2014 11

NOVEMBER 2014
$5.95
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The International Journal of Motion Imaging
On Our Cover: A married couples private lives are thrown into the spotlight when the
wife (Rosamund Pike) goes missing and her husband (Ben Affleck) becomes the prime
suspect in Gone Girl. (Photo by Merrick Morton, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox and
Regency Enterprises.)
FEATURES
36
50
64
76
Questionable Circumstance
Jeff Cronenweth, ASC embraces a 6K workflow

for Gone Girl
Across the Heartland
50
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC goes west with

The Homesman
Dark Messenger
Sean Bobbitt, BSC tells a journalists tale in

Kill the Messenger
Trials and Tribulations
64
Fred Elmes, ASC frames a family portrait

for Olive Kitteridge
DEPARTMENTS
10
12
14
22
88
94
95
96
98
100
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Short Takes: The Red House
Production Slate: Nightcrawler Whiplash
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Ken Kelsch
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM
76
LOOK FOR MORE AT WWW.THEASC.COM
Exclusive Podcasts
New!
Coming soon!
Michael Seresin, BSC, on Angel Heart (1987)
www.theasc.com/site/podcasts
The Crow photos by Robert Zuckerman, courtesy of the AMPAS Margaret Herrick Library; Blu-ray frame grab courtesy of Lionsgate.
Angel Heart Blu-ray frame grabs courtesy of Lionsgate.
Dariusz Wolski, ASC, on The Crow (1994)
N o v e m b e r
2 0 1 4
V o l .
9 5 ,
N o .
1 1
Visit us online at www.theasc.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER

Stephen Pizzello
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Jon D. Witmer

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andrew Fish
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, John Calhoun, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray,
David Heuring, Jay Holben, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer, Iain Stasukevich, Patricia Thomson
ART & DESIGN

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer
PHOTO EDITOR Kelly Brinker
ONLINE
MANAGING DIRECTOR Rachael K. Bosley
PODCASTS Jim Hemphill, Iain Stasukevich, Chase Yeremian
BLOGS
Benjamin B
John Bailey, ASC
David Heuring
WEB DEVELOPER Jon Stout
ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann
323-936-3769 Fax 323-936-9188 e-mail: angiegollmann@gmail.com
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce
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CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Peru
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SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

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

ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost
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ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely
ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Nelson Sandoval
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 94th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by
ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.
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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 - 2014/2015
Richard Crudo
President
Owen Roizman
Vice President
Kees van Oostrum

Vice President
Lowell Peterson
Vice President
Matthew Leonetti
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Bill Bennett
Curtis Clark
Dean Cundey
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
Michael Goi
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Daryn Okada
Michael O Shea
Lowell Peterson
Rodney Taylor
Kees van Oostrum
Haskell Wexler
ALTERNATES
Isidore Mankofsky
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Robert Primes
Steven Fierberg
Kenneth Zunder
MUSEUM CURATOR
8
Steve Gainer
The introduction of the 6K-capable Red Epic

Dragon camera continues the advance of digital
camera systems and workflows, and in Michael
Goldmans piece on Gone Girl (Questionable
Circumstance, page 36), cinematographer Jeff
Cronenweth, ASC details how the systems new
features enhanced director David Finchers latest
movie. In essence, we used the [Dragon] to create
a 5K 2.40:1 frame line out of the 6K that we
captured, Cronenweth says. This has been
Finchers methodology all along: to use the system
best equipped to help us get the most appealing
images through color science and resolution.
Reminding us that technology exists to serve
stories, Fincher adds, All the ones and zeroes and
pristine glass and titanium fittings do not matter
[unless] they help impact the viewers feelings. For
us, collecting 6K was simply a way to get to the most pristine 4K, because then we could do
all the stuff we wanted to do in post to emphasize the performances we liked.
On Kill the Messenger, Sean Bobbitt, BSC found himself passionately motivated to
help director Michael Cuesta tell the true-life saga of controversial, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb. Coming from a journalism background, I felt this story should be told,
reports Bobbitt, who says his approach was inspired by the work of the late Gordon Willis,
ASC. Sadly, it is a posthumous homage, he tells Canadian correspondent Mark Dillon
(Dark Messenger, page 64). But without [Willis], this film simply would not look as it does.
We wanted all the elements of a traditional political thriller, but also a sense of reality.
HBOs Olive Kitteridge has its own Pulitzer pedigree. Based on Elizabeth Strouts
award-winning novel about the residents of a coastal Maine town, the miniseries benefitted
from the cinematic instincts of Fred Elmes, ASC, who worked with director Lisa Cholodenko
to craft a drama that spans 25 years in a tough but tightly knit community. Its a pretty harsh
environment, and you see its effect on the townspeople, Elmes tells Patricia Thomson (Trials
and Tribulations, page 76). It is an internal story, [so] I kept the camera intimate, to be with
Olive [played by Frances McDormand] and inside her head.
The historical road movie The Homesman, directed by Tommy Lee Jones and shot
by Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC, also uses harsh landscapes to frame the story of its enterprising heroine as she makes an arduous five-week journey from Nebraska to Iowa in the 1850s.
Tommy Lee wanted the film to be as simple as possible, Prieto tells Benjamin B (Across
the Heartland, page 50). The idea was to be minimalist in the visual approach, including
the camera language. That was interesting for me, because I had just come off The Wolf of
Wall Street, which is kind of the opposite: extravagant characters, with the camera moving
most of the time. Tommy Lee and I did discuss the scenes every day in detail. He was very
specific about what he wanted to do, camera-wise.
Stephen Pizzello
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
10
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Photo by Douglas Kirkland.
There are many truths regarding the ways in which movies are made, but one in particular bears constant restating: No individual can do it alone.
This runs contrary to what many people from the skateboard crowd running around
with their GoPros to a significant number of seasoned professionals seem to believe.
More importantly, it goes precisely to the heart of what motion-picture making is about.
As it applies to cinematographers, our relationship with the director takes many forms
yet is completely unique in the scope and intensity of its collaborative nature. At its basic
level, the director guides the overall production through a consistent course of action; the
cinematographer, on the other hand, transforms the directors interpretation of a script into
physical reality. In the best of situations both parties act as storytellers, and its their constant,
free-flowing exchange of ideas that gives a project its vitality (if indeed theres any to be
found). The ways in which these efforts are conceived, intersect and play themselves out
are more varied than last weeks listing of cat videos on the Web. Nonetheless, each
approach is doomed to failure unless the two parties embrace an open and vibrant spirit of
communication thats relevant to what theyre trying to achieve.
The explosive technological evolution our industry has undergone over the past
decade-and-a-half has made our job more superficially transparent to the casual observer,
and unfortunately this includes most of the people we work with. But can you blame them?
The ubiquity of the hi-def monitor has led them to believe all they need to know is right
there in front of them and that its easy to do. In fact, quite the opposite is true.
If the greater part of progress is supposed to reflect a striving for simplicity, then technology has failed us all miserably.
The fact is that our job has become even more impenetrable to those unschooled in cinematography. The scope of our
responsibilities has also expanded enormously, and the constant demand to advance our proficiency has proven taxing in
ways incomparable to any of the other crafts. But while every director needs to have a minimal understanding of the concepts
and equipment that enable what we do, we must take extra care never to confuse the means for the end. In the most
successful collaborative environments, the key point of discussion between director and cinematographer never concerns
how to do something. Instead, it revolves around why they are doing it.
Despite the sometimes-astronomical price tag, the technology we employ is nothing more than a tool, similar to a
hammer or a spoon. In the same sense, that tool only comes to life in creative hands. Without a passionate impulse to translate an idea a feeling into concrete form, even the most sophisticated camera, lens and emulsion/sensor combination
is reduced to a pile of junk. During the best of circumstances, this impulse springs from a blending of minds in which director and cinematographer act together to create something neither one could arrive at alone. As anyone whos ever experienced one of those special moments knows, when all cylinders are firing in this manner its a little glimpse of heaven. Audiences recognize them intuitively, and we owe them an honest effort to capture that every time we step on set.
With technology continuing to grow at an unchecked rate, no one can predict how well be making movies next year,
let alone 10 or 20 years from now. What is certain is that the process will always be one of excitement and revelation, just
as it has been since the first turn of the crank on one of Edisons prototype cameras. You can also be sure that directors and
cinematographers will be right there at the heart of it all, committed to doing their best. They will focus their energy, they
will share ideas they will collaborate so as to make the ethereal real.
So forget all the technology and let loose your inner dreamer. Isnt that what really makes the job fun?
Richard P. Crudo
ASC President
12
November 2014
American Cinematographer
Short Takes
Cultural Liberation
By Noah Kadner
The short film The Red House tells the story of a weary prostitute, Fangfang (Felix Fang), and her struggle for freedom from a
rural Chinese brothel in 1915. Foot binding, the once-common
practice of hobbling young womens feet as a show of social status,
also figures prominently. Writer/director Jiaqi Lin put the project
together in Los Angeles as her graduate thesis at the New York Film
Academy.
My background is more in animation, and about a year ago
I wasnt actually thinking of writing any specific story for my thesis
film, says Lin. But then a friend said I should write something
about my Chinese culture. So, I came up with a script based on
stories Id heard about binding, and everyone who read it said Id
really need a good producer to pull it off.
Contemplating a complex period piece, the ambitious Lin set
her sights on major Hollywood talent to help bring her story to life.
Via an online ad and some lucky breaks, Lin secured veteran filmmaker Larry Kaster of Rush Hour Productions as her producer. Id
never produced a student film before, but when I first met Jiaqi, I
could tell she was very smart and knew what she wanted, says
Kaster. Everyone else told her that the budget she had to work with
would be no problem, but I said we couldnt do her script justice for
that kind of money. I wanted to work with people that I knew and
do something that would be completely professional.
Kaster brought on longtime collaborator Donald M. Morgan,
ASC (Starman, Something the Lord Made) as director of photogra14
November 2014
phy. I was really impressed with the script, remembers Morgan.

Another interesting thing was that Jiaqi wanted to shoot film. With
so many student projects going digital these days, we were all very
excited about doing a film shoot instead.
Morgan, with the help of ASC associate Bruce Berke of Eastman Kodak, selected Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 35mm color negative as his film stock and shot 3-perf framed for a final 2.40:1 aspect
ratio. Kodak was very helpful with us, adds Morgan. They did
everything they could to help make this project happen.
Morgans longtime working relationship with Panavisions
David Dodson, an ASC associate, also came in handy in helping the
production to secure a pair of Panaflex Platinum cameras, along
with legacy Zeiss Super Speed prime lenses. One of the main characters was a 6-year-old girl, says Morgan. I realized with her I
really needed two cameras. I wanted to make sure we were rolling
both every time she was in a scene so we wouldnt lose anything
from her initial performance to the close-up. Also, with the required
on-set tutoring, we would only have her for a very limited amount
of time each shooting day.
My biggest fear was the set, recalls Kaster. In reading the
script, it really felt like it had to be a build or we had to find a
miracle location. As it turned out, Kaster explains, the real miracle was production designer Michael Paul Clausen, who discovered
an older Victorian-house location in the Adams-Normandie neighborhood of Los Angeles that could stand in, with minimal redressing, for both the interiors and exteriors of the 1915 Chinese brothel.
The house had been used for numerous special events and film
productions over the years and had fallen into enough disrepair that
Unit photography by Peter Switzer. All images courtesy of the filmmakers.
Fangfang (Felix Fang), a prostitute in a Chinese brothel, struggles for freedom in the short film The Red House.
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Top: A mother (Mika Santoh, fourth from left) thanks Fangfang for taking care of her young
daughter, Amei. Middle: Writer/director Jiaqi Lin (middle) watches a scene as cinematographer
Donald M. Morgan, ASC (partly blocked by camera) looks on. Bottom: The story depicts the
once-common practice of foot binding.
16
November 2014
it was ultimately scheduled for demolition

soon after the production wrapped.
Once the location was set, Morgans
team had just two days of prep and a single
day of prelighting before The Red Houses
brisk seven-day production began this past
May. Gaffer Keith Roverud and key grip Rick
Perez, who were both working with
Morgan for the first time, were able to
source an ample lighting, generator and
grip package from Acey Decy Lighting in
San Fernando. Larrys had a long-term relationship with Acey Decy, notes Morgan.
We were able to get everything we
needed, from 200-watt Inkie Fresnel units
up to 4K HMI Pars. With the amount of
lighting and camera equipment we ultimately used and given our time frame
we were really only able to complete this
project through the professionalism of an
experienced team, especially A-camera
operator Noah Pankow and 1st AC Jim
Gavin, who quickly developed a working
relationship with the director.
The Red House opens with Fangfang concluding business with a client and
being called by the madam, Mama Yan
(Leann Lei), into the brothels entryway,
where shes told to take charge of a new
conscript: a 6-year-old girl named Amei
(Makayla Gatmaitan). Morgan lit the scene
with a mixture of practical lanterns built into
the set and smaller fixtures that augmented
the natural sunlight coming through the
locations windows.
We lit the entryway with 4-by-4, 2by-2, and single-bank Kino Flos and some
smaller HMI units gelled with CTO, says

Roverud. We also used a Celeb 200 DMX
LED light, which you can dial to any color
temperature from 2,700K up to 5,500K.
The house was facing south, so we got
almost too much light coming in from the
outside early in the morning. We decided to
wait a little bit for the sun to get off the
windows on our first shots.
Later in the film, Fangfang discovers
Amei being accosted by another client in a
garden outside of the brothel and helps her
get away. For the exterior, Roverud
deployed 4K HMI Pars, the productions
strongest lighting instruments. That main
exterior scene was staged under a little
cabana that provided foreground shade,
but the background would go in and out of
sun, says Roverud. The HMIs worked as
fill through an 8-by-8 silk. Due to the small
size of the cabana, we used the 4Ks where
wed normally use 18Ks. For the actors, we
rigged a 12-by-12 silk directly over the
cabana to help control the sunlight.
The crux of The Red Houses story
involves the ritual of foot binding, which
crippled many Chinese women, ostensibly
for aesthetic appeal though in essence
resulting in subjugation. The filmmakers
chose to depict the practice frankly but
without being overly graphic.
Don was against showing actual
feet, but it was important that we underscored the practice, notes Kaster. When
Top: Morgan checks the lighting for a bedroom scene. Middle: The crew prepares to shoot. Bottom: Light through the windows
provided further ambience for scenes in Fangfangs bedroom.
18
November 2014
Top: Fangfang takes charge of Amei (Makayla

Gatmaitan), the brothels new conscript.
Bottom: Lin discusses a scene with Gatmaitan.
Fangfang finally decides to help Amei, its

because she makes the connection
between her own life and what the child is
being spared from. Makeup artist Lauren
Wilde collaborated with B-camera operator
Ricardo Gale to devise a simple prosthetic
20
November 2014
combined with a camera trick to help

provide a brief but close-up glimpse of the
ultimate effects of the practice toward the
end of the movie.
Morgan worked closely with Lin
over the weeks shoot and was impressed
by her strong directing spirit. We told her
right away, Youre the boss, says
Morgan. We wanted to do her version of
the story. I always admire people who make
sure they get what they want. She
reminded me of directors Ive worked with
for 30 years, like Joe Sargent. Joes the kind
of guy that if I tell him an idea and he likes
it, hell tell everyone it was mine. And if he
doesnt like it, hell be quiet.
Kaster concurs with Morgans
assessment. Jiaqi was initially a little
nervous about how shed work with Don,
says Kaster. With Don, the director is the
wind behind the sails and hes going to
fight for her to get everything. Jiaqi asked
me one day, Will Don be angry if I dont sit
right next to the monitor but go with the
actors instead? I told her, Thats every
cameramans dream!
While the production shot,
FotoKem scanned the 35mm dailies with a
Spirit DataCine directly to HDCam SR tapes
at 1920x1080 resolution. This process was
supervised by ASC associate Mark Van
Horne. Mark was Dons first call each
morning to check on the negative and the
previous nights scanning, notes Kaster.
The transfer was a flat, one-light pass
designed to protect the widest possible latitude for the final color correction. After the
transfer to SR, the tapes were digitized into

DNxHD 175 files for use with the productions Avid Media Composer editing software. The final output was designated for
digital exhibition only with DVD, Blu-ray,
QuickTime and DCP files but no film print.
For The Red Houses final color
grade, Morgan turned to another longtime
collaborator, colorist Kevin OConnor, who
worked with Morgan and Lin in a brisk
series of color-correction sessions using
DaVinci Resolve 11 on a Mac. We were all
really excited looking at the movie during
color correction, says Morgan.
Thats the mystery and beauty of
shooting film, the cinematographer
continues. No matter how long youve
been around, when you see one-light dailies
and then you go in and correct them, your
dreams really come true. I always have that
little voice in the back of my mind that says,
I hope it looks good. The mystery is always
there, and its always great.
As she wraps postproduction on The
Red House, Lin already has another ambitious project in mind. Ive written a period
feature script set in the Forbidden City in
18th-century China, she reveals. I want to
shoot on film again and I really think it could
be a breathtaking picture. Thats what Im
thinking not just hoping.
Production Slate
Breaking the News

By Jon D. Witmer
Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a sociopath with ambition, an

autodidact and entrepreneur who transitions from a life of two-bit
thievery into a career as a freelance cameraman whose grisly footage
of traffic accidents and crime scenes raises the ratings of local station
KWLA and the stock of station manager Nina Romina (Rene Russo)
as well as the hackles of the Los Angeles Police Dept. As his business booms, Lou brings on an intern, Rick (Riz Ahmed), with whom
he scours the night and unhesitatingly crosses the line from news
gathering into news making.
Photographed by Robert Elswit, ASC, Nightcrawler marks the
directorial debut of Dan Gilroy, who also wrote the script. Among
the films producers was the directors brother Tony Gilroy, with
whom Elswit had worked on Michael Clayton, Duplicity and The
Bourne Legacy (AC Sept. 12). AC caught up with Elswit over the
phone while he was in London prepping Mission: Impossible 5, after
having completed Nightcrawlers 2K digital grade. The grading was
done with Blackmagic Designs DaVinci Resolve at Company 3 in
Santa Monica, where colorist Sofie Borup worked under the supervision of ASC associate Stefan Sonnenfeld. Gaffer Michael Bauman
also spoke with AC in a separate interview.
American Cinematographer : Nightcrawler goes to
some very dark places, both literally and figuratively.
Robert Elswit, ASC: Danny [Gilroy] wanted [to capture] a
22
November 2014
Los Angeles that he had never seen in a movie before. He didnt

want to make a downtown movie. He wanted it to be the [San
Fernando] Valley, West Hollywood, places like that. We couldnt
afford and we didnt have time to do giant lighting setups for nightexterior work, so I knew we had to find locations where I could just
augment what was in the background and light the foreground. We
shot with an Alexa [XT, which recorded ArriRaw to internal Codex
mags], except for the day interiors and exteriors, which we shot on
Kodak [Vision3 200T] 5213 because we wanted them to look a little
different [from the night scenes].
How many days did you have to shoot the film?
Elswit: We only shot 26 days, 24 of which were nights. The
biggest problem from a logistical standpoint was there were far too
many locations I think it was 44. There was almost never a day
when we stayed in one place; we were on the run the whole time.
I hate to be so blunt about it, but a lot of what I was doing was just
trying to make sure that we finished the work that was scheduled
each day. We simply couldnt go over, we couldnt leave anything
behind and we couldnt skip anything. With limited resources, finding simple and imaginative approaches to lighting and storytelling
becomes essential and as we all know, this is not always a bad
thing.
Did it help keep things on schedule to be working with
a familiar crew?
Elswit: It always helps to work with people youve
worked with before, especially people like [1st AC] Erik Brown,
Nightcrawler photos by Chuck Zlotnick, courtesy of Open Road Films.
In the feature
Nightcrawler,
Louis Bloom (Jake
Gyllenhaal, left)
goes from a life
of two-bit larceny
into a profitable
career as a
freelance
cameraman with
a penchant for
violent imagery
that buoys the
career of newsstation manager
Nina Romina
(Rene Russo).
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Top: In the films opening sequence, Bloom is stopped while attempting a small-time theft.
Bottom: Cinematographer Robert Elswit, ASC (operating camera) frames a shot of Gyllenhaal on
location for one of the films crime scenes.
[A-camera/Steadicam operator] Andrew

