 post focus

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Page 79

image-processing plug-ins.
Launched by The Foundry in 2004,
OFX (Open FX) is a free open-source
plug-in standard for developing 2-D digital visual effects. It was via the OFX API
that The Foundry was able to provide
plug-in support for Nuke so quickly.
Matt Welford, head of compositing at Weta Digital, notes, Were
delighted The Foundry has taken on
Nuke development. The integration of
their tools together with Nuke can only
produce a solution that will benefit the
post community.
Although it is still early, The
Foundry has said it will build upon the
strong foundations set by the D2 Software team, and Nukes development will
be focused toward evolution and extension of the existing product.
Available on Linux, Windows and
Mac platforms, Nuke delivers unparalleled speed; an extensible 64-channel,
TCL-based architecture; and powerful
feature-set unrivaled in the desktop
market. For more information, visit
www.thefoundry.co.uk.
Arris Digital Dailies
Arris Digital Dailies Base Package is a new option for the Arriscan. In
support of a datacentric and tapeless
workflow, the Arriscan team has developed new features to streamline the
digital-dailies process.
A new Live View option provides
the Arriscan operator with a monochromatic real-time film image while winding. In combination with a jog/shuttle
control one can position the film quickly
and accurately from the scanners
remote-controlled PC.
The Base Package also includes
an additional speed increase: 1.5 fps pinregistered for 6K double exposure oversampled to 4K and 6K oversampled to
2K, and 5 fps for 3K double exposure
oversampled to 2K. Both speed
increases are specified for the unique
Arriscan double exposure acquisition
method, where for each color the LEDs
flash the film once for a low-density and
once for a high-density pass. These two
passes are then combined into an image
that captures the full dynamic range of

film with an unmatched signal-to-noise

ratio.
Arri continues to offer a broad
range of options to give the end user a
more complete scanning toolkit. The
Arriscan also operates in single-flash
mode. By dismissing the second LED
flash per color, the speed goes up to 8
fps for 3K oversampled to 2K resolution.
Single-flash images differ from the
double exposure flashes mainly in signal
to noise. Other features of the Arriscan
Digital Dailies Base Package include
frame line detection and flash detection.
Arricube Color Management
With the new Arricube, Arri has
enhanced its Color Management
System (CMS) and improved the accuracy of results for the digital-intermediate (DI) pipeline. Using a new measurement together with new algorithms for
generating 3-D look-up tables (LUTs),
Arri obtains superior matches between
print-film projection and digital display.
The quality of 3-D LUTs mainly
depends on the quality of the measurements. On the digital side standard

instruments can be used for measuring

color, but on the film side it is a trickier
matter. To solve this, Arri R&D invented
a new machine: the Characterizer. Utilizing the basic body of an Arriscan, the
Characterizer uses a monochromator
instead of the camera to measure the
colors of print film. The results are
highly reproducible and easy to obtain.
This new method is used in all three
pillars of the Arricube: 1) Arricube
Universal Preview LUTs for Arris partner
companies; 2) Arricube for Video Look
image processing in Arrilaser software; and 3) Arricube Customization
print film and monitor/digital projector
measurement.
When working with logarithmic
files, a 3-D LUT is needed in the grading
session to visualize images correctly. A
Universal Arricube Preview LUT is available for all of Arris partners on the
companys Web site. The Universal LUTs
convert the digitally displayed image to
a look that closely resembles that of the
film-projected images. These images
are based on average measurements
and are not specific for certain print or
American Cinematographer 79

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negative film and monitor setups.

Arricube partners are Assimilate,
Autodesk, Barco, Chrome, da Vinci,
DVS, Iridas, Nucoda and Quantel. More
than 300 companies worldwide have
downloaded the Universal LUTs from
the Arri site.
When post is done in a video
environment, the used file format will
be linear. For recording linear files,
colors must be converted into density
values before recording. This can be
done on the fly with Arrilaser software.
A new image-processing node allows a
user to directly apply a 3-D LUT to the
outgoing data. For different display and
film stock combinations, a new set of
3-D LUTs will be delivered with the next
Arrilaser software upgrade. This also
opens the path to Arricube customization in the Arrilaser. More than 40
companies worldwide have the
Arricube for Video Look installed on
their Arrilasers.
To get the perfect match, a
company-specific 3-D LUT can be
compiled with the Arricube Customization process. Measurements from the
display device and from the film will be
used to build a unique 3-D LUT, which
reflects all parameters in each
companys process from monitor setup
to film laboratory process. This unique
LUT can now be used both as preview
LUT and video-look LUT in the Arrilaser.
Quantels Genetic
Engineering
Quantel has introduced a major
change in teamwork environments for
post and DI with the introduction of
Genetic Engineering, a completely open
technology that overturns the limitations of SAN-based environments,
finally allowing facilities to fully maximize the efficiency of collaborative
workspaces. Genetic Engineering
means that every new or existing EQ, IQ
or Pablo has access to the same media
and can work independently. It can
even support multiple 4K streams.
SAN-based team-working is a
continual drag on efficiency, with multiple copies of media clogging up disk
space and leading to significant media80 August 2007

Arricube enhances Arris Color Management

System by using a new measurement with new
algorithms to generate 3-D LUTs.

