CONTENTS / BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER / ISSUE 72 / NOVEMBER 2015
BRITISH
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Uniting C inem ato gr a p hers Around the W or l d
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH
t. +44 (0) 1753 650101
Publisher and Managing Editor | Alan Lowne | +44 (0) 1753 650101 | alafilmuk@aol.com
Publisher and Digital Editor | Stuart Walters | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | stuart.walters@ob-mc.co.uk
Editor | Ron Prince | ronny@princepr.com
Sales | Tracy Finnerty | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | tracy.finnerty@ob-mc.co.uk
Sales | Alan Lowne | +44 (0) 1753 650101 | alafilmuk@aol.com
Sales | Stuart Walters | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | stuart.walters@ob-mc.co.uk
Design | Mark Lamsdale | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | mark.lamsdale@ob-mc.co.uk | www.ob-mc.co.uk
Contributors
Ron Prince has many years experience working in the film, TV, CGI and visual effects
industries. He is the editor of British Cinematographer Magazine and runs the international
marketing and communications company Prince PR (www.princepr.com).
Adrian Pennington writes about the business and technology of film and TV for
publications including The Guardian, Screen International and Broadcast. He is managing editor of
The IBC Daily, editorial consultant for TVB Europe, a producer of the 3D Masters conference,
and co-author of Exploring 3D: The New Grammar Of Stereoscopic Filmmaking (Focal Press).
David A Ellis worked in the BBC’s film department. He has written for many publications
including Cinema Technology and Film International. He is the author of Conversations With
Cinematographers. His second book In Conversation With Cinematographers is out this year.
Debra Kaufman, writes about media and entertainment technology for American
Cinematographer, ICG Magazine, DV Magazine, TV Technology and CineMontage, the
Editor’s Guild publication. She also covers CES, SMPTE conferences, and the
HPA Tech Retreat for USC’s Entertainment Technology Center.
John Keedwell, the GBCT News Editor, is a documentary and commercials
cameraman who has worked on many productions around the world. He crosses
over in both film and tape productions and has great knowledge of the new
file-based formats and their methods of production.
Kevin Hilton is a freelance journalist who writes about technology and
personalities in film and broadcasting, and contributes film reviews and
interviews to a variety of publications in the UK and abroad.
British Cinematographer is part of LAWS Publishing.
Laws Publishing Ltd, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH
t. +44 (0) 1753 650101 | f. +44 (0) 1753 650111
The publishers wish to emphasise that the opinions expressed in British Cinematographer are not
representative of Laws Publishing Ltd but the responsibility of the individual contributors.
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“The reason there continues to be
a lab infrastructure for DPs and
directors to exercise their creative
choice, is due to the fact that we are
driven by a genuine passion for a
format that can impart a profoundly
affecting pull on the imagination.
Film… it’s a very beautiful thing!”
- Nigel Horn, i-dailies
EDITOR’S LETTER
Home
improvement…
I
t was quite by coincidence (or happy accident, if you prefer)
that all-but-one of the movies selected to feature in this
edition of British Cinematographer Magazine were shot - either
in their entirety, or vast majority ­- using film. You remember
that stuff: long strips of celluloid that only reveal their magic after
careful immersion through chemical baths.
The brand new 007 SPECTRE shot with 35mm, under the
auspices of Hoyte van Hoytema FSF NSC. So too the forthcoming
Carol, lensed by Ed Lachman ASC, and Star Wars Episode VII:
The Force Awakens, lit by Dan Mindel ASC BSC. Suffragette was
planned and executed as a Super 16mm show by Edu Grau,
with digital playing second fiddle, and Alwin Küchler BSC used
16mm and 35mmm for the first two thirds of Steve Jobs. Only The
Lady In The Van, by Andrew Dunn BSC, deployed digital fully.
Although Andrew says that, whilst digital cameras deliver depth
and texture more as a matter of course these days, “it does take
some TLC to give a human aspect.”
Reading the articles about each of these celluloid-originated
productions, one gets a sense of their cinematographers coming
home - to the familiar pairings of cameras and lenses, the smell of
the laboratory, the acquaintance with texture – and ultimately an
insight into their feelings of being visual artists who paint with light.
Cinematography is, after all, an art-form. 
All of this comes at a time when Kodak is upping the volume
about the virtues of shooting on celluloid with renewed vigour.
So it would seem that the urgent industry-wide
ministrations, to use film or run the risk of losing film forever, over
the last couple of years have worked, and worked well. Filmmakers
around have responded to the threat of having an art-form
disappear by making a choice and then sticking with it. 
The results are there for us to gauge, enjoy and critique on
the big screen over the coming weeks and months. One senses
the analogue vs binary debate has longer legs that one might have
imagined, and will run and run and run.
RON PRINCE
Editor | British Cinematographer Magazine
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 03
CONTENTS / BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER / ISSUE 72 / NOVEMBER 2015

IN THIS ISSUE...
50
New wave...
Maja Zamojda 56
On the cover...
Hoyte Van Hoytema
FSF NSC on SPECTRE

07
President’s Perspective

66
Barry Ackroyd BSC gets all exctied

74
about this year’s Camerimage festival
of cinematography
Close up... Ed Lachman

08
ASC (l) with director Todd Clapperboard...
Haynes on the set of Carol Ron Collins

38 52 72
Production/Post
& Techno News
The latest news concerning DPs,
plus Studios Round-Up F-Stop Amsterdam POST-IT NOTES Live & Let DI
Review of the latest kit and widgets Nigel Horn of i-dailies says the Discover who’s been dialling-in

28
on show at IBC 2015 expectation of having creative choice the most recent DI grades
and the sheer beauty of celluloid are

42 74
core to its continuing longevity as an
origination medium
Spotlight

A look at innovative, Danish lighting
kit-maker BB&S
54
Who’s Shooting Who? Clapperboard
Your definitive guide to which Smooth operator… Ron Collins
DPs are shooting who and where

31 76
LETTER FROM AMERICA

50
Steven Poster ASC bangs the drum
for workplace unity and camaraderie
CAMERIMAGE 2015 Innovator

56
Preview of the annual Camerimage Jeff Lawrence on innovations past,
International Film Festival MEET THE NEW WAVE present and future at Ronford Baker
Maja Zamojda… enjoys a good

78
knees-up!
Camera Creative
Hoyte Van Hoytema discusses his
creative approach to the celluloid
IMAGO News

69
cinematography on SPECTRE, the 24th
movie in the Bond movie franchise IMAGO welcomes new president Paul
René Roestad, whilst past-president

62
Feeling the heat... Nigel Walters BSC reports on this
Dan Mindel ASC year’s Manaki Brother’s Festival
BSC on set with

80
Director JJ Abrams
ON THE JOB / Close-Ups
Edu Grau on Suffragette,
Alwin Küchler BSC on Steve Jobs,
Ed Lachman ASC on Carol, GBCT News
Andrew Dunn BSC on The Lady In The Van, The chairman’s statement on working
Dan Mindel ASC BSC on Star Wars: hours, plus the latest news from the
Episode VII - The Force Awakens Guild about 4K, 8K and Dutch painters

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 05

PRESIDENTS PERSPECTIVE / BARRY ACKROYD BSC / BSC PRESIDENT
I’ll drink to that
British Society
of Cinematographers
Board of Governors 2015
PRESIDENT:
Barry Ackroyd BSC
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT:
John de Borman BSC
VICE PRESIDENTS:
Sean Bobbitt BSC
Nigel Walters BSC
Haris Zambarloukos BSC
GOVERNORS:
Lol Crawley BSC
Oliver Curtis BSC
John Daly BSC
Joe Dunton MBE BSC (non DoP)
Mike Eley BSC
Gavin Finney BSC
Sue Gibson BSC
Rob Hardy BSC
David Higgs BSC
Nic Knowland BSC
Phil Meheux BSC
Nic Morris BSC
Dick Pope BSC
Derek Suter BSC
CO-OPTED ASSOCIATE
MEMBER REPRESENTATIVE:
Chris Plevin
SECRETARY/Treasurer:
Frances Russell
If Camerimage didn’t exist it would have to be invented.
Because, what would you do without it?
H
ow else could we gather a clutch of cinematographers
together in one venue? How would you create a place
for students, professionals and enthusiasts to all come
together – to share, to argue and to enjoy the diversity of
cinematography?
Camerimage is a need, not a desire. Something that strikes
me most is the honesty of the festival. It is not a festival of the
popular, nor is it led by “star” status. It simply reflects, in the selection
of the films, and especially in the winners of the Golden Frogs over
the last 22 years, the best of cinematography. I’d like to think that
if you added up the entire budgets of all the winning films, that
collectively that budget would not come to the bill for the Starbucks
for the executives of, say, Prince Of Persia or Assassins Creed. The
truth is that a festival that loves cinema must love cinematography
and brilliance doesn’t have a price. That’s what Camerimage is.
There are, of course, other great festivals of cinematography,
but not that many. Maybe it’s because we are probably such a
difficult tribe to muster. Getting a conspiracy of cinematographers
together is not an easy job. So I must applauded the Manaki
Brothers Film Festival in Bitola, Macedonia, and now the new Bristol
International Festival Of Cinematography, on their recent events in
September. I wish them all well.
But, at Camerimage the standard has been set. The
desire and ability shown by Marek Żydowicz and his team, in
bringing together some of the world’s best examples of our art,
and combining this with debate and celebration, is a triumph of
organisation and an expression of love.
I say this despite my rare attendance in Poland. Yet each
year around March or April, I still receive an e-mail from Kazik
Suwala asking if I’m planning on coming over. Occasionally, we
even meet up for a chat over a pint, as the festival team passes
through London on their travels in preparation for the big event in
November. And every year I reply, “Yes, this time, I’m really going
to try and make it.”
Obviously it is a great honour to be asked but, to be honest,
this has become a kind of ritual. Inevitably, I fail to keep my promise
and end up working on a film. My loss, each year that goes by, is
that I miss out on what is probably the most honest and heartfelt
celebration of any art form – the annual celebration of the art of
cinematography – and I promise myself once again… “Next year!”.
Now, I have to imagine you might well be reading this at
Camerimage itself. You’re actually there,
in Poland. Suffering in the icy, misty, dark, wintery, vodka-
driven nights in Bydgoszcz. You are lucky people. Lucky because
Camerimage is such a great place to be.
I can say this because I did once make it there. I managed a
flying visit, back when the festival was in Lodz, wait for it… in 2002.
A long time ago, but my recollections are still fresh. Fresh enough
to remember a festival which immerses you in cinema; talking,
drinking, sharing, eating and sleeping cinematography. That’s what
Camerimage is and long may it last.
It was on that fleeting visit to Lodz that I received the
honour of the Cinematographer-Director Duo Award, given for
my collaboration with director Ken Loach over many years. What
I recall is being tired from the travelling, but then inspired by the
reception we got. Then there was the questioning and the discourse
with participants. Describing shots, answering difficult questions,
about how and why, about our approach to shooting, our likes and
dislikes. Time seemed to collapse. It was more than a festival. Even
the masterclass went well and I have to admit that these are things
that I always find difficult, but rewarding. For me, it’s always easier to
do something rather than to explain it. But it’s explaining things that
helps you to understand what it is and how you do it. It makes you
realise how to achieve results.
For me the experience was more than enlightening and it was,
of course, genuinely rewarding. After all, I now have one of those
precious golden amphibians. Though it was kind of tough. But isn’t
that what we, as cinematographers, like? What with the vodka and
the lack of sleep? Hey, isn’t that normal?
Long may it last. I wish Marek and Kazik and the entire team
the best of luck. Thanks also to the sponsors, to those who develop
the tools of our trade, and to the participants there in Bydgoszcz.
Stay sober. Keep calm. Get some sleep. Love film.
And to those who will be holding their Golden Frogs,
congratulations. This is probably the greatest honour. Hope to see
you all next year.
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 07
 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

Chris Menges to receive

lifetime achievement Camerimage winner… Chris
Menges pictured on the set of
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

award at Camerimage
and a shot from Kes (1969)

C
hris Menges BSC ASC, one of the most
revered cinematographers working today, will
receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement
Award at this year’s Camerimage Festival of
Cinematography taking place in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
A double Oscar-winner for his cinematography on
The Killing Fields (1985) and The Mission (1987), Menges
started his career in the 1960s as a camera operator on
documentaries by Adrian Cowell and on films including
Poor Cow (1967), directed by Ken Loach and If.... (1968)
by Lindsay Anderson. Kes (1969), directed by Loach and
lauded over the years for its photography, was Menges’
first film as cinematographer. He was also behind the
camera on Stephen Frears’ first feature Gumshoe in
1971. Menges went to Burma with Cowell to shoot
The Opium Warlords, a film about the drug trade. After
the release of the documentary in 1974 the Burmese
government was said to have put a price on their heads.
After further documentaries and feature films
including Black Beauty (1971), Bloody Kids (1978), The
Game Keeper (1980), Babylon (1980) and Angel (1982),
Menges became notable for more ambitious
works for which he was critically-acclaimed.
In 1978 he won the best film cameraman
BAFTA for Last Summer, directed by Frears.
In 1983 he received a BAFTA nomination
for the Bill Forsyth film Local Hero and the
following year won his first Academy Award
for The Killing Fields about the genocide in
Cambodia, as well as a BAFTA. He continued his work
with helmer Roland Joffé and won his second Oscar
with the historical drama The Mission.
In 1988 Menges made his directional debut with
A World Apart. This film was celebrated at the 1988
Cannes Film Festival and won three major awards. His
second film as director, CrissCross, with Goldie Hawn,
also received critical acclaim.
In 1996 Menges moved back behind the camera
to shoot the award-winning films The Boxer, directed
by Jim Sheridan, and Michael Collins, directed by Neil
Jordan. For the latter he received his third Academy
Award nomination in 1997. Menges supported Stephen
Daldry on the
sets of The
Reader (2008)
(Menges shared
the credit for
cinematography
with Roger
Deakins, both
were nominated
for the Oscar for this film) and Extremely Loud &
Incredibly Close (2011). Deakins, also widely-regarded
as one of the best cinematographers of modern times,
later said that he considers Menges’ use of natural light
second-to-none, and that Menges was one of his first
inspirations after film school.
Respected for his thoughtfulness, modesty
and consummate artistic skill as a cinematographer,
Menges told British Cinematographer Magazine during
an interview about his work on The Reader, “I only work
on films that I can learn from. My work is my university,
and the work I do is about educating myself.”

Panalux exclusive light supplier for SPECTRE

H
aving provided lighting to every
James Bond film since 1995’s
GoldenEye, Panalux was again the
exclusive supplier for SPECTRE, the
latest film in the 007 James Bond franchise,
both in the studio and on location.
Filmed on 35mm over eight months in
more than six UK and overseas locations, was
well as several stages at Pinewood Studios,
SPECTRE represented Panalux’s largest project
of 2015 in terms of both equipment and
logistical support.
Panalux… has partnered “Multiple stages – including the
with Cardiff-based Gaffer cavernous 007 Stage – along with
Ceiron Jenkins to open a extensive locations, ranging from
new Welsh seam scorching Morocco to the freezing
temperatures of Solden in Austria,
enabled us to demonstrate Panalux’s
ability to meet the most exacting
requirements both on location and in
the studio,” said Panalux group technical
director Chris Millard.
Panalux is a regular collaborator on
big-budget Hollywood feature films and
Most illuminating… high-end TV shows shot in the UK and
Panalux was the sole throughout Europe, providing lighting to
lighting provider for Avengers, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Star
007 SPECTRE
Wars: Episode VII, as well as currently servicing Game
of Thrones and Outlander. Panalux features an in-house
R&D and product development department to build
lighting, cable, power generation, rigging and grip
accessories from scratch.
For SPECTRE, Panalux engineers worked closely
with the film’s gaffer David Smith and lighting team
to create a specialised control system for location
shooting that has since been developed into a formal,
proprietary Panalux desk control product to debut for
hire to the global industry in 2016.
Over nearly nine months of production,
Panalux supplied SPECTRE with more than 95,000
items from its extensive inventory, including LED and
traditional lighting fixtures and many thousands of
lengths of cabling. Fifteen Panalux generator vehicles
were also required for five weeks of shooting a major
action sequence along The Thames. Filming locations
included Austria, Italy, Morocco, and several locations
around London.
In further news, has opened Panalux Wales in
Cardiff. Currently the only major lighting rental provider
with a physical presence in the Welsh market, Panalux
has partnered with Cardiff-based Gaffer Ceiron Jenkins
to formally expand the company’s UK presence to
Wales, a market attracting an increasing number of
large-scale television drama and film projects.

08 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP
DICK Pope
given RPS
LumiEre
award
D
ick Pope BSC was awarded
The Royal Photographic
Society’s Lumière Award
during The Society’s Awards
ceremony on 16th September at the
Royal Society in London.
Pope began his career as a
documentary film cameraman, working
for many companies including the BBC,
travelling the world to remote and inaccessible
areas including war zones. He specialised in shooting
films about endangered indigenous tribes, including
Disappearing World, political films, including World In Action,
and also arts films for The South Bank Show.
From the early 1980s Pope shot hundreds
of concerts and music videos for bands and artists
as diverse as Queen, Tina Turner and The Clash.
Moving into features in the mid ‘80s he photographed
Porterhouse Blue, for which he was BAFTA-nominated,
and Philip Ridley’s Reflecting Skin. In 1990 Pope was
asked by director Mike Leigh to photograph Life Is Sweet,
beginning a collaboration that has produced ten features,
including Secrets And Lies, Vera Drake and Mr Turner.
Winner…
Franklin Dow
captures a
sunrise over
Kano, Nigeria
Franklin Dow wins an
Emmy for Virunga
Up-and-coming British cinematographer Franklin
Dow recently won a Primetime Emmy for his
outstanding work on Virunga, the 2014 British
documentary film directed by Orlando von Einsiedel.
The production focuses on the conservation work
of rangers within Virunga National Park in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo – home to
the world’s last mountain gorillas ­­– as well as the
complex political and economic issues surrounding oil
exploration and armed conflict in the region.
The film initially screened at film festivals
around the world and received universal acclaim by
critics. In July 2014 it was announced that Netflix had
picked up exclusive rights. Virunga was nominated
for the Academy Award for Best Documentary
Feature at the 2015 Academy Awards, and Dow
collected his 2015 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding
Cinematography in Nonfiction Programming.
10 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Nice moment… Dick Pope BSC
receiving his award from RPS
president, Derek Birch ASIS
HonFRPS. Photo by Nick
Scott Photography.
Pope has twice won the top prize at the British Independent Film Awards. He was awarded the
Camerimage Festival Of Cinematography – for Vera BSC Cinematography Award for his photography on Mr
Drake and Secrets & Lies – and in 1999 Leigh and Pope Turner at the 2015 BSC Summer Luncheon.
were recognised there with the Duo Award for their Pope’s many other credits include films for
career collaboration. Pope also won the Silver Frog at leading US maverick directors, such as Richard
the same festival for The Illusionist, for which he was Linklater, Barry Levinson, John Sayles and Jill
also nominated for Academy, ASC and BSC awards. Sprecher. Recently, in New York, he photographed
Amongst many wins and nominations for his work on Angelica for Mitchell Lichtenstein, the son of the
Mr Turner he was awarded the Prix Vulcaine for the painter Roy Lichtenstein. His latest project is Legend
Technical Artist, at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and about the notorious Kray Brothers, written and
also nominated for Academy, BAFTA, BSC, ASC and directed by Brian Helgeland.
Kodak names Steve Bellamy as president
of motion picture and entertainment
K
odak has As a songwriter and recording artist,
appointed Bellamy has toured the US, had singles
Steve on commercial radio and his work is
Bellamy regularly found on film and television.
as its new president He has spent the last six years as CEO
of motion picture of Action Sport Networks and will
and entertainment. remain the chairman of that business.
Based in Los “I’m thrilled and relieved that
Angeles, Bellamy Kodak remains committed to keeping
will be responsible film alive and well,” said filmmaker JJ
for growing and Abrams. “It only feels right that film
deepening Kodak’s remain an available option in the world
relationships with of filmmaking. And Steve Bellamy is
an ideal talent to help realise this
creative luminaries
and business leaders priority.”
in the entertainment Bellamy will work with Andrew
industry, working on Evenski, Kodak president and general
creative advocacy manager of entertainment and
programmes, creating commercial film, to create deeper
partnerships and new Rock ’n’ roller… relationships with Hollywood’s film
Bellamy brings a
business models, and and television studios. Both will
new vibrancy to report to Steven Overman, president
developing Kodak- Kodak marketing of the consumer and film division.
branded solutions
for the entertainment
industry.
A serial entrepreneur and award-winning Feature Operators Award
media creator, Bellamy founded The Tennis Channel,
The Ski Channel, The Surf Channel and The Skate Channel nominees announced
television networks. A lover of film and music, he is a The ACO, BSC and GBCT have announced the nominees
prolific creator in both mediums. As a writer/director, for the Feature Operators Award 2015. They are: Chris
his movies have won over 40 global film festivals, from Haarhoff for Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue Of
Amsterdam to Canada to Mexico and the United States. Ignorance); Chris Squires for Whiplash; Des Whelan
He has personally won six best director awards including for Fury; and Tomasz Nowak for Ida. The winner will be
the Las Vegas International Film Festival. In all, he has announced and the award presented at the BSC Operators
shepherded over 10,000 hours of content creation. Night at The Langham Hotel on Friday 27th November.
 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