Rowlands and [gaffer] Michael Bauman.
We had to work very simply, and it was
something we had to plan very carefully.
What sort of lighting fixtures did
you carry?
Elswit: It was not a lot. What was a
big help were Cineo [TruColor HS and LS]
units. Theyre very lightweight and they
dont take a lot of electricity. A lot of what
we were doing was simulating streetlight;
the background would be lit by the practicals, and then, on the streetlights we were
standing near, we would put one or two
Cineos [above the frame line] to backlight
the area where we were shooting.
Michael Bauman: We used the
Cineos with both 3,200K and 5,500K phos24
November 2014
phors. Most of the movie was under 10

footcandles, so we went with a lot of
smaller-profile extrusions with LEDs that we
could just dim to a level we liked. We made
our own panels with [LiteGear] LiteRibbon
that we could tape to the walls. We also
used [Lowel] Rifas and the occasional Kino
Flo.
Our main tools were Arri L7-C [colortunable LED Fresnels] those are great
lights. With one fixture, we could [emulate]
metal halide or sodium, or just go tungsten,
or make a police gag. I think of all the other
ways weve had to do these effects, and it
would have been really hard on Nightcrawler without that light.
Another great tool was the Powerful
Battery Solutions system, which is made by
a gaffer, Joe Colangelo, and allowed us to

run lights without a generator. I only had
two guys in the electrical department, so
that was the perfect solution. The batteries
are pretty small, so we could hide them
behind cars and trashcans.
Where did you shoot the scenes
set inside the news station?
Elswit: We were able to shoot in
[local L.A. station] KTLAs actual newsroom
during certain periods of time when they
werent that busy, but we couldnt really
change their lighting. We just tried to
augment what was already there, which
was fluorescent lighting for the most part.
The studio that we used for most of the
interior was KCETs old facility, which is on
Sunset and has been around since the silent
era. There was a lot of stuff [left behind by
KCET] that looked a bit period and slightly
rundown, which fit the image of the television station [in the film].
How did you approach Lous
apartment? Each scene in there is set at
a distinct time of day.
Elswit: It was important to Danny
that [the scenes in the apartment] feel like a
very specific time of day and not just day
interior. When the cops come in the afternoon, it looks different than it does when
Lou watches the early morning news after
staying up all night. Its about the quality of
light and the color temperature; its cold and
dark outside the window at dawn, and later
on its brighter and warmer.
That was the one set that was built.
We had a wonderful production designer,
Kevin Kavanaugh. There was a wall built
outside the [sets] window, and I used [Arri
M40 and M18] HMIs outside the window,
trying to balance the wall in the background
to make it feel like the windows were doing
all the work. It was about controlling that
relationship between inside and outside
those are the cues that tell you what time of
day it is.
Theres a lot of nighttime driving
in the movie. How did you light the
actors inside the car?
Bauman: We ordered some stainless-steel drywall mud pans from Amazon,
added VHO Pro 120 X6 [LiteRibbon] to the
inside, and diffused the exterior with Full
Grid, which gave us a long, narrow and
incredibly durable light to mount on the
THE FINEST
ANAMORPHIC
GLASS
Right: Gyllenhaal
discusses a scene
with director Dan
Gilroy in the
KWLA studio set,
which was shot
in the facility
formerly occupied
by Los Angeles
station KCET.
Below: Steadicam
operator Andrew
Rowlands follows
Gyllenhaal
through the
setting of a
violent home
invasion.
cars. We also added small 2-to-4-inch strips

of LiteRibbon and LiteStix inside the car.
Everything was hybrid so we could mix
colors; to control it all, we ran the fixtures
off a 24-channel, 2-amp LiteDimmer, which
was [controlled via] an iPad running Luminair from Synthe FX. The actors and camera
crew would be working all over the car, and
we could adjust the lighting remotely so we
werent stepping on top of them.
What were some of the rigs you
used to get those driving shots?
Elswit: [We used] pretty simple,
straightforward hood and tray mounts, and
we did some handheld in the back seat and
the front seat. Part of our prep was deciding, What are we doing in each of these
scenes? We tried to approach each scene
slightly differently because so much of [the
26
November 2014
movie] is in the car. And we tried to find

locations where we could see stuff out the
windows while driving along, which you
get in the Valley a little bit easier than
anywhere else; its easier to control the traffic with cops and rolling [lock-ups].
For the big chase sequence at the
end of the movie, we put the car in the
Biscuit rig [from Allan Padelford Camera
Cars] to shoot some of the interior work.
We also did a free drive for a couple of
moments, and we got some profile shots
from the Pursuit Systems [Porsche Cayenne
Turbo camera car rigged with a Filmotechnic Flight Head V].
How did you manage to accomplish that chase sequence within your
tight schedule?
Elswit: Mike Smith, the stunt coorAmerican Cinematographer
dinator and second-unit director, and

second-unit cinematographer Chris Moseley put together a very simple and economic
plan for shooting the stunts, and they did a
fantastic job of executing it. It was important to us that the geography of the chase
be clear, and that for storytelling reasons it
would be experienced as much as possible
from Lou and Ricks point of view in their
car. Mike and Chris pulled this off in only
two nights and still made it exciting, and it
blended seamlessly with the first-unit material it was intercut with. Because of their
terrific work and [Dans brother] John
Gilroys superb edit, it holds its own with any
big-movie action sequence.
What drew you and Dan Gilroy
to the widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio?
Elswit: Danny wanted to feel that
theres something horizontal about Los
Angeles. Theres not a lot thats vertical to
the city, and he really wanted that long,
linear landscape to be part of the movie.
L.A. can be so generic-looking sometimes; it
looks like so many other places, or like nothing distinctive. But [Gilroy] was adamant
about finding places that really were
unique, or at least different. A lot of it was
in the Valley just off of Ventura Boulevard on
either side of Studio City.
We shot [spherical], which gave us a
little more depth of field inside the car. We
extracted 2.40:1 from the Alexa; that gives
you a little more grain, a little more noise,
which is okay. I had a set of the old Panavision Super Speeds and Ultra Speeds [rang-
ing from 17-100mm]. We also carried an

Angenieux [Optimo 15-40mm T2.6] for
some handheld and Steadicam shots, and a
[Panavision] Primo 11:1 [24-275mm T2.8] for
some long-lens shots. We got it all from
Panavision Woodland Hills.
Were you and Gilroy drawn to any
particular focal lengths?
Elswit: Not really. Most of it really
was, How do we do this as simply as we
possibly can? Id say our template was every
Sidney Lumet movie. It was character- and
dialogue-driven, we were in real locations
that were easy to work in, it was simple
coverage with only a few takes, and we
moved very quickly throughout the whole
thing. We had too many locations and too
few days to do it any other way.
Its interesting, though, because
the choices you were forced to make
still support the film tonally and thematically.
Elswit: Youre forced to do things
simply, but you always have to think about
[your choices] very carefully. The other thing
is, it has to be about performance. You spend
as much time as you possibly can allowing
the actors to do whatever it is theyre doing,
without interfering. There were thoughtful
approaches to how we wanted to do each of
the big, revelatory moments of Lou discovering this world and evolving. We compromised in places, but we didnt walk in without a very specific plan all the way through.
It always comes down to spending
enough time in prep, no matter how big or
small [the production] is. The script was solid
it wasnt going to change and Danny
and I had the luxury of being able to spend
weeks and weeks wandering around, talking
the entire movie through from beginning to
end, over and over again. We all know, if you
try to get to the set and you dont have a
plan, you really are asking for it.
Top: Bloom
approaches a crashed
vehicle after the films
climactic high-speed
chase. Middle: Among
the rigs employed for
the chase was Pursuit
Systems Porsche
Cayenne Turbo, which
was equipped with a
Filmotechnic Flight
Head V. Bottom: With
Blooms Dodge
Challenger secured in
a Biscuit rig, the crew
prepares to get
angles on Gyllenhaal
and Riz Ahmed (in
passenger seat).
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture and 3-Perf Super 35mm
Arri Alexa XT, Panavision Millennium XL2
Panavision Super Speed, Ultra Speed, Primo;
Angenieux Optimo
Kodak Vision3 200T 5213
Digital Intermediate
28
November 2014
A Drummers Downbeats
By Jean Oppenheimer
A hit at the 2014 Sundance Film

Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury
Prize and the Audience Award for Dramatic
Film, Whiplash questions how far an individual is willing to go to become the best in
a chosen discipline. For Andrew Neyman
(Miles Teller), a 19-year-old jazz drummer at
a prestigious New York music conservatory,
no price is too great. He sacrifices personal
relationships, endures physical pain and
accepts constant emotional, verbal and
even physical abuse at the hands of his
volatile, willfully intimidating instructor,
Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons).
Director of photography Sharone
Meir (Coach Carter, Mean Creek, The Last
House on the Left [2009]) was drawn to the
script both because he is a longtime jazz
enthusiast and because of the storys
psychological intensity. While the clash
between Neyman and Fletcher provides the
screens fiercest fireworks, an even greater
struggle takes place within Neyman himself.
This movie is really about ones relationship
with oneself, not with anybody else,
observes the Israeli-born cameraman, who
sat down with AC to discuss the project.
Meir studied still photography and
filmmaking in Jerusalem before spending a
year at the American Film Institute, where
he attended lectures and lighting seminars
given by Conrad Hall, ASC. One of the
things Connie told us was, As cinematographers, we play music, too. Sometimes we
play staccato, and sometimes we play
30
November 2014
legato. My feeling is that time-based

elements, such as visual composition and
camera movement, constitute your melody,
and lighting is your harmony.
When I met with [Whiplash
writer/director Damien Chazelle] the first
time, we talked about the movie having the
nature of jazz music, in that it needed to be
extremely precise but also improvisational.
Damien envisaged a fairly dark visual style,
singling out The Godfather and The Social
Network as primary references. (It was a
substantially different look from the 18minute short Chazelle had made the previous year. That version, also titled Whiplash,
was shot in markedly cool tones by cinematographer Edd Lukas and received a
Short Film Jury Award at the 2013
Sundance Festival.)
Given the features shoestring
budget and 19-day shooting schedule a
20th day was added for inserts there
would be no room for error or indecision.
Damien planned everything meticulously,
marvels Meir. He pre-designed coverage
for the music pieces by drawing stick-figure
storyboards, shooting it with a video
camera, then editing [the footage] to make
sure it worked in terms of speed and
pacing. A former jazz drummer himself,
Chazelle planned to shoot much of the
music live, although the bigger set pieces,
such as the competitions, would be prerecorded and shot to playback.
The filmmakers always intended to
incorporate a mix of colors and to revolve
around a two-tone palette cool and
warm or cool and neutral but Meir credAmerican Cinematographer
its Modern VideoFilm digital colorist

Natasha Leonnet with bringing more
contrast and color to the film. Meir and
Leonnet established a close working relationship early on, the cinematographer
continues. She came to the very first
[camera] test I shot. She really wanted to
know where we were heading, so she
would be able to help us later on. It was the
first time for me that the colorist, on her
own free time, wanted to get involved that
early.
Leonnet had graded the short
version of Whiplash, which she describes as
having cool tones throughout. It didnt
have the warmth that is so signature to the
feature, she notes. Nor did the features
final images necessarily correlate to the
look book that Chazelle had given her.
There wasnt a lot of green in the look
book, she reports. It was added during
production [and enhanced in the timing]. In
the DI we went far more saturated than any
of the images in the reference book, and
we created more color separation.
Playing warm against cool or placing a neutral against an intense color can
produce [an undercurrent of edginess],
she continues. It might be the sense of a
battle brewing between two opposing
forces or the tension building within
Andrew. The DI helped further the mood
and cement the rich two-tone [look] that
they developed on the set.
Throughout production, the crew
carried two Arri Alexa Classics with 16x9
sensors. (A third Alexa was drafted for the
band competition and the final scenes.) The
Whiplash photos by Daniel McFadden, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Additional images courtesy of Sharone Meir.
Nineteen-year-old
Andrew Neyman
(Miles Teller) goes
to frightening
lengths in the
hopes of reaching
unprecedented
heights as a jazz
drummer in
Whiplash.
Neyman endures
a torrent of
emotional and
verbal abuse
from his
mercurial
instructor,
Terence Fletcher
(J.K. Simmons).
cameras recorded ProRes 4:4:4 to internal

SxS cards and were framed for a 2.40:1
release. The movie was shot primarily with
Leica Summilux-C T1.4 primes. In addition,
we used Cooke Speed Panchro T2.3 primes
for macro work, says Meir, and a 12-to-1
Angenieux Optimo [24-290mm T2.8] zoom
was added for the three-camera days
during the grand finale performance. A
Canon EOS 7D, modified with a PL mount,
was used for inserts of the bands rehearsals
and final performance, and allowed us to
position the camera in some physically challenging spaces where the Alexa would not
fit, Meir notes. Los Angeles rental house
Otto Nemenz provided the camera gear.
Although the story is set in New York
32
November 2014
City, the majority of the film was shot in

downtown Los Angeles 70 percent of it
inside the Palace Theatre, which was
re-dressed to suggest multiple locations,
including the hallway and small rehearsal
room of the films opening scene. This scene
sets the tone, both visually and psychologically, for what follows. Late at night, the
corridor is bathed in green light; two warm
practicals (100-watt household bulbs
dimmed to 20 percent) hang overhead. The
camera slowly moves down the hallway
toward the rehearsal room, where Neyman
directly under a bright, white practical
sweats through his white T-shirt as he plays
the drums. His image is reflected in the
windows along the left wall. Finally, he
looks up to find Fletcher standing there.

The appropriate way to shoot that
scene would have been with a 50-foot Technocrane on tracks that could be later digitally
removed, acknowledges Meir. We had
neither the time nor budget for that. Instead
we used a Steadicam and stabilized the shot
in post.
The hallway was constructed inside a
16'-high room at the Palace Theatre. The lefthand wall was the inside of the buildings
actual faade, with large, arched windows
that looked out onto the city. The right wall
consisted of a row of tall, weather-beaten,
frosted-glass doors that production designer
Melanie Jones had found lying around the
building. In an attempt to grab as much
ambient light as possible from the exterior
windows, explains Meir, we shot wideopen, at T1.4, and pushed the ASA to either
1,280 or 1,600.
Facing the camera, just above frame,
from a couple of menace arms over the doors
on the right, we hung two 2-foot, two-bank
Kino Flos gelled with Rosco CalColor 30
Cyan, he continues. It created an ambient
backlight and cast green on the walls and
floors. A 150-watt Dedolight, gelled with
Quarter or Half CTO, was also suspended
from the menace arms to produce an orange
pool on the floor below the practical.
Inside the practice room, at the end of
the hallway, the crew rigged a Kino Flo Image
80 with Light Grid, CTB and a loose-fitting
bellows of Opal from another menace arm
over Teller. By bellowing it, rather than
stretching it [flush against the light], you get
a much bigger surface, somewhat like a half
China ball, Meir explains. There is a gradual falloff at the edge of the light, which is
more interesting to me than a flat surface of
light. (Illumination Dynamics in Los Angeles
provided most of the productions lighting
equipment.)
Only the bands dark, oppressive
rehearsal room, which Chazelle refers to as
the heart and soul of the movie, was built
from scratch on the stage at the Palace
Theatre. I wanted something with a real
grandeur and luster, but which could also
very quickly become a prison, explains the
director, who wrote the script based on his
own experiences. [Its] a room with dark
wood paneling, low ceilings and no windows
beautiful but also oppressive.
Above: L.A.s
Orpheum Theatre
stood in for New
Yorks Carnegie
Hall for the films
climactic band
performance.
Right:
Cinematographer
Sharone Meir
observes the
filming of the
performance
scene.
None of the theatrical lights on the

stage were used. Instead, the grips erected
a truss from which to hang lights. Jones
came up with the idea of having 4'x8'
acoustic panels serve as a kind of ceiling,
and Meir asked her to create faux boxes
with just one layer of yellow canvas, so that
he could light through them. Each panel
had two or three Lekos above it, aimed in
different directions and dimmed to about
20 percent. A-frame-shaped covered
wagons filled the areas between the yellow
panels.
The covered wagons had two
circuits, remarks gaffer Elan Yaari. One
circuit had 150-watt bulbs in it and the
other had 500-watt [bulbs]. We had 6-footers up there; they were all covered with
muslin to make them even warmer. The
two circuits gave us an alternative.
By balancing between the two
[circuits], Meir adds, we could control
both the level and warmth of the lights.
34
November 2014
Floor units, consisting of either Kino

Flos or incandescent Westcott strip banks,
stood at each corner of the set, and the
entire set was then skirted with bleached
muslin. Lighting the muslin gave enough
definition to make it appear as if there was
a ceiling, notes Yaari.
One of the most amazing shots in
the movie comprises a series of swish pans
between Neyman playing the drums and
Fletcher conducting at the podium. It
occurs during the final band competition
and was shot onstage at L.A.s Orpheum
Theatre (standing in for New Yorks
Carnegie Hall). To get the shot, Eric Leach,
a cinematographer who served as Bcamera operator on Whiplash, had to be
slightly above the camera, which sat on an
OConnor 2575D fluid head atop a dolly. Bcamera 1st AC Stephen Pazanti pulled
focus. Teller and Simmons were situated
almost 180 degrees from one another.
The pans, which whipped back-andAmerican Cinematographer
forth seven or eight times and corresponded

to specific music beats, were done in one
continuous shot. Chazelle stood directly
behind Leach, tapping him on the shoulder
when he wanted him to pan. We stripped
everything off the camera to make it as light
as possible so I could whip it around fast
enough, says Leach. I had the 12:1 Angenieux Optimo on, but I kept it at either 75mm
or 100mm. I was 5 feet from Simmons and
about 15 feet from Teller, so it was a medium
shot on J.K. and a wider shot of Miles, who
was actually playing the drums, which we
wanted to see.
Yaari recalls how helpful the support
crew at the Orpheum was. We used some
of their house lights and their dimmer-board
operator. They were very accommodating
and positioned their lights for our needs. By
and large we used Par cans and Lekos.
A Tiffen Double Fog filter was added
for a shot of the Carnegie Hall audience to
disguise the fact that there were so few
extras. You can use the Double Fog to build
some haze, which gives the illusion there are
more people there than there actually were,
asserts A-camera 1st AC Rocker Meadows.
Meir also used low-density Tiffen Glimmerglass filters on nearly the entire film. They
take away a bit of the digital curse that
extreme sharpness and cleanness of the
image, the cinematographer explains.
Using Leica lenses helps with that, too.
Meir has nothing but praise for his
crew. Ive been working with Rocker and
Elan for a long time, he enthuses, but it
was my first time collaborating with Acamera operator Chris Squires. He is a great
guy and a great operator. Meir also speaks
highly of Leach, who operated and shot a
lot of the inserts for the movie as a splinter
unit.
This film was a labor of love for all of
us, Meir concludes. None of it would have
been possible without the contributions of all
these talented people, and Damiens smart
and precise planning.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa Classic, Canon EOS 7D
Leica Summilux-C, Cooke Speed Panchro,
Angenieux Optimo
Questionable
Circumstance
Jeff Cronenweth, ASC and

director David Fincher embrace a
new workflow to visualize the
psychological drama Gone Girl.
By Michael Goldman
|
ased on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn and

with a screenplay penned by the books author Gone
Girl paints a dark psychological portrait of the married
couple at its core. After Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike)
goes missing without a trace, her husband, Nick (Ben
36
November 2014
Affleck), is squeezed by an unrelenting media circus as he

works desperately to either find his wife or cover up the fact
that he is responsible for her fate. The portraits shadings
become clearer as the movie jumps around in time, spanning
approximately a year as it cuts between Nick and Amys backstory and the present-day mystery.
The material is a perfect fit for director David Fincher,
who once again teamed with cinematographer Jeff
Cronenweth, ASC. For Gone Girl, the duo opted to work with
6K-capable Red Epic Dragon cameras, which had not yet
been put through their paces on a full studio feature.
(According to Red, Transformers: Age of Extinction had
employed the camera during principal photography, but used
other cameras and formats as well.) In turn, the choice of
camera pushed Finchers postproduction workflow into a new
realm; among other methodologies, Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Unit photography by Merrick Morton, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Enterprises.
Lighting diagram on p. 43 by Richard Rasmussen, courtesy of Erik Messerschmidt.
Opposite: Amy
Dunne
(Rosamund Pike)
goes missing in
the feature Gone
Girl. This page,
top: Nick Dunne
(Ben Affleck)
leads the search
for his vanished
wife. Middle: The
Dunnes
neighbor Noelle
Hawthorne
(Casey Wilson,
middle)
participates in a
candlelight vigil.
Bottom: Director
David Fincher
(left) consults
with
cinematographer
Jeff Cronenweth,
ASC.
was used on new Nvidia Quadro

