November 2013: $5.95 Canada $6.95

N O V E M B E R 2 013
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The smallest camera makes the biggest images.
This still frame was pulled from 5k RED EPIC motion footage from Elysium 2013 CTMG. All rights reserved.
www.red.com
2012 Red.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Red One was like getting our hands on the future for
District
9. The Epic is a fantastic evolutionary leap forward. Its
compact form, image quality and resolution were a perfect
t for both the grittiness of future Los Angeles and the
pristine offworld landscapes of Elysium.
Trent Opaloch
MARY CORLISS
A N N H O R N A D AY
ROBERT REDFORD
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The International Journal of Motion Imaging
On Our Cover: An accident during a space mission strands NASA scientist Ryan Stone
(Sandra Bullock) in Gravity, shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC.
(Frame grab courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.)
FEATURES
36
50
64
78
92
Facing the Void

Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC launches
groundbreaking strategies on Gravity
Taking on Water
Frank DeMarco and Peter Zuccarini imperil
lone sailor on All Is Lost
Seized at Sea
Barry Ackroyd, BSC films harrowing hostage drama
Captain Phillips
64
Hard-Rock Apocalypse
Gyula Pados, HSC coordinates headbangers ball for
Metallica Through the Never
Television Triumphs
AC applauds this years Emmy-nominated cinematographers
78
DEPARTMENTS
12
14
16
22
96
100
106
107
108
110
112
50
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Short Takes: London Grammars Strong
Production Slate: The Fifth Estate
Filmmakers Forum: John Bailey, ASC
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Seamus McGarvey
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM
SEE AND HEAR MORE CINEMATOGRAPHY COVERAGE AT WWW.THEASC.COM
The eponymous, spacefaring

antihero (Vin Diesel, left) steels
himself for a fight in Riddick, shot
by David Eggby, ACS (right).
In an exclusive podcast, David Eggby, ACS discusses the strategies he employed on the sci-fi thriller Riddick, a sequel to
Pitch Black (2000), which Eggby also shot. This time around, escaped convict Riddick (Vin Diesel) must survive a race of
alien predators after being left for dead on a sun-blasted planet.
THIS MONTHS ONLINE QUESTION: What are the best books youve read on the topic of cinematography?
Alex R. Hall: Film Lighting by Kris

Malkiewicz. The interviews with some of the
industrys best cinematographers and gaffers
are an invaluable resource. Its the book I
always go to for lighting advice.
Juan Namnun: La luz en el cine (Le lumiere

au cinema) by Fabrice Revault DAllon. Himself a master storyteller, he puts the reader
on a journey of discovery from Billy Bitzer to
the New Wave inheritors.
Edward Ybarbo: Blain Browns Cinematog- Ignacio Aguilar: Masters of Light is a great
raphy: Theory and Practice keeps me sharp. classic. I still like to watch the pictures mentioned in the book and then reread what the
Matthew A. MacDonald: Writing with
cinematographers said about [that] particular
Light, Volume One: The Light by Vittorio
film. Also, Principal Photography by Vincent
Storaro, ASC, AIC.
LoBrutto.
Juan Sebastian Vasquez: Without a
doubt, Set Lighting Technicians Handbook
by Harry C. Box.
Jules A. Bowie: Shoot! by Luigi Pirandello

offers a deep and philosophical treatment of
cinematography that other practical books
cant touch. It is an art, after all.
Filip Stankovic: Painting with Light by

John Alton, ASC. A great book which teaches you the fundamentals [of] cinematography
and allows you to take a step back and learn
how the groundwork was set for cinematographers today by masters like Alton.
Paulo Martins: The American Cinematographer Manual.
Chris Carr: Painting with Light by John
Alton, ASC, and Magic Hour by Jack Cardiff,
BSC.
Von Lucke Philipp: Walter Murchs In the
Blink of an Eye. It taught me so many things
about using photography to tell a story, and
also why one makes films.
Ian Campbell: A Man with a Camera by
Nstor Almendros, ASC.
John Brune: Every Frame a Rembrandt by
Andrew Laszlo, ASC.
David Gregan: Reflections: 21 Cinematographers at Work is hands-down the finest
book on cinematography I have read. Indepth interviews with great American and
European directors of photography, and it
has lighting diagrams!
To read more replies, visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AmericanCinematographer
Eggby photo by Jan Thijs. Photo and frame grab courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Ruairi OBrien: Masters of Light by Schaefer and Salvato. I would kill for an updated
version with some newer cameramen, but
the interviews are long enough and thoughtBrannigan Carter: The Master Shots series, ful enough to [still] be of real value.
while geared toward newer filmmakers, is an
excellent tips and tricks type of book that
Tobias Dodt: Image Control by Gerald
Hirschfeld, ASC, and Reflections by Benjamin
gives budding cinematographers a little
Bergery. Both are absolutely brilliant!
insight into how to get big Hollywood-style
shots on an independent budget and not
Mic Pistol: The Five Cs of Cinematography
only get the shot, but make it work for the
by Joseph V. Mascelli. An oldie but goodie.
style of the film.
Bryan Land: The Light on Her Face by
Joseph Walker, ASC. What a history. A brilliant guy.
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EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
PHOTO EDITOR Julie Sickel
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,
John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray,
David Heuring, Jay Holben, Noah Kadner,
Jean Oppenheimer, Iain Stasukevich,
Patricia Thomson
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CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

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ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost
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ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Nelson Sandoval
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 93rd year of publication, is published
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DIE IN NEW ORLEANS - A music video

Artist: Richard Julian
Director/Cinematographer: Rick Kaplan
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2013 Canon U.S.A., Inc. All rights reserved. Canon and EOS are registered trademarks of Canon Inc. in the United States and may also be registered trademarks or trademarks in other countries.
American Society of Cinematographers

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

Vice President
Lowell Peterson
Vice President
Victor J. Kemper
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Dean Cundey
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
Fred Elmes
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Michael OShea
Lowell Peterson
Owen Roizman
Rodney Taylor
Haskell Wexler
ALTERNATES
Isidore Mankofsky
Kenneth Zunder
Steven Fierberg
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Sol Negrin
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
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As motion-imaging technology moves forward, the cinematographers role is changing in both clear and subtle ways,
and our coverage of Alfonso Cuarns sci-fi drama Gravity
details how the shoots high-tech requirements impacted the
work of Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC. In an overview of this
groundbreaking production (Facing the Void, page 36),
European correspondent Benjamin B notes, Gravity provides
a new paradigm for the expanding role of the cinematographer on films with significant virtual components. In addition
to conceiving virtual camera moves with Cuarn, [Lubezki]
created virtual lighting with digital technicians, lit and shot live
action that matched the CG footage, fine-tuned the final
rendered image, supervised the pictures conversion from 2-D
to 3-D, and finalized the look of 2-D, 3-D and Imax versions. Lubezki reflects, In the process,
I had to learn to use some new tools that are part of what cinematography is becoming. I found
it very exciting. Our coverage of the shows unique workflow includes a detailed sidebar that
underscores the significance of these evolving responsibilities, and the cinematographers
importance in seeing them through to completion.
Shooting on water is notoriously tricky, but two of this months movies managed the
feat exceptionally well. On J.C. Chandors All Is Lost, cinematographer Frank DeMarco and
underwater cinematographer Peter Zuccarini created memorable images above and below the
surface, enhancing the nearly dialogue-free story of a lone sailor (Robert Redford) struggling to
survive on the open ocean. It was very interesting to work on a script that was only 32 pages
long, DeMarco tells AC scribe Jay Holben (Taking on Water, page 50). The trick for me was
to figure out what emotion or story point we should find in each scene.
Barry Ackroyd, BSC and director Paul Greengrass faced a related set of complexities on
Captain Phillips, which dramatizes the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. cargo ship MV Maersk
Alabama by Somali pirates. As Patricia Thomson points out in her article (Seized at Sea, page
64), only 10 of the shoots 60 production days took place on dry land, requiring the filmmakers to spend most of their time working on the high seas or in a Malta water tank. You can
imagine how difficult this was for Barry and his crew, Greengrass says. Theres motion
through every single plane: up and down, side to side and everything in between. Youre at the
mercy of the weather and trying to create stability where there is none.
Bigger and louder were the primary mandates on Metallica Through the Never, an
eye-popping, ear-blasting concert movie that represented a new big-screen challenge for director Nimrd Antal and cinematographer Gyula Pados, HSC. The concert film cranked up to
11, is how New York correspondent Iain Stasukevich describes this ambitious 3-D production
(Heavy-Metal Apocalypse, page 78), which combines intensely kinetic performance footage
of Metallica shot on one of the largest and most versatile stages ever constructed with
phantasmagorical narrative passages. Antal, Pados and several key collaborators break down
their approach to the lighting and staging of the onscreen mayhem.
Rounding out our features is a tribute to this years Emmy-nominated cinematographers
(Television Triumphs, page 92), who further enhanced the pleasures of home viewing with
their stylish work.
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
12
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Photo by Douglas Kirkland.
By the time you read this, we will be well around the home stretch and sprinting for the finish
line of the year 2013. The requisite clich applies: Im sure it has flown by as quickly for you
as it has for me. But where there once rested a sense that time moved with the speed of a
kitchen renovation, there now exists for many of us something of a dull ache, constantly
reminding us that everything about our lives has sped up to a ridiculous degree. I used to think
this was just another cost of getting older, but to prove how out of control things are, even
the young people I know are aware of it. When I was a kid, I recall my father making what
seemed like a spacy reference: Once you hit the Fourth of July, the next stop is Christmas.
Back then, I thought he was crazy. Now I see him as a visionary.
Some of the contributors to this accelerated condition and could there be
anything more mundane? are the shelf displays at my local supermarket. Its an undistinguished link in a nationwide chain, but management anticipates the next selling season as
early as possible. Easter decorations abound in February ... summer gear appears in March ...
Thanksgiving displays blindside shoppers in September. While standing at the checkout this
past July, I noticed the Halloween DVD display set up next to the gossip rags. And, wouldnt
you know it, I came upon a gem.
Ill make a statement that some of you will instantly dismiss, but that I will defend to
the finish: Night of the Living Dead (1968), directed and photographed by George Romero, is
far and away the scariest, most unsettling film ever made. (Those are the original reasons why we went to the movies in the first
place, arent they?) And, without question, it is also the worst-looking film of all time.
This might seem a bit out of line coming from a cinematographer, as I count myself among those who are unfailingly deferential to other cinematographers. But only a fellow practitioner will recognize that sentiment for the wonderful compliment it
implies.
For the past decade or so, it seems everything in our industry has been hijacked by a mentality concerned only with new
technology and its effect on what we do. Most cameras, workflows and post processes have been shaped, without our consent, to
create a flawless product, one infinitely reproducible in a form as absent of human handprints as human beings can imagine. Night
of the Living Dead exists at the opposite end of that spectrum. Its raw in a way that only 16mm black-and-white film of its era could
be, filled with crude camerawork and harsh lighting thats often mismatched and inconsistent. Then there are the compositions that
reach for something arty but only come across as weird and self-conscious. Continuity mistakes abound, and the rules of screen
direction are dutifully ignored. In a word, its amateurish (in what I hope was an intentional way).
That is precisely why it remains so compelling 45 years after its release. I first saw it at a midnight screening in the 1970s;
at the time, I thought of it as just another notch on the lens barrel cheap, gory and on to the next. Watching it again recently, I
thought it was a masterpiece. Everything that was technically wrong was exactly what made it so chilling and disturbing. None of
us can imagine anyone but Gordon Willis, ASC creating the look of The Godfather. The same must be said for Romero and Night
of the Living Dead. His achievement in serving the story photographically is on par with virtually any movie you can name.
And isnt that really the crux of what we try to do? Too often, were fooled into equating surface perfection with inner value.
We would do well to keep the lesson of Night of the Living Dead in mind, especially as awards season will be upon us shortly.
How shortly? Its early September as I write this, and magazines are already touting their Oscar issues.
Hang on tight. Itll be summer again before we know it.
Richard P. Crudo
ASC President
14
November 2013
American Cinematographer
Short Takes
Fatherly Fireworks
By Peter Tonguette
A handheld camera, shakily positioned low to the ground,

captures a rickety white car driving toward a seemingly abandoned
industrial area. Late-afternoon sun flares the lens and backlights the
dust turned up by the cars tires. In successive shots, a 30-something
man with a three-day beard and a ratty T-shirt gets out and peers into
the backseat, where his young daughter is fast asleep. He throws
open the trunk, pulls out several bags and empties the contents on
a blanket laid out hastily on the arid ground. The action is swift and
the images seem to ask as many questions as they answer.
The music of British band London Grammar provides some
clues to the curious viewer, but ultimately it is the work of cinematographer Autumn Durald and director Sam Brown that tells the
tale in the music video for the song Strong. The man has come to
this vacant area surrounded by tall barbed-wire fences and rows
of squatty buildings to don an armor-like fireworks suit that
looks like something out of RoboCop, and light up the night sky with
a dance of pyrotechnics for his daughter.
This is a music video, Durald comments, but its also like a
short film. You want to know what their life is before they get there,
and what happens after. This speculative feeling is supported by the
inquisitive, handheld camerawork. Sam wanted the camera to have
that energy, the cinematographer notes.
16
November 2013
From the start, Durald who studied art history at Loyola

Marymount University before receiving her MFA in cinematography
from the American Film Institute in 2009 found herself on the
same page as Brown. The director had prepared very specific storyboards, and he wanted to fill the video with small details, such as the
moment when the daughter clutches her fathers shirt as he carries
her beneath a viaduct to the site where the fireworks show will take
place. The boards were brilliant, Durald enthuses. Sam has an
amazing sense of visual style, and those shots tell the story so well.
The filmmakers decided to shoot with two cameras, a Red
Epic and a Vision Research Phantom Flex. The Epic was the main
camera throughout the three-day production, which was primarily
shot on and around Los Angeles Fourth Street Bridge, and for the
climactic fireworks display, it was operated between 96-120 fps
while the Phantom Flex captured images from 560-1,000 fps.
Based in part on her admiration for Browns previous work,
Durald suggested they shoot Strong with anamorphic lenses.
Sam did a BMW spot that Im just in love with, and it was shot
anamorphic, the cinematographer explains. He was obviously
familiar with the format, and when I mentioned it to him, he was
already thinking the same thing.
Durald turned to Panavision Hollywood for the productions
optics, which included de-tuned C Series and Ultra Speed Golden
Panatar lenses. Both types of lenses, Durald notes, are lower contrast and have more falloff from top to bottom and side to side.
Photos by Drew Dawson. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of the filmmakers.
Cinematographer Autumn Durald captured this climactic fireworks display for London Grammars music video for Strong.
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Top: A young girl (Savannah Young) sleeps in the back seat of her fathers car in this frame grab from
the video. Middle: The father (Nash Edgerton) carries his daughter to a vacant area, firework supplies in
tow. Bottom: London Grammar lead singer Hannah Reid crosses a bridge at dusk.
I love Panavision anamorphic

glass, she continues. Theres an
emotional quality to the lenses, and they
can really help when shooting day exteriors;
the lenses smooth out harsh sunlight and
give it a kind of creamy quality. Because of
the inherent characteristics of the lenses, no
additional filtration was required, although
18
November 2013
Durald notes, I used a horizontal, softedged grad just to take down the sky for
two wide shots.
The video incorporates three distinct
times of day, each of which required a
different approach: late afternoon, when
the father and daughter arrive and prepare
for the evenings festivities; dusk, when
non-narrative shots of London Grammars

lead singer, Hannah Reid, were shot along
the bridge; and night, when the man suits
up in the L.A. River basin and fireworks fly
off his body. For smaller setups within the
first time period, the crew took pains to
maintain the late-afternoon feel over the
course of an all-day shoot. Accordingly,
Durald says, they diffused the harsh
sunlight with a 12-by Half Soft Frost overhead and backlit the scene with two M40
HMIs through Straw.
For the close-ups of Reid who
seems to be clandestinely trailing the
videos protagonists Brown and Durald
were initially hoping for a bright, intense
sunset, but an overcast day turned out to
be a blessing in disguise, as the cinematographer explains: We ended up with a
beautiful, soft pink and purple sunset,
which looked amazing on the lead singer.
Shot in shallow focus, Reids light blond hair
is complemented by out-of-focus splotches
of pastel colors that frame her from the
background.
The video reaches its climax when
darkness falls and the man, having put on
his armored suit, reveals himself as a living,
breathing fireworks display. (For the fireworks sequences, lead actor Nash Edgerton
was replaced onscreen by Wally Glenn,
a.k.a. Pyro Boy, the inventor of the fireworks suit.) It was so unique to be shooting down there [in the basin] with approval
to have someone wearing a fireworks
suit, says Durald.
The cinematographer adds that she
Top: Under the

Fourth Street
Bridge,
crewmembers
prepare for the
scene in which
the daughter
lights the fuse to
her fathers
fireworks suit.
Bottom: Durald
readies a Red
Epic for the
fireworks scene.
sought to underscore the event by adding

a unique touch to the fireworks
sequence. Inspired in part by the recipe
that Panavision optical engineer Dan Sasaki
implemented for Greig Fraser, ACS on
Killing Them Softly (AC Oct. 12), Durald
asked Rik DeLisle and Guy McVicker at
Panavision Hollywood to provide a modified
HS50 lens. The cinematographer explains,
Using part of Dans recipe, Guy gave the
lens an intentional anamorphic twist,
misaligning the elements and giving it
higher-order spherical aberrations, which
affect the out-of-focus bokeh and cause the
highlights to bleed. In the resultant images
from the music video, the fireworks
emanating from Glenn pop in stunning
fashion, with each burst creating its own
20
November 2013
unique flare.
Durald operated the Epic during the
shoot, and she captured spontaneous
moments in Glenns performance, which he
performed a total of seven times over two
nights. Theres about a 30 to 45 minute
reset in between [Glenns performances],
because he has to remove everything,
hydrate and take a break, she says. The
Phantom Flex, operated by Jeff Bierman,
was fitted with a modified Cooke 10:1 rearanamorphic zoom lens to get close-up
detail from a safe distance, where the
camera was kept on a dolly. Sam really
wanted those little bursts and beautiful little
moments within the big explosion, says
Durald.
Particular attention had to be paid to
exposure during Glenns performance. We

didnt want to expose the hottest point of
the blast at key and then allow the smaller,
surrounding explosions to get lost in darkness, the cinematographer explains. I
chose to balance the two exposures, letting
the hottest points overexpose by around 5
stops, and allowing the surrounding pops
to be exposed closer to key to maintain
detail and color. The smaller blasts were so
poetic, and Sam wanted to make sure we
were getting all of that texture.
Color correction was done at The
Mill in London with colorist Seamus
OKane, who worked with transcoded 2K
files on a Pandora Revolution using YoYo
Data I/O, for final HD delivery in Rec 709.
Live grading was also available on location
in a DIT tent, where a feed from the camera
was viewable on a 17" OLED monitor. I
worked with my DITs, Mike and Tom
Kowalczyk, over the headset so I could dial
in the look without leaving the set, Durald
says. At the end of the day, we tweaked
the LUT we established on set for our
dailies, which we output through [Blackmagic Designs DaVinci] Resolve.
Durald proudly notes that Strong
represented the first time Glenns performance had been captured professionally,
rather than with an iPhone or similar device.
We were doing it with expensive cameras
and lenses, so Wally was obviously really
happy. And so was Durald. The modified
HS50 lens was hand delivered in the nick of
time, just before it was needed on location,
and since Strong, the cinematographer
says, its gone out on three other jobs, and
its out right now. People are really interested in using it. She tips her hat to DeLisle
and McVicker for their enthusiasm in helping to lend the videos finale such a striking
look, commenting, Rik and Guy are great
to work with, especially on a project like
this, where Ive got a unique vision of what
I want to create. Its always an inspiring
project when you can tailor the optics to
make your ideas come to life.
Production Slate
Internet Whistleblowers
By Mark Dillon
The Fifth Estate chronicles the rise of WikiLeaks, the website