Seeing the
light… Si Bell
has brought
a new look to
BBC drama
Ripper Street

O
n Boxing Day, BBC hit crime series Ripper
Street will return for series four, opening
with a feature length version titled The
Strangers Home, featuring returning
characters Bennet Drake played by Jerome Flynn and
Reid played by Matthew McFadden. New faces join
the returning cast including Abel Croker played by
David Threlfall and Commissioner Augustus Dove
played by Killian Scott. The episode was directed by
Kieron Hawkes and shot by cinematographer Si Bell,
who kindly wrote in with details about his work.
“The production shot in Dublin with entirely
brand new sets including an exterior of Leman Street,
built in a large interior studio space in an disused hotel
complex in Kilternan. With the large-scale street set the
aims for lighting were to achieve day and night looks
that were realistic and also quick to change between,
due to the relatively tight schedule.
The main set was built in a large, former indoor
tennis court, which was about 30ft high. Production
designer Stephen Daly built the set to the roof, due to
the limited height, so there was a very limited amount
of space for lighting. The challenge was to rig the set
so that the filmmakers could achieve a natural-looking
daylight ambience, and also be able to vary the look
between dusk, night and rainy weather (the set also had
the ability to have rain effects).
After consultation with gaffer James
McGuire it was decided that rigging the set with LED
lighting would be the ideal solution. The new, budget-
friendly ETC Colour LED Sources were chosen and rigged
into the ceiling to create a large softbox, using diffusers
and a number of 20x20 1/4 grid cloth. The Colour
Sources were perfect as their Parcan-like focussed beam
meant they punched light down, so the set walls close
to the source didn’t get too hot. Also, we could rig them
very tight to the roof with no heat issues normally caused
by Tungsten heads. The Colour Sources were controlled
by an iPad-based custom dimming system, designed by
James McGuire. This enabled the filmmakers to dim the
lights without altering the colour temperature and also
to dial-in any one of the six million colours available, and
create a
variety of
looks with
very limited
set-up time. 
After a number of camera tests at Panavision
Ireland, the production decided to use the ARRI Alexa
with Panavision PVintage lenses to give the show
a softer, more period look. During the camera and
lens tests, and whilst setting he lighting looks on the
Leman Street set, I worked closely with Deluxe grader
Paul Staples to create a base LUT. Working on-set with
DIT Philip Blake this base LUT was tweaked and sent
through for rushes and offline editorial. These were used
as a guide in the DI back in Deluxe London.
Keeping the essence of the show was important
but also the producers also wanted to give it a fresh
new look. The new series was set in 1897, around the
time of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and number of years
ahead of series three. The filmmakers tried to show the
technological advancements by updating the practical
bulbs and using more electrical street lighting in the
street set. Instead of going for a traditional moonlit
look for our exterior night it was decided to push
for more of a warmer Tungsten look. The production
designer Stephen Daly helped with this by rigging main
street with 33 practical street lights.”

The Leica Summilux-C I

ndependent camera, lens and grip specialist, Movietech has introduced the
Leica Summilux-C range of lenses to its hire inventory. Featuring 11 focal
lengths from 16mm to 100mm, at T1.4 the Summilux-C PL mount primes

lenses arrive at
are among the fastest modern lens sets currently available. With superb
resolution and high contrast ratios the lenses present clear, highly-accurate
images with industry-leading flat field illumination, free from distortion or flare.
Incorporating Leica’s multi-aspheric design and high-precision cine

Movietech
lens mechanics, these lenses match well with celluloid. However, the range
also delivers high-quality results when used with digital image capture
systems. At 142mm long they also allow for significantly smaller, lighter
camera packages and rigs.
Speaking about the lenses, Movietech managing director John Buckley
said “Compact, sharp and fast, these Leicas have already proven popular,
particularly with our commercials clients and on jobs where camera assistants
need to make quick changes. Not too harsh, balanced illumination and
perfectly engineered, these are amongst the finest primes we’ve ever seen”

12 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

Jackson
Hole winners
announced
T
he Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, the premier event of the nature and conservation genre,
announced the winners of its 13th biennial festival at the Grand Teton Awards Gala on October 1st.
The awards celebration concluded a five-day industry conference that engaged leading filmmakers,
organisations, scientists, broadcasters and visionaries in conservation and wildlife media to Jackson
Hole. Submissions in the prestigious competition included a record 1,000 category entries competing for 23
special awards. This year’s winners were selected by a distinguished panel of international judges.
Best cinematography, sponsored by Sony Electronics, went to Wild Yellowstone—Frozen Frontier, a
Brain Farm Digital Cinema production for Nat Geo Wild and Terra Mater Factual Studios. Cinematography
for the show was by John Shier, Dawson Dunning and Curt Morgan. Aerial cinematography was conducted
by Nel Boshoff, Richard Burton, Greg Wheeler and Nick Wolcott, with additional cinematography by Howard
Bourne, Jeff Hogan and Theo Jebb. Winners… multiple
The production shot for 260 days over the course of two years, working in conditions as freezing as cinematographers were
minus 40°F, in USA’s oldest National Park. Covering the brutal winters and burning summers of Yellowstone, responsible for the Jackson
they captured iconic images of American wildlife to help tell new stories in a fresh cinematic style. Hole winning doc Wild
Yellowstone—Frozen Frontier

ASC to bestow honours on Production Guild appoints

Guy Barker as new chair

Toll, Peterson and Bennett

Guy Barker has been appointed chair of The Production
Guild of Great Britain. As a member of the board, Barker
has played a key role in The Production Guild’s work
aimed at ensuring the UK maintains its leading-edge as

J
the destination of choice for feature film and television
ohn Toll ASC, Bill Bennett ASC and Lowell Peterson Peterson, who is being honoured for his production. In response to the growing industry need for
ASC will be recognised for their contributions to the achievements in television, first worked as director of specific skills, the Guild set up the Assistant Production
art of cinematography at the 30th Annual American photography on the popular CBS series Knots Landing, and Accounting Training Scheme (APATS) funded by Creative
Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has continued to compile an impressive list of credits Skillset and to support those working in production financing,
Awards for Outstanding on award-winning television programmes. For his budgeting, accountancy and production management, an
tt ASC
Achievement Bill Benne work on the HBO series Six Feet Under, he received online training service, amongst other initiatives.
on February an Emmy Award nomination, as well as ASC Award An experienced financial controller and production
14, 2016, at the nominations for the telefilm Just Ask My Children, accountant, Barker’s credits include major studio productions
Hyatt Regency and the TV series Second Chances and Profiler. made in the UK including King Arthur: Knights of the Round
Century City, Peterson’s other Table, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Troy for Warner Bros,
Los Angeles. Lowell Pete series credits
rson ASC The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader for
Oscar-winner Toll include Jane 20th Century Fox/Walden Media, and Hummingbird for
will receive the The Virgin, Lionsgate/IM Global/Shoebox Films. He has also worked
society’s Lifetime The Fosters, on major features which have filmed abroad, including Red
Achievement Award. Desperate 2 for Lionsgate and Fred Claus for Warner Bros..
Peterson will be Housewives, Barker takes over as chair from Kevin Trehy, senior
honoured with the Lois & Clark: VP physical production of Warner Bros. Productions who
Career Achievement The New becomes joint vice-chair with producer Steve Clark Hall
in Television Award, Adventures Of (The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Sherlock Holmes), last year’s
and Bennett will Superman, and Creative Skillset Mentor Of The Year award-winner. Mark
take home the ASC The Client. Cooper, formerly vice-chair, rejoins the board and Lara
President’s Award. Bennett has Sargent has been appointed treasurer for the Guild.
“John, Lowell compiled over
and Bill have set an 1,000 television
extremely high bar commercial
for all of us,” said ASC John Toll ASC credits. Known
president Richard Crudo.
Toll won back-to-back
affectionately by
his peers as “The David
Samuelson
Oscars for his exceptional work Car Guy”, for his
on Edward Zwick’s Legends Of The innovative work

passes away
Fall in 1995, and Mel Gibson’s on automobile
Braveheart in 1996. The latter ads, his list of
also earned the BAFTA Award credits-by-sponsor not only include major
for Best Cinematography. Toll automobile manufacturers, but also a number We learnt of the passing
received a third Academy Award of the top beverage manufacturers, global of David Samuelson at the
nomination for lensing Terrence communications companies, airlines and fast time of going to press, and
Malick’s The Thin Red Line in food franchises. The list of elite directors send our condolences to his
1999. He has compiled nearly Bennett has worked with includes Brent family and friends. Among
40 credits to date, collaborating Thomas, Robert Lieberman, Gary Johns, the many achievements during a successful career
with such venerable directors Jeff Gorman, Bob Giraldi, David Dryer, Joe in cinematography, he was presented with an Oscar
as Francis Ford Coppola, Carroll Johnston, Richard Blair, Catherine Lefebvre, statuette in 2005, along with Jean-Marie Lavalou and
Ballard, Cameron Crowe, John Eric Saarinen, ASC, Andrew Sinagra and Terry Alain Masseron, for engineering and developing the
Madden, Nancy Meyers, Lana and Andy Wachowski, Ben Windell. The Presidents Award recognises an Louma Camera Crane and remote system for motion
Affleck, Ben Stiller, and most recently with Ang Lee on the ASC member’s remarkable body of work, combined with picture production.
upcoming film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. their devotion to the organisation.

14 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP
Aargghh…. TOHO’s famous character
with (l-r) Brett Smith, sales director,
Tiffen International Asia-Pacific, Gin-Ichi
Corp Steadicam sales manager, Kazuhito
Kashiwabara, TOHO chief cameraman
Kosuke Yamada with the new M-1
New Tiffen Steadicam M-1 looms large in Japan
T Hay Film School
OHO Studios, the Tokyo production house responsible
for the original Godzilla and its current remake, as
well as Seven Samurai, directed by Akira Kurosawa,
has purchased the new Tiffen Steadicam M-1
camera stabiliser for its current and future feature projects.
Senior cameraman Kosuke Yamada had been
looking at the M-1 since its launch, and brought a rig to
Japan after he completed the six-day SOA (Steadicam
Operators Association) Classic workshop in the US with Jerry
Holway and Steadicam’s inventor Garrett Brown. Yamada’s
experience as a cinematographer includes a 13-year stint as
camera assistant at TOHO Studios, leading to four years in
the top job as lead cinematographer.
“When I used the M-1 for the first time, I felt a firm
sense of stability that I had never felt before. No matter
how much lighter cameras become, the quality of the
image largely depends on their stability in use,” said Yamada.
“The M-1 can accommodate various shooting styles and
equipment, and I think this is perhaps the biggest strength
of it. But also very important is the ease with which you can
achieve dynamic balance and smoothness of the gimbal.”
All Tiffen M-1 systems work with the Fawcett
Exovest. The supportive exoskeleton design of Exovest frees
the chest from constraint by providing support on the hip
and shoulder. The industry’s benchmark ISO-Elastic G70X
arm completes the package, making M-1 the most advanced
stabiliser in feature production.
Our hero… (l-r) Harrison Ford
with cinematographer Douglas
Slocombe BSC and Steven
ers
Spielberg on the set of Raid
Of The Lost Ark
16 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
production event
Hay Film School is hosting Independent Film
Production – The Challenges on December 5th.
Highlights of the event, taking place in Hay-on
Wye, will include a screening of the recently release
feature Dartmoor Killing, followed by and Q&A
with writer/producer/director Peter Nicholson and
cinematographer Nick Dance BSC. There will also
be a screening of Jack To A King with editor John
Richards, plus panel discussions with Doug Milsome
BSC ASC, Nigel Walters BSC, Nick Dance BSC and
Keefa Chan. Other participants include Alan Trow
BSC, Jamie Harcourt Associate BSC ACO GBCT,
James Fulcher GTC, Steve Brooke-Smith GBCT and
Shirley Schumacher GBCT.
The listed DPs listed will variously talk
about how to construct a scene, composition,
camera placements for feature films and high-end
television dramas/documentaries and commercials.
Rob McGregor Steadicam operator/DP will also
demonstrate his Steadicam and MoVI equipment.
Kenko Tokina acquires
Formatt Hitech filters
Kenko Tokina, the world’s largest manufacturer of
photographic filters, has acquired 100% of the share capital
of Formatt Hitech Limited (Formatt-Hitech), the UK-based
producer of ND filters for photo and cinema. Formatt-
Hitech will operate as a fully-independent subsidiary
corporation and continue to produce filters in the UK.
The Formatt-Hitech acquisition will expand Kenko
Tokina’s filter portfolio into cinema. Formatt-Hitech’s
Firecrest brand of ND filters uses an advanced, rare earth
metal-coating process to create neutral ND filters. The
Firecrest product has become popular for landscape, fine-
art and long exposure photography, as well as the cinema
and broadcast markets due to the uniformity of the ND
across different densities and due to the extremely tight
tolerances for surface flatness. The Firecrest 4mm cinema
filters have been independently tested and verified as
having the flattest surface of any ND filter. This means
that, when used on television and cinema production, the
camera can be panned and tilted during a shot without
introducing any surface distortion into the image.
Slocombe steals
the limelight at
Academy party
in London
Centenarian cinematographer Douglas Slocombe
BSC made the headlines recently after a high-profile
film industry event in London. Reported in the Daily
Mail, although actress Cate Blanchett was just one
of many A-listers at a special reception hosted by US
Ambassador, Matthew Barzun, for European members
of the Academy of Arts And Motion Picture Sciences,
it was the 102-year-old master cinematographer who
garnered most of the attention.
Slocombe, who shot the first three Raiders Of
The Lost Ark movies, Julia, Travels With My Aunt and
The Italian Job, amongst many others, and earned
three Oscar nominations, drew tributes and toasts
from Academy bosses Cheryl Boone Isaacs and
Dawn Hudson during the event.
 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP
New Teletubbies gets a high-tech
cinematographic approach
T
he challenging combination of costume
characters, miniature photography, motion
control and CGI enhancements were all
creatively fused in the reboot of UK global
children’s classic Teletubbies. New Teletubbies (DHX
Media) was shot at Twickenham Studios by DP Simon
Reay, who was an operator on the original ‘90’s series.
Now, almost twenty years on, the re-version has been
produced with the same iconic green hills using a 20:1
scale model of Teletubbyland.
Reay explains the reasoning behind this new
approach “The producers were hugely respectful of the
original show and wanted to retain the same iconic green-
hill world and identical Teletubby costume performances,
but without the logistic headache of filming on location.
So we had to find a way for the characters to exist in a
Teletubbyland that looked real and allowed them to fully
interact with their environment. The miniature gave us the
perfect setting and CGI was used to enhance and extend
this, as well as adding skies and animated flowers, under
the supervision of Rob Harvey at Lola Post.”
The live-action set consisted of full-size blue hills
on the stage, which the Teletubbies could walk over and
run around. These were very specifically configured to
match the model. Director Jack Jameson, production
Litepanels unveils Brick LED lighting systems
Litepanels, a Vitec Group brand and provider of LED
lighting for the broadcast and production industries,
has launched its new Brick and Brick One Light Kit.
Now more robust, the Brick Bi-Color provides an
on-camera solution for on-the-go ENG cameramen,
especially for those in wet conditions.
Building on the legacy MiniPlus, the new
Brick Bi-Color’s high CRI and TLCI surface-mount
LEDs, with custom-designed optics, provide
accurate colour temperature adjustability. The
tightly binned LEDs also produce a light output
that is up to four times brighter than the original
MiniPlus, resulting in a longer throw that effectively
allows the Brick to illuminate a larger area. By having
a comparable luminance output of 100W, it offers
18 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
designer Ant Howells and DP Reay collaborated on
shooting efficiencies, avoiding the full-size hills having to
be moved every time the camera changed position on the
model. Their solution was to have groups of hills that were
repeated three times on the model. In essence, one live
action bluescreen set matched three different locations
on the model.
Teletubbies was shot on three RED Epic cameras
with a variety of lenses all provided by Onsight. Reay explains
his choice. “Because each scene generally plays out on one
position with very few cuts, A-camera was fitted with an
18mm master prime, giving an horizontal angle of view of
72 degrees [at 5k HD]. This angle was then matched on
the model set using a P+S Tecknik T-Rex Borescope, which
Onsight sourced for the job from Germany. B-camera used
either a 32mm or 50mm Ultra prime.”
The new title sequence carefully replicated the original
almost shot for shot. In order to capture this sequence,
N-Cam’s Real-time camera tracking system was employed.
Data was collected and then scaled-down for the Milo motion
control rig to perform the corresponding moves on the
model. Malcolm Woolridge and Rob Delicata of The VFXco
supervised the moco set-up.
After three months the production switched from
the exterior miniature set to the interior world of the
up to 1060 LUX (98 Footcandles) at 5ft (1.5M) while
only drawing 16.5W.
The Brick can also provide both Daylight
and Tungsten lighting. With ultra-smooth dimming
from 0-100%, it is not only flicker free at any frame
rate or shutter angle, but the Brick also has no
noticeable colour shift throughout its entire range.
The Brick One Light Kit consists of a
half-white diffusion gel, a Manfrotto 244 Micro
articulating arm, a 6ft (1.8 m) international power
supply, a 60° Honeycomb frame, a soft diffusion
frame, and a waterproof hard case with custom
foam for safe transportation. Optional accessories
for the Brick include an Anton/Bauer QRG-LG plate
and an Anton/Bauer Power Tap extension.
Makeover… DP Simon
Reay has used ultra-
modern techniques and
kit on New Teletubbies
Teletubbies – the Home Dome. This dome set was built
as an inflatable structure with hard set pieces added.
These included a full size working lift, which lowers the
Teletubbies down from outside and into their home.
“I knew I had to light for a very wide field of
view and to bear in mind that the Teletubbies are big.
Tinky Winky is nine-feet tall,” said Reay. “This meant
that we were going to see most of the dome in every
shot; therefore hiding fixtures within the dome itself
was totally impractical. The solution was to light
through the structure itself; we did this with an array of
nine light maxi brutes positioned around the perimeter
of the set. The maxi brutes were perfect as they had the
punch to push through the double-skinned dome and
then provide a soft source inside. Backlit Translites were
positioned outside the windows enabling a complete
360-degree shooting space. The only problem came
when trying to shoot sequences where the dome lights
up with the respected colour of each Teletubby. The
Epic would not read purple correctly; it always came out
as blue. So we tested the Alexa, F55 and F65 and they
were more or less the same. So I shot a test using 35mm
and that rendered the colours perfectly. So we took the
decision to shoot these sequences on film [Kodak 5219]
using ARRICAM LTs.”
 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP
Codex Action Cams
powers new Headcase
VR cinema camera
C
odex has supplied multiple Codex Action Cam
systems for the pioneering virtual reality (VR)
rig developed by Radiant Images, a provider
of innovative digital cinema solutions, high-
end cameras and equipment, and virtual reality content
studio Headcase VR.
The Headcase Cinema Camera is the world’s
highest-quality virtual reality camera system, comprising
of 17 synchronised Codex Action Cams in a spherical
array, for recording 360-degree sequences. Among the
first projects to deploy the Headcase Cinema Camera is
a promo for Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain, a live-action
VR project, produced by Mirada for FX Network, which
premiered at Comic Con 2015.
“VR has opened-up enormously exciting
opportunities for technology innovation and creative
storytelling, and has a magnetic attraction for early
adopters who want to pioneer imaginative content
creation,” said Codex managing director Marc Dando.
“To this end, Codex has been working with Radiant
Images and Headcase VR on integrating Codex Action
Cam technology into a new 360-degree camera rig that
records imagery of unsurpassed quality for virtual reality
applications. Compared to other arrays, the Headcase
Cinema Camera represents a huge leap in resolution,
clarity and latitude, and delivers a streamlined,
straightforward workflow into post production.”
20 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Virtually there… Andrew
Shulkind ASC with the
Headcase VR Cinema
Camera that used Codex
Action Cams, with the
new rig pictured on set
of The Strain
Cinematographer and innovator at Headcase
VR, Andrew Shulkind, commented, “I was already
familiar with Codex, and its range of recording, media
and workflow products, and I knew the gear was both
cutting-edge and reliable. When I first heard about
Codex Action Cam I immediately saw it as an essential
building block for VR projects, because it combines
three factors that are critical for this kind of work –
small size, high-quality images and a robust workflow.
Working with Codex and Radiant Images, we were able
to develop the Headcase Cinema Camera that will help
us open new frontiers in immersive content creation.”
Codex Action Cam is a tiny remote camera head
that shoots up to 60fps. With a single co-ax cable to the
Codex Camera Control Recorder, it delivers a proven
workflow. The camera uses a 2/3” single-chip sensor
with a global shutter to capture 12-bit RAW 1920x1080
HD images with wide dynamic range of 11-stops.
The Headcase Cinema Camera, available for
rental through Radiant Images in Los Angeles, uses 17
Codex Action Cams in a spherical array. All the Action
Cams are sync’d together and have common timecode
and metadata, making the stitching of images in post-
production a lot simpler than with other systems.
The Strain VR experience follows Vasiliy Fet, a
former Ukranian rat exterminator, as he leads viewers on
a 360-degree journey through an abandoned warehouse,
whilst being under constant threat of attack from
vampires. The participants in the two-and-a-half-minute
VR experience feel as if they are trapped in a warehouse
within the story. The Headcase Cinema Camera was
small enough to manoeuvre wherever it needed to go,
whilst capturing the high quality of images necessary
for an intense, suspenseful and realistic experience. The
camera rig was supported on a remote-controlled, robotic
wheeled platform, with no crew members near the camera
when it was shooting. Everything was controlled by a
single operator hidden from sight.
Molinare makes
investment in 4K pipeline
Soho post production house, Molinare, has made
significant investments to support efficient 4K and UHD
workflows within the facility. This includes over half
a petabyte of high-speed media storage, in the form
of a new EMC Isilon storage cluster and high-speed
Infiniband backbone serving new 4K Baselight grading
and Flame editing suites. The company also recently
invested in Sony’s BVM-X300 OLED 4K critical reference
monitor for picture monitoring in its 4K suites during the
DI grades of upcoming 4K TV drama productions.
 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP
Right royal occasion…
Princess Kate at BATFA
with president Xi Jinping
H
is Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge,
president of the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts, presented a BAFTA gift to Xi
Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of
China, at Lancaster House, London, during the official
state visit by the Chinese leader in October.
The gift – an original artwork from the BAFTA
archive revealing the heart of BAFTA’s historic
headquarters in London – symbolises the spirit of open,
creative collaboration that BAFTA promotes between
the UK and China, and commemorates 2015 as the
UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange.
Evidence Camera is hot on Matthews gear
M
atthews Studio Equipment’s Burbank
manufacturing facility recently caught
up with Joel Deutsch, cinematographer/
co-owner of Los Angeles-based Evidence
Film Studios & Evidence Camera Rentals about the
company’s recent purchase of MSE’s newest support.
The Matthews Freedom Car Mounts and Brauer
Hostess Tray have already allowed their production
company to do some unique shots.
“We are now using the mount and tray on an action
film we are producing,” Deutsch explains. “And will have
them available as part of our stage rental inventory along
with the rest of our Matthews gear.”
Proof… that MSE kit
works for Evidence
Camera
22 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
BAFTA commemorates
UK state visit of China
president Xi Jinping
Amanda Berry OBE, chief
executive of BAFTA, guided
president Xi Jinping and HRH
The Duke of Cambridge
through the showcase, during
which BAFTA screened a
short film highlighting its on-
going work in China and staged a performance by BAFTA
scholarship recipient Wan Pin Chu, a composer from Hong
Kong, who performed British and Chinese music on the
erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument.
Berry said, “I was delighted with our involvement and
to be part of President Xi Jinping’s State Visit to the UK. The
event showcased the range of creative excellence in the UK
while recognising China’s significant contribution to the arts.
“BAFTA encourages creative and cultural exchange,
and we’ve already begun this work by investing in new talent
and laying foundations for future collaboration through
initiatives and events in mainland China and Hong Kong.
The Duke of Cambridge is a supporter BAFTA’s work
The company’s stage has the capacity to drive-
in vehicles, ideal for car insert scenes with controlled
environments, and has the ability to handle sound and
lighting effects as well. This allows productions to use the
car mounts for greenscreen work or cyc wall projection of
driving plate shots, whilst getting clean angles with actors in
the car – using the Freedom Car Mounts.
“We discovered that they also mount well using the
interior auto windscreen and side window glass to position
the camera creatively,” he explains. The Brauer Hostess Tray
can be used with windows up or down, and door open or
shut. The Freedom Car Mount satisfied the many angles
in China, helping the organisation to forge stronger links
with creative talent in the country. In March this year, he
donated a replica BAFTA award on the Academy’s behalf
to the Shanghai Film Museum during the Great Festival of
Creativity in Shanghai, and helped launch BAFTA’s latest
scholarship scheme for students studying in mainland China
and Hong Kong, which opens for applications in 2016.
BAFTA has been working with partners in China to
deliver masterclasses and workshops since 2013, featuring
award-winning filmmakers, actors and craftspeople
including Johnnie To, Zhang Yimou, Duncan Kenworthy,
Eddie Redmayne and Lois Burwell. BAFTA-nominated hair
and make-up designer Naomi Donne (Chocolat, Skyfall,
SPECTRE) discussed her craft at masterclasses with Mac
Cosmetics in Hong Kong and Beijing, BAFTA’s first event
in China’s capital city. Actor Hugh Bonneville (Downton
Abbey, Paddington) has also attended a fundraising dinner
in Hong Kong in support of BAFTA’s charitable activities
across Asia and visited secondary school students,
discussing his work at special ‘In Conversation’ events.
needed to mount cinema cameras (weighing about 20lbs)
in a safe and secure manner all in the short set-up time
action filming requires. Support for the set up consists
of screw-together stainless steel Ricky Rod components,
Quick Heads, large vacuum cups with a swivel head, and
more. “They are perfect for use doing high speed on road
driving manoeuvres as well,” Deutsch adds.
The success of the new Mount and Tray system
has prompted Evidence to add these tools to their other
Matthew rental equipment, including the new Matthews
45” Slider - another quick and easy set up that stands
alone or serves as an accompaniment to the Freedom Car
Mount and Brauer Hostess Tray.
 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