K5200-equipped workstations to cut
the movie in HD ProRes, and a special
6K digital-intermediate data-processing
pipeline was developed at Light Iron in
Hollywood.
These decisions mark a logical
step forward in Finchers strategic, longterm pursuit of a larger imaging frame
and more data in general with which to
create what he calls a more beautiful 4K
environment for viewers to enjoy. The
director has pushed this agenda for
years, particularly since he reunited with
Cronenweth (who had earlier shot
Finchers Fight Club), adopted Red
camera technology, and blurred the lines
between his production, editorial and
finishing pipelines on The Social
Network (AC Oct. 10) and The Girl
With the Dragon Tattoo (AC Jan. 12).
When Red told Fincher and
Cronenweth, just as Gone Girl was
ramping up in late 2013, that four Epic
Dragons were available, the filmmakers
jumped at the opportunity to work with
the new cameras even though many
of the details of building a 6K pipeline
that would allow them to process their
imagery at its native resolution
remained to be worked out. As Peter
Mavromates, Finchers longtime postproduction supervisor, elaborates, We
www.theasc.com
November 2014
37
Below, left and

right: Detectives
Rhonda Boney
(Kim Dickens) and
Jim Gilpin (Patrick
Fugit) investigate
Amys
disappearance.
ended up with a 5K extraction out of a

6K field [that will] be distributed in 4K
and 2K. But the 4K and 2K are better
when you front-load the quality, which
we were able to do with the 6K sensor.
Furthermore, the extra pad, as
Cronenweth describes the larger sensor,
afforded the filmmakers additional real
estate to better control, manipulate,
reposition and stabilize the frames
themselves. Based on the experience
we have had on the previous movies
with Red, there was no reason not to
take this opportunity with the 6K
sensor, Cronenweth elaborates. In
38
November 2014
essence, we used the 6K camera to operate pretty much like we had on the last
two pictures to create a 5K 2.40:1
frame line out of the 6K that we
captured. That gave us a lot of room
outside of our frame for stabilization
and any repo we found necessary. This
has been Finchers methodology all
along: to use the system best equipped
to help us get the most appealing
images through color science and resolution. Plus, the cinematographer adds,
the latitude was irresistible. Because we
were shooting with prototypes, I would
say we were working with somewhere in
the neighborhood of 16 stops. But that

was 15 months ago, and I feel its more
in the 18-to-20-stop range today.
Fincher stresses, though, that
extra resolution is only as good as the
creative choices it serves. People can
forget that the art of photography is first
and foremost about manipulating
emotions, the director states. All the
ones and zeroes and pristine glass and
titanium fittings do not matter [unless]
they help impact the viewers feelings.
For us, collecting 6K was simply a way to
get to the most pristine 4K, because then
we could do all the stuff we wanted to do
in post to emphasize the performances

we liked. If I really like this take or that
performance, but for whatever reason
there was a minor imperfection, we can
better fix that with the larger frame.
The production carried four
Dragons, with Peter Rosenfeld operating the A camera and Cronenweth
operating the B camera. They typically
recorded their imagery to onboard
256GB and 512GB RedMag SSD
cards at 6K 2.0:1 (6144x3072)
resolution, and framed for a 5K
2.40:1 (5120x2133) center extraction.
According to assistant editor Tyler
Nelson, whom Cronenweth refers to as
the workflow guru, the filmmakers
utilized RedColor3 and RedGamma3
color/gamma settings throughout the
shoot, since the project launched before
newer tonal science for the Dragon
sensor had been finalized.
Nelson teamed with 2nd AC
Paul Toomey (on location in Cape
Girardeau, Mo.) and fellow assistant
editor Billy Peake (in Hollywood) to
take charge of data ingest, backup and
Above: Amys
mysterious exboyfriend, Desi
Collings (Neil
Patrick Harris),
arrives to assist
with the search.
Left: Nick finds
himself as the
prime suspect in
his wifes
disappearance.
www.theasc.com
November 2014
39
flow. On location, Nelson worked out of
a hotel near the production office, and
in Hollywood he and Peake worked in
the productions edit rooms so as to
meet Finchers desire for a small on-set
footprint with no video village. Nelson
operated a FotoKem NextLab dataintegration platform, taking charge of
data from the time it left the camera,
through dailies and editorial, and into
the digital intermediate. Nelson
uploaded dailies for the filmmakers to
review, comment on and interact with
using the Pix online remote-collaboration system; he emphasizes that this
tactic enhanced both collaboration and
creativity, because it allowed the film-
In this kind of
movie, it is all about
the intimacy of the
camera with the
characters.
Above:
Before her
disappearance,
Amy keeps a
diary that paints
a darker portrait
of her marriage
to Nick. Right:
Cronenweth
consistently
rolled two
cameras, and for
complicated
shots in tight
quarters, the
crew often used
Pacific Motion
Controls Talon
Repeat Head.
40
November 2014
makers to see the dailies edited from the

2.40:1 center extraction as well as the
full 6K frames.
I used the NextLab to ingest,
transcode and archive dailies to 256GB
RedMags, Nelson explains. When
processing dailies in the past with a
similar center extraction, we would crop
the image to see only the framed extraction in our offline edit timeline.
However, on this show, we edited the
movie with Adobe Premiere, which
gave us the ability to transcode our edit
media to a nontraditional size
2304x1152
ProRes
4:2:2
LT
QuickTimes and edit with those
files in a 1920x800 [2.40:1] timeline.
That allowed us to start editing by
seeing only what Jeff was framing for on
set, and to manipulate the framing,
meaning we could move the image up,
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THE RIGHT FEEL
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.
Left: Tanner Bolt

(Tyler Perry)
comes to Nicks
defense as his
legal counsel.
Below: A dolly
helps capture
the action as
Bolt makes his
way past the
media frenzy
camped in
front of the
Dunnes home.
down, left, right and so on without

having to re-transcode the edit media.
We also prepared Pix-playable
QuickTimes, which showed the 2.40:1
center extraction surrounded by the full
2.0:1 frame at 50-percent opacity, and
those were automatically uploaded to
Pix upon transcode.
The 6K sensor also impacted the
choice of lenses, as not all optics can
cover the Dragon sensors increased
dimensions. Cronenweth says he chose
to carry Leica Summilux-C primes
ranging from 16-100mm, although 80
percent of the time, we found our
bread-and-butter to be between 21mm
and 40mm.
[Gone Girl is] a psychological
drama, the cinematographer explains,
and I felt the Leicas had a quality that
was a bit more forgiving and sympathetic to the human face, yet still
managed to maintain the sharpness and
resolution that we wanted. Plus, theyre
smaller in physical size, and David is
always pushing us for as small a footprint as possible so we are never limited
in blocking or composition based on the
size of the gear. Additionally, we often
shoot two cameras and we need to get
them as close as physically possible in

order to maintain eye lines what we
call trading paint, which is a borrowed
NASCAR phrase. We shoot close to
wide open so that we can maintain
depth of field as a subjective choice.
That makes it an incredibly difficult job
for our camera assistants, but they have
adapted to using myriad techniques
(including monitors and finders) to
better judge an actors distance.
Indeed, the shallow depth of field
inherent in the 6K imagery put to the
www.theasc.com
test the talents of A-camera 1st AC

James Apted and B-camera 1st AC
Matthew Tucker Korte. Apted recalls, I
found out early in the shoot that at a
T1.3 with the Leica lenses and the 6K
[sensor], you cant just lay a couple of
marks and expect to pull an actor from
10 feet to 3 feet. You had to use a 17inch monitor, which I had tried in the
past but found challenging. But the
more you try, the better you get. Nearly
every shot had extremely precise camera
movement, and with David directing
November 2014
41
the actors, the dolly absolutely had to hit
its marks, so it was really helpful having
a great dolly grip [Brad Rea]!
Cronenweth stresses that the
camera movement in the film was
dictated by the emotional content of the
story. I believe there is a single handheld shot a point-of-view shot of a
newsman chasing Nick Dunne across a
park after a vigil for Dunnes wife, the
cinematographer explains. David is a
particularly methodical storyteller, and
in this kind of movie, it is all about the
intimacy of the camera with the characters and their emotions. Obviously its a
choice, but in this case I think you miss

that if you create more energy than
necessary by virtue of going handheld or
Steadicam. Instead, we opted to keep
horizons level and design shots with a
synchronicity between the camera and
actors and a minimum amount of operating. We tried to make it feel as fluid
and seamless as possible.
Rosenfeld, who was working
with Cronenweth for the fifth time on a
major feature, was used to Red technology generally, and felt the Dragons
eyepiece was an improvement over
previous iterations. And as an operator,
Above: Nick
hides from the
media inside his
darkened
house. Right:
Cronenweth
considers his
filter options.
42
November 2014
he says the 6K sensor did not significantly alter his approach to the material.
He was, however, astonished by the
cameras sensitivity in low light [with
the Dragons original low-light OLPF
fitted to the sensors].
There were a few occasions in
Cape Girardeau when we shot so deep
into dusk that most cameras would not
have handled it, the operator says. The
low-light capability of the camera was
outstanding, and the images we got in
those conditions looked beautiful. But
the 6K sensor had little impact on what
I saw through the eyepiece, how I oper-
ated the camera, or how I obtained

coverage. We generally shot the way we
always would for a Fincher movie: I
operate A camera and Jeff operates B
camera, and we never use more than two
cameras [at a time]. Fincher has a
distinct visual language, and his films are
usually shot mostly on track with
cameras on heads. We did a lot of
remote-head work probably more
than any other movie Ive done to get
the camera into places where you could
not otherwise go. We used it strategically to improve coverage, develop
longer shots and relieve the need to
remove many set walls on stages.

For particularly complicated
shots, the production routinely used a
Talon Repeat Head from Pacific
Motion Control. Toomey built a special
cart that enabled the camera crew to
easily roll out and set up the compact
system within minutes. According to
Apted, We also carried a set of Hot
Gears, just in case we needed two
remote heads simultaneously, which did
happen a handful of times.
As with the lenses and camera
movement, Cronenweth is quick to note
that his approach to the films lighting
which embraced a natural low-light,

contemporary-noir aesthetic was
driven primarily by the fact that the
movie is really an internal, two-character mental chess game. Long before we
got into principal photography, we
started thinking about and designing
the quality, softness and direction of the
light to reflect isolation, rejection, loneliness, internal contemplation everything most people experience in
relationships at some point.
Chief lighting technician Erik
Messerschmidt says he became quite
used to working at very low light levels
This lighting diagram illustrates how Cronenweth and gaffer Erik Messerschmidt lit the interior of the Dunnes home, which was built onstage at Red Studios.
www.theasc.com
November 2014
43
Top: Boney and
Gilpin question
Nick in front of
his in-laws, Rand
(David Clennon)
and Marybeth
Elliott (Lisa
Banes). Middle:
Fincher,
Cronenweth and
crew shoot
inside the police
station. Bottom:
Cronenweth
readies the
camera for a
day exterior.
for the most part, often just adding a

little shape to the actors faces. Jeff and
David have an aesthetic shorthand
when it comes to lighting and composition, and we developed our methodology during our location scouts to
support that aesthetic. We tried to keep
things as simple and elegant as possible,
and used a lot of on-camera fixtures and
existing lighting when we could.
Mostly, Jeff used subtle shifts in color
temperature to accent time and place.
Nevertheless, the production did
carry what Messerschmidt describes as
a fairly comprehensive lighting package, which included ETC Source
Fours, Mole-Richardson incandescents
and Arri M Series HMIs. The M Series
fixtures, Messerschmidt says, were big
players for us on location.
One important location was the
exterior of the Dunnes home, which
was shot during the fall in Missouri.
Later, when it came time for the house
interiors, which were shot onstage at
Red Studios Hollywood, the crew took
pains to match the lighting they saw on
location. For the stage work, we rigged
sunlight sources on the front of the
house to stay true to its orientation on
location, Messerschmidt explains. Jeff
44
November 2014
Top: The crew prepares to shoot a night-exterior scene. Bottom: The filmmakers employed
a dry-for-wet technique onstage with Pike for a shot of Amy floating underwater that would
later be finished with visual effects.
always made sure the sun position was

accurate to the time of day that the
scene took place, or when we had shot
the corresponding exterior. We also
used a lot of cool northern sky light in
46
November 2014
combination with warmer sunlight to

accentuate this approach. To create this
sky-light ambience, we rigged
Lumapanel Pro 46 fixtures through
large Full Grid frames outside the set
windows, and used Arri T12s on trusses

and trollies for sunlight.
Cronenweth and Messerschmidt
also made liberal use of LED lighting,
such as when they were confronted with
strict rules regarding what they could
hang from the ceiling inside the house
that, in the story, belongs to Nicks sister,
Margo (Carrie Coon). The filmmakers
wanted soft overhead light for the
scenes in the living room as Nick holes
up away from the media hordes, so they
opted to hang an ultra-lightweight rig
that comprised SourceMaker LED
Blankets suspended from PVC sprinkler pipe.
LEDs also helped when the
narrative called for shots of media
members using flash photography while
chasing key characters. In order to avoid
any rolling-shutter artifacts with the
flashes, LiteGear provided a special
circuit that allowed us to flash a panel of
daylight LEDs for a 100-millisecond
duration, says Messerschmidt. We
could adjust the brightness and decay of
the flash to mimic a traditional flash
bulb, but without any rolling-shutter
issues.
Elsewhere, for process work in
cars, the crew employed a rig that
consisted of 18 WinVision 8mm LED
video panels provided by Chaos Visual

Productions; the rig was suspended
from chain motors over the cars, and
rigging key grip Chris Leidholdt used
bails for each panel so that the filmmakers could tilt and slide them along
aluminum I-beams.
Additionally, the filmmakers
made use of the Fincher Light, so
called because the concept for the
fixture came from the director. The
Fincher Light is essentially a hybrid
LED unit configured in a bent milkwhite acrylic diffuser tube so that it can
bounce into itself, as Cronenweth
describes. The design is similar to a
traditional Zip light, and it gave the
filmmakers a versatile, soft key light for
tight spots.
During Gone Girls finishing
phase, post facility Light Iron was
responsible for final color correction,
the conform edit and final deliverables.
Company officials say they worked with
Quantel to upgrade the software and
processing capabilities of their Pablo
Rio color and finishing systems and to
bulk up their Genetic Engineering 2
shared-storage infrastructure so that
they could work with the higher-bandwidth native 6K images rather than
proxies during the DI process. This was
Cronenweth and Pike observe a scene.
crucial because, rather than being a

distinct step in the workflow, the movies
conforming process involved an ongoing back-and-forth tag-team methodology between the Light Iron finishing
48
team and Tyler Nelson in editorial. The

editorial department had to transcode
all online media to 6144x3072 10-bit
DPX frames (with the 5120x2133
center extraction) in order to make
adjustments whenever and wherever

Fincher needed them, until the very last
moments of post.
Admittedly, this was not a traditional workflow, says Ian Vertovec,
Light Irons supervising digital-intermediate colorist on the project. Most films
have clear stages of postproduction
edit, lock picture, conform, color, finish.
Here, the lines are much more blurred.
We have evolved a workflow over the
last two films with Tyler Nelsons team
who were doing all the split-screen
edits, shot stabilizations, paint fixes and
so on and we have very tight
communication, which in turn allows
David to make more adjustments at any
point in the pipeline. With a more traditional workflow, you commit to making
certain choices at certain points in the
pipeline, but this way, very little is off the
table.
Vertovec also notes that the 6K
Dragon sensors extended dynamic
range gave him more flexibility during
the color-grading process. For

instance, he says, the extended
dynamic range really brought out detail
in the Midwest skies. Also, warm tones
were more separated pinks, reds and
oranges were all unique hues. That
really allowed us to push shots cool, but
still retain skin tones. And when you
push a shot warm, its less monochromatic. I also feel the 6K images are not
really sharper than [the images from]
the previous Red [Epic MX] camera,
but having more pixels to render a line
results in more detail and clarity. That
increased clarity allowed me to really sit
on blacks, because you can perceive
detail all the way into the shadows.
Nothing is crushed, however; it is more
about rich gamma and soft contrast.
Cronenweth emphasizes that all
of these technological changes are
notable for allowing Fincher and his
collaborators to work more efficiently
with more image data, but at the same
time, the technology brings with it new
creative and technical tasks to manage.

The circle keeps going around, the
cinematographer says. Some things
that used to be problematic are not
anymore, but you now have to be far
more aware of other things that have
become more sensitive and were never
problematic in the past. In some cases,
it might not be about how much light
we can get into a location it might be
about how much we can take away from
a certain area, because now we can be
affected negatively by streetlights a
block or two away. Thats a broad example, but I think that attention to detail
has to be even greater than it was
before.
For his part, Fincher says his
thirst for a larger frame has been slaked,
at least for now, and he currently has no
desire to pursue an exhibition resolution
greater than the pristine 4K he feels
has been achieved. Instead, he wants to
push another side of his agenda with
camera manufacturers: ergonomics and
wireless functionality. The next thing

is, Id like to get rid of after-market
tchotchkes, he says. There shouldnt
be any cables, brackets, LCD sidecar
monitors or any of that stuff. I think
those things should all be part of the
camera. The next innovations should be
about interface and making the camera
completely ergonomic.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture
Red Epic Dragon
Leica Summilux-C
49
Across the
Heartland
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC
mixes acquisition formats for
the Western road movie
The Homesman.
By Benjamin B
|
50
November 2014
he Homesman directed by Tommy Lee Jones, with cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC had its
premiere at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the main
competition. Shot on a combination of film and digital, the
feature is set in the 1850s, and tells the unusual story of Mary
Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank), a hardy and rare single-woman
settler in Nebraska, who volunteers to take three mentally unstable women in a wagon on a five-week-long journey east to Iowa.
As Cuddy is about to depart, she saves incorrigible claim-jumper
George Briggs ( Jones) from hanging, and in exchange he agrees
to accompany her on the dangerous trek across the Heartland.
More a historical road movie than a Western, The
Homesman sees Cuddy and Briggs battling the heat, wind and
Unit photography by Dawn Jones. Additional

photos by Laura Wilson. All images courtesy of
Roadside Attractions.
Opposite and this

page, top: George
Briggs (Tommy Lee
Jones) accompanies
Mary Bee Cuddy
(Hilary Swank) on
her journey to
transport three
unstable women
from Nebraska to
Iowa in The
Homesman.
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Rodrigo Prieto,
ASC, AMC lines
up a shot.
snow of the Midwest. They come upon

two graves, armed Native Americans, a
lusty wagon-train scout and coldhearted hotel entrepreneurs. The journey is also a psychological one, as Briggs
proves to be an endearing scoundrel and
Cuddy a desperate romantic, while the
trio of mad women (Grace Gummer,
Miranda Otto, Sonja Richter) develop a
camaraderie of their own. By the
movies end, as Briggs crosses the
Missouri River to head back west, the
audience is left with a keen appreciation
of the real hardships endured by the

pioneer men and, more pointedly, the
women.
American
Cinematographer:
How did Tommy Lee Jones describe
the look he wanted?
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC:
Tommy Lee wanted the film to be as
simple as possible. The idea was to be
minimalist in the visual approach,
including the camera language. That
was interesting for me, because I had
just come off The Wolf of Wall Street [AC
www.theasc.com
Dec. 13], which is kind of the opposite:

extravagant characters, with the camera
moving most of the time. Tommy Lee
and I did discuss the scenes every day in
detail. He was very specific about what
he wanted to do, camera-wise.
The film appears to be simpler
than it really is.
Prieto: Thats exactly right. And
that was definitely something that
Tommy Lee was going for. We wanted
to get it as bare as we could. He talked
a lot about minimalism, and the story
November 2014
51

and the landscapes in Nebraska lent
themselves to that. The landscapes are
very flat, so we avoided mountains in our
framing as much as possible in our New
Mexico locations. Its just the land and
the horizon and the weather. Tommy
Lee spoke a lot about the artist Donald
Judd. One of Judds pieces is composed of
simple boxes on a flat Texan landscape.
And that was our aesthetic: a boxy wagon
on a flat landscape.
Tommy Lee doesnt like camera
flourishes. For example, he hates it when
you notice a rack focus. In fact, we could
never use that term on the set. When I
was talking to Zoran Veselic, my camera
assistant, I could not say, So then you
rack focus to something. Tommy Lee
would hear that and say, No rack focusing! So instead I would say, I will be
shifting the frame from here to there.
The other forbidden word was
flares. There is one shot that had a flare,
because it was unavoidable. It was a
Steadicam shot of the characters taking
one of the women to the wagon. Tommy
Lee wanted a circling shot, and at one
point the sun was in the frame. So we had
a big camera flare. I really liked the way
that it looked, but he was literally
depressed about it. In the end, he made
peace with it and grew to like the shot.
The color is very understated,
sometimes almost pastel.
Prieto: When we first met, I asked
Tommy Lee, Why dont we make this
movie in black-and-white? He immediately said, No, color is very important to
this movie, and he referenced Josef
Albers writings on color and composition. Even though its not a colorful
movie, those subtle shades of golden
grass, brown earth and blue sky, and then
the transitions into the deep green foliage
as the journey advances all of that was
really important to him. In the DI, we
tried to play the colors faithfully, to reproduce what was there in the places we
shot.
The film is defined in part by its
wide shots framing the horizon. How
did you approach those?
Prieto: Tommy Lee definitely
wanted that connection of the sky to the
Top and middle:

Cuddy makes her
way as a singlewoman settler in
Nebraska. Bottom:
Jones directs
Swank and Evan
Jones for a dinner
scene in Cuddys
cabin.
52
November 2014
Top and Bottom:

Jones first
appears onscreen
with
exaggerated
makeup
reminiscent of
Kabuki theater.
Middle: Jones
steps behind the
camera to check
a setup.
ground, that sense of the heavens and the

earth. We used that constantly; that was
our set, our stage. A lot of the discussions
we had on the set, or beforehand, were
about where to put the horizon line. As
we were framing shots with the wagon,
we said, Here we should have more sky,
or Here we should have more land. It
depended a lot on the weather was the
sky more interesting than the ground or
vice versa?
When Cuddy brings Briggs
home after they meet, theres a beautiful
shot of her through the window, with
his reflection superimposed.
Prieto: Its funny that you mention
that. Tommy Lee has a very specific point
of view on the way he wants to shoot
each scene. He is also very open to hearing ideas within the ground rules we
established from the start. In that case,
the original plan was one shot on him,
one shot on her, and then over her shoulder that sort of thing. But I said, Why
dont we use the reflection in the glass to
see both of them at the same time? He
liked that idea very much, because the
shot kind of encapsulates the fact that
theyre separate, but at the same time that
destiny has brought them together. Its
one of Tommy Lees favorite shots.
Were you the camera operator?
Prieto: Yes. The B camera was
operated by Robert Presley, who also did
www.theasc.com
November 2014
53
Top: Bounces were rigged to create fill light for day exteriors. Bottom: Jones black hat
at times posed a problem for the lighting. It was very important for [Jones] to see the
expressions of the faces clearly, says Prieto, so several times in the DI we brightened
faces a little bit.
54
November 2014
Steadicam. For the fight scene, we both

shot handheld.
That fight between Briggs and
the scout [Tim Blake Nelson] feels
very real, not choreographed at all.
Prieto: Its funny and a little bit
ridiculous, but at the same time realistic.
Thats a tone that the movie is riding,
overall. The whole thing, where he picks
up the knife, and he bites the other guy
its messy, its ugly and a little bit
funny.
Theres humor throughout the
film. When we first see Briggs, hes a
bit of a clown: in his underwear with
black powder on his face.
Prieto: Yes, and yet what happens
to him is very dramatic. Tommy Lee is
into theater, and in particular Kabuki
theater, so I think that was an influence.
When his character first appears, he
wanted it to feel like Kabuki theater;
those black lines painted on his face are
like the exaggerated makeup of Kabuki.
He wanted to present the character in a
startling way.
How did you decide to shoot
both film and digital?
Top (left to right):

Arabella Sours
(Grace Gummer),
Gro Svendsen
(Sonja Richter)
and Theoline
Belknapp
(Miranda Otto)
begin their
journey tied up in
the back of the
wagon. Bottom:
Jones and Prieto
plan a shot
looking into the
wagon.
Prieto: We knew that we could

shoot in low light with digital capture,
so that was certainly a plus, but I wasnt
sure whether digital was correct for the
entire movie. We shot tests to see how
the locations looked with different
cameras, including a film camera as the
known reference. We color timed the
digital cameras to match the negative,
and when we screened the tests, Tommy
Lee responded to the film, but not
because he liked it better necessarily.
It was more that he felt that film
looked more like a classic Western
movie, and that to see these landscapes
and locations with the film grain would
be more familiar to an audience. The
digital cameras looked too pristine, too
modern.
But then, when we compared
tests with candlelight and fire at night,
thats where the digital shone, particularly the Sony F55 at 1,200 ASA. So we
decided to mix formats and use the F55
for the night interiors and exteriors [and
film for all day scenes. The film portion
was shot on 3-perf Super 35mm in the
2.40:1 aspect ratio, using an Arricam
Lite with Kodak Vision3 stocks, 50D
5203 and 250D 5207. For both film and

digital, Arri/Zeiss Master Prime lenses
were used, as well as Angenieux Optimo
24-290mm T2.8 and Fujinon 1885mm Premier PL T2.0 zooms. The
F55 recorded Sony Raw in 4K
(4096x2160) resolution to an AXS-R5
recorder and AXS memory cards.]
Tommy Lee was very involved in
www.theasc.com
the DI, which we did with Yvan Lucas

at EFilm. In the DI, we tried to play the
colors faithfully, to reproduce what was
there in the places we shot. As for
mood, texture and composition, I
presented Tommy Lee with images
from still photographers like Josef
Koudelka, Flor Garduo and Ichiro
Kojima. As we did the color timing, you
November 2014
55

could feel that the clarity of the F55 shots
was different from film, so we added
some grain to the F55 footage so it
blended better with the negative footage.
I like the way the F55 reproduces color,
the nuances and skin tone in particular. I
found it very similar in that sense to the
F65.
Why did you select the F55
instead of the F65?
Prieto: We knew we had very tight
interiors, and the F55 is an easier camera
to maneuver inside these spaces. Tommy
Lee was intent on authenticity, so even
though we built [the sets], they had no
removable walls and they were small. The
houses were made of mud and bricks, the
same way they were made back then.
Merideth Boswell, our production
designer, did an amazing job reproducing
the texture of the era, down to the last
brick!
What was your approach to day
exteriors? How did you control the
contrast?
Prieto: It was very important to me
that the audience not feel any kind of
filmmaking presence. Of course we
always try for that, but I really wanted it
to feel like you were out there in the
middle of nowhere with these characters.
I dont know if I was totally successful, but
that was certainly my objective.
Sometimes I did have to simulate
sunlight for continuity, backlighting or
sidelighting with 18K Arrimax fixtures,
and I definitely had to use fill. My preference is to avoid electrical lighting for fill,
so I brought in bounces, but I tried to
make it look like it was the ground
bouncing the light, or the sky. One of my
pet peeves is when you can notice that
theres a fill bounce on the actors. Its
often because the fill is a different color
than the ground or the sky. For example,
if you fill a backlit face, with the sun
behind it, in reality, the fill light would be
sky light, which is bluish. But when you
use a white bounce it looks too warm,
because its bouncing back the warm
sunlight. So, often the bounce material we
used to fill was tinted blue. I wouldnt put
fill in unless I needed it, but the issue was
the hats. In particular Tommy Lee had a
Jones and
Prieto sought a
minimalist visual
approach that
took advantage of
natural sunlight
and showcased
the landscapes,
horizon and sky.
56
November 2014
Briggs dances a
jig around a
campfire during
a nighttime
sojourn. The
choice of the
rock-cove
location was very
purposeful, says
Prieto. It was
like setting the
stage. Hes
performing.
black hat. It was very important for him

to see the expressions of the faces clearly,
so several times in the DI we brightened
faces a little bit by tracking windows on
them.
The big problem in exteriors was
wind. Most of the time, our bounce
material had little holes in it so the wind
could pass through.
58
November 2014
Theres an amazing night interior where a couple [Miranda Otto

and William Fichtner] at a table light
each other in turn with an oil lamp.
Can you tell us how you did it?
Prieto: It was exciting to shoot
such very low light levels with the F55,
because I could do things that I couldnt
do on film, like actually using the oil
lamp as the main light source

although in the close-ups I did add
more candles to have a softer source.
Tommy Lee wanted to have a separation of light and darkness between the
two characters as they move the lamp
between them; we added a little backing
to the lamp, so that when shes lighting
herself shes not lighting him. I did add
a little bit of background light, but the
light level was very, very low, so the
flame would overexpose a little when
she put it very close to her face.
How did you get the background light to flicker?
Prieto: With Jim Tynes, my
gaffer, we created several custom firelighting gags. We made a small 2-footby-2-foot box with approximately 10
frosted lightbulbs in it covered by a light
diffusion, with a custom-made egg crate
in front. So we had directional flickering
bulbs, which were randomly varied by a
flicker unit.
Most films have moonlight in
night exteriors. You didnt do that.
Prieto: Theres no moonlight in
the film, except a day-for-night scene in
Top: With the fire itself serving as the primary light source, Prieto shot this night scene
outside a frontier hotel with the Sony F55 in order to match the rest of the movies night work.
Bottom: Prieto lines up a shot outside of the hotel, prior to the conflagration.
60
November 2014
the desert, which had to be moonlit. All

the other night exteriors were [lit by]
firelight. I did enjoy doing that.
Moonlight is really hard to create realistically on a landscape. Our budget
wasnt very high and I couldnt really
afford huge moonlight boxes but
even with those, its hard to make it look
real. So I preferred to just use campfires.
Tommy Lee liked the idea of having the
characters bathed in this firelight. It
feels very intimate.
How did you light the campfire
scenes?
Prieto: We started with the
[actual] campfires, and then we
enhanced them with these lightbulb
units controlled by flicker boxes. I used
them for most of the campfire exteriors,
to fill or to light the background. We
made them in [different] sizes: 2-by-2,
3-by-3, and a big 4-foot-by-8-foot
source with six 8-foot battens and fivedozen bulbs.
We didnt want to have the background go pure black, so we tried to pick
locations that had a backing to them,

something that the fire could light, either
trees or rocks; sometimes it was the
wagon. For example, we might use a 3by-3 on Hilary by the fire, and a 4-by-8
on the wagon behind her. The 4-by-8
had no diffusion in front of it. Given its
size we didnt need diffusion; it was
already soft on its own. And since we
only used it on exteriors, I didnt need to
keep it off of the background. In fact, it
was the opposite; I needed a source that
could wash the trees, wagon and other
things in the background.
When Briggs dances his jig,
theyre all leaning against a big rock.
Prieto: The choice of the rockcove location was very purposeful, to
have this background instead of just
blackness. It was like setting the stage.
The mise-en-scne here is also somewhat theatrical. Hes performing; hes
dancing.
There is a big scene with a burning hotel. Were you concerned about
shooting it with a digital camera?
Prieto: During testing, I found
that the Sony F55 doesnt suffer in terms
of latitude versus film. At least, when I
did my tests with a campfire, they both
lost detail in the highlights at the same
rate. Obviously, there was enough firelight to get an exposure on film. The
reason I shot this scene digitally is to
match the scenes preceding the fire that
had very low light levels.
What lighting did you use apart
from the fire for the night exterior
outside the hotel?
Prieto: This scene was a major
worry for me, especially before the fire
starts. Tommy Lee had all this action
outside, before he entered the hotel, and
we were planning all these wide shots,
but it was simply a barren hill with nothing around it. It was impossible to have
moonlight and not have it fade off. No
matter what the budget would have been,
you couldnt have enough lights to carry
into the very deep background. So I
decided, Okay, the house has to be the
light source, even before the fire. I
needed to have a big soft box, warm in
color, that I could suspend above the
Prieto checks a potential frame as Jones directs Gummer and Swank.
house with a crane and move around.

And again, the issue in New Mexico is
wind. That was our main technical challenge. It can get very, very windy.
We came up with this idea with
Jim Tynes, along with our key grip, Pat
Daily, of a 20-foot-by-20-foot simple
pipe frame, with hundreds of light bulbs
62
strung on wires inside it. The wind

could go right through it, because it
wasnt a box; it was just a frame with
wires and bulbs. It had no resistance to
the wind, which was huge for us. I didnt
want to fly our light source and have the
key grip say, We have to bring it down,
its too windy. All that would happen
with the wind is that the glass of the

light bulbs would sometimes create a
little clink, clink, clink noise, like a wind
chime. All those bulbs reminded me of
the stringed wedding lights in Babel [AC
Nov. 06], so Jim Tynes said, Lets call it
the Boda light boda is Spanish for
wedding.
Once the fire starts, I had 2K
Blondes with different levels of CTO,
Straw and so on, bouncing into a silver
lam frame. A grip shook the material to
create a bit of flicker.
The scene at the end when
Briggs dances on the ferry crossing the
Missouri is stunning.
Prieto: This scene is inspired by a
painting called The Jolly Flatboatmen by
George Caleb Bingham. But our scene is
kind of a negative image of that painting,
which is daytime and full of light. The
painting celebrates going west; its full of
light and excitement. It evokes manifest
destiny, the idea that Americas destiny
was to conquer and take all this territory,
and Tommy Lee is very much against

that. So this is the same image, but
surrounded by blackness.
How did you light this scene?
Prieto: Again, I had no moonlight for the same reason as before: It
was impossible for me to create moonlight on such a huge area. So I decided
the scene would appear to be lit with just
fires and oil lamps. On the ferry, the oil
lamps on the posts didnt provide
enough light even with 1,200 ASA, so
behind each one of the posts, I hid a 4foot Kino Flo bulb gelled with full
CTO. There was another oil lamp on
the platform where [ Jones] was dancing,
and I placed some lightbulbs controlled
with black wrap behind the barrels [that
were on the ferry]. All of this was battery
powered, so that when the boat drifted
away from the shore it was lit with its
own lights.
I used the 20-by-20 Boda frame,
again suspended on a crane, to get an
ambient light from above on the shore. I
knew I could light the foreground, and I

figured out a way of lighting the boat,
but then everything else would be black.
So I needed something to define space
and depth, and the water as well. Thats
why I put a fire on the opposite shore of
the river. I also lit the trees over there, so
you have a reflection of the trees as well
as the fire in the water; otherwise the
water would have been invisible. We
used a flickering 4-by-8 lightbulb unit
to light the trees from below, behind the
fire. Past the left side of frame there was
a lift with Maxi-Brutes with narrow
bulbs dimmed way down to light the
other trees.
The absence of moonlight really
defines the look of this movie.
Prieto: Thats interesting; I hadnt
thought of that. It was born from technical necessity. But also I really wanted
the nights to feel as naturalistic as possible, and I knew that with our budget
and locations, it wouldnt look as natural
with [artificial] moonlight. But I think
this also adds to the minimalist sense of

the movie. Its very simple: just fire,
warm light and blackness. This night
lighting is starker and more intimate,
and that works with the aesthetic of this
movie.
Thanks to gaffer Jim Tynes for his
help with technical details.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture,
3-Perf Super 35mm
Sony F55, Arricam Lite
Arri/Zeiss Master Primes,
Angenieux Optimo,
Fujinon Premier PL
Kodak Vision3 50D 5203,
250D 5207
63
Dark
Messenger
Sean Bobbitt, BSC and
director Michael Cuesta create a
period aesthetic to tell reporter
Gary Webbs tragic story in
Kill the Messenger.
By Mark Dillon
|
64
November 2014
ill the Messenger recounts the story of Pulitzer Prizewinning San Jose Mercury News journalist Gary Webb,
played by Jeremy Renner. In 1996, Webb penned the
explosive print and online series Dark Alliance, which
traced the U.S. crack epidemic to Nicaraguans who had
imported cocaine into the country in the previous decade.
According to Webb, the CIA allowed this to happen because
the profits helped fund the Contra rebels efforts to topple
Nicaraguas Sandinista government this after the Reagan
administrations initial support of the Contras had been
banned by Congress.
At first, Webbs story was lauded for what it had uncov-
Unit photography by Chuck Zlotnick, courtesy of Focus Features.
ered, but soon rival newspapers began

picking it apart and casting aspersions
on his journalistic integrity. He was ultimately shunted aside by his employer,
and he separated from his wife, Sue
(portrayed here by Rosemarie DeWitt).
Nevertheless, he was determined to
substantiate what he had written. His
book Dark Alliance and Nick Schous
biography, Kill the Messenger, provided
the source material for Peter
Landesmans screenplay.
Director of photography Sean
Bobbitt, BSC was approached to shoot
the project by director Michael Cuesta,
whose features include L.I.E. and 12
and Holding. Cuesta has also directed
episodes of Dexter and served as director/executive producer on Homeland
TV dramas Bobbitt feels have brought a
welcome cinematic aesthetic to the
small screen. Cuesta, for his part,
admired Bobbitts past projects, including the crime drama The Place Beyond
the Pines (AC April 13). I was drawn to
Seans simple, stark, poetic images from
his previous films, the director says.
He goes for the truth.
Cuesta also felt Bobbitts background in journalism made him an ideal
candidate. The Texas-born cinematographer began his career as a news
cameraman in London in the 1980s.
And indeed, the script resonated with
Bobbitt, who had also attended
Californias Santa Clara University and
was familiar with San Jose and the
Mercury News. As I started reading the
script, the story came flooding back to
me, Bobbitt recalls from his home a
boat moored on the River Thames near
the town of Chertsey, England. Gary
Webb did an amazing thing. He might
not have been the nicest person in the
world, but he was incredibly brave.
Coming from a journalism background,
I felt this story should be told.
Bobbitt and Cuesta embarked on
five weeks of preproduction in June
2013. The director recalls, Sean and I
would spend mornings going through
every scene, always coming from Garys
point of view: What is he feeling? What
are his obstacles? How do we visualize
Opposite: Kill the

Messenger traces
the true story of
how journalist
Gary Webb
(Jeremy Renner)
uncovered the
link between the
U.S. crack
epidemic,
Nicaraguan
Contras and the
CIA. This page,
top: Webb
attempts to
confirm some of
his suspicions
with government
official Fred Weil
(Michael Sheen).
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Sean Bobbitt,
BSC does as the
sign says.
www.theasc.com
November 2014
65
Dark Messenger
Top: A DEA raid interrupts Webbs interview with Ronny Quail (Robert Patrick) in the films opening
moments. Bottom: Director Michael Cuesta frames the scene for Renner.
his inner life in a simple, powerful way?