that has leaked millions of anonymously sourced documents and
gained notoriety as one of the worlds most polarizing organizations.
The feature dramatizes the first meeting in Berlin between WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Daniel
Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brhl), who becomes the sites spokesman.
They and their colleagues proceed to post revelations about banks,
churches and, most notably, U.S. government war logs from the
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Written by Josh Singer from Domscheit-Bergs Inside
WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the Worlds Most Dangerous Website and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assanges War on Secrecy
by The Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding, the movie
opened the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
The project reunited director of photography Tobias
Schliessler, ASC, and director Bill Condon, who had previously collaborated on the Academy Award-winning musical Dreamgirls (AC Dec.
06) and the 2010 pilot for the HBO drama The Big C. Schliessler
knew that their latest feature called for a different approach. On
Dreamgirls we spent a lot of time storyboarding; it was a much more
controlled and stylized movie, he says. The Fifth Estate is a depar22
November 2013
ture because its a true story thats still happening right now. It had
to feel realistic.
The 53-year-old Schliessler was born in Baden-Baden,
Germany, and schooled at Vancouvers Simon Fraser University. His
cinematography career began in Canada on documentaries and
low-budget features. Condon says he wanted Schliessler to shoot
The Fifth Estate because of the cinematographers experience with
unconventional features such as Friday Night Lights, which shunned
the traditional approaches of coverage: masters, two-shots and
close-ups. We blocked The Fifth Estate naturally to create the sense
of you-are-there reality in this look at events that are just a few
years old, with well-known characters, says Condon. Tobias lit for
all possibilities, and [then we let] up to three operators roam through
a scene sometimes through each others shots to tell the
movie in a kinetic way.
Another whistleblower film provided inspiration: The Insider,
directed by Michael Mann and shot by Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC
(AC, June '00). We said, Thats it thats our bible, says
Schliessler, who adds, Not necessarily lightingwise, but [in terms of]
the feel of it. The movie has a stylized sense even though it always
feels real.
Also useful were YouTube clips of the films subjects, including footage of Assange on TV, at conferences and even dancing
beneath strobe lights at Reykjavks Glaumbar nightclub. The film-
Photos by Frank Connor, courtesy of Walt Disney Studios and DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC.
Text dances
across the face
of WikiLeaks
founder Julian
Assange
(Benedict
Cumberbatch)
as he taps out a
private message
in The Fifth
Estate.
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makers went to great lengths to re-create

this footage, even shooting at the same
club. We tried to duplicate everything as
closely as possible, right down to the
camera angles, so viewers could later search
those things out [on the Internet] if they
were interested, Condon says. That is the
fun, interactive nature of the movie.
Preproduction began with a couple
weeks of work before and after Christmas
2012. The crew then embarked on a 50-day
shoot, from mid-January 2013 to the end of
March, spanning 70 locations mostly in
Belgium, but also in Berlin, Iceland and
Nairobi.
Schliessler says he and Belgian gaffer
Wim Temmerman could visit certain locations only once before shooting. I shared
my thoughts with Wim in rough terms, the
cinematographer recalls. Then, on the day
of the shoot, I would wonder, Is everything
here that I asked for five weeks ago? But
everything was always there! We had a
hard-working Belgian crew that made my
life easy.
One of the most involved locations
was Berlins century-old Kunsthaus Tacheles,
an abandoned building that had served as
an arts center for several decades. In the
movie, the structure stands in for the Berlin
branch of the Chaos Computer Club.
Assange goes there with Domscheit-Berg,
who holds a membership along with other
computer experts, visual artists and electronic musicians. Schliessler and Temmerman referenced YouTube videos and
pictures that displayed the colorful, moving
lights and strobes that illuminated the building in its rave-era heyday. It was completely
shut down, Schliessler recalls. There
werent any practicals or light sockets that
worked, so we had to start from scratch.
The art department [headed by Denis
Schnegg] supplied us with hundreds of
practicals, and we hid Chinese lanterns or
small LED panels wherever possible. To
create the interactive lighting, we used flickering Par cans, [Martin] Atomic strobes and
MAC 2000 moving heads, and RGB LED
washes.
Temmerman also had a custom
portable lantern made with tungsten and
daylight LEDs; this unit served as a fill light
on tracking shots in the hallways and staircases. More than 300 fixtures were used to
Top: Assange and his

WikiLeaks recruit,
Daniel DomscheitBerg (Daniel Brhl),
discuss the sites
potential in the Berlin
branch of the
Computer Chaos
Club, a set built in
Berlins Kunsthaus
Tacheles. Middle:
Crewmembers
capture the
characters as they
exchange messages
on their laptops.
Bottom: DomscheitBerg departs the
vibrantly lit building.
24
November 2013
Top left: Assange and Domscheit-Berg confer

in a parking lot. Bottom and top right: The
crew works on the sequence.
revive the location so that every floor of the

building would look occupied in exterior
wide shots.
Scenes involving Assange and
Domscheit-Berg are considerably more
colorful than those involving fictitious U.S.
government officials Sarah Shaw (Laura
Linney) and James Boswell (Stanley Tucci),
who trace WikiLeaks actions, or sequences
set in Switzerlands Julius Baer bank, the
target of a WikiLeaks release. Condon
notes, We were excited by the contrast
between the monochromatic, glass-andsteel environments of the powerful institutions WikiLeaks was taking on and the
28
November 2013
world in which [our protagonists] live, which

is filled with vibrant, saturated colors. Tobias
played with [that contrast] throughout his
lighting, [making] very bold use of primary
colors.
The Fifth Estate transpires largely at
computer stations, on computer screens
and in cyberspace, and to convey these
environments in a compelling way, the
filmmakers sometimes had to step beyond
realism. For a sequence in which Assange
illustrates to Domscheit-Berg how
wikileaks.orgs submission platform works
accepting a document while keeping the
source hidden Condon and production
designer Mark Tildesley devised an imaginary office on a beach beneath open skies.
The notion was Julians idealized vision of
what journalism could be, says Condon.
Its The Front Page and All the Presidents
Men these great big working areas.
To imbue the desired surrealism, the
team also looked at 2001: A Space Odyssey
specifically David Bowmans death
chamber, which is furnished in a realistic,
Baroque style but with an oddly futuristic,
glowing paneled floor. For the WikiLeaks
floor, Tildesley suggested sand to tie into a
flashback of Assange on the beach, where
he spent much of his childhood. Condon
comments, It felt important to distinguish
ourselves from documentaries about
Assange. This is a more immersive, subjective, dramatic portrayal, so the stylization of
the submission platform early on sends a
signal that this is an interpretation of
events, and not a docudrama.
The scene begins with Assange and
Domscheit-Berg talking at their laptops in
the Computer Club. As the action segues
to the fantasy office, the words they type
are video-projected onto their faces and in
space, and the viewer is taken on a trip
through cyberspace. Schliessler explains,
Top left: Domscheit-Berg pursues a lead

provided by anonymous whistleblowers.
Bottom left: Crewmembers capture Brhl on
the move. Top right: Cinematographer Tobias
Schliessler, ASC surveys an office setting.
We shot through a 50/50 mirror that

reflected the text from the computer screen
and gave the feeling of being inside the
computer looking back through the screen.
Additionally, we also projected the same
content on our actors faces and their
surroundings using two video projectors
simultaneously, one focused on their faces
and one for the background set. In the
scene, the text is eventually supplanted by
CGI [provided by Prologue] that shows how
the submitted information is hidden by
layers of fake data, keeping the identity of
sources safe.
The sequence then lands back in the
30
November 2013
beach office, which was shot on a Brussels

soundstage. Cumberbatch and the steel
desks, lit by overhead practical fluorescents,
were shot in front of a greenscreen, and the
sky was added by New Yorks Phosphene,
which also provided set extensions. The
scene was additionally lit with more than
200 of Temmermans custom-made flat
fluorescent Easyliter fixtures, which were
rigged in 36 12'x12' soft boxes with Light
Grid Cloth, creating the feeling of a soft
night sky. The sequence is revisited throughout the film with an increasingly darker sky
that mirrors the films dramatic arc.
Temmermans Easyliters were used in
nearly every scene. We used them on

stands as our key light or bounced them
into foam core as fill light, Schliessler
explains. We hung them off booms for
backlight or toplight in small locations
where it was not possible to rig off the ceilings. Wim made them in various sizes
from singles to eight banks, from 6 inches
to 4 feet. The best part was the stepless
dimming system. I could control the remote
dimmer from my DIT tent off the lighting
console or even off an iPad.
The picture was shot in the 2.40:1
aspect ratio, and the main-unit camera
package included two Arri Alexa Studios as
the shows A and B cameras, and an Arri
Alexa Plus as the C camera. DIT Sean
Leonard explains that for the Studio
cameras, the crew shot in ArriRaw to Codex
S Plus Recorders with 512GB data packs,
while for the Alexa Plus they used the M
Recorder. They also recorded ProRes 4:4:4:4
to SxS cards for backup.
Although Schliessler had shot only
one other digital feature the forthcoming war drama Lone Survivor he had
worked with the Alexa on commercials. It
just felt like the right camera for this movie
in terms of contrast and what it does in the
highlights, he says. I look at digital
Top: U.S. government officials Sarah Shaw (Laura Linney) and James Boswell (Stanley Tucci)
attempt to contain the damage after U.S. Army soldier Bradley Manning provides WikiLeaks
with the largest collection of restricted documents ever leaked to the public.
Bottom: Schliessler sheds some light on a setup.
cameras like another film stock. They can

look like film. Its a combination of camera
movement and how you light. Im quite
comfortable with the look of the Alexa.
Schliessler estimates that 80 percent
of the film was shot handheld, with some
use of Steadicam and a couple of shots
accomplished with Technocranes. Jacques
Jouffret operated the productions A
camera and Steadicam, with Didier Frateur
as his first assistant. The B-camera operator
was Des Whelan and his first assistant was
Franz Xaver-Kringer. Dino Parks served as
second-unit director of photography.
The filmmakers were reframing
32
November 2013
constantly within shots and found a workhorse lens in the lightweight Fujinon
Premier 19-90mm Cabrio. For longer-lens
requirements, they used the Fujinon Premier
75-400mm zoom, which they would place
on a sandbag. The kit also included Angenieux Optimo 15-40mm T2.6, 45-120mm
T2.8 and 24-290mm T2.8 zooms. Additionally, Schliessler carried a set of Arri Master
Primes (ranging from 16mm to 150mm) for
low-light shooting. Given the preponderance of practicals, the crew usually shot in
the T2.8-T4 range, and around T5.6 in exteriors to maintain shallower depth of focus.
Schneider Classic Soft filters provided
camera diffusion.
The films fast-moving, free-floating
camera suggests both the speed of the digital world and the paranoia the WikiLeaks
operators feel with their many enemies just
a step behind. Schliessler tips his hat here to
Jouffret: He is able to find the moments in
swish pans and handheld movements that
tell the story. He just knows how to hit
dialogue. Bill and Jacques would discuss
where these moments are and where he
would land at certain times. Meanwhile, I
was usually lighting for 270 degrees, so we
could move around and find moments you
would normally not be able to shoot
because youd be limited by lighting.
For onset look and color management, Leonard used Pomforts LiveGrade.
It provides a very efficient way to monitor
and grade live, he says. Tobias
would create a look, which I would
then send as 3-D LUTs with rushes,
along with any alterations that were
made. Budapests Colorfront handled
dailies for the European shoot, while New
Yorks Company 3 worked on the Kenyan
dailies.
The movie was edited by Virginia
Katz on an Avid system at Post Factory NY.
The digital files were assembled and
conformed in Autodesk Smoke at
Company 3 in New York. Schliesslers
frequent collaborator, ASC associate and
colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3,
did the final grade on a DaVinci Resolve
system, with Schliessler present throughout
the process.
In his long list of credits which
also includes Hancock (AC July 08), Battleship and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (AC
July 09) Schliessler holds a special regard
for The Fifth Estate. Its a thought-provoking subject, he says. I was very happy to
do a movie that has a realistic feel. I also was
very excited to work with Bill again. Giving
this movie its scope while keeping the
energy up was a great challenge.
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Facing the
Void
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC and
his collaborators detail their work on
Gravity, a technically ambitious
drama set in outer space.
By Benjamin B
|
ravity begins with a memorable 13-minute continuous

take: a breathtaking view of Earth from space that
slowly reveals a sunlit space station with three people in
spacesuits floating peacefully around it. Suddenly, a mass
of fast-moving debris from an exploded satellite pummels the
station, killing one person and leaving the other two, astronaut
Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and medical engineer Ryan
Stone (Sandra Bullock), marooned in space. The rest of the
movie follows their struggle to survive with a dwindling
supply of oxygen as they try to make their way to the nearest
space station.
36
November 2013
The 3-D feature is enhanced by long takes and fluid

camerawork that immerse the viewer in the beautiful but
dangerous environment of space with a groundbreaking level
of realism and detail. It is the fruit of a five-year collaboration
involving director Alfonso Cuarn; cinematographer
Emmanuel Chivo Lubezki, ASC, AMC; visual-effects
supervisor Tim Webber, and their talented teams. Longtime
friends Cuarn and Lubezki have worked together on six
features to date, including Y Tu Mam Tambin and Children
of Men (AC Dec. 06). Webber supervised visual effects on the
latter.
The technical and aesthetic accomplishments of
Gravity become all the more impressive when Lubezki reveals
that the only real elements in the space exteriors are the actors
faces behind the glass of their helmets. Everything else in the
exterior scenes the spacesuits, the space station, the Earth
is CGI. Similarly, for a scene in which a suit-less Stone
appears to float through a spaceship in zero gravity, Bullock
was suspended from wires onstage, and her surroundings were
created digitally. (Most of the footage in the space capsules
was shot with the actors in a practical set.)
In many ways, Gravity provides a new paradigm for the
Photos by Murray Close, Nick Wall, Murdo Macleod and Julio Hardy. Photos and
frame grabs courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Framestore.
expanding role of the cinematographer

on films with significant virtual components. By all accounts, Lubezki was
deeply involved in every stage of crafting
the real and computer-generated
images. In addition to conceiving virtual
camera moves with Cuarn, he created
virtual lighting with digital technicians,
lit and shot live action that matched the
CG footage, fine-tuned the final
rendered image, supervised the pictures
conversion from 2-D to 3-D, and finalized the look of the 2-D, 3-D and Imax
versions. I was doing my work as a
cinematographer on Gravity, says
Lubezki. In the process, I had to learn
to use some new tools that are part of
what cinematography is becoming. I
found it very exciting.
Lubezki says Cuarn initially told
him that zero gravity would afford them
great freedom in terms of camera moves
and lighting. He recalls, Alfonso said,
Youre going to love this movie because
you can do anything you want. But that
turned out to be untrue once we decided
we wanted the film to be as realistic as
possible. The cinematographer notes
that in addition to naturalism, the filmmakers goals included respecting the
physics of space, and involving the
viewer with long takes and the elasticity
of the shot. He explains, We wanted to
keep a lot of our shots elastic for
example, to have a shot start very wide,
Opposite page: NASA scientist Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) gazes longingly at Earth during her ordeal in
space. This page, top and middle: Stone and a veteran astronaut, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney),
make repairs to the International Space Station. Bottom: Director Alfonso Cuarn (left) confers with
cinematographer Emmanuel Chivo Lubezki, ASC, AMC.
www.theasc.com
November 2013
37
Facing the Void
After fast-moving
debris damages
the space station,
Stone and
Kowalski find
themselves in a
life-threatening
crisis.
then become very close, and then go

back to a very wide shot.
We wanted to surrender to the
environment of space, but we couldnt
go there, so the only way of doing it was
through all of these technologies, notes
Cuarn. In a fantasy world, we would
have shot the whole film in space. If we
had, not much would have changed in
terms of the visuals.
Webber, who led the visualeffects team at Framestore in London,
convinced Cuarn that his desire for
long takes with a zero-gravity camera
required that they go virtual. We
needed the freedom of a virtual camera,
says Webber, so we created a virtual
world and then worked out how to get
human performances into that world.
The space setting offered three
main sources for the lighting design: the
distant suns hard light, the soft bounce
from Earth and, occasionally, the
bounce from the moon. The settings
are either outer space or the interior of a
capsule, says Lubezki. In space, its
mostly [the characters] against black
with a piece of the Earth, a piece of the
sun and sometimes the moon. Thats
not enough [visual] variety to keep you
excited for 100 minutes, so Alfonso and
I decided to make the lighting
constantly change.
It was very exciting to deal only
with the quality of light how harsh or
soft it would be, the amount of bounce
and its color, Lubezki continues.
Those few elements made it possible
38
November 2013
As the astronauts
situation grows
increasingly
desperate,
Kowalski uses his
experience and
humor to reassure
Stone.
for us to create many different environments. We were also lucky that these
spacecraft move so fast; they go through
many days and nights in 24 hours.
Indeed, there are rich and dramatic variations in lighting throughout the film,
motivated by the rotation of the camera
and the characters, as well as the 90minute sunset cycles in orbit. One stunning sunset scene ends with Stone
twirling into the darkness of a field of
stars, barely illuminated by the lights in
her helmet.
The filmmakers began their prep
by charting a precise global trajectory
for the characters over the storys timeframe, so that Webber and his team
could start creating the corresponding
Earth imagery. Cuarn chose to begin
the story with the astronauts above his
native Mexico. From there, the precise
orbit provided Lubezki with specific
lighting and coloring cues. The cinematographer recalls, I would say, In
this scene, Stone is going to be above
the African desert when the sun comes
out, so the Earth is going to be warm,
and the bounce on her face is going to
be warm light. We were able to use our
map to keep changing the lighting.
Next, the filmmakers defined the
camera and character positions
throughout the story so that animators
at Framestore could create a simple
previs animation of the entire movie.
Lubezki and Cuarn employed a decidedly low-tech method to initially block
the actors. The camera moves are really
www.theasc.com
November 2013
39
Facing the Void
This sequence of images shows key steps in a progression that begins with the prelight animation (top)
and proceeds to the live-action production shoot (where soft fill light is applied), the first-pass
integration of live-action footage with virtual elements, and the final image.
40
November 2013
complex, but we started in the most

simple way first with storyboards,
and then with a bunch of puppets and
toy versions of the International Space
Station and the space shuttle Columbia,
Lubezki explains. We talked about
them in the most primitive terms with
the animators. It was great to start with
some puppets, then have the animator
come back with a black-and-white
block animation, and then start to add
volume, color and light. Its truly about
layers and layers of work.
Cuarn laughs as he recalls the
surprises inherent in blocking characters
in a zero-gravity environment. The
complications are really something,
because you have characters that are
spinning. Say you want to start your
shot with Georges face and move the
camera to Sandra, who is spinning at a
different rate. You start moving around
her, and then you start to go back to
George, only to realize that if you go
back to George at that moment, you will
be shooting his feet! So then you have to
start from scratch. Sometimes you find
amazing things accidentally, but sometimes you have to reconceive the whole
scene.
Webber adds that the camera
moves for a few of the shots were
motion-captured with a small rig that
the filmmakers moved in a real space to
create moves within the CG environment. We wanted the camerawork to
have a natural feel, says Webber. So,
rather than have everything key-frameanimated, we did some virtual camerawork in a small motion-capture studio.
Alfonso, Chivo and I could take the rig
and just wander around, controlling the
camera and framing up shots, and we
later tweaked it a bit to make it feel
more like zero gravity.
Lubezki believes that the long
take (plano sequencia in Spanish) brings
the audience into the movie in a striking
way. The main thing about the plano
sequencia is that it is immersive. To me,
it feels more real, more intimate and
more immediate. The fewer the cuts,
the more you are with [the characters];
its as if youre feeling what theyre going
through in real time. This is something