Roestad becomes
new IMAGO president
N
orwegian cinematographer and filmmaker Paul René Roestad FNF has been
elected as the new president of IMAGO, the international federation of
cinematographic societies, for the next three years. Roestad takes over from
Nigel Walters BSC, who held the role of president for six years, and under
whose auspices the federation expanded dramatically to include members from outside
Europe, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Turkey,
Iceland, Colombia, Iran and Israel. A globe-trotter, who made sure that IMAGO was ever-
present at leading cinematography events, Walters also brought the issues of working
conditions and authors’ right to the fore, which Roestad has vowed to continue.
Roestad was the only candidate for the presidency and was unanimously voted
as the new leader during IMAGO’s IAGA, which took place in Jerusalem in October. A
new IMAGO board was also elected: Daniele Nannuzzi AIC (Italy), Elen Lotman, ESC
(Estonia), Predrag Bambic SAS (Serbia), Rolf Coulanges BVK (Germany), Ron Johanson,
ACS (Australia) and Nina Kelgren BSC (UK). Louis-Philippe Capelle SBC (Belgium) remains
as treasurer and general secretary, with Tony Costa AIP (Portugal) the IMAGO webmaster.
Dr. Cristina Busch will continue to provide legal consultation.
Fighting the good fight…
new IMAGO president
Paul René Roestad

Company 3 expands
dailies services with Creative England appoints
Caroline Cooper Charles
new appointments as head of film
Company 3, the Soho-based digital intermediate and
Caroline Cooper Charles, previously Creative England’s
post production company has added Jonathan Smiles and
senior film enterprise executive and head of creative
Doychin Margoevsky to its London dailies team. With over
development at Warp X, has been appointed the
20 years of experience across film and TV, Smiles is well
organisation’s new head of film. Creative England is
known as a film and digital workflow specialist. He worked
responsible for film initiatives iFeatures and iShorts, and
on the first UK RED camera and German ARRI Alexa
has backed features including Notes On Blindness, 45 Years,
shoots. His expertise crosses the disciplines required
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King and Burn, Burn, Burn.
for film and digital acquisition covering the entire
During her
workflow from set into dailies then to editorial,
time at Creative
VFX and through to DI, deliverables and
England Cooper Charles
studio archive. He joins the company
has led a bespoke
as senior dailies specialist.
support programme
Doychin recently completed
for film companies in
dailies on Michael Bay’s
England and previously
Thirteen Hours:
worked across talent
Secret Soldiers
development strategy
Of Bengazi,
in the regions. She is
and joins
also CEO at production
Happy camper… Jonathan Company 3
outfit Universal Spirits,
Smiles lands senior dailies as dailies
producer of Jane
role at Company 3 colourist.
Linfoot’s The Incident.

Looking for typos… Nic Knowland BSC, Roberto Schaefer ACS
AIC, Geoff Boyle and Nigel Walters BSC enjoy a right good
read at the inaugural Bristol Festival Of Cinematography
Bristol
International
Festival of
Cinematography
kicks off
Cinematographers Nic Knowland BSC, Nigel
Walters BSC, Geoff Boyle and Roberto Schaefer
ASC AIC were caught doing some light, but
illuminating, reading before their panel discussion
about the state of the art of cinematography
at the inaugural Bristol International Festival of
Cinematography. Highlights of the three-day
festival, which took place this September within the
popular annual Encounters Film Festival, included
screenings, masterclasses and Q&A sessions, as
the cinematographers shared the secrets of their
successes and the challenges in the rapidly-evolving
landscape of image capture and display.

24 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

Low-light… new Canon
ME20F-SH camera has an
ISO in excess of 4 million

Binary… Woody Allen

has selected the F65
and Vittorio Storaro
for his next movie

Aurora borealis Spencer

shot with new low-
light Canon camera
Aurora Skycam, a Norwegian film enterprise, has
become the first company in the world to use Canon’s
new ME20F-SH, high-definition video camera to
capture stunningly detailed low-light footage of one of
the world’s most spectacular natural phenomena, the
aurora borealis.
The footage, shot in Norway, records the
borealis in “never-before-seen clarity”, revealing colour
and high definition detail that has “opened up new
creative possibilities”, according to Aurora Skycam’s
Anders Hanssen. “It’s the most amazing camera out
there – a revolution when it comes to night-time
photography.”
Launched in July 2015 the ME20F-SH is a
professional multi-purpose video camera capable of
capturing full-colour, HD footage in extremely low-light
environments. Boasting a maximum ISO in excess of
4 million (+75dB), the camera facilitates a wide range
of shooting possibilities in situations that previously
would not have been possible.
Newbury joins LCA Woody Allen
Lights, Camera, Action has appointed of Spencer Newbury as
international business development manager. Newbury will help goes digital
with Sony F65
LCA to develop international markets covering Europe, Middle
East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Working as a lighting technician
for 25 years, he has travelled globally advising on his specialty
of lighting car commercials for advertising in studios and on-
location. In the last seven years, he developed business for Sony has confirmed that filmmaker Woody Allen has
Litepanels in the EMEA chosen Sony CineAlta F65 for his first-ever digital
and APAC Regions. shoot, to be lensed by Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC. The
Nice shirts… LCA’s Nick currently untitled production will be mastered in 4K.
Nick Shapley,
Shapley with Spencer
LCA managing director Storaro, the three-time Academy Award winning
Newbury cinematographer for Apocalypse Now, Reds and The
commented, “Spencer is
a well-respected figure Last Emperor, has dedicated his professional work to
and we’re excited he digital technologies. He first began testing with Sony
has decided to join our in 1983. On his decision to use the F65, Storaro
team. With his extensive said, “I had seen that the Sony F65 was capable of
knowledge of international recording beautiful images in 4K and 16 bit-colour
markets we’re looking depth in 1:2, which is my favourite composition. So
forward to building up when Woody called me this year asking me to be the
our current customer cinematographer of his new film with the working title
base and bring the many Wasp 2015, my decision was already made. I convinced
brands and products we him to record the film in digital, so we can begin our
represent to these areas”. journey together in the digital world.”

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 25

 NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP
The Production
Guild announces
2015 UK film & TV
awards winners
T
he Production Guild of Great Britain paid tribute
to leading UK film and TV industry professionals
on September 17th with its awards which recognise
remarkable achievements made by its members.
The awards come at a time when the creative success of
the UK film and TV industry and its contribution to UK
economy has never been stronger.
Taking place on Saturday 19 September at The
Grove in Hertfordshire, The Production Guild Awards, in
association with Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, awarded
four individuals/teams for their exceptional work.
The UK production team behind Twentieth
Century Fox Television’s hit TV series 24: Live Another Day,
received The Production Guild Member/Team of the Year
Award in association with Millbrook. Producer and British
Film Commission chairman Iain Smith OBE led a team
that comprised a number of Production Guild members
including unit production manager Kathy Nettleship,
location manager Casper Mill and production accountant
David Jones. The decision by Twentieth Century Fox
Television to entrust the production and VFX of its highly-
successful US series’ to British crew was seen as a bold
move and a huge gesture of trust in the UK. The production
team delivered on every count, achieving a fast-paced,
challenging shoot with precision. The speed of turnover
of writing, shooting and going to air was unprecedented
in British production with filming taking place around the
clock and Fox’s US air dates rolling as the team worked.
Roy Button OBE DL, executive VP and managing
director, Warner Bros. Productions Ltd, received The
Production Guild Contribution to the Industry Award
in association with Panavision, for his outstanding
contribution to the development and sustainability of the
UK film and TV industry.  crew. Bett established Skyline Films with partner Steve
As head of physical production for Warner Bros.
Productions Ltd, Button is responsible for all Warner Bros’
films based out of the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle
East. He has also been the driving force for Warner Bros.’
investment in Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, Europe’s
Studio
Round-Up:
Elstree Studios:
a brand new
book, entitled
‘Elstree Studios:
A Celebration Of
Film And Television’,
pays tribute to 90
years of film and
TV production at
the world-famous
site. Elstree
Studios was, and still
is, home to some of
the most successful
and enduring films
and TV shows
26 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Jessam
yn Keo
More winners… gh
Roy Button OBE
(pictured), Jessamyn
Keogh, Iain Smith
and Mairi Bett all
recognised by The
Production Guild
largest studio, owned and run by Warner Bros. and the
production base for films made in the UK by a number of US
‘majors’ including eight Harry Potter films, Edge of Tomorrow,
Jupiter Ascending, Tarzan, Knights Of The Round Table: King
Arthur, Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them, and host
to Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation, Kingsman: The Secret
Service, as well as the Leavesden Harry Potter Tour. Button
is currently a member of the FITB (Film Industry Training
Board) and the board of the British Film Commission. Iain Smith
Assistant production accountant, Jessamyn
Keogh, received The Production Guild Rising Star Award
in association with Warner Bros, Studios Leavesden.
Keogh began the Production Guild’s Assistant Production
Accountant Training Scheme (APATS) funded by Creative
Skillset in 2012, taking up placements on Sky1’s Starlings
(series two), Channel 4’s Top Boy (series two) and Disney’s
Muppets Most Wanted. Since graduating in 2013, Keogh’s
focus and dedication has seen her move upwards in
an astonishingly short period, working as first assistant
accountant on series five of E4’s Misfits, quickly followed
by series five and six of ITV drama Downton Abbey.
Producer Mairi Bett received The Production Guild
Inspiration Award in association with Creative Skillset, in
recognition of her long-standing dedication to assisting the
career development of young producers and production
Clark-Hall over 25 years ago, and her many co-producing
credits include the upcoming Victor Frankenstein, as well as
in recent years Closed Circuit, The World’s End, Oscar-winning
and BAFTA-nominated Jane Eyre, The Debt, Green Zone, and Mairi Bett
the BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated United 93.
produced in the UK, from
the original Star Wars and Romantic…. Poldark
Indiana Jones trilogies, series two is back at
The Bottle Yard
to The King’s Speech and
Paddington, and from The
Saint and The Avengers to
Strictly Come Dancing and
Big Brother.
The book has an
exclusive introduction written
by Tom Hooper, the Oscar-
winning director of The King’s
Speech. With contributions
from actors, directors
and behind-the-scenes
personnel, the book traces
the studios’ history starting
from humble beginnings in
1926, through the golden
age of film, tough times
and the threat of closure, to
becoming London’s go-to film and TV studio today, lavishly settings featured in the drama, including The Red Lion
illustrated with over 250 photographs and film stills. pub and ‘Nampara’, Ross Poldark’s home.
This year, sets will once again be built on-site,
The Bottle Yard Studios: BBC One’s popular, 18th- and the production will expand its studio footprint by
century drama, Poldark, has returned to Bristol’s The using additional build space. The team is coordinating
Bottle Yard Studios for its hotly-anticipated second the shoot from the studios production offices, and
series. Poldark’s eight-part first series, which attracted basing a comprehensive costume department on-site,
on average eight million viewers per episode, filmed at complete with sewing, dying and fitting rooms. The
The Bottle Yard between April and October 2014. Sets seven-month shoot, for the ten part series, will feature
were built within the Studio’s Tank House 2 to create key locations across Cornwall, Bristol and Wiltshire.
NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP
The Yorkshire Studios: ITV’s Victoria, a major new drama
series from Mammoth Screen, is the first tenant to take
up residency at The Yorkshire Studios, with filming for
the seven-month shoot now underway. The ambitious
eight-part drama, starring Jenna Coleman, follows the
early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the
throne at the tender age of 18, through to her courtship
and marriage to Prince Albert.
Screen Yorkshire announced the major new film
and TV studio space in Church Fenton, between Leeds
and York, in June. Comprising three aircraft hangars (each
over 30,000sq/ft and 36ft to beams) plus office space,
garages, workshops, extensive parking, roadways and
runways, the site is ideal for large scale productions such
as Victoria.
With additional support from the British Film
Council and Creative England, Screen Yorkshire is
working to bring the next major production to The
Yorkshire Studios. The remaining available space includes
two expansive hangars and over 400 acres of backlot.
Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden: Epic… the next JK
Academy Award-winning actor Eddie Rowling wizarding
Redmayne has been cast as Newt adventure is now
Scamander in Warner Bros. Pictures’ in production at
WBSL
much-anticipated wizarding world
adventure – J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic
Beasts And Where to Find Them.
Making her screenwriting debut
on the film, Rowling developed
the character of Scamander, and
his eponymous book, from her
globally beloved Harry Potter series.
David Yates, who directed the last
four Harry Potter films, will direct,
with producer David Heyman,
who produced of all eight of the
blockbuster Harry Potter features.
The cinematographer on the show is
Philippe Rousselot AFC. Warner Bros. Pictures has slated
Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them for worldwide
release in 3D and IMAX on November 18, 2016.
Pinewood Studios: Universal
Pictures’ Steve Jobs, from Academy Now ‘ear this…
Award-winning director Danny Boyle, legendary foley
artist Pete Burgis
was recently mixed at Pinewood
Post Production. The team carried
out sound editorial, mixing and foley
work for the film, which stars Michael
Fassbender as the pioneering founder
of Apple.
Pinewood has launched,
in partnership with The Open
University, a free on-line course
called The Business of Film, looking
at the business-side of filmmaking.
The course provides a practical
and in-depth exploration of the key
business decisions in film production
and the complexities of development,
distribution and finance. As well as
providing step-by-step guidance
on the main
processes,
the course
will also help
students to
answer critical
questions such
as why films
fail, why do
films get public
funding and
what is the
relationship
between marketing, box office Quantum Of Solace, Captain Phillips and the Harry Potter
returns and overall film success? films. He is also a triple Golden Reel Award winner. His
Double Emmy Award most recent credits include Pan, Legend and Everest as
winning foley artist, Pete Burgis, well as The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Cinderella, The Game,
has joined Pinewood Post Exodus: Gods And Kings and Edge of Tomorrow.
Production. Burgis has worked on Pinewood continues to invest in its foley and editorial
over 150 titles including the Oscar-winning The King’s services, recently renovating Theatre One and Theatre
Speech, Gosford Park and Slumdog Millionaire and others Two at Shepperton Studios, to complement UK sound
including, Band of Brothers, Atonement, Children Of Men, teams in film, television, video games and audiobooks.
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 27
 SPOTLIGHT / BB&S
Light
fantastic
A
belief in the power of LED as the future of
professional lighting technology inspired
Danish duo Peter Plesner and Thomas
Brockmann to start up Brother, Brother & Sons
(BB&S) in 1999, although it took a decade for their vision
to be vindicated, writes Adrian Pennington.
“LEDs were not at all useable in 1999,” says co-
founder Plesner. “We believed that LED would be the big
thing for the future but it took a while for the quality to
reach a point that we could use them.”
Between 1999 and 2007 the company
concentrated on developing motorised or manually
operated lighting fixtures or engines for lighting
manufacturers. The Warp for ADB-TTV was the first
product developed. In 2007 BB&S started its first LED
product development with the Evenled (later acquired
by Martin Audio), followed by LED-based retro-fits for
De Sisti, Robert Juliat and ARRI. The Aledin-AR back-
end light engine, for example, mounts into ARRI ST 1
Fresnel. It also created a LED light engine for the De Sisti
Leonardo Fresnel.
Then, in 2011, BB&S began development of a
proprietary product portfolio of it own high-end LED
lighting products and to transition from a development
house into full-scale manufacturing, sales, marketing and
distribution.
“The first step was for LED technology to reach
the same level of output as Tungsten or daylights,” says
Plesner. “That has been achieved. We next moved to
developing the quality of colour rendition. That goal has
also now been attained.”
Its key product is the AREA 48 Soft, introduced in
2012. Instead of LED arrays, the AREA 48 uses remote
phosphor, widely viewed as an elegant solution to one of
the biggest problems to plague LED lighting technology;
how to produce a wide spectrum white light and achieve a
high colour rendering index for accurate colour rendition.
By swapping phosphor-coated panels of the AREA
48, light can quickly change from daylight to Tungsten or
other colour temperatures. The system’s colour rendering
28 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
accuracy is over 95 TLCI (Television Lighting
Consistency Index), and the source is comparable
to a traditional 1K soft light.
“Every test made to date clearly shows
the AREA 48 will reproduce the exact same
skin tones as daylight or Tungsten even when
shooting in RAW,” says Plesner. “There is
absolutely no colour shift when dimming, no green or
magenta mess up and therefore less work in post even
when used in conjunction with traditional light sources.”
Recently debuted accessories include a new
reflector, an octagonal soft box and frames for ganging two
or four AREA 48s together for a more powerful soft light.
Also new is the AREA 48 Soft Studio, made especially for
front of house applications, TV or motion capture studios
where extremely smooth dimming in the last 5% is needed.
At face value LED fixtures can be more expensive
than Tungsten, a reason attributed to the greater R&D
cost to make an LED fixture than an old-fashioned
Fresnel. “However, you also have to factor-in that for
traditional fixtures you need thick cabling and dimmers
to be installed in studios, whereas with LED you just
need an inexpensive DMX cable so the cost of running
LED is less,” he argues.
AREA 48s are used on a wide variety of TV and
feature productions including the Eurovision Song
Contest, in their hundreds on Pirates Of The Caribbean:
Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017 with cinematography by
Paul Cameron ASC), and 2016 Lionsgate fantasy Gods Of
Egypt, whose DP is Peter Menzies Jr. The gaffer on both
features is Shaun Conway, of Conway Film Lighting with
AREA 48s supplied by Barbizon of Australia.
The second innovative product using remote
phosphor is the Pipeline. These are modular, cylindrical
fixtures built with a diameter of less than an inch to be
installed in banks of up to four pipes, or deployed in a single
reflector for modelling faces and illuminating backgrounds.
“The Pipeline is very slim, allowing gaffers to
create a lot of different reflector forms,” he says. “It also
matches the TLCI of AREA 48 which means it will match
Tungsten or daylight fixtures so you
can confidently use existing or older
HQ… BB&S kit alongside the new which is not
is based the case with all LED fixtures.”
just outside The product has been
Copenhagen
packaged into Pipeline Reporter to
address the challenges of travelling
correspondents who often deliver
their reports via Skype or
Microsoft Messenger from a
webcam on a desktop.
BB&S’ founders share
experience in designing lighting
for TV, theatre and feature film.
Plesner himself spent the first 25
years of his career as a lighting
designer for opera.
Peter Plesner
“In a small country like Denmark
lighting for different disciplines was par for the course,
but we see this merger happening in larger markets too,
especially as film and TV cameras get closer together in
terms of application.”
The company is based 2km outside of
Copenhagen towards the airport in an old industrial
area that is undergoing urban renewal. There, the R&D
team comprises experts in optical physics, electronics,
mechanical design and software processing. All assembly
is housed there too with distribution over a worldwide
network of 37 dealers.
Plesner is in no doubt that LED will replace
virtually all Tungsten and daylight fixtures. “If you go
to Singapore and mention Tungsten they don’t know
what you mean,” he says. “South East Asia has already
moved to LED. It is just the more conservative markets
of Europe and the US, which are slower to transition.
The introduction of new technologies is bound to retire
all the older, heavy, extremely overpriced and power-
consuming fixtures.”
Whether LED will supplant 12k and 18k HMIs
is another matter. “There are occasions when you do
need a large point source, to make strong shadows
coming through a window for example. But for smaller
luminaries it makes no sense to use that amount of
power and heat when there are far more economical
technologies available.”
The next step for the company is to find new ways
of creating lighting instruments that fit the more extreme
resolution and sensitivity of the most recent digital
cinema cameras. Sony’s A7S II full-frame mirrorless
camera boasts an ISO range from 50 to 409600 and the
Canon ME20F-SH claims an ISO in excess of 4 million.
“The picture quality from imaging systems will
rise significantly and therefore the quality and usability
of the light source must follow,” he says. “Lighting
will continue to play a huge part in creating skin tone
granularity and crisp images.”
BB&S collaborates in scientific research with the
Danish Technical University (DTU) Photonics Unit in
order to prepare for future leaps in lighting technology.
“We hear a lot of feedback from DPs about being
asked to light for two locations in a day,” says Plesner.
“They have to be able to run everything off a battery,
there is no time for cabling. There is a demand for
greater speed on-set and for more efficient workflows.
All we can do is listen to users and try to give them
what they need.”
PREVIEW / CAMERIMAGE 2015 / by Darek Kuzma & Ron Prince