They drew particular inspiration
from the paranoid political thrillers
directed by Alan J. Pakula in the 1970s.
Visually, our first two acts were like All
the Presidents Men, Cuesta explains.
We wanted to capture the liveliness of
the newsrooms, and Garys excitement
and perseverance. The third act was
more about the world closing in on
Gary, and a feeling of isolation. The
Parallax View came to mind.
66
November 2014
Bobbitt adds that he considers

Kill the Messenger to be an homage to
the late Gordon Willis, ASC, who shot
both of the films mentioned by Cuesta.
Sadly, Bobbitt notes, it is a posthumous homage. But without him, this
film simply would not look as it does.
We wanted all the elements of a traditional political thriller but also a sense of
reality. In all his films you believed in the
people and those places, and hopefully
thats what weve achieved.
Webbs family gave production

designer John Paino access to Webbs
files, photos and home videos, which
served as important references. Bobbitt
credits Paino and his team with choosing locations that closely hewed to reality, which was particularly challenging
considering the movie is set in
California, Nicaragua, Panama, the
District of Columbia and newsrooms
across the U.S., yet was shot in and
around Atlanta in order to take advantage of Georgias lucrative tax credits.
Bobbitt worked closely with
Paino and costume designer Kimberly
Adams-Galligan to help convey the 90s
period and establish an appropriate
color scheme for the film. Theres
warmth throughout the first third, the
cinematographer explains. The Webb
familys home is a classic California
ranch house; its lush and inviting, with
rich colors of sea grass and buckwheat.
When Gary ventures out of his comfort
zone and gets enmeshed in things on a
national and international level, more
cool colors are introduced, and the
comforting California colors bleed out
and disappear.
To further support the period
feel, the filmmakers elected to shoot on
2-perf 35mm motion-picture film.
Since youre exposing only half the
surface area of the 35mm frame with 2perf, theres slightly less resolution and
more grain, but I think thats fantastic,
says Bobbitt. In a period film even
in a not-so-distant period youre
looking for subtle things that say, This
isnt now, and 2-perf gives you that
through grain structure.
Bobbitt continues to shoot
predominantly on film, and he notes,
The film, labs and technicians are still
there. It takes desire on the part of the
production to follow through. Michael
wanted to shoot it on film, and if the
director wants to shoot on film, thats
half your battle.
The production shot with three
Kodak Vision3 stocks: 50D 5203,
250D 5207 and 500T 5219. Bobbitt
notes, Some say digital cameras are
much faster, but with the 500T on night
interiors and exteriors, I push it one stop

to 1,000 ASA and can push it even
further in the [digital] grade without
introducing any more grain. In fact, he
adds, I probably use less light on a film
project simply because of the exposure
latitude. I try to keep a minimal lighting
package and be as efficient as I can.
Once we had done the scouting and saw
what we needed, our fantastic gaffer,
Stephen Crowley, was able to get us a
comprehensive package [from Paskal
Lighting] that worked within our
budget.
The crew shot with Bobbitts goto cameras: the Arricam Lite, which he
finds perfectly balanced and ergonomic
for handheld shooting, and the Arricam
Studio, which he likes for its ruggedness
and reliability. The camera package was
supplied by PC&E Atlanta.
Thirty-four days of principal
photography began in July. By the time
we got on set, the lighting had already
been agreed upon, the cinematographer recalls. Michael is very astute visually, and if he wasnt happy he would say
so and we would reach an accommodation. But we had many locations and
didnt have a lot of time, so there wasnt
much discussion. It was more just
getting on with it.
The Atlanta-based crew was new
to the cinematographer, but he
enthuses, I work with local crews all
over the world, and this group was
among the best.
As Webb writes his bombshell
article, a montage set to The Clashs
Know Your Rights illustrates the chain
of events that leads from drugs being
flown into the U.S., to addicts smoking
crack, to weapons being transported to
Nicaragua. The crew shot some of this
montage footage with a Bolex Rex 5
Super 16mm camera with 10mm,
26mm, 50mm and 75mm Switar lenses,
and with a Sony DVW-790 digital
Betacam camcorder, which was
mounted with a Fujinon 13x4.5BERM
zoom lens. To complete the montage,
these clips were transferred and edited
alongside TV news file footage.
Bobbitt used Cooke S4/i primes
Top: Webb pitches

his story to San
Jose Mercury
News editor Anna
Simons (Mary
Elizabeth
Winstead) and
executive editor
Jerry Ceppos
(Oliver Platt).
Middle: After the
storys been
published, Ceppos
begins to question
the veracity of
Webbs sources.
Bottom: Webb
defends his
findings.
www.theasc.com
November 2014
67
Dark Messenger
Bobbitt checks
the frame as the
crew prepares
to film inside
Webbs home
office, where
the journalist
covers the walls
with his
research.
for the 35mm material, as he nearly

always does. He says he finds the resulting images sharp, but with an appealing
warmth and soft contrast. Im drawn to
that more than something that is oversharp, he explains. Sharpness is a
function of contrast, and when shooting
with Cooke lenses, I can put that
contrast back in during the DI and
really pop things if I want. It gives me
more flexibility. (The crew also carried
an Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm
68
November 2014
T2.8 zoom, but it was rarely used.)

The crew used polarizing and
ND filters to hold daytime interiors and
exteriors in the T5.6 range. They shot
night scenes at T2. Julie Donovan,
whom Bobbitt calls one of the best,
served as 1st AC, while Bobbitt operated the camera, often circling the
action in a handheld configuration
when not working off of a dolly operated by dolly grip Kelly Borisy.
Additionally, a number of scenes called
for a Steadicam, which was operated by

Bob Gorelick.
For certain scenes after Webb
uncovers the conspiracy and fears hes
being followed, the handheld camera,
combined with wider lenses in the 2540mm range, provides an erratic, harder
feel. Elsewhere, longer lenses including the 100mm, 135mm, 150mm and
180mm lend a sense of Webb being
spied on. Cuestas favorite such instance
was a day-exterior scene in which Webb
meets with Fred Weil (Michael Sheen),
a government official whose own investigation into a CIA/Contra connection
has harmed his career. Shot during the
productions one day of location work in
Washington, D.C., the scene plays out
with the U.S. Capitol building and its
reflecting pool in the background. The
director explains, The scene feels big in
scope, yet the way we isolated the two of
them in front of the water, you feel the
world beginning to close in on Gary as
he confirms the danger in his story.
The Mercury News office location
was shot in the former Georgia
Archives building a modernist
edifice opened in 1965 and abandoned a
decade ago because of structural
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Dark Messenger
damage. Three sides of the newsroom
had windows, over which the crew
placed shutters to prevent a view of the
surrounding trees, which Bobbitt felt
didnt accurately represent San Jose. The
crew also replaced the existing fluorescent lights with daylight bulbs that
appear on camera some on, some off
to give the impression of a real working
environment. (Through some clever redressing, the archives building also
stood in for the newsrooms of The
Washington Post and Los Angeles Times
papers that attacked Webbs story
as well as CIA offices.)
Crowley introduced Bobbitt to
low-amp, high-output Mac Tech LED
We never wanted
to be too stylized
and remove the
viewer from a real
and tragic story.
Top: Webb and attorney Alan Fenster (Tim Blake Nelson) pay a visit to Fensters client Ricky Ross
(Michael K. Williams). Middle and bottom: Incarcerated drug baron Norwin Meneses (Andy
Garcia) speaks with Webb in a Nicaraguan prison; the scene was actually shot in an abandoned
jail outside of Atlanta, Ga.
70
November 2014
lights, which they used throughout the

shoot, particularly for some of the newsroom scenes. The crew rigged Mac
Tech 4x4 Soft Box fixtures in the ceiling
to help balance the interior with the
outside exposure, as sidelight had to
come from outside when the entire
newsroom was in view.
Complicating matters, the newsroom was two stories up. In order to
light through the windows at a proper
angle, Bobbitt and Crowley decided to
place 16 6K HMI Pars at ground level,
pointing up and bouncing into 8'x4'
poly sheets with a slight inward tilt in
the overhang above the windows.
Shooting with medium lenses on the
Pars added punch. We were able to
keep a consistent light on the windows
for scenes that went through the day,
Bobbitt says.
Borrowing a page from the
Dark Messenger
After the Mercury

News transfers
Webb to its
Cupertino bureau,
the reporter takes
up residence in a
motel room,
where hes paid
an unexpected
visit by ex-CIA
operative John
Cullen (Ray
Liotta).
Gordon Willis handbook, Bobbitt

often created drama with toplight, as in
a night scene in which Webbs paranoia
is set off when he thinks a man is
following him in an airport parking
garage. Webb exits an elevator and
walks toward the camera which was
on the Steadicam moving in and out
of shafts of light as his fear grows. The
dingy space was covered, but the sides
were open, with the city lights of
Atlanta visible in the distance.
The camera saw 270 degrees, so
the crew couldnt add many lights on
the ceiling, and instead had to rely on
the garages overhead sodium-vapor
practicals. They also added neutraldensity gel to control the output of a
mercury-vapor light that was above the
elevator door. We liked the mercury- to
sodium-vapor mix as Jeremy walked,
Crowley says.
Using house power, the electricians placed Mac Tech 360LS and
720LS LED Sled lights one floor up in
the garage to sidelight adjoining buildings for value in the background, and
they also rigged four units of Mac Tech
40-watt 120-volt bulbs powered by a
72
November 2014
single harness near the stairwells. As

Renner walked, Crowley kept pace with
a handheld Arri LoCaster LED panel
through an 18"x24" Light Grid diffusion frame, and would adjust the
dimmer on the back of the panel in step
with the overhead light to show
Renners face.
At the end of the scene, Webb
reaches his car and watches the other
man get in a vehicle and drive off. A
reaction shot of the agitated reporter
was lit by a 3,200K 360LS LED Sled
with 12 Plus Green to keep color
balance in check.
Bobbitt also had Willis in mind
while shooting a scene in which Webb,
now transferred to the Mercury News
small Cupertino bureau, has taken up a
humble residence at the Value Villa Inn.
He covers his motel-room walls with
documents related to the CIA/drug
story as he continues to search for the
truth. One night, ex-CIA operative
John Cullen (Ray Liotta), for whom
Webb has been searching, comes by to
confirm some of the reporters allegations and mutter ambiguous warnings.
Cullen doesnt want to be seen
and asks Webb to keep the lights off.

Faced with trying to film in the dark,
Crowley and key grip Kerry Rawlins
came up with the idea of rigging a lowprofile soft box under the 8' white ceiling. Single Mac Tech LED 4' 40-watt
and 2' 20-watt tubes were directed
through Light Grid, while drop-down
black-cloth teasers helped keep light off
the walls. Each tube had its own circuit
so the crew could turn lights on or off
depending on the shot.
Outside, the crew set up a classic
rig old-school 8-inch MoleRichardson 2,000-watt tungsten
Fresnels, explains Crowley to
emulate a harder sodium-vapor source
that creeps in around the curtains and
provides some further definition inside
the room. The Fresnels were gelled with
Lee 179 Chrome Orange, matching the
motels actual outdoor lights. We used
that base level and shot at T2 which
for the toplights was underexposed by at
least two stops and then graded it
down so you can see, but its still dark
and scary, Bobbitt adds. Liotta halfreveals himself at points, but a lot of the
time hes almost a silhouette.
Dark Messenger
The crew readies a motorcycle shot on location in Georgia.
Perhaps the biggest bit of cinematic illusion was the re-creation of the
movies Central American locales in the
middle of Georgia. The production
found a vacant quarry that was suitably
74
jungle-like, with overgrown vegetation,

and added palm trees and exotic bushes,
as well as CGI mountains (courtesy of
New Yorks Method Studios) to replicate the proper landscape. The
bleached look of Atlanta stood in well

for the Central American humidity and
hot sun, Cuesta notes. An abandoned
jail outside the city stood in for a
Nicaraguan prison, where Webb visits
the incarcerated drug lord Norwin
Meneses (Andy Garcia).
Footage was processed at New
Yorks Film Lab NY, and dailies were
timed in the same building at Deluxe by
Kevin Krout using Colorfront On-Set
Dailies, which was also used to generate
deliverables under the eye of dailies
operator Ryan Duffy. HD dailies were
sent out each morning on encrypted
drives as Apple ProRes files, which
Bobbitt evaluated on a calibrated Mac.
Deluxe scanned the negative at
2K for dailies and the digital intermediate using an Arriscan, and select takes
were restored from the LTO-5 dailies
archive for the online conform. Working
at Company 3 New York, DI colorist
Tom Poole graded using DaVinci
Resolve 10, and the final color-corrected
renders were filmed out at 2K using an

Arrilaser.
Poole first worked with Bobbitt
on The Place Beyond the Pines, and he
says, It was apparent we had a very
similar aesthetic. Poole supervised the
dailies on Kill the Messenger, so there
were no surprises at the DI stage. He
and Bobbitt set initial looks on the first
day of the DI, and the next day, Cuesta
came in to add his input. Bobbitt was
present throughout.
Poole toned down the greens of
verdant Atlanta and pushed them
toward the muted yellow of California
sunshine. To differentiate the Nicaraguan scenes, he upped the overall
saturation and pushed the green. The
aim was to carry out a photochemical
naturalness with mood and shape,
Poole recalls. We never wanted to be
too stylized and remove the viewer from
a real and tragic story except for the
montage sequence, where we went to
town with lots of different looks.
Bobbitt credits Cuesta with

making dark scenes even darker in the
DI. Many directors and producers
come in and look at a dark scene and
freak out, the cinematographer muses.
They say, Oh my God, I cant see
anything. But Michael would come in
and say, I think we can go darker.
Kill the Messenger is, after all, a
dark tale. Webb put himself in peril and
in turn had his name smeared. In 2004,
after battling severe depression, he gave
up the fight and took his own life.
Today, much of what he wrote has been
acknowledged as true even by the
CIA and the very outlets that brought
him down. The filmmakers were on a
mission to tell his story and tell it right.
What happened to Gary was
dreadful, Bobbitt says. He came across
a really big discovery and it basically has
been forgotten. If this film can in some
way shine a light on the hypocrisies,
then it was worth doing.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
2-Perf 35mm, Super 16mm,
Digital Betacam
Arricam Lite, Studio;
Bolex Rex 5; Sony DVW-790
Cooke S4/i, Angenieux Optimo,
Switar, Fujinon
Kodak Vision3 50D 5203/7203,
250D 5207/7207, 500T 5219
75
Trials
Tribulations
and
Fred Elmes, ASC and

director Lisa Cholodenko create an
intimate portrait of a familys
foibles for the decades-spanning
miniseries Olive Kitteridge.
By Patricia Thomson
|
76
November 2014
restige television has another thoroughbred in the stable

with Olive Kitteridge, a four-part HBO miniseries based
on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Elizabeth Strout.
Its star, Frances McDormand, optioned the book a
collection of short stories about the denizens of a coastal
Maine town and then recruited her Laurel Canyon collaborator Lisa Cholodenko to direct. Cholodenko, in turn, partnered for the first time with Fred Elmes, ASC, the
cinematographer behind such films as Eraserhead; Blue Velvet
(AC Nov. 86); The Ice Storm (AC Oct. 97); Night on Earth
(AC June 92); Synecdoche, New York; and A Late Quartet.
Played by McDormand, the eponymous Olive is a
Unit photography by JoJo Whilden, SMPSP, courtesy of HBO. Additional images provided by Fred Elmes, ASC.
retired schoolteacher who doesnt suffer

fools gladly. She can be hard as Maine
granite on her good-natured pharmacist
husband, Henry (Richard Jenkins), and
distant son, Chris (played by Devin
Druid as a youth and John Gallagher Jr.
as an adult), but she also has surprising
reservoirs of empathy that spring forth
like water from a rock. The series spans
25 years, following the ups and downs of
the Kitteridge family and those who
move in and out of their acquaintance,
encompassing marriages and divorces,
struggles with depression, attempts at
suicide, a hostage-taking, and acts of
kindness and connection that keep hope
alive in this hardscrabble community.
Its a pretty harsh environment,
and you see its effect on the townspeople
of Crosby, Maine, says Elmes. Though
on the surface Olive is often brash and
disparaging, theres compassion there,
too. I took it as my job to find that
compassion.
For aesthetic reasons, Cholodenko
wanted a straightforward approach.
Opposite: Olive
(Frances
McDormand) and
her husband,
Henry (Richard
Jenkins),
experience ups
and downs over a
25-year period in
the miniseries
Olive Kitteridge.
This page, top:
Olive, Henry and
their son, Chris
(Devin Druid),
endure their
nightly dinner.
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Fred Elmes, ASC
(at camera) and
director Lisa
Cholodenko (far
right) ready a
scene on location.
There was something classical about

this piece, says the director. I wanted
to represent that formality in a beautiful
way and let what was messy and unconventional breathe within that.
www.theasc.com
As a result, says Elmes,

[Cholodenko] didnt think this was a
place for sweeping camera moves or
grandeur; it is an internal story. I kept
the camera intimate, to be with Olive
November 2014
77

and inside her head. The whole film is
shot very simply with a 27mm lens,
sometimes a 32mm, occasionally a
40mm. Except for a handful of shots,
everything was dolly and track.
Painterly was a favorite descriptor of Cholodenkos, and to achieve that
the duo examined artists and photographers who had worked in New
England, including Edward Hopper,
Andrew Wyeth and Stephen Shore. Joel
Meyerowitzs work from Cape Cod was
a particular touchstone. In his work,
there is a light that appeals to me, says
Cholodenko of the photographers tranquil, luminescent images. I like the
balance he achieves of the formal straddling the naturalistic and the impressionistic. We strove for that balance in
the film.
Toward that end, the filmmakers
opted to shoot on 3-perf Super 35mm,
framed for 16:9. The network at first
resisted shooting on film, but the
producers made a strong case, adopting
arguments Elmes had used when
Cholodenko first asked his opinion on
digital capture. As the cinematographer
explains, [I told her,] I think well have
a better feeling of the past if we shoot on
film. The patina of the grain will lend a
sense of period, of being of a different
time. And film will also give us subtleties
in the flesh tones, making the actors
faces more expressive.
The storys 25-year span required
McDormand and Jenkins to go through
four stages of prosthetics and wigs.
When prosthetic makeup wears thin
during the day, the edges of real and
unreal are more apparent in digital,
Elmes says. Film helps that, as do diffusion nets in front of the lens. Elmes did
extensive tests during prep and found
that a very thin, black silk voile net
worked best, he continues. It made the
image a little more coherent, perhaps
even painterly, and helped take the edge
off the sharpness of the prosthetic
makeup.
Shooting predominantly with a
single camera, the production carried
both an Arricam Studio and an Arricam
Lite, as well as an Arri 235, coupled with
Top: One of the

denizens of Crosby,
Maine, collapses
outside of Henrys
pharmacy. Middle
and bottom: The
majority of the
productions
locations
including the
Kitteridge house
were practical.
78
November 2014
Elmes favorite prime lenses Cooke

S4s (T2) or sometimes a Cooke S5
for its extra stop (T1.4). We knew we
would not have the time or budget for
extensive, large-scale night lighting, the
cinematographer says. Wed have to
keep it small, and this was the way to do
it. In addition, they carried two
Angenieux Optimo zooms: 2876mm
T2.6 and 24290mm T2.8, all from
Camera Service Center in New York.
Elmes reports that he used only
two film stocks: Kodak Vision3 250D
5207 (its amazingly versatile) and
that old standby, 500T 5219, both
rated normally. He and Cholodenko
The patina of
the film grain lends
a sense of period,
of being of a
different time.
opted not to create different looks for

different decades. Things dont really
change much in small-town Maine,
says Elmes. There are seasonal
changes, and the weather those are
great. The pharmacy changes from an
old to a new building, so you see Main
Street wake up a bit as time passes. But
not much else changes.
Prep took place discontinuously
over several months before principal
photography commenced in late August
2013. The timing enabled Elmes to
fully participate in location scouting
while working other jobs. Being New
York-based, he could hop on an Amtrak
to Boston and then head up to
Gloucester, Mass., as all locations were
within a 25-mile radius of the fishing
town.
Roughly 90 percent of the
The same location was used for both interiors (top) and exteriors (bottom) of the Kitteridge home.
productions locations were practical,

including the Kitteridge house, which is
an old property situated on the edge of a
tidal bay. Using one location for both
interiors and exteriors was one of Elmes
priorities. Maines constantly shifting
configuration of sea and sky is a reflection of Olives character. I wanted what
is seen outside the windows and doors
to help inform that relationship.
www.theasc.com
Between late August and

Thanksgiving, the production had to
capture or create spring, summer, fall
and winter. That meant pauses for the
art department to generate snow, add
flowers and adjust leaves on trees. They
also had to factor in time to get actors
into prosthetic makeup; some days even
called for multiple looks. The story
involves flashbacks, flash-forwards,
November 2014
79

dream states, hallucinations and scenes
repeated from different characters
perspectives. The story is beautifully
structured, with pieces of it starting in
one episode, then finding their conclusion in another, says Elmes. Its a
really wonderful device, and I wanted
to underscore it visually.
To keep the cross-references
straight, Elmes created a large flowchart of four parallel lines cutting diagonally across a 5' piece of paper.
Layered on top of the episode storylines are words, circles and arrows. A
circle is a scene. You can judge how
long the scene is by how big the circle
is. So that scene, he says, pointing to a
larger circle, is 12 minutes of one
episode. The blue part in the middle is
a flashback that started in episode one.
My idea was to make a correlation in
the way theyre photographed. The
colors are emotional cues. It was a way
to remind myself of what the characters
were feeling in an episode. Id go home
and check it in the evenings, and
constantly add to it.
Cholodenko was appreciative of
the coherence Elmes brought to the
series. He had a vision for it, she says.
You could see that during the production, but when I cut the film together
and saw how it was unfolding, I just
thought and I dont use this word
glibly there was something genius
about Fred. The film cut together so
fluidly and beautifully.
Elmes core team included
Boston-based gaffer Morris Mo
Flam and key grip William Weberg.
Im so incredibly happy they were
available, because they made the schedule possible getting us in and out of
locations and finding simple solutions
to our big production headaches, says
Elmes. He also tips his hat to the two
operators: Dave Crone on A camera
and Steadicam, and Patrick Ruth on B
camera. Ruth was also tasked with
capturing Mother Nature in her many
moods. His shots give the movie a
visual texture we would never have
gotten without him, says Elmes.
They help define the tie between
After Kevin
Coulson (Cory
Michael Smith,
middle, left)
rescues Patty
Howe (Rachel
Brosnahan) from
drowning, the
two share a
moment inside
the caf where
Patty works.
80
November 2014
November 2014
For the better part of a decade now, Ryan Murphy has been
innovating the way audiences look at small screen entertainment.
As the creator of shows like Popular, Nip/Tuck, Glee, and The New
Normal, Murphy has established a distinctive brand of lmmaking
thats faster, louder, and more attention-grabbing than its
television contemporaries, and one that puts compelling visuals
on par with addictive storylines. Case in point: American Horror
Story, Murphys television show/miniseries hybrid that plays
more like a horror anthology with a new theme each season. In
season one it was Murder House, which was followed by Asylum
and Coven. And this fall, Freak Show
premiered with what Murphy describes
as the most terrifying clown of all
time.
Michael Goi, ASC, ISC has been
there since nearly the beginning,
shooting the second half of American
Horror Storys rst season after rst
collaborating with Murphy on Glee.
American Horror Story had a visual
style and approach for season one
that was already established by the time I came on to it, says

