American Cinematographer 2023 04

April 2023 The International Publication of the American Society of Cinematographers
The Last of Us
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APRIL 2023 VOL. 104 NO. 4
Contents Features
16 An Artful Apocalypse
A team of cinematographers helps transform a video game into a hit HBO
series. “The Last of Us is not only a story about surviving the post-apoc-
alyptic world,” says Ksenia Sereda, RGC, who shot the pilot. “It’s about
surviving emotional loss and learning to build again.”
32 More Than a Feeling: Daisy Jones & The Six

Checco Varese, ASC and Jeff Cutter dramatize the conflicts within a
fictional musical supergroup for a 10-part Amazon series.
44 Virtual Production:
Broadcast Inspires Cinema
32
ASC member Robert Legato offers his thoughts on how virtual-production
techniques used in cinema are often field-tested in the broadcast realm.
50 Sam Nicholson, ASC: Uncharted Territory

AC profiles the visual-effects cinematographer honored with the 2023
Curtis Clark ASC Technical Achievement Award.
Departments
8 Letter From the President
10 Shot Craft: Electrical Distribution on Set
58 Global Village: Athena
64 Clubhouse News
68 New Products and Services
72 Wrap Shot: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
VISIT THEASC.COM
44
On Our Cover:
A wary survivor of a global pandemic (Pedro Pascal) peers
out at a world overrun by the “infected,” who have mutated
into horrific new forms, in The Last of Us. (Photo by Liane
Hentscher, courtesy of HBO.)
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Stephen Pizzello
WEB DIRECTOR and PUBLISHER

David E. Williams
OUR FIRST
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Fish
100
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Max Weinstein
SHOT CRAFT and TECHNICAL EDITOR Jay Holben
YEARS
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION EDITOR Noah Kadner
WRITER/RESEARCHER Tara Jenkins
ASSOCIATE WEB EDITOR Brian Kronner
EXPANDED
SECOND EDITION CONTRIBUTORS
Benjamin B, John Calhoun, Mark Dillon, Sarah Fensom, Michael Goldman,
David Heuring, Debra Kaufman, Michael Kogge, Iain Marcks, Matt Mulcahey,
Jean Oppenheimer, Phil Rhodes, Patricia Thomson, Peter Tonguette
CREATIVE DIRECTION and DESIGN

Edwin Alpanian
Published by the ASC Press, this
album-size hardback book chronicles ADVERTISING
the history of the American Society of ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann
Cinematographers in celebration of the 323-936-3769 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: [email protected]
organization’s centennial (1919-2019),
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce
with profiles of its 15 founders and
323-952-2114 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: [email protected]
many outstanding members.
With 204 pages, this expanded second SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS and PRODUCTS
edition adds new profiles and more CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina
rare photographs, including a special
presentation of 50 new ASC members ASC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Terry McCarthy
inducted since 2019 — who will help ASC SPONSORSHIP and EVENTS DIRECTOR Patricia Armacost
shape the organization for the next CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER Alex Lopez
100 years.
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Natalia Quiroz
MEMBERSHIP ADMINISTRATOR Salvador Maldonado
This new second edition is limited to
1,000 copies. DIRECTOR OF FINANCE and ACCOUNTING Thanh Lai
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 104th year of
Available now at store.ascmag.com publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr.,
Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A., (800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line
for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344. Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all
other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange
payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood office. Copyright
2023 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA
and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.
POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230,
Hollywood, CA 90078.
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American Society of Cinematographers
The ASC is not a labor union or a guild,

but an educational, cultural and
THE WORLD’S LEADING INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL professional organization. Membership is
by invitation to those who are actively en-
ON MOTION IMAGING DELIVERS THE INSIDE STORY gaged as directors of photography and have
OF MODERN CINEMATOGRAPHY demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC
membership has become one of the highest
honors that can be bestowed upon a
February 2023 The International Publication of
the American Society of Cinematogr
aphers professional cinematographer — a mark
of prestige and excellence.
OFFICERS 2022/2023
Stephen Lighthill
President
Amelia Vincent
Vice President
John Simmons
Vice President
Shelly Johnson
Vice President
Steven Poster
Treasurer
Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF
Shoots Babylon Gregg Heschong
Secretary
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Christopher Chomyn
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Sergeant-at-Arms
MEMBERS
From new camera systems and lighting options to the creative OF THE BOARD
use of virtual-production methods, American Cinematographer Curtis Clark
examines the latest tools and techniques while maintaining Richard Crudo
Steven Fierberg
sharp focus on essential creative collaborations and the Michael Goi
artistry of visual storytelling. Shelly Johnson
Ed Lachman
• Print Edition – Learn from the best Patti Lee
and build your permanent reference collection Charlie Lieberman
Stephen Lighthill
• Digital Edition – Access AC magazine content Lowell Peterson
anywhere you are while on the go Lawrence Sher
• AC Archive – Dive deep into more than John Simmons
100 years of information and inspiration John Toll
Amelia Vincent
Robert Yeoman
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
ALTERNATES
store.ascmag.com/collections/subscriptions John Bailey
Eric Steelberg
Jim Denault
Patrick Cady
Dana Gonzales
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
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Letter From the President
PORTRAIT BY MICHAEL M. PESSAH, ASC.
IMAGE BY OPENAI’S DALL-E 2.

George Washington as a cinematographer — generated by artificial-intelligence technology.
THIS ISSUE INCLUDES AN ARTICLE FEATURING OUR EVER-INNO- often edit before transmitting the report. I cannot imagine how this one-
VATIVE MEMBER ROB LEGATO, ASC, who addresses the migration of person-band mentality will improve storytelling.
broadcasting technology to filmmaking. Broadcast technology provides The introduction of machine-learning-powered artificial-intelligence
answers to the different demands of live productions. Anyone who has (AI) algorithms is imagined for compositing, which seems logical. The
been watching the evening news can see in the inevitable wide shot widespread use of machines to create images is where we are head-
that it is robotic cameras and pedestals that face the talent. In the mod- ing, we suppose, particularly with the extensive use of LED walls. We
ern broadcast studio, the only human who remains is the well-dressed suggest this is a moment to consider the wild experimentation with AI
one addressing the camera. alteration of photographers’ work — including deep fakes — that we
A narrative set is very different from the broadcast studio. Many peo- have already seen, and ask whether this is a path that moviemaking
ple share the effort of bringing the story to the screen, and this gang of should attempt.
people all form a community who nurture the story and each other. We
cannot imagine the havoc that will be created when robotic cameras
sit next to the director. Or a robot sets a French flag. (It reminds me of
the old grips’ joke: “How do you kill the DP? Put them in a closet with a
C-stand.”)
Starting out in TV news, shooting 16mm film, we had the luxury of a
camera assistant to load mags, a sound person to carry the sound gear Stephen Lighthill
and microphone boom, a set electric with a small light kit, and even a President, ASC
runner to take the exposed film. A four-person crew — unheard-of now!
In news field work, one person is expected to shoot, record sound and
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Shot Craft By Jay Holben
Electrical Distribution on Set
When a cinematographer opts to typically travels in one direction amount of electricity that can be amps through an individual compo-
employ artificial lighting, a team of (with a few exceptions that are pulled from a service panel or from nent can be dangerous. Watts are
electricians must deal with power beyond the scope of this article), a generator, and everything down- the product of volts and amps, a
distribution that is sometimes in and starts as a wide, raging flow stream will combine to determine measurement of the “work done” or
excess of thousands of amps. As that dwindles into small, trickling how much electricity is required “power generated.” Ohms are the
the specialized tools of the elec- streams — but it can branch out from the main source. measurement of resistance that any
trician’s trade can be perplexing to into many separate streams that are There are four major components component provides to the free flow
anyone who hasn’t worked in those all fed from that same source. of electricity: volts, amps, watts and of electrons; metal conductors have
trenches, here is a breakdown of As with a river, electrical distri- ohms. (See Shot Craft, Jan. ’19.) very little ohmic resistance, where-
the distribution components that bution on set starts with a major Voltage is the current’s potential as insulators (such as rubber) have
are common on motion-picture source of electrical generation; on and is, for all intents and purposes, very high ohmic resistance.
productions today. location, it’s a portable generator, a steady number. Amps represent
and on a soundstage or in a per- the actual number of electrons flow- The Components
A River Runs Through It manent facility, it’s a built-in service ing past a point in a given period of Each component of an electrical
It is perhaps easiest to imagine panel fed by a municipal electrical time; this is the number that must system has an amperage rating,
electricity as a flowing river. It service. There is, of course, a finite be closely monitored, as too many which is the maximum amount of
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Opposite: From main power, the “distro box” — in this case a 600-amp version —
is one of the first branches for distribution. This page, top: A typical production
has hundreds of feet of high-capacity cable. Larger shows can have multiple
miles of cabling. Bottom: Three views of a 100-amp Bates-type paddle plug. The
three terminals represent hot, neutral and ground connections.
amps it can handle safely. Going be- handle more amps. After a 1-gauge,
yond that number can cause a fault however, the scale flips to x/0, with
in the system that can lead to fire. larger numerators meaning larger
Voltage, while generally a constant, and higher amperage.
can drop if the electricity is forced The ampacity of a single length
to travel over a great distance. of 2/0 cable is 300 amps, and 4/0
To combat this, we usually start cable is 400 amps. With 4/0 and 2/0
the electrical feed with very large distribution, there is one cable for
cables that can not only handle each “leg” of an electrical system:
the high amperage, but also help one for red, black and blue “hot”
reduce the amount of voltage drop legs; one for the white neutral leg;
over distance. and one for the ground (which can
The amperage capacity — or be smaller gauge). A 50' length
“ampacity” — of these two types of of 4/0 cable weighs 50 pounds,
high-capacity cables is identified as so imagine a 400' run of five 4/0
4/0 (pronounced “four-ought”) and cables and the amount of work it
2/0 (“two-ought”). (See right photo, takes to lay that out!
page 13.) The higher number rep- The terminations on the ends of
resents a conductor that is capable 4/0 and 2/0 are “camlock” with high of the channel. This is an important have an exposed current-carrying
of higher amperage. ampacity (generally 400 amps), safety feature that keeps the post that can come in contact with
Typically, wire gauge is an in- and feature plug and socket ends, connectors in positive contact and people or objects). With this in
verse scale, with the larger number with an internal cam post inside prevents accidental disconnection. mind, as you lay out cables, you can
being a smaller conductor that can the socket’s receptacle. The plug Heavy rubber insulation also makes always lay out the plug end toward
handle fewer amps. For example, component has a flat side that the terminations water-resistant. the power service, which will save
an 18-gauge wire is very small and slides past the cam post, and the A plug generally has a protrud- you from having to re-lay your cable
can only handle about 5 amps, plug is then rotated to slide the cam ing post that is inserted into the when you attempt to plug it in and
while 12-gauge is larger — the size into a channel machined into the socket’s receptacle, with the socket find you’ve done it backwards. And
of stingers that we use every day plug’s post — providing a positive providing the power and the plug in regard to plugging in, the load
— and can handle about 20 or 25 lock that cannot be disconnected receiving (designed this way so the end (what you’re powering) should
amps. As the numbers get lower, without turning it in the opposite electrified components are always be connected first and then the line
the conductors get larger and can direction and twisting the cam out recessed, ensuring you do not (providing power).
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF JAY HOLBEN.
APRIL 2023 / 11

Shot Craft
A 100-amp “lunchbox,” which connects to 100-amp Bates

and provides five 20-amp standard Edison sockets.
Recent Instructors
Include:
Uta Briesewitz, ASC
Patrick Cady, ASC
MAINE
Adrian Peng Correia
Allen Coulter
MEDIA Steven Fierberg, ASC