management issues, especially when

working at 2K and above, says Steve
Owen, director of marketing for Quantel.
Genetic Engineering allows multiple
users to access the same clips at the
same time without copying or moving
media. Reliable playout is guaranteed,
and Genetic Engineering handles all the
different resolutions in real time and
without creating any new media. Linux
or Windows-based third party systems
can hook into the shared space just as
easily as Quantel machines, making
Genetic Engineering the perfect solution
for real world, multi-vendor facilities.
Genetic Engineering is made up
of three components: Sam, Max and the
GenePool.
Available in HD RGB and 4K
configurations, the GenePool can host
guaranteed multiple streams, and its
large RAID-protected workspace (up to
80TB) can accommodate multiple
movie-length projects simultaneously.
Quantels Resolution Co-existence technology enables media to be stored in its
native resolution, color space and bit
depth, converting on the fly to whatever
output format is required. Meanwhile,
Quantels FrameMagic frame level
media-management technology keeps
track of every frame, no matter where

its being worked on in the Genetic

Engineering environment.
The Sam data server, also shipping in HD RGB and 4K versions,
provides open network access to
managed media via the cross-platform
CIFS (Common Internet Filing System)
protocol. This enables, for example,
film scanners to scan directly into the
GenePool, while restoration and dustbusting applications can work on
media with only modified frames being
added to storage and automatically
being spliced into the original. Visualeffects systems can read and write to
the GenePool simultaneously, and at
the end of the process, the finished
media is available to authoring and film
recording without interrupting production in the creative suites. Being able
to work directly with the media in this
way dramatically increases efficiencies
for both post and DI, says Owen. And
with margins continually squeezed, it is
those efficiencies that enable facilities
to be profitable.
The final component is the Max
assist station, which further increases
efficiency by taking control of backroom tasks such as conforms, playouts
and quality control. Also available in
HD RGB and 4K models, and boasting

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100-percent project compatibility with

EQ, IQ and Pablo, Max allows facilities
to maximize billable time in their frontline creative suites while also increasing overall throughput.
Genetic Engineering transcends
the previous limitations of collaborative
environments without increasing
management overheads, says Owen.
It works on several fronts, maximizing
scheduling flexibility, increasing creativity, widening capability, and, perhaps
most importantly, boosting profitability
for facilities.
Also, the specification for all of
Quantels DI systems, including IQ and
Pablo, will be increased to 4K. At the
same time, all of its HD machines, such
as the EQ editing/effects/color grading/deliverables system and Pablo HD,
are also being upgraded to HD RGB.
This upgrade brings Quantels creative
systems into line with the 4K and HD
RGB formats of the companys new
Genetic Engineering team-working
infrastructure.
4K is an increasingly popular
route for the DI, and providing real-time
4K as standard in the DI space can
differentiate one facility from its competition, comments Mark Horton, Quantels strategic marketing manager.
Companies looking to get into the DI
market can buy Quantel equipment and
be confident they are future-proof. 4K
will undoubtedly be the standard of the
future. The same transition to higher
quality is happening in the HD market;
the demand for HD RGB is rising fast as
companies look to differentiate themselves from the current industry HD
baseline.
I

81

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New Products & Services

to the D.Mag2, a small, re-useable digital film magazine.
Full support of 60p includes
over- and undercranking variable frame
rates when used with Arris D-20 digital
camera.
For more information, visit
www.stwo-corp.com or contact (775)
853-9999.

Angenieux Optimo 28-76mm

Thales Angenieux has introduced the Optimo 28-76mm Super
35mm-format film lens, which weighs
less than 4.5 pounds, making it ideal for
handheld or Steadicam applications.
The lens features an extremely
fast (f/2.4) and consistent aperture
speed of T2.6 throughout the zoom
range for improved shooting across
various lighting conditions. Along with
impressive contrast and color reproduction, the design of the Optimo 28-76mm
lens has eliminated the potential problems of iris changes during zooming or
image-size changes when the focal
length is changed, with no ramping or
breathing.
Features designed for the
professional user include a 320-degree
focus rotation with more than 25
witness marks for maximum accuracy.
The lens is available with both PL and
Panavision mounts and has a range of
28-76mm (2.7x zoom ratio) and a closefocus range of 0.62'.
For more information in the U.S.,
call (973) 812-3858, E-mail ange
[email protected] or visit www.ange
nieux.com.
82 August 2007

4K Recording with
S.twos DFR4K
S.two Corporation recently
introduced a 4K recorder based on the
D.Mag digital film magazine.
States Steve Roach, S.twos
vice president of marketing, Our product was conceived as a 4K-capable
platform, so this is a natural evolution
of our technology, adding portability,
on-set capabilities and proven workflow to a 4K production and editorial
experience. The DFR4K uses a new,
single D.Mag4 disk magazine. Notes
S.two President Chris Romine, As has
been our tradition, current customers
will be offered an upgrade path to 4K
and higher resolutions.
For more information, visit
www.stwo-corp.com or contact (775)
853-9999.
S.two 60p Support
S.two now offers full 60p
support, including variable-frame
recording, with its new Take2 portable
uncompressed DFR. Able to record
SMPTE372M, the Take2 can record
60p at all frame rates up to 60 uncompressed progressive frames per second