Goi. I didnt make a lot of alterations to it, but in the last two or
three episodes I started to veer in the direction that I felt like the
material was taking me, and some of that approach is whats
reected in season two, Asylum, where youre dealing with an
atmosphere that was very crazed. And I think the camerawork
and the lighting reected that a lot.
To achieve American Horror Storys groundbreaking and often
frightening visuals, Goi relies on a mix of cameras and stocks
including KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 7219 and
5219, EASTMAN DOUBLE-X Negative
Films 5222 and 7222, and KODAK
TRI-X Reversal Film 7266 but its
always lm. From an equipment and
technology standpoint, I always like
things very simple, explains Goi. Part
of the reason why I shoot lm and
why I love shooting it is because, for
me, it is the simplest, fastest medium
to create and capture images. Of
particular importance to Goi is the
Part of the reason why I

shoot lm and why I love
shooting it is because,
for me, it is the simplest,
fastest medium to create
and capture images.
ability to let the look of the show evolve but to remain instantly
recognizable as part of the series.
try to see the world from his or her perspective. Its a subtle
difference but it makes a difference to me.
People always comment on the wide variety of looks in

American Horror Story and the looks of the different periods of
time, Goi notes. Thats all accomplished at the time we shoot
the show; its not something thats created in a digital suite in
post-production. If we want something to be black and white to
look like a home movie, we shoot it in black and white on Super
8 or 16mm. So the looks are built into the show. The deadlines
for trying to deliver a show to television to put it on air are very,
very tight, so if I had to supervise creating a look in color timing,
I would never be able to do it. I would never be able to follow up
on it because of the demands of being on location. So shooting
on lm, creating those looks, and knowing that I have it in the
camera is really an integral part of the aesthetic approach of
the show, and its the reason why the show looks the way it
does.
To illustrate this approach, Goi cites two examples: In

season two, theres a scene where Sarah Paulsons character
nds out who the murderer Bloody Face is, and shes trapped
in his dungeon with all these gleaming metal tools and white
oors with drains in them and all that stuff. Logically, when
you read that in the script youd think, Okay well this is going
to be really dark and scary looking, but I was thinking, well
this is almost like the feeling you have when you visit the
dentists ofce. You know, its really clean and white, and so
I lit it completely with uorescent lights. I lit it completely
bright and at because I wanted the audience to feel like they
were going to the dentist and have the feeling that they were
going to be drilled upon.
Archivability is also important to

Goi. The thing I try to emphasize
when I talk to people is that all these
media are valid, but you also have to
think of the long-term ramications of
things that there is no such thing as a
digital archival medium. That in certain
circumstances, in certain locations, or
in certain types of projects you know,
maybe lm is the best choice for that
project. Maybe it gives you a palette
that you would not immediately get
with the digital medium or maybe
youre shooting in a location where
its prohibitive to bring an extremely
sensitive piece of electronic equipment.
Whatever the reason, the toolbox
should remain wide open and not
limited to one screwdriver.
Of course, all that game-changing creativity requires
precision. And a unique way of envisioning what any given
scene might look like. I would say that probably the one
overriding thing that I try to do on a consistent basis is to light
or shoot from the perspective of the character thats in the
scene, explains Goi. For example, if the scene is supposed
to be scary or supposed to be romantic or whatever, I dont
necessarily light in the direction of those kinds of atmospheres.
I get into the head of the character whos in that scene, and I
Another example is when Zachary Quintos character is

deling Clea DuValls corpse. In his mind, he thinks hes on a
date with her, so I lit it very warmly and romantically, which
made it that much more horrifying because of the things
hes doing to her corpse. So its trying to have the audience
emotionally associate with whats going on by inhabiting the
mind of the character whos in it.
Though the series maintains a rotating stable of directors
for each episode, Murphys ngerprints are all over American
Horror Story. And he knows exactly what he wants. My
interactions with Ryan are very short, but theyre very
informative and precise, says Goi. Thats the way Ryan
communicates and I like that about him. He can say in one
sentence exactly what his intention is, or exactly what his
inspiration for something is. I take that and I go and esh it out
or, if I have an idea for something else, Ill just text Ryan about
it and say, You know, I think these sequences should be like
hand-cranked, black-and-white movies. What do you think?
And hell text back and say, Great! And thats all I need to
know. Audiences, too, will get to witness Murphys handiwork
when the new season begins, as he directed the season four
opener. [The pilot is the only other episode on which Murphy
was standing behind the camera.]
While Goi remains fairly tight-lipped on what audiences
might see in the new season, he promises Freak Show is
completely different than the rst three seasons in look and
style and approach. We try not to make any one season the
same as another. The material dictates our approach. I will use
whatever visual references Ryan has in his mind for something,
and this season he was very into Douglas Sirk movies like All
That Heaven Allows. I try to infuse it with the things that I
feel speak to the same sort of emotional style, but from a

different perspective, like the lms of Ozu and a lot from
Japanese cinema from the 1950s. Its kind of an organic mix
of stuff that develops as we get into it, and its still evolving.
We are shooting episode ve right now; the things we
established in episode one are still there, but were starting
to veer into different territories with the characters.
And about that clown? Yeah, the clown is pretty
freaky, concurs Goi. But hes freaky within a universe of
pretty freaky.
So shooting on film, creating those looks, and knowing

that I have it in the camera is really an integral part of the
aesthetic approach of the show, and its the reason why
the show looks the way it does.
Photos: Previous page and left page, bottom left: Michael Goi on the set of American
Horror Story. Left page, right: (L-R) Michael Chiklis as Dell, Angela Bassett as Desiree
Dupree. Spread: (L-R): Jyoti Amge as Ma Petite, Naomi Grossman as Pepper. All photos by
Michele K. Short / FX.
Janusz Kaminski is a two-time OSCAR winner who

is best known for his many collaborations with Steven
Spielberg, including Schindlers List, Saving Private Ryan,
Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Munich, War Horse and
Lincoln. Kaminskis credits also include such memorable lms
as The Diving Bell and The Buttery, Jerry Maguire and How Do
You Know.
Dobkin, whose previous lms include The Change-Up and

Wedding Crashers, imagined a lm that blended elements of
comedy and drama.
When Kaminski chooses a project to shoot outside of

his collaboration with Spielberg, he is selective. Recently,
he brought his keen eye and gift for visual storytelling to
The Judge, a feature film for director David Dobkin. The lm
opened the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
The production was set up at stages and locations in

the Boston area. For the majority of dialog scenes, the
lmmakers used three cameras an approach that required
adaptation from Kaminski.
I took this project because I really like the narrative, says

Kaminski. Im attracted to stories that are sentimental
and I think life demands that we lmmakers create
sentimental movies.
In The Judge, big-city defense attorney Hank Palmer
(Robert Downey Jr.) returns to his childhood home where
his estranged father, the towns judge (Robert Duvall), is
suspected of murder. Palmer hunts for the truth, and along the
way reconnects with the family he left years before. The cast
also includes Vincent DOnofrio, Vera Farmiga and Billy Bob
Thornton.
I like the idea of closure, says Kaminski. Its
something that has been missing from my personal life.
David was very interested in working with me, and very
open to my suggestions.
We made exactly the movie we wanted to make,

Kaminski explains. Its an homage to the movies you dont
see any more movies that are funny as well as dramatic,
with a happy ending.
My job is to facilitate and accommodate the directors

needs, he notes. With three cameras, my work is necessarily
compromised to some degree. But that is what this movie
required. I have this somewhat narcissistic desire to remind
the world that light is there to tell the story not just to let
people see. People do very good work these days with very
naturalistic images. And I am fully capable of that if its right
for the movie. But I try to create a hyper-reality. I still believe
that Hollywood movies of this type should feel like Hollywood
movies. People should be lit. And sometimes that means
introducing some element of articiality.
As an example, Kaminski points to some of the dramatic
courtroom scenes, which play out with a subtly smoky texture
in the atmosphere.
Kaminski and Dobkin chose to shoot The Judge on 35mm
film. Whenever possible, Kaminski loaded the cameras
I like film grain and I

love the 200T that is a
beautiful emulsion. The
film system is superior
and beautifully designed.
with KODAK VISION3 200T Color Negative Film 5213.
For night situations, he used some KODAK VISION3 500T
Color Negative Film 5219, and for daylight exteriors,
KODAK VISION3 50D Color Negative 5203.
Kaminski is known as a film advocate. These film
stocks are more than great, he says. I like film grain
and I love the 200T that is a beautiful emulsion.
The film system is superior and beautifully designed.
Unfortunately, we have messed it up by marrying it with
HD dailies and AVID output, which people have fallen in
love with. High-definition dailies will never look the way

the film looks. Theres always more contrast, more this
and less that. There are so many opportunities to stray
from the original dailies. But that has been getting a little
better lately.
David wanted to shoot film from the beginning,
Kaminski adds. He is a filmmaker. He wants to make
serious movies, and this film proves that hes got what
it takes. He has the storytelling ability and the business
sense. It takes tremendous skills and chutzpah to succeed
in Hollywood. Sometimes talent is almost secondary to
that. But David has both, which is great.
Kaminski and Spielberg are currently in preproduction
on their next project, a Cold War thriller starring Tom
Hanks, slated to be shot partly in Berlin. Of course, the
format will be 35mm film. Kaminski notes that Spielberg is
also a proponent of shooting on film emulsion.
Fortunately, Ill be able to use lm stock to create an
image with some grain, he says. Well be shooting in East
Berlin, and creating the different world of post-war Germany.
The lm emulsion will be an important part of that.
Photos: Left page: Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall in The Judge. Right page, top:
Janusz Kaminski on the set. Right page, bottom: Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall
in The Judge. Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures drama The Judge,
a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photos by Claire Folger. Copyright: 2013 WARNER
BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
BELLING HITS
THE RIGHT NOTES FOR
SONGS
SHE WROTE ABOUT PEOPLE
SHE KNOWS
Since Amy Bellings first film premiered at the 2003
Toronto International Film Festival, she has been both a
producer and cinematographer. Belling nds an ease and a
challenge in playing dual roles. On her most recent endeavor,
the musical comedy Songs She Wrote About People She
Knows, it was par for the course.
My producer brain never shuts off completely,
she explains. It can be a hindrance to the creative
process of directing and cinematography, but on
the ip side, being a producer, and having built
the budget and negotiated most of the vendor
deals, it can be a huge asset in troubleshooting.
For Songs She Wrote, written and directed by
Kris Elgstrand, Belling wanted to achieve a
retro look that felt analog, nostalgically
putting the audience into a
pre-digital era. They shot on Super
16mm lm, as it automatically
generated the grain, texture
and richness the stock naturally
provides for the look they wanted
to attain.
The story follows 30-something
Carol (Arabella Bushnell) who
begins sharing songs she has
written about the people in her
life. The swoony tunes are both honest and scathing, causing
Carol to lose friends, alienate people, and yet unexpectedly
inspire her boss to reignite his dream of becoming a rock star.
The script called for many indoor, car interior and
night scenes, so Belling chose to shoot primarily on
KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 7219.
With only a small lighting package and a twoto three-person grip and electric crew, she
knew she needed the speed of the 500T
Film. They shot most of the daytime
exterior scenes with KODAK
VISION3 50D Color Negative
Film 7203.
I always use a large variety of color lters, she explains,

so I needed the 500T speed, especially to compensate for
losing up to 1 2/3 stops from color ltration. I do love how
that stock renders color, blacks and highlights.
Belling notes that the lm stocks along with production
design and costumes became the dening quality of the
world that the characters inhabit in the lm.
Color was a huge conversation between myself,
production designer Drew Shaffer, and costume designerdirector Kris Elgstrand, Belling says. Arabellas hair is a
colorful red, and her wardrobe a vibrant palette. We wanted
Carols world to feel warmer and more saturated than the
bland environment of her ofce. Her home was
photographed with Coral lters that set up the
beginning of the lm, and then come back at
the end for the nal scene in a stronger Coral 3
ltration.
Shot in California and Vancouver, production
began just six weeks after Elgstrand pitched the
film to Belling. Belling chose the ARRIFLEX 16 SR3
camera package, shooting the entire film handheld
with ZEISS T1.3 Primes. She over-exposed
the footage 1/3 stop to create a richer
negative and then brought it down in
color timing at Side Street Post in
Vancouver with colorist Gary Shaw.
A technique we employed on this lm was breaking

the fourth wall, and center-punching our protagonist
when she punctuates scenes with a song or a look to
the audience, says Belling. I would be about 18 inches
away from Arabellas face on a 12mm lens in close-up
with her looking down the barrel. Each time we repeated
this visual language throughout the lm, I swapped out
the Classic Soft ltration I was using for a Glimmer Glass
3 lter. The result is really subtle, but has a slight magic
realism effect that works extremely well.
Songs She Wrote About People She Knows premiered at
the Toronto International Film Festival.
Photos: Left page: (R-L) Amy

Belling and actress Arabella Bushnell
(Photo: Cate Cameron). Spread:
Brad Dryborough, Bushnell and Ross
Smith from Songs She Wrote About
People She Knows (Photo: Jonathan
Spooner).
SPOTLIGHT ON
Cinelab London
In June of 2013, co-owners
Adrian Bull and John Mahtani
acquired a lm lab that had
been in operation for 37
years. Identifying a need in
the London marketplace for
a full-service lm facility with
an eye towards the future,
they rebranded the company
Cinelab and never looked
back. Their mission to
deliver high-quality, reliable
lm processing services and
enhanced digital solutions,
ensuring that content creators
in the UK and Europe can
condently choose lm as part
of their creative palette.
Today, Cinelab London is
ourishing and has expanded
to provide a complete service
offering for lm clients. What
we acquired was purely a
photochemical lab, primarily
focused on trailers, says Bull,
who also serves as managing
director. We knew we needed
to reimagine and reinvent the
business in order to survive.
Extending our service sector
into commercials, features, and
high-end broadcast dramas
was a rst step, but beyond
that, we needed to deliver
the digital services that allow
people to get in and out of lm
as needed.
Our goal is that anyone
shooting on lm can bring it
to us the moment it leaves the
camera, and then it shouldnt
have to go anywhere else, he

continues. They can entrust
us with their assets for the
entire post production and
delivery workows, which is
invaluable from both a security
and quality perspective.
The rst thing we did was
install a SPIRIT HD Telecine
and bring a senior telecine
colorist on board full time.
We then started to expand
our lm recording capabilities,
and currently have ve
ARRILASERS, including an
ARRILASER 2. We also added
digital cinema mastering
services, and most recently
purchased a SPIRIT 2K
Telecine and an ARRI scanner.
In addition to a growing list
of services and equipment,
Cinelab London added to
their staff as well. Weve
expanded full-time personnel
to 29, and brought in several
key, senior level talent and
staff, adds Mahtani, Cinelabs
CFO. Weve got a very strong
team, including Senior Colorist
Paul Dean and Director of
Sales David Webb. Were

approaching our work in a
very innovative manner, and
Cinelab is proud to be the only
full-service lab in the UK.
Projects recently undertaken
by Cinelab include the
soon-to-be-released feature
lm, Suffragette, starring
Helena Bonham Carter, Carey
Mulligan and Meryl Streep.
The other key component of
Cinelabs long-term business
plan is archive, digitization,
remastering, and restoration.
One of the beauties of lm
is that 30 years ago we were
remastering in standard
denition, 10 years ago in high
denition, and now 2K and
4K, notes Bull. And the thing
that is common to all of that is
lm. Its the same piece of lm
that was shot years ago that
we keep going back to. It has
stood the test of time and has
the resolution inherent within it
to support the high resolution
requirements of today.
Cinelab London recently
remastered two long-lost
Peter Sellers lms for digital

cinema, Insomnia is Good For
You and Dearth of a Salesman.
Weve been remastering very
high-prole titles that require
a lot of care, and we have 4K
wet gate scanning capabilities
with our ARRI scanner. The
bulk digitization of assets is
also a new service that were
offering. Were creating proxies
so people can review their
assets in detail before they
move on to the more intensive
and expensive process of
remastering and restoring their
lm libraries.
At Cinelab, were lucky
enough to be able to look
at lm daily, and what we
see often is something quite
special, concludes Mahtani.
Its rare that you feel that
same thing for content that
is digitally captured. There
is an organic feel and an
emotion that cant be ignored.
But ultimately, it is all about
choice. And Cinelab exists to
give lmmakers of all genres
working in London that choice.
We will continue to support
lm services to ensure that
people have options. Its vitally
important.
Vision Globale
Montreal-based Vision
Globales Director of
Operations Paul Dion wants
the industry to know, In
addition to DI and video
services, were the only lab in
Eastern Canada with 35mm
services and the capability of
sustaining regular professional
work.
Clients hail from Quebec as
well as Toronto and Canadas
Eastern provinces. The
Quebec lm industry usually
feeds the lab three features
a year with the most recent
being the two-part Endorphine
shot by cinematographer
Andre Turpin, Xavier Dolans
Mommy, which won the Jury
Prize at the 2014 Cannes
Film Festival, and Stephane
Laeurs Tu dors Nicole,
also presented at Cannes.
Another Toronto-based Sony
Pictures feature production
is slated for this fall, on the
heels of servicing The Mortal
Instruments: City of Bones.
The lab has even provided
services for features shooting
abroad, most notably Un
dimanche a Kigali, a Canadian
feature set during the
Rwandan genocide, which
routed its lm via Belgium for
processing at Vision Globale.
The lab opened 14 years
ago with negative processing
services to feed transfers and
TV shows in Montreal, says
Dion. Then we expanded
with a complete chain of lab
services, including 16mm
and 35mm color negative
processing and the production
of 35mm positive prints and
optical soundtracks. The
lab is part of the mammoth
Vision Globale complex, the
largest Canadian-owned
company providing a full
range of services for lm and
television.
Every production shot on

film has its own inherent
characteristics; colorists tell
me they dont have to dig
deep down to find them.
Vision Globales turnkey
operations feature camera
and equipment rentals,
Studio Mels 18 stages, post
production, color grading
and DI with FilmLights
BASELIGHT system, VFX and
3D animation, 2D to stereo
3D conversion, and asset
management and distribution.
The labs lm restoration
department is in demand
by clients worldwide. Using
Vision Globales proprietary
digital image restoration
technology, GENESYS, in
conjunction with 2K and
4K ARRI scanners and laser
printers, the lab has created
new negatives for the national
archives of Mexico and a
Chinese catalog of Bruce Lee
lms, among other projects.
Vision Globales lab also
maintains a customer vault,
which features an LTO robotic
system tied to the entire
complex via ber optics.
Dion adds that their
KODAK IMAGECARE
Program certication has
played an important role
in assuring clients that
the lab delivers the quality

expected of a professional
lab. It tells them that were
a service thats responsible
and trusted. The lab also
supplies KODAK Film stock to
productions based in Quebec.
You have to be more than
a lm lab to survive in the
21st century, explains Dion.
You have to be part of a
chain of services that form a
one-stop shop for producers.
The productions we see all
require a certain amount of
lm, whether at the shooting
stage or as a deliverable.
So if lm isnt there, youre
missing something. And its
not a service we want to
subcontract or outsource.
Dion notes that colorists
still value lm for its ability
to deliver distinctive looks.
Every production shot on
lm has its own inherent
characteristics; colorists tell
me they dont have to dig
deep down to nd them. Film
makes it easy for them to
bring the story alive in the
grading room and make it
shine.
He also cites the

importance of lm originals
for conservation and
restoration. When it comes
time to restore a feature,
producers are very grateful
it was shot on lm, he says.
When you scan it back you
get all that color and great
texture of the image on screen
something thats difcult to
hold onto in the digital world.
Vision Globales lab has
a thriving roster of lm
school customers as well.
Dion is upbeat that the
next generation of young
lmmakers appears to be
making lm part of their
media palette. They eagerly
embrace all media, including
lm. Students get a good
sense of what its like to work
on lm, and we try to support
them, he concludes.
Photos: Left page: Photos courtesy