Mo Flam
Jonathan Freeman, ASC
Celebrating Camlock 4/0 or 2/0 runs start from the electrical service and end at
Michael Goi, ASC
50 Years of a distribution box (with some caveats, as discussed later in this piece).
Lesli Linka Glatter
Visual There are many variations of distro boxes, but the basic idea is that
Natalie Kingston electricity is fed into a junction point where it can continue as 4/0 or 2/0,
Storytelling.
Ben Kutchins or break out into smaller branches of the electrical river.
Edward Lachman, ASC Pictured on page 10 is the line, or feed, side of a 600-amp distribu-
Join Us Matthew Libatique, ASC tion box. This is the side where the electricity comes in. The 4/0 cable
in 2023! Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, ASC is connected to the box, feeding electricity via its red, black, blue, white
and green terminating lines. Above that, on the left side of the box, is
Igor Martinović
mainemedia.edu a red “courtesy” standard 20-amp Edison outlet (to run a worklight or
Geary McLeod, ASC something small close to the distro box). It’s red to designate that it is
Rachel Morrison, ASC associated with the red leg of the electrical circuit. Just to the left of that
• Cinematography Alexis Ostrander is a dedicated 20-amp circuit breaker for that outlet.
Intensives If we flipped to the other side of the box — the load side, which feeds
Phedon Papamichael, ASC
• Directing Intensives electricity to other components — we’d see another set of camlock con-
Daniel Pearl, ASC
• Documentary nections. This is usually not for more 4/0 or 2/0, but for smaller cables
David Perkal, ASC
• Screenwriting that feed off to other breakout distribution boxes. Most often, this would
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC be for “banded” cable, composed of five 2-gauge cables — each capable
• Editing
Steve Ramsey of 190 amps per leg — taped into a bundle. Banded is used closer to the
• Post-Production
Paul Schrader set to lay out moderately sized sub-rivers around the shooting area.
• Film Audio
Paul Taylor If the set is close to the power source, or if the overall draw doesn’t
exceed 190 amps per leg (there are generally the three hot legs: red,
Christopher Tellefsen, ACE
black and blue), then a banded cable can be used in place of 2/0 or 4/0.
John Toll, ASC
For most small sets, this is pretty typical.
Brendan Uegama, CSC The long black sections on both sides of the distro box are outlets for
Mark Ulano, CAS 100-amp Bates paddles. These feed even smaller rivers, capable of 100
Checco Varese, ASC amps each, to supply other components. The load side also has a cour-
Amy Vincent, ASC tesy Edison outlet (blue, denoting that it’s connected to the blue leg). To
the right of this courtesy outlet is a series of small, circular ports; these
Roy Wagner, ASC
are also “courtesy,” intended for voltage-measurement meters. When the
Peter Werner
camlock terminals are filled, it can be difficult to measure the voltage, so
Nicole Hirsch Whitaker, ASC these ports are provided for that purpose.
Steve Yedlin, ASC Bates extensions (see bottom photo, page 11) come in standard 25',
Kristi Zea 50' and 100' lengths. The connection consists of a rectangular paddle
(with slight contouring to make it more comfortable in the hand) with
12 / APRIL 2023

Left: A 100-amp gang box. Right: 2/0 (left) and 4/0 cable.
three spud terminals: hot, neutral

and ground. Bates connections
have no positive locking compo-
nent; sometimes an electrician
will place gaffer’s tape across the
connection to prevent accidental
disconnection.
The Bates connected to the dis-
tro box feed off to devices such as
a 100-amp “lunchbox” (see photo,
opposite page) which is a line of
five 20-amp Edison outlets. The
lunchbox also has a “pass-through”
component so that another 100-
amp Bates extension can be con- you’re connecting more than one all the components plugged into the weakest link in a chain always
nected to the other end. in a series, they cannot be used each stage along the line are signifi- determines the maximum load. We
It’s important to note that each to capacity. The pass-through is a cantly less than 20 amps per unit. can plug in an endless string of 100-
lunchbox has a 100-amp limit, so if convenience for situations wherein When you’re dealing with electricity, amp lunchboxes and 100-amp Bates
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Las Vegas Convention Center / April 16-19, 2023 / Booth: C6711
APRIL 2023 / 13

Shot Craft
From top: A 220-volt snakebite; 100-amp-to-100-amp

(left) and 100-amp-to-60-amp Bates splitters; and 25'
(left) and 50' 20-amp Edison stingers.
cables, but if they’re all connected this powerful force of nature.

back to a single 100-amp Bates plug
on the distro box, then the max we Need More Flexibility?
can draw on all of them combined The following are a few of the
is 100 amps. This is true of all com- additional components that make a
ponents of electrical distribution, system as flexible as possible:
and it’s the reason electricians must “Threefers” are splitters for
keep a careful eye on what power camlock cables offering feed from
is used where, and balance it within one line to three different load runs.
the system’s capacities. They come in the “soft” or “hard”
An alternate version of the variety; the latter does not include
lunchbox is the 100-amp gang box the extension length from the distro
— a smaller “paddle” of five 20-amp connection to the three branches.
Edison circuits without individual In some cases, it’s necessary to
breakers (see left photo, page 13). double the hot line connections to
These are usually placed in tighter a single device, providing 220 volts
spaces or in closer-to-camera loca- of potential electricity as opposed
tions so they’re more easily hidden. to the standard 120 volts. This is
Stepping down in the size of our sometimes called a “snakebite”
river to an even narrower stream is because it plugs directly into a hot
the 60-amp Bates — which is the line.
same type of connection as the A 220-volt snakebite has two
100-amp, but physically smaller. hot connections (black/blue, black/
In most situations, this step-down red or red/blue) and one ground
happens with a 100-amp-to-2x- (green). (See top photo, this page).
60-amp Bates Splitter (see middle A 120-volt snakebite — which
photo, this page). doesn’t increase the potential
Sixty-amps are good for power- voltage, but offers the convenience
ing fixtures requiring 5,000 watts or of connecting a device to a hot line
fewer, or for feeding 60-amp gang without a distro box of any kind —
boxes with a line of three 20-amp has one hot, one neutral and one
Edison circuits. Stepping down from ground (black, white, green).
60-amps takes us to 20-amp Edison You must always exercise
stingers. These are commonly caution when working around elec-
offered in 25' and 50' lengths (see tricity. If you ever have a question,
bottom photo, this page), with 100' consult a qualified electrician.
also available.
Now we start to terminate in Jay Holben is an ASC associate
“pools” of devices that are powered member, AC’s technical editor, and
by the electricity. Most often, they co-author of The Cine Lens Manual.
are directly connected to 100-amp
Bates, 60-amp Bates or stingers
— though some larger fixtures,
such as 18Ks or 20Ks, may connect
directly into camlock terminations
(aka “snakebites”; see “Need More
Flexibility?” section, this page). At
that point, our river has ended, and
we can enjoy the pools created by
14 / APRIL 2023

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An Artful Apocalypse
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A
video game does not have to
tell a good story to succeed,
but a television series based
on a game must tell a good
story, or else. And when a
game that serves as the
source material for a series
features a story that’s near-unanimously praised
by gamers and non-gamers alike, the filmmakers
behind the TV adaptation are under even more
pressure to deliver an experience that both tran-
scends gameplay and provides an equally com-
pelling narrative.
“The Last of Us is not only a story about surviv-
ing the post-apocalyptic world; it’s about surviv-
ing emotional loss and learning to build again,”
says cinematographer Ksenia Sereda, RGC, who
photographed the pilot for the HBO Max series
— based on the Naughty Dog/Sony video game
of the same name co-created by Neil Druckmann
and Bruce Straley. She also shot Episodes 2 and 7.
Sereda’s work introduces viewers to grizzled
smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) and 14-year-old Ellie
(Bella Ramsey) as they make their way from Bos-
ton to Salt Lake City, carrying with them the hope
of ending an apocalyptic outbreak of mutant fun-
gus that infects the minds and bodies of nearly
all of humanity. Along the way, the “infected” and
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF HBO. PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.
warring factions of survivors pose equal threats

to Joel and Ellie’s success.
At the helm of this game-to-screen adaptation
is showrunner Craig Mazin — also the creator of
HBO’s Chernobyl — who counts himself among
the game’s admirers and sought to further ex-
plore its story and setting in the TV format. “The
thing I loved about the game is that it has this
beautiful, grounded visual tone,” says Mazin, who
directed the pilot episode. “For the show, what
Neil [co-writer/co-creator and a director on the
series] wanted in terms of visual tone was Cher-
nobyl, which has a vibe I love: as realistic as possi-
ble, allowing for handheld, so you feel like you’re
there; finding the beauty in the ugly; and trying to
get to the truth without it feeling over-engineered
— which is a tricky thing when everything is con-
structed, designed and calculated.”
Four cinematographers help transform The Last of Us uses its nine-episode first season
to flesh out character details and plot points —
the video game The Last of Us into a while photographically, the series owes much to
the game’s dystopian setting and its moody, nat-
hit series. uralistic lighting. Because the story unfolds over a
year’s time, changing seasons also come into play.
By Iain Marcks
APRIL 2023 / 17

AN ARTFUL APOCALYPSE
Previous spread: Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Tess (Anna Torv),

companions by circumstance, share a rare moment of quiet amid
a chaotic pandemic. This page: Ksenia Sereda, RGC (pictured at
bottom) operated a lightweight camera rig in the backseat of a
pickup truck while shooting the series pilot.
TOP PHOTO BY SHANE HARVEY. BOTTOM PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.

Primary Objectives
“The Last of Us has a constrained palette, with daylight, moonlight and
firelight doing a lot of the heavy lifting,” says Eben Bolter, BSC, another
of the four cinematographers on the series, which was photographed on
stages and locations around Calgary and in the wilds of Alberta, Canada.
“We grounded everything in firm reality — lighting through windows
or with 20-year-old practicals, embracing imperfection, and using the
weather or time of day to create story-led moods.”
Working from a 130-page show bible, cinematographers Sereda;
Bolter; Nadim Carlsen, DFF; and Christine A. Maier, AAC, BVK were free
to interpret this palette in their own way, with the understanding that
Mazin was interested in a loose, spontaneous style that took its cues
from the game’s storytelling language but presented a look of its own.
“In terms of colors, the world of the show is faded — the sun has washed
everything out,” says Mazin. “And we tried to keep the camera ground-
ed. When I was directing the pilot, I wanted to be in the moment, so
we needed to keep the camera where a person taking part in the scene
would be. That was my general philosophy.”
18 / APRIL 2023

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM
APRIL 2023 / 19

RIGHT PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.

LEFT PHOTO BY SHANE HARVEY.
Left: Tess edges into a corpse-ridden hallway. Above: In the
third stage of infection, a blinded “clicker” uses echolocation
to stalk its human prey.
The show’s cinematographers also found much inspiration in Mazin

and Druckmann’s scripts. “There’s so much guidance in them, but they
don’t tell you how to move the camera — they tell you what the charac- C
ters are feeling,” says Sereda. “That gives you a sense of what to do.”
M
Sereda came to The Last of Us from character-driven Russian features

like Beanpole and Mama, I’m Home. To give the camerawork a light, ex- Y
temporaneous feel, she operated a handheld Arri Alexa Mini with Cooke CM
S4/i prime lenses for much of her Last of Us work, in a configuration MY
she calls “Backpack Mode.” As Sereda explains: “We took everything that
CY
is possible off the camera — batteries and antennas — and everything

went in a backpack. Our 1st AC, Luke Towers, pulled focus remotely, as CMY
An Intricate “Dance” we kept the motors on the camera. The backpack was carried by dolly K
The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin, who directed the pilot, grip Paul Sheridan, so the operator only had the camera with a lens and
has high praise for cinematographer Ksenia Sereda, RGC’s a monitor in their hands, or on the shoulder. It was good for staying
ability to execute what he calls “the dance” — the coordination connected to the actors.”
of three cameras’ movement when capturing a scene. When called for, series Steadicam and A-camera operator Neal Bryant
“There’s a sequence in the first episode where Joel and Tess
employed a Cinema Devices ZeeGee rig, a three-axis “zero gravity” head
confront Ellie’s guardians, Marlene and Kim [Merle Dandridge
that mounts to the arm of a Steadicam. “It mimics handheld,” says Bolt-
and Natasha Mumba], in a long hallway, and Ellie’s between
both sides,” he says. “These scenes are brutal to do: a lot of er, “but it’s mounted to a Steadicam arm and allows for smoother and
exposition, in a confined space, with multiple eyelines. We only more controlled operating, particularly with long lenses. It also allowed
had a day and a half to get everything, and I had this insane us to set our desired handheld camera height, from the ankles to above
shot list, but there were so many moments where Ksenia was the head.”
able to take four of my shots and turn them into one, because Cooke S4/i primes were chosen for the quality of their focus falloff.
she understood how to block everybody so that we could get “You don’t feel the edge of the focus planes,” says Sereda. “With the
more at the same time. The more we get out of a scene like Alexa, they produce an image you can believe in.” Her preferred focal
that, the more options we have in editorial. length ranged from 25mm to 65mm, “which gave me the opportunity to
“That’s an aspect of cinematography that I think is unsung. get close to the actors without changing the shape of their face.”
We think of cinematography mostly in terms of composition,
Some of the show’s key set pieces were directly inspired by the game,
light color and camera movement — not, ‘How much stuff
including an early scene in which Joel; his teenage daughter, Sarah (Nico
can you give me to work with later?’ But every extra angle —
every extra view of a boot, a shoelace, a hand, anything — is Parker); and his brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), realize that civilization
incredibly valuable. And Ksenia was a master of that. That is collapsing and try to flee Austin, Texas, in a pickup truck. Sereda op-
scene could’ve been such a drudge to do, but it became one erated her lightweight handheld rig next to Parker in the truck’s back-
of my favorites because of her.” seat as they rolled through a backlot of downtown Austin, whip-panning
— Iain Marcks back and forth from over-the-shoulder to point-of-view angles of blood-
thirsty creatures attacking screaming, panicked humans all in the same
shot. The sequence ends abruptly when a commercial airliner crash
20 / APRIL 2023

RIGHT PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.
APRIL 2023 / 21

PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.
Top: Apocalypse survivors Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank
(Murray Bartlett) discuss their future together.
lands behind them in a massive fireball.