Alfonso and I discovered on Y Tu
Mam Tambin and Children of Men.
Cuarn notes that whenever he
was tempted to do a camera move just
because it was cool, Chivo would not
allow that to happen. He cites the
example of the opening take, which
ends with Stone drifting away toward
open space. When we were doing the
previs, as she started floating away, I
said, We dont need to cut. We can keep
following her in the same shot, so the
first two shots would be just one shot.
But Chivo said, I think when shes
floating away is the perfect moment to
cut. If this were the chapter of a book,
this would be the last phrase of the
chapter. And he was right. Otherwise,
we would have started calling attention
to the long take and creating an expectation that thats what the film was
about. But thats not what its about.
The camerawork serves I dont want
to say it serves the story, because I have
my problems with that. For me, the
story is like the cinematography, the
sound, the acting and the color. They
are tools for cinema, and what you have
to serve is cinema, not story.
In another memorable camera
move, the frame starts on Stones point
of view, looking through her helmet and
its reflections, and then goes through
the headpiece glass, ending on an external wide shot. Cuarn explains, Theres
a purpose there. At the beginning of the
film, we wanted to present a kind of
objective reality, where we just see a
routine mission. After disaster strikes,
we continue to follow Stone objectively
until we grab a POV and go to a subjective experience. The interesting thing is
that from the moment it comes out of
that helmet, the camera is no longer
either objective or subjective. It
becomes an immersive experience, as if
the viewer is right next to her.
After the creation of the previs
animation with virtual camera moves,
the next stage was the prelight, when
Lubezki defined the CG lighting in
concert with the team at Framestore.
Working with a lot of digital gaffers, I
This progression sequence begins with the previs phase, followed by images that show the live-action
footage captured in the LED Box, the first-pass integration of the live action with virtual elements, and
the final image.
www.theasc.com
November 2013
41
Tracking an Intricate Workflow
ravity was a complex production

that mixed virtual and real imaging
elements in innovative ways. What
follows is a rough outline of the key
steps involved in the projects workflow.
CG lighting supervisor Paul Beilby of
Framestore and senior producer
Michael Dillon of Technicolor
provided these details, with additional
input from other members of the filmmaking team.
1. Orbit Path Framestore
Cuarn works with the team at
Framestore to define the trajectory of
the films action above the Earth, which
will define the Earthscapes in the film.
2. Previs Framestore
Cuarn and Lubezki work with a team
of animators to produce a low-res
animated version of the movie with
virtual camera moves.
3. Prelight Framestore
Lubezki works with a team of technical
directors to produce the lighting design
of every virtual sequence in the film.
The CG assets are simplified to facilitate fast rendering and feedback.
4. Pre-DI
Using two separate, accurately calibrated DI theaters in Los Angeles and
London, Cuaron, Lubezki, supervising
digital colorist Steven J. Scott and
visual-effects supervisor Tim Webber
refine the color timing of four rendered
film clips, working in real time. Results
are rendered out (sometimes as just a
single frame) and sent to Framestore as
reference for the final look of the shots.
5. Techvis Framestore
The previs and prelight data are used to
produce camera-movement trajectories
and lighting environments for both
characters points of view for use in
production.
6. Live-Action Production with LED
Box Shepperton
Techvis data is processed on set to
42
November 2013
produce motion-control camera moves

and animated lighting in the LED Box.
Lubezki tweaks the illumination from
the LED images, adding humancontrolled hard light for the sun. The
speed of the camera moves is modified
to adapt to the actors performances.
7. Live-Action Production with
Puppeteering Rig Shepperton
Techvis data is processed on set to move
Bullock on puppet strings to simulate
zero gravity in the space capsule. This
sequence is lit traditionally.
8.Live-Action
Production/Traditional Shoot
Shepperton
Most of the space-capsule interiors, as
well as one 65mm scene set on Earth,
are lit and shot traditionally.
9. Conform and Rendering
Framestore
A. Animators and riggers work on the
performances of the spacesuit characters and space-vehicle actions using
production data as a reference.
B. Modelers create high-quality
versions of the previs assets.
C. Look-development technical directors and texture artists refine the look of
the materials using reference photography from NASA and material samples.
10. Integrating Live Action and CG
Framestore
A. Compositors work on the live-action
plates received from the shoot and
conform them back into the
previs. Several teams of animators,
animation supervisors, creature-effects
supervisors and technical directors
collaborate with the filmmakers to
create the final actions and camera
moves based on the actors performances.
B. Lighting technical directors work
with internal visual-effects supervisors
and lighting supervisors to produce lit
shots, ensuring that they match the live
action.
C. Compositors work with visualAmerican Cinematographer
effects supervisors and compositing

supervisors to integrate the shoot data
and the CG imagery to create the final
images, which are then reviewed and
fine-tuned by Cuarn and Lubezki.
11. DI Ingest Technicolor
The finished 2-D files from Framestore
are ingested, accompanied by external
mattes to facilitate separate color timing
of important individual elements in the
frame.
12. DI Grade Technicolor
Scott works with Lubezki and Cuarn
to refine the 2-D image, using many
layers of animated rotoscopes. The final
files are used to create a 2-D DCP,
Kodak Vision 2383 release prints and
an HD master.
13. Stereoscopic Conversion Prime
Focus Film and Framestore
Prime Focus converts the live-action
material and some visual-effects
elements to 3-D. Framestore converts
the rest of the picture.
14. 3-D Grade Technicolor
The filmmakers optimize the grade for
4.5 foot-lambert and 7 foot-lambert
brightness levels of projection for 3-D
white screen and Imax 3-D, respectively. As part of this process, they selectively apply a reverse-vignetting
adjustment to compensate for the hot
spot associated with RealDs silverscreen projection system.
File formats
- Live-action production: ArriRaw
2880x1620 deBayered to Log C v3
- Framestore CG output: 2060x876 10bit Log C DPX
- Framestore external mattes output:
16-bit RBGa TIFF
- 2-D graded files: 2048x858 10-bit
Log C
Benjamin B
Top: Before shooting

the actors in the LED
Box, Framestore
provided multi-screen
frame-by-frame
animations of the
technical packages,
including calculations
for robotic camera
movement (left),
reference frames
from the prelight
(top right) and
camera framing
(below the prelight),
and a dashboard
with key motion
variables for the
camera and actor
turntable. Middle: To
prepare for a scene in
which Stone floats in
a space capsule, the
filmmakers did a test
by suspending a
stand-in from a
puppeteering rig,
with motion
programmed to
match the previs.
Lubezki used
traditional lighting
for this sequence,
with reflective panels
standing in for the
capsule interior.
Bottom: A similar
stand-in test was
done for a scene in
which Stone fights a
fire inside the
capsule. Lubezki
played the CG fire on
LED panels through
diffusion (offscreen
left) to light the actor
with a virtual fire.
was able to design the lighting for the

entire film, says Lubezki, recalling that
there were about a dozen people working on the lighting of different scenes.
Paul Beilby, a CG lighting supervisor, notes that the prelight with
Lubezki was designed for speed and was
much more involved than the process
had been on any previous Framestore
project. We worked directly with
Chivo, he says. We used rough interpretations of very primitive objects
because he is used to very quick feedback in terms of what the lights going
to look like.
Senior visual-effects producer
Charles Howell explains that Gravitys
lengthy shots required the filmmakers to
make many decisions early in the
process. I think there were only about
200 cuts in the previs animation,
[whereas] an average film has about
2,000 cuts. Because these shots had to
be mapped out from day one, many of
the lengthy shots didnt really change in
the three years of shot production.
Because we did a virtual prelight of the
entire film with Chivo, the whole film
was essentially locked before we even
started shooting.
Lubezki
emphasizes
that
Gravitys blending of real faces with
virtual environments posed a tremendous challenge. The biggest conundrum in trying to integrate live action
with animation has always been the
www.theasc.com
November 2013
43
Facing the Void
Top: For scenes shot onstage in the LED Box, an Alexa was rigged on a modified Mo-Sys remote
head attached to a motion-controlled robot arm that could be moved around the actors in a
preprogrammed trajectory. Middle: Footage of the virtual environments was played on LED
panels within the 20' cube. Bottom: The camera is positioned during a test with a stand-in.
44
November 2013
lighting, he says. The actors are often

lit differently than the animation, and if
the lighting is not right, the composite
doesnt work. It can look eerie and take
you to a place animators call the
uncanny valley, that place where everything is very close to real, but your
subconscious knows something is
wrong. That takes you out of the movie.
The only way to avoid the uncanny
valley was to use a naturalistic light on
the faces, and to find a way to match the
light between the faces and surroundings as closely as possible.
This challenge led Lubezki to
imagine a unique lighting space that was
ultimately dubbed the LED Box. He
recalls, It was like a revelation. I had the
idea to build a set out of LED panels
and to light the actors faces inside it
with the previs animation. Lubezki
conducted extensive LED tests and then
turned to Webber and his team to build
the 20' cube and generate footage of the
virtual environments, as seen from the
actors viewpoint, to display inside it.
While constructing the LED Box, the
crew also solved problems involving
LED flicker and color inconsistencies.
Inside the LED Box, the CG
environment played across the walls and
ceiling, simulating the bounce light from
Earth on the faces of Clooney or
Bullock, and providing the actors with
visual references as they pretended to
float through space. This elegant solution enabled the real faces to be lit by the
very environments into which they
would be inserted, ensuring a match
between the real and virtual elements in
the frame.
For Lubezki, the complexity of
the lighting from the Earth source was
also essential, giving nuanced realism to
the light on the faces. When you put a
gel on a 20K or an HMI, youre working
with one tone, one color. Because the
LEDs were showing our animation, we
were projecting light onto the actors
faces that could have darkness on one
side, light on another, a hot spot in the
middle and different colors. It was
always complex, and that was the reason
to have the Box.
Where the best talent, services,

workow-solutions, and color-science lives.
www.technicolor.com/hollywood
Facing the Void

Lubezki also needed to add a
moving hard light that would serve as a
sun source and match the CG sun in the
prelit animation. To achieve this, he had
his crew place a small dolly and jib arm
alongside the actors, with a lightweight
Robin 600E Spot on a remote head. Key
grip Pat Garrett moved the dolly and jib
during each take according to the
progression of the virtual sun, and
camera operator Nick Paige controlled
the head to keep the light trained on the
actor.
Lubezki used a technique similar
to the LED Box for a live-action scene in
which a fire breaks out in the space
capsule. To light Bullock, the cinematographer diffused an LED panel
that displayed the CG fire, ensuring a
perfect match of the color and rhythm of
the firelight source and how it played on
Bullocks face in the final scene.
Lubezki shot most of the liveaction material in the film with Arri
Alexa Classics and wide Arri Master
Prime lenses, recording in the ArriRaw
format to Codex recorders; the package
was supplied by Arri Media in London.
(Panavision London provided a Primo
Close Focus lens that was used for a
single shot.) He filmed a scene set on
Earth on 65mm, using an Arri 765 and
Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, to provide a
visual contrast to the rest of the picture.
The Alexa allowed me to shoot
ASA 800 native, and it still looked great
if I pushed it to 1,200, which made it
possible to use the LED sources,
Lubezki notes. Also, the Alexas latitude
enabled him to deal with the overexposure of a harsh, hard sunlight. We didnt
want to lose any of that detail.
To shoot the actors in the LED
Box, the crew put an Alexa on a modified Mo-Sys remote head, which in turn
attached to a large, motion-controlled
robot arm that could be moved around
the actor in a preprogrammed trajectory.
This system enabled the filmmakers to
take advantage of the relative motion
between objects in space. Because there
is no up or down in zero gravity,
shooting a moving object with a static
camera is visually equivalent to shooting
Top: Stone
attempts to
maneuver
toward a
Chinese space
station and
possible
survival.
Middle and
bottom:
Cuarn works
with the actors
on the spacecapsule set.
46
November 2013
a static object with a moving camera, and

the filmmakers elected to make the
camera perform most of the motion.
The robot arm was originally
designed to assemble cars, according to
Webber. He explains that Warner Bros.
executive Chris DeFaria read about a
San Francisco design-and-engineering
studio, Bot & Dolly, which had used the
arms to move a camera. Webber adds
that the production worked with Bot &
Dolly to add increased flexibility to the
system, including the ability to adjust the
speed of the preprogrammed moves so
they could be adapted to the actors
performances. To create even more
options, they added a special remote
head that was manned by camera operator Peter Taylor. Based on a Mo-Sys
head, this remote unit was adapted to
make it smaller and lighter, partly so that
it would block less light. It could be operated live or set to play preprogrammed
moves driven by the previs.
Gaffer John Biggles Higgins,
who also worked with Lubezki on
Children of Men, marvels that he has
never seen anything like the set of
Gravity. Apart from the LED Box, he
notes, there were also other, slightly more
traditional setups. For interiors of the
space capsule as it hurtles to Earth, for
instance, the filmmakers used an Alpha
4K HMI without its lens to simulate the
sun, moving the source around the
stationary capsule with a crane and a
remote head. Higgins says they selected
the Alpha because it is the only head
that can be operated shooting straight
down. He adds that Lubezki would
provide ambient light by punching
powerful tungsten 20Ks through 20'x20'
frames, using two layers of diffusion,
Half and Full Grid Cloth, as well as
green and blue gels, to simulate sunlight.
These diffusions were mainly used on
the real capsules, explains Higgins. The
green and blue filters were stitched to the
back of the closest diffusion, the 20-by20 Full Grid.
As the production footage of the
actors was integrated into the CG
imagery, some modifications were made
to the virtual elements to reflect the
Facing the Void
Stone floats in zero gravity while confronting her next dilemma.
actors performances or changes in the

lighting on their faces. Lubezki adds, I
suggested to Tim that we add lens flares
and chromatic aberrations in the CG so
it would look as if the [entire] image had
been captured with a camera.
Once Framestore finished the
rendering process to the filmmakers
satisfaction, Lubezki and Cuarn supervised the final grade at Technicolor with
48
supervising digital colorist Steven J.

Scott. Scott, an ASC associate member,
was struck by the duos passion for
detail. He recalls, Chivo and Alfonso
would start with something that would
look brilliant to 99 percent of the audience, but theyd say, Theres a little too
much cyan in the top of his backpack as
we pass by. So, wed do a rotoscope
animation to isolate that area, then fade
the cyan adjustment in for the brief

moment it was needed, and fade it out
as we went by. When you work with
Chivo for weeks and weeks, you see that
all those seemingly minor adjustments
make a huge difference. The cumulative
effect is inevitably a revelation.
In turn, Cuarn enthuses that
Scott understands and completely
respects and honors Chivos vision, but
at the same time, he is also an artist with
amazing technical resources. Steve has a
great eye, and he understands what
naturalism is all about.
Looking back at Lubezkis work
on Gravity, Webber offers, Im not
aware of any other prelight done
anywhere near this level. I think this was
a first. It was great working with Chivo,
who is not only an incredible talent, but
also very willing to use this new technology and embrace lighting within this
new environment. Even though very
little of the film is physically lit in the
way Chivo would normally do it, his
became a director. I know him well.

Hes my teacher and also one of my
favorite filmmakers. Im very lucky to
work with him.
Chivo is my co-filmmaker, says
Cuarn. He is not just doing what
most people think of as the cinematographers job. On Gravity he was everywhere, collaborating every single step of
the way.
TECHNICAL SPECS
Struggling with unfamiliar controls in a space capsule, Stone must perform a complex sequence
of technical procedures.
touch is all over everything.

Cuarn and Lubezki share an
appreciation for the genius that
Webber brought to Gravity. They also
note that cinematographer Michael
Seresin, BSC filled in as director of
photography when Lubezki had to leave
the set for personal reasons. Michael
came into a very complicated set and
adapted to it wonderfully, Cuarn says.
Reflecting on his relationship

with Cuarn, Lubezki offers, The
truth is that ever since I met him,
Alfonso has always been one of my
most important teachers. I worked with
him in film school as his gaffer when he
was the cinematographer, as his boom
man when he was sound mixing, as his
second AC when he was a first AC, and
finally as his cinematographer when he
2.40:1
Digital Capture and 65mm
Arri Alexa Classic, 765
Arri Master Prime,
Panavision Primo
Kodak Vision3 500T 5219
Digital Intermediate
Stereoscopic Conversion
Taking onWater
In All Is Lost, shot by Frank DeMarco
and Peter Zuccarini, a lone sailor
battles the elements after his boat is
damaged far from port.
By Jay Holben
|
irector/writer J.C. Chandors screenplay for All Is Lost

wasnt really a screenplay at all, at least not in traditional
Hollywood terms. A mere 32 pages, it was more of a
detailed treatment. The slenderness of the blueprint
wasnt due to lack of planning or foresight, nor was it because
the film was wholly improvised. In fact, every shot in the film
was meticulously storyboarded. But there are only three
moments of dialogue in the features 106-minute running
50
November 2013
time, and only one character identified in the credits as

Our Man (Robert Redford) in the entire film. All Is Lost
is an exercise in pure cinematic storytelling, using only the
actors performance, the camerawork and the juxtapositioning
of shots to tell an invigorating tale.
Our Man is a veteran sailor making a solo journey of
indeterminate origin and destination in the Indian Ocean. We
dont know how long he has been at sea, but we do witness
several days of his life that are fraught with one life-threatening challenge after another. The film opens with the hollow
sound of ocean waves slapping against a large, metal object;
there is no motion, no boat slicing through the water, no sailcloth or rigging fluttering in the wind. Our Man awakens to
this tinny rhythm and rises to find the cabin of his boat taking
on water, and he soon discovers that a large shipping container
adrift on the ocean has punched a 2'x2' hole in the side of his
40' sailboat, the Virginia Jean.
All Is Lost found Chandor reteaming with cinematographer Frank DeMarco, a collaborator on Margin Call (AC
Photos by Daniel Daza; Richard Foreman, SMPSP; Stephen Frink; Quinn Meyers; and Neal Dodson, courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Oct. 11). DeMarco recalls, When we

were filming Margin Call, we did a lot
of nights in New York City in a tall
building on 34th Street. At 5 or 6
oclock in the evening, I would look out
at the Hudson River and see all these
little white sailboats gliding around
lower Manhattan. I decided I wanted to
be on one of those boats! So, after the
shoot, I became a member of the
Manhattan Sailing Club, not having
any idea that J.C. was developing a sailing movie. I spent the next two years
sailing a lot, and eventually I got my
American Sailing Association certification.
Because All Is Lost would entail a
significant amount of work actually in
the water, Chandor also sought out
veteran underwater director of photography Peter Zuccarini, whose credits
include Life of Pi and all four Pirates of
the Caribbean films. J.C. asked me to
create ways to shoot Our Man seam-
Opposite: Our Man (Robert Redford), a sailor making a solo journey on the open ocean, must fight to
survive in All Is Lost. This page, top: Our Man scans the horizon. Bottom: Cinematographer Frank
DeMarco (seated) confers on set with writer/director J.C. Chandor (right).
www.theasc.com
November 2013
51
Taking on Water
lessly as he moves in and out of the
water, Zuccarini explains. We wanted
the intimacy that is established above
the water to continue through the
waves, storms and flooded compartments.
In prep, DeMarco, Zuccarini and
Chandor watched all the seafaring films
they could find. In particular,
DeMarco recalls, we looked at sailboat
movies that had storms at sea, including
The Dove, Wind, White Squall [AC Feb.
96] and The Weight of Water, and a ton
of YouTube clips of sailboats getting
swamped, rolling completely over and
foundering. We also studied how other
filmmakers filmed down below, in the
boats cabin, and discussed what we
liked and what we didnt. We watched
Dead Calm [shot by Dean Semler, ASC,
ACS] a lot and really liked it; we tried to
convey a similar sense of expectation or
dread throughout All Is Lost. However,
there were a lot of things we decided we
wouldnt do, such as constructing a set
with wild walls, which gave Dead Calm
a lot of freedom with camera movement. We wanted to maintain the physical parameters of the cabin and keep it
confined and physically immediate.
Another inspiration was Roman
Polanskis Knife in the Water. Its amazing what Polanski and [cinematographer] Jerzy Lipman achieved using a
camera barge made out of plywood and
a tripod, says DeMarco. That film has
a great feel to it. Lipmans great handheld camerawork and evocative compositions convey a pervasive sense of
tension. I also took Polanskis technique
of keeping the handheld camera static
while allowing the actor to move about
in the frame. With the right blocking,
you can get a wide, a close-up and interesting movement all in the same shot.
Its very efficient filmmaking!
Chandor notes, About 97
percent of All Is Lost is shot from eye
level, either in front of Our Man or
behind him from just a few feet away.
We never really get more than 10 or 12
feet away from him, which is true to the
real confines of the boat. In a space like
a sailboat cabin, many filmmakers have
Top: Our Man

assesses the
damage as water
fills his sailboat.
Middle:
Inclement
weather leads to
further peril.
Bottom:
Members of the
crew meet
aboard one of
three versions of
the Virginia Jean
used for the film.
52
November 2013
the tendency to sweep the camera all

over the place, trying to create energy
and stay away from monotony, but I
wanted to embrace that monotony.
Thats really the point: Youre trapped
with this character in this situation as an
impotent observer, as opposed to being
an omnipotent observer. The audience
experiences this world the way the character does; theyre stuck on the boat
with him, and they never know more
than he does. Had we put the camera in
an unrealistic place, moved off the boat
to get establishing shots or swept
through where a wall would be, it would
have violated that feeling of confinement and given the audience a breath I
didnt want them to take.
I said to everyone, This film is a
very delicate flower, and the minute we
try to make it something its not, the
whole thing will fall apart, adds the
director. I was very conscious of our
budget and our restrictions and wanted
to really work within those instead of
trying to push them. If wed tried to
make the film more than it actually is,
wed have lost what we were trying to
do.
Top: Our Man

casts a worried
look toward an
approaching
storm. Bottom:
The crew
employs a
suspended cage
to capture
Redford at eye
level for a scene
in which he
scales the mast.
www.theasc.com
November 2013
53
Taking on Water
The filmmakers
deployed a
Technochrane to
film a shipping
vessel for one
of the movies
early scenes.
Principal photography took place

over 30 days at Baja Studios in Rosarito
Beach, in the Mexican state of Baja,
Calif. The same facility was used for
such features as Titanic (AC Dec. 97),
Pearl Harbor (AC May 01) and Master
and Commander: The Far Side of the
World (AC Nov. 03). Baja Studios Tank
1 is a 600'x600' exterior tank that is just
54
November 2013
3.5' deep, with a center trough that is 20'

wide and 40' deep. When filled, the 17million-gallon tank is like an infinity
pool; an overflow weir on the oceanview side creates a seamless 420'-long
horizon with the Pacific Ocean. The
facility also has two tanks (Tank 2 and
Tank 4) in soundstages and an exterior
insert pool (Tank 3).
Over the course of its production,

All Is Lost employed Tanks 1, 3 and 4.
We shot nearly the entire film on
water stages, says DeMarco. We used
Tank 1, which holds 16 acres of water,
for most of our good-weather exterior
sequences, and then wed go into Tank
4, which was wrapped in either greenscreen or black drapes, for our foulweather interior and exterior day and
night sequences. We used Tank 3,
where the rear deck of the Titanic was
built, for the final underwater night
scene, and for the underwater daytime
shots of the Virginia Jean completely
rolling over in a massive storm, which
snaps the 60-foot mast and tosses Our
Man overboard.
Production bought three Cal 39
sailboats, DeMarco continues. We cut
holes in the interior and exterior walls of
one for shooting interiors; one had a
gash in the side from the shipping
container but was otherwise completely
intact and sailable; and the third had a
chopped mast, chopped sails and a
chopped keep so it would fit into Tank
4 and be easier for the marine crew to
rock and roll during storm sequences.
DeMarco shot All Is Lost with

Arri Alexa cameras, capturing in 16:9
but composing for a 2.39:1
(2880x1205) widescreen release. We
centered the 2.39:1 on the 16:9 Super
35mm chip, he explains. We exposed
at 800 ISO, and we shot ArriRaw to a
Codex recorder that was usually offcamera.
We used Zeiss Standard Speed
MKII [T2.1] prime lenses from the
1980s and 1990s. Because digital can
be so hard and sharp, I like to use older
lenses to create a smoother image; we
didnt want this movie to look super
modern. We also used a Zeiss 15.545mm Lightweight Zoom a lot; its a
small, easy-to-handhold lens thats
beautiful and not overly sharp. I also
carried two Angenieux Optimo
blasts hit it, which really added to the

confused, frenetic feeling of being
right there with Our Man in a nasty
sea storm.
Chandor notes, We didnt use
the Technocrane to do sweeping or
dynamic shots. We used it to get the
camera where we needed it to be,
which was close to Our Man at all
times. It really helped to expedite the
shooting process, because shooting on
water can be so frustratingly slow.