Cinelab London. Right page: Photos
courtesy Vision Globale.
Mathematician,
cryptanalyst and computer
science pioneer Alan
Turing was tasked by
British intelligence during
World War II to break
the Germans nearly
impenetrable message
coding system the
Enigma machine. His
success enabled the Allies
to turn the war tide, but
tragedy befell Turing and
he ultimately committed
suicide at the age of 41.
The Weinstein Company
brings Turings complex
story to the screen in The
Imitation Game, starring
Benedict Cumberbatch, and
featuring Keira Knightley,
Mark Strong and Matthew
Goode. To capture the
visuals, director Morten
Tyldum selected scar

Faura (The Orphanage,
Anna) based on his
photography of the 2012
Thailand tsunami tale The
Impossible.
The Imitation Game won
the Peoples Choice Award
at the 2014 Toronto
International Film Festival.
Here, Faura explains his
approach to making this
historical movie:
What was the look you
wanted to achieve for The
Imitation Game?
The movie structure is
not linear. It jumps back
and forth between three
different moments in the
life of the main character,
Alan Turing. Our goal was
to give those time periods
the 1930s, 1940s and

1950s distinctive looks.
We wanted the 1950s police
investigation plot to look
gray, rainy and sad. We also
decided to avoid the clichd
color palette of some World
War II movies for the 1940s
scenes, instead using rich
colors in costumes and
in some elements of the
sets. For the 1930s when
we learn of young Alans
story, we tried to achieve an
overall brighter and cleaner
ambience, appealing to the
innocence of the school
days.
With this being a period

film set during World
War II, did you have any
photography concerns?
During the War in England,
there was a blackout
regulation at nighttime. For
us, that meant no outdoor
light was allowed. Windows
were covered, streetlights
were off and even car
headlights were protected by
snoots. That was challenging
when we were shooting night
scenes outdoors because
there was a big restriction in
terms of nding any justied
light source.
How did you light for night

on this movie?
I tried to simulate a
moonlight coming from the
back using big lights on a
crane. For night interiors,
I followed the existing
practical lamps on set. I
discussed in advance with
(production designer) Maria
(Djurkovic) which kind of
lamps we could have on
every set to get different
light for creating the
appropriate atmospheres.
How did the choice of
shooting on KODAK 35mm
Film factor into your look
and why?
KODAK Film has low-grain
size for high-speed stocks,
high definition, very good
skin tone reproduction, and
a superb contrast ratio.
Morten and I believed that
the movie had to be shot
on film. Digital was not an
option because we wanted
to keep the texture of the
negative that has been used
for years to shoot most
World War II movies. In my
opinion, the audience does
a visual association when
they watch that kind of
movie. It is something that
unconsciously makes them
relate a historic period to a
certain kind of image.
Which KODAK Film stocks
did you choose?
I chose (KODAK VISION3
Color Negative Film 5219)
500T and (KODAK VISON3
Color Negative Film 5207)
250D. The 500T Film was

utilized for night scenes, as
well as day scenes shot in
the studio. All the scenes
at Hut 8, which was built
on a stage and was where
the cryptologists worked
together, were shot with
500T Film and lit with
tungsten light. I used the
250D Film for day exteriors,
day interior locations at
Hut 11, where they built the
machine, and the police
office in Manchester. The
scenes set in the 1950s also
were shot mostly with the
250D negative.
What cameras, formats
and aspect ratio did you
select?
We shot 3-perf and used
spherical lenses. The aspect
ratio is 2.35:1. We had two
cameras, an ARRICAM ST
and an ARRICAM LT. We
shot most of the dialogue
and action scenes with two
cameras using a complete
set of ARRI/ZEISS Master
Primes. We didnt use any
special filters, just neutral
density to control the depth
of field.
How did certain focal
lengths serve your vision
for the film?
We used all focal lengths
from 21mm to 135mm. We
usually followed the rule
of doubling the second
camera focal length from
the first camera lens. So, if
we had a 50mm covering a
medium shot of an actor in
a dialog scene on A camera,

the B camera would have a
100mm getting a close up.
A lot of scenes feature
lighting motivated by
numerous windows. What
was your lighting approach
for those scenes?
I always try to see the light
source of the scene in the
wider shots. It is better
for getting a realistic light
ambience and increasing
the contrast and volume of
an image.
Did certain actors warrant
specific lighting setups?
No, lighting setups were
inspired by the space
where the action happened.
There are numerous
choreographed scenes with
a lot of actors involved, so
it was almost impossible to
make actor-specific setups.
With the film set in older
time periods, did you do
any special processing or
fine tuning during color
grading?
We didnt use any

special processing. It was
processed at i-dailies
in London. Every day I
received a hard drive with
the scanned dailies from
the previous workday,
and I viewed them on
my computer. For the DI,
we didnt want to follow
any color clich. We just
emphasized the shots
in a natural way. Stefan
Sonnenfeld did the color
grading, and I was able to
follow the whole process at
Company 3.
Can you describe a
challenging scene, and
how you approached
shooting it?
On the rst day of production,
we started with a scene lit by
candles. Obviously, candles
were not enough to light the
whole scene, so we managed
to hide tiny halogen bulbs
behind the candles for the
background and bigger, softer
Chinese lanterns to light
the actors faces. Then, we
applied a subtle icker to the
light sources to get the candle
effect. It was not difcult, but
more of a delicate matter,
because if you dont set it up
properly, the scene can look
and feel fake. The latitude of
the 500T Film was helpful
in capturing this scene too.
With its inherent color depth
and texture, it made it feel
more real.
Photos: Left page, top: (L-R) Keira Knightley,

Matthew Beard, Matthew Goode, Benedict
Cumberbatch, and Allen Leech star in The
Imitation Game. Left page, inset: Director of
Photography Oscar Faura on set. Right page,
top: Actress Keira Knightley and director
Morten Tyldum discuss a scene. Right page,
bottom: Benedict Cumberbatch stars in The
Imitation Game. All photos by Jack English.
Tom Luse on producing

The Walking Dead
in Super 16
Though he didnt know it at the time, producer Tom Luse began

preparing for a career in show business in college, when he was charged
with the enviable task of popping the popcorn at an art house cinema in
his hometown of Atlanta. I liked movies, but it wasnt something I had
planned on going into, explains the EMMY-nominated producer. But
later, in graduate school, I had the opportunity to study lm and ended
up getting a degree in Communications.
While these days its being an executive producer on The Walking
Dead that keeps Luse busy (hes been with the show since the very
beginning), he has dabbled in a variety of job titles over the years. I
wanted to be a technician originally, and ended up working in the camera
department as a grip, Luse recalls. I found that my skills were really
in organizing things and thinking ahead, which eventually led me into
location management, then into production management, and then into
producing. As he readied for the fth season of The Walking Dead, Luse
spoke with us about lighting a post-apocalyptic universe, the cost of
time, and why zombies look better on lm.
Youve been a part of The Walking Dead since the very
beginning. How involved were you in the decision about
whether to shoot it on film versus digital?
All the producers were heavily involved and we wanted to test
different options available to capture the show. We rented a studio
at Panavision and got a couple of digital cameras as well as a 35mm
camera, and then kind of tossed in a 16mm camera at the last
minute. Over the course of a day, we ran a series of tests with David
Tattersall (BSC), our DP for the pilot.
At that time, we all felt very strongly that we were going to end up
shooting the show on digital. But as we did our tests, we had Greg
Nicotero, our zombie guru who is also now an executive producer, do
some makeup tests, and we shot them both on stage and out in daylight.
In looking at the tests, we discovered that the makeup looked much
better on lm. We were very excited when we saw the 35mm test,
but then when we put the 16mm test up, which is what we shoot The
Walking Dead on, it not only made the makeup look better but it had
a sort of classic horror lm look to it that resonated with all of us... The
way it (Super 16) takes the makeup and handles the contrasts between
exteriors and interiors is astonishing. With the interiors on our show,
theres no electricity; its a post-apocalyptic universe, so we have a lot of
scenes that go from day exteriors to interiors and the quality of image
going from bright exteriors to dark interiors was vastly superior.
kodak.com/go/motion
@Kodak_ShootFilm
KodakShootFilm
KodakMotionPictureFilm
How do you integrate the number of special effects that you

use in the show?
If we have a major effects shot, we will sometimes shoot it on
35mm, just to give our visual effects department a larger image. So
we do carry one 35mm camera. Most episodes shoot on multiple
cameras; oftentimes well shoot three or sometimes four cameras.
We shoot in extremely hot, humid situations for much of the year
and in very arduous conditions. The lm cameras are extremely
reliable; it can get as hot as it can get and the cameras can still record
a great image. The exibility of being able to move the camera and set
up quickly in 16mm is also an enormous advantage.
What part do finances play in the decisions youve made?
I started off on The Walking Dead as a line producer, so Ive always
been very involved in the nancial aspect of it. But you have to look at
time, more than any other factor, as the deciding variable on how you
shoot. Time is the most expensive thing. On our show, we focus on the
quality of the look: We can shoot a zombie in bright daylight on lm and
it looks amazing. We also nd that shooting 16mm is extremely quick.
We have the exibility to move our cameras and adjust very quickly
under extreme situations in terms of heat, humidity and pretty hard
physical situations. In terms of saving time, thats a distinct advantage
and you have to factor that in. Its not just about the camera, lm and
transfer costs; its also whether you can get your work done in a very
expedient manner. With 16mm, we can.
Whats the biggest misconception people have about
shooting on film?
I think the main thing for us, in our situation, is that lm is the
correct decision both artistically and economically. We have over
100 years of lmmaking history shooting special effects and makeup
effects on lm, so theres a lot of understanding of what lm can and
cannot do, and thats a huge advantage as well. We do a lot of makeup
and special effects and we know how thats going to look on lm.
Sometimes a digital capture makes it look a little bit different. I think
lm should always be considered.
Last question: How is season five going to end?
In a fantastic way. And youre going to love it!
Photos: Tom Luse (far right) on the set of The Walking Dead. (Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC)
InCamera is published by Eastman Kodak Company. To see our expanded online edition, go to www.kodak.com/go/incamera. To be
featured in the magazine, please contact your local representative. You will nd your Kodak representative contact information at
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Kodak, 2014. Kodak and Vision are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. OSCAR is a trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences. EMMY is a trademark of, and copyrighted by, the National Academy and American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Imax is a registered trademark of the Imax Corporation.
The opinions expressed by individuals quoted in articles in InCamera do not necessarily represent those of Kodak Limited, Eastman Kodak
Company or the editors of InCamera. Because of our constant endeavour to improve quality and design, modications may be made to
products from time to time. Details of stock availability and specications given in this publication are subject to change without notice.
Telecine &
Color Grading
Jod is a true artist with
a great passion for his craft.
Elmes notes, I kept the camera intimate, to be with Olive and inside her head.
nature and the characters.

The 60-day shoot started with
the toughest sequence, since it involved
a water rescue and the Atlantic would
be warmest in August. The action
extends over three scenes in episode
two, beginning with the return of Kevin
Coulson (Cory Michael Smith), one of
Olives former students. He sits in his
car watching the marina; in the back
seat is a rifle meant for his suicide. Olive
knocks at his window and gets in for a
long chat over eight pages worth.
This ends when they see the marina
cafs waitress, Patty (Rachel
Brosnahan), fall off a rocky ledge into
the choppy waves below. Kevin scrambles down the cliff, then jumps in to
save her. Shortly after, he and Patty sit
in a caf booth. As they warm up over
coffee, he questions her about her
intent.
We did all of that in the first
three days, says Elmes, and it really set
the pace for the whole show. And we
shot as much as we could in sequence,
because the weather changes very
quickly, and we wanted, at least inside
the car, to have a consistency.
Elmes spent a long time thinking

about how he would cover the tte-tte in the car. He and Cholodenko had
agreed that, as a rule, they wouldnt
shoot unnecessary coverage, but he
wanted to give editor Jeffrey Werner
enough material to pace the scene well.
He also wanted to communicate something about the interpersonal dynamic:
Kevin internally clenched and cut off,
and Olive sensing something amiss and
trying to draw him out. We certainly
see a close-up of him over her, and her
close-up over him, that puts them
together, says Elmes, but most of the
other shots are singles. They are in separate worlds, not joined together. That
was purposeful. There is never a shot
from the front on the two of them
we didnt shoot it.
All the water scenes were shot in
one day, when underwater photographer Peter Zuccarini joined the team.
With stunts, safety people and additional gear, the day had many moving
parts. Churning waves had to be created
using motorboats. The tide had to be
just right to make it look hazardous
without actually being so. It was one of
John W. Simmons, ASC
Contact Jod @ 310-713-8388

Jod@apt-4.com
81
A number of
scenes take place
in the Kitteridge
kitchen. The
hard part was
moving all the
furniture out of
one side of the
small room and
fitting two dollies
and the camera
crew in there,
says Elmes.
the few instances where Elmes needed

a crane, to position the camera out over
the cliff s edge.
We had three or four cameras
running that day, Elmes recalls. One
had to be in the underwater housing,
another pretty much stayed on the
crane arm and one was on the
Steadicam for part of the time. We used
some lights, because we were there all
82
November 2014
afternoon. Before noon, the sun was

behind the rocks; past noon, it came on
the face of the rock wall. It was a difficult day, for sure.
In contrast, the mood in the caf
was hushed and intimate. A soft light
enters the window; framed in darkness,
Pattys face glows with life. It was just a
big white bounce with an Arrimax
18K, Elmes says. The cafe is very
serene after the violence of the water. I

borrowed the light from a Joel
Meyerowitz seascape and brought it
inside the room. There are moments
outside Olives front door where you
cant see where the water and clouds
meet, they blend so perfectly. I wanted
to capture that feeling. It would not
have been appropriate to see a splash of
sunlight. The somberness was very
beautiful and quiet.
At the suggestion of the gaffer,
Elmes altered his usual lighting package for the series. As usual, he carried
Arrimax 18Ks as well as small HMIs,
but instead of 6K and 4K Pars inbetween, Elmes switched to Mac Tech
960LS LED Sled units, which incorporate 24 4' LED tubes. These units
can be lamped for 3,200K, 5,600K or a
combination, and they maintain their
color temperature when dimmed.
Theyre already soft by virtue of their
size, says Elmes. You can cluster
them, so instead of putting one big hard
light on a boom to make a night light,
you just put several of these. I was
impressed by the softness. It often
proved to be faster and easier, because it
was one unit, instead of a light plus a
Right:
McDormand
wore wigs
and prosthetic
makeup in order
for Olive to age
over the storys
25-year span.
Below: Elmes
meters the
light inside
the Kitteridge
home.
piece of diffusion. Additionally, due to

the fixtures aerated armature, it made
things easier when conditions were
windy, since the grips didnt have to tie
it down. Theyre also very thin, so we
could hide one in a window mullion.
A recurring challenge was to
return to certain locations again and
again without feeling redundant. For
84
November 2014
example, nearly a dozen scenes occur in

the Kitteridge kitchen. Since nothing
changes in Maine, the forest-green
walls and dcor stayed the same, which
meant lighting and camera had to
shoulder the burden when it came to
variety. Fred went to great lengths to
think about how he could change the
approach, so every time we return it feels
fresh and not like the same scene with

different dialogue, says Cholodenko.
Variety was also provided by the
script. Episode one had many night
dinner scenes, while episode three introduced day, allowing sunlight and
glimpses through windows. Shot decisions like where the master would
land and whose point of view would be
strongest were guided by the characters in each scene. To adjust the light
accordingly, Elmes needed flexibility.
For this purpose, the crew built a
movable ceiling rig, which held four 24"
China balls that were black-skirted to
keep spill off the walls and reflections
out of windows. It was fast and easy,
and we built it to give us a lot of freedom, says Elmes. The hard part was
moving all the furniture out of one side
of the small room and fitting two dollies
and the camera crew in there. (A and B
cameras were both deployed for all
dinner scenes.) Edge light or extra fill
came from small 300- or 650-watt
tungsten Fresnels, positioned to suggest
light coming from the pantry, stove or
hallway. A white bounce card went
behind the camera because the film
The camera is placed on a crane for a scene on the cliff near the marina caf.
stock likes just a bit of fill in the shadows, Elmes notes.

While still honoring the keep it
simple dictum, a few scenes did call for
slight manipulations in-camera or in
86
post. Subtle speed ramps suggest a

heightened mental state, as when Olive
gets pushed around by her captors in the
hospital abduction scene, or Henry
looks longingly at his pharmacy crush,
Denise (Zoe Kazan). The director

explains, Where appropriate, I wanted
to push into that suggestive space in a
deeply empathic way, without it being
wide angle or hallucinogenic or a supercrazy art film. Fred was great, because
he said, We dont have to go to 48
frames; we can go to 32 or 36. We can
get that feeling, but dont have to be
over-determined about it. As Elmes
notes, We meddled with the camera
just enough so you werent quite sure
what was wrong, but it wasnt exactly
normal.
Likewise, subtle variations in
saturation were employed to signal a
dream, hallucination, leap in time or
simply a change of scene. For instance,
the series opens with a suicidal Olive
taking a gun, blanket and boom box
into the woods. Its fall, and the trees are
mostly bare. I didnt think a barren feeling was a good way to start the movie,
says Elmes, so he ratcheted up the saturation of the warm fall colors. I
thought, That scene cuts to winter in

the next one, and I wanted winter to be
very neutral, very bleak, so when spring
comes on later, you get the feeling of
warmth. When Olives suicide attempt
unfolds more fully in episode four, the
saturated look is dropped, and instead
its neutral and somber. Its a subtle
change, but a definite one, says Elmes.
Such choices were made scene by
scene during color timing at Encore in
Hollywood, where Elmes spent a total
of about three weeks working with
colorist Pankaj Bajpai, who worked on a
Baselight system with 2K scans from an
Arriscan. Previously, in New York,
Bajpai set up a mini DI suite at Deluxe,
where he and Elmes could access the
edit files from L.A. They skimmed
through the whole series and set basic
looks for key scenes and various weather
conditions. These were trial balloons,
but it gave us a chance to talk for a
couple of days and play with the material, says Elmes. When the real work
came a few weeks later, it put Pankaj

way ahead of the game. As we locked
the cuts and could start feeding him
specific scenes, he already had the
ground rules down.
As Elmes summarizes, The
center line of the movie is a very neutral,
honest rendition of faces. Occasionally
Id push the saturation up and make it
more like a sunny fall day, or pull it back
and make it more like winter, so theres
less color and a hush of coolness without being blue. But Id call it subtle. I did
it with the intention of creating a little
distance between the end of one scene
and the beginning of the next.
Looking back, Elmes is gratified
to know that he and Cholodenko
accomplished their original plan. The
things we talked about early on held
true for the whole movie, he says. To
hear her say that, yes, the looks we
created in the DI really fulfilled her
expectations in preproduction was a
very good feeling.
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.78:1
3-Perf Super 35mm
Arricam Studio, Lite; Arriflex 235
Cooke S4, S5; Angenieux Optimo
Kodak Vision3 250D 5207,
500T 5219
87
New Products & Services

Technicolor Upgrades DP Lights
Technicolor has introduced DP Lights v2.0, an updated
version of the companys on-set primary-grading toolset. The previous version of DP Lights has been used on more than 120 features
and series, and v2.0 offers cinematographers the freedom to create
looks wirelessly via a custom iPad interface, in real time, using simple
gestures on the iPad surface.
DP Lights v2.0s live streaming and viewing capabilities on the
iPad allow users to see a color-corrected image and camera data
without having to go to the tent. Additionally, a complete still
store allows the cinematographer to easily and remotely access a
reference still of each grade and even modify the saved grade.
Other features of DP Lights v2.0 include: the ability to save
unlimited ASC CDL values with proxy and name; split-screen capability for comparing the live grade to the saved still; two-camera
support per system, and live streaming from multiple cameras with
or without grades; support for Technicolor 3D viewing LUTs; and full
ACES support.
For additional information, visit www.technicolor.com, and
to watch a video about DP Lights v2.0, visit http://ow.ly/BBaWj.
Pro8mm Distributes Logmar Camera
Logmar Camera Solutions of Denmark has introduced a new
Super 8mm film camera, and Burbank, Calif.-based Pro8mm has
entered into an agreement with the company to serve as the exclusive North American distributor.
The Logmar Super 8 camera is equipped with features long
absent or never available
from legacy Super 8mm
equipment.
Innovative
features include a pin-registered system and dedicated
pressure plate to correct
horizontal/vertical motion
jitter and random image
defocus. The design also
enables in-camera synchronous sound recording, and
88
November 2014
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to
newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact
information and product images. Photos must be
TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.
the capacity to extend the traditional 50' cartridge with a custom