OConnor 120EX Extended

Capacity Fluid Head
OConnor, a Vitec Group brand, is
now delivering the new 120EX Extended
Capacity Fluid Head. The 120EX raises
the camera package payload bar with a
revolutionary counterbalance mechanism that provides support to 120
pounds (54kg) in standard mode and up
to 240 pounds (109kg) in EX mode.
OConnors engineers developed
EX technology to address the heavy
payloads often required for some of
todays film and electronic-cinematography systems when fully loaded. With its
continuous counterbalance system and
ultra-smooth pan and tilt fluid drag, the
120EX is custom designed for film-style
shooting.
This patented head delivers
counterbalance through the full 90
forward and backward range for camera
packages weighing 30-120 pounds (1454kg). As counterbalance for a camera
package in excess of 120 pounds is
cranked into the head, it automatically
begins limiting the forward and backward tilt range. At 147 pounds (67kg), tilt
is limited to 80, at 188 pounds (85kg)
to 70, and at 240 pounds (109kg) to
60.
The 120EX is the perfect match
for the OConnor Cine HD Tripod. Additionally, all existing accessories for the
popular 2575C and 2060HD fluid heads
are fully compatible with it.
For more information, visit
www.ocon.com, E-mail: sales@
ocon.com or call (714) 979-3993.

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Pro-Class LCD Monitors

from ECinema
The new ECinema Systems Proclass 24" and 40" LCD monitors are
designed to deliver value and accuracy,
with features designed for high-end hidef (HD) production and post applications. Founder and CEO Martin Euredjian says, These are highly accurate
professional monitors with dependable
color calibration, the right feature set
and the best value in the industry at
this performance level. These are workhorses that will be at home in a wide
range of applications.
ECinema Systems designed
these evaluation-grade displays to
deliver exceptional value. They provide
a cost-effective solution for HD 4:4:4,
HD 4:2:2 and standard definition, with
highly accurate 16-bits-per-channel
signal processing and advanced CCFL
backlight technology. Euredjian adds,
The backlight is very important in evaluation-grade monitors. This is where
white-point calibration and stability
come from. Pro-class monitors use
microprocessor-stabilized CCFL backlights controlled to 12 bits of resolution.
Calibration is repeatable, stable and
reliable.
Pro-class monitors are available

with a number of options, including

such specialized items as yoke-based
mounting for C-stand support in
production environments.
For more information, visit
www.ecinemasys.com or call (661)
294-7444.
FX-Series General-Purpose
Monitors from ECinema
The new FX-series generalpurpose monitors from ECinema are
offered in 24" and 40" sizes, both with
full 1920x1080 HD resolution. With
the proliferation of desktop video
systems, it became evident that there
was a need for a quality solution in
monitoring, notes Martin Euredjian,
ECinema founder and CEO. This solution had to be full-featured yet offer a
level of affordability on par with the
applications for which it was intended.
The FX line is just that: a highly affordable monitor for desktop and general
HD/SD viewing applications. It was
very important to us to be able to
achieve excellent price points without
compromising in areas that are important to our users. Colorimetry and
upgradeability, among other things, are
excellent.
FX-class monitors are precali-

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brated at the factory. The displays

feature an array of inputs: HD 4:2:2/SDcapable SDI, S-video, Composite Video,
Analog RGB and Digital DVI. This flexibility makes them a natural fit in any
multi-format system. The FX-series
features an advanced 10-bit imageprocessing engine suitable for viewing
and semi-critical evaluation applications. Scaling is used on all non-1080
standards.
For more information, visit
www.ecinemasys.com or call (661)
294-7444.
Formatt Expands Line of
HD Filters
Formatt Filters has expanded its
collection of the HD diffusion, refraction and enhancing lens filters.
Designed specifically for high-definition (HD) picture acquisition, the new
HD Soft Tone, Blender and Neutral
Density (ND) ranges give cinematographers new creative options for HD
projects.
The first filters in the Soft Tone
range offer a great set of options for
image softening and skin enhancement. They combine a new, unique
softening pattern together with a very
subtle skin-tone enhancement in a
range of shades, sufficient to take the
edge off of HDs harshness. The Soft
Blush, Soft Lilac, Soft Pink, Soft Cool,
Soft Turquoise and Soft Bronze,
produced in three grades, deliver global
softening of the image with subtle skintone enhancement. More filters will be
added to the range later this year.
HD cameras highlight far more
detail, quite harshly at times, and
theres a necessity for an enhancing
range of filters for facial close-ups,
says David Stamp, managing director
of Formatt Filters. Many presenters
and actors have found that their most
minute facial blemishes are highlighted
onscreen [in HD]. With the filters were
launching this year, we offer cinematographers the widest choice in
image enhancement for both HD and
film.
Formatt is also launching a
range of new Graduated Blender filters.
84 August 2007