Once again, for eight days, Bydgoszcz will become

the movie capital of the world as a cornucopia of
cinematographic talents wing their way into “Poland’s
Venice” for the annual Camerimage International Film
Festival of the Art of Cinematography in celebration
of the power of cinema as an art form. This year’s
edition will also see Camerimage delve into the
area of television content, recognising its makers as
significant visual artists.

T
his year’s VIP guest list includes:
Chris Menges, Safrogndy Powell,
Walter Murch, John Seale,
Vittorio Storaro, Majid Majidi,
Marcel Łoziński, Martin Coppen,
Bryan Adams, Sandro Miller,
Matthew Libatique, Edu Grau,
John Toll, Reed Morano, Giovanni Ribisi, Ellen
Kuras, Ed Lachman, Salvatore Totino, Danny
Cohen, Michael Hoffman, Łukasz Żal, Chris
Doyle, Joan Churchill, Ryszard Lenczewski,
Christian Berger, Jay Rosenblatt, Stephen
Lighthill, Oliver Stapleton, Wojciech Staroń,
Mikhail Krichman, Svena Gisla, Checco Varese…
and many, many more.
Camerimage is the place where, once
a year, art meets technology and technology
becomes art. Where students talk to their
masters and each can influence the other.
Where visitors learn about the magic of cinema
in its purest form. But, the festival is not just
about the various films being screened. There
are also numerous seminars, masterclasses,
lectures, workshops, exhibitions, special events
and advisory programmes, conducted by the
world’s most distinguished professionals.
The opportunity provided by Camerimage
to meet and converse with cinematographers,
editors, production designers, feature,

>>
documentary and music videos directors, 3D
stereographers, gaffers, key grips, lighting
technicians, and other professionals, is an
unmissable experience, like no other.

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 31

 PREVIEW / CAMERIMAGE 2015

Lifetime
Achievement
Award for
Chris Menges
Chris Menges BSC ASC was born in
Kington, a remote rural market town
in Herefordshire, England, but is now
worthy of being called “a citizen of
the world”. He is a man of high values,
true modesty and filmmaking is his
greatest passion, for which he quite
literally risked his life.

M
enges grew up in post-war England
and, like many great filmmakers of his
generation, learned his craft in British
television in the 1960s. He started
this adventure thanks to Alan Forbes, the American
documentary filmmaker, who became one of his first
role models. Menges worked his way up the ladder as
an assistant editor, soundman and camera assistant,
honing his skills with each and every job.
His life changed forever when he joined,
as cameraman, the crew of the current affairs TV
programme World In Action. During the next couple
of years he travelled the world, going to places of
social and political upheaval and shooting in extremely
dangerous conditions. On one of such trips, Menges
went to Apartheid-torn South Africa and came back
with illegally obtained behind-the-scenes footage.

“My feeling about all work is, it’s not

On another, he went with director Adrian Cowell to
Burma to shoot The Opium Warlords. The pair became
isolated from the outside world and were forced to live

about style, but about what it’s trying

a guerrilla life for over a year. These were the times and
places that shaped him artistic and personal life.
But not all of Chris Menges’ adventures were

to say, what it’s worth.” Chris Menges BSC ASC

connected to shooting documentaries. He started
working on features in 1967 as a camera operator on
Ken Loach’s debut Poor Cow and Lindsay Anderson’s
If... Loach helped Menges in being promoted to the
rank of cinematographer on Kes, and so began one of
the most important artistic collaborations in his career,
lasting to this day.
In the 1970s and ‘80s Menges worked with a
number of rising British directors (Stephen Frears, Bill
Forsyth, Neil Jordan), integrating his cinematography
and love for authenticity with a wonderful eye for
detail and artistic sensitivity shaped while shooting
documentaries. Then, he worked on bigger projects
(he supported Peter Suschitzky on Irvin Kershner’s
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back) and
started looking for new challenges and different means
of describing the surrounding reality. That led him
to Roland Joffé with whom Menges made The Killing
Fields and The Mission, both awarded with Oscars for
cinematography.
The Killing Fields, made with a strong sense of
authenticity in each and every shot, and The Mission,
the look of which was inspired by classical Spanish
paintings, were enormous challenges. Yet Menges
never betrayed his instincts, and he used his skills to
enhance the stories being told. Being a humanist and
a filmmaker who preferred shooting from a distance,
to create “a freedom space” for actors or non-fiction
protagonists in front of the camera, Menges helped the
director to shape his poignant tales about the different
sides of human nature.
Having such rich experience in film, and knowing
how to handle difficult projects, Menges decided to
shoot his own movies. His directing debut, A World Apart
(DP Peter Biziou BSC ASC), was a powerful statement
about South Africa in the 1960s, which he had come to
know from his early documentary days. It won awards
at the Cannes Film Festival and was respected by
critics and viewers alike. Nevertheless, the subsequent
directorial outings did not bring Menges what he hoped
for, thus, after almost a decade of absence, he re-ignited
the old flame with a film camera, and shot Neil Jordan’s
Michael Collins and Jim Sheridan’s The Boxer. Both IRA-
themed films became another proof of Menges’ mastery
in using light and camera movement to show human
emotions, obsessions and traumas.
The new millennium brought Menges a few
opportunities to work with long-time friends and
collaborators (with Stephen Frears on Dirty Pretty Things,
with Ken Loach on Route Irish), and a number of fresh
artistic challenges. He immersed himself in Western
imagery in Tommy Lee Jones’ The Three Burials Of
Melquiades Estrada. He helped William Monahan
to create an alluring vision of England’s capital in
London Boulevard. He supported Stephen Daldry on
the sets of The Reader (Menges shared the credit
for cinematography with Roger Deakins, both were
nominated to Oscar for this film) and Extremely Loud &
Incredibly Close. And it was Deakins, widely-regarded
as one of the best cinematographers of our times, who
said later that he considers Menges’ use of natural
light second-to-none, and that Menges was one of his
first inspirations after film school.
“My personality is not ever to fight for a style.
My feeling about all work is, it’s not about style, but
about what it’s trying to say, what it’s worth”, said
Menges in one of his interviews. In another one he
stated, “You do things that make you grow and make
you learn, and I’ve always been interested in things
that teach me something”.

32 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

Walter Murch
wins the Award
to Editor with
Unique Visual
Sensitivity
Much has been said and written
about the opening of Francis Ford
Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. It starts
with a sound, difficult to recognise
or place anywhere. Next, there
appears an image – an almost-still
shot of a jungle...

T
he sound swells and, suddenly, a helicopter
flies right before our eyes. The first bars
of “The End”, by The Doors, serve as an
accompaniment and a commentary to what
can be seen on the screen: smoke and flames start
to devour the jungle. Another helicopter flies by, Jim

“A good editor must have some sense of how

Morrison’s vocals appear, and the shot turns into a
living napalm-induced hell, while the camera moves
after the flying machines.

to tell a story, and that involves a sense of

This image of jungle-fever after an air raid is
superimposed by a shot of Captain Willard’s (Martin
Sheen) face, which gets quickly interwoven with

rhythm. It’s a little bit like telling a good joke.

shots of whirling helicopter rotor blades and the
jungle’s conflagration, displaying what happens in
the soldier’s mind.
These first, intense dialogue-free minutes
of Apocalypse Now convey the film’s essence and The joke could be a great joke, but if you tell it
with the wrong rhythm it falls flat.” Walter Murch
foreshadow what is to come. It is little wonder that
this prologue is often cited as one of the best ever.
It was made largely by Walter Murch, the iconic
editor and sound designer who changed the way
we watch movies.
Editing is not about gimmicky transitions from received two Oscars, for editing and sound design. collaborated with a group of film enthusiasts who
one scene to another: it deals with imbuing the story An unprecedented achievement. He also won the helped each other to fully-master their skills and try
with a rhythm and emotional tempo, just as designing Academy Award for Best Sound in Apocalypse Now, new and exciting things – directors George Lucas
a film’s soundtrack does not mean matching images and received six other Academy nominations. and John Milius, and cinematographer/director Caleb
to music and songs, but creating a spatial soundscape “A good editor must have some sense of how to Deschanel, among others. What’s more, Murch took
that will make the world depicted on screen tell a story, and that involves a sense of rhythm,” Murch his first real career steps with Francis Ford Coppola on
believable and tangible. explained in one of his interviews. “It’s a little bit like The Rain People and then on the legendary films The
Walter Murch is a true master of both telling a good joke. The joke could be a great joke, but if Godfather and The Conversation.
professions. It was he who made the otherworldly you tell it with the wrong rhythm it falls flat.” Murch was one of the creators of the 5.1
relationship between Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore Murch fell in love with editing images and surround sound system in cinemas, and he is the only
in Jerry Zucker’s Ghost suspenseful, emotional and sounds as a teenager and decided to dedicate film editor who has been nominated for Academy
poignant, while the film itself became one of the his professional life to developing both areas of Awards for his work on four different editing systems:
biggest hits of the 1990s. It was Murch’s creativity cinematic craft, at the same time strongly opposing Moviola (Fred Zinneman’s Julia), KEM (Coppola’s
and intuitiveness that supported the overall feeling the empty virtuosity often seen in the film industry. Apocalypse Now), Avid (Minghella’s The English
of Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain and made He was lucky during his studies. He met and Patient), Final Cut Pro (Minghella’s Cold Mountain).
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation the film that
changed the way sound design was perceived. In THX
1138, George Lucas’s debut feature, Murch created an
encompassing sound space of all-too-real dystopian
society, in Apocalypse Now he, cinematographer
Vittorio Storaro and other artists working on the film,
took the audience on a journey into the Vietnam
hell, and in Minghella’s The English Patient
he heightened the reality depicted on the
screen. For his work on the latter, Murch