“We grounded everything in firm reality Compared to the game, the show downplays its confrontations with
— lighting through windows or with the monstrous human hosts of a mutated strain of parasitic Cordycep
20-year-old practicals, embracing fungus. “Our infected are more of an obstacle to avoid,” says Bolter.
“There’s tension-building and action to consider, but we were always
imperfection, and using the weather or careful to keep our focus on the characters and the story.”
time of day to create story-led moods.”
Sad Beauty
Twenty years after the outbreak, humanity has lost almost everything,
and nature has reclaimed much. Sereda had played the game years be-
fore her work on the show, and she remembers being moved by its sad
beauty: “These stunning images of overgrown streets and houses, and
the way people cling to life there.”
Production designer John Paino was tasked with redesigning these
maze-like environments into real-life sets. Part of this design plan in-
cluded a complete halt in technological development at the time of the
collapse, leaving what’s left of society to make do with tungsten filament
bulbs and sodium-vapor streetlights from 2003, running on a scarce
supply of electricity.
The filmmakers likewise relied almost entirely on naturally moti-
vated light sources. “For interiors, whether we were on location or on a
stage, our lights were working through windows, and through openings
in the walls and ceilings. There were almost never any lights on the set,
which provided a lot of freedom for the camera,” Sereda says. A short
Astera Helios Tube wrapped in cotton wool was often used to lift the
shadows and lighten the eyes. At night, a soft toplight from Arri Sky-
Panels and LiteGear LiteMats was used to separate characters from the
background. Other than the powerful period flashlights carried by the
main characters, practicals were rarely used. Gaffer Paul Slatter and key
22 / APRIL 2023

APRIL 2023 / 23

Brothers Sam (Keivonn Woodard) and Henry (Lamar Johnson)

hide out from vengeful revolutionaries.
PHOTOS BY LIANE HENTSCHER.

“There was a huge commitment to making grip Michael Taschereau worked on every episode of the show, which
helped the cinematographers achieve a consistent look.
these spaces feel real and lived-in.”
A Tender Aside
Bolter was brought on to shoot Episodes 3, 4 and 5. His first episode —
the second to be shot and the third to air — is an almost entirely new
storyline developed for the show, gleaned from a few vague clues in the
game. “Long, Long Time” tells the tender love story of Bill (Nick Offer-
man), a lonely, paranoid survivalist, and Frank (Murray Bartlett), a lost
soul who wanders into one of Bill’s homemade traps and bonds with
his captor through a mutual appreciation of singer-songwriter Linda
Ronstadt.
The episode takes place over the 20-year period between the out-
break and the present day, and was shot on a 20-day schedule in the late
summer. The Midwestern-town exteriors were built on the edge of a Ca-
nadian forest, with interiors built on soundstages at Calgary Film Centre
24 / APRIL 2023

Ellie and her friend Riley (Storm Reid) ride a rickety carousel.
and Rocky Mountain Film Studios. “There was a huge commitment to

making these spaces feel real and lived-in,” says Bolter, who employed
many of the same techniques he used for the rest of his episodes on this
quiet detour. “So much of this episode was about restraint. It felt disin-
genuous to change the lenses or the aspect ratio — or even introduce
new colors.”
Bolter often embraced a lo-fi approach to sculpting light in this lo-fi
world, using negative fill close to the actors, “and, if I needed something
in the eyes, I would use the set — skipping light off of a table or the floor,
or tweaking the position of a practical.”
A Cruel Winter
Sereda, Maier and Carlsen all shot portions of the series’ winter chapter.
Directed by Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić, Episode 6 offered Maier
the chance to dabble in the American Western genre, taking her cues
from such movies as Clint Eastwood’s 1992 feature Unforgiven (shot by
Jack N. Green, ASC) and his Italian films with director Sergio Leone, as
well as the natural beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Joel and
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APRIL 2023 / 25

During a night-exterior shoot for Episode 5,
multiple cranes held a total of 400 LED tubes in
grid formations to create a lighting setup that
could withstand high winds.

Naturalism for Explosive Action
By Eben Bolter, BSC
Episode 5 of The Last of Us features an action sequence set in outer from multiple sources. This gave us just enough of a beam width
Kansas that is easily the most complicated I’ve ever had to plan and that in a walk-and-talk, just as one crane’s side light started to
shoot. Our characters are on the edge of town, walking and talking fade, the cast would be entering the next without cross shadows.
through a cul-de-sac at night to avoid being spotted, so I knew I’d Overhead, I wanted to have a moonlight “room tone” — a large and
have to do a large-scale moonlit walk-and-talk that felt naturalistic controllable soft source that would give me a little bit less contrast
— not “lit” — and yet, present the characters, story and location to when I needed more ambient detail. Shooting night exteriors in
a TV audience clearly. This walk-and-talk would then develop into a Calgary, where winds can become an issue, balloons and textiles
stand-off against a sniper, a high-speed chase away from a speeding weren’t an option. So, gaffer Paul Slatter and I came up with a
truck, and then a huge war scene with fire, explosions and 100 or so large-scale solution: Four construction cranes each held a grid of
“infected” versus our heroes and the militia. 96 6' bi-color LED tube lights in a grid formation of 40'x20', totaling
We built the cul-de-sac on a 2,500'x1,500' exterior piece of land 400 individual lights. We ran these anywhere from 2-percent to
near our CFC studios in Calgary, so I also knew I’d have to work with 20-percent output, depending on need — but they averaged out
the effects department on a plan for set extension, and have a plan mostly at around 5 percent.
to deal with the weather. Visual-effects supervisor Alex Wang and I This grid effect would allow wind to pass through, while the
planned to do as much in-camera as possible, so instead of a blue- quantity of lights would give an ambient and soft-enough room
screen circling the set, we used a 40'-tall blackscreen and collaborat- tone, in place of a textile. I wanted the moonlight to have a just-
ed with the art department to introduce trees and foliage that would colder-than-neutral, silvery look, without slipping too far into
fall off into black beyond. Another key part of this process was our “movie moonlight.” Knowing that I would have real fire sources after
work with the locations department to turn off street lighting and any the explosion, we rated the cameras at 3,200K and targeted our
other polluting sources within a couple of blocks of our set. moonlight sources to 4,000K with a very small amount of added
For the moonlight, I needed large-scale, sourceless-feeling light green. Once the fire started, I would select certain S360s and
that would work in multiple directions at the same time — based on overhead tubes to simulate fire, and we used some off-camera
our plan to shoot with four cameras at all times to get as much cover- Dinos, too — on the ground with a half CTO frame to bring it closer
age of action as possible. My approach was to circle the set with 18 to the color of fire — when we needed a bit more throw and hard
cranes, each supporting two Arri SkyPanel S360s with the most-fo- shadows with fire effects.
cused 30-degree honeycomb filters to prevent any cross shadows (As told to Iain Marcks)
26 / APRIL 2023

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APRIL 2023 / 27

Ellie track Tommy to Jackson, Wyo. — in reality, Canmore, Alberta —
where a nearby hydroelectric dam provides the town with reliable elec-
tricity, good water pressure and a modicum of normalcy. Maier used
longer focal lengths, up to 100mm, to film the newcomers from a dis-
tance, “like in the Old West movies where the stranger comes to town,
and they’re the subject of everyone’s observation.”
The episode marks a turning point in the story, exploring a number
of changes in Joel and Ellie’s relationship. Faced with separation, Ellie
chooses Joel as her companion, and Joel accepts his paternal role for the
first time. Maier stuck closely to the show’s established visual param-
eters, using mostly short focal lengths “to stay physically close to the
characters and emphasize their inner emotional fights and anxieties, as
well as their deep wishes for bonding. The threat in this episode doesn’t
only come from the outside. It needed the warmth of this idyllic town,
which echoes the normality of a past and a possible future.”
Maier notes that “compared to other episodes, this one is more quiet
and contemplative. A lot was happening between the characters without
anything being said. To find those moments, you have to feel for them
in the stillness.” This “pure approach to emotional storytelling,” she says,
served her and Žbanić well on their previous collaborations, including
the 2020 feature Quo Vadis, Aida? — an award-winning film about the
The crew prepares lighting setups
Bosnian War that all but shuns actual depictions of war.
for later episodes’ wintry exteriors.
Carlsen’s work with Iranian director Ali Abbasi caught Mazin’s atten-
tion after their feature Border debuted to acclaim in 2018. The two were
hired as a pair for Episodes 8 and 9 of The Last of Us, which started pro-
duction after the bulk of the season had been shot. First on his mind,
says Carlsen, was “finding that balance between being new on the show
and having new ideas about it.”
For his episodes, Carlsen relied on Bryant and series B-camera op-
erator Carey Toner to handle the camera moves — a novel opportunity
28 / APRIL 2023

APRIL 2023 / 29

Tech Specs: 1.78:1

Cameras | Arri Alexa Mini
Lenses | Cooke S4/I
A fungal virus mutates

one of its human hosts
into a gruesome wall
mural.
“We wanted

to bring that
subjective,
surreal vibe
from the game
into the show.”
for the European cinematographer, who was accustomed to perform- subjective, surreal vibe from the game into the show,” he says.
ing them himself. “I wanted to learn something from the experience,” By the time Joel reaches Ellie, she’s already taken matters into her
he says, noting that “when I wasn’t operating the camera, I was able to own hands, in the form of a meat cleaver. The scene, set in a burning
see the set from the outside and feel what was working and what wasn’t, steakhouse, during which she kills David in self-defense, is a notewor-
especially when it came to lighting.” thy character moment and a memorable one for Carlsen. “It’s certainly
Carlsen’s approach to stage lighting added further layers of Light Grid heightened emotionally, but how we did it is what made an impression
Cloth, with some space between each, to the SkyPanel daylight sources. on me,” he notes.
“I like it when it’s quite soft on the skin,” he says. “Episode 8 is set during He describes the setup, adapted directly from the game: “They’re
the wintertime, when it’s overcast and snowy, so I guess my approach on the floor and Ellie’s on top [gripping the cleaver], with the camera
lends itself to that kind of look.” looking up at her from next to where David’s head is supposed to be. To
On their way to Salt Lake City, Joel is gravely wounded in an attack create blood splatter coming back at her — and the camera lens — the
and left to Ellie’s care, until she’s captured by a group of ravenous can- special-effects department employed a lo-fi approach: simply having
nibals led by the charismatic David (Scott Shepherd), and Joel must rally Bella repeatedly strike a large sponge soaked in fake blood positioned
to save her. right below the matte box. Since this shot was Bella’s close-up, we didn’t
Carlsen wanted to evoke a subjective feeling for the scenes involv- need Scott to be placed underneath the camera, as he would’ve been out
ing Ellie when she’s beaten and captured, and Joel when he first re- of frame anyway, but we raised her a bit from the floor with a pillow. We
gains consciousness, so he suggested the idea of doing point-of-view also added a clear filter to the matte box and wrapped the camera — and
shots using fades and rolling focus racks — “both as blinks and lapses Neal Bryant — in plastic.”
in consciousness, to convey a subjective rendition of what the character Carlsen was thrilled by the unexpected results. “The more Bella struck
sees and perceives.” A-camera 1st AC Towers pulled focus with an Arri the sponge, the more crazed she got — and more blood splattered on the
Wireless Compact Unit, and the fades were created by Carlsen with a lens, until all the light and color started to distort. It looked so right for
CineFade VariND, giving him dynamic control over in-camera exposure the scene, and it feels organic because it came from the way we shot it.”
without affecting the T-stop or shutter angle. “We wanted to bring that
30 / APRIL 2023

APRIL 2023 / 31

More Than a Feeling:
Daisy Jones & The Six
Cinematographers Checco Varese, ASC
and Jeff Cutter immerse the audience
in an emotional rock ‘n’ roll story.
By Rachael K. Bosley
32 / APRIL 2023
p. 32-43 Daisy Jones and The Six V4.indd 32 3/3/23 2:45 AM

Opposite: The band basks in an audience’s applause. This
page, top: Billy (Sam Claflin) and Daisy (Riley Keough)
C
perform a duet. Bottom: Daisy in the spotlight.
UNIT STILLS BY LACEY TERRELL, SMPSP, COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS.
amerawork that conveys the combustible nature of

creative relationships is at the heart of Daisy Jones &
The Six, a 10-part series from Amazon that follows
the tumultuous rise and sudden collapse of a fiction-
al 1970s supergroup. Cinematographers Checco Va-
rese, ASC and Jeff Cutter were tasked with capturing
the story, which is steeped in the musicians’ personal
struggles and interpersonal conflicts — subject matter that lent itself to
a close focus on emotions, even during live performances.
For Varese, the project started as a theoretical conversation over cof-
fee in Santa Fe, N.M. “We were shooting the last episode of Them,” he
recalls, “and [producer] Mike Nelson started telling me about this proj-
ect he’d been working on for months that had been shut down by the
pandemic: Daisy Jones & The Six. I didn’t know the material, but Mike
described it, and we talked about how you could shoot all these concerts
when you couldn’t accumulate hundreds of extras in a room. I said, ‘It’s
more about the relationships in the band; it’s about their gazes,’ and I
made some suggestions. Six months later, Mike called and invited me to
read the script and pitch.
“I thought the script was a deep analysis of human relationships,” Va-
rese continues. “These are young men and women, some with troubled
pasts, who try to find in a band the family they never had. That was, to
me, the key to the drama.”
APRIL 2023 / 33