Standard graduated filters affect the

top part of the image while leaving the
bottom undisturbed, and are most
commonly used with skylines. The
graduated filters are available in soft or
hard-edged varieties. The Blender is
the same as a graduated filter, but with
the transition taking place gradually
over the whole length of the filter
rather than in the middle. They are
available in all colors in which Formatt
manufactures graduated filters, including NDs.
All Formatt Filters are manufactured to the highest optical standards
using the latest in materials technology
to ensure color consistency when used
in HD production.
For more information, visit
www.formatt.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1685
870 979.
Sachtler Act 2 Spring Arm
Sachtler, a Vitec Group brand,
has introduced the Act 2 spring arm for
camera-stabilizing systems (with industry-standard vest/arm connection)
including the Artemis EFP, EFP Pro SDI
HD, Cine and Cine HD. The ACT 2 delivers breakthrough functionality, easy
setup and enhanced performance in a
lightweight yet robust package.
Sachtlers engineering team has
used new-technology springs and bearings and materials such as high-rigidity
reinforced aluminum. The result is an
arm that is 3 pounds lighter yet offers
unmatched
torsional strength
to benefit daily
operations and
ensure a long life.
The Act 2
is designed for
versatile, speedy
setup.
Three
interchangeable
stainless-steel
spring
sets
handle payloads
from
24-57
pounds (11-26kg).
The intuitive pretensioning capability allows the

operator to adjust spring tension to

accommodate various loads simply and
quickly with a single 5 32" (4mm) Allen
wrench. When its time for action, the
arm fully engages at once, even at
maximum load.
The arm also has a flip-over vest
attachment that makes it easy to
switch from right-handed to lefthanded operation (and vice versa)
without disassembling the vest
connection. The 5 8" gimbal mounting
post, available in 6", 10" and 12"
lengths, offers adjustable friction.
The Act 2 housing undergoes a
chemical process that hardens the
aluminum and produces a smooth
finish that repels scratches and nicks
and sports a deep, long-lasting matte
black color. The arm is crafted in
Eching, Germany, alongside Sachtlers
other precision Artemis products. It is
available through the Sachtler dealer
network.
For more information, visit
www.sachtler.com.
EX Super Fisheye
I6x9 Inc. has introduced the EX Super
Fisheye lens accessory for the Panasonic HVX200 and other compact HD
camcorders.
Fisheyes expand the view of the
lens, providing a wide-eyed perspective that pulls the eye close to the
center of the action. Images appear
convex, with exaggerated angles and

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extreme barrel distortion. With .45x

magnification, the new EX Super Fisheye is the widest single-element fisheye adapter on the market. Added to
the HVX200 lens, it delivers a 115degree horizontal and 135-degree
diagonal field of view.
The EX Super Fisheye Weighs
13.75 ounces (390g) and has a front
diameter of 120mm. It comes outfitted
with a 72-82mm step-up ring for
attachment to the HVX200. Anchored
by a single set screw, the ring is
mounted to the back of the adapter.
With the ring removed, the Super Fisheyes 72mm rear-thread fits neatly to
the front of the Sony HVR-Z1U, Canons
XH A1 and XH G1, or Panasonics AGDVX100B lens. For mounting to the
Sony HVR-V1U/HDR-FX7, an optional
72-62mm step-down ring is available.
Engineered and built in Japan
for optimum optical performance, 16x9
Inc.s HD-quality EX lens add-ons are
crafted of the finest grade materials
and feature an innovative, advanced
design. Suggested price for the EX
Super Fisheye is $695.
For more information, call (661)
295-3313 or visit www.16x9inc.com.
Critical Image
Sony has introduced a new
generation of professional master monitoring technology. Its new monitor
series is based on Sonys TriMaster
technology, which is designed to maximize the full performance capabilities of
professional flat-panel displays and to
deliver higher levels of color accuracy
and color reproduction, precision imaging and quality picture consistency with
higher dimensions.
The first model in the series is
the BVM-L230 LCD video reference
monitor, a 22.5" unit (viewable area,
measured diagonally) that combines a
full-resolution LCD panel, a newly
developed high-precision backlight

y saying
g 'one
e day,
, I'll
l make
e a
Constantly
' gets
s tedious.
. LFS
S lets
s you
u make
film'
ilms
s instead
d of
f just
t talking
g about
t it
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films
Babak Jalali 2006 Graduate
Selected for Cannes Residence 2007. Jalalis graduation film
was nominated for a BAFTA and won Best Student film at the
NY City Short Film Festival.

MA FILMMAKING
MA SCREENWRITING
CRAFT EXTENSION
PROGRAMME

to find out more visit

lfs.org.uk

THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

A

T R A D I T I O N

O F

I N N O V A T I O N

24 SHELTON STREET, LONDON, WC2H 9UB U.K. TELEPHONE: +44 (0)20 7836 9642 EMAIL [email protected]

85

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A new
generation

that
really rocks
HydroFlex & rolls.

HydroHead.
Now available with a third axis for
even more range of motion.