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 33

 PREVIEW / CAMERIMAGE 2015
Sandy Powell
to receive
the first-ever
Camerimage
Award to
Costume
Designer
C
ostumes are of invaluable assistance to actors,
providing them with new ideas for their roles
and giving them deeper understanding of the
emotional journeys their characters go through.
But costumes also determine the shape of the production
design, the way lights are set, the way camera movements
are planned for each scene. They are crucial in defining a
given character and the world they inhabit. They let the
viewers feel closer to what is happening on screen. And
they can – like no other part of cinema – work wonders
with on the imagination. That is why this year Camerimage
has introduced the Special Award of Costume Designer
with Unique Visual Sensitivity. Three-time Academy Award
winner Sandy Powell will be the first laureate.
Powell is known as an expert in defining visually,
with her costumes, bygone eras and making places that
do not exist anymore feel real, as well as a true artist
tirelessly looking for new ways of expression. It was
her work and inventiveness that helped Emily Blunt to
become Queen Victoria in Jean-Marc Vallée’s The Young
Victoria. It was Powell’s creativity and immense research
that enabled Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and
the rest of the cast of Martin Scorsese’s Gangs Of New
York, to look and feel like veracious Irish immigrants and
Americans from the second half of the 18th century. It
was the variety of costumes designed by her for Todd
Haynes’s Far From Heaven that allowed the emotional
journeys of characters reflect the colours of the passing
seasons. And her collaboration with Haynes enabled her
to recreate the sumptuous 1970s in Velvet Goldmine, and
depict the American 1950s from the perspective of two
different states: Connecticut in Far From Heaven and New
York in this year’s Carol. Of her six films with Scorsese, she
helped the director to look behind the curtains of 1940s
Hollywood in The Aviator, made the viewers breathe the
atmosphere of modern-day Boston in The Departed, and
created stunningly beautiful and wondrous tribute to the
everlasting power of cinema in Hugo.
There are many more examples of Powell’s fearless
passion for her craft, the love of which was instilled by her
mother who taught her how to sew and constantly look
for new challenges. Powell does not hold on to only one
working method or use the same tools over and over – she
makes each and every project according to what it is and
what it has to be. She is not afraid of “getting dirty” with
her creations, as she loves to imbue her costumes with a
certain visual character. Her work on this year’s Cinderella is
a perfect example of that trait – the blue ball gown of the
eponymous character is subtle, has a perfectly fairy-tale
quality, and looks deceptively simple, but its creation took
over 20 people approximately 500 working hours. Powell
was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE) and, suitably for one of the best costume designers
in the world, is a fashion icon with her own unique style.
34 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Vittorio Storaro and Majid Majidi win
Cinematographer-Director Duo Award
Two legendary filmmakers united under an extraordinary
film project – Muhammad: The Messenger Of God, the first
part of planned trilogy telling in cinematic terms the tale
of the life and work of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Vittorio Storaro and Majid Majidi will present the film
to the Camerimage audience and participate in a Q&A
session afterward. They will also accept the festival’s
distinction given to extraordinary duets, presented before
to such filmmaking partners as Matthew Libatique and
Darren Aronofsky, and Ed Lachman and Todd Haynes.
Marcel Łoziński gets Documentary
Filmmaker Accolade
Marcel Łoziński is one of the most prominent Polish
documentary filmmakers of all time, having achieved a
tumultuous career, which now lasts for over forty years.
In the 1970s he and his friends changed the way the
documentary form was perceived, making it more expressive
and cinematic. Since then Łoziński has made both short
and feature docs, becoming one of the best chroniclers of
the communist times in Poland, and a filmmaker interested
in normal people and their fascinating everyday existence.
Remembering The Masters series
The aim of “Remembering The Masters” is to accentuate
the craft of all those brilliant cinematographers who are
no longer with us, and to provoke a discussion about the
cinematic possibilities given by films which, over the years,
set the standards for what we watch today. This year the
festival will present the work of Polish cinematographer
Kurt Weber (Tadeusz Konwicki’s Salto and All Souls’
Day, Kazimierz Kutz’s Night Train), and Swedish
cinematographer Gunnar Fischer (Ingmar Bergman’s Wild
Strawberries, The Seventh Seal and The Magician).
First Look – New Competition Section
Camerimage will delve into what is now recognised as
the “Golden Age of Television”. Pilots and first episodes
from all over the world will compete for the first-ever
Camerimage award given to the makers of televised
content. The screenings will be accompanied by several
panel discussions with leading showrunners and other
industry professionals, to discover how you go about
creating a great first impression. How do you persuade
viewers not to abandon your show after the first few
episodes? Is the visual language of cinematography
important for TV creators?
Exhibition of photos by Bryan Adams
Exposed is a collection of 130 captivating portraits of famous
figures, captured through the lens of Bryan Adams. The
exhibition is made up of two unique sets. The first selection,
on show in Torun, consists of a retrospective of portraits
of some of the biggest names in pop culture, including: Sir
Ben Kingsley, Mickey Rourke, Sir Mick Jagger, Lana Del Rey,
Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse. Almost all of the photos
come from various commissions from magazines like the
European based Zoo Magazine (which he co-founded).
The second set, entitled Wounded: The Legacy Of War
comes from the book of the same name. It features moving
photographs of scarred British veterans of the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars. The project took four years to complete
(2008-2012) and is a remarkable tribute to the courage and
fortitude of the surviving servicemen and women.
Sandro Miller’s Exhibition
The exhibition of Sandro Miller’s photographs, entitled
Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage To Photographic
Masters, was born out of the artist’s fascination with
the work of photographic masters, as well as his co-
operation with actor John Malkovich. Miller (born 1958)
is an American photographer whose commercial success
has given him the opportunity to pursue his own artistic
projects. This series was created between 2012-14 and
was critically-acclaimed in the US and Europe. It contains
41 colour and B&W photographs, staged by Miller and
modelled by Malkovich. Together, they recreated iconic
photographs by the likes of Irving Penn, Diane Arbus,
Richard Avedon, Bert Stern, Herb Ritts, Andy Warhol,
Robert Mapplethorpe and Dorothea Lange. The project
combines the skills of Miller with Malkovich’s amazing ability
to impersonate the subjects from famous photographs.
Martin Coppen and Music Videos
Master Class
Acclaimed music video cinematographer, Martin Coppen,
will receive the Camerimage Award for Outstanding
Achievements in the Field of Music Videos, and meet
with participants during the next installment of the Music
Videos: The Master Class Series.
Third edition of 3D Films Competition
A few years ago the infatuation with 3D technology was
considered a mere fling, but today we are fully-aware it is still a
serious relationship which, in the close future, is likely to merge
the art of cinematographers with the world of 3D stereographers.
Ridley Scott’s The Martian, Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk and
Baltasar Kormákur’s Everest will compete among others.
 PREVIEW / CAMERIMAGE 2015
Estonian Cinema Review
The cinema of Estonia, a country close to Poland
both geographically and historically, has over hundred
years of cinematic tradition and its films won many
international awards and distinctions, yet it is still
relatively unknown to the modern-day viewer.
Estonian Cinema Review will not only be a chance to
watch interesting films from that part of the world,
but also to learn more about the country’s history,
mentality, and current situation.
Baltic Sea Region Cinema Review
A mandatory event for all cinephiles who admire
European films. To select the best representation
of the Baltic films from recent years, Camerimage
invited cinematography societies from eight countries
- Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,
Germany and Poland. Each of them selected one
contemporary film production as the most interesting
cinematic representative of the given country, which
resulted in an eclectic line-up.
Student Etudes from Katowice Film
School and FH Dortmund
Camerimage will screen films from two prestigious
European film schools – Katowice Film School (The
Faculty of Radio and Television of the University of Silesia)
and ELO Film School Helsinki (at Aalto University’s School
of Arts, Design and Architecture).
Pixar seminar
Key crew members behind Pixar’s animated hit, Inside Out,
will discuss how cinematography is practiced, and why it
matters, in animated filmmaking. The team will share some
of the challenges they faced in taking audiences inside the
human mind, with work-in-progress examples and insights
into the techniques and technology they used, including
motion capture, visual structure planning and lighting design.
Workshops, seminars and lectures
Several highly-acclaimed cinematographers, including
Chris Menges, Chris Doyle, Garrett Brown, Oliver
Stapleton and Steve Yedlin will lead the series of
workshops, variously sponsored by ARRI, Panavision,
Cannon, Technicolor, Sony, Panasonic, K5600 and
others. There are also numerous seminars and lectures
concerning the art of cinematography and the way the
movie industry has changed throughout last few years.
Exhibitors
At the time of writing, confirmed exhibitors at this year’s
festival included: Aaton, Angenieux, ARRI, Barco, Canon,
Codex Digital, CW Sonderoptic, Digital Sputnik, DMG
Lumière, DoPchoice, FujiFilm, Hive Lighting, J.L.Fisher,
K5600, Lodz Film School, MAT, Osram, Pajak, Panasonic,
Panavision, Rag Place, Sony, Tiffen, Transvideo, Vantage
Film, and Zeiss.
ARRI: is bringing its latest camera, lens, lighting and
accessory technologies and hosting a number of events.
Lit entirely by the company’s LED fixtures, including
the new SkyPanel softlight, ARRI’s stand will showcase
the upcoming Alexa SXT camera equipped with an
Anamorphic Ultra Wide Zoom, the Alexa Mini equipped
with a Master Anamorphic lens and Flare Set, the versatile
Amira equipped with an Alura Zoom, and the flagship
Alexa 65 equipped with a Prime 65 lens. Mechanical Pro
Camera Accessories and wireless tools from the ARRI
Electronic Control System will demonstrate the rugged and
user-friendly functionality of ARRI camera set-ups. ARRI
seminars and workshops will be hosted by top professionals
and, as in previous years, cinematographers nominated
for the Golden Frog award will be presented with their
nominations at the annual ARRI dinner party.
Codex: is showing Codex Production Suite, its powerful
dailies and archiving software, now running on Vault S and
XL-Series and also on Mac OS X. It provides simple, secure,
battle-tested workflows for multiple cameras (ARRI Alexa
SXT, XT and 65, Amira, Alexa Mini, Panasonic VariCam 35,
Canon C500 and C300 Mark II, RED Epic and Weapon
Dragon, Sony F55 and F65 etc.) and media from camera
to post production and beyond. Also on show is Codex
36 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Son of Saul,
dir. László Nemes,
cinematographer
Mátyás Erdély Warsaw 44
dir. Jan Komasa ,
cinematograph ,
er
Marian Prokop
Live, whish allows
users to work
directly with a live
camera feed over
HD-SDI to create VariCam, recently
and preview looks used on the BBC’s
and grades that can Doctor Foster and
currently shooting
help to communicate
the creative intent the next major
on-set and become production for
the starting point the BBC NHU,
for dailies and post incorporates
production grading. a 35mm MOS
All linked together image sensor
via Codex Backbone and AVC-ULTRA
getting the relevant family of video
information to codecs. The
whoever needs it camcorder has
quickly and efficiently. image handling in
multiple formats including 4K, UHD, 2K
K5600: watch out for the New Alpha 800, introduced as a and HD which make it an unparalleled tool for high end
prototype at this year’s IBC. Like all Alphas, the Alpha 800W filmmaking, commercials and episodic production as well as
is precise and controllable, providing a shadow quality these live 4K events. The AG-DVX200, the world’s first 4/3-type
fixtures are renowned for. Without the lens, the beam can large format, 4K/60p camcorder to feature an integrated
grow up to 120°, producing even light with sharper and zoom lens, will be showcased alongside the VariCam.
crisper shadows. Additionally, the Alpha 800W, as with all Panasonic will also host two seminars during the week of
Alphas (18K included), can be used pointing straight down. the festival, details of which will be announced soon.
The Alpha line is also known for its versatility. As well as
being compatible with the new 3200K discharge bulbs, the Sony: is championing “emotion in every frame”, and
Alpha 800W can be also turned into a Par light or a lensless showcasing the creative power of Sony CineAlta camera.
punchy source. To achieve this unique transformation, a Talk to the experts on the Sony stand and they will be
patented design 90-degree bulb socket is plugged in place delighted to tell you more about the latest developments
of the bulb into the regular G22 socket. As a result, the bulb in digital cinematography and help get you hands-on
can be fitted in the horizontal position offering the choice with their F65, F55 and F5 CineAlta cameras. CineAlta
of either the focusable faceted reflector (aka the Zoom workshops at Camerimage include a talk with Peter
Beamer) or the regular Par reflector. Simonite, about his experience of shooting The Perfect
Guy with F65 using Vantage 2x Anamorphic lenses, and
LEE Filters: with LED lighting now becoming more and High Dynamic Range with Sony CineAlta and the new
more common, LEE Filters is showing its new Zircon BVM-X300 OLED reference monitor.
range, designed to offer quality, consistency and durability.
Conventional lighting filters struggle with fade times when
used in conjunction with LED lighting set-ups. LEE’s new
Who will win the Golden Frog?
Zircon filters circumvent this thanks to a new technology Films in the Main Competition...
that gives them an increased lifespan of up to 200 times
longer than standard lighting filters. There are three types 13 Minutes, dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel, dp. Judith Kaufmann
of filter in the range. Warm Amber helps to correct a variety The 33, dir. Patricia Riggen, dp. Checco Varese
of white tones, and comes in a range of four strengths. Brooklyn, dir. John Crowley, dp. Yves Belanger
Minus Green allows photographers and cinematographers Carol, dir. Todd Haynes, dp. Ed Lachman
to remove green colour casts of varying intensities, with I Saw the Light, dir. Marc Abraham, dp. Dante Spinotti
five options available. With three different strengths, the Mad Max: Fury Road, dir. George Miller, dp. John Seale
Diffusion filters act to blur pixels when placed in close The Midwife, dir. Antti J. Jokinen, dp. Rauno Ronkainen
proximity to the LED chip. Rams, dir. Grímur Hákonarson, dp. Sturla Brandth Grøvlen
The Red Spider, dir. Marcin Koszałka, dp. Marcin Koszałka
Leica: is sharing a stand with Codex, and hosting a Room, dir. Lenny Abrahamson, dp. Danny Cohen
seminar titled Moving Images With Leica Cine Lenses. The Sicario, dir. Denis Villeneuve, dp. Roger A. Deakins
seminar will explore the qualities and characteristics, both Son of Saul, dir. László Nemes, dp. Mátyás Erdély
visual and practical, that Leica cine lenses bring to modern Suffragette, dir. Sarah Gavron, dp. Eduard Grau
cinematography. The current landscape of digital capture Warsaw 44, dir. Jan Komasa, dp. Marian Prokop
compels directors of cinematography to find new tools of Wolf Totem, dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud, dp. Jean-Marie Dreujou
expression. The creamy sharpness
and natural colour of the Leica
Summilux-C and Summicron-C Wolf Totem, dir. Jean-
Jacques Annaud,
lenses provide powerful tools for cinematographer
creating compelling and moving Jean-Marie Dreujou
images. Their small and consistent
form further free the creative
options of imagemakers.
Panasonic: will showcase its
range of 4K cameras, including
the much-heralded VariCam
35 4K broadcast camera. The
 F-STOP AMSTERDAM / IBC 2015 Round-up / by Kevin Hilton
Vitec Group companies…
Paralinx Ace HDMI/
SDI wireless video
transmission system
Recent NAB and IBC trade shows have been dominated by 4K and Ultra
High Definition (UHD) and both technologies were fully in evidence at
this year’s IBC in Amsterdam during September.
T
he difference was that they were less of a new trend
and more something that is now becoming part of the
filmmaking and broadcast process, as well as a possible
step to future developments. Among these was also 8K,
which featured heavily among new shooting equipment,
but the real impetus appeared to be behind HDR, a technology that is
enhancing what is already here.
HDR (high dynamic range) imaging has been around in viable
form since the early 2000s, but only in the last few years has it begun
to appear on commercially available cinematography products. At IBC
2015 the technology looked to be bedding in along the production
chain, from cameras to finishing workstations to monitoring
displays. Sony covers both ends of the spectrum, but was
promoting the start point during the Amsterdam show with
its cinematography
systems.
Sony… went big on HDR
and new camcorders
38 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
The company is targeting what it calls “HDR production”
and its cameras have featured on several high profile productions
employing this, including the F55 on Amazon Original Series Mozart
in the Jungle and the F65 for Netflix’s Marco Polo. Claus Pfeifer,
strategic marketing manager for broadcast and cinematography
with Sony Professional Europe, commented that HDR gave a
“more immersive image with emotion in every frame”. In terms of
products Sony released v7.0 firmware for the F55 and showed two
recently introduced cameras: the FS5, a smaller version of the FS7,
designed for drones and gimbals but with a Super 35 sensor; and
the Alpha 7S MkII, which like the MkI, is intended to be a secondary
cinematography camera, particularly for low light and night shooting
as it has an ISO sensitivity range of 50-25,600.
Canon showcased its 4K “glass to glass” offering, again
running from the camera to the display. This was illustrated by the
combination of the EOS C300 MkII 4K video camcorder and the
DP-V2410 24-inch 4K reference monitor, which both made an IBC
debut after being launched earlier in the year. Also new was the
ME20F-SH full HD, small-scale camera for low light applications,
such as wildlife and deep sea photography. Curtis Clarke ASC, who
heads the ASC Technology Committee, was on hand to reprise the
HDR walk-through he presented for Canon during this year’s NAB.
Today’s digital cameras are delivering 4K and, in some
cases, 8K footage and many manufacturers are looking to HDR to
“maximise” the image quality. RED Digital Camera introduced its
HDRx in-camera HDR mode in 2011 and has been pushing the
resolution and quality of what its cameras produce ever since. At IBC
RED introduced the compact, lightweight Weapon, which contains
a 6K Dragon sensor that can upgrade to 8K. With typical REDness,
the company announced another new camera a week after IBC:
the Raven is claimed to be its lightest model and is aimed at indie
filmmaking, as well as drone and gimbal work. It features a 4K
Dragon sensor and, like the Weapon, also delivers HDR images.
Not to be left behind ARRI now has ProRes 3.2K for UHD,
with final display on HDR-equipped monitors and TV sets in mind.
During the show the company demonstrated the new range of
SkyPanel compact LED soft lights, the EB 12/18 HS and EB 6/9 HS
AutoScan ballasts for slow-motion filming to prevent flicker and new
features for the ECS (Electronic Control System), including a wireless
Blackmagic…
Cintel Film
Scanner Hero

Vitec Group
companies…
Teradek new
technologies
for live grading

Colorfront…
Transkoder
tackles HDR

remote that works with any camera or lens, not just ARRI’s. There was also the
news that ARRI Rental’s Alexa 65 now features an enhanced version of the XT
IFM-1 inch-camera ND filter, plus the option of the 50-110mm zoom 65 lens.
Dolby has responded to the shift towards HDR by professional companies
such as ARRI, Sony and RED by targeting its Dolby Vision mastering process at
the improved image process. Just before IBC the company announced that Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment would be using Dolby Vision to release 4K UHD
titles featuring HDR for “a wider range of contrast and more vibrant colours”.
Leading colour correction developers are also now offering HDR as part
of software and hardware packages. FilmLight is working with Dolby to provide
HDR mastering and grading on the Baselight grading workstation, incorporating
Dolby Vision and PQ colour space technology for post-production applications
demanding enhanced image quality. FilmLight also demonstrated its metadata-
based BLG (Baselight Linked Grade) application and Daylight on-set dailies and
transcoding program.
SGO’s Mistika system similarly features Dolby Vision from version 8.2
onwards. The company was also part of Canon’s “glass-to-glass” presentation,
providing the middle post and finishing section in between the camera and the
display. On its own stand SGO showed Mistika with several new tools, including
UniColour, which allows “seamless bi-directional transfers between many
different colour spaces”. In addition there was a taster of a new 3D Keyer.
The DaVinci Resolve grading system too is HDR capable and has been
demonstrated producing footage shot on cameras manufactured by its now
developer, Blackmagic Design. Among the company’s other highlights during IBC
were a B4 Mount for the URSA Mini and version 12 of Resolve, which features
temporal and spatial noise reduction, optical quality motion blur effects, support
for multiple GPUs, DCI 4K, 3D stereoscopic tools, multi-user collaboration and
remote rendering. There was also an IBC comeback with the first new Cintel
product since BMD bought the name and intellectual property of the former
telecine manufacturer. The Cintel-branded film scanner took 18 months to
develop, incorporates DaVinci Resolve and is designed to transfer 16mm and
35mm film for display and broadcast at UHD resolution.
Colorfront previewed the 2016 versions of its Transkoder and On-Set
Dailies systems, which include a multitude of innovations to meet industry
demand for faster, more flexible processing of the latest UHD HDR camera,
colour, editorial and deliverables formats, not just for digital cinema and high-end
episodic TV but also for OTT internet entertainment channels, such as Netflix
and Amazon Prime. An industry-first was the demonstration of Transkoder
2016 outputting concurrent, real-time 4K grades on both HDR and SDR UHD >>
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 39
 F-STOP AMSTERDAM / IBC 2015 Round-up / by Kevin Hilton

Blackmagic…
DaVinci Resolve

>> materials to dual Sony OLED BVM-X300 broadcast

monitors, allowing for concurrent display and HDR/SDR
from directors of photography. “People are looking to do
different things with Anamorphic and want a different look,”
which presented its GF-Slider System, together with the
Maxi Cranked Riser, GF-Tele Jib and the GF-Quad Dolly.
trimming and review. he said. The lens was due to begin shipping in October. The company was exhibiting alongside UK manufacturer
UHD and 4K in general is now a firm part of IBC, Howard added that Cooke is preparing an Anamorphic 35- A&C, which showed its Gizmo Prime digital two and three
particularly on the camera side. Panasonic upgraded 140 zoom for launch at NAB 2016. axis remote head, and Cine Moves with its gyro-stabilised,
the support its VariCam 35 production camera already The real demand in specific lenses for 4K has come four-axis gimbal the Oculus. Cmotion promoted its cfinder
offers for playback from the Codex V-RAW recorder. This from television and new models continue to appear now III distance measurement system, which operates on a two
includes a 20m extension cable that allows that UHD services are going laser configuration; a visible one for alignment and one
the recorder and the camera head to be on air. FujiFilm Corporation that is invisible for measuring.
used in different locations, particularly for was showing 2/3-inch Fujinon The Vitec Group covered several bases with its various
shooting in helicopters, cranes and cars. UHD lenses during the show, component companies. Anton Bauer had two new products,
There are also firmware changes, with with input from UK sports the Cine and L Series batteries, while Litepanels showed the
accommodation for ProRes 444 shooting production company Timeline, Astra LED kit, in addition to recently introduced Helio daylight
at up to 60 frames per second in HD, plus which is using the optics in the luminare. Paralinx is a new addition to the Vitec empire and for
PreREC, which starts the camera rolling 4K outside broadcast truck it this show introduced the lightweight Ace HDMI/SDI wireless
before the operator hits the record button, commissioned for BT Sport’s new video transmission system. Teradek has been in the fold for
something aimed at natural history UHD channel. The UA 80x9 BESM a little longer and demonstrated its latest technologies for
shoots. The VariCam additionally 4K and UA 22x8 BESM 4K UHD synchronising colour workflows, including live grading.
now accommodates lenses have been produced by Tiffen highlighted the Multi Rotating Tray and 138mm
Anamorphic lenses and adapting existing manufacturing Variable ND, which is claimed to combine three effects in
has the capacity to lower practices, with attention paid to a single unit: a rotating Tiffen 138mm circular polariser,
the ISO setting from the the configuration and positioning VND (Variable Neutral Density) functions and a warm to
second native dual ISO5000. Codex… workflow now of the lens elements, while higher cool FX fader. In between its 30th birthday celebrations
Codex itself introduced available on a range of resolution has been achieved through nano-level precision Transvideo launched the final product for its StarliteHD range
the Production Suite dailies and Mac platforms polishing of aspherical lens components. of on-camera monitors. The StarliteRF is a 5-inch OLED
archiving system fro Mac. This is Zeiss made major product announcements in four wireless monitor using the StarliteHD5 core technology,
designed for digital feature filmmaking, episodic TV and categories, covering mounts, zooms and auto-focus. The plus an integral wireless receiver. Also on display was a
commercials production and integrates with Apple Mac Milvus SLR range is aimed at ZE and special version of the StarLiteHD 5-inch OLED,
Pro and MacBook Pro, running Mac OS X in addition to ZF.2 mounts developed jointly by Transvideo and ARRI.
Codex’s S-Series and XL-Series hardware platforms. Codex for Canon and With all the high-level
Production Suite operates with both RAW and compressed Nikon DSLRs. Zeiss… new
technologies on display
camera formats and offers colour management and grading Comprising six Milvus family one could be forgiven for
tools. It is compliant with ACES colour pipelines as well as focal lengths of lenses overlooking
Codex Live. The new system works with Codex Capture these conform a longer
Drive Dock or Capture Drive 2.0 Dock to copy camera to HDR specs established
original negatives to hard drives, while ARRI Amira or Mini and resolve at but still
(ProRes) or Canon EOS C300 Mark II (XF-AVC) files can be 6K and above. vital
ingested through loading a Codex CFast 2.0 reader. The Loxia 2/35 tool in
JVC announced firmware updates for its range and 2/50 are filmmaking:
of 4KCAM camcorders; the GY-LS300, GY-HM200 and the first entries in timecode.
GY-HM170. The upgrade on the GY-LS300 Super 35mm a planned new line This has had
model is seen as particularly significant, with the addition of of manual focus lenses for E-mount full frame something of a resurgence recently thanks to the trend
a ‘JVC Log’ setting intended to duplicate a filmic look. Other applications; the Batis 2/25 and 1.8/85 were designed for for multiple camera shooting in both cinema and TV, what
features include Cinema 4K and Cinema 2k recording modes the same mounting but are full-frame auto-focus optics. with big set pieces for blockbusters and reality shows.
and a Prime Zoom feature. JVC is also announced a sales There was also a full family of Cine Zooms for small and Among the companies catering for this is was Timecode
agreement with Bradley Engineering. This gives the Japanese big sensors. Among these was the Compact Zoom CZ.2 Systems, which introduced its wireless technology in
manufacturer “access” to the Bradley product line, including pan/ 15-30/T2.9, which is the third lens added to the range. 2012 and is now seeing it being used with numerous
tilt cameras, controllers and other studio equipment. As part of Thales Angenieux launched the second in its digital cameras on the same shoot. Until next time…
the relationship Bradley demonstrated anamorphic range at last year’s IBC; the
its 4K PTZ remote camera 30-72mm
on JVC’s stand. model is now
When 4K first in production and Panasonic…
started to be a serious was on display at this Varicam 35
proposition there was talk show, as well as being on
of specific lenses for the the set of Star Trek Beyond,
format, although many lens the next in the franchise due
manufacturers, among them for release in 2016 and being shot
Cooke Optics, responded that Cooke… new by Stephen Windon ACS ASC.
65mm macro
their film opticals were more Anamorphic/ P+S Technik celebrated its 25th
than capable of catering for the higher resolution. New i prime lens birthday with a range of items,
for this IBC from Cooke was a 65mm macro Anamorphic including a 35-70 CS T3.2 anamorphic
lens, which the company’s chief executive, Robert Howard, zoom lens, an 18-35 T2 short, high-speed
described as “unique”. He explained that the new glass was zoom and the Skater Mini tabletop dolly. Other
“a bit of an experiment” but that there was demand for it hardware at the show came from Grip Factory,