Top: Cinematographer Jeff Cutter
(in mask and hoodie) works through
a scene with A-camera/Steadicam
operator Joseph Arena (gesturing)
and the cast. Bottom: Checco
Varese, ASC at the camera.
Co-director of photography Jeff Cutter — whose credits include the In keeping with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, the miniseries frames the
streaming series The Boys and the feature Prey — also understood the action as a collective flashback: 20 years after Daisy Jones & The Six im-
importance of maintaining intimacy for the movie’s onstage concert ploded on its inaugural concert tour, bandmembers and others sit down
sequences, no matter how large the venue. “Within every musical per- with a documentary filmmaker to discuss why. These interviews punctu-
formance, there’s so much emotional performance,” he says. “Every ate the narrative, which begins in Los Angeles in 1961.
song has some dramatic beat going on between the characters. When I The shoot unfolded in two episodic blocks mostly in story order: Ep-
pitched the producers, the first thing I said was, ‘I wanna be up onstage isodes 1-5, shot in L.A., depict the band’s early days through the record-
with them, wider lenses closer, and feel the intimacy of it.’ And that’s ing of their debut album; and Episodes 6-10, which kicked off in L.A.
exactly the way they saw it.” but were shot mainly in New Orleans, follow them on their fateful tour.
34 / APRIL 2023

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Arena captures a shot of Daisy
taking the stage.
“When the story begins, they’re kids Varese worked with director James Ponsoldt on the first block, and Cut-
ter paired with director Nzingha Stewart on most of the second. At the
playing in a garage, and we see them
end of the schedule, Varese prepped and shot Episode 7, which required
performing in better places, step by step, extensive location work in Greece, for director Will Graham.
till they’re finally doing huge concerts.”
Mission Control
Varese — who won a Primetime Emmy last year for his work on Dopesick
— likens the testing for Daisy Jones to “NASA preparing for a space mis-
sion,” noting that “hair and makeup alone was mammoth. There are six
people in the band, and we had to see them all younger, older, on drugs,
off drugs, famous, not famous. Amazon and the producers supported
our request for a week of testing, as did my friends at Keslow Camera.
On one side of the stage, we were shooting makeup, hair and wardrobe
tests with an A camera on a tripod or dolly with a zoom lens, and on the
other side, we put together three or four looks, including an intimate L.A.
apartment and a 20-by-20 concert space with PAR cans, testing every
color possible and every light and large-format lens available. We even
used a dolly with a little arm and Talon head to test what would eventu-
ally become big Technocrane moves.”
Varese decided to shoot most of Daisy Jones with the Sony Venice —
capturing 6K 17:9 Full Frame cropped for a final presentation in the 2.39:1
aspect ratio — paired with Angénieux Optimo Primes and Angénieux
zooms (the 22-60mm T3 EZ2, 45-135mm T3 EZ1 and 36-435mm T4.2
Ultra 12x FF). “Shooting with a large sensor gives you the ability to use
very shallow focus, and I’ve been experimenting with that a lot,” he says.
“I was also fascinated by the potential of the Optimo Primes’ IOP [Inte-
grated Optical Palette] technology, which was new at the time. I used it
to add 1/8 Glimmerglass to the lens for the entire first block of episodes,
and to simultaneously add custom netting behind the lens for a few of
those scenes that asked for a touch of nostalgia.” Production also carried
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Record producer Teddy Price (Tom Wright, top photo
at right) helps the band develop their sound.
an unfiltered set of Optimo Primes, which were used mostly by Cutter in

the second block of episodes.
A couple of Sony FX3 cameras (capturing 4.2K full frame and re-
cording ProRes raw externally on Atomos Ninja V+ recorders), paired
with Sony/Zeiss 16-35mm Vario-Tessar and Sony 24-105mm FE G OSS
lenses, were used on a handful of shots in tight quarters and difficult
locations, including Hydra, Greece. Cutter notes, “We used the zooms
for a few specific scenes that Nzingha wanted to infuse with 1970s-style
zooming, like a press conference where Daisy and Billy clash.” Addi-
tionally, a Pro814 Super 8 camera was employed to create a character’s
home-movie footage. (The film negative was processed and scanned at
6.5K by Pro8mm for delivery to Company 3.)
Colorful and Shimmering

DIT Daniele Colombera worked with Varese and supervising colorist and
ASC associate Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3 to define the many looks
Daisy Jones required. “I don’t leave home without Daniele, who is a ge-
“Within every musical performance, nius, and Stefan, the third leg in the tripod,” says Varese. “We develop
a show LUT in prep, and Daniele and I tweak the color in every frame
there’s so much emotional performance.” while on set.”
Sonnenfeld’s custom LUT for the show “had a slightly warmer shoul-
der and some cooler tones in the shadows,” says Colombera. “It was neu-
tral and well balanced, a great starting point for me to create a look for
each scene with [ASC] CDL values.”
Colombera adds that Varese’s lookbook included “rock ’n’ roll pho-
tographs that were not the usual iconic images, but candid moments
captured backstage, as well as street photography of the Sunset Strip
and the characters populating it in the late ’60s and ’70s. That showed
me he intended to create a look that was colorful and shimmering, but
also powerful and realistic.”
On the Move
No matter which camera was in play, it was seldom at rest. “These are
38 / APRIL 2023

APRIL 2023 / 39

Tension builds as the
band’s star rises.
young people in search of their own voices in life, and [A-camera/Stea-

dicam operator] Joseph Arena and I immediately suggested that the
camera should reflect this,” Varese says.
Among the techniques he favored was a Talon head on a PeeWee
dolly. “Joseph and I have developed a method to create intricate cam-
era moves that way, which we did on this show with Ace Dominguez,
our wonderful dolly grip,” says Varese. “Covid-19 set protocols made this
technique more popular, of course, but I think it has restored some inti-
macy to the set. It’s more like a theater stage.”
The most difficult L.A. location was the Hollywood Hills house that
Billy (Sam Claflin) rents for his family. “It was true to the period and
to the characters, but a shoebox,” Varese recalls. An Aerocrane jib arm
on a dolly with risers often took the camera to the second floor, and a
mix of Steadicam and handheld captured a house party that becomes a
pivotal moment for Billy and Daisy when the power goes out. “Thanks to
the Venice’s high ISO, we basically lit that whole scene with a bit of cine
moonlight— created mostly with Arri SkyPanels — and lots of candles,”
Varese adds.
In the second episodic block, as the band’s tour progresses, a more
aggressive camera conveys simmering personal grievances and drug-re-
lated chaos. Cutter explains, “Our episodes are really the collapse of the
band — so, stylistically, Nzingha and I felt we could push things more. I
wanted to do as much handheld as possible, but it was always based on
the content of the scene and how much we wanted to push the conflict
or the chaos. Sometimes you watch a scene on its feet in rehearsal and
realize it doesn’t need that, like if the actors are playing it much quieter
than you expected. Or sometimes a scene just feels a little lifeless, so if
we keep the cameras breathing, like we’re present in the scene, it can
help.”
A Visual Arc
In approaching the band’s performances, both Cutter and Varese
leaned into their own early work in music videos. (Coincidentally, both
40 / APRIL 2023

cinegearexpo.com
APRIL 2023 / 41

were nominated for the Best Cinematography VMA in 2006: Varese for Arena, a Society of Camera Operators member, notes that the band’s
Prince’s “Black Sweat” and Cutter for Ashlee Simpson’s “Invisible.”) “You evolution also shaped the visual arc. “We suggested approaching camera
have to put yourself in the audience and know what the audience wants with a similar level of energy,” he says. “When the story begins, they’re
to see — that’s the key,” Varese says. kids playing in a garage, and we see them performing in better places,
“On a 10-hour movie like Daisy Jones, you also have to create an arc to step by step, till they’re finally doing huge concerts. So, the camera is
help sustain audience interest,” he continues. “Every character has their very settled at first — no big setups, no cranes, no oners — and we start
own arc within every episode, and the music, which is also a character, building things up as they move forward.”
has an arc throughout the series. That has to be reflected in how you The apex of this strategy is a four-minute, 360-degree Steadicam shot
block and shoot.” that travels around the stage as Billy introduces each member of the
band. “There was a lot of story to tell in that shot, and not everybody was
sure a oner would do it, but we were all excited by the result,” Arena says.
Unique Expertise
When Cutter began prepping for New Orleans, chief lighting technician
Nicholas Kaat recommended bringing in a concert-lighting specialist,
Matt Ardine, to help design and build period-correct looks for the band’s
concerts. “We had just two weeks to prep New Orleans, which was lim-
ited considering the scale, and Nick and Matt were both critical to the
success of the whole thing,” Cutter says. “Matt actually contacted the
lighting designer who’d done Fleetwood Mac’s shows in the ’70s, and
he advised us about color palettes and the capability of the technology
at the time.
“I didn’t want the palette to become too many colors, so we decided to
limit it to six, including neutral, and maintain the palette we designed for
each song regardless of venue, which would’ve been the practice,” Cutter
This page: The production strove to lend the
continues. “Before we did any physical prep, Matt did some program-
show’s concert scenes an authentic look and feel.
ming and created virtual diagrams showing all the PAR cans and all the
Opposite: Young Daisy rocks out in a flashback.
bandmembers onstage. We used hundreds of PAR cans — fortunately,
they haven’t changed much in 50 years — but we also tucked a few LED
42 / APRIL 2023

Tech Specs: 2.39:1, 1:33:1

Cameras | Sony Venice, FX3; Pro814
Lenses | Angénieux Optimo Prime, Optimo, EZ zoom,
Ultra 12x FF zoom; Sony/Zeiss Vario-Tessar; Sony G zoom
Film Stocks | Kodak Vision3 500T Pro8-19, 250D Pro8-07;
Ektachrome 100D 7294
remote spot fixtures up in the grid so we could spot the

actors at certain moments. We had PAR bars at the sides
of the stage and in the wings that became set dressing
and background when bandmembers go offstage.”
Cutter emphasizes that having Varese’s key crew in
place “gave me such a great foundation on this project.
They were fantastic, and I don’t know how I would have
done it without them.
“As a DP, it’s always strange to follow another DP be-
cause no two of us work the same,” he adds. “It’s slightly
intimidating, too, because someone else is starting you
down this path that you’re used to creating yourself. But
in this case, it was great. I was so impressed by what
Checco had done and the team he put together. I wasn’t
able to grade my episodes directly with Company 3, but
they sent me links so I could see what they were doing —
and I had no notes.”
APRIL 2023 / 43

Virtual Production:
Broadcast Inspires Cinema
Robert Legato, ASC weighs in on how
broadcast-television virtual-production techniques
are helping to expand filmmaking capabilities.
By Noah Kadner
44 / APRIL 2023
p. 44-49 Broadcast V4.indd 44 3/3/23 2:46 AM

C
ross-pollination between broadcast and cinema has
long been common, so it shouldn’t be surprising that
many virtual-production technologies beginning to
flower in theatrical features were first field-tested
and validated in the arena of live television. If you’ve
watched Monday Night Football, NBA basketball or
even electronic sports in recent months, chances are
you have witnessed virtual-production techniques that have played —
or will play — a role in the future of filmmaking.
Cinematographer and visual-effects supervisor Robert Legato, ASC
believes filmmakers at every level stand to benefit from these technol-
ogies, whether they’re toiling on an indie with a 20-day shoot or com-
manding the biggest studio soundstage. “The concept of doing effects
in-camera has been around for many years, but it’s getting easier now,
so more people can do it,” says Legato, who has won three Academy
Awards for his VFX work.
“Multi-camera virtual production for broadcast might focus more on
making everything look glossier than a dramatically driven set, but the
technique is the same,” he adds. “And the photography is everything in
terms of how believable something looks.”
Katy Perry’s “Daisies”

An early example of a virtual- production multicamera project on Amer-
ican television was the May 2020 season finale of American Idol, in which
Katy Perry gave a live performance of the song “Daisies.” XR Studios in
Los Angeles produced the piece, showcasing a combination of extended
IMAGE ON OPPOSITE PAGE COURTESY OF DISGUISE AND XR STUDIOS.

and augmented reality. Perry moved through virtual environments such
as hand-drawn bedrooms, which also featured foreground AR elements
like floating picture frames and flowers that appeared in front of her.
The singer performed on a modest LED volume that included two
IMAGES ON THIS PAGE FROM THE BROOKLYN NETS.

walls at a 90-degree angle and an LED floor. XR Studios leveraged Dis-
guise’s Gx 2c hardware and RenderStream software to handle the pro-
jection, with proper geometry distortion, onto the panels and to key and
combine the live-action with AR overlays and virtual set extensions.
“Disguise developed a workflow to extend the environment past the
edges of the LED screen as an AR overlay back in 2018,” says J.T. Rooney,
president of XR Studios. “These days, that approach is becoming more
common, but originally, it was used more in sports [broadcasts] and for
bar graphs and election results in news reports.”
Using floors and live AR set extensions holds promise for cinema pro-
duction, says Legato. “One challenge, especially from a couple of years
back in terms of development, is that LED panels have a color bias when
viewed from skewed angles such as a floor,” he explains. “Also, the floor
panel would need to be especially robust to stand up to all the foot traffic
Opposite: This performance by Katy Perry on American Idol
and heavy equipment on a movie set. Another challenge — and this is
was achieved with real-time XR and AR technologies.
the same with a bluescreen — is working out the actor’s shadow on the
This page: The volumetric-video capture used here offers
floor. Either you figure out a way to do it live that looks perspective-cor- the ability to view the Brooklyn Nets’ plays from different angles.
rect or add it as a virtual shadow.”
APRIL 2023 / 45