5335 McConnell Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90066
86

Tel: 31 0/301-8187 Fax: 310/821-9886

www.hydroflex.com

system and a display engine which has

been in development for several years.
The LCD panel is the industrys first with
a 10-bit driver thats capable of producing 1,024 levels of gray scale, making
the BVM-L230 ideal for high-end applications, including digital cinema, digital
intermediate, telecine and high-end
postproduction, as well as program and
preview monitoring in broadcast master
control rooms or in OB trucks.
With the BVM-L230, video
professionals can achieve the critical
evaluation capabilities associated with
Sonys line of BVM CRT monitors, while
gaining the benefits of flat-panel technology, including lower weight, lower
power consumption and a reduction in
heat load.
The BVM-L230 monitor incorporates key TriMaster technologies such
as a newly developed wide color-gamut
panel, color management system, full
HD resolution (1920x1080), high grayscale gradation, motion picture
response, precision-signal processing,
and a calibration and feedback system.
The monitor adds several
features specifically designed for
professional monitoring requirements,
including a new color space selection
function, advanced picture-in-picture
display and a true interlace display
mode, which helps accurately reproduce
interlaced signals. The monitors
enhanced LED backlighting system
offers a wider color gamut than found in
any other direct view display technology,
including CRT. This new system can fully
cover the range of broadcast-standard
color spaces as well as support the new
digital cinema standards. SMPTE C,
EBU, and ITU 709 color gamuts are available via button selection.
The backlight system also incorporates a uniformity control function and
a color feedback system that constantly
monitors and compensates for color
shifts, maintaining accurate luminance
uniformity equal to the BVM CRTs.
Complementing the backlight
system is a newly designed color
management system developed specifically for the BVM-L series, offering more
consistent and stable color reproduction

that uses a proprietary color feedback

stability system. This technology is
designed to accurately reproduce color
spaces with 3-D LUT management. A
black frame insertion mode significantly
reduces motion blur by combining a high
frame rate and black frame inserted
between image frames.
The monitors signal processing
engine incorporates 12-bit accuracy,
and also delivers a high-quality IP
conversion algorithm for interlaced
signal display and reduced processing
delay.
The BVM-L230 offers multiformat monitoring capabilities, displaying
SD and HD formats up to 1080 60p. In
addition to HDTV data, the BVM-L230
supports a range of signal formats,
including 2048x1080 24p for digitalcinema applications and VGA-WUXGA
(1920x1200) PC signals.
The monitor offers several
connectivity options, including a standard DVI-D input. Optional inputs
include HD-SDI/SDI SDI (4:2:2 10-bit
and 4:4:4 10- or 12-bit), composite, Y/C,
RGB/YPbPr/XYZ, and dual-link HD-SDI.
Sony is developing larger screen sizes
for this new series of LCD monitors. A
42" version (viewable area, measured
diagonally) is scheduled for availability
next year.
The BVM-L230 will be available
this fall at a suggested list price of
about $25,000. For more information,
visit www.sony.com.
New Super 8mm Stock
Pro8mm recently introduced
Pro8/43, a 160-ASA tungsten negative.
The stock is cut from the new 35mm Fuji
Eterna Vivid 160 and loaded by Pro8mm
into the familiar 50' Super 8 cartridges
at its Burbank, California, facility. Vivid
is an evolved version of Eterna with
even higher color saturation. It utilizes
DIR-Coupler Technology that creates a
fresh, translucent color palette by
promoting better separation and adhesion of the colors. It also provides higher
contrast and sharpness as a result of
proprietary Fuji Super Nano-structured
grain technology. This controls light
sensitive structure and silver-halide

08_07 new prods

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grain to nanoscale, minimizing reflection

and boosting sharpness. The Vivid technology optimizes performance in the
studio or in outdoor daylight with an 85
filter. It is processed ECN-2 and also can
be run with skip-bleach technique.
Because all Super 8 cameras
were originally designed to shoot 160ASA tungsten film, Pro8/43 is 100percent compatible with all existing
Super 8 camera exposure systems
embracing 40 years of camera design.
Any make or model of Super 8 camera
will read the exposure correctly.
Pro8mm sells the film in the
convenient 50' light-tight cartridge for
$30 including processing. The negative
film cannot be projected, and must be
scanned to digital for viewing. An allinclusive sample (Tester) can be
purchased for $88.88, which can be
delivered in MPEG-2 DVD-R format for
viewing or QuickTime DV on DVD for use
in NLE Systems. Multiple roll value
packages for film, processing and digital
scanning to production formats such as
MiniDV, DVCam or Digital Beta are
available.
Pro8mm, (818) 848-5522, Web
site: www.pro8mm.com.
I

Erratum
In the M.O.S. Sync Tackles Metadata article in Junes New Products & Services, software engineer
Paul Klamers name was
misspelled.

87

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Points East
High Comedy at Low Altitudes
by John Calhoun

n terms of talent, if not epic debauchery, the metal-heads of Spinal Tap are
given a run for their money by Bret
McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, two
New Zealanders who comprise the rock
duo Flight of the Conchords. After
several years of escalating popularity,
Bret and Jemaine have come to take
New York by storm. As documented in
the new HBO comedy Flight of the
Conchords, theyve had some humble
success Stateside thanks to Murray, the
part-time manager who has booked
them a few trade-show gigs, and the
avid young woman who comprises their
fan club. They have even had some luck
dating American women, and their
romantic tribulations are a major component of their songs, which often interrupt
the shows dramatic action, music-videostyle.
The latter aspect of the show was
88 August 2007