40 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

 WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP
LOCK,
STOCK
& LENS
BARREL
Watch the birdie…
Martin Roach poses
for a portrait
I
ntrinsic: Dinedor Management, the below-the-line
agency based in Covent Garden, run by Rob Little
and Jarek Zapora, recently merged with Intrinsic, the
production agency, based in Los Angeles. Dinedor
was founded 14 years ago and represents more than 70
clients who, over the years, have been nominated for
eight BAFTAs, two IFTAs, an RTS Award, an Emmy and an
Oscar. Little and Zapora are now partners in Intrinsic and
co-run day-to-day operations of the London office.
Peter Field operated second unit on the fifth
Bourne and Stephen Murphy is lighting Shed Of The
Dead. Rasmus Arridlt DFF has been lighting New Blood
for Eleventh Hour. Craig Feather is on I Want My Wife
Back for Mainstreet. Ruairi O’Brien ISC shot his second
block of The Musketeers in Prague, and is prepping The A
Word for Tiger Aspect. Chris Preston is back on daytime
drama Doctors for the BBC and has graded Midsommer
Murders for Bentley. Karina Kleszczewska PSC is lighting
The Artist for Roughcut. Gareth Hughes operated on Mr.
Selfridge for ITV Studios and The Living And
Stephen
Cunning stunts… during a McDonalds ad
an unusual shot
42 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
The Dead for Monastic. James Mather lit more second
unit on Vikings. Nic Lawson is second unit operator
on Aliens. Andrew Johnson lit more blocks of Casualty
and Holby City. Jorge Luengas is operating and lighting
second unit on Fox’s The Bastard Executioner. Andy Clark
wrapped on a block of Doctors in Birmingham then moved
on to River City in Glasgow, and Martin Ahlgren has
reached halfway point on Netflix’s Daredevil. Ciro Candia,
Chris O’Driscoll, Ben Filby, Dave Miller, Ed Lindsley,
Gabi Norland, James Watson, Lynda Hall, Martin
Roach, Martyna Knitter, Pau Castejon, Ruairi O’Brien,
Sam Brown and Scott Sandford variously delivered
commercials, corporate films and music promos.
Screen Talent: Bart Sienkiewicz shot commercials
for Yellow Tail wines and Circle Hospital as well as various
music videos. Catherine Derry has just shot commercials
for Avon Cosmetics, The Cambridge Press and Amnesty.
Casarotto Marsh: Sean Bobbitt BSC is grading
Queen Of Katwe for director Mira Nair. Zac Nicholson
has wrapped Brian Welsh’s
Hurricane for Zeppotron. PJ
s up
Dillon is on season six of Game
Mu rphy eye
Of Thrones for HBO. Rainier
Klaussmann SCS is shooting
Tschick with director Faith
Akin. Lukas Strebel is working
with director Urs Egger on
Gotthard. Pau Esteve Birba
graded Project Lazarus and is
now on Orbita with director
Hatem Kraiche. James
Aspinall BSC is shooting The
Durrells with Roger Goldby
for Sid Gentle Films. Matt
Gray BSC has wrapped The
Living And The Dead for BBC
and is preparing Apple Tree
Yard for Kudos with director
Jess Hobbs. Helene
Louvart recently wrapped
Framing Mom in Norway.
Wojciech Szepel is on series two of Fortitude with
director Hettie MacDonald. Sam Care is with director
Christopher Menaul on Another Mother’s Son. Julian
Court is also shooting a block of The Durrells. Tim Palmer
BSC has wrapped on series two of Indian Summers with
director Paul Wilmshurst.
Berlin Associates: Owen McPolin is lensing
Vikings for MGM TV/History Channel and recently won a
BAFTA Cymru award for his work on Da Vinci’s Demons.
Suzie Lavelle has wrapped the Dr Who Christmas episode
and is on The Living Dead with director Alice Troughton.
Toby Moore is shooting the final block of Call The
Midwife. Andy Hollis is lighting Midsomer Murders with
director Renny Rye. Oliver Downey has started on Scott
& Bailey for Red Prods with director Alex Kalymnios. Mark
Garrett just finished second unit on The Lost City Of Z
in Belfast. Len Gowing worked on Call The Midwife with
director Lisa Clarke. Sarah Bartles-Smith shot Two Doors
Down in Scotland for BBC with director Simon Hynd. Phil
Wood shot a destination film in Sri Lanka for Thomson
Holidays with Chrome Prods. Annemarie Lean-Vercoe is
shooting a comedy pilot with director Jacquie Wright.
Independent Talent: Stephan Pehrsson has joined
the agency and is shooting Peter Moffat’s political thriller
Undercover for the BBC. Chas Bain has started Let This Be
Our Secret, a 3 x 1-hour thriller for Hat Trick/ITV starring
James Nesbitt, shot on location in Northern Ireland,
directed by Nick Murphy. Darran Bragg did a commercial
for Crabbies and has graded Anomalia in Switzerland.
Bjorn Bratberg is in South Wales shooting crime series
35 Days for S4C with director Lee Haven Jones. Oliver
Curtis BSC has been shooting commercials. Ben Davis
BSC is shooting Marvel’s Dr Strange for director Scott
Derrickson, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Benoit
Delhomme AFC shot a Chanel spot with Mario Testino,
Campari in NYC with Michelanghelo Di Battista, and a
Tom Ford fashion film, directed by Nick Knight, starring
Lady Gaga. Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC ASC has
graded Oliver Stone’s Snowden. Ian Foster lit an Audi spot
with director Ali Gerits, a Ford ad with Cadmo Quintero
and a commercial for Boursin with Markus Walter. Sam
 ska
Kleszczew as
u… Karina low
To me, to yo e action sorted be akes
PSC gets th r Anna Bogacz (r) m rtist
focus pulle sharp shot on The A
sure of a

In his veins… Rasmus

Arridlt DFF casts a
determined look whilst
shooting New Blood

Ready, steady... Chris O’Driscoll (r)

wields the camera whilst second AC
Alex Kirkwood watches the action

Goldie shot an ad for Liptons with Another Film Co.’s been with Toby Tremlett in Istanbul, with Ivan Grbovic on King Arthur for Warner Bros and Guy Ritchie. Ben
Lucy Blakstad in Lisbon, a Firetrap spot with John Yorke, for La Poste with Wanda, and with Joe Roman on a Smithard BSC has finished in India with Gurinder Chadha
Optus with Sam Washington, starring Ricky Gervais, Suave commercial in Barcelona. Ed Wild BSC shot for shooting Viceroy’s House. Mark Waters is grading his
and lit for Declan Lowney on P&O. Jess Hall BSC is Cailler Chocolate with Agile’s PIP, Skoda with Rogue’s episodes of upcoming Sky original series Agatha Raisin that
prepping Ghost In The Shell directed by Rupert Sanders, Mark Jenkinson, Travel Republic with Osacar Cariss he lit for director Roberto Bangura.
starring Scarlett Johansson. Darius Khondji AFC ASC from The Annex and Castrol with American director Sara Putt Associates: Si Bell is shooting the third
is shooting James Gray’s The Lost City Of Z. Seamus Ben Conrad. Balazs Bolygo is lighting Love Nina with block of Ripper Street in Ireland. Giulio Biccari is confirmed
McGarvey BSC ASC is shooting Tom Ford’s Nocturnal longtime collaborator SJ Clarkson. on Hooten And The Lady for Red Planet Productions,
Animals. Carl Nilsson shot with Johnny Hardstaff for Ulf Brantus lit Scandinavian crime drama Nobel shooting in South Africa. Peter Edwards shot the second
Hovis at Academy, Lexus with Patrick Murphy, Cillit Bang and will be grading his work shortly. Eigil Bryld has series of Still Open All Hours starring David Jason. Simon
with Michael Gracey and for TUI with Simon Langefoed. completed lighting on Barry Levinson’s TV movie Wizard Hawken lit commercials for Chief, WCRS and VCCP. Paul
Roman Osin BSC shot The Kaiser’s Last Kiss directed Of Lies in New York. Simon Dennis is well into the shoot Lang was in Zurich completing a Lockerbie film for BBC. >>
by David Leveaux. Mark Patten has been shooting on the feature The
commercials since finishing on Luke Scott’s debut feature Limehouse Golem with
Morgan, and is now prepping Taboo, an 8 x 1-hour series, Juan Carlos Medina.
directed by Kristoffer Nyholm (The Killing), starring Tom Adam Etherington Strike a po
se…
Hardy, about a rogue adventurer who returns from Africa is working alongside at Milan Fa Ed Lindsley
lensing Car shion Week
with ill-gotten diamonds to seek vengeance after the director Will a Delevingn
e
death of his father. McGregor on One
Dick Pope BSC has conducted cinematography Of Us for BBC One.
masterclasses at the Zurich Film Festival and in Oslo. Cinders Forshaw
George Richmond BSC is grading Dexter’s Fletcher’s is lighting the
Eddie The Eagle. Christopher Ross BSC has finished opening episodes
shooting The Sense Of An Ending for The Lunchbox director Poldark, series
Ritesh Batra. Ashley Rowe BSC is shooting the second two, in Bristol and Keeping
things closely
season of Galavant for ABC. Martin Ruhe is shooting Cornwall. John monitored…
American Pastoral in the US, with Ewan McGregor directing Mathieson BSC Si Bell on
and starring. Erik Sohlstrom shot a has completed Ripper Street
short film featured at the Telluride Film
Festival, Hot Nasty Teen, directed by
Jens Assur – a depiction of unseen
Sweden, as an encounter between an Let me just
po
older man and a hopeless teen propels this out to int
Simon Arch you…
us into a murky underworld. Dan shooting Th
er BSC
irt
Trapp shot an Autotrader spot with Photo courte een.
Jackie Oudney at The Gate Films, Sophie Mut sy of
evelian
Vodafone with Bare director Steve Photograph liver
y. tience… O
Green, before heading off to Berlin to Model of pa(r) with director
shoot with Steve Green on a spot for Curtis BSC idt on location
hm
Patricio Sc ico for Palmolive
Sparkasse Bank. David Ungaro has in Mex

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 43

 WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP

On track… Tim Palmer (l) and grip

Stephen Knipe on the set of series
two of Indian Summers in Malaysia

>> Dave Marsh is on Road Trip for Sky Arts – the story of a
trip across America with Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando
and Elizabeth Taylor. Ed Moore did a commercial for
Bay Media in Spain and is prepping on the new series
of Red Dwarf. Andrei Austin ACO continues on series
two of Outlander for Left Bank Pictures/Starz. Jonathan
Beacham ACO was in Botswana on A United Kingdom for
Pathé Pictures, and director Amma Asante. Daniel Bishop
ACO has prepped The Limehouse Golem for Number 9
Films. Joe Bullen GBCT ACO did dailies dailies on The
Durrells in Corfu. New Steadicam operator Ilana Garrard
did dailies on Vera. Rodrigo Gutierrez ACO Associate
BSC is doing dailies on The Crown. James Leigh has
wrapped on Doc Martin. Julian Morson ACO Associate
BSC GBCT continues on War Machine with DP Dariusz
Wolkski, and will then start Dr Strange for Marvel. Vince
McGahon ACO is B-camera/Steadicam operator on
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them for DP Phillipe
Rousselot. Al Rae ACO Associate BSC worked on Time
Out Of Mind. Fabrizio Sciarra SOC ACO completed a
stint of Beowulf with DP James Friend, before starting
on Secret Agent for World Productions. Dale Rodkin
is on Kings And Prophets in South Africa. Phil Sindall
ACO did dailies on New Blood. Des Whelan ACO is on
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. Peter Wignall
lit a commercial for Currys’ Christmas campaign for
O Positive, and is storyboarding for Kingsman 2. Rick
Woollard worked on Asda’s Christmas
commercial for Moxi, and a House of
Fraser commercial for Pretty Bird.
Ed Clark has been doing dailies
on series two of Poldark.
United Agents: Barry
Ackroyd BSC is shooting the
next Bourne film with Paul
Greengrass at the helm.
Andrew Dunn BSC is
lighting Bridget Jones’s Baby, directed by Sharon Maguire.
Brendan Galvin is in the US on Westworld, directed by
Jonah Nolan. John Lee is prepping the new television
series Queen Victoria for Mammoth Screen with director
Tom Vaughan. Nic Morris BSC shot a block of Beowulf
with director Cilla Ware. Gavin Struthers is on the last leg
of Marco Polo in Malaysia, before returning to South Africa
for the new series of Black Sails. David Luther is shooting
a block of Musketeers in Prague. Tony Slater Ling BSC
is lensing the feature Access All Areas, directed by Bryn
Higgins. Haris Zambarloukos BSC is attached to Denial, to
be directed by Mick Jackson. Alan Almond BSC is grading
Dickensian for the BBC and Danny Cohen BSC is grading
Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins.
Martin Fuhrer BSC is grading the first block of
Jericho, directed by Paul Whittington for ITV, and David
Higgs BSC is lighting Aliens for Jonathan van Tulleken/
Clerkenwell Films. Ian Moss recently concluded on The
Frankenstein Chronicles, directed by Ben Ross for ITV/
Netflix. Tony Miller BSC
did pick-ups for Peter
Pan, directed by Diarmuid
Lawrence, and Kieran
McGuigan BSC is shooting
series two of Grantchester.
Laurie Rose is shooting series
three of Peaky Blinders and
Simon Tindall is shooting a
20th Century Fox feature,
as A-camera operator.
Charlotte Bruus
Christensen is in the
US on The Girl On The
Train for Dreamworks
until February Out and about… Ed rcial
on an Engie comme erson
2016. Sara Deane with director Zak
Em
is lighting 2 Hours
in London. James Friend BSC is on Marek Losey’s block
of Beowulf and will light a block of The Musketeers for
Udayan Prasad. Neus Olle did a Green Flag spot for
directors Jones’ through Outsider. David Raedeker is
lighting Tutankhamun in South Africa for director Peter
Webber. Ed Rutherford is lighting single drama Reg Keys
for director David Blair and the BBC. Anna Valdez Hanks
lit Lucky Man for director David Caffrey. Ben Wheeler
is finishing comedy drama Crashing for director George
Kane and will shoot series one of Mum for Big Talk and
director Richard Laxton, starring Peter Mullan and Lesley
Manville. Magni Agustsson lit commercials including
Nationwide with James Strong via Dark Energy, HSBC
for Siri Bunford through Knucklehead, and Nike with Tom
Darracott and Carl Burgess at More & More.
Alex Barber lensed a Morrisons’ Christmas
campaign for Stuart Douglas London and Northern
England for Nice Shirt Films. John Barr has wrapped
on the feature
Viral in the US
directed by Tim
Shechmeister.
Philipp Blaubach
is shooting TV
drama Houdini
& Doyle in
London, directed
by Stephen
Hopkins. >>
u Grau

Marine boy…
Anthony Dod
Mantle on In
The Heart Of
The Sea

>>
Triangulation point…
Mark Milsome with
focus puller Julia Green
up a ladder on Poldark
44 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
 WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP

Snooker loopy… the Rack Pack crew: (l-r) Andy

Bailey (gaffer), Katie Ruffy (B-camera/2nd AC),
Peter Robertson ACO (B-camera Operator/
Steadicam op). Alan Hall (B-camera/1st
AC), Max MacGechan (trainee), Ben
Brown (A-camera/1st AC), Alex Finlayson
(A-camera/2nd AC) and Zac Nicholson DP.