VIRTUAL PRODUCTION: BROADCAST INSPIRES CINEMA
The DOTA 2 international championship finals were captured at

a Singapore arena, while e-sports commentators participated in
the broadcast from a nearby LED stage.
As to the potential of foreground AR objects, such as the picture

frames and flowers in Perry’s performance, Legato sees further poten-
tial: “Say you wanted to make it look like a car passes in front of the
main actors in the foreground and then drives through the background
behind them. You could use AR overlays for the foreground, depending
on your overall matte strategy. We do these kinds of ‘sandwich’ com-
posites in postproduction — but doing it live in the camera as an AR
foreground in conjunction with an LED volume for the background is
certainly possible.”
In the Virtual Paint

Sports broadcasts have long leveraged multicamera techniques to pro-
vide a variety of perspectives on the action — basketball in particular.
ESPN Plus took this approach to another level by incorporating volu-
metric video into a number of Brooklyn Nets NBA home games at the
Barclays Center. Volumetric video combines multiple video angles into a
3D format, which can then be viewed from any angle.
Canon’s Free Viewpoint system is installed at Barclays and includes
more than 100 4K Canon Cinema EOS cameras and lenses. The camera
data is used to create a 3D point-cloud volumetric model of the players
and the court. The production team can then render the action from any
angle, much like the free-moving, 3D, bird’s-eye camera perspective in
a video game. The system processes the data in near real-time, with ap-
proximately three seconds’ delay from the live action.
“We already do this sort of thing in features at a high-quality level
using photogrammetry,” notes Legato. “Being able to re-create an image
from any angle has plenty of uses, from previs to final effects shots.
You’re limited to the quality of the cameras and optics you use to capture
the source footage.”
Another possible use for volumetric capture is combining elements
shot in different places convincingly — assisting, for example, in eyeline
matching or in adjusting variables such as differences in camera height
or focal length. “So, one actor could be in New York and the other actor in
“There are a lot of practical
IMAGES FROM VALVE / DOTA 2 INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

Paris, and they could do what amounts to a scene together,” Legato says.
challenges that virtual “Because you can adjust the angles of both sides, you can make them
look like they were captured in the same place simultaneously.”
production can address.
It’s just a matter of someone Real-Time Football Stats
choosing that solution.” ESPN and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution started adding
interactive AR overlays with live player statistics to Monday Night Foot-
ball in September 2022. Like a real-time telestrator, the technique allows
commentators to trace the path of players completing plays while re-
al-time stats and other data automatically follow along. The approach
synchronizes live player and game updates with camera telemetry and
live video to provide real-time/player-specific statistical visualizations
for multicamera production. Epic Games’ Unreal Engine and Pixotope’s
AR tools helped round out the effort.
Some motion-tracking AR overlays are already in use in LED volumes.
“A lot of this is done in post because it’s not a live performance in front of
46 / APRIL 2023

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APRIL 2023 / 47

Robert Legato, ASC (at right) works alongside Caleb

Deschanel, ASC (center) and virtual-production producer
A.J. Sciutto on the set of the 2019 feature The Lion King.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY ENTERPRISES INC.

“The most exciting thing for me is not an audience, but it still has benefits for cinema production,” says Legato.
the effects gag, but that you can now use “Say you’re on an LED volume load, but the visual quality is not good
enough, so you track a bluescreen halo around the actor as an AR over-
technology to make your movies better lay. This preserves all the LED reflections and a perfect matte around the
and with higher production value.” actor with enough room on either side to key, but no more.
“You could also use it to track virtual props and costumes onto actors
as they move around a scene. The more you can accomplish in-camera,
especially with a short turnaround schedule, the more production value
AI’s Potential you can add. It’s also useful for lower-budgeted films that can’t afford an
Beyond the broadcast arena, there is another field of study extended post period.”
that makes Legato’s eyes light up when he considers what
lies ahead. “Artificial intelligence is becoming common and
E-sports Action
has a lot of potential with applications such as deep fake and
The sports-broadcast world isn’t limited to physical contests. Electronic
performance capture. Performance capture usually has to be
processed in post, but AI makes it more dynamic and real-time sports — aka e-sports — is a form of competitive video-game play, and
— you have the body and facial nuances similar to Avatar, it has become so popular that it’s now covered with much the same ap-
except they’re automatic and live. proach and scale as physical sports.
“AI also has a lot of potential to change how we do compos- A recent example was software developer Valve’s Defense of the An-
iting. Once you have a camera capable of recognizing depth cients 2 tournament, which was held in an arena in Singapore with a
cues, you can do much more sophisticated compositing without nearby LED-volume commentator studio that was operated by Garden
needing a greenscreen or an LED wall. With the assistance Studios. The setup, which enabled commentators to interact virtually
of AI, this camera would recognize a person and differentiate with a multicam live-streaming broadcast of the game action, includ-
them from the background with a depth map and no other ed Mo-Sys StarTrackers, Red Komodo cameras, ROE DM2.6 LED panels,
information.”
Brompton processors and Unreal Engine (for the screen content). Light-
ing included units from Astera, Aputure and Arri.
48 / APRIL 2023

TOP IMAGE BY NOAH KADNER, COURTESY OF THE ASC. BOTTOM IMAGE FROM ESPN / NFL.
Legato believes the potential of real-time game engines such as Unre-

al Engine has barely been tapped. “It enables you to have a very minimal
crew and shoot in locations you would not be allowed to shoot practical-
ly because of the scale of the traditional live-action footprint.”
Legato adds that Unreal’s technology offers yet another way for actors
to perform in the same scene from two separate physical locations. “Say
you have an older actor who doesn’t wish to travel to the main shoot
for a day’s work, but you want to integrate them into a scene with other
actors,” he says. “You could synchronize two LED stages and send the
tracked camera movement from one to the other on a motion-control
head. All the equipment you’d need already exists, and internet speeds
are fast and consistent enough to make it work.
“Another way you could leverage that is to have a small crew captur-
ing just backgrounds in an exotic location and connect that to an LED-
stage shoot and composite the two simultaneous shoots in real-time. I
recognized that as a potential need on a recent production set in Rome
The tracking of a frustum (the rectangular blue border in
that had a large footprint.
the top photo) to a cinema camera’s POV on an LED stage is
“There are a lot of practical challenges that virtual production can
accomplished using concepts similar to those that enable
address. It’s just a matter of someone choosing that solution. The most AR tracking in a football broadcast.
exciting thing for me is not the effects gag, but that you can now use
technology to make your movies better and with higher production
value. All the things smaller productions couldn’t afford to do before will
be possible. It will get to the point where it’s completely seamless.”
APRIL 2023 / 49

PHOTO BY DOUGLAS KIRKLAND.
Sam Nicholson, ASC:
Uncharted Territory
The visionary visual-effects innovator and
entrepreneur is honored with the
Curtis Clark ASC Technical Achievement Award.
C
By Joe Fordham
reating special visual effects — seemingly impossible mo-

tion-picture images essential to telling the story at hand
— is an art form that combines daring creativity and
trailblazing technology, and requires practitioners who
constantly seek new challenges. For Sam Nicholson, ASC,
recipient of the 2023 Curtis Clark ASC Technical Achieve-
ment Award, this role seems tailor-made.
Nicholson’s creative aspirations sprang from an unlikely background in
Monterey, Calif., where his father served with the U.S. Navy Office of Naval
Research. “My father was a ship designer and deep-submergence expert,” he
says. “He designed the first hydrofoils and was at the leading edge of technol-
ogy in flying boats. We knew astronauts and aquanauts — all real achievers.”
50 / APRIL 2023
p. 50-57 Sam Nicholson V4.indd 50 3/3/23 3:02 AM

PHOTO BY JEREMY BOROS.
A youthful interest in scuba diving led Nicholson to memorable en- Sam Nicholson, ASC shooting a virtual-production driving test on a
counters with oceanographer Andreas Rechnitzer (who oversaw the stage at Stargate Studios in South Pasadena.
1960 deployment of the Navy’s bathyscaphe Trieste as the first manned
descent on Challenger Deep) and Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11 lunar module Roddenberry, and actors Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner on a Par-
pilot and an honorary ASC member). “Andy had been to the deepest amount soundstage. Unfortunately, studio work lights swamped Nich-
part of the Mariana Trench, and Buzz had walked on the moon. As a kid, olson’s illuminated mock-up, so he begged Povill for a second chance
I thought, ‘How am I going to do something that significant with my and threw all his resources into building an 8'-tall section of the Enter-
life?’ To go to those places, I decided, you have to go to the uncharted prise warp core using blown glass that was backlit to create a column of
territories.” shimmering, blue-white illumination. Nicholson won the contract and
began six months’ work with production designer Harold Michelson
Art, Engineering and Star Trek and the set-dressing team.
Nicholson’s father encouraged him to pursue his ambitions as a fine- His first day of shooting was memorable. “Under highly secretive
art painter, with a backup plan to study engineering. This led to UCLA, conditions at my home in Venice, I’d built a 60-foot-high column of
where Nicholson gravitated to glassblowing, which set in motion his in- light, which contained 40 or 50 light guns,” he says. “I never turned it
troduction to optics and, eventually, the film industry. “I’d been blowing on because I didn’t have enough power at my home. At the studio, while
glass for about four years, and I started looking at light and doing kinetic installing it into the engine-room set, I’d turned it on for 10 seconds at a
light sculpture as part of a UCLA master’s program,” he says. “I was pro- time as a test. Our first production scene had Shatner coming down the
jecting light through glass, making glass objects that I felt would create three-story-high set on an elevator. Bob Wise and I were sitting there,
beautiful patterns, and capturing it on film.” everybody was at attention, and Shatner gave the order: ‘Scotty, light it
UCLA faculty, including experimental filmmaker John Whitney Sr. up!’ Bob gave me the thumbs-up, I turned it on ‘high,’ and it was amaz-
and designer John Neuhart, took note of Nicholson’s experiments and ing — this white-hot, 60-foot-high column of light. But what I didn’t
referred him to a new project: the sci-fi feature Star Trek: The Motion understand was electronics. I’d put a 10-amp Variac on 250 amps of
Picture (AC Feb. ’80). The picture was in production at Paramount, and power, so within about 20 seconds of the first take, my control panel lit
a unique lighting effect was needed for scenes set in the warp-drive on fire. Everybody had heard this was a ‘matter-antimatter reactor,’ and
engine room of the Enterprise. Nicholson recalls, “I met with associate I think they thought it was going to blow up. Someone yelled, ‘Save the
producer Jon Povill and director Bob Wise, who was a beautiful white- director!’ They picked up Bob Wise in his director’s chair, ran out of the
haired gentleman. They looked at my work and said, ‘Looks good. Can stage with him, and everybody ran for their lives. Director of photog-
you do it big?’ I had no idea, but I said, ‘Oh, yes, sure.’ So, they gave me a raphy Richard Kline [ASC] was up on a Chapman crane, and they were
few thousand dollars and said, ‘Come back in a week.’” trying to get him out as the ‘reactor’ went into overdrive.”
After creating a small model to demonstrate his kinetic-light-pro- Following this panic, mechanical special-effects supervisor Martin
jection technique, Nicholson met with Wise, Star Trek creator Gene Bresin came to Nicholson’s rescue by installing a sturdier transformer,
APRIL 2023 / 51

vv
TOP PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASC ARCHIVE. BOTTOM PHOTO

COURTESY OF SAM NICHOLSON, ASC.
enabling production to resume with minimal delay.
Nicholson’s ingenuity earned him Kline’s friendship, and decades
later, Kline joined ASC members Francis Kenny, Richard Crudo and Vic-
tor J. Kemper in sponsoring Nicholson for Society membership.
Special Lighting Effects

Nicholson’s work on Star Trek established him as a purveyor of special
lighting effects, and he began servicing features, television and com-
mercials, first as Spectrum Productions, then as Xenon Productions. In
1989, he founded Stargate Studios, which has grown into a fully inte-
grated visual-effects and virtual-production facility in South Pasadena,
with satellites around the world.
With Stargate, Nicholson won a Primetime Emmy for the “Battle-
ground” episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Ste-
phen King and received additional Emmy nominations for episodes of
The Walking Dead, Grey’s Anatomy and Pan Am, among other projects.
Recently, he served as virtual-production supervisor on such series as
From top: Leading an ASC Master Class session
Our Flag Means Death and Your Honor, as well as Noah Baumbach’s fea-
in 2014; conducting tests for a science-fiction
ture White Noise. Stargate’s virtual-reality expertise has led Nicholson to
feature project in 2021.
become an IATSE spokesperson for hybrid cinema tools, exploring new
paradigms for on-set imaging.
Max Headroom
Nicholson’s career has encompassed directing commercials for J. Wal-
ter Thompson; designing kinetic-lighting effects for music videos for
Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Scorpions and Cher; and feature-film work that
“I look at the production business as the includes Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (AC Oct. ’82) and Ghostbusters II.
most collaborative and educational art A friendship with cinematographer and visual-effects supervisor
Peter Anderson, ASC led Nicholson to establish a studio on Hollywood
in the world, but it’s like going down the Boulevard, where Xenon Productions constructed a futuristic miniature
rapids on a very large river in a kayak — cityscape that incorporated repurposed motion-control equipment for
you don’t know which way the current is the ABC television series Max Headroom. “It was a 70-foot miniature with
20 miles of fiber optics laced through hundreds of miniature buildings.
going to take you. So, you take risks and We built a motion-control gantry to fly a camera through, and each week
find solutions.” we designed different shots. We left it up for the entire series, and every
52 / APRIL 2023

vv
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COURTESY OF SAM NICHOLSON, ASC.
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APRIL 2023 / 53