a major attraction for Los Angeles cinematographer Patrick Alexander Stewart

(Hotel; see AC April 02), who says it
takes a special project to pull him away
from home. There are two reasons I
chose to come out here, he explains.
One was the affability and energy of
producers/writers/actors/musicians
McKenzie and Clement, who have
something different to offer. The other
was the music. Im a musician myself,
and I always appreciate projects that
include music. This show involves script
going into music and coming back to
script, which really has never been done
successfully.
The best way to approach this
probably would have been to have a unit
shooting the show and a separate unit
preparing and shooting the videos, but
we shot both with a single unit, he
continues. Each of the 12 half-hour

episodes was shot in five days except

for the pilot, which was shot last
summer in four. And there was no real
break between shoots; production on
one went right into the next, with scouting and other preproduction activities
taking place whenever they could.
The pilot was shot in real locations, including a tiny walkup for Bret
and Jemaines apartment, an office for
Murray, and various bars and city
streets. When the show was picked up,
production designer Dan Butts built
replicas of key locations at Steiner
Studios. We didnt actually shoot
onstage we were in a 50-by-100-foot
Quonset hut on the left side of the lot,
notes Stewart. We took half of
Murrays office apart to shoot larger
sets and music videos!
When the time came to build a
set for the bands apartment, he contin-

Photos courtesy of HBO.

Clueless New
Zealand
troubadours
Jemaine
Clement (left)
and Bret
McKenzie
attempt to
conquer New
York City in
Flight of the
Conchords.

AMC_0807_p089_R

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ues, the producers and director [James

Bobin] were intent on making it exactly
the same, but I said, Lets think practically about shooting with 15 people and
lights and equipment in the room. We
decided to have a bigger room but shoot
it smaller; whenever we shot toward the
living room, we moved the kitchen stuff
down toward the living room, and whenever we shot toward the kitchen, we
moved the living-room stuff down that
way.
Realism was the byword from
the beginning, at least for scripted
scenes. It was important to me that it
not look theatrical unless we were
shooting a music-video segment, says
Stewart, who framed the show in 16x9
using Panasonic SDX900 cameras in 24p
mode at 50Mbps. I wanted people to
believe these two guys are who they are
and are doing what theyre doing. I didnt
want to smack them with a lot of backlight or other lighting that didnt make
sense in certain environments.
Stewart lit 90 percent of the
show with Litepanels 1x1 LED spots and
floods, instruments that he predicts will
change the way everything is lit on
sets and in ordinary life. I bought a
whole set of them before I shot the pilot
because I knew I wasnt going to have a
lot of time, and I wanted something
versatile and light that wouldnt heat up
like a normal tungsten bulb and wouldnt
take up as much space as a Kino Flo. I
could do a walking scene outside with
the sun backlighting the characters, and
have a grip hold a 1x1 near the camera
just to punch up the eyes a bit. They also
came in handy in the apartment, where
the base light was China balls and the
punchier lights were Litepanels.
Stewart used Fujinon zoom
lenses with the SDX900. The important
thing to remember when youre shooting
video is where you can and cannot point
the camera, he observes. You cant
shoot low angles up at a cloudy sky, and
you cant shoot with the sun hitting a
bright wall or sidewalk in the background without having enough balance
as far as your key lights. You also cant
shoot people walking around with white
clothing in bright sun. In fact, he adds,

White is a tone I never allowed on the

set, because the second this camera
gets light on something thats white, its
immediately 100-percent value, and
youre probably going to lose all detail.
Stewart and his collaborators
demonstrated their appreciation of classic videos in the shows musical
sequences. A lot of our videos are
based on iconic videos from the past,
says Stewart. We took a Depeche
Mode approach to one song, Inner City
Pressure, and theres a song in the pilot
thats a mixture of the Godley & Creme
video where their faces are mixed on
top of each other and an Abba video
thats similar. The song Sally Returns
references an old Kate Bush video, and
we shot it with an old Ikegami tube
camera that we got out of a production
house. And, of course, there were some
videos that we just shot the way we
wanted to shoot them at the time. We
often used a Steadicam to give them a
stylized sort of look.
Our indefatigable grip and lighting crew did a fantastic job of keeping
up with the constantly changing scenes
and styles. Kevin Smyth, the key grip,
and his crew always came through with
the best solutions and rigging, whether
we had to shoot multiple takes of a television set falling out of an eighth-story
window, or the Conchords kneeling on a
Western dolly while barreling down a
wooded path with a mounted
Steadicam rig and Litepanels. Petr

Hlinomaz, the gaffer, and his crew

understood the constraints of our time
and budget and embraced the method of
using Litepanels as our principal light
source in many scenes. All in all, we
could not have accomplished what we
did without the support of this team.
Though Flight of the Conchords
was shot single-camera style by Acamera operator James Callanan,
scenes were often covered by two
cameras. With this ensemble, we didnt
want to miss any coverage, says Stewart, who operated the B camera.
Since wrapping the series, Stewart has rejoined his family in L.A. If Flight
of the Conchords is picked up for a
second season of shooting in New York,
he says, well see what happens. I

Above: Director
of photography
Patrick Stewart
captures a
handheld shot of
the deadpan duo.
A realistic
approach to
everyday scenes
paves the way
for the shows
stylized musical
interludes.
Below: Stewart
notes that the
shows musicvideo parodies
are based on
iconic videos
from the past.