>> John De Borman BSC recently shot the new Bond BSC have been shooting commercials. Denis Crossan drama, Murdered By My Father, with Bruce Goodison
007 SPECTRE titles for Danny Kleinman in London for is shooting Kurt Sutter’s new FX series The Bastard directing. Robin Whenary shot the drama Making Dad’s
Rattling Stick. Daniel Bronks’ recent shoots include Executioner in Wales, with Paris Barclay directing. Gavin Army with director Steve Bendelack and is prepping the
Gillette for director Clay Weiner in Barcelona voa Biscuit, Finney BSC has started shooting The Secret Agent, for feature The Ghost Writer with Paul Wilkins at the helm.
Preen Fashion Show for Prettybird during London World Productions with Charles McDougall directing. PrinceStone: of the agency’s DPs… Laura
Fashion Week and BT for Nicholas Jasenovec through Jean Philippe Gossart is on the second unit on Warner Bellingham shot campaigns for Max Factor, Hugo Boss,
Caviar. Simon Chaudoir was in Portugal shooting a Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts And Where Lacoste and Victoria Beckham, and is
Garnier commercial for directors Santiago & Mauricio To Find Them, with second unit in pre-production for
Gyro..
through Cadence, and in Mexico shooting a First Choice director Stephen Woolfenden Vincent Warin microwave-funded
campaign For Director Jonathan Herman At Blink. and David Yates at the helm. on location thriller Kill Her Witch.
Stephen Keith-Roach’s Commercials Include Harvey Sam McCurdy BSC is prepping Gary Clarke is lensing
Nichols and Specsavers both for Tim Bullock through Amma Asante’s Barbarians Rising,
Blink, XFM for directors The Bobbsey Twins again an eight-part drama
for Blink, and an OTE campaign documentary for
for director Sam Miller at October Films/History
Mustard/Topcut Productions. Channel with Simon
Tim Maurice-Jones BSC has George and Declan
Up the creek…
graded Bastille Day for James Mel Griffith on O’Dwyer directing.
Watkins and shot a Bet Victor a boat along Gerry Vasbenter
campaign for Traktor in Mallorca. the Amazon enjoyed the premiere
Alex Melman was in Morocco of Taking Stock at the
shooting a Playtex spot for Raindance Film Festival.
Laurence Dunmore through Gang This quirky and uplifting
Films in Paris. Jake Polonsky BSC crime comedy by Swipe
is shooting US project Billions. Films is directed by
Tat Radcliffe shot commercials Maeve Murphy and addresses
for Che Banca with Giuseppe the issue of redundancy in
Capotondi in Milan post financial-crisis London,
through Mecurio, as 30-year old jobbing actress
and Centre Parks All smiles… takes matters into her own
Ciro Candi a happy
for Ben Liam Jones a on a shoo hands when she is made
t
at Mustard. Simon ting
Reid shoo s redundant and faced with
e… Aaron ne
Richards shot a The voic deo for Sir Tom Jo a mountain of bills to pay.
a mus ic vi
Slack commercial Simon Walton is shooting
for Smith & Living A Lie for S4C, an eight-
Foulkes through part political drama directed by Eryl Philips, using
Nexus, and a feature RED Dragon with Arri Ultra Primes and Alura zooms.
Tuc spot for A United Kingdom Of PrinceStone’s camera/Steadicam operators… Peter
Henry Littlechild in London and Robertson Assoc BSC ACO has finished shooting Dallas
at Outsider in Botswana for Pathé. With Balls in Swansea with DP Zac Nicholson about iconic
Lithuania. Peter Andy McDonnell snooker player Alex “Hurricane’ Higgins, and is now on
Suschitzky continues on war drama The Yellow Birds in Morocco, about a bond
lensed a Very. Dickensian for Red between two young soldiers sent to fight in Iraq, with DP
com ad for Planet Pictures Dan Landin. Sean Savage Assoc BSC ACO is in Belfast
Vesa Manninen with Mark Brozel shooting season six of Game Of Thrones, using Alexa with
through directing. John Pardue Cooke Primes and Angenieux zooms.
Outsider. completed principle Simon Baker ACO is shooting the feature Their
Joost Van Gelder is shooting a photography on Agatha Finest Hour And A Half with director Lone Scherfig and
Delta commercial for director Adam Berg, in various Christie’s And Then cinematographer Sebastian Blenkov, in Wales. The film,
countries for Smuggler. Marcel Zyskind’s commercials There Were None, with about a British film crew shooting morale boosting film
include a campaign for Lexus with Adam Berg in Monaco director Craig Viveiros, for Mammoth Screen. Chris after the Blitzkrieg is for BBC Films, Number 9 Films and
and Durex for Wilfred Brimo in Bulgaria through Wanda. Seager BSC is shooting BBC political thriller, Undercover, Wildgaze Films and stars Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin
McKinney Macartney Management: Stuart with director James Hawes in London and Baton Rouge. and Bill Nighy. Thomas English worked on commercials
Biddlecombe has completed principle photography on Mike Spragg continues on FX series, The Bastard for KFC, Betfair, British Heart Foundation and Breast
Doctor Who on location in Wales, with director Rachel Executioner, with director Paris Barclay, in Wales. Felix Cancer awareness, as well as an Anamorphic spectacular
Talalay. Ben Butler, Sebastian Milaszewski, Arthur Wiedemann completed principle photography on the for Emmerdale. James Layton ACO shot the final series
Mulhern, Alessandra Scherillo and Clive Tickner feature Stratton, with Simon West and is prepping BBC of Downton Abbey and is now operating alongside Danish >>
46 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
 WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP
As-u-like-it…
Eben Bolter
squints though
the eyepice on
Mum’s List
Travelling
lig
Simon Row ht….
landmark les on a
BBC2 show
>> cinematographer Rasmus Arrildt DFF on new
investigative series created by Anthony Horowitz entitled
New Blood, directed by Anthony Phillipson for Eleventh
Hour Films. Joe Russell is on the set of Victoria a drama
from Mammoth Screen shooting on location in the North
of England. Tom Vaughan is directing Jenna Coleman,
who is playing the role of the young Queen Victoria,
and the DP is John Lee. Xandy Sahla is in the Czech
Republic shooting series three BBC’s The Musketeers.
Cosmo Campbell worked on Stratton, an action thriller
directed by Simon West, starring Dominic Cooper and
Gemma Chan, in Rome, Southern Italy and the UK. He
is now filming additional material for series six of Game
Of Thrones in Almeria in Spain. Meanwhile… camera
operator Mark Milsome ACO has finished shooting
the final series of Downton Abbey and is doing dailies in
Cornwall on Poldark. This new series is directed by Will
Sinclair and Charles Palmer while Cinders Forshaw BSC
and Sergio Delgado are the cinematographers. They
shooting on ARRI Alexa Plus with Cooke S4 lenses.
MyManagement: Nicolaj Bruel was in Spain
with director Martin Werner on Coke and in Ireland for
Cambria with Alexei Tylevich. Simon Rowles is DP on a
landmark, but untitled, documentary series for BBC2,
shooting around the Mediterranean, directed by Southan
Morris of Storyvault Films, and shooting on the ARRI
Amira in 2K using Zeiss Super Speed primes, Canon
CN7 and the TLS Morpheus Lens. Richard Stewart shot
in Glasgow and New York for Ballantine’s with director
Will Williamson and Archers Mark. He also shot a video
for Jess Glynne with Declan Whitebloom at Blackdog.
Dominic Bartels lit spots for Nexxus with Spring Studios,
ads for Eriksson and also shot a music video for Midnight
Madness with director Daps. Aaron Reid collaborated
48 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Line-up… DP Felix Wiedemann on
the set of Stratton along side B-cam
operator Cosmo Campbell and
C-cam operator Emiliano Leurini
& Nic on Celebrations’ Hoy Hoy and Chemical
Brothers. Tuomo Virtanen shot in Prague
with Gang Films and director Rhett Wade-
Ferrell on an AXA commercial. Roger Bonnici
… did dailies on series two of The Royals. Will
Dappled lightra
Alessand Humphris’ short film alongside director Sybil
t
Scherillo go H. Mair scooped up Best Cinematography
a
to illuminate at The Equus International Film Festival.
st
great big fore r
in Turkey fo He has also been shooting with director
Flo shoes Russell Tickner on Capco, with Spindle
Productions and Greg Hackett, and with
director Lisle Turner for an Earthquake
charity shoot in Nepal. Gerry Floyd has
wrapped on the feature Into Darkness with
directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney. Jallo Faber
FSF shot campaigns for Travel Supermarket in Barcelona
with Sally Sibbet at Caviar on a WSTRN job and lensed and Money Supermarket in Budapest with director
spots for Cadburys and Bet Cypher. He has also shot Andreas Nillson and Biscuit Filmworks, and was in Prague
music videos for Sir Tom Jones, through JJ Stereo with with Rane Tiukkanen. Vincent Warin has been in Sydney
director James Larkin, Meridian Dan, through Mastermind and Bangkok with Partizan director Michael Geoghegan
Media, Beth Sherburn with Carly Cussen, and Jasmin on Patek watches. Andy Horner lit an Oykos Yoghurt
Thomson with Jak O’Hare. spot with Howard Greenhalgh and did some teaching
Olivier Cariou was in Lithuania with director Ross at a workshop at the EFTI film school in Madrid. Simon
Cooper at Friend London on The Hive, Visual Artists Archer BSC is shooting Thirteen, a BBC 3/Grafton House
on the Making of for Audi, with Benedict Redgrove, Production with director China Moo Young. Tim Spence
Bonkers director Michael Wong on a Unox commercial lensed spots including Nicorette and John Lewis. Ekkehart
in Amsterdam and with Armada films on a CSOB Bank Pollack shot AMG in Italy and Spain with Tibor Klage
commercial in Prague with director Tomas Rehovek. Sy and Café Royal in Croatia with Marc Scholermann. Mel
Turnbull won Best Cinematography at the Ibiza Music Griffith and director Bastian Kuhn, alongside production
Video Festival for his powerful imagery on the music company/agency Faust Berlin, have produced a cinema-
video Preacherman by Melody Gardot. Robbie Ryan BSC only commercial to promote Frankfurt Motor Show
is shooting with Ken Loach on the feature film I Am Daniel IAA 2015. Shot on the RED Epic over three days in the
Blake in Newcastle through Sixteen Films. Paul Mackay Amazon Jungle of Peru. Lester De Havilland, Marcelo
has been busy shooting Idents for ITV with director James Durst, David Lanzenberg, Dennis Madden, Petra Korner,
Adamson and Alex Mathison, and shot spots for Louis John Perez, Jo Willems ASC SBC, Anders Flatland
Vuitton and Savills as well a music video for artist Norma FNF, Tomas Tomasson, and Pedro Castro have all been
Jean. Steve Chivers has been with Outsider directors Dom working on personal projects.
Summertime… Catherine Derry in sunny Wicklow,
Ireland, on an Amnesty International spot about
Ireland’s abortion laws. Graham Linehan (IT Crowd)
wrote it and Jamie Thraves (with hat) directed it.
Neil Edson produced for production company Kode
WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP
Slideshow...
John Pardue
on the set of
And Then There
Were None
Wizzo FEATURES: welcomes Sverre Sørdal to
its roster. Originally from Norway, he graduated with an
MA in cinematography from the NFTS in 2014, and his
graduation film was the stunning car rally story Group B,
which is nominated for the student Oscar. Whilst at the
NFTS he also shot the BIFA and BAFTA-nominated short
film Slap with the same director, Nick Rowland, starring
Joe Cole, which also won Best Short at the Edinburgh
International Film Festival (2014). Tim Sidell prepping
on the feature Modern Life Is Rubbish for director Daniel
Jerome Gill in London. Matthias Pilz is prepping the
feature The Miner, directed by Hanna Slak. The film shoots
in Slovenia and is based on the true story of a Bosnian
miner who uncovers a tomb of 4,000 victims of war
from the Srebrenica genocide of 1995. Erik Wilson has
started shooting the feature American Animals, directed
by Bart Layton produced through Film 4, and will also be
shooting Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s next film project
for Sky Arts. Eben Bolter is shooting the feature Mum’s
List for director Niall Johnson, starring Rafe Spall and
Emilia Fox, based on the best-selling non fiction novel
by St John Greene. Sergio Delgado is shooting Poldark,
with director Charles Palmer. Dan Stafford-Clark is on
the feature The Library Suicides with director Euros Lyn
for Ffilm Cymru/ BFI/ BBC Films/
S4C. Dale McCready is lensing A Midsummer Night’s
Dream through the BBC with director David Kerr. Nick
Dance BSC is shooting BBC Comedy’s Professor
Branestawm with director Sandy Johnson, starring Harry
Hill as the professor. Baz Irvine is continuing on the
footballing feature documentary Bobby Moore with
director Ron Scalpello. Gary Shaw has wrapped on
Tommy’s Honour, a story of the founders of the modern
game of golf directed by Jason Connery and starring
Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden. Angus Hudson BSC
has wrapped on the feature The Hippopotamus, based
on the book by Stephen Fry, directed by John Jencks
and starring Roger Allam and Fiona Shaw. David Rom
worked on the first three blocks of BBC drama Thirteen
directed by Vanessa Caswill, about a young woman
who escapes from a cellar after 13 years and is reunited
Up up and aw
ay…
Fabrizio Sciar
SOC ACO tak ra
awesome ride es an
du
his stint on Be ring
owulf
with her family. Jan Richter-
Friis DFF is shooting the new season of Sleepy Hollow
in Atlanta, through NBC. Jamie Cairney is lighting
an episode of detective drama Vera, directed by Paul
Gay. Maja Zamojda continues on ITV’s eight-part period
drama Jericho, starring Jessica Raine, with director David
Moore. Duncan Telford is shooting the second series of
comedy Hoff The Record starring infamous Baywatch star
David Hasselhoff. Antonio Paladino has wrapped on the
short film Dreamland, directed by Sara Dunlop, shot on
location in Margate. Jaime Feliu-Torres shot the short film
Litterbugs, directed by Peter Stanley Ward. And finally...
Mattias Nyberg’s comedy feature Superbob, directed by
Jon Drever and starring Brett Goldstein and Catherine
Tate, went on general release in the UK recently.
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 49
 MEET THE NEW WAVE / Maja Zamojda / CINEMATOGRAPHER
Lens baby
Filmography (so far):
Jericho (2015), Tripped (2015), Not Safe For Work
(2015), Jet Trash (2015), The Village (2014),
Fresh Meat (2013), Skins (2013) and Dates (2013).
When did you discover you wanted to be a
cinematographer?
When I was 17, I got a small camera. I would carry it
with me and film short moments that I found visually
intriguing. I liked the mysterious nights and exposed
days. I’d cut montages with music. They didn’t have
any logical structure. They were short experiments: my
dialogue with aesthetics, concepts and interpretations.
Where did you train?
At the National Film & Television School. It was a two-
year course. It opened a lot of doors and I loved every
minute spent in Beaconsfield.
What’s the best advice you were ever given?
“The day you’re fully happy with your work, is the last
day of your career.” This makes sense: as long as you
continue to learn, you will feel like you’re growing.
What’s the worst knock-back/rejection you ever had?
Sometimes you read a script and completely fall in love
with the story, but then they choose a different DP. It’s
difficult to visualise a project and then realise you’re
not going to shoot it.
What have been your best & worst moments on set?
Best moment. I guess is when you arrive on-set in the
morning and while eating your breakfast, you feel like
you’re in the right place on the right project. You’re
working with creative people, on an ambitious script,
surrounded by supportive crew. You’re all enjoying the
shoot and you know that the film will be brilliant. The
shoot is demanding but the rushes are magical. What
else could you ask for?
Worst moment. There is not enough budget or
time to facilitate your ideas. People are stressing and
blaming each other. Hardly anybody enjoys their time
on -et and people neurotically check their phones,
counting hours to wrap. Oh… and it’s rainy January and
you’re stuck in a windy field.
What was the biggest challenge on your latest production?
We’re currently building a cave/mine set on ITV series
Jericho. I’m researching how to light it. It’s 1874, so oil
lamps would be our prime sources of light. Our studio
has very low ceiling, so there isn’t much space to rig
above it. Part of it is a tunnel and so it’s pretty difficult
to justify light underground. I’m still thinking about it!
Tell us your most hilarious faux pas?
When I was a runner I asked the DP, “What’s that?”,
pointing at a bizarre lens that he had just taken out of a
small black box. “It’s a Lens Baby,” he said. “Don’t call me
‘baby’”, I answered. Oh yes, they found that very funny!
50 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Away from work, what are your greatest passions?
I’m into alternative medicine, herbology and organic
everything. I also love doodling, love music and I
always dream of coming up with a fun start-up idea.
What one piece of kit could you not live without?
Sadly, that would be my phone. I keep my notes on it,
references, photos and I can always call a friend when
I need some advice. 
Which films are you most proud of to date?
The answer is and hopefully always will be, “my most
recent project”. I like learning and I like a challenge.
What’s weirdest place you’ve ever shot in?
It was the weirdest and most inspiring place - India. I
loved it. It’s just magical.
What’s the hardest shot/thing you’ve had to light/frame?
I shot a stop-motion puppet film, and it took us several
months to complete this eight-minute project. We had
to glue all the stands, props and tripods. It required a lot
of precision. It was hard, but very rewarding.  I like improvising, especially when there is a basic
Tell us your hidden talent/party trick?
Dancing, I definitely love dancing.
On-set… Maja
is pictured with
director Robert
McKillop whilst
shooting Jericho
In the entire history of filmmaking, which film would
you love to have shot?
There Will Be Blood (2008, dir: Paul Thomas Anderson,
DP Robert Elswit ASC)
What are your current top albums?
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx’s We’re New Here; 80’s
electronic, synthpop, electro.
Can you tell us your greatest extravagance?
I often have seconds for breakfast and lunch, and why
not two desserts?
What’s the best thing about being a DP?
Creating parallel universes and alternative realities.
What’s the worst thing about being a DP?
The time away from your close friends, family – away
from your life in general. Travelling can be inspiring, but
everyone needs time to bring their souvenirs back home.
Describe your approach to cinematography?
plan, and you can allow yourself to be spontaneous. If
something happens by chance, there is a good possibility
it might be exactly what you were looking for. I try to
change styles on every project I shoot. I try to start
from scratch and come up with new aesthetic grammar.
That’s probably my favourite time on a project.
If you weren’t a DP, what job would you be doing now?
An illustrator or a chef.
What are your aspirations for the future?
I’d like to challenge myself and shoot in styles I
haven’t tried before. I’d like to find projects that are
more and more demanding. I’d like to find scripts that
mean a lot to me personally and that I believe will
make a strong impact on the audience.
 POST-IT NOTES / i-dailies
Frame
of mind
Nigel Horn, founder and general
operations manager, of i-dailies,
says the inherent beauty of
film and the desire for creative
choice, are keeping celluloid
origination alive and kicking.
W
ell, I guess, as the saying goes: ‘It’s never
over till it’s over’. Around ten years ago
the laboratory world felt the first really
serious chill winds of digital origination
begin to bite. Around five years ago the noise (no
pun intended) from the digital side of the fence was
deafening, telling us all that the future would be totally
digital, as it was better, cheaper, easier, etc., etc., and the
generally accepted view was that film was on a one-way
ticket to oblivion within a pretty finite time-frame.
In April 2013, when Fujifilm announced it was
stopping manufacturing stocks, Kodak hit financial
trouble going into Chapter 11, and Deluxe and
Technicolor both closed their processing laboratories
globally, you had to have a lot of faith in miracles to
believe that there could be any possible future for
motion picture film origination.
Fast forward to October 2015 and, against all the
odds, it does seems that miracles can in fact happen.
In the case of film, it’s not that something better
per se came along, but just that something totally
different became available with (as in all things) some
pros and some cons.
However, it is generally initially easy to sell
new technology as being inherently ‘better’ than old
technology and there can also, of course, often be a
logical assumption to this being the case. Film therefore
suffered as an automatic result of this ‘new vs. old’
scenario. The film lobby made attempts to put the case
for film origination. The Image Forum, valiantly organised
by Judith Petty at ARRI and supported by camera rental
houses, stock manufactures and the labs, plus the BSC’s
camera equivalency tests, made when Sue Gibson was
BSC president, were extremely worthwhile exercises.
But the wave of momentum at that time (RED did not
partake directly in these tests, but was causing great
interest) was becoming overwhelming and the film lobby
appeared often to be on the back foot, with confidence
in the unique strengths of its own medium ebbing away
as a result. We were losing momentum and our efforts
became gradually more dissipated as we increasingly
concentrated on just trying to hang on to the fast
disappearing coat-tails of the film-originated projects that
there were.
However, stating the obvious, the joy of film is
that it tells a story in a different way to digital origination
– not better, not worse, just differently – and the
creative choice of format to suit any particular project is
something that is joyously alive and kicking in 2015.
Over these years there has been time for the
industry to come to its own informed conclusions on
52 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
the “Film vs. Digital” debate, and it appears that creative Also, it is essential that the labs be allowed to scan
choice is increasingly becoming the deciding factor. (at 2K/4K) the negative that they process in order to: 1)
Also, for lower budget projects the previous knee- verify their own work first-hand, and 2) provide the most
jerk ‘we would love to shoot on film, but we can’t afford experienced film lab contact person to deliver full and
it’ response is becoming less prevalent, due to both time-efficient rushes reports to the DP and production.
Kodak and Frame 24, in collaboration with the remaining (Clive Noakes is with us for such a role and there is
laboratories, offering preferential stock, processing and no-one more experienced or respected in the industry
scanning packages. for what he does.) Crucially, labs need revenues for
UK tax breaks have encouraged the major US scanning as they cannot continue indefinitely on negative
Studios, (who have committed to substantial film use for the processing revenues alone.
foreseeable future) to work here. With the same negative The reason that there continues to be a lab
processing capacity that Technicolor had at Pinewood infrastructure available for DPs and directors to exercise
(100,000ft per 8hrs), and with a team of ex-Technicolor their creative choice, is due to the fact that many of us
and ex-Deluxe technicians using exclusively Photomec who are remain in this work, with a life-time of hands-on
processing machines, we were the only lab to step into the experience, are driven by a genuine passion for a format
breach the moment the closures of the Tech and Deluxe that can, in the best hands, impart a profoundly affecting
processing labs were announced two and a half years ago - pull on the imagination – allowing us, even for a couple of
thus enabling the projects that, at that time, were committed hours or so, to be transported, with complete suspension
to filming in the UK to stay with that format. of disbelief, to other worlds and, most importantly, back
We work with most of the film schools in the UK in touch with ourselves.
and the genuine interest in shooting on film, from first- Random grain. Subliminal flicker. Richness of colour.
year exercises up to graduation projects, by so many Chiarsascuro. Latitude. Film… it’s a very beautiful thing!
student filmmakers,
is genuinely
heartening. We do
everything possible Processed… i-dailies has
provided lab services
to assist and for a host of movies incl
uding Star Wars: The
encourage those Force Awakens, 007 SPE
CTRE, Mission: Impossible
- Rogue Nation, Cinderel
venturing into film la, The Imit
From The Madding Crow ation Game, Far
for the first time. d and Jimmy’s Hall
The generally
accepted view
seems to be that
very many directors
and DPs want the
continuation of
a creative choice
between film and
digital origination
and, in order for
this to be the case
for the future,
and to sustain
any laboratory
infrastructure in
the UK, film needs
to be used for
the appropriate
projects and
that choice
not be stifled.
 LETTER FROM AMERICA / Steven Poster ASC

Steven Poster ASC says

workplace unity, set
etiquette and civil
camaraderie need to be
integrated into the 21st
century production culture.