IMAGES FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES’ STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE.
For scenes in Star Trek: The Motion Picture depicting the
warp-drive engine room of the Enterprise, Nicholson built
a 60'-tall set piece using blown glass that was backlit to
create a column of shimmering blue-white illumination.
day’s dailies had to be in-camera perfect, multi-pass motion-control on in-camera, which is where I started.”
film. All of a sudden, I became ‘the miniatures guy.’ Nicholson’s journey to the virtual realm was built on a career’s worth
“Hollywood is funny because if you have one success, you get known of creative partnerships. A prime example was when Star Trek: The Mo-
for that very quickly. I look at the production business as the most col- tion Picture visual-effects designer Douglas Trumbull invited Nichol-
laborative and educational art in the world, but it’s like going down the son’s collaboration in the 1990s to film elements and write computer
rapids on a very large river in a kayak — you don’t know which way the code for interactive CD-ROM games. Stargate’s television work intro-
current is going to take you. So, you take risks and find solutions.” duced Nicholson to Volker Bahnemann — former CEO and president
of Arri’s U.S. divisions, who invited Stargate’s participation in emerging
Full Circle digital camera technologies — and to associations with Sony and Canon.
As the visual-effects designer on Highlander II: The Quickening, shot by “It’s critical for anyone trying to predict the future of any process,
Phil Méheux, BSC, Nicholson created innovative “quickening” energy ef- like cinema, to understand the technology from an engineering stand-
fects by manipulating laser light. “We built three white, multi-spectrum point,” Nicholson says. “This goes back to my father, who insisted I study
lasers into a multi-plane animation stand. We fed the lasers via fiber op- engineering as well as art; those disciplines are at the core of cinema-
tics through an acousto-optic modulator, which created 16 million col- tography. It is the responsibility of the cinematographer, visual-effects
ors. We used galvanometers on mirrors to manipulate the light and used supervisor or virtual-production supervisor to find the right blend of art
a stylus to draw on a tablet, and the light followed your hand, animating and technology. Once you’re comfortable with that, you can throw away
laser light directly onto film. An old Mitchell camera on the down-shoot- the sheet music. And that’s when your work starts getting good.”
er photographed the raw light hitting a rear-projection screen. It was
an enormous undertaking. We used that laser-animation stand exten- Virtual Production
sively, including for title design. Strangely, we’ve now come full circle An early breakthrough in virtual production came with Nicholson’s work
to where virtual production has become all about what you can pull off on Star Wars: Underworld, a proof-of-concept test for Lucasfilm that was
54 / APRIL 2023
In Any Way
Shape or Form
Available with INFINIBAR Connectors &
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APRIL 2023 / 55

Nicholson testing Sony cameras in the Patagonia

region of South America in 2015.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM NICHOLSON, ASC.

“It is the responsibility of the cinematographer, What’s Next
visual-effects supervisor or virtual-production Stargate’s educational outreach has included teaching virtual produc-
tion for the ASC Master Class program — and to members of IATSE Local
supervisor to find the right blend of art and 695, which includes production sound, video engineers, video assist and
technology.” projection engineers. “The unions are working to integrate new tech-
nologies such as LED playback and volumetric lighting,” Nicholson says.
“I’ve been collaborating with Kino Flo on a new light based on kinetic
lights we built at Stargate,” he adds. “Pixel-track lights have an image on
shot on a partial greenscreen stage with live digital-environment play- them, and they respond to the image. It’s a light, but it’s pixel-address-
back. That led to Stargate’s suite of virtual-cinema tools, which inte- able, and it’s tracked to the original image — when an object goes into
grate visual-effects design with on-set camera and lighting interactions. a tunnel, the light goes out; or if it passes by a streetlight, the object acts
“These are all hybrid technologies,” says Nicholson. “They combine all like a streetlight illuminating the actors. Now, is that a light, is it play-
the experience that you have on set into lighting technology and code. back, or is it a visual effect? It’s a lot of things!”
My perspective on the industry is unique because I got into production Nicholson sees the future of virtual imaging in the work David Stump,
from the point of view of, ‘What can you achieve in real time on set?’ Vir- ASC conducted with Lytro Cinema’s light-field image capture, which en-
tual production is like a theatrical performance. We now have an incred- ables calculations of depth and focus in 3D space. “Everything coming
ibly complex set of tools such as Unreal Engine and DaVinci Resolve, and out of cameras today is flat imaging,” says Nicholson. “With imaging ar-
powerful technologies that you can bring to set, like LED screens, spatial rays and artificial intelligence, we’ll be able to calculate true depth and
tracking and kinetic lighting. The challenge is to seamlessly integrate depth mattes. At that point, bluescreen might become obsolete.”
these technologies and do it in real time.” Though Stargate’s accomplishments have led to collaborations
Nicholson manages virtual and in-camera elements using Stargate’s around the world — and a forthcoming studio in Mexico City — Nichol-
ThruView system. “It uses custom code that combines kinetic lighting, son says he was surprised and “humbled” to learn he would receive the
tracking and image control on multiple screens. The reason we call it Curtis Clark Award. “There are brilliant artists in the ASC that I’ve always
‘ThruView’ is that it turns LED walls into ‘panes of glass’ that feel as looked up to, and, in turn, I’ve had the privilege of influencing many
if you are looking through them rather than directly at them. When young people. That’s why I believe education is so important. What bet-
we move a ThruView-enabled LED screen, the image changes on the ter thing can you do than light creative fires in people? It’s the people
screen to match the appropriate camera angle. It’s like building a giant, you meet and the opportunities for new artistic collaborations that ex-
three-dimensional, multiplane animation stand on set, moving image cite me. I can’t wait to see what’s next. And I’m so grateful to the ASC for
planes around inside a volumetric, image-making machine.” this tremendous honor.”
56 / APRIL 2023

APRIL 2023 / 57

Global Village By Matt Mulcahey
Simulating a One-Shot Take for Athena
The French political drama Ath- station. In the chaotic aftermath, like, ‘If we have to do that, then Gavras and Boucard began with
ena opens with an adrenalized, protesters storm the station, steal let’s really do it.’” an ideation phase, initially design-
eye-popping flourish: a 10-minute a police van, and speed off to the By the time Boucard first read ing shots on the latter’s iPhone.
“oner” stitched together from concrete stronghold of the titular the script, Gavras had already in- “We pushed each shot as far as
roughly half a dozen shots to housing estate. corporated immersive long takes we could before the moment of
create the illusion of a single into the screenplay. “As I read the the stitch,” says Boucard. “Our
unbroken take. Grabbing and Holding the first sequence, I kept turning and stitches really weren’t that com-
The catalyst for this bravu- Audience turning the pages, wondering, plicated — they’re [disguised by]
ra sequence is the death of a According to French cinematog- ‘When is this shot going to end?’” simple things like pans or wipes
13-year-old at the hands of the rapher Matias Boucard, AFC, the Boucard recalls. “When it finally — but the more stitches you do,
French police, an incident that virtuosic introduction was con- did, there was another long shot the harder it is, because you have
ignites a violent uprising and puts ceived by director Romain Gavras to do right after it. I hoped that to come back the next day and
the victim’s brothers — protest and inspired by the release of Romain already had an idea how match the same light, the same
leader Karim (Sami Slimane, in Athena on Netflix. “One of the to shoot them, but when I asked, frame and the same energy.”
his first film role), soldier Abdel first things Netflix told Romain he said, ‘I don’t know yet, but Next came run-throughs with
(Dali Benssalah) and drug dealer was that you have to catch the we’re going to find a way.’” Boucard manning an Arri Alexa
Moktar (Ouassini Embarek) — on attention of the viewer immedi- Mini LF on an Easyrig alongside
opposing sides of the conflict. ately. The audience isn’t seeing Choreographing “Chaos” a small contingent of cast and
The unrest begins when Karim the movie in the cinema. People That discovery process led to crew — including 1st AC and
hurls a Molotov cocktail during a can scroll [to something else],” nearly 30 days of rehearsals “focus ninja” Lara Perrotte, the
press conference outside a police says Boucard. “So, Romain was ahead of the film’s 55-day shoot. first member of Boucard’s camera
58 / APRIL 2023
p. 58-63 Global Village V4.indd 58 3/3/23 5:59 AM

Opposite: French protesters atop a wall at Athena, their housing-estate “fortress,” await
another clash with police. This page, from top: Karim (Sami Slimane) leads the showdown at
a press conference; the mob steals a police van; the group speeds off to Athena.
team to arrive. By the time princi-

pal photography began, the crew
had essentially shot a stripped-
down “practice” version of the
entire film.
Though the opening shot
takes advantage of modern
camera-movement platforms —
employing a Steadicam, a drone
and a Freefly Movi Pro — Boucard
and Gavras sought to limit the
film’s grammar to a more vintage
vernacular. “We wanted to think
in terms of classic cinema move-
ment: pans, tracking shots, crane
shots,” explains Boucard. “We
didn’t want to run around with a
small camera or use something
like an FPV [First Person View] first day of shooting for the se-
drone. Those tools can be cool, quence, when Gavras’ preferred
but if there was any move that felt take came an hour before sunset.
like it was done by a CGI camera, That meant that to preserve light-
we got rid of it.” ing continuity, each subsequent
day’s ideal shooting period crept
Executing the Prep closer and closer to dusk. Bou-
Once principal photography card labeled that dwindling win-
began, Athena shot in sequence dow “money time.” He explains,
— with the exception of the “We would rehearse over and
opening oner. That sequence was over and shoot takes throughout
saved for last, when the cast and the day, but when I said, ‘Now it’s
crew — including the many extras money time,’ everyone knew we
from the Parc aux Lièvres housing only had two or three more takes
project near Paris that stood in to make it happen and nobody
for the fictional Athena — were could mess up.”
working at their apex. “By the
end of the shoot, we were all so Mixing Equipment
well-trained and had rehearsed Though the goal was for the var-
so much that we were completely ious pieces of the opening shot
ready,” says Boucard. “The actors to blend together seamlessly,
and the extras were part of it, Boucard and Gavras agreed that
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF NETFLIX.
too. They understood that if they this mission didn’t require a singu-
bumped the Steadicam, we’d lar set of tools. Portions were shot
have to redo the entire take, so with both the Arri Rental Alexa 65
they had to protect the camera.” and Arri Alexa Mini LF, and with
For the opening sequence, the Angénieux Optimo zooms, Tribe7
crew focused on a single shot per Blackwing7 Binaries and a 30mm
day, typically attempting 15 to Leitz Thalia. “Romain didn’t want
20 takes. The degree of difficulty to be too dogmatic, and I didn’t
was further compounded on the want to compromise on any of
APRIL 2023 / 59

Global Village Tech Specs: 2.1:1
Cameras | Arri Rental Alexa 65, Arri Alexa Mini LF
Lenses | Leitz Thalia, Tribe 7 Blackwing7 Binary, Angénieux Optimo zoom
This page: Cinematographer Matias Boucard, AFC makes a

handheld shot. Opposite: Director Romain Gavras at the monitor.
the shots,” says Boucard. “If that the camera less; we didn’t want to
meant Steadicam for one part disturb the immersive experience
and then handheld for the next, with too much movement. We
that’s what we did. We always switched to the Alexa Mini LF
wanted the right lens on the right when we had to use motorized
camera in the right mode for each stabilization, like a gimbal.”
moment. For the first part of the se-
“We wanted to stay as close quence, as Abdel pleads for calm
as we could to the protagonists at the press conference, the right
but still read all of the action and lens was a 57mm Blackwing7
chaos in the background, and the Binary (mounted on an Alexa 65
Alexa 65 was perfect for that,” with Steadicam). As the soldier
he adds. “The widest lens was a speaks, the camera pans 180
30mm. We tried to stay close to degrees and pushes through the
the actors so you could practically crowd to find Karim preparing a
feel their breath. The 30mm lens Molotov cocktail. Havoc ensues
and wide format helped with that, after Karim hurls the bottle and
and we also felt the movement of leads a throng of protestors into
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60 / APRIL 2023

the station, but Boucard sought fill. “I used the panels to create
to keep the camera steady amid a darker background and natural
the mayhem. “We didn’t want to contrast,” says Boucard. “The
shake the camera all around just higher parts of the panels were
to try to put energy into the shot open to let in the natural light, but
or to create a sense of chaos,” he the blue parts were really dark
says. “The chaos has to happen and provided us with negative fill.
in front of the camera, and we are We chose blue because it’s the
just witnesses.” police color in France.”
Boucard controlled exposure
Lighting a Riot throughout the shoot via 2nd-unit
To manage the light for the ex- 1st AC and iris puller Damien
terior press conference, Boucard Conti, who remotely performed
worked with production designer aperture and variable ND adjust-
Arnaud Roth to position large blue ments as the extended takes fre-
metallic panels that could play in quently traveled from the police
shot as walls while also cutting station’s interior to its exterior in
light levels and providing negative the same unbroken shot. “Both
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APRIL 2023 / 61