American Cinematographer 89

08_07 marketplace&ad index

6/30/07

2:29 PM

Page 90

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08_07 marketplace&ad index

7/3/07

1:50 PM

Page 91

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Classifieds
RATES

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First word of ad and advertisers
name can be set in capitals without extra charge. No agency commission or discounts on classified advertising.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER. VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are accepted. Send ad to Classified Advertising, American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973. Deadline for payment and copy must be in the office
by 15th of second month preceding publication. Subject matter is limited to items and services pertaining to filmmaking and video
production. Words used are subject to magazine style abbreviation. Minimum amount per ad: $45

ARRI SR 16 camera package for sale $8,499.00. Complete package in great condition including 12-120 zoom lens, two magazines,
batteries, accessories and case. Owned by a DP, not a rental camera:
917 903 0146 or [email protected]

CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE
Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds at the ASC web site.
Internet ads are seen around the world at the same great rate as in print, or for slightly more you can
appear both online and in print.
For more information please visit www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail: [email protected].

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(888) 869-9998.

08_07 marketplace&ad index

7/3/07

1:51 PM

Page 92

Classifieds continued Advertisers Index

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92

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Backstage Equipment, Inc.

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Glidecam Industries 21

Cavision Enterprises 71
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Equipment Inc. 15
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Cinematographer Style 17
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Electronics 87
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CPT Rental Inc. 90

High Eye 86
Hybrid Cases 90
Hydroflex 86
Imagica 23
Innoventive Software 6
K 5600, Inc. 30
Kino Flo 53
Laffoux Solutions, Inc. 90
Laser Pacific 29
Lee Filters 42
Lights! Action! Company
90
London Film School 85
Los Angeles Film School 9

Denecke 90

Microdolly Hollywood 90
MP&E Mayo Productions
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Eastman Kodak C2-1, C4

EFD, USA Inc. 43

Nalpak Inc. 91
New York Film Academy 7
OConnor 83
Oppenheimer Camera Prod.
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Panavision 19
PED Denz 31, 91
Pille Film Gmbh 90
Pro8mm 90
Samys DV & Edit 52
Schneider Optics 2
Sharp Shooter 4
Slamdance 93
Sony Electronics 11
Stanton Video Services 75
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VF Gadgets, Inc. 91
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ZGC, Inc. 6

AMC_0807_p029

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12:04 PM

Page 1

CALL FOR ENTRIES

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

JANUARY 17-25, 2008

FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE

OCTOBER 9, 2007

FILM FESTIVAL
www.slamdance.com
It was an honor and a privilege to premiere at Slamdance. We felt like
the luckiest filmmakers ever; we signed papers with New Line
right after our first screening and once we could announce that sale,
got to enjoy a wonderful week in Park City.
Seth Gordon, Director, THE KING OF KONG,
Slamdance 2007 world premiere documentary.

By Filmmakers, For Filmmakers

08_07 clubhouse

6/29/07

1:42 PM

Page 94

Clubhouse News
Okada Re-elected,
New Board Takes Shape
Daryn Okada, ASC was
recently elected to a second one-year
term as Society president. The other
ASC members voted into office by the
membership were Vice Presidents
Michael Goi, Richard P. Crudo and
Owen Roizman; Treasurer Victor J.
Kemper; Secretary Michael Negrin;
and Sergeant-at-Arms John Hora.
The new Board of Governors also
includes ASC members Caleb
Deschanel, George Spiro Dibie,
Richard Edlund, William A. Fraker,

Francis Kenny, Laszlo Kovacs,

Isidore Mankofsky, Robert Primes,
Dante Spinotti, Kees Van Oostrum
and Haskell Wexler; alternates are
Stephen
Lighthill,
Matthew
Leonetti, Russ Alsobrook and Sol
Negrin.
Just being an ASC member is a
dream come true, says Okada. Our
founders defined the mission for the
ASC in 1919, when the motion-picture
industry was still in its infancy. They
were dedicated to providing a collegial
environment where members could
share ideas and solve problems for the
purpose of advancing a new art form.
That remains our top priority.

94 August 2007

Poster in the Windy City

Early this summer, HD Expo paid
a third visit to Chicago, where International Cinematographer Guild President
Steven Poster, ASC sat down for a
conversation moderated by AC contributor David Heuring. The discussion
covered such topics as the future of cinematography, the impact new tools and
technology have on the creative process,
and how to protect the filmmakers
creative vision in this ever-changing
landscape.

New Member
Director
of
photography
Christopher Baffa, ASC, a native Californian whose credits include the series
Nip/Tuck and the features Running with
Scissors and Unaccompanied Minors,
was recently welcomed into the Society
as an active member.
The youngest of four children,
Baffa was raised in Palos Verdes and
the South Bay, where he developed an
early fascination with film through his
fathers 8mm home movies. After graduating from the University of Southern
California School of Cinema-Television,
Baffa hit the ground running and began
working in set lighting, where he
climbed the ranks and became a gaffer.
This experience, along with a stint
shooting second unit for Roger
Cormans Concorde Pictures, led to a job
as a first-unit cinematographer on the
feature film Baby Face.
Since then, Baffa has worked
exclusively as a cinematographer,
notching credits that also include the
films Suicide Kings and Idle Hands, the
TV series Popular, and the pilot for The
Closer.