200' reloadable cartridge option.
Other features of the Logmar Super 8 camera include: crystal
synchronized frame rates from 6-40 fps; stereo audio recording to
an SD card, as well as true XLR 48-volt Phantom power; Wi-Fi
remote control via iPad, iPhone or Android devices; a digital
viewfinder with a low-light CCD sensor and video output for external monitoring; a programmable function button; and upgradeable
firmware via standard USB connector.
Tommy Madsen, a partner and engineer for Logmar Camera
Solutions, says, This agreement with Pro8mm will provide our
customers with a strong local presence from a renowned company
that has the ability to not only sell our products but also service them
with trained technicians.
Pro8mms Rhonda Vigeant adds, Pro8mm has a long history
of providing the professional and prosumer film community with the
tools they need to meet their creative vision. We are thrilled to be
able to partner with Logmar on this groundbreaking small-format
camera technology.
For additional information, visit www.logmar.dk and
www.pro8mm.com.
Sony Unveils 7S Still,
4K-Video Camera
Sony has introduced the
7S full-frame interchangeablelens camera, which boasts high
sensitivity, low noise and 4K (QFHD
3840x2160) video quality for
professional photographers and
videographers.
The 7S features a newly developed 12.2-effectivemegapixel 35mm Exmor CMOS sensor paired with a Bionz X image
processor, allowing it to shoot across a super-wide ISO range (50409,600) with excellent dynamic range. Additionally, the 7S
utilizes the entire width of the full-frame image sensor for 4K video
acquisition without cropping or line skipping; in addition to benefiting low-light shooting, the cameras ability to read all pixels frees the
video from aliasing, moir and false-color artifacts.
The camera features a newly developed on-sensor technology that allows it to optimize the dynamic range throughout the
entire ISO range. This technology also broadens the range of tonal
gradation in bright environments and minimizes noise in dark
scenes, allowing the camera to deliver impressive results in extreme
conditions.
In video mode, the 7S can output QFHD video to an
optional external third-party 4K recorder, and can record Full HD
(1920x1080) at frame rates of 60p, 60i, 30p and 24p directly to a
compatible memory card. Video modes can

be changed from full-frame to APS-C (super
35mm equivalent); in this crop mode, the
camera can support high-frame-rate 120 fps
shooting at 1280x720p HD resolution.
The 7S is also equipped with SLog2 gamma, which expands the dynamic
range by up to 1,300 percent to minimize
clipped highlights and loss of detail in shadows. The camera also adopts the workflowfriendly XAVC S recording format, in addition to AVCHD and MP4 codecs. XAVC S
allows for Full HD recording at a data rate of
50 mbps with lower compression for
improved video quality.
Other specialist video functions on
the camera include a picture profile that can
adjust settings such as gamma, black level
and color adjustment, and can be saved for
use in a multi-camera shoot. The 7S also
features Full HD and 4K base band HDMI
output, time code/user bit for easier editing,
a synchronous recording feature with
compatible devices, marker and zebra
displays on the LCD screen and viewfinder,
and the ability to dual-record XAVC S and
MP4 (1280x720 30 fps). Directly compatible
with the growing family of E-mount lenses,
the 7S can also be used with A-mount and
other lens systems via optional adapters.
For additional information, visit
www.store.sony.com.
Samaserve Accessorizes
With Nipros
Samaserve has introduced the Nipros
line of camera-agnostic systems and accessories for 4K and Full HD (1920x1080)
production workflows.
The Nipros LS-750/GT cameramounted fiber adapter system works with
any 4K camera to acquire and flawlessly pass
simultaneous uncompressed 4K and HD
signals. The adapter provides users with five
3G SDI downstreams directly out of one
camera as well as one return of 3G/HDSDI/SD-SDI signals so that 4K plus HD, or
five separate HD streams, can be transported simultaneously, with the ability to mix
the five synchronous 3G/HD/SD streams
independently.
The LS-750/850GT fiber adapter
system is designed for complete flexibility
with all camera manufacturers. Like the LS-
Come visit our showroom or call for our latest Magliner product catalog
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750/GT, the system supports five 3G HD-SDI

signals for full 4K (using up to four HD-SDI
3G connections) plus an HD-SDI connection
for simultaneous HD transmission.
The Nipros HDS 300 camera sled is
designed to quickly convert most compact
handheld or shoulder-type camcorders into
a professional studio rig. The sleds rugged
aluminum die-cast chassis handles daily
production tasks with a variety of professional functions that support a wide range
of optional equipment. The sled provides
multiple attachment points for accessories,
such as the Nipros 7" HDF-700 Viewfinder.
(The Nipros line of electronic viewfinders
and monitors also includes the HDFR500 5"
Full HD unit, which provides the full colorgamut image onscreen without scaling and
supports 3G SDI, HDMI and analog inputs,
and SDI outputs.)
The Nipros line also includes ESSeries multi-core system base stations,
which provide a cost-effective, fully featured
HD/SD-SDI studio-camera conversion solution for all types of handheld or shouldermount cameras and camcorders. They can
be used to transfer two lines of HD- or SDSDI signals through a specially developed
multi-core cable that incorporates two
HD/SD-SDI cables within a 26-pin multi-core
cable assembly.
Additionally, Samaserve offers an
array of Nipros camera-system accessories,
including a rear lens controller (for zoom
and focus) and several viewfinder interfaces, for manufacturer-specific cameras,
90
November 2014
that provide return video. The line also

includes the AS-1P for full lens control, and
the FR-P1 for focus/iris.
www.samaserve.com.
Maxell Enters
Accessories Market
Maxell Professional Media has added
a line of professional camera accessories to
its portfolio of storage and backup media.
Built with a commitment to high quality and
durability, the products mark Maxells entry
into the professional camera accessories
market. The initial lineup includes powershoe adapters, a shoe clamp, power
connectors and a USB charge adapter.
Maxells power-shoe adapters were
developed to maximize the potential of the
camera shoe mount. The entry-level HS-D
3-Way Power Shoe Adapter features three
cold-shoe mounts, allowing the use of
multiple additional accessories on the

camera. The HSBM-12W and HSBM-36W
are the mid-range and high-end offerings,
respectively. Similar to the HS-D, the HSBM12W has three cold-shoe mounts, but has
the added feature of an NP-F-type battery
mount, one power-tape compatible input,
and one Hirose input. The HSBM-36W has
three cold-shoe mounts and provides topend power via a BP-U-type battery mount,
one power-tap compatible input and one
Hirose input. All of Maxells power-shoe
adapters mount to any camera with a
cold/hot shoe.
The HS-C Shoe Clamp is a single
cold-shoe adapter designed to conveniently
connect to the handle of most cameras
and/or camera rigs. With a lock-tight clamping mechanism and heavy foam inner ring,
the lightweight shoe clamp allows the user
to simply mount an additional piece of
onboard hardware.
The PC-MF4 4-way Power Connector provides one male power-tap-compatible connector to four female power-tapcompatible receptors, allowing the user to
run additional hardware off a single battery
connection. The PC-MF Male/Female Power
Connector is a single male-to-female
combined, and fully customizable, powertap-compatible power connector.
Featuring a power-tap-compatible
connector (male) on one end and a 2-amp
USB connector on the other, the SP-PCUSB
USB Charge Adapter allows the user to
recharge any smart device off of the camera
battery.
www.maxellpromedia.com or www.maxell
pro.com.
Denz Expands
Viewfinder,
Support Offerings
Munich-based accessories manufacturer Denz has
expanded its viewfinder lineup
with the introduction of the OIC
35-A, which offers users the ability to
switch back and forth between
spherical and anamorphic viewing.
Adapted from the OIC 35, the
ground-glass holder allows the use of all
previous Arriflex 435 ground glasses. Additional features include an adjustable
eyepiece (+/-3 diopter), a removable eyecup,
and either a PL or Panavision mount.
Additionally, Denz has extended the
functionality of its BP-multi bridge-plate
system with the introduction of the BP12,
which allows BP-multi owners to use the
bridge plate with Arri Alexa cameras.
The BP12 adapter is one part of the
Digital Camera Bracket 90, which Denz
developed in cooperation with Paris-based
Photo-Cine-Rent.
The DCB 90
enables upright
framing as is
becoming increasingly popular with
smart-phone videography and can mount any
digital camera at a 90-degree
angle on any tripod, dolly or other support.
In addition to the BP12 adapter, the DCB 90
system comprises two 90-degree brackets,
two redesigned BP-multi-specials, a universal balancing bracket, a camera-specific
support plate and four rods (optional).
www.denz-deniz.com.
HP Grows DreamColor Family
Hewlett-Packard Co. has announced
two new HP DreamColor Displays. The HP
Z27x and Z24x displays for PCs and Macs
feature HPs second-generation DreamColor
Engine and provide up to 1.07 billion onscreen colors. Compared to the previousgeneration product, the new displays are
57-percent thinner and include up to 60percent more pixels and a 4,000-percent
increase in the internal color palette.
The HP Z24x delivers the color accuracy and consistency that users have come
92
November 2014
to expect from the HP DreamColor brand,

but at less than 25 percent of the price of
the original HP DreamColor Display. The HP
Z27x breaks new ground by providing three
times the color accuracy over the previous
generation, HPs host-less integrated calibration engine with built-in support for thirdparty professional color-measurement
instruments, Ethernet-based remote
management with an integrated Web
server, and a published software development kit that allows customers to fully integrate the monitor into their existing color
workflows.
Key features of both new displays
include consistent 10-bit color accuracy with
push-button color-space selection for easy
calibration; one-button access to presets
such as sRGB D65, sRGB D50, Adobe RGB,
BT.709, BT.2020 and DCI-P3; the ability to
easily create a custom color space with full
control over primaries, white point and tone
response; and easy connection to existing
workflows through support by Windows,
Mac or Linux operating systems.
The HP Z27x also offers an ultra-wide
digital cinema color gamut with 100
percent of sRGB, 100 percent of AdobeRGB
and 99 percent of DCI-P3; and the HP Night
Vision interface with auto-fade button
backlights and selectable red button backlight color for better low-light viewing in
darkened working conditions.
The result of a technology collaboration with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
and other leading studios, the first HP
DreamColor Display, the HP LP2480zx,
addressed an increasingly critical need for
affordable and consistent color accuracy in
the animation, photography, film/video
post, broadcast, product design and
graphic-arts categories. The HP DreamColor
Z27x and Z24x are available now for $1,499
and $599, respectively.
www.hp.com.
MSE Elevates Lo Boy
Matthews Studio Equipment has
introduced the Lo Boy Crank-O-Vator II. The
latest version of the rugged Lo Boy CrankO-Vator was designed to support the lighting and grip equipment necessary for
modern productions.
At Matthews, one of our prime
goals is to listen to production crews, says

Robert Kulesh, vice president of sales and
marketing for MSE. One of the things that
has been requested lately is a really rugged,
heavy-duty cranking stand. So, we didnt set
out to reinvent the wheel we just
replaced the old style stand with a different
and better option. The strong and robust
lightweight casters are standard, and the
Big Boy heavy-duty casters are available as
an option.
Also new to this version is a singleriser and double-riser option. The Crank-OVator does away with the push to release
button to raise the fixture; the button is now
used solely as a safety feature while lowering the fixture. There are seven moving parts
in the entire assembly. The breakaway
design protects the handle and eliminates
the need to reverse it for storage and/or
transit. Additionally, the columns can be
raised and lowered without any weight.
www.msegrip.com.
Dracast Spotlights
LED Fresnel
Series
Dracast has
introduced the
LED Fresnel Series,
which incorporates
the companys Multi
Array Surface Mount
LED technology. MASM uses
an array of perfectly balanced
high-output surface-mount LED chips,
and fits them into an ultra-focused lens
housing. This creates tremendous light
output with virtually flawless color consistency.
The Fresnel Series, which currently
comprises the Fresnel1000 and Fresnel2000
fixtures, also features a virtually silent active
fan cooling system, and a high CRI of 95.
www.dracast.com.
International Marketplace
94
November 2014
Classifieds
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
Watch out
for ex-demo and

used equipment!
www.movietech.de
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: ProVidFilm@aol.com
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
November 2014
95
Advertisers Index
Abel Cine Tech 31
AC 95, 97
Adorama 11, 57
AFI 85
AJA Video Systems, Inc. 87
Alan Gordon 94
Arri 13
Arri CSC 5
ASC Film Manual 8
Aura Productions 81
Backstage Equipment, Inc.
89
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 7
Camerimage 91
Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC 33
Cavision Enterprises 94
Chapman/Leonard Studio
Equipment Inc. 69
Cinematography
Electronics 61
Cinekinetic 94
Cineo Lighting 49
Cooke Optics 15
CW Sonderoptic Gmbh 45
DPS, Inc. 59
Eastman Kodak 80a-l, C4
Red Digital Cinema C2-1
Film Gear (International), Ltd.

47
Filmotechnic USA 62
Friends of the ASC 97
Sandisk Corporation 35
Schneider Optics 2
Sundance Film Festival 73
Super16, Inc. 94
SXSW 83
Glidecam Industries 29
Government Video Expo
Technocrane 27
93
Teradek, LLC 23
Grip Factory Munich/GFM 89 Thales Angenieux 9
Tiffen Company 17
Hasselblad Bron, Inc. 75
TV Logic/Preco, Inc 86
Hertz Corporation 19
J.L. Fisher 48
Jod Soraci 81
K5600 21
Kingfilm USA 95
Kino Flo 74
Koerner Camera Systems 89
Kowa Optimed, Inc. 47
Lights! Action! Co. 94
Lowel 17
Movie Tech AG 94, 95
M.M. Mukhi & Sons 94
Osram 61
Panavision C3
Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
Gmbh 94
Power Gems Limited 63
Pro8mm 94
96
Vantage Gmbh 25
Willys Widgets 94
www.theasc.com 71, 95, 96
Yes Watches 81
Clubhouse News
Brown, Cioni, Mansouri

Named Associates
New associate member Terry
Brown currently serves as chief technology
officer for editorial facility Post Factory NY,
where he is tasked with guiding and growing the companys finishing department as
well as heading up its technology division.
With more than 30 years of professionalservice experience in the motion-picture
industry, Brown previously served as vice
president of engineering at LaserPacific
Media; senior vice president, worldwide
technology at Technicolor/Thomson; and
CTO at Mega Playground.
Michael Cioni is the founder and
CEO of Light Iron. With a bachelors degree
in mass communications and media arts
from Southern Illinois University, Cioni has
expanded the boundaries of mobilized postproduction services, created workflows to
support higher image fidelity, and built software that provides filmmakers with new
levels of creative control. Before launching
Light Iron in 2009, Cioni co-founded PlasterCity Digital Post, a company recognized
as one of the earliest file-based post houses.
He is a founding member of Reducation,
Red Digital Cinemas official training
program, and he has taught and spoken at
numerous industry-related events.
Michael Mansouri is the co98
November 2014
founder of Radiant Images, an L.A.-based

rental house and hub of digital-cinema
innovation. Mansouri and his team specialize in designing and building custom rigs
and gear, including new cameras, to help
cinematographers achieve their vision without compromise. Mansouri is also a documentary director, cinematographer and
camera operator. Through Radiant Images,
Mansouri has worked with numerous ASC
members, including Roger Deakins,
Anthony Dod Mantle, Gabriel Beristain,
Vilmos Zsigmond and Darius Khondji.
Hurlbut Launches
Educational Tour
Shane Hurlbut, ASC recently
launched The Illumination Experience, a
25-city educational tour across the United
States and Canada. In the workshops, Hurlbut details his approach to lighting techniques and camera composition, explaining
how he conducts light studies, uses edgelight and fill to fine-tune scenes, chooses
which fixtures to use for a given situation
and more. Hurlbut designed The Illumination Experience to be immersive, interactive
and intimate, with an emphasis on simple
techniques that can be applied to projects
of any budget. For more information, visit
www.illumination.mzed.com.
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.
From left: ASC associate members Terry Brown, Michael Cioni and Michael Mansouri.
Close-up
Ken Kelsch, ASC
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
I think it was The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which I watched about
three times over in the movie theater. I got a licking for not letting
anyone know where I was on that Saturday afternoon. I loved the
horror genre as a kid. I was profoundly affected by Psycho, which I
saw with my grandfather one great afternoon in a real, old-fashioned, big-screen theater in magnificent black-and-white.
Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most
admire?
[ASC members] Gordon Willis,
Connie Hall and Michael
Chapman.
Have you made any memorable blunders?

Too many to list.
What is the best professional advice youve ever received?
John Cassavetes told us at NYU not to stop shooting. Just figure out
a way to do it.
What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
Im a big Ken Bruen fan. I think his books have been realized a bit
on British TV but Im not totally satisfied. Im a great fan of Cormac
McCarthy. His writing is visual
and incredibly deep. I think he
is an American treasure as a
novelist.
What sparked your interest

in photography?
I was a bit shy and I wanted
to meet girls.
Do you have any favorite

genres, or genres you
would like to try?
Ive always wanted to shoot a
Western.
Where did you train and/or

study?
The graduate film and TV
program at NYUs Tisch
School of the Arts.
Who were your early
teachers or mentors?
Beda Batka was my cinematography professor at NYU and a tremendous influence.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
The usual school of classical painters. I devote a lot of time to
consuming movies and long-run episodic TV.
If you werent a cinematographer, what might

you be doing instead?
I wonder how it would have
been if Id stayed in Special
Forces in the Army.
Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for
membership?
Sol Negrin, Michael Negrin and Constantine Makris.
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
Im incredibly proud to be associated with the worlds finest directors
of photography.
How did you get your first break in the business?

Shooting The Driller Killer with Abel Ferrara in 78.
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?
Every day has its challenges and successes. I think one of the most
satisfying was overcoming the conditions and the hardships of shooting in Africa and trying to change world attitudes about FGM with
Desert Flower.
100
November 2014
IISMEVEARYTGE
HING.
Le a r n m o re
a b o u t KO D
A K V IS IO N
3 Fil m a t
Ko d a k .c o m
/g o/m o t io
n
FiIm.
Kodak, 2014. Kod

ak and Vision are
trademarks.
Shoot KODAK VI
SION3

2014 11

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NOVEMBER 2014

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

Jeff Cronenweth, ASC embraces a 6K workflow

Across the Heartland

Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC goes west with

Sean Bobbitt, BSC tells a journalists tale in

Trials and Tribulations

Fred Elmes, ASC frames a family portrait

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

LOOK FOR MORE AT WWW.THEASC.COM

Dariusz Wolski, ASC, on The Crow (1994)

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

Visit us online at www.theasc.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER

MANAGING EDITOR Jon D. Witmer

ART & DESIGN

SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

American Society of Cinematographers

Kees van Oostrum

The introduction of the 6K-capable Red Epic

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Photo by Douglas Kirkland.

phy. I was really impressed with the script, remembers Morgan.

Unit photography by Peter Switzer. All images courtesy of the filmmakers.

The Cooke Look

One Look. All Speeds

T: +44 (0)116 264 0700

it was ultimately scheduled for demolition

smaller HMI units gelled with CTO, says

Top: Fangfang takes charge of Amei (Makayla

Fangfang finally decides to help Amei, its

combined with a camera trick to help

transfer to SR, the tapes were digitized into

Breaking the News

Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a sociopath with ambition, an

Los Angeles that he had never seen in a movie before. He didnt

Nightcrawler photos by Chuck Zlotnick, courtesy of Open Road Films.

[A-camera/Steadicam operator] Andrew

phors. Most of the movie was under 10

a gaffer, Joe Colangelo, and allowed us to

cars. We also added small 2-to-4-inch strips

movie] is in the car. And we tried to find

dinator and second-unit director, and

ing from 17-100mm]. We also carried an

A hit at the 2014 Sundance Film

legato. My feeling is that time-based

its Modern VideoFilm digital colorist

cameras recorded ProRes 4:4:4 to internal

City, the majority of the film was shot in

looks up to find Fletcher standing there.

None of the theatrical lights on the

Floor units, consisting of either Kino

forth seven or eight times and corresponded

Jeff Cronenweth, ASC and

ased on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn and

Affleck), is squeezed by an unrelenting media circus as he

was used on new Nvidia Quadro

Below, left and

ended up with a 5K extraction out of a

the neighborhood of 16 stops. But that

in post to emphasize the performances

makers to see the dailies edited from the