Global Village
Top: Rehearsing camera movement with a crane mounted on a

specially built base. Middle and bottom: A smaller crane awaits
operator Myron Mance (bottom photo) as the crew prepares to
shoot the final section of the film’s opening “oner.”
Damien and 1st AC Lara Perrotte, hidden,” Boucard notes.

who was pulling focus, used Arri’s Despite the complexity of that
cMotion cPro Plus to handle their dexterous camera move, Bou-
specific tasks.” card says the next piece of the
Once the riot spills into the oner proved even more difficult.
interior of the police station — in Once the van arrives at Athena,
reality, a former hospital — Karim enters one of the estate’s
Boucard and his team relied on cramped buildings, ascends
practical fluorescents and Astera the stairs and then traverses a
Helios Tubes placed in four-bank courtyard situated atop a traffic
2' boxes. Paper lanterns with overpass. To light the building
150-watt bulbs supported the interiors, Boucard leaned on real
firelight from the blazing Molotov fluorescents supported by 8x8
cocktails. “Most of the China balls LiteGear LiteTiles fitted with egg
were on the floor,” says Boucard. crates and ½ Plus Green gel to
“I like them because they’re cheap match the fluorescents. “That was
and with a dimmer you can imi- a very difficult shot for our Stea-
tate the color of fire. dicam operator, Aymeric Colas,”
“We had everything on dim- says Boucard. “It’s an extremely
mers, and I was cutting lights on long take with a lot of extras. He
and off as we moved through the was on the Alexa 65 with a 30mm
shot to avoid camera shadows Leitz Thalia and he had to get out
and control the contrast,” says of the van, walk backwards quick-
Boucard. “I also needed to be ly, and then go up some stairs
sure that the fire onscreen was at while moving in and out of these
the right aperture because I really really tiny rooms inside a practical
wanted to see the flames and not location. We used the Alexa/
be completely burned out. I shot Thalia combination to take advan-
mainly at T5.6/T8 so the back- tage of the vertical angle of the
ground wouldn’t be too blurry.” camera sensor; with the open-
gate ratio of the sensor [2.1:1],
Camera Gymnastics Aymeric was able to get more of
Once Karim and his compatriots the building in the frame. Using
embark for Athena in the stolen [the 30mm Thalia] also allowed us
police van, the camera performs to minimize the movement of the
its most acrobatic feat of the in- camera.”
troductory scene, exiting the van
and pulling back across a median Holding a Drone
to track alongside the vehicle be- After a final stitch disguised by
fore re-entering through the back an actor wiping the lens, the
door. Boucard operated the Movi sequence continues with a shot
Pro inside the van to start the taken from a drone outfitted with
take before handing the rig out of an Alexa Mini LF and the 30mm
the van’s side door to South Afri- Thalia. Brice Tholozan — adorned
can gimbal expert Myron Mance, in helmet and gloves for protec-
who was perched on the front of tion from the drone’s propellers
a motorbike piloted by a driver. — carried the drone over his head
“Since I was in the van, I dressed to track with Karim across the
like one of the kids to keep myself courtyard. Once he reached the
62 / APRIL 2023

First AC and focus puller Lara Perrotte on one of
the production’s camera vehicles.
overpass ledge, he let go of the move should be motivated by

drone so pilot Benjamin Lavays- story. “Even if a shot was really
sière and gimbal operator Mance technically impressive, we were
could take over, guiding the drone doing it for one reason, and it’s
backward into a wide shot of the not because it was cool — it had
courtyard’s castle-like ramparts, to tell a part of the story.” With a
lined with young protestors as the laugh, Boucard adds, “Well, some-
movie’s title card fades up. “We times it was a bit because it was
didn’t want that drone shot to feel cool, but if it didn’t tell the story,
like it was a drone. We wanted it we cut the shot.”
to feel like a crane,” says Boucard.
“It’s just a pan and a track back.
The camera is not flying all over
the sky like it’s a bird.”
Favoring classic cinema moves
was one of Boucard’s guiding
principles on the project. Another
steadfast rule was that every
APRIL 2023 / 63

Clubhouse News
Latest Bulletins From the Society
BLK Behind the Camera event speakers included (top row, from
left) Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, ASC; ICG Local 600 President Baird
Steptoe Sr.; John Simmons, ASC; (bottom row, from left) Kira Kelly,
ASC; Donald A. Morgan, ASC; and Society of Camera Operators
member Norman Langley.
ASC Welcomes Sprenger Skrillex and Tenacious D. Society Members Support BLK professionals. He explains, “In 2021,
New active member Christian In 2018, Sprenger won the Emmy Behind the Camera Spike Lee published a memoir
Sprenger, ASC frequently collab- for Outstanding Cinematography for When five ASC members — about his experience as a filmmaker
orates with director Hiro Murai. a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) Ernest Dickerson, Kira Kelly, [Spike], and I attended a book
Their work together comprises such for the “Teddy Perkins” episode of Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, event held in L.A. [featuring] Lee
eclectic projects as FX’s Atlanta, Atlanta, and he was nominated in Donald A. Morgan and John and [his longtime cinematogra-
HBO Max’s Station Eleven and Ama- the same category that year for the Simmons — join ICG Local 600 pher] Ernest Dickerson. They went
zon Studios’ Guava Island. Sprenger pilot for Neflix’s GLOW. Last year, he President Baird Steptoe Sr. and to school together and built their
has also frequently teamed with won another Emmy in that category other industry professionals at a careers together, and the energy of
directors Donald Glover, Taika for Atlanta, “Three Slaps,” and was local filmmaker meetup, others the discussion between them was
Waititi and Wayne McClammy on also nominated for Outstanding should take notice. The event, exciting not only from a technical
commercials and television projects. Cinematography for a Limited or held Jan. 7 at Sip & Sonder in standpoint, but an emotional one. It
As a child in Chicago, Sprenger Anthology Series or Movie for Sta- Inglewood, Calif., was the third was so uplifting that I thought about
became fascinated with flmmaking tion Eleven. organized by BLK Behind the how that kind of event could be
while watching a VHS copy of Star His other series credits include Camera, a grassroots education repeated.
Wars in his cousin’s basement. After Baskets, The Last Man on Earth and and inspiration effort launched “A few months later, I had a
receiving a bachelor’s degree in flm Reservation Dogs. by L.A.-based cinematographer shoot coming up on a BET series
at Columbia College Chicago, he When he’s not working, Sprenger Samuel Hicks. about Murder Inc. Records, and
moved to Los Angeles and began enjoys spending time with his wife As the owner-operator of the nobody on the crew I inherited was
shooting commercials and music and daughter in the great outdoors. rental house SamShotIt, Hicks Black. That did not make sense to
videos, collaborating on the latter wants to create opportuni- me in telling the story of an iconic
with such artists as the Black Keys, ties for aspiring Black camera hip-hop label.”
64 / APRIL 2023
p. 64-67 Clubhouse News V3.indd 64 3/21/23 11:22 AM

Top: Cinematographer Dominic “Domo” Jones helps lead the
discussion. Bottom: Ernest Dickerson, ASC was a surprise guest.
Hicks created the opportunity

to hire a new camera assistant for
his team and sought to find a Black
woman to fill the role, but “every
Black female camera assistant I
knew was working — which was
great — but it also demonstrated
how few experienced candidates
there were. So, I went to Twitter
and posted that I was willing to
personally train someone to take
the position.”
Hicks was shocked to receive
more than 40 responses and set out
to organize a training session. “I had
the cameras and other equipment,
and a friend had space at IFB
Studios in Glendale, so we started
to design a class to teach technical
basics, as well as how Local 600
operates and what it takes to find
work. One of the first people to
become involved was Michelle
Clementine, who had the experi- thought they would have the time. “A lot of the successful Black
ence as a union camera assistant They’re working, and we were just cinematographers working today
and camera operator to really add this little thing, so … I was wrong.” are the first generation,” he adds,
something to the discussion — and “We can always find time for “so having these role models there
she’s outspoken.” opportunities like this,” Simmons to discuss how to navigate the
EVENT PHOTOS BY BRITTNEY JANAE, COURTESY OF BLK BEHIND THE CAMERA.
With Clementine and assis- says. “So Tommy was talking to workplace, what sacrifices have to
tant-operator Naoe Jarmon aboard Sam about what was going to come be made, how to balance home life
as hosts, the first BLK Women next, and how we could participate, with a very demanding career, how
Behind the Camera event was held with the older cats sharing what we to get into the union — these are
on March 20, 2022, with some 35 have learned along the way. And, things we had to hear.”
participants. Sixty more turned out unfortunately, this includes obsta- “Being a cinematographer is a
at the second event, which also cles that are not confronted by the very solitary profession,” Simmons
focused on women and was held majority population in this industry. says. “It’s not like we often work
a few weeks later with help from That’s undeniable.” with one another. Out in the free-
camera operators Michelle Cren- The third BLK event, designed lance world, you’re by yourself.
shaw and Pauline Edwards. Word to facilitate networking and the Unless you’re at the point in your
spread. exchange of experiences, was led career when you can become part
“When Tommy Maddox, Don by Jarmon and fellow filmmakers of something like the ASC — which and participating. Also, we did not
Morgan and I learned about the Jenise Whitehead and Dominic has a home like the Clubhouse, have this kind of support when we
second workshop, our first question “Domo” Jones. It attracted more events and the camaraderie of were trying to learn and establish
was, ‘Why were we not there?’” Sim- than 150 attendees. “Men had been belonging — these kinds of events ourselves. I have to applaud Sam for
mons says with a chuckle. “And Sam calling me, asking if we could make are essential. The journey can making it happen.”
knew we were a little upset about it co-ed,” Hicks explains, “and we be very isolated. And that’s why Simmons notes that the Jan. 7
not being invited.” just had to open everything up to Tommy, Don, Kira, Ernest and I attendees showed keen interest in
Hicks explains, “I just never inspire everybody. felt so strongly about attending speakers’ individual professional
APRIL 2023 / 65

Clubhouse News
Organizer Samuel Hicks snaps a selfie with participants.
pathways, and how things “are doubts that will stop you from even
different now than when we were dreaming. That’s reality. That’s why
coming up. But I tried to stress that we showed up.”
the democratization of equipment BLK Behind the Camera has
has allowed more people to gain since held another meetup at IFB
experience creating images and tell Studios, on March 5, with panelists
stories than ever before. And that’s that included cinematographers
power. The flipside is that this is Anthony Brooks, Sade Ndya and
leading to a certain saturation point Erin G. Wesley. The focus was to
in terms of talent and content. But “bring together industry profession-
there is opportunity. als and successful filmmakers to
“When you’re white in this discuss what production companies
country, there is a certain amount of are looking for when hiring, and how
confidence that what you’re dream- to successfully market yourself as a
ing about doing is at least possible,” cinematographer,” says Hicks. “Our
Simmons adds. “When you’re any goal is to help 300 Black people
kind of minority, sometimes the enter Local 600.”
challenge is such that you have —David E. Williams
Focus on Optics During A special focus on rehoused

“Lens Days” lenses was staged in the ASC Board
The ASC Motion Imaging Tech- Room, with examples from Ancient
nology Council’s Lens Commit- Optics, GL Optics, TLS, Zero Optik
tee hosted “Lens Days 2022” on and the boutique rental house Old
Dec. 9-10 at the ASC Clubhouse. Fast Glass.
The theme was “New Full Series Billy’s Bar was set up as a testing
Since 2019,” reflecting the fact zone with a lit scene, with another
that the annual event had missed setup in the Board Room. The event
a couple of years during the also featured presentations from
Covid-19 pandemic. ASC members Markus Förderer
This year’s presentation and Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who
featured lenses for all formats discussed their creative choices on
from Atlas Lens Co., Angénieux, recent projects.
Arri, Arri Rental, Canon, Cinema The event was sponsored by Du-
House, Cooke, Duclos Lenses, clos Lenses, with support from MBS
Fujinon, Hawk, Leitz, Lensworks, Equipment Co., Keslow Camera,
Panavision, Schneider and Zeiss. Cinelease, Canon and SmallHD.
HMI LED
Each set up trade-show-style — Jay Holben
booth spaces in the Clubhouse.
JOKER ALPHA SLICE

66 / APRIL 2023
HorizHalf 2021.indd 1 1/6/21 9:25 PM

AMERICAN
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Top: Daniel Pearl, ASC; cine multi-cam specialist James Coker; and MANUAL
NEW EDITION! 4
AbelCine director of rental Gabriel Mays offer a presentation at the
ASC Clubhouse during Fujifilm/Fujinon Lens Day. Middle: The 40x
PL-mount HZK25-1000 box zoom.
The revised 11th edition of this

essential technical
reference is now exclusively
available for pre-order
from the American Society of
Cinematographers.
Containing entirely new chap-

ters and substantial
rewrites of entries from the
previous edition, this
hardback book designed for
on-set use is a must-have
for cinematographers and
other motion-imaging
professionals.
Edited by M. David Mullen,

ASC and ASC associate
member Rob Hummel,
contributors to this edition
include Society members
Bill Bennett, Christopher
Chomyn, Richard Crudo,
Richard Edlund, John C.
Hora, Levie Isaacks, Dennis
Muren, James Neihouse,
Sam Nicholson, Steven GET YOUR
Poster, Christopher Probst,
Pete Romano, Roberto COPY NOW!
Schaefer and David Stump.
Topics covered in this new

edition of our
“filmmaker’s bible” include:
• Evaluating digital cameras

Fujifilm/Fujinon Lens Day was held on the CBS holiday special Mariah • Taking ownership of your sensor
at the ASC Clubhouse on Jan. 19, Carey: Merry Christmas to All! with • The color science behind modern
with the optics maker demoing its Gabriel Mays, director of rental at lighting instruments
PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE COURTESY OF FUJIFILM/FUJINON.
latest offerings — including the AbelCine.