There are probably only four shots in
the film where we actually utilized the
Technocrane for what its primarily
designed to do!
The film also features a lot of
handheld shots, both to compensate
for the boats motion and to underscore the storys tension. Throughout
the shoot, DeMarco operated the A
camera while Zuccarini handled the B
The audience
experiences this
world the way the
character does.
Strong and Wide
zooms, a 17-80mm [T2.2] and a 24290mm [T2.8]. I used ND filters to
keep the stop around T2.1 or T2.8,
because shallow depth-of-field felt
right for this film.
Exteriors were frequently shot
from a 50' Super Technocrane fitted
with a Libra head. The crane was fixed
to its own self-propelled barge that
could cruise through Tank 1. The
Technocrane/Libra-head combination
worked beautifully for us, DeMarco
enthuses. Brendon [ODell] and his
special-effects team used water
cannons capable of discharging
incredible blasts of water that could
knock a person off the boat during
storm sequences. We discovered that
the Libra head gave us a wonderful
shiver effect whenever the cannon
The Lowel PrimeTM LED System

Powerful Output. Wide Coverage.
Photo-quality daylight or tungsten color models.
DMX or manually dimmable
Rugged enough to take on the road
Plus New Model 800 for Higher Output
www.Lowel.com
Taking on Water
Underwater
director of
photography
Peter Zuccarini
used his own
camera housing
to capture shots
beneath the
water and at
surface level.
camera; they were assisted by 1st ACs

Phil Shanahan and Peter Mano,
respectively.
[Zuccarinis] system is really
fantastic,
Chandor
observes.
Through all the work hes done over
the years, especially on the Pirates
movies, he has developed his own
underwater camera housing that is just
56
November 2013
amazing smaller, lighter and more

efficient than any other underwater
housing Ive ever seen. Some of the
most dramatic shots in the film are
when the camera can go from underwater to above water with that feeling
of bobbing right at the surface. His
system does that wonderfully.
I do a lot of wet on-top-ofAmerican Cinematographer
water work, where underwater

cameras are more effective than regular
cameras but are not necessarily below
the surface, says Zuccarini. Ive
developed a whole approach to filming
above the water and clearing water off
the lens in different ways, depending
on the needs of the scene. Sometimes
we want a shot where water hits the
lens and clears perfectly, and other
times we encourage having a wet lens.
The inconsistent formations of water
and foam sliding on the lens port
create a subtle distortion, and these
optical imperfections are nuanced to
render an emotive moment or impressionistic image.
Sometimes a wave breaks over
the [actor] and the camera, Zuccarini
continues. Our special-effects coordinator, Brendon ODell, had a range of
dump tanks of different sizes to give us
a palette of waves and swirling whitewater. The turbulence and associated
layer of bubbles at the surface made an
excellent organic light scrim for the
underwater work beneath the storm.
The contrast between the powerful
wave action and the exquisite soft light
Taking on Water
Zuccarini frames
up from beneath
Our Mans
life raft.
that it rendered was fantastic.

The most emotionally charged
moments of the film are when the
camera floats right at water level,
which was Pete [Zuccarini], or when
Frankie was working close with Bob,
says Chandor. Toward the end of the
film, Bob is in a life raft, and Frankie
was right in there with him. There
wasnt a lot of room, so they were only
58
November 2013
about 2 or 3 feet apart. We put some

plywood under the base of the raft to
stiffen the bottom up a bit and make
the camera operating a little easier, but
it was still really hard to move around
an 8-foot-diameter raft. Thats where
Our Man starts coming to grips with
his mortality. Also, at that time, we
were four weeks into shooting and we
were all sunbaked and waterlogged. Its
a six-minute take, and at one point the

camera slowly tilts off to the side, as if
someone left the tripod unlocked and
the camera is slowly drifting, and then
rights itself. Its a truly beautiful
moment, because it really reflects how
physically exhausted and drained Our
Man is. It translates to the subconscious feeling you have while watching
it.
When operating the camera,
DeMarco says, I try to be intuitive.
The term I like to use regarding my
handheld operation on All Is Lost
is the curious eye. If youre walking
down the street and you catch
movement out of the corner of your
eye, youre likely to turn to see it, and
then turn back to look where youre
going. I try to do that with my camera
operating. In the early 1980s, I loaded
Aaton magazines for a great
documentary cameraman, Richard
Chisolm, out of Baltimore and
Washington, and the curious eye was
his style. Hed be shooting an interview and dip down to a finger tapping,
a twitch or something passing by that
would be brilliant and really put you
into that moment. I took that to heart,

and I use it regularly in my work.
Theres a scene with Bob in the cabin
of the boat when its being bashed
around in the middle of a storm, and I
chose to focus on the stove in the foreground which, as its designed to
do, was rocking like crazy while
Bob was out-of-focus in the background, holding on for dear life. To
me, the swinging stove captured the
sickening feeling of that moment in
the best way possible.
For exterior lighting in Tank 1,
DeMarco took a naturalistic approach.
That style really felt the best. The
weather in Rosarito is a lot like Los
In the real world,

when it goes cloudy,
the ocean goes
black, and I wanted
to get that look
onstage, too.
Angeles in June; its usually cloudy

and gloomy in the morning, and then
it burns off to direct sun in the afternoon. So, wed get up and look at the
light. We shot our more stormy
sequences in the morning with the
cloud coverage, and did our directsunlight sequences after the clouds
burned off. We worked mostly with
natural light and bounces, and sometimes, in the late afternoon or early
evening, Id have Radium Cheung, the
gaffer, bring out an HMI to give Bob
an edge if the light was failing.
DeMarco carried this idea of
naturalism onstage for the greenscreen
sequences of stormy weather. When
youre out at sea in bad weather, its all
toplight. If the sky is clouded over, the
light is super soft, but its all still

coming from above. So, key grip Pat
OMara built an overhead 60-by-60foot soft box with double silk, with 40
space lights hanging above it. We
dimmed that overhead lighting all the
way down to the level you would really
get in a heavy storm at sea. In the real
world, when it goes cloudy, the ocean
goes black, and I wanted to get that
look onstage, too.
Inside the boat, DeMarco

mostly used store-bought marine
LED fixtures that ran off of DC
power. He explains, They were very
small units, and we installed them in
the boat so we could cheat them
around. Also, because they were lowvoltage DC, nobody could get zapped
during the wet interior boat scenes.
During prep, I had extensive conversations with the production designer,
Taking on Water
Top: Zuccarini
prepares to
shoot. Bottom:
The life raft is
maneuvered
into position.
John Goldsmith, about the placement

of practical lighting. I carefully
thought of where Bob would be most
of the time, and installed lights accordingly throughout the cabin. I wanted
to make sure hed never have to deal
with finding his light or dodging
around lighting hardware or wiring.
Our marine coordinator, Jimmy
60
November 2013
OConnell, and his crew built floating

Connect-Deck docks around the boat
for lighting, grip and personnel
access, DeMarco adds. I could
punch Arri M18 HMIs through the
portholes and let them burn out a bit,
which felt more real to me than trying
to see details outside. I also liked
putting Kino Flos over the top
hatches, especially in the forward

sleeping cabin. Id take a Fat Boy, a 2foot 4-bulb Kino, wrap it in plastic
and put it right on top of the hatch to
create toplight in the sleeping cabin.
In the storm situations, I put foamcore around the railings of the boat at
45-degree angles and let that passively
accept the toplight from the overhead
soft box, bouncing the light into the
cabin through the portholes.
In addition to work at the Baja
facility, Zuccarini spent more than a
week on the open ocean, shooting
underwater shots of sharks, fish and
the underside of the life raft. We had
amazing luck, and we were able to
capture every storyboarded shot that
J.C. had created for us almost exactly,
he recalls.
DeMarco also went out on the
open ocean for a single day of shooting with Redford. We knew we
needed to see real rolling water and
ocean spray for certain sequences, he
notes. We were incredibly lucky
because the day we went out with
Bob, his last day of shooting, we had a
mix of conditions, from brooding
Taking on Water
Chandor references the projects storyboards.
weather with 9-foot rolling waves

crashing on the bow to beautiful, clear
skies and tame seas. We were able to
shoot for a number of cruising
sequences and seamlessly mix in that
62
footage with our exterior stage

footage. Its just enough to convince
the audience that the character is
really sailing out on the ocean.
For the final grade, DeMarco
says he spent a very enjoyable 10 days

with colorist Chris Wallace at Deluxe
Laboratories in Toronto. 2K DPX
files were created from the ArriRaw
footage at 2048x1152 resolution, and
Wallace graded on an Autodesk
Lustre in P3 color space.
I always find that the DI
sessions allow me to really polish the
look of the film, and sometimes even
finish some lighting that might have
gotten away from me in the fray of
location shooting, says DeMarco. I
also love to use blowups, repositions,
grads, vignettes and even tilts in the
DI to create a better composition or to
smooth out a tough transition from
one shot to another. We were also able
to destabilize the image when necessary to match other rocking-boat
footage!
He adds, [Visual-effects supervisor] Bob Munroe and his team at
Spin VFX did an absolutely superlative job on wave, wind, sky and cloud
backgrounds in footage shot against

greenscreen and against real backgrounds that needed to be replaced.
This was a very unusual film,
and a very wet one, Zuccarini reflects.
I felt very fortunate to have been
included in the inner creative circle.
DeMarco adds, It was very
interesting to work with a script that
was only 32 pages long. Its all internal. The whole film is about Our Man
thinking and problem solving, or
simply enduring really horrible stuff.
The trick for me was to figure out
what emotion or story point we
should find in each scene. Is he just
battening down the hatches, or is
there more to that part of the story? I
constantly quizzed J.C. about the
emotional core of every scene, and we
placed the camera where it needed to
be and chose a focal length that would
depict that feeling or help convey the
characters thinking. That approach
was both fun and challenging, and we
didnt have any dialogue to cheat with

All Is Lost is like a silent movie with
sound!
Bob is great at internal acting,
and it was my job to complement his
skill to tap into his inner monologue and conduct it into the heads
and hearts of the audience, he
concludes. It was a thrill and a privilege to work with such an astute director and a legendary actor, as well as
producers Neal Dodson, Anna Gerb
and Josh Blum. It was my most exciting film experience to date.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa
Zeiss Standard Speed MKII,
Angenieux Optimo
63
Seized at Sea
Barry Ackroyd, BSC reteams
with director Paul Greengrass on
Captain Phillips, which dramatizes
the real-life hijacking of a U.S.
cargo ship.
By Patricia Thomson
|
n 2009, four Somali pirates managed to hijack the U.S.

cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama. The container ships crew
had nothing but fire hoses and flares to fend off the armed
attack. When Capt. Richard Phillips saw the pirates
successfully board, he instructed his crew to let the ship go
black and hide in the bowels of the engine room to await
rescue. The pirates seized Phillips at gunpoint on the bridge,
64
November 2013
but his crew captured the Somali ringleader, Muse, when he

came searching for them. During a negotiated swap, the
pirates took Capt. Phillips hostage as they fled on a lifeboat.
The USS Bainbridge, later joined by the USS Halyburton and
Navy SEALs, used both carrot and stick to rescue the captain.
Based on the book A Captains Duty: Somali Pirates,
Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Phillips and
Stephan Talty, the motion picture Captain Phillips is precisely
the kind of fact-based geopolitical story director Paul
Greengrass and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, BSC excel
at telling. Like their two previous collaborations, United 93
(AC June 06) and Green Zone (AC April 10), Captain Phillips
blends a knuckle-biting pace with a fidelity to fact, the latter
an outgrowth of their mutual beginnings in documentary.
We have a very similar vision of the world, and our backgrounds are about using real locations, says Ackroyd, who is
also known for his collaborations with Ken Loach. Whether
its the interior of an apartment or the inside of an airplane or
lifeboat, we have to get inside the real thing and shoot the
truth of the matter.
Photos by Hopper Stone, SMPSP, and Jasin Boland, courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Opposite: Capt.
Richard Phillips
(Tom Hanks) finds
himself in grave
danger after
Somali pirates take
him hostage in
Captain Phillips.
This page, top
(from left): The
four Somali
pirates, Najee
(Faysal Ahmed),
Muse (Barkhad
Abdi), Bilal
(Barkhad
Abdirahman) and
Elmi (Mahat Ali)
stand poised
aboard their skiff,
weapons in hand.
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Barry Ackroyd,
BSC, readies his
camera.
For Captain Phillips, which stars

Tom Hanks in the titular role and
Barkhad Abdi as Muse, that philosophy
meant shooting aboard real ships on the
open sea. Only 10 days of the 60-day
shoot were on solid ground, primarily
for lifeboat interiors at Londons
Longcross Studios, where the 5-ton
fiberglass craft was rocked on a gimbal.
During April and most of May 2012,
the cast and crew traveled five miles off
the port of Malta to shoot on the
Maersk Alexandria, doubling for the
Maersk Alabama, or plunged into a
Malta water tank to shoot stunts involving Hanks. Then came two weeks on
the swells of the Atlantic, 10 miles out
from the Norfolk naval base in Virginia,
where they filmed the rescue operation
with real Navy battleships and personnel.
You can imagine how difficult
this was for Barry and his crew,
Greengrass says. There were two
primary challenges. The first was shooting on water and everything that means.
Theres motion through every single
plane: up and down, side to side and
everything in between. Youre at the
mercy of the weather and trying to

create stability where there is none. The
second challenge was the confined
spaces, especially the lifeboat, which
was tiny.
Plus, the days were long, often
extending well into night, and getting
around the ships was physically
difficult. It was a tremendous feat
www.theasc.com
of concentration and endurance,

Greengrass says, but there wasnt a
thing Barry wouldnt do or a place he
wouldnt go.
Contemplating the logistics of
shooting on water, miles from technical
support, led the production to choose
film as its primary acquisition medium.
Thinking about handholding the
November 2013
65
Seized at Sea
Top: The pirates

prepare to board
the MV Maersk
Alabama.
Middle:
A-camera 1st AC
Oliver Driscoll (in
red shirt) and
other crew and
cast members
prepare for the
boarding scene.
Bottom: Ackroyd
used a bungee
rig to help
support an
Aaton XTR Prod
while he filmed
from the
pirate skiff.
camera in a skiff while riding the wake

led Ackroyd to his reliable old friend,
the Super 16mm Aaton XTR Prod,
upgraded with Xter video assist. He
explains, I realized we were going to be
in 20-foot skiffs in rough water, day and
night, with the camera. How were we
going to do that? We thought wed build
a little bungee rig so I could handhold
[the camera] on my shoulder with a
12:1 zoom; that way, I could be inside
the skiff with the pirates, then zoom and
find Phillips on the bridge or the first
mate running along the deck being fired
at by Kalashnikovs, and connect those
shots. I thought I could do that only
with a 16mm camera with a 12:1 zoom,
which is light and reliable enough to
survive the bashing it would take.
The next choice was to differentiate the Somali and Phillips story
threads. To that end, scenes in the
Somali fishing village (filmed in
Morocco) and on the skiffs were shot on
Super 16mm, while those aboard the
Maersk Alabama and other Western
vessels were shot on 3-perf Super
35mm. We literally switched over to
35mm as the pirates stepped onto the
deck of the Maersk Alabama, says
Ackroyd.
66
November 2013
Greengrass had additional dualities in mind. It was important to me to

construct a visual image of a giant
container ship being chased by small
skiffs, and then these giant naval ships
chasing the lifeboat, [to create] a visual
symmetry, says the director. I was also
interested in images of extreme
confinement and extreme scale; the way
their relationship shifts mirrors the
changing relationship of the characters.
When rendering extremities of
scale via aerial photography tiny
skiffs vs. massive cargo ship or hulking
battleships vs. a toy-like lifeboat the
filmmakers deployed an Arri Alexa,
capturing in ArriRaw to a Codex
recorder. Thats a natural choice for
helicopters because you dont have to
stop to reload, notes Ackroyd.
To better capture any magic
moments and enable quick cutting
without a jarring effect, two cameras
were running at all times. This was a
particularly important strategy because
the Somalis were nonprofessional
actors. They more or less improvised
their performances, Ackroyd says. Of
course, they had lines to say, but they
took on the persona very much. Tom,
being such a great actor, made them
look great, and they likewise made Tom
look great. Throughout the shoot,
Ackroyd shared operating duties with
Cosmo Campbell, who brought a
customized Steadicam whose shortened center post made it more difficult
to stabilize, but also enabled him to pass
through bulkhead hatches and other
tight spots.
For the 3-perf Super 35mm
work, an Aaton Penelope supplied by
Ice Film served as the A camera. Arri
Media supplied most of the other gear,
including two Arricam Lites (B and C
cameras) and an Arri 235 (D camera).
Ackroyd and 1st AC Oliver Driscoll
brought their own Aaton XTR Prods.
Rounding out the cameras were an Arri
435 that filmed 4-perf, a batch of
GoPros (used to capture the Navy
SEALs parachute drop), and a
VistaVision camera that captured
Top: Despite the fire hoses aimed in their direction, the pirates easily board the cargo vessel.
Bottom: A crane steadies one of the cameras above the water.
www.theasc.com
November 2013
67
Seized at Sea
visual-effects plates with Leica
Summilux-C lenses.
Ackroyd has preferred zoom
lenses since his documentary days.
Though he had an array of Zeiss Super
Speed T1.3 primes on hand for lowlight scenes, he otherwise relied on a
24-290mm T2.8 Angenieux Optimo
(with 2x extender for simulated binocular shots), as well as T2.6 28-76mm and
15-40mm Optimos. In addition, he
tapped a rehoused Nikon 80-200mm
zoom and, for 16mm work, Canons
300mm T2.8 prime (600mm T5.6 with
a doubler) and a Canon 10.6-180mm
T2.7 16mm zoom.
The Penelope and Optimo 2876mm is a great combination for Barry,
Driscoll says. He can really punch into
a scene with that, which he likes to do.
But wed also go with the 12:1 Optimo.
Its not really a handheld lens its
massive so wed have that on a
monopod. If you need to move, you can
pick it all up and move quite easily.
No matter which zoom lens hes
using, Barry will use the entire zoom
[range], Driscoll continues. Ackroyds
camerawork is all about getting to the
action. Its very inquisitive. Its almost
like youre reaching in with your ear; you
can get over there and hear whats
happening. The zoom is the method he
uses.
Ackroyd physically put himself in
the thick of things as well. When the
Somalis attack and climb a hook ladder
on the side of the Maersk Alabama, I
wouldnt have been surprised if Barry
had put a camera on his shoulder and
just run up after them, says Driscoll.
(Ackroyd and the actors did stop as the
stunt doubles took over.) Once he gets
the bite, he tends to go with the action.
For his film negative, Ackroyd
stuck with some old favorites, Fujifilm
Eterna 250D 8663/8563 and 500T
8673/8573. I always rated it normally,
but Im never afraid to underexpose it
and then bring it back later on, says the
cinematographer. It brings up the grain
a little bit, and we used that as a stylistic
device. I like to use a lot of things that
seem wrong because it tells you youre in
Top: The pirates

make their way
through the
Alabama. Middle
and bottom: The
crew films the
actors who play
the Alabama
crew, first above
deck and then
down in the
engine room.
68
November 2013
a place where that was the only possible

way to do it.
As an example, Ackroyd points
to a scene in the Maersk Alabamas
engine room, when the emergency
lights go off and the crew hides in darkness. Exposure was a good 2 stops
under. I like the feeling that the film
stock is struggling to get something
onto the negative, he says. When I get
to the DI, I might wonder why I did
that, but at the time, I just felt it was
right. Ive always thought that in documentary work, the shot thats underexposed or scratched or blurred lends
honesty to the story. Nowadays its a
trick, but I like the sense that this is
what was necessary.
Ackroyd knew the Fuji stock
would also excel in high-contrast situations, such as the pirates dramatic
takeover of the cargo ship, when their
ebony faces were backlit by the wraparound windows on the bridge.
Because we were at sea, there was no
way of lighting or diffusing that, says
Ackroyd, who even eschewed bounce
materials while cross-shooting this
partially ad-libbed scene. I just trusted
the film stock to cover that range of
exposure.
Although the ship had its own
pull-down ND shades, they had a
slight magenta tinge, he continues.
We used them occasionally, but mostly
Top: A tense
Phillips considers
what to do.
Middle: Muse and
Najee threaten
Phillips on the
bridge. Bottom:
Steadicam
operator Cosmo
Campbell films Ali
and Abdirahman.
www.theasc.com
November 2013
69
Seized at Sea
Top: Muse
ushers Phillips
into the vessels
lifeboat.
Bottom: The
crew gets
additional
lifeboat shots
on land.
[only when they were seen] in shot.