ASC at Cine Gear Expo

To the casual observer, the ASC
could be seen en masse at Cine Gear
Expo in late June. Members Steven
Fierberg, William Fraker and Laszlo
Kovacs sat on the panel titled The
West, the Movies, and the ASC, moderated by Bob Fisher. The panel provided
insights into the complex role of the
cinematographer as visual storyteller by
showing clips from movies that inspired
them or films they had shot.
The Visual Art of Documentary
Storytelling panel featured such ASC
luminaries as Stephen Lighthill, Ellen
Kuras, Rodney Charters, Robert
McLachlan, Curtis Clark and James
Chressanthis. In Dialogue with ASC
Cinematographers, Daniel Pearl,
Chris Baffa, James L. Carter, Isidore
Mankofsky, Frederic Goodich and
Bill Bennett weighed in with their
thoughts on the past, present and future
of the art and craft of cinematography.
David Stump, ASC discussed
shooting the 15-minute short film The
Trident with the Dalsa Origin in Dalsa
Digital Cinema: Why Everything Looks
Better When You Start in 4K. Christian
Sebaldt, ASC and director William
Malone relayed their experience of
shooting Super 16mm with the Arri 416
on the low-budget feature Parasomnia.
I

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Page 96

ASC CLOSE-UP
Bill Roe, ASC
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
I grew up in the business, and every summer my dad, Jack, seemed to
be doing Westerns. I spent my summer vacations visiting those sets,
and Westerns quickly became my favorite.
Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most admire?
The first names that come to mind are Owen Roizman, ASC; Michael
Chapman, ASC; Gordon Willis, ASC; Caleb Deschanel, ASC; John Toll,
ASC; Oliver Wood; and Joe Pytka.
What sparked your interest in photography?
My high-school graduation gift was a 35mm still camera. After playing
two years of college football and baseball and enduring numerous cortisone shots, it wasnt so painful to pick up the camera.
Where did you train and/or study?
I started off by sneaking onto the Warner Bros. lot, where I worked in
the loading department for free for about a year. My first official job
was as a loader on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band with Owen
Roizman. My training was all on the job, and Im still in training.
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
Throughout my career, every second assistant, first assistant, camera
operator, and cinematographer has been a teacher. Alan Disler; Victor
J. Kemper, ASC (who moved me up to operator); Owen Roizman;
Michael Chapman; and Joe Pytka all made a huge impact on me.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
I hate this question.
How did you get your first break in the business?
Nepotism.
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?
When I was working on The X-Files, driving home at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning after working a long week became the norm. The feeling I
had on that drive home, being so proud of what we had accomplished
as a camera crew, was very cool. It doesnt get much better than that.
Have you made any memorable blunders?
Forgetting to put the pressure plate in and forgetting to turn the camera
on. Those are the only two blunders Im willing to share.
Whats the best professional advice youve ever received?
Do not be afraid to push yourself and trust yourself.

96 August 2007

Bill Roe, ASC has some helping hands as he prepares to shoot with his
own custom-made, hand-cranked Arri 16mm camera.

What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?

Im constantly influenced by everything I see, from features to television
shows to commercials to Sports Illustrated.
Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to
try?
I worked as an operator on Wyatt Earp with Owen Roizman, but Id love
to do a Western as a cinematographer.
If you werent a cinematographer, what might you be doing
instead?
The PGA would have been fun!
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
Every time I step into the ASC Clubhouse, I feel awe that Im part of
such a prestigious organization. Not only is it an honor, but it also has
given me the opportunity to form closer relationships with other cinematographers. To be a part of the ASC is a dream come true!
I

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- UNleashed Magazine

AMC_0707_p002

6/29/07

11:38 AM

Page 1

ONFILM
D I C K

P O P E ,

B S C

When I rst became a cameraman I shot

16mm factual lms for many companies
including the BBC. I traveled the world often
to remote and inaccessible places, including
war zones, sometimes to live with so called
primitive tribes, and generally having a great
time along the way. Documentaries taught
me so much, but it was shooting music, both
concerts and promos, that acted as my
springboard into cinema. I have been totally
fascinated by the lighting on faces since I rst
picked up a camera as a boy and fell in love
with taking pictures, especially portraits. The
landscape of the human face is where the
emotions lie. Everything else leads up to that.
On set, I like a quiet and focused atmosphere
around the camera conducive to giving the
director and actors their very best shot. A
favorite challenge for me is to create a totally
believable cinematic world that our characters
can inhabit, thereby sucking the audience right
into their lives, and rather than self-consciously
drawing attention to the camera as another
player, make that audience forget theres a
camera out there at all.
Dick Pope, BSC earned both an Oscar and
American Society of Cinematographers
Outstanding Achievement Award nomination
for The Illusionist. His cinema credits include
The Reecting Skin, Life Is Sweet, Naked, Secrets &
Lies, Topsy-Turvy, The Way Of The Gun, Thirteen
Conversations, Nicholas Nickleby, Vera Drake,
Man of the Year and the upcoming Honeydripper.
For an extended interview with Dick Pope,
visit www.kodak.com/go/onlm.
To order Kodak motion picture lm,
call (800) 621 - lm.
www.kodak.com/go/motion
Eastman Kodak Company, 2007.
Photography: 2007 Douglas Kirkland