• Virtual production/emissive screens
• Digital versions of day-for-night and infrared
Premista zoom line — with the help
cinematography
of professional markets training • Imax/large-format cinematography
manager Michael Bulbenko. The • Specialty lenses
company’s 40x PL-mount HZK25- • Variable frame rates
1000 box zoom lens was an impres- • ASC Color-Decision List (ASC CDL)
• Academy Color Encoding System (ACES)
sive centerpiece. Attending ASC
members included M. David Mullen,
Daniel Pearl, Robert Primes and
Roy Wagner. Also in attendance
Order today — for yourself or as a gift —
was James Mathers from the Digital at store.ascmag.com
Cinema Society. One highlight was
Pearl and cine multi-cam specialist
James Coker discussing their work Pearl and Coker.
APRIL 2023 / 67

New Products and Services
.
Sigma Announces Interchangeable

Lenses for Nikon Z Mount
Sigma Corp. has announced interchangeable lenses for the Nikon
Z Mount system. Three Sigma f/1.4 prime lenses that are currently
Venus Introduces Laowa Proteus available in Sony E-mount, Canon EF-M mount, Fujifilm X Mount,
Micro Four Thirds mount and L-Mount — the 16mm f/1.4 DC DN
Contemporary, the 30mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary, and the
Venus Optics has announced the Laowa Proteus 2x anamorphic-
56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary — will be released in Z Mount.
lens series. Available in 35mm, 45mm, 60mm and 85mm focal
For more information, visit sigmaphoto.com.
lengths with a universal T2 aperture, the Proteus can create
sharp close-ups at 1.8' and features smooth, elliptical bokeh and
signature flares.
For more information, visit venuslens.net.
Chimera
Releases Octa 5
for Vortex8
Chimera has unveiled the
Octa 5 for Creamsource
Vortex8. Offering 5' of
wrapping octagonal light, the
Arri Unveils Impression V Filters
Octa 5 for Vortex8 measures
Arri has launched the Impression V Filter line, designed to give a
66.5"x66.5"x32" and features
vintage feel to the company’s Signature Prime and Zoom lenses.
a 60" front screen. The kit
The eight filters — four negative and four positive diopters
includes Full and Half Chimera
— incrementally shift the focus characteristics of the image,
cloth front screen, support
allowing a range of detuned looks to be created for Super 35 or
poles and an inner baffle.
large format with one set of Signature lenses.
For more information,
Whereas diopters are traditionally positioned in front of a
visit chimeralighting.com.
lens to reduce its close-focus distance, Arri’s Impression V
filters attach to the back of Signature lenses via the built-in rear
magnetic filter adapter, altering the appearance of out-of-focus
image elements (aka bokeh).
For more information, visit arri.com.
68 / APRIL 2023
p. 68-71 New Products V4.indd 68 3/3/23 5:57 AM

Your Super 8 and 16mm
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Sony Launches Airpeak S1 Battery Station
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Nanlite Enhances
Forza II, Pavo Tubes
Nanlite has updated its Forza II spotlights
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APRIL 2023 / 69

NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Quasar Science Launches StarCTRL Wooden Camera Releases Kits for

Quasar Science has launched StarCTRL, a free iOS lighting-
Panasonic DC-GH6
design app for its Double Rainbow and Rainbow 2 RGBX linear
LED fixtures. Available on the Apple App Store, StarCTRL allows Wooden Camera has announced custom kits for the Panasonic DC-
users to adjust the control parameters, presets and lighting GH6. The kits are available in Base and Advanced configurations, with
effects of Rainbow fixtures remotely with an easily configured additional accessories sold separately.
Bluetooth connection. The Panasonic DC-GH6 wraparound cage includes standard
Three tabs within the app control all features. The Control tab features like a removable hot-shoe clamp, focal-plane marking,
allows users to control intensity, color temperature, plus/minus detachable cable clamp bracket and 1/4"-20 and 3/8"-16 mounting
green, hue, saturation and output; the Preset tab contains several points compatible with industry-standard locating pins. Exclusive
pre-configured color settings for quick selection; and the FX tab unique features include an Arca plate that offers both a standard riser
allows users to control built-in lighting effects and parameters to configuration for shooting video and the option to attach the Arca
tune the lights to their requirements. plate directly to the bottom of the cage for photography tripods and
Quasar Science has also released firmware v0.8 for Double monopods.
Rainbow and Rainbow 2 fixtures; it can be downloaded from the For more information, visit woodencamera.com.
company’s website.
For more information, visit quasarscience.com.
Vocas Unveils Solutions for

Ad Index Red V-Raptor XL
Vocas has introduced an accessory line for the Red V-Raptor XL.
AbelCine Tech 15 Filmotechnic USA 47
The Red V-Raptor XL Top Plate offers a wide range of industry-
Absen China 13 Hudson Spider C2-1
standard attachment points, as well as Vocas’ integrated Level Marker.
AC Manual 67 J.L. Fisher Inc. 63
AC Subscription 6 K5600 Inc. 66 The Top Plate Kit includes the Top Plate and the Universal Sliding
Amgreat North America / Maine Media Workshops 12 Top Handle.
Aputure 55 Nanguang / Nanlux / Nanlite 43 The Center Bracket for Universal Sliding Top Handle fits directly
Arri Inc. 5 Power Gems Limited 60 in the dovetail on top of the
ASC First 100 Years 4 Pro8mm 69 Top Plate when the Universal
Band Pro 9 Rip-Tie Inc. 69 Sliding Top Handle isn’t in
Brompton Technology 7 Rosco 37 use. The sliding mechanism
Chapman/Leonard Studio Samy’s DV & Edit 19, 21 in the Top Plate allows the
Equip. 23 Standardvision / SV Studios 61
camera operator to adjust the
Chauvet & Sons LLC / Stereoscopic Technologies
position of the center bracket
Kino Flo 57 GmbH 71
Chimera Lighting 71 The Studio – B&H 53 along the length of the camera.
Cine Gear Expo 41 Tilta Inc. 39 The 15mm Universal Shoulder
Clear-Com LLC, An HME William F. White Base Plate converts the
Company 27 International Inc. 31 V-Raptor XL into a shoulder-
Cooke Optics, Ltd C3 mounted camera.
Creamsource / For more information, visit
Outsight Pty. Ltd. 29 vocas.com.
Creative Solutions 3
Eastman Kodak C4
Elation Lighting 25
Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH 35
70 / APRIL 2023

Inovativ Launches
Deploy
Inovativ has released the Deploy, a mobile
workstation with up to 16U of vertical rack-
mount space. Ideal for both studio and
on-location use, the Deploy has a maximum
payload of 600 pounds and features
Inovativ’s Evo Wheel System on the front and
20" traction wheels in the rear. Integrated
accessory mounts in several places allow the
user to further customize the workstation.
The open frame allows for access from
both front and back for a streamlined
workflow. At 21" wide, the Deploy can easily
maneuver through doorways and tight spaces
without sacrificing storage or quality.
For more information, visit inovativ.com.
AAdynTech Unveils Calibrite Introduces

G5 Series Profiler
AAdynTech has released the G5 series, Calibrite has introduced Profiler, software
comprising updated versions of the Punch that optimizes monitors for a streamlined,
Daylight, Jab Hurricane and Jab Daylight LED accurate digital-editing workflow.
fixtures. Powered by X-Rite’s color-science
The G5 Punch Daylight delivers 9,680 fc technology, Calibrite Profiler offers built-in
at 10' while consuming less than 5 amps of presets for those new to color management,
power. It is self-contained with a universal and customizable features for more
power supply. advanced users. A suite of utilities includes
The G5 Jab Hurricane is an IP65-rated Monitor Uniformity — which allows sampling
fixture that delivers 3,520 fc at 10' while of nine positions on the monitor surface to
consuming 1.77 amps at full power; it can evaluate the uniformity of luminance and
also be operated via 28.8-volt DC battery color across the screen — and Monitor
power. Validation, which uses industry-standard
Weighing 19 pounds, the G5 Jab colors to calculate and return an in-depth
Daylight is ideal for on-the-go lighting report on the quality of a profile created by
assignments. An output of more than 3,730 Profiler.
fc at 10', combined with a maximum current For more information, visit calibrite.com.
draw of 1.77 amps at full brightness, can
yield considerable savings in energy usage.
For more information, visit sturdycorp.
com/led-lighting.
For more of our latest tech reports, visit

ascmag.com/articles/new-products.
APRIL 2023 / 71

Wrap Shot
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ASC ARCHIVE.

The undead attack a band of desperate humans — including stoic hero Ben (Duane Jones)
— who are hiding in a remote farmhouse in the shock classic Night of the Living Dead.
George A. Romero is best known as the director of fright-filled movies — such as Martin,
The Crazies, Creepshow and The Dark Half — though he was also an accomplished cinema-
tographer who had shot dozens of shorts, industrials and commercials through his production
house, The Latent Image, based in his adopted hometown of Pittsburg, Pa. When it came time
to direct his first independent feature, Night of the Living Dead (filmed under the title Night of
the Flesh Eaters), Romero stepped behind the camera as well, though he declined to take a
screen credit for his cinematography.
A massive box-office hit that became one of the most profitable films of all time, Night of
the Living Dead has since been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the
National Film Registry, as a film deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Romero also served as cinematographer on his subsequent features There’s Always Vanilla
and Season of the Witch (aka Jack’s Wife).
— David E. Williams
72 / APRIL 2023
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Cover 3_IBC.indd 3 3/3/23 2:31 AM
16mm.
100 Years and Counting.
Eastman Kodak Company proudly celebrates the centennial of 16mm film.
Introduced in 1923, the incomparable, inherent, and distinct texture of 16mm
is still as relevant today.
Shoot film.
Learn more at Kodak.com/go/motion
© Kodak, 2023. Kodak and the Kodak logo are trademarks of Kodak.
Cover 4_OBC.indd 4 3/3/23 2:32 AM

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April 2023 The International Publication of the American Society of Cinematographers

Cover 1_OFC.indd 1 3/3/23 2:25 AM

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32 More Than a Feeling: Daisy Jones & The Six

50 Sam Nicholson, ASC: Uncharted Territory

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WEB DIRECTOR and PUBLISHER

CREATIVE DIRECTION and DESIGN

p. 4-7 Masthead and ASC Board V4.indd 4 3/3/23 2:15 AM 2022

ARRI SIGNATURE LENSES. TRULY CINEMATIC.

The ASC is not a labor union or a guild,

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Image credit -MARCH

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PORTRAIT BY MICHAEL M. PESSAH, ASC.

IMAGE BY OPENAI’S DALL-E 2.

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Electrical Distribution on Set

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A 100-amp “lunchbox,” which connects to 100-amp Bates

MEDIA Steven Fierberg, ASC

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three spud terminals: hot, neutral

JOIN US AT (NAB SHOW)

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From top: A 220-volt snakebite; 100-amp-to-100-amp

cables, but if they’re all connected this powerful force of nature.

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warring factions of survivors pose equal threats

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Previous spread: Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Tess (Anna Torv),

TOP PHOTO BY SHANE HARVEY. BOTTOM PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.

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RIGHT PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.

The show’s cinematographers also found much inspiration in Mazin

Sereda came to The Last of Us from character-driven Russian features

S4/i prime lenses for much of her Last of Us work, in a configuration MY

is possible off the camera — batteries and antennas — and everything

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lands behind them in a massive fireball.

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Brothers Sam (Keivonn Woodard) and Henry (Lamar Johnson)

PHOTOS BY LIANE HENTSCHER.

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and Rocky Mountain Film Studios. “There was a huge commitment to

The choice is yours!

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PHOTO BY LIANE HENTSCHER.

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For Geoffrey Haley, Comms

“The Clear-Com wireless headset system is an absolute necessity to

NAB Booth #C5507

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