Instead, a circular polarizer was often
used to include or exclude reflections.
Barry likes to use a polarizer almost like
an ND, Driscoll observes. Sometimes
well just keep them in; Barrys not
afraid of any flaring. Naturally, we keep
any loose light source in front [of the
70
November 2013
camera] down to a minimum. But hes

happy to leave on a clip-on matte box
with the 24-290mm or 28-76mm with
a rotating pola in the front. And hes
always very generous with the stop
we tended to shoot around T5.6.
Another part of Ackroyds
methodology was to do long takes. That
might seem counterintuitive for a

Greengrass film, given the directors
trademark rapid-fire editing. In fact,
Ackroyds camera operators have been
known to question the logic of shooting
a long walk down a corridor when only
a few frames will be used. I say, Well,
if you can tell me which 12 frames hes
going to put in, you can shoot just those
12 frames, the cinematographer says
with a laugh.
From Ackroyds perspective,
The reason Pauls method works very
well goes back to documentary. Theres
a massive amount of concentration in
each minute, each frame. We try to do
long takes tracking with people,
leading them in and out of rooms, doing
whole sections of dialogue from beginning to end and were always trying
to get it better than the previous take,
trying to capture more information than
we had before. When [Greengrass
longtime editor] Chris Rouse gets the
footage, he can select the moments and
synthesize these really economical and
dynamic edits, which tell the story very
precisely but also immerse you in the
story. And he uses only our best work,
Ou Celeb
r 1 ra
3th ting
Yea
r!
November 6-7, 2013 | Burbank Airport Marriott | www.createasphere.com/ete
The essential event for content creators of all sizes.

Now in its 13th year, ETE stands as the leading Expo on the west
coast for content creators working in every eld. But just as the world
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than ever.
DEMOS, DISCUSSIONS AND GEAR
Here, youll see the types of technology utilized by the new multiplatform content producers as well as the gear that industry professionals come to get an up-close look at every year:
An exhibit hall lled with the latest gear

Product launches
Hands-on demos
Panels and presentations
High-level keynotes
And, of course, theres also Gear Alley with its larger-than-life production equipment and our famous opening night cocktail party all
FREE with your ETE registration!
NEW WORKSHOPS
Our attendees demanded that we bring high-end, professional education to ETE, and this year were fullling that request. Well be providing two tracks of intensive, hands-on workshops for professionals
taught by professionals, not professional trainers.
November 6th will be the Acquisition, VFX and Post Day and November 7th will cover Workow and Data Management as well as New
Tech/New Talent, focusing on the next gen of content creators.
WORKSHOP PRICING
Workshops are priced at $49 per session, $127 for a track of three or
$245 for two tracks of six. Choose from this selection of expert-led
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Shooting Timelapse and the Workow

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ACES: the Colorspace for Production
Useful Tools for Editing and Post Production
Anatomy of an Edit
Previsualization
4K Made Easy
How to Tackle the Changing Workows
DIT on set Dailies Workshop
How to Self-Fund, Produce and Distribute
Virtual Cinematography
Transmedia 101
Space is limited for these workshops, so register now! Just go to

www.createasphere.com/ete for full session and track descriptions
and links to registration.
Seized at Sea
so it makes the camera look good.
On Captain Phillips, this
approach required some physically challenging maneuvers, including the
sequence when Phillips first inspects the
Maersk Alabama. That shot is cut into
pieces, as usual, but it started traveling
down the corridor behind the captain,
and he almost slides down a kind of
ladder to the lower deck, says Ackroyd.
We positioned grips dressed as sailors
whod clip a rope pulley onto the back of
Cosmos harness and lower him down
one deck, and there he was unclipped
and could carry on down another corridor. Then, when he got to another set of
ladders, hed be clipped in and lowered
again. I remember coming back and
showing [the footage to] Paul, and he
said, Hmm, it could be a bit smoother.
I said, Paul, this is hard to do! Those
vessels are very hard, very unforgiving.
The number of bumps and scrapes you
could get was incredible. It felt like I
should be wearing a hard hat.
Filming on a small fishing vessel
was no easier. Custom-made by a
Maltese shipbuilder, each skiff had three
or four points to which the crew could
attach an A-frame scaffold with a T-bar
and change its position, even at sea. The
XTR Prod was hung from this by
bungee cords and positioned to sit on
Ackroyds shoulder. That way I was
free, as much as I could be, to swivel and
tilt and pan and struggle with the
camera to get the shots, he says.
Shooting Super 16mm with the
Canon 10.6-180mm zoom not only
gave the filmmakers the range to go
from a skiff interior to a cargo ship miles
away, but also allowed 11-minute takes,
which the crew fully exploited. That
attack on the Maersk was more or less
done for real, says Driscoll. We did it
three to four times with the actors and a
stunt driver. Here, as elsewhere, the
camera was encased in a Hydroflex
splash bag to protect it from the cargo
ships water cannons.
A fishing boat equipped with two
cameras was sufficiently fast for wide
shots of the speeding skiffs, but for
closer work, the filmmakers used a
Top: The crew

and cast film
within the
lifeboat.
Middle: U.S.
Navy ships
surround the
lifeboat.
Bottom: The
crew readies a
night scene.
72
November 2013
For the interior lifeboat scenes, filmmakers mounted the 5-ton fiberglass craft on a
gimbal at Londons Longcross Studios.
speedboat to keep up, punching in with

a zoom. For additional close-ups and
sea-level POV shots of the skiffs crashing through the waves, a Hydrocrane
with a remote Libra head was attached
to another small boat. Wed try to hang
the crane down to water level to get
shots of the skiffs coming toward us, or
the wake of the Alabama, says Ackroyd.
That was incredibly difficult because
the crane arm is a moving object and the
sea itself is moving. It wasnt like we
could put the camera in one position
and make it stay there!
Ackroyd salutes 1st AD Chris
Carreras for coordinating complex
sequences that included the Somali
attack and the rescue scenes. When
youve got an aircraft carrier, a freighter,
a lifeboat and two helicopters, plus a
camera helicopter and cameras in
dinghies and on ships, all simultaneously shooting and trying to get this
magic five or 10 minutes of light, its
quite a feat, says Ackroyd. I just cant
praise the AD team enough. Chris and
his guys really pulled all that together.
Our job was to always be ready to shoot,
and I think we were.
Readiness was also facilitated
by Ackroyds 360-degree lighting
approach. Overall, he describes his

lighting as very subtle. That doesnt
mean it was easy, but it was subtle and
based on realism. He often drew inspiration from firsthand experience. For
instance, the battleship command
rooms were lit all red or blue to mirror
what he saw on the USS Independence
during the first Gulf War, when he was
shooting a documentary about Top
Gun flyers.
When Muse descends into the
engine room to search for the crew,
Ackroyd needed to replicate the ships
dimmed emergency lighting, and
because the ceiling space was congested
with piping, he needed units he could
hide easily. He tapped one of his
favorite tools, a Tubo, a 2' or 4' Kino Flo
tube removed from its housing and
placed in a halved pipe whose interior is
painted white. Attached anywhere by
gaffer tape, it can add a touch of fill or
put a little light on the shadow side of a
face. It feels like its the bounce light
from a distant window or porthole,
Ackroyd observes. It just comes back
and wraps around.
When the emergency lights go
off, the engine room is supposed to be
completely black, with Muses flashlight
73
Seized at Sea
Large lighting
balloons were
maneuvered into
position to
augment the look
of night scenes.
providing the only illumination. To

augment the actors off-the-shelf model,
gaffer Harry Wiggins and best boy
Chris Mortley randomly bounced flashlights into a shiny board made from
trimmed housing insulation. The beam
was floating around and would just
74
November 2013
disappear into the darkness, says

Ackroyd, but that justified a little bit of
extra theatrical lighting.
Ackroyd admits to some cheating here, noting that he aimed light
through a floor grill to shape things that
were supposed to be in absolute darkAmerican Cinematographer
ness. Here and elsewhere on the ships,

Wiggins found a handy tool in
Rotolights RL48 Ringlight. Small
enough to slip onto a DSLR, these
LED ring lights could be attached with
magnets and effectively created small
spills of light. We used them to throw a
little bit of fill in that scene, says
Ackroyd. We NDed them down so
there was hardly any exposure, and we
had a row of faces that just disappeared
into nothingness while the crewmembers are hiding. Its that feeling that its
such poor-quality light that it probably
doesnt exist. Your eyes are pretty good,
and when youre in near-total darkness,
you can still see. Thats what I wanted it
to feel like.
All of the camera teams challenges intensified in the lifeboat. The
vessel on stage had cutaways in front
and back, but these were never used.
Treated as a practical location, the
lifeboat was a tight space even without
nine or 10 people crammed into it. Dual
cameras were wedged into corners or
onto shelves, or were suspended by
bungees, and greenscreen had to be
Seized at Sea
Ackroyd
confers with
director Paul
Greengrass.
positioned exceptionally close when

rocking the craft on the gimbal.
Furthermore, seasickness struck during
the crews brief time at sea when a real
lifeboat was released into the
Mediterranean off the coast of Malta.
76
Nonetheless, according to Ackroyd, I

think what goes on in the lifeboat is
some of the most exciting footage Ive
ever shot. It has a color palette thats just
amazing: the green interior, the skin
tones, the play of light. It was just amaz-
ing to be in there.
For the final grade at Company 3
in London, all film footage was scanned
at 4K on an Arriscan. Ackroyd spent six
weeks on the color correction with
colorist Rob Pizzey, who worked on a
DaVinci Resolve. (The finalized files
were filmed out at 4K to Kodak 2254
on an Arrilaser. Company 3 created the
4K DCP, and Deluxe Laboratories in
London created the answer print.)
The color correction was laborious, according to Ackroyd. The film
had at least 2,000 edits, and they were
cut together from different moments
and sources, he says. On a film with
long, flowing tracking shots, you can
just get the grading light on one and
skip to the next. But on this project, we
had to look at each of the frames over
and over again, backwards and
forwards, relative to each other.
Matching was the biggest challenge: horizon lines, the color of the
water, the direction of boat wakes, the
time of day and the look of the sky were

all tricky factors. For example, when the
Maersk Alabama creates a huge wake in
an attempt to capsize the Somali skiff,
we had to move the white water that
trails the boat so it came toward the
Somali pirates, says post supervisor
Michael Solinger. We had to create or
take away choppy water that didnt
match. Also, when youre shooting tank
water as well as sea water, you have to
make sure they match! Some of that
was done with visual effects, and some
was done in the DI.
Because so much of the story
happens at night, often with wide shots
of multiple ships, Ackroyd determined
in prep that a mix of day-for-night,
dusk-for-night and night-for-night
would be necessary. After testing filtration during a test shoot in Agadir,
Morocco, he saw that the best result
came from shooting a straight negative
and letting the visual-effects team at
Double Negative add night skies.
Again, creating cohesion between the

various components was a big part of
the final grade.
Doing anything at sea, with all
its variables, is 10 times harder than
doing it on land, Ackroyd concludes. I
have to thank the entire camera, grip
and electrical teams, who were all great.
Sometimes Id like to put a title at the
bottom of the screen that reads, You
dont know how hard this is! But its our
job to make it look easy. You shouldnt
know how hard it is. I just want you to
believe what youre seeing.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Super 16mm, 3-perf Super 35mm
and Digital Capture
Aaton XTR Prod, Penelope;
Arricam Lite; Arri 235, 435;
GoPro; VistaVision
Zeiss Super Speed,
Angenieux Optimo, Nikon, Canon,
Leica
Fujifilm Eterna 250D 8563/8663,
500T 8573/8673
Digital Intermediate
77
Hard-Rock
Apocalypse
Cinematographer Gyula Pados, HSC

helps director Nimrd Antal mount
a conceptually ambitious concert
movie for Metallica.
By Iain Stasukevich
|
f theres one area of filmmaking where 3-D has found a

comfortable niche, its the concert film. Hugely popular acts
like U2, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry have all starred in
their own big-screen experiences designed to replicate the
thrill of attending a sold-out concert. When the hard-rocking
heavy-metal band Metallica decided to mount their own 3-D
epic, Metallica Through the Never, their goal was to make it
bigger and bolder than anything audiences had seen before:
the concert film cranked up to 11.
The bands members had previously appeared in the
78
November 2013
2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster, and they wanted to

take a more cinematic approach with their concert movie.
Producer Charlotte Huggins was brought in to help shape the
production. Topping her list of potential directors was
Nimrd Antal, who subsequently brought in cinematographer Gyula Pados, HSC.
Antal and Pados met while attending the Budapest
Film Academy in Hungary. After graduating, they collaborated on a number of commercial projects before finding
feature-film success with the dark and stylish Kontroll (AC
April 05). They reunited on the 2010 sci-fi thriller Predators,
and Through the Never marks their third feature collaboration.
I dont have any siblings, but I could call Gyula a brother,
says Antal. He complements me personally and creatively.
Hes never shy about voicing his opinion, but if hes not
understanding [what Im trying to achieve], he trusts me
enough to go for it.
Neither Pados nor Antal had experience making
concert films, so they researched their subject by attending
Metallicas rehearsal performances for the Mexico City
portion of The Full Arsenal Tour. Pados recalls, We were
Photos by Carole Segal, courtesy of Picturehouse.
Opposite page:
Fireballs frame the
members of
Metallica as they
thunder through the
song Fuel. This
page, top:
Cinematographer
Gyula Pados, HSC
worked closely with
concert lighting
designer John
Broderick to create a
variety of looks for
the bands massive
stage, which
measured 200' long
by 60' wide. The
stage was a
character in itself
a character capable
of spitting fire and
smoke and lasers,
says Pados. Bottom:
Steadicam operator
Henry Tirl moves in
for a close-up of
lead singer James
Hetfield.
stunned by the bands energy on stage,

and we wanted to translate that to the
screen. We wanted to get really close to
the band and take a more feature film
approach.
The filmmakers strove to give the
audience a chance to see the concert as
the band does: behind the drums with
Lars Ulrich, from the bridges of Kirk
Hammett and James Hetfields guitars,
or down low with Rob Trujillo as hes
doing his crab-walk across the stage.
These are the kinds of shots the band
encouraged us to do, says Antal. They
were never worried about us getting in
their way. It was always about whats
best for the film. Pados adds, It was all
about creating a close connection
between the band and their audience.
In the film, the bands performances are interwoven by a narrative
storyline that follows a young roadie
named Trip (Dane DeHaan) after hes
sent on an urgent mission during one of
Metallicas performances in front of a
sold-out arena audience. The narrative
gave us the opportunity to do something different from the norm, says the
director, who notes that this portion of
the movie was inspired by a favorite
book, Paolo Coelhos The Alchemist. As

he explains in the movies press notes,
Its about a boy who sets out in search
of treasure, only to find the treasure he
was looking for was where he started.
That kind of circular narrative has
always appealed to me.
The stage used for Through the
Never was designed specifically for the
film by British concert designer Mark
www.theasc.com
Fisher, whose previous credits included

shows for the Rolling Stones, U2 and
Lady Gaga. The 200'-long-by-60'-wide
platform was designed to be in the
round, surrounded by an audience with
a 360-degree view. It was packed with
automated pneumatics, hydraulics,
video screens, lasers, trap doors,
pyrotechnics and nearly a million
LEDs. Four hydraulic lighting towers
November 2013
79
Top: Lasers and

projected footage of
marching soldiers set
the tone as the band
performs the antiwar song One.
Bottom: In a
spectacular moment
of controlled chaos,
Damaged Justice
(a.k.a. Doris), a 35'tall statue inspired by
the cover of
Metallicas And
Justice for All album,
crumbles onstage.
Held together with a
combination of
magnets and interior
pins, the collapsing
statue sent debris
tumbling in every
direction. According
to bass player
Robert Trujillo,
Chunks of her
ended up in the
audience some
nights. A couple of
pieces almost took
out my basses.
raise and lower over the course of the

show, and at one point, four 10,000-volt
Tesla coils descend from the ceiling in a
dramatic display of lightning.
The concerts lighting was
designed by John Broderick, continuing
his 25-year collaboration with the band.
80
November 2013
He says the stage elements were

intended to salute the icons of
Metallica. The giant electric chair and
the Tesla coils are off the cover of Ride
the Lightning. The crosses are from
Master of Puppets. The Lady Justice
statue came from the Justice tour in
1988. The hydraulic towers were part of

the Load tour in 1995 and 1996. [But]
everything is bigger now than it was on
those tours!
Broderick began designing plots
for the show in early 2011. He spent
three months working alongside lighting director Rob Koenig and programmer Troy Eckerman in a warehouse on
San Franciscos Treasure Island, roughing in the shows lighting while the
stage elements were still being fabricated. When Pados was brought onto
the project in 2012, the cinematographer was thoroughly impressed with
Brodericks work. It was an incredibly
powerful lighting scheme, with something like 400 cues a minute, enthuses
Pados. He and Broderick quickly fell
into step, and soon the show was ready
for its first rehearsal in Mexico City.
Broderick and his team
programmed more than 3,500 separate
cues over the course of Metallicas entire
17-song performance; the cues incorporated approximately 300 lights, most of
them Vari-Lite 3500 washes. I dont
www.theasc.com
November 2013
81
Top: As the band

performs
Cyanide, a
wash of green
light envelops
the stage and
coffin-shaped
lighting rigs
projecting video
footage of actors
trapped inside
them descend
toward the
stage. Bottom: A
closer view of
the coffin rigs
before they are
deployed.
use hard-edged fixtures in most of my

work, he says. I like the Vari-Lite
because its a bright, powerful unit with
pure colors.
Each song in Through the Never
receives its own dramatic presentation.
Enter Sandman opens with dreamlike
sweeps of light across the audience.
During Master of Puppets, the overhead lights are turned off, save for a
82
November 2013
single Lycian 3K follow spot on singer

Hetfield and 12 blue, glowing LED
crosses that rise out of the stage. Flames
fly every which way during the bands
fiery performance of Fuel. The song
One, an anti-war number based on
Dalton Trumbos book Johnny Got His
Gun, opens with massive pyrotechnics
that simulate a terrifying battlefield,
with sweeping red flares, fireworks,
eruptions of fire and smoke, and flashing

strobes.
Broderick had already done the
work of establishing the shows color
balance and contrast, so Pados was careful to keep the lighting as designed.
However, he did fine-tune the setup so
the effects could be captured as well as
possible by his camera of choice, the
Arri Alexa. We were able to swap out
some lights and change the colors
making them warmer or cooler if
needed, says the cinematographer, who
notes that he used the Alexa M on the
shows Steadicam rigs and standard
Alexas for the rest of the rigs. The only
real concern I had was that the nature of
a live show calls for follow spots on the
band so the audience can see them
clearly. John created a wonderful atmosphere, but eliminating [some of ] the
spots really made the stage feel more
dramatic and cinematic.
Most of the time I was asking for
less light to create more depth and
contrast, continues Pados, who shot all
the performances between a T2.8 and
T5.6 at the Alexas native ISO 800.
Most of the overhead lamps were being
www.theasc.com
November 2013
83
Top: A roadie sent

on a mid-concert
errand is derailed
when he runs a
red light and his
van is struck and
flipped by an
oncoming car.
Bottom: Pados
(right) coordinates
the next setup
with gaffer David
Tickell while
shooting the
accident sequence.
used for the wide shots, but 85 percent

of a concert film is going to be tight
shots. If you have too much light, the
whole stage will get washed out.
Lighting the performance for
3-D cinematography called for all the
objects in the frame to be illuminated in
a way that would separate them from
one another. This process, says
Broderick, was a matter of subtraction:
84
November 2013
You can have a performer by himself at

one end of the arena and have almost
nothing else between him and the
farthest lighting tower he observes,
but with lights on both of those
subjects, some backlight on the audience and the rigging overhead, along
with some smoke for ambience, youll
get a great 3-D effect.
Broderick saw the multi-city tour
as an opportunity to take different

approaches to lighting the band. For
example, between Rexall Place in
Edmonton, British Columbia, and
Rogers Arena in Vancouver, the
arrangement of the lights largely
remained the same, but their intensities
were varied depending on where the
cameras were placed.
Similarly, Pados took advantage
of the multiple performances to stagger
his camera placements. His goal in
Edmonton was to focus primarily on
the audience. We started further back
with all of the wide shots on the first
day, he recalls. We didnt want any
cameras on the stage so we could get
clean shots [looking toward] the band.
The next day we moved the cameras
closer, and the day after that we moved
right up to the stage for the close-ups.
Because Through the Never was
their first 3-D project, Pados and Antal
turned to the experts at Cameron Pace
Group to familiarize them with the
minutiae of the process. CPG co-chairman Vince Pace, ASC joined the
production as stereographer for the
concert portions of the production.
Format is a secondary matter when
constructing a film, says Antal. Im

completely aware of 3-Ds capabilities,
particularly in emotionally enhancing
the material, but I still approach the
construction of a scene with classical
film language in mind. The potential
limitations of the medium did nothing
to change the course of how I would
have otherwise made the film.
Pados and Antal used Arri Alexas
in 10 CPG Fusion rigs to cover the show
on dollies, Technocranes, Steadicams
and a swooping NavCam. Two 50'
Technocrane rigs were each equipped
with a pair of Angenieux Optimo 1780mm T2.2 zoom lenses, while the
other systems used pairs of Optimo 1540mm T2.6 zooms. (Additionally, a
miniature CPG BlakeCam and a
Fusion rig with Sony HDC-F950
brains behind a beam-splitter were
mounted to Ulrichs rotating drum platform.) For getting really close and
personal during the show, we were
always in the 25mm to 40mm range,
says Pados, adding, The BlakeCam is a
prototype camera about the size of a
cigarette pack that James Cameron
developed to use on his underwater
missions.
In building his camera crew,
Pados sought operators with experience
not only in concert films and 3-D, but
feature films as well, so they would have
that dramatic eye, he relates. When I
first met with them, I said, Every shot is
a feature-film shot.
Pados search led him to employ
A-camera/Steadicam operator Henry
Tirl, as well as cinematographers
Mitchell Amundsen and Rodney Taylor,
ASC. Taylors cinematography credits
include a number of Imax documentaries (including Alaska: Spirit of the
Wild), narrative feature films (That
Evening Sun) and 3-D concert experiences (Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus:
Best of Both Worlds, a credit shared with
Amundsen). Operating on this film was
a cinematographers job, Pados explains.
Before each nights performance,
Pados gathered the operators to discuss
ideal compositions and camera moves,
but for two hours they had to provide
Top: After emerging

from the wrecked
vehicle, the roadie,
Trip (Dane DeHaan),
makes his way down
an ominously
deserted street.
Middle: Blocks later,
Trip finds himself
caught in the middle
of a violent
confrontation
between rioters and
police. Bottom: A
mounted
executioner,
modeled after Frank
Frazettas Death
Dealer paintings,
gallops into the fray.
www.theasc.com
November 2013
85
During the song Master of Puppets, illuminated crosses emerge from the Swiss Army knife of stages, as Hetfield dubbed the
versatile performance platform.
their own shots, he says. These are

noisy, fast-paced concerts. Its difficult
to communicate in the moment, so its
not like I was always on the intercom
telling them what to do.
Nevertheless, Pados and Antal
would feed instructions to the operators
via headset from a mission control
room set up elsewhere in the arena
complex. The camera blocking was
based around the stage and lighting
design for each song; one number might
get heavy Steadicam coverage, but the
next one might include heavy pyrotechnics on the stage, requiring the cameras
to pull back. What initially seemed like
a limitation for us actually turned out to
be quite a gift because each song,
through whatever limitations the stage
antics presented, ultimately led to a
unique visual language for that scene,
says Antal.
It was helpful to hear ahead of
time what Gyula and Nim were looking
for, because then you can start thinking
about how to shape your approach, says
86
November 2013
Taylor. They wanted to draw the audience in by developing each shot and
letting them go longer, as opposed to
cutting between them. Its not to say
that you cant cut quickly with 3-D,
because you can, but to me its better to
let the shot evolve through camera
movement.
Theres a lot of choreography
going on in terms of the staging and
what the band is doing, but its not like
the Hannah Montana shows where
each one was exactly the same, Taylor
continues. A Metallica show is all about
how they interact with the audience, so
you have to be able to react to the band
and still keep in mind the shots you
were asked to provide.
Taylor operated one of the
concerts two 50' Technocranes in
Vancouver, with the help of two technicians (one for swinging and one for telescoping the arm) and a camera assistant
(Terry McEwen, pulling focus and
zooming). The communication of
verbal and nonverbal signals amongst
the crew was critical, but you dont have

time to describe every kind of movement, so I encouraged my crane operators and assistant to start feeling the
music, says Taylor. Telling them
exactly what Im looking for works, but
it all works better when everyone is just
feeling it.
Because verbal communication
between camera teams wasnt always
possible, Taylor had to remain
cognizant of where the other cameras
were and stay out of their shots while
finding a complementary frame. If I
saw that Mitchs crane was up high,
then Id go lower, he says. We wanted
to give the editors more choices.
The two 50' Technocranes were
equipped with the Optimo 17-80mm
lenses, which aided in their ability to
stay back and out of the other cameras
way, although Pados encouraged Taylor
and Amundsen to stay within the 2740mm focal range and move the
cameras closer to the stage rather than
zoom in from afar. We got really close
sometimes two or three feet from the

performers! Taylor remarks. 3-D
works so much better with a wide focal
length. On a telephoto lens you end up
with this cardboard cutout effect and
the depth isnt nearly as powerful.
Taylor explains that all of the
operators used 2-D monitors, but your
experience is telling you what works,
what doesnt and what the image will
finally look like in 3-D. You want to
keep objects from intruding on the edge
of the frame because that can hurt the
audiences eyes or force the object to
become the screen plane, which may
not work for the shot.
All of the cameras were cabled
back to mission command, where Pace
monitored the 3-D image from a CPG
Shadow Controller and used the intercom to call for operator adjustments.
Pace describes mission control,
designed by CPG 3-D engineer Bruno
Brunelle, as the place where everything
comes together: Its a broadcast truck
without wheels.
Brunelle observed the operational integrity of all 20 cameras from a
single-screen multiviewer, after which
their signal integrity was vetted, and
Each of the flying coffin rigs, inspired by the bands Death Magnetic album artwork,
weighed 5,000 pounds. Here they help to create different looks for the songs
Enter Sandman (top) and Cyanide.
their images were then laid to SR tape in

10-bit Log C 444. (All of the Alexas
recorded HD ProRes to SxS cards, and
some of the cameras also recorded in 12bit ArriRaw to Codex recorders.)
Each Fusion system was also
monitored for stereo integrity. Fusion
www.theasc.com
technology uses dynamic convergence

and interocular control based on the
position of the camera, Pace describes.
Its like what your own eyes do when
you approach an object. That helps
make the viewers experience feel more
real.
November 2013
87
Top: A volley of
flare effects is
launched from
the stage.
Bottom: Pados
inspects a
setup.
With Pados and Antals feedback, Pace instructed a 10-person team

of convergence-pullers sitting
nearby with individual monitors that
displayed the convergence offsets in
2-D on the proper rig adjustments.
Im thinking about the editorial, says
Pace. When a camera hands off its
tight close-up of one of the band
members to a sweeping Technocrane
shot, its our job to make sure that those
88
November 2013
two stereo settings are complementary

to each other.
A FotoKem nextLAB system
was also present on set for media
management and data workflow, but
Pados wanted to keep things simple.
We viewed the image in Rec 709 color
space, with the color softened a little
bit, he notes. I wanted to be sure I
could still get normal skin tones. Its
different when everythings under
control and you can grade it on set, but

for the concerts it was better to aim for
the middle and do all of our color
adjustments with the lighting.
The narrative sequences in
Metallica Through the Never follow one
of the bands roadies, Trip (Dane
DeHaan), as hes dispatched to recover a
mysterious item.
Most of these segments were shot
in downtown Vancouver just a few days
after the productions final concert dates.
(Taylor photographed a few pickups
some months later in Newark, N.J., with
the help of ASC member Declan
Quinns commercial lighting and grip
crew.) The 10-day shoot included car
crashes (shot practically and on a greenscreen stage), a violent clash between
rioters and police, grisly tableaus, pyro
stunts, and an epic standoff between
Trip and a fearsome, masked executioner on horseback (inspired by Frank
Frazettas Death Dealer paintings), totaling about 40 minutes of screen time.
Antal prefers to shoot quickly and
get as much camera coverage as possible,
but that approach created a challenge for
Pados. My biggest concern was

whether we could get 30 shots a day
with our 3-D rigs, the cinematographer
submits. When you have to change a
lens, you have to unplug everything and
then plug back in and recalibrate, so by
the end of the day youve probably lost
an entire hour.
His solution was to keep four 3-D
Alexa rigs on standby: one configured
for handheld or studio mode, one for
Steadicam work, one for studio mode
only, and one on the Technocrane rig.
The Technocrane rig was equipped with
Optimo 17-80mm T2.2 zooms, while
the others had Optimo 15-40mm T2.6
zooms attached. On the streets we had
a 200' radius to work within, Pados
explains, so we cabled the rigs with
enough line that we didnt need to
change anything, other than deciding
which rig we were going to use. By the
third day we were going as fast as we
would with a 35mm camera.
Trips virtually dialogue-free journey allowed the filmmakers to build
maximum emotional impact by pairing
the narrative images with the music
bleeding in from the bands performance. We didnt want to step on the
concert with sound effects or dialogue,
Antal explains. We were constantly
asking ourselves, Should the narrative
influence or be influenced by the
concert? I dont want to mislead you and
say it was something we were able to
completely work out in preproduction;
quite a bit of [that balance] was worked
out in the editing.
Pados also had to develop a strategy for lighting vast swaths of downtown Vancouver at night. Taking into
account the 1-stop compensation
required by the 3-D rigs beam splitters,
he and Vancouver-based gaffer Dave
Tickell found themselves augmenting
their locations more than they originally
expected. The narrative path is on the
borderline of real and surreal, Pados
observes. We wanted those sequences
to feel real, but we also tried to elevate
them through color and lighting. To
create a link between the performance
and the narrative, we used a lot of green89
The shows 3-D imagery was monitored from a mission-control room designed by Cameron Pace Group
3-D engineer Bruno Brunelle.
ish-blue and orange in our streetlights.

In a couple of places we had to match
the direction and quality of the lighting,
like when we cut from an interior tracking shot at the concert, moving through
the audience and up to the stage, to an
exterior tracking shot of the Death
Dealer on his horse.
Metallica plays a lot of fast and
powerful songs, so I knew we were
going to have a fast and powerful
soundtrack that would dictate the
montage, Antal adds. But this led to a
concern about fatiguing the viewer.
The filmmakers addressed this by
applying subtle color ramps during
grading sessions at FotoKem with
colorist John Daro, whose credits
include 3-D concert films for Miley
Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers and Katy
Perry. After a lot of experimentation in
the edit, all of our concerns were alleviated, Antal says.
A 16-bit SGO Mistika Post
allowed Daro to work in real-time 3-D
with the different types of media in
their native resolutions and file formats.
(The film was rendered out in 2K
Scope for wide theatrical release, and
Imax used its DMR blow-up process to
create 4K deliverables for the largeformat presentation.)
Because he was grading the entire
90
November 2013
film in 3-D, Daros first task was a technical pass at the stereo balance, just to
make it easy on the eyeballs, he says.
Adjustments were made to correct for
warping along the edge of the image
due to lens distortion, or misaligned
cameras due to convergence problems.
Theres a level of trust between Vince
and me, and hes okay with whatever
Im going to do to his footage, says
Daro, who takes a do no harm
approach to working with stereoscopic
imagery. As we get more visual effects
and the film starts to fill out, you can
make depth passes to push certain
moments and let the audience rest at
others.
Daro notes that his approach to
coloring a concert film differs from his
work on a narrative feature. With a
normal theatrical film you take it reelby-reel, whereas with a concert film its
song-by-song. At the very end, you take
it in as a whole feature.
Small differences in color
usually green and magenta between
two cameras in a stereo rig were
resolved in the Mistika using an optical
flow technique that gives a pixel in a
given frame a certain value and creates a
vector between it and the corresponding pixel in another frame (or stereo
camera eye). The result is a vector map
that can be used to map colors, interpolate new frames or even generate a new
stereo eye. (This last technique was used
to dimensionalize the NavCam stereo
footage.) According to Daro, the optical
flow technique was also used for creative
reasons, to adjust interaxial disparity in
the post process.
Pados and Antal made their color
decisions with the strategy of preserving
the concerts dramatic lighting while
enhancing its overall effect. As an
example, Daro points to the performance of Cyanide, which has this
green-yellow kind of lighting, so we
enhanced the greens to make it feel
really poisonous. The general approach
we took was based on the question,
What is Metallica? Theyre dark and
heavy, so we tried to keep the blacks
thick and everything else punched up
and strong, with good contrast.
Rather than staying out of the
bands way, Pados and Antal got up in
Metallicas faces and captured the
essence of what makes their performances worthy of the 3-D concert
experience. Their passion and strength
is performing, and to see the energy and
showmanship they bring to each
concert is a mystical thing, marvels
Antal. Im grateful we were able to
capture it.
It was definitely a challenge,
Pados adds, but I loved every moment
of it.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa, Sony HDC-F950,
Cameron Pace Group BlakeCam
Angenieux Optimo
AC applauds this years

Emmy-nominated
cinematographers.
By Julie Sickel
|
Television
Triumphs
he cinematography honors at this years Emmy Awards

went to Christian La Fountaine, for the multi-camera
series How I Met Your Mother; Eigil Bryld, DFF, for the
single-camera series House of Cards; Adam Arkapaw, for
the miniseries Top of the Lake; Morgan Fallon, Zach Zamboni
and Todd Liebler, for the nonfiction series Anthony Bourdain:
Parts Unknown; and the cinematography team on the reality
series Deadliest Catch.
La Fountaine, a double nominee who was also recognized in the same category for his work on 2 Broke Girls, recalls
that the script for The Final Page (Part 2), the winning
episode of How I Met Your Mother, was beautifully written
and filled with so many opportunities to create some really
memorable moments, including Barney professing his love for
Robin and popping the question on the rooftop at night as a
light snow started to fall, and Ted and Robin in a limo,
expressing their feelings for one another.
In my first meetings with our director/executive
producer, Pam Fryman, nine years ago, she emphasized that
she wanted our show to look as romantic as possible, and she
didnt want me to be afraid to push the limits with my lighting, continues La Fountaine. In this episode in particular, the
story lent itself to that kind of imagery. We had 15 different
sets or locations and a heavy load of setups, but, as always, our
crew stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park.
Bryld expresses a great deal of pride in his Emmy win
for the Chapter 1 episode of House of Cards, which he
describes as a series that takes place essentially in offices and
corridors. In a Feb. 13 interview with AC, he described

spending several weeks of prep with executive
producer/episode director David Fincher to design a very
specific visual aesthetic for the series. Among the ground rules
were no Steadicam shots, no handheld shots and no zoom
lenses.
The team shot in a slightly cropped 2:1 aspect ratio with
two Red Epics and Arri Master Primes. For lighting, we
often used laptop screens and practical fixtures as sources, said
Bryld. We were on our toes all the time, trying to find the
light.
Arkapaw recalls that during prep for the seven-episode
miniseries Top of the Lake, he and directors Jane Campion and
Garth Davis didnt really watch other films. Instead, we had
a lot of roundtable discussions with Fiona Crombie, the
production designer, in order to find the ideology of the
aesthetics. We wanted to get the tone right. We didnt want it
to be too dark and heavy feeling, but we still wanted a sense of
mysticism and magic. From there, [the evolution of the look]
was a pretty organic process.
The filmmakers chose Arri Alexas, Arri Master Primes
and Angenieux zoom lenses. Film wasnt an option for
budgetary reasons, and at the time, the Alexa was the best
option to achieve a naturally beautiful look, Arkapaw notes.
The Australia-based cinematographer adds that
winning the Emmy was a nice little shot in the arm. Being
recognized by one of the most recognizable awards institutions was a lovely surprise.
Left: Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw with Top of the Lake creator/director Jane Campion. Middle: Chris La Fountaine (right) with brother and camera
operator George La Fountaine Jr. on the set of How I Met Your Mother. Right: Eigil Bryld, DFF accepts his Emmy for House of Cards.
92
November 2013
Top: Executive producer Chris Collins (right) and cinematographers Zach Zamboni and Todd
Liebler from Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Middle: The cinematography team from
Deadliest Catch. Bottom: Cameron Glendenning accepts the statue for the Deadliest Catch team.
Outstanding Cinematography,
Single-Camera Series
Outstanding Cinematography For

Nonfiction Programming
Bill Coleman
Boardwalk Empire, Margate
Sands, HBO
Michael Slovis, ASC
Breaking Bad, Gliding Over
All, AMC
Rob McLachlan, ASC, CSC
Game of Thrones, Mhysa, HBO
Nelson Cragg
Homeland, Beirut Is Back,
Showtime
Eigil Bryld, DFF*
House of Cards, Chapter 1,
Netflix
Following is a complete list of
Emmy nominees (*denotes winner):

Outstanding Cinematography,
Multi-Camera Series
Christian La Fountaine
2 Broke Girls, And The Psychic
Shakedown, CBS
Christian La Fountaine*
How I Met Your Mother, The
Final Page (Part 2), CBS
Gary Baum
Mike & Molly, Mollys
Birthday, CBS
George Mooradian, ASC
The Exes, Pirates of The Care
of Eden, TV Land
Steven V. Silver, ASC
Two And a Half Men, Grab a
Feather and Get In Line, CBS
94
November 2013
Christopher Manley, ASC

Mad Men, The Doorway,
AMC
Todd Liebler, Zach Zamboni,

Morgan Fallon*
Anthony Bourdain: Parts
Unknown, Myanmar, CNN
Buddy Squires
Ethel, HBO
Frank-Peter Lehmann,
Erich Roland
Manhunt: The Inside Story of the
Hunt for Bin Laden, HBO
Lisa Rinzler
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the
House of God, HBO
Richard V. Lopez
The Men Who Built America, A
New War Begins, History

Outstanding Cinematography For
Reality Programming

Outstanding Cinematography
for a Miniseries or Movie
Michael Goi, ASC
American Horror Story: Asylum, I
Am Anne Frank (Part 2), FX
Peter Andrews
Behind the Candelabra, HBO
Mike Eley, BSC
Parades End, Part 5, HBO
John Pardue
The Girl, HBO
Adam Arkapaw*
Top of the Lake, Part 1,
Sundance Channel
Cinematography Team*
Deadliest Catch, Mutiny on the
Bering Sea, Discovery Channel
Gustavo Dominguez
Project Runway, A Times
Square Anniversary Party,
Lifetime
Cinematography Team
Survivor, Create A Little
Chaos, CBS
Cinematography Team
The Amazing Race, Be Safe and
Dont Hit a Cow, CBS
Ari Boles
Top Chef, Glacial Gourmand,
Bravo
The highly anticipated

10th Edition of the
American Cinematographer Manual
is now available!
Known as the lmmakers bible for several
generations, this invaluable resource is more
comprehensive than ever moving into digital
image capture. The 10th AC Manual was edited
by Michael Goi, ASC, a former president of the
Society. He is a key speaker on technology
and the history of cinema.
Completely re-imagined to reect the
sweeping technological changes our
industry has experienced since the
last edition, the 10th AC Manual is
vibrant and essential reading, as well
as an invaluable eld resource. Subjects
include:
6" x 9", Full Color

Hardbound edition 998 pages
Two-Volume Paperback
Volume One 500 pages
Volume Two 566 pages
iPad ebook
Kindle ebook
www.theasc.com
Digital capture and workow terminology

The explosion of prosumer cameras in
professional use
Previsualization
3-D capture
LED lighting
The Academy Color Encoding Specication
(ACES)
Digital camera prep
and more!
The AC Manual is available in a hardbound
edition, iPad and Kindle editions, and a twovolume print-on-demand paperback.
Filmmakers Forum
My Year in the Tadpole Trenches

By John Bailey, ASC
At first, I thought of 2012 as The Year of My Alexa Hat

Trick. By early August, I had photographed three movies back-toback, all with the Arri Alexa and all at ProRes, a decision necessitated
by the limited production budgets. However, just as I was settling in
for a quiet late-summer harvest of my wifes home garden, I got a
phone call from a friend, director/writer Phil Alden Robinson. He was
prepping a film starring Robin Williams, Mila Kunis, Melissa Leo and
Hamish Linklater titled The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, and the cinematographer with whom he often worked had fallen out. Would I
be interested? Shooting began in a month.
Ive photographed about 20 films in New York City, and Carol
and I have had an apartment near Lincoln Center for 30 years. I had
hardly shot anything in the borough of Brooklyn since Brighton
Beach Memoirs (1985), and certainly not in the newly ber-hip
enclaves of DUMBO and Williamsburg. When we wrapped The
Angriest Man in Brooklyn with a mid-October, nighttime epilogue
scene on a cruise boat in the East River, with the skyscraper lights of
Lower Manhattan as background, I had completed my fourth film for
the year. A celebration was in order. It was a personal best, but it
didnt compare to the six or seven pictures per year of John Alton,
ASC or Gabriel Figueroa in their heyday of the 1940s.
From the 1970s until about a decade ago, many studio
features had shooting schedules of 40-50 days. Typical budgets for
these rom-coms, dramas and non-VFX action movies came in at
$20-30 million; it was the routine fare released on thousands of
screens every Friday. The budget for the occasional star-studded
event film topped $60 million, but it was still a few decades before
behemoth franchises, reboots, zombie/vampire, graphic novel/superhero, bloated leviathans swept credible, character-driven movies off
the summertime screens. The industry trades proudly proclaim these
beasts tentpoles. The movies I photographed last year are what
96
November 2013
producer Lynda Obst calls tadpoles in her new book, Sleepless in

Hollywood.
So, last year I photographed four tadpoles. The union
contracts designate them Tier 1, 2 or 3 pictures, with slightly escalating budgets a fraction of that of studio features in decades
past. I read recently that the reshoot for the new ending of World
War Z cost $20 million. The combined budget of all four of my
tadpoles fell short of that amount.
The guidelines behind much of todays filmmaking revolve
around the roulette wheel of what I call Casino Cinema. Tentpoles
are not made with the expectation of a low house return like, say,
Craps or 21. Theyre high-risk gambles, a movie embodiment of the
shell game that brought down the investment banks of Wall Street.
Even with the mixed box-office grosses from these summer tentpoles, its likely that studio-marketing divisions will continue to place
their bets on the $100-million-plus line, a venture that would be
arguable if these films were part of a varied release package. But
there is little appetite for a balanced cinematic diet. The films I
photographed last year were all independently financed; none had
a pre-shoot distribution deal. Two of them, The Way Way Back and
A.C.O.D., were accepted to Sundance; since then, both attained
distribution by the art-house divisions of major studios. Of the
other two films, the drag-racing feature Snake and Mongoose had
indie distribution in September, and The Angriest Man in Brooklyn is
slated for a spring 2014 release. A decade ago, all four of these
features likely would have appeared on a major studios release
schedule.
According to Obst, the ground began shifting beneath filmmakers feet even before the millennium arrived. Since my days as a
camera assistant in 1970, I have watched a slow erosion of the fertile
topsoil. That was the beginning of an anomalous decade of renegade movies reacting to Vietnam and to the cynicism and malaise of
the Nixon era, and there was an eager audience for those offbeat,
outsider films. At the time, no one realized it was also the last hurrah
Photos courtesy of Entertainment Universe.
The author (left photo) on the set of the indie drag-racing feature Snake and Mongoose.
of the century of cinema, when the studios

were committed to releasing varied films.
Within a few years, a succession of blockbusters (now deemed tentpoles) would
command most screens in the newly built
multiplexes, screens that filmmakers naively
expected would be available for all films.
Trying to claw through the diminishing
exhibition opportunities for tadpole movies
today is, fortunately, not my job. But exploring how to photograph them with the same
production values expected of any mainstream movie is, and its a challenge as well as
an opportunity. Well, the challenge is obvious, but where is the opportunity?
In recent blogs on the ASC website
(theasc.com), I have written about the cinematography of two distinctly different but
highly original camera artists: Alton and
Figueroa. Both worked under conditions
familiar to todays indie cinematographers:
painfully short schedules, small equipment
packages and undermanned crews. Today,
after decades of working in the world of
generous studio schedules and budgets, I
find myself more and more in league with
these cinema outliers.
Theres a temptation to view the socalled democratization of filmmaking
embodied by small digital cameras as a
tipping point as a seismic realignment that
is restructuring movies or to think that
high-resolution video games are somehow
redefining the processing of images in our
brains. Prominent neurologists such as Oliver
Sacks are exploring the cerebral consequences of what Matthias Stork calls chaos
cinema. My own feeling is that we cinematographers are too close to the front lines
to evaluate much of this right now. Were in
the trenches, below the horizon. More than
ever before, I feel a new urgency with each
film to jump out into the fray, dodge the
incoming flak, scurry under the wire and
move forward simply to survive. The battle
metaphor might seem overwrought, but it is
more apt than ever. Theres something exciting about this perspective; it throws me back
to my film-school years, to the struggle to
gain any foothold in the industry. Ive been
working with emerging and first-time directors more than ever, even as Ive seen many
gifted veteran directors struggle to get a
favorite script in front of the camera.
The ongoing challenge is to find ways
98
November 2013
to integrate the set experience that has

served me, along with an open-ended
approach to every new film. It is this
approach that Truffaut and Godard spoke
of half a century ago, when they were
rewriting the rules of filmmaking, severing
the platitudes of the tradition of quality
that were stultifying French cinema at the
time. In the BBC documentary The Camera
That Changed the World, Raoul Coutard
declares that he never considered himself a
film artist because he spent most of his
youth photographing movies with directors
that didnt really know how to make
movies movies that have since become
iconic.
People often ask me about technique and equipment. Do I still use tungsten lights, or only Kino Flos and LEDs?
When shooting digitally, do I do on-set
color management or use a single LUT, or
simply default my setting to Rec 709? How
do I work with a colorist? How do I choose
a camera? ProRes or Raw? My answers are
simple: I work with what is available in the
budget. There are few rules in this new era,
but one is that its irresponsible to carry a
truck full of gear you will seldom, if ever,
use. I remember two lighting lessons from
my earliest days in 16mm features. One
was lighting a large Catholic church with
only six Babies. The other was lighting a
night exterior at a remote mountain hot
spring with a Coleman lantern and two
flashlights. (It was a half-hour trek in, and
our only other equipment was an clair
NPR, two rolls of film, a Nagra and tape.)
The Way Way Back and the three
other tadpoles I shot last year were not
gonzo, run-and-gun films. They all feature
accomplished actors and aspire to the spitand-polish look todays audience expects of
commercial movies. (Its an audience way
too savvy about filmmaking techniques,
and way too eager to render its opinions in
the bubble of the focus group.)
In the 35mm-film era, cinematographers spent our time on set, planted next to
the camera operator and director. That intimacy with the actors began to erode with
the introduction of video monitors, which
quickly spawned an entire video village.
Today, operators and assistants tell me they
see the cinematographer vanish into the
video tent in the morning and emerge at
lunch. Is it any wonder that in this environment, the cinematographers primacy is eroding? When the cinematographer is absent
from the set, the camera crew can find itself
working more and more in the English tradition, with the camera operator setting up
shots with the director as the cinematographers voice booms from the tent like the
Wizard of Oz. Its true, there is a venerable
tradition in that system; its easy to reel off a
list of gifted British lighting cameramen.
But its not how most American cinematographers work. Regardless of schedule or
budget, it is the cinematographers ongoing
dialogue with the director, scene to scene,
shot to shot, that lies at the heart of the classic American system. The DITs tent can
become an unexpected impediment to that
communication. And, with monitors everywhere on the set, the cinematographer is
easily second-guessed, and his function as a
principal partner of the director is also dissipated.
On the exhibition and viewing level,
we are asking the question, What is a
movie? The venerable Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences is also facing this
question. The lines between cinema and television are blurring because of the dramatic
formats of cable series such as Breaking Bad,
The Newsroom and Boardwalk Empire,
shows that explore a range of plot and character over the course of a season, with
dramatic arcs that are not possible in a traditional feature film. The feature-film look in
cinematography, design and editing is very
present in these programs.
Its an exciting and a scary time. Job
categories and even careers are being redefined, and its the tadpole movies that are
doing it. For todays indie cinematographer,
the demands of low-budget filmmaking are
akin to walking a tightrope without the time
to set up a safety net. Thinking on your feet is
a critical skill; you must be able to quickly
abandon preconceived plans you might have
worked out with the director and adjust to
the unexpected. God knows, there are lots of
ways for a scene to spin off the wheels, and
on indie productions there is often no time to
right the wreckage you just have to clear
away the mess and restart. Sometimes it is the
unexpected, impromptu response to a problem that creates a better scene. And isnt that
the ongoing magic of making movies?
New Products & Services

Arri Unveils Amira
Arri has introduced the Amira, a versatile, documentary-style
camera with an ergonomic design optimized for single-operator use
and extended shoulder-mounted operation. Ready to pick up and
shoot straight out of the camera bag, the Amira can record at up to
200 fps and features in-camera grading with preloaded looks based
on 3-D LUTs.
The Amira features the same sensor and image quality as the
Arri Alexa, recording HD 1080 or 2K pictures suitable for any distribution format. The camera records Rec 709 or Log C images using
ProRes LT, 422, 422HQ or 444 codecs. By recording to in-camera
CFast 2.0 flash memory cards with super-quick data rates, the route
into postproduction is made as simple as possible. The camera also
boasts a dynamic range of more than 14 stops, low noise levels,
subtle highlight handling and natural color rendering.
Integrated, motorized ND filters as well as zebra and falsecolor tools aid exposure control, while an advanced peaking function makes accurate focusing easy and fast. Access to switches and
configurable user buttons is quick and intuitive. An innovative multiviewfinder combines a high-resolution OLED eyepiece with a foldaway LCD monitor that displays a live image when the eyepiece is
not in use and also provides full access to camera functions without
having to remove the camera from the operators shoulder. Flexible
multi-channel audio options are accessed from the camera-right
side, minimizing disturbance to the operator.
The Amira camera system is designed to be a safe, long-term
investment built to withstand the rigors of life on a professional set.
A solid internal skeleton guarantees camera and lens stability, sealed
electronics provide protection against humidity and dust, and an
integrated thermal core enables highly efficient cooling.
For additional information, visit www.arri.com.
Kodak Emerges from Bankruptcy
Antonio M. Perez, Kodak chairman and chief executive officer, has announced the companys emergence from Chapter 11 as
a reorganized company, following completion of the final steps in
the restructuring process.
100
November 2013
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to
[email protected] and include full contact
information and product images. Photos must be
TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.
We have emerged as a technology company serving imaging for business markets, including packaging, functional printing,
graphic communications and professional services, says Perez. We
have been revitalized by our transformation and restructured to
become a formidable competitor leaner, with a strong capital
structure, a healthy balance sheet and the industrys best technology.
Andrew Evenski, president, Entertainment & Commercial
Films, Kodak, adds, The motion picture film business will continue
to be part of the companys future. We are manufacturing film,
weve inked contracts with six studios, labs around the world are
dedicated to quality service and, most importantly, filmmakers are
choosing film. Kodaks Entertainment Imaging represents a stable
and profitable division of the company. Moving forward, I am confident in our ongoing ability to provide value to the motion picture
and television industries, which have been our honor to serve for so
many years. We are grateful to our customers and partners for
standing by Kodak throughout this process.
For additional information, visit www.kodak.com.
Glidecam Offers Stability
Glidecam Industries, Inc. has introduced the Glidecam X-20
Professional Camera Stabilization System. The professional, affordable, dual-articulating body-mounted stabilization system is
designed for film and video cameras weighing up to 20 pounds. The
X-20 System incorporates advanced engineering and precision
machining, and the complete system comprises a Vest, Support Arm
and Sled.
The X-20 Support Vest is lightweight and comfortable, and
can be adjusted to fit a wide range of operators. High endurance,
dual density, EVA foam padding and integral T6 aluminum alloy
allow the Vest to hold and evenly distribute the weight of the system
across the operators shoulders, back and hips. For safety, quickrelease high-impact buckles allow the Vest to be removed quickly.
The Vests outer shell is made of 1000 denier cordura fabric and
seven-panel seat-belt strapping. The Vest also incorporates a proprietary Arm-to-Vest Connector that allows the Support Arm to be
attached and removed from the Vest without affecting the operators trim settings.
The X-20s Dyna-Elastic Dual-Articulating Support Arm incorporates precision radial bearings and needle roller bearings within its
machined T6 aluminum structure. The placement and implementation of these bearings produce minimal friction and allow the DynaElastic Support Arm to pivot and boom smoothly, with virtually no
noise.
The systems Sled incorporates sophisticated engineering and
precision machining to make it lightweight and strong. The precision, x-y-adjustable head assembly features a drop-in style dovetail
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camera plate for quick front-to-back

balance; ergonomic fine-tuning knobs
control front-to-back and side-to-side
balance adjustments. The Sled also features
a no-tools Telescoping Center Post that
allows users to easily adjust the Sled length
and position of the LCD and battery. The X20 base platform can be set up with one
Anton/Bauer or V-Mount-style battery.
Glidecam has also introduced the
iGlide Hand-Held Camera Stabilizer, which
is designed for use with a GoPro, iPhone or
other lightweight camera. By utilizing small
counterweight discs, the iGlide eliminates
undesirable motions, leaving the operator
free to pan, tilt, boom or run with the
camera. Manufactured from lightweight
aircraft aluminum, the iGlide is available in
four different color finishes: orange, green,
blue or black.
Glidecam products are manufactured in the U.S. The X-20 Stabilization
System is available for $5,900, and the
iGlide is available for $149. For more information, visit www.glidecam.com.
Band Pro Opens Atlanta Location
Band Pro Film & Digital, Inc. has
announced the opening of Band Pro South.
Based in Atlanta, Ga., the facility will be
overseen by broadcast professional and
longtime Atlanta resident Phillip Ghee
(pictured, next page).
Ghees professional experience
includes working as a news photographer
and cameraman for WAGA, CBS, NBC, PBS
and a wide range of communication outlets
from around the world for more than 20
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years. Additionally, Ghee managed Black

Entertainment Televisions Los Angelesbased production facility and oversaw his
own Atlanta-based production house, PG-3
Productions. Ghees understanding of new
and emerging technology includes 4K
cameras and workflows, as well as HD,
standard definition and online streaming
video production.
Phillips work in the industry is
extensive, and the knowledge he brings to
Band Pro South is a great asset, says ASC
associate Amnon Ban, president and CEO
of Band Pro.
Bolstering Band Pros coast-to-coast
presence, Band Pro South was created in
response to the growing cinematography
needs of Georgia and the South as a whole.
The facility stands poised as a key partner
for the local production community and will
act as a connected link between the existing Burbank and New York offices.
Band Pros full line of product offerings from manufacturers including Sony,
Canon, Red, Leica, Fujinon, Codex, Leader
and MovCam will be available through
the Atlanta office. As with Band Pros other
offices worldwide, Band Pro South will
actively foster hands-on learning opportunities through local training events.
Band Pro South, 100 Hartsfield
Center Parkway, Suite 508, Atlanta, Ga.
30354. For additional information, visit
www.bandpro.com.
Assimilate Adds Subscriptions,
Offers Free Scratch Play
Assimilate, a provider of dailies and
postproduction tools for digital cinema and
broadcast workflows, has introduced an
annual subscription option for both Scratch
and Scratch Lab software. The subscription
is ideal for DI artists and on-set profession102
November 2013
als who need daily access to Scratch or

Scratch Lab, and who want the ability to
annually license the latest software version
with the newest features.
Assimilate also continues to offer
rental options for periods as little as one
day or as long as one month, as well as
permanent license purchases and a sitelicense program. Weve learned from
listening to our dailies and post artists that
the realities of their businesses have
changed, says Steve Bannerman, vice
president of marketing at Assimilate. Not
only are budgets tighter, but work ebbs
and flows. Today, the way artists and facilities pay for their tools has become just as
important as how much they pay, or even
what features they get. Our array of flexible options combine the best of both
worlds: incredible affordability, with the
flexibility of knowing that you can turn the
licenses on and off, if and when you need
to, or own an asset if you prefer. From a
one-day rental to a worldwide site license,
Scratch and Scratch Lab purchase options
are designed to fit the new way artists
work, making them more productive and
helping them make more money.
Assimilate has also launched
Scratch Play, a comprehensive, no-cost
media player. Scratch Play supports camera
raw footage from Red, Arri, Sony and
Canon; common visual-effects and editorial formats such as MXF, DPX, OpenEXR
and ProRes; and commonly encountered
Web files such as QuickTime, WMV and
MP4. Scratch Play also features Assimilates
Construct media-management timeline,
versatile color grading based on the ASC
CDL standard, and robust metadatahandling capabilities.
The annual subscription for Scratch
and Scratch Lab is available through the
Assimilate Store for $5,000 per year and
$995 per year, respectively, and includes all
software updates, maintenance and
support during the activation period. The
ad-supported version of Scratch Play is
completely free; Scratch Play Premium,
which offers the same feature set without
the ads, can be downloaded for $5.00.
For additional information, visit
www.assimilateinc.com.
Gamma & Density Goes Mobile

Gamma & Density Co. has introduced ExpressColor, a mobile color-correction tool for the iPhone and iPad. The app
answers the demand for an easy-to-understand, high-performance handheld tool
that allows for fast look-creation and effective communication.
ExpressColor allows users to import
a still frame from the original footage,
grade it on the iPhone with color wheels
and preset looks, and export the graded still

along with a LUT or ASC CDL file, sending
it to post or the DIT via email or Dropbox.
With the help of ExpressColors calibration
utility, the iPhone or iPads screen can be
internally calibrated for accurate display of
Rec 709 imagery.
The app features lift/gamma/gain
color wheels with density sliders for the ultimate control over color and brightness.
Exposure changes are shown as f-stops.
ExpressColor also comes with hundreds of
preset looks that can be applied to any
image, including Alexa Log-C to Rec 709
adjustment, Kodak and Fuji negative- and
print-stock emulators, and an array of
colored gels, including the Rosco Storaro
selection.
ExpressColor is compatible with
iPhones and iPads running iOS 6.0 or later.
The app can be downloaded from the
Apple App Store for $2.99. For more information, visit www.gammadensity.com.
Adorama Glows with Flashpoint
Adorama has introduced the Glow
by Flashpoint diffusion and accessory line.
Glow by Flashpoint offers R Series soft
boxes in varying shapes and sizes and HexaPop products that combine the diffusion of
a soft box with the soft, focused light from
the reflective, curved surface of an
umbrella. All Glow lighting accessories are
completely heat resistant.
Every Glow R Series product features
removable double diffusers and extremely
soft, even, contrast-balanced light spread.

Reinforced support-rod pockets, seams and
Velcro closures make assembly and setup
trouble-free. The R Series includes the 71"
and 47" Glow Grand Softboxes; 12"x36",
16"x48" and 30"x60" Glow Strip Rectangle Softboxes; 24"x36", 36"x48" and
40"x56" Glow Rectangle Softboxes;
28"x28" Glow Square Softboxes; and the
Glow Softbox Octo, available in 24", 36"
and 60" sizes.
Glow HexaPop lighting solutions
offer a parabolic umbrella that creates more
natural, sun-like shadows and fill. The
reflector shape directs all the light in one
controllable direction, while the added
diffuser softens the light. The Glow HexaPop is available in 20" and 24" sizes.
Adorama has also introduced the

Flashpoint 500 LED Video 2-Light Kit,
which includes two Flashpoint 500C LED
dimmable lights, two Flashpoint 7.1' aircushioned three-section light stands and an
Adorama 30" deluxe padded tripod case.
The daylight-balanced Flashpoint 500C LED
is designed to run on AC and battery, and
the fixture features built-in barn doors.
www.adorama.com.
Pro8mm Upgrades Rhonda Cam
Pro8mm has introduced its second
consumer-friendly Super 8 film camera, the
Rhonda Cam Deluxe. More than a retro
throwback with a modern look, the
Rhonda Cam and Rhonda Cam Deluxe are
specifically calibrated to work with modern
color negative Super 8 film stocks.
While similar to the original Rhonda
Cam in size and style, the Rhonda Cam
Deluxe is restored from a Canon 514 XL
and offers a few more sophisticated
features, including 9 fps and 18 fps shooting speeds, an f-stop scale in the viewfinder
with the ability to lock a given exposure,
split-screen focusing, a locking ring in the
diopter adjustment, and a larger zoom
range of 9-45mm. The Rhonda Cam
Deluxe comes in a variety of skins that offer
an assortment of colors and patterns.
Pro8mm also has a special Super 8
film workflow designed specifically for use
with the Rhonda Cam or other Super 8
cameras intended for consumer use. Called
the Rhonda Roll, the workflow package
includes one roll of Super 8 film, processing,
HD scanning and Internet delivery.
Additionally, Pro8mm has introduced Super8/88 and Pro16/88 color-reversal stock, cut down, notched and loaded
into Super 8 cartridges and Super 16mm
daylight spools, respectively, from AgfaGevaert raw stock. The 200 ASA, daylightbalanced stock is polyester based (not triacetate).
The Rhonda Cam Deluxe sells for
$495.00; the Rhonda Roll Super 8 Film
workflow is available for $88.88. Super8/88
is available for $45 per roll, and Pro16/88 is
available for $85 per 100' load; both prices
include processing.
www.pro8mm.com.
Denz Supports Blackmagic
Production Camera
Denz has introduced the Blackmagic
Production Camera Support Kit, which
includes a frame, top plate and camera
table with integrated PL adapter, enabling
the use of PL lenses with Blackmagic
Designs Blackmagic Production Camera
4K.
The camera is mounted to the
Support Kit with screws on the top and
bottom. By connecting the PL mount to the
camera table, the Support Kit evenly distributes the systems weight; the underside of
the camera table is fitted with fastenings for
tripods, the Denz BP-Multi camera table
and products from other manufacturers.
The top plate features 23 14" and 10 38"
threaded holes, and the superstructure
frame incorporates an additional 20 "
and eight 38" threaded holes.
Used in conjunction with the Pivot
Shoulder Mount and Denz Premium Light104
November 2013
weight Handle System, the Support Kit can

convert the Blackmagic Production Camera
into an efficient, shoulder-mounted system
for handheld operating. Additionally, users
can attach the Support Kit to the Denz BPMulti for studio-style operating.
www.denz-deniz.com.
Petrol Bags Provides Airflow,
Rain Cover
Petrol Bags, part of Vitec Videocom,
a Vitec Group company, has introduced the
Deca Airflow Camera Backpack PC306,
which features a rainbow shape to allow air
flow-through while enhancing the wearers
comfort.
Ideal for small cameras up to the size
of Sonys PMW-200, this hands-free carrier
provides ample space for a 17" laptop and
accessories. The main compartment offers a
wraparound heavy-duty zipper for easy

camera access. Other features include a
sternum strap and a padded waist strap,
and exterior pockets for extra storage. The
PC306 also features two exterior rings to
attach a Petrol PD700 tripod carrier, a multicushioned interior, removable articulated
dividers, a built-in rain cover and a padded
top carry handle. It weighs 6.2 pounds and
the outside measures 20.5" long, 13.4"
wide and 10.6" high.
Petrol Bags has also introduced the
Rain Cover PR400 to provide waterproof
protection for the Canon Cinema EOS
C100 camera. Fashioned to fit over the
C100 even when the flip-out screen is
open, the cover allows for fast and easy
setup and keeps all camera controls fully
accessible. The smart design makes the Rain
Cover extremely easy to install while shooting.
The C100 Rain Covers transparent

polyurethane construction provides for
maximum visibility while remaining serviceable down to -4 Fahrenheit/-20 Celsius. A
front cover section features a microphone
sleeve of rip-stop fabric that attaches to the
Rain Cover via two waterproof zippers for
extra weather protection. A hot-shoe
connector in the covers rigid front hood
section anchors and stabilizes the rain cover
on the camera. The PR400 also includes a
6" ABS track that allows for the addition of
a mini light.
www.petrolbags.com.
Nexto DI Provides Backup
Nexto DI, a provider of high-speed
handheld backup drives for video, film and
broadcast, has introduced the Video Storage-Air, model NVS2825. The unit is a
portable, Wi-Fi enabled video backup device
that allows users to back up footage from
SxS, P2, CF, SD/SDHC and SDXC memory
cards onto the drive, then preview clips
either on the unit itself (via the 2.4" color
LCD screen) or with an iPad, iPhone or
Android device. Software is also available
that allows users to pre-edit clips on an iPad.
Other features include PCM audio play,
FireWire 800 and USB 3.0 interfaces, internal motion/free-fall sensor, and the ability to
back up to internal and external drives
simultaneously.
The NVS2825 supports multiple file
formats, and it boasts fast backup speeds,
including 90 MB/s for SxS and 80 MB/s for
CF. The units bit-by-bit verification ensures
100-percent backup success, and it notifies
the user if the memory card is corrupt or if
a connected hard drive is faulty.
The NVS2825 ships with a rechargeable lithium battery and is available in either
a 750 GB internal 2.5" SATA hard drive that
is forward compatible to 2 TB, or a 512 GB
solid-state drive. Retail price is $2,500 for
the 750 GB HDD and $3,000 for the SSD.
Nexto DI products are distributed in
the U.S. by International Supplies. For more
information, visit www.nextodiusa.com and
www.internationalsupplies.com.
www.danadolly.com
International Marketplace
Butter Smooth.....Completely Silent
((623)
623) 5561-6490
61-66490
106
November 2013
Watch out
for ex-demo and

used equipment!
www.movietech.de
CLASSIFIED AD RATES
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in
bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First word
of ad and advertisers name can be set in capitals without extra charge. No agency commission or discounts on
classified advertising.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER.
VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are accepted. Send ad to Classified Advertising, American
Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA
90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973. Deadline for payment
and copy must be in the office by 15th of second month
preceding publication. Subject matter is limited to items
and services pertaining to filmmaking and video production. Words used are subject to magazine style abbreviation. Minimum amount per ad: $45
CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE
Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds at the ASC web site.
Internet ads are seen around the world at the
same great rate as in print, or for slightly more you
can appear both online and in print.
For
more
information
please
visit
www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail: [email protected].
Classifieds
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion, Polas etc. A
Good Box Rental 818-763-8547
14,000+ USED EQUIPMENT ITEMS. PRO VIDEO
& FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY. 50 YEARS
EXPERIENCE. New: iLLUMiFLEX LIGHTS &
FluidFlex TRIPODS.
www.UsedEquipmentNewsletter.com AND
www.ProVideoFilm.com
EMAIL: [email protected]
CALL BILL 972 869 9990, 888 869 9998.
Worlds SUPERMARKET of USED MOTION
PICTURE EQUIPMENT! Buy, Sell, Trade.
CAMERAS, LENSES, SUPPORT, AKS & MORE!
Visual Products, Inc. www.visualproducts.com
Call 440.647.4999
www.theasc.com
SERVICES AVAILABLE
STUCK? BLOCKED?
Give me 30 minutes (at no cost to you):
212.560.2333. www.laurienadel.com
STEADICAM ARM QUALITY SERVICE OVERHAUL
AND UPDATES. QUICK TURNAROUND. ROBERT
LUNA (323) 938-5659.
MISCELLANEOUS
HIRING manager for Red, Epic, Scarlet rental house,
Burbank area
Call: 626-674-7999 e-mail: [email protected]
November 2013
107
Advertisers Index
Abel Cine Tech 23
AC 73, 89, 109
Adorama 7, 61
AFI 105
AJA Video Systems, Inc. 62
Alan Gordon 107
Arri 17
ASC 95, 99
AZGrip 106
Backstage Equipment, Inc.
101
Barger-Lite 103
BBS Lighting 19
Birns & Sawyer 106
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 21
Camerimage 93
Canon USA Video 9
Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC 25
Cavision Enterprises 106
Chapman/Leonard Studio
Equipment Inc. 33
Cinebags Inc. 107
Cinematography
Electronics 89
Cinekinetic 106
Codex Digital Ltd. 15
Convergent 29
Cooke Optics 11
Createasphere 71
108
Duclos Lenses 10
Eastman Kodak C4
EFD USA, Inc. 57
Film Gear (International), Ltd.
47
Filmotechnic USA 77
Filmtools 73
Glidecam Industries 13
Government Video Technology
91
Grip Factory Munich/GFM 47
Hertz Corporation C3
Huesca Film Office (HUFO)
101
J.L. Fisher 63
Kino Flo 49
Koerner 103
Lights! Action! Co. 107
Lowel 55
Matthews Studio
Equipment/MSE 106
M.M. Mukhi & Sons 107
Movcam Tech. Co., Ltd. 31
Movie Tech AG 106, 107
NBC Universal 59
Next Shot 10
No Subtitles Necessary 76
Panther Gmbh 48
Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
Gmbh 106
Pro8mm 106
Red Digital Cinema C2-1
Roadside Attractions 2-3
Schneider Optics 4
Sony Electronics, Inc. 26-27
Sundance Film Festival 75
Super16, Inc. 107
Technicolor 45
Thales Angenieux 34-35
Tiffen 55
Visionary Forces 10
Willys Widgets 106
www.theasc.com 8, 97,
101, 103, 108
Clubhouse News
Clockwise from top left: Sean MacLeod Phillips, ASC; Matthew Jensen, ASC; students from
USC's Summer Program in Film and Digital Cinematography pose with Society members
outside the Clubhouse.
Society Welcomes Phillips,

Jensen
Sean MacLeod Phillips, ASC is a
Los Angeles native whose interest in cinematography was sparked when he saw
2001: A Space Odyssey. He majored in
cinema/television production at the University of Southern California, where he won
multiple awards, including a 1980 Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts & Sciences for his student film
Sections.
Phillips has focused on 3-D cinematography for large-format theatrical
110
November 2013
films. Inspired by the unique needs of

stereoscopic shooting, he has worked with
MSM Design to help develop the Gemini
3D camera and the CC3-D mirror rigs.
In 2000, Phillips won a Kodak Vision
Award for Large Format Cinematography.
He later won two Visual Effects Society
Achievement Awards for his work on
Magnificent Desolation and Sea Monsters.
He continues to work as a cinematographer
and visual-effects supervisor on feature
films and commercials. He has also
contributed to such publications as Film
Journal, CineFX, Big Frame, LF Examiner,
Land Named Associate

New ASC associate member Jarred
Land is president of the Red Digital Cinema
Camera Co. After working as the owner of
a bicycle-messenger company in Vancouver, B.C., he made his first foray into the
motion-picture industry when he
purchased a Panasonic DVX100 and
created the forum website DVXuser.com.
The site quickly grew, and its membership
soon included Lands future business
collaborator, Red founder and ASC associate Jim Jannard. Land also founded
Reduser.net. In addition to his role at Red,
Land is the owner of Landmine Media, Inc.,
which controls Reduser.net, DVXuser.com
and Landmine.tv.
Education Committee
Hosts Students
The Societys Education and Public
Outreach Committee had a busy summer,
welcoming students from two schools to
the Clubhouse. Students from the College
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.
Focal Press VES Handbook, 3-D Filmmakers

and American Cinematographer.
Matthew Jensen, ASC was born
in Indiana and grew up in Virginia. Instilled
with a great love and appreciation of
movies by his parents, Jensen pursued an
undergraduate degree from the University
of Southern California, majoring in film
production with a minor in English. At USC,
he found a mentor and role model in
Woody Omens, ASC.
After graduation, Jensen worked as
a grip, a camera assistant and an operator.
His early stints as a director of photography
were on independent features, including
Man of the Century. From there, he broke
into television, earning credits on such
shows as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,
Numbers, Sleeper Cell and True Blood.
Most recently, he shot episodes of Game of
Thrones and Ray Donovan. His feature
credits include Chronicle (AC March 12)
and Filth.
Bennett photo by Gerardo Sanchez Alvarado. USC, Jannard photos by Alex Lopez.
Above: Bill Bennett, ASC leads a lighting workshop in Mexico City.

Below: Associate Jim Jannard speaks at the Clubhouse.
of Southern Nevada enjoyed a dialogue

with ASC members Bill Bennett, James
Carter, Isidore Mankofsky, Charles
Minsky and Dave Perkal that was moderated by Committee Chair George Spiro
Dibie, ASC. Dibie also handled moderating
duties when a group of international
students from USCs Summer Program in
Film and Digital Cinematography visited the
Clubhouse. For that event, Dibie was joined
by fellow members Bennett, Carter,
Mankofsky, Perkal, Anna J. Foerster,
Victor J. Kemper, M. David Mullen and
Haskell Wexler.
Bennett Leads Lighting
Workshop
Bill Bennett, ASC recently traveled
to Mexico City to lead a master class hosted
by CTT Exp & Rentals. The workshop began
with a lecture, during which Bennett illustrated key lighting concepts with a number
of clips from his extensive list of commercial

credits. After the lecture, attendees put the
concepts into practice as Bennett led a
hands-on workshop that took the group
step-by-step through his process for lighting
the hero shot in a car commercial.
The master class was presented by
Umpeq, CTT Exp & Rentals, Canon, Centro
de Capacitacin Cinematogrfica, the Mexican Society of Cinematographers and AC.
Red Comes to Dinner
ASC associates Jim Jannard and
Jarred Land of Red Digital Cinema
attended a recent Society dinner meeting to
present the companys new Dragon sensor,
which marks a significant evolution from
Reds MX sensor. Peter L. Collister, ASC
screened and discussed test footage hed
shot with a Red Epic Dragon camera, and
attendees then had hands-on time with two
cameras Red provided for the event.
www.theasc.com
In Memoriam: Gilbert Taylor, BSC

ASC International Award honoree
Gilbert Taylor, BSC died Aug. 23 at his home
on the Isle of Wight. He was 99.
Taylor was born on April 12, 1914, in
Bushey Heath, England. The son of a successful
builder, he was expected to become an architect
and take over the family business. But when he
was 15, a job offer from a neighbor to be a
camera assistant allowed Taylor to build a different future for himself.
Taylor worked for 10 years as an assistant, a loader and an operator under Bill Shenton and Freddie Young, BSC, before he joined
the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1939.
He was trained to fly as a mid-upper gunner in
Lancaster bombers, but he spent his six years of
service photographing the targets of night raids
over Germany after the bombs were dropped.
He also led a small group of cameramen to cover
the liberation of the concentration camps and
the signing of the armistice. In his last interview
with AC (Feb. 06), Taylor said, You may ask
how these experiences helped to prepare me for
my film career. Well, they certainly made me
tougher.
After the war, Taylor returned to the
studio and began his career as a director of
photography. His feature credits included A Hard
Days Night (1964), Dr. Strangelove or: How I
Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964), Repulsion (1965), The Omen (1976) and
Flash Gordon (1980). Gilbert told AC he was
most happy to be remembered as the cinematographer who set the look for Star Wars
(1977).
Taylor won a BSC Award for his work on
The Omen, and the BSC honored him again in
2001 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The
ASC honored Taylor with its International Award
in 2006. He is survived by his wife, Diane.
November 2013
111
Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
Ken Loachs Kes (1969) struck a strong chord with me. I identified
with the boys loneliness and the world of his imagination within an
industrial, small-town setting. It remains one of my favorite films.
How did you get your first break in the business?

I was handed a Super 8 camera by Derek Jarman and told to go
hunter gathering for images. I was a camera assistant at the time,
but it gave me the confidence to become a cameraman.
What has been your most satisfying
moment on a project?
Wrapping The Hours without being fired!
Which cinematographers, past or present,

do you most admire?
There are so many whose work inspires me,
and that in itself confirms the diversity of the
art. My great mentor was Jack Cardiff, BSC,
whose work with Powell and Pressburger, John
Huston and many others is unparalleled in its
artfulness and technical experimentation. I love
the enhanced naturalism in the cinematography of Haskell Wexler, ASC; Roger Deakins,
ASC, BSC; Chris Menges, ASC, BSC; and Chris
Doyle, HKSC. There is deceptive simplicity in
their approach, which always promotes the
story rather than being spectacular or beautiful
just for the sake of it.
Have you made any memorable blunders?

Some of my blunders have produced unexpectedly beautiful results. I love happy accidents! Recently, while shooting Godzilla, I accidentally went to the lakeside set of Planet of
the Apes 2, which was shooting close by and
had a set very similar to the one we were going
to shoot that day. I wandered around with my
light meter, not recognizing anybody. It was a
surreal, dreamlike experience until the blunder
dawned on me!
What sparked your interest in photography?

The absolute tedium of living in a war zone (Armagh, Northern
Ireland) fused with high-octane, explosive moments that made epic
the everyday it was a bit like a film set! I took refuge behind a
camera and in a darkroom as a way of translating the real world
through a lens. I got the bug when I saw my first images appearing
in the developing tray under red light. It has always given me a thrill
how the camera can infuse the apparently mundane with poetic
attributes.
Where did you train and/or study?
I studied film and photographic arts at The Polytechnic of Central
London (now the University of Westminster).
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
We had great teachers at The Polytechnic, including Polish cinematographer Jacek Petrycki; I learned so much from them and specifically from him. He had a thoughtful, philosophical approach to film.
I learned a lot from Ian Wilson, BSC when I was his clapper loader. I
have benefited throughout my career from filmmakers selflessly sharing their knowledge and experience with me. Its something I try to
do for others now.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
Looking at the natural play of light in all sorts of weather conditions
and in different countries is a constant source of inspiration. An occasional glass of Bandol Rose encourages unformulaic creative thinking!
112
November 2013
What is the best professional advice

youve ever received?
Cinematography is 10 percent cinematography and 90 percent
bladder control.
What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
Bruno Bettelheims The Uses of Enchantment, Patrick de Witts The
Sisters Brothers, Bill Violas Transfiguration and everything by James
Turrell. Also, dangerousminds.net is full of inspiring articles and
pictures.
Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to
try?
I would love to shoot a Western.
If you werent a cinematographer, what might you be doing
instead?
Possibly a journalist. Its what I thought I wanted to be when I was
young.
Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for
membership?
Roger Deakins, Amy Vincent and Rodney Taylor.
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
It has allowed me to share my love of cinematography with fellow
cinematographers whose work I revere. It has also emphasized the
importance of sharing our experience with students in order to propagate and improve the art form.
Photo by Kimberly French, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Close-up
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N O V E M B E R 2 013

The smallest camera makes the biggest images.

CINE XENAR III PRIMES

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

Facing the Void

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The International Journal of Motion Imaging

PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter

CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

DIE IN NEW ORLEANS - A music video

EXPERIENCE THE CANON EOS C300 CINEMA CAMERA

American Society of Cinematographers

Kees van Oostrum

The Cooke Look

One Look. All Speeds

British Optical Innovation and Quality Since 1893.

T: +44 (0)116 264 0700

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Photo by Douglas Kirkland.

A handheld camera, shakily positioned low to the ground,

From the start, Durald who studied art history at Loyola

> FAST T-STOP OF 1.9

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ARRI MASTER ANAMORPHIC LENSES. TRULY CINEMATIC.

I love Panavision anamorphic

non-narrative shots of London Grammars

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The Fifth Estate chronicles the rise of WikiLeaks, the website

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Top: Assange and his

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revive the location so that every floor of the

world in which [our protagonists] live, which

Top left: Domscheit-Berg pursues a lead

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nearly every scene. We used them on

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