I
know it’s easy for the more senior practitioners of our
craft to often regale younger camera team members
with tales of how much this industry has changed.
How we have all “benefited” from our years of hands-
on apprenticeship training on-sets, from mentors who
took the time to pass on the knowledge they had gleaned
in a system and a workflow as old as cinema itself. I know
it’s easy to say the “good old days” were somehow better
than today’s more fragmented landscape. But that’s hardly
the essence of this editorial.
Frankly, this is no longer the same industry we
old farts love to tell stories about. It’s plain to see how
much of a culture shift has occurred and, as someone
who has personally experienced this sea change, I’m not
here to pass judgment either way. In fact, this new era,
built around digital technology, may well be more exciting
and creative than any we ever lived through. But what
is of vital importance for our younger Guild members to
understand is that specific aspects of the system I grew up
within, namely etiquette, mutual respect and the creative
hierarchies on a set, should not be tossed aside.
The great Conrad Hall ASC made a statement
late in his life about how directors of photography are
responsible for their entire crew. And what that means
is that in this industry we call, “show business,” there are
practices and methodologies that create the notion of
“family” on sets and locations. It’s a key concept that is
certainly less present today, and due, in large part, to the
lack of the kind of training that past generations learned
by “coming up through the ranks.”
Still, the essence of what this kind of training
represents remains an imperative: to sustain (and in many
cases, bring back) the idea that the filmmakers on a set are a
working family, whose leader (the director of photography)
is responsible for the safety, welfare and working conditions
of the clan. I’ve always scheduled meetings with my crews
(and anyone else who wants to join in) at the beginning
of each production to talk about the dangers and pitfalls
that lay ahead, with the goal being to empower each
crewmember to be his or her own safety officer; to really
watch out for all of our sisters and brothers.
I remember how a veteran key grip took me aside
on my very first day on a film set and said I needed to learn
two things: “stay busy and never sit down,” and “always
return to the set with a piece of gear in your hands” (and
he wasn’t talking about a smart phone!). Sounds like folk
wisdom, perhaps, but his message about respecting the
set and always staying engaged – with the work and with
each other has never been more relevant.
Respect in my formative years was always passed
down the line – from the DP, to the operator, to the
camera assistants, to the loaders – and now we can add job
functions like DITs and digital data wranglers to that chain.
Workplace unity, set etiquette and civil
camaraderie may seem like small intangibles, concepts
from another era. But they have actually sustained
this industry for more than a century; and need to be
integrated into this 21st century culture, built upon new
technologies and new ways of creating images.
The ability to make a set efficient, respectful to all of
the production crafts and, most of all, safe for every single
person, is a theme I always feel it is necessary to talk about.
A safe, communicative set is an achievable goal
to which every member of this industry must strive. The
ideas of set etiquette and a set hierarchy have a definitive
purpose beyond what the words themselves convey:
making entertainment is a dangerous business, particularly
with anything that involves “action cinematography.”
The tools we use are heavy (even the small ones),
and the control that we require of an environment to
achieve our filmmaking goals is extraordinary. That goes
for small productions, as well as the obvious demands
of a large studio franchise or TV pilot/series filled with
stunts and VFX. I can’t imagine any dedicated production
team that does not, in all of the important ways, consider
themselves filmmakers, not wanting to put out the very
best effort to achieve the creative goals of the director
and cinematographer. That’s why the set hierarchy is vital.
Especially on a project where the stakes are often raised
with action photography, the chain of communication
must be crystal clear and all must understand the line of
information on a daily basis. Everybody must be conscious
of their surroundings and the people around them. These
are the ways we become a cohesive unit; these are the
ways we become a family.
It’s simple to identify the set hierarchy, given the
job classifications to which our industry adheres. To my
directors of photography colleagues I would add that
one of our most important responsibilities is to keep the
camera team safe and support them in every possible
way. The pressure to move quickly – on a big or small
show – escalates with each passing day. That’s why the
way a set is run, which is the responsibility of the first
assistant director, is such an important part of how we
all unite as a production family.
Early in my career, I was fortunate to have worked
with the same assistant director on seven consecutive
features. My friend worked either as the 1st AD or unit
manager on many of these projects. He helped create a
rhythm that can only come with consistency and familiarity.
It was a joy, really from the first time on the set, to work with
him because the level of trust was absolute. The instinctive
understanding he and I developed became invaluable, and
that should be developed throughout the production team,
at every level. If I don’t have that kind of communication
with the camera operator, camera assistant, DIT, gaffer
and key grip, then my ability to realise the director’s vision
(and keep my crew safe) will be compromised.
One way to secure this level of communication
and trust is for the director of photography and the
assistant director to speak with the entire crew about
safety protocol before production begins. The dangers I
mentioned earlier in our profession can also be present
in even the most innocent ways. For example, I often
tell the make-up, hair and wardrobe, costume and art
departments (who are not typically dealing with heavy
equipment) to be mindful of obstructions around the set.
I ask the sparks to make sure dark areas around and near
the set are lit, so everyone can be safe.
Everyone should have a voice in “caution.” If you
see something unsafe, do not be silent. Let someone
in your department know. Anything of an inherently
dangerous nature – stunt, action, working with special
tools – has established industry guidelines that are readily
available through your smartphone and Local 600’s
recently introduced Safety App. For example, working with
explosives and gunfire has clearly mapped-out procedures.
If you see those procedures not being followed, for
whatever reason, speak up!
We are all one family – never more so than when
lives are literally on the line.

54 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

 CAMERA CREATIVE / Hoyte Van Hoytema FSF NSC /SPECTRE

56 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

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British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 57

 CAMERA CREATIVE / Hoyte Van Hoytema FSF NSC / SPECTRE

Hoyte van Hoytema FSF NSC

How did SPECTRE come your way? intuitive relationship. We are very close on a taste level, have a common
HvH: It was pretty much through Sam. Although understanding of how images work, and it was very easy for us to
he and Roger have a great relationship, and communicate. Sam was interested in my work – I think he enjoyed Tinker
worked together on Skyfall, Roger was not able Tailor Soldier Spy and Her – and there must be a sensitivity in these and
to do the cinematography on the next Bond film. my older movies that he wanted for SPECTRE. We talked early-on about
Clearly I was on Sam’s radar. this next installment of Bond regaining a kind of romanticism, to be
From my side, I had recently finished more warm-blooded and less formal, whilst still being cool. It has lots
Interstellar with Chris Nolan, and I wanted to of action, but some very enjoyable humorous moments too. There’s
focus for a while on smaller films. You dedicate a new intimacy with James Bond himself who, during his missions is
yourself 100% to a project – you live it, breath extremely driven and focused, like a hunter.
it, eat it – and then need to clear your head. It
has to leave your system at the end, so you can Did you look at other Bond films?
accept new projects and ideas for those new HvH: Yes, of course. But as much as you are a fanboy, and can
projects. But when Sam Mendes calls offering you be inspired by them, you owe it to yourself to make your own
a 007 James Bond movie, it’s a no brainer. It was version – the one that Sam and I signed off on – and to move the
very exciting, awe-inspiring and frightening all at franchise along. Obviously there’s an expectation – a Bond move
the same time. I have always loved Sam’s work. has to have certain ingredients – and within those rules you have
He has such a nice eye for detail, and incorporates to find your own ideas. SPECTRE links more to the older-style
great cinematography into his films. But a Bond Bonds, rather than the more recent ones, but has more of a
production is spread all over the world, and you modern, 21st century rule set.
have to take part in an inexorable machinery,
where the movie has a release date as soon as you What research did you do and what creative references did
start, and must find your visual language within that. you consider?
HvH: For me, stills are always a big help to cross-reference with
Tell us about your initial conversations with Sam the director. They contain a mood and a poetry that are concrete,
Mendes about the approach to shooting SPECTRE? fixed reference points to discuss. I always gather lots of stills during
HvH: We met in NY and clicked immediately. I had pre-production and testing, put them on a wall, and keep adding and
never met Sam before, but from the start we had an taking away as I refine the look and find my visual language for a movie.
For SPECTRE I started looking at fashion photography – as it has a freer,
non-formal style to it – and good, high-end fashion photography has this
quality. I also especially liked a number of images made by the US photographer
Philip-Lorca diCorcia. He has a nostalgic approach to lighting and his images
are stylish, timeless and atmospheric. His pictures inspire spectators with an
awareness of the psychology and emotion in a real-life situation. They are
glamorous and melancholic. Whilst SPECTRE looks far from a Philip-Lorca
diCorcia photo, I felt it was a good thing to have these in the back of our heads
when we were shooting. Bond is a journey, through geography, through personal
moods and through atmospheres, and we were always aware to create a very
particular sensibility to the light in these different situations.

Did you debate digital versus film for SPECTRE?

HvH: We had a lot of discussions about the origination format from the start.
We tested digital, Anamorphic 35mm film, and even IMAX. Obviously Skyfall
was shot on the ARRI Alexa, but I love film. It has exactly the kind of romantic
quality, texture and aura that I wanted to infuse back into Bond. Sam was very
enthusiastic and welcomed my suggestion with open arms. The producers, Barbara
and Michael, after I presented them with a series of tests, were enthusiastic too.
So we elected to shoot film. As filmmakers they recognised the qualities that
film can bring and that digital sometimes lacks. Digital lacks the depth and its

58 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

“I had never met Sam before, but from the start we had an
intuitive relationship. We are very close on a taste level,
have a common understandING of how images work.” Hoyte Van Hoytema FSF NSC
sharp, gridded and harsh appearance often gets mistaken
for resolution. I did my best to make this film as lush and
romantic as I could, and film was best choice.
Tell us about your choice of lenses?
HvH: Glass is such a personal thing, from movie to movie,
with the different textures and how you want to work with
the fall-off and the overall look. On Interstellar Panavision
helped me with C-series Anamorphic glass that I really liked.
They are always willing to work with you, and have extremely
good engineers, creative, insightful, smart people with you as
you move on creatively to new projects. So with their help,
particularly Dan Sasaki, their mastermind of optical engineering,
I repurposed those lenses for SPECTRE. They swapped various
elements around and perfected the glass to what I wanted.
They even custom-built from scratch a new, 65mm T2.0
Anamorphic lens, based on C-series architecture – a focal
length Panavision has never had before – and that became one
of our primary workhorses. I felt the traditional 75mm lacked
the intimacy I wanted on close-up work, whereas the 65mm is
more intimate, and it renders beautifully. That said, it’s a focus
puller’s nightmare and Julian Bucknall our A-camera assistant
nicknamed it “The Beast.” We also gave names our other
bespoked workhorse lenses – the 50mm, we called “The
Bullet”, and the 40mm we called “The Chosen One”.
And how about your cameras and filmstocks?
HvH: Our workhorse camera was the Panavision Millennium
XL2, as it converts easily from studio mode to handheld or
Steadicam mode. I selected Kodak 500T and 250D Vision 3
film, as I like the texture and the dimensionality of the grain of
these stocks. In Mexico we used 50D as it was so bright and
sunny on the exterior day scenes. On a practical level, I did not
want to stop-down the lenses. I love to shoot with low levels
of light, as it’s much more interesting for the actors to enter
and work in space where there’s an atmosphere and there are
fewer lamps on the floor. I don’t think high or harsh light levels
are conducive for the actors’ performances.
What can you tell us about your lighting choices? Stage at Pinewood, we had a 360-degree Translight, and
HvH: I have never had such large lighting set-ups before, that’s a huge amount of light that needs to be controlled
and I must give a shout-out to my gaffer David Smith, in such a large space. We deployed a lot of LEDs, tube
who was my hero and guide in making those very big lights and used Tungsten on-stage as much as possible.
lighting set-ups work smoothly. For example, for the On big set-ups Dave had the lights under DMX control,
nightime stunt sequence on The Thames we had 28 which allowed me to dim the lighting as I wanted. And,
generators spread along the river banks, and seven of course, we had to find intimacy within all of this, and
cameras shooting second unit. When we shot on the 007 Dave gave me that control for those details too with >>
Alexander Witt - second unit director/DP
One of the key elements of second unit cinematography is
that the images produced are in harmony with the overall
visual language of the movie. Following-up similar roles on
Casino Royale and Skyfall, second unit director/DP Alexander
Witt says that collaboration with Mendes and van Hoytema
throughout the whole year he spent on the production,
starting in July 2014, was fundamental to the process.
The other key aspect for the second unit is
preparation. Which meant Witt working not just with his
team, including trusted A-camera operator Clive Jackson,
but also with SFX supervisor Chris Corbould on the plane
stunt/crash sequence in Austria, and stunt coordinator Gary
Powell for the high-speed car chase across Rome.
“We tested extensively for both sequences at
Longcross Studios,” says Witt. “We knew that shooting in
Rome would be pressurised. We only had one night at each
location. Could only start lighting at 10pm at night, due to
traffic. And would have six hours before the dawn broke
and the light came up. Because of the work we had done
prior to the shoot, we had a very good idea about how the
sports cars and the cameras would stand up to the rigours
of the cobbled streets and stone stairways in Rome, and
how to shoot the fast-paced action. Thankfully we were
joined by Hoyte’s friend Jallo Faber for this shoot, and I
joined in with fourth camera, and it worked out very well.”
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 59
 CAMERA CREATIVE / Hoyte Van Hoytema FSF NSC / SPECTRE

>> smaller more intimate lights such as the Creamsource and

other homemade LED inventions. Lighting was supplied
mostly from Panalux.

Who were your and how did you work together?

HvH: You always want to have willing and creative co-
operators on any project, but on a big movie like SPECTRE
they are absolutely essential. Normally I operate, but
this production was on such a scale that I felt I needed
other keen and good eyes behind the camera. I was very
dependent on the people around me, and they deserve so
much credit for their efforts throughout.
Two heroes for me were Dave my gaffer, and
my main unit A-camera operator Lucas Bielan who we
imported from the US. Lucas is meticulous, added the
sensitivity I wanted, and also added something himself. He
helped take the weight off my shoulders. My key grip, Gary
Hymns, a Bond veteran, was fantastic. With his good mood
and energy he always gave me the feeling that anything
was possible. I got along with very well indeed with our
first AC/focus puller Julian Bucknall. As I love shooting
wide open, Julian faced hardcore challenges, because there
is virtually no focal depth on The Beast, The Bullet and The
Chosen One. But he dealt with any stress in an ice-cold
manner, and always had a sense of humour.
We used Steadicam sparsely, as it was not the main
language of this film. But, when we did need those sorts of
moves, Julian Morson proved very sensitive. He’s a great
camera operator too, so when a second camera was required,
it was easy to get Julian in-there and his B-camera material
integrated seamlessly with the footage shot by Lucas.
I have also to praise the second unit. Alexander Witt,
the second unit director, was very well organised, and worked
closely with my friend from Sweden, Jallo Faber, who did
beautiful work as second unit DP. Together they paid great
attention to the lighting, keeping it tasteful and properly lit.

How did you move the camera?

HvH: Apart from using multiple cameras on action
sequences, SPECTRE was mainly a one-camera shoot,
especially for dramatic conversation pieces. I like the
camera to move in a functional way, with a certain integrity
and decency, unmotivated and never for the sake of it.
I really dislike it when camera moves are obvious, and I
actively censor any ‘jazz’ that happens with the camera.
Rather, I prefer a level of restraint, to create tension. If you
shout all the time, at some point the audience becomes
oblivious to what’s being said. So you take the voice down
and people move towards the edge of their seats and listen
more. And that’s my approach to the cameras.
We used lateral dolly moves, and we did quite a bit of
handheld work motivated by the actors and their emotions.
Handheld is very soulful and rewarding when done nicely, and
it helped us get closer to the intimate essence in many scenes.
It was great having Lucas. His handheld work is
sensitive, with a restrained rhythm and very soft pans,
that give the image a romanticism that I really like. It’s
like the fashion photography that I referenced – loose,
personal and intimate.
Gary Spratling Associate BSC ACO
– second unit camera operator
“It’s very special, exciting and great fun to work
on a James Bond movie. It’s like a big family, from
the moment you walk on set, because of Barbara
and Michael and the team of people they like to
work with,” says Gary Spratling, second unit camera
operator on SPECTRE.
After shooting third camera for Bond’s
ferocious dust-up on the Tangier train, Spratling
was invited by second unit director/DP Alexander
Witt to shoot the river chase and crash scene at the
end of the movie, working alongside second unit
A-camera operator Clive Jackson.
The speedboat and helicopter sequences
were shot on The Thames at night over the course
of five consecutive weekends, during the summer
of 2015, using ARRI Alexa 65s. The helicopter crash
and explosion were filmed separately on 35mm
on the 007 Stage at Pinewood, where a full-length
Westminster Bridge set had been built.  However have a thing for some of the smaller
“Not that you would know that we shot these
sequences at different times and locations and with
different cameras,” says Spratling. “The set design,
lighting set-ups and VFX work were absolutely spot-
on and the shots match perfectly in the final movie.”
Did you have any concerns about shooting on film?
HvH: I had more of a frustration, than a concern. When
people keep saying, “Film is dying, film is dying”, it helps
to make it die. But film is too beautiful and too good to
disregard. With SPECTRE, the Star Wars reboot, Mission
Impossible 5 and Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight
all shooting on film, people are reminded that film must
be good, and there’s a new positivism towards shooting
on celluloid. Thanks also to Chris Nolan and his lobbying
efforts, I’d like to think that that it will stick around for a
good while yet.
As for SPECTRE, we had two labs to choose from,
and I tested them both. They both came back with great
results and beautiful prints. In the end I chose to go
with i-dailies. As much as I would have loved to have
watched film rushes, the turnaround was so fast that
scanned dailies went immediately to editorial and the
VFX vendors. So we watched HD dailies. Also, as we
were doing a DI grade, I didn’t want to put the negative
through any possible risk.
How much time do you have for prep and what were
the working hours?
HvH: I worked on SPECTRE for a year in total. We shot
for 128 days. The lengthy pre-production and prep was
very much needed, as there are so many logistics to
consider. We scouted all of the locations, knew what
we wanted to get out of them, and considered what the
weather and the sun would be like at each.
Also, with Bond movies, the interiors are
almost always shot on-stage, rather than at the
location. Whilst this gives you a huge level of control,
it also means you have to be very careful to match
the atmosphere and lighting of exteriors with
interiors often shot weeks apart. So the lengthy
prep was really helpful.
We worked five-day weeks, but that became
more like six-day weeks for me towards the end of
the production. As the cinematographer you never
really rest. I was always looking at rushes, grading
trailers, looking at forthcoming lighting plans, scouting
a location, or advising the second unit. It’s intense, but
I work like a machine on these occasions. Especially on
Bond, it’s like an oil tanker moving relentlessly along.
Do you have a favourite scene?
HvH: On a Bond film you tumble from one atmosphere
to another. For SPECTRE we shot on locations in
London, the Austrian Alps, Mexico City, Morocco
and The Vatican in Rome, as well as on the stages at
Pinewood. These are each like mini films in themselves,
and it was enjoyable to approach them in different ways
and create different atmospheres. Although the movie
is jam-packed with CGI, our philosophy was to try to do
as much as we could in-camera. The most challenging,
and ultimately satisfying big scene, was a particularly
long shot in Mexico, where we built a huge high scaffold
right across the back of a large block of buildings so
that we could track a Technocrane to capture a special
stunt shot combination. It took two months to build the
scaffold and get the rig set, and I doubt if there’s been
anything bigger on a movie before. The challenges we
had to face up to will be clear to you as soon as you see
the movie. Technically, it was a mind-fuck but ultimately
very rewarding.
scenes as well. There is a moment in a Moroccan
hotel room where it is all about mood, melancholy and
intimacy. It became so atmospheric and tender in the
film, that even sometimes I forget that it was actually
shot in a studio somewhere in a cold, foggy, soggy field
near Slough – which is hugely satisfying for a DP.

60 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

What can you tell us about working with the VFX team?
HvH: I was closely involved with the previz of VFX shots,
such as the one in Mexico, and it’s good to have these
well thought-out and to have everyone on the same
page when you come to the day of the shoot. Steve Begg
the VFX supervisor, another Bond veteran, was always
around, making sure we did the right thing for the VFX
team. He was clear in his instructions, and it was very
helpful in knowing when to shoot bluecreen and what he
could rotoscope without needing blue. Peter Talbot did a
great job directing the VFX photography.
Were there any happy accidents?
HvH: Yes, with the weather. When we were in Morocco,
the shoot was bumped by half a day due to a terrific
sandstorm. But the effect was fortunate, as it gave a
Steve Begg – VFX supervisor
The spectacular action sequences in SPECTRE
certainly leave the audience shaken as well as
stirred. VFX supervisor Steve Begg, whose previous
Bond credits include working as a digital effects
artist on GoldenEye, and as the visual effects
supervisor on both Casino Royale and Skyfall, worked
full-time on SPECTRE for over a year, and says the
final shots were delivered to post just one week
before the world premiere of the movie in the
UK on October 26th. It’s understandable. With
well over 1,500 VFX shots to manage he says,
“SPECTRE was bigger, massively bigger, than
previous Bond movies.” Casino Royale contained
850 VFX shots, with Skyfall numbering 1,100.  the mornings and evenings so the
The main VFX vendors coordinated
by Begg on SPECTRE were Cinesite, Double
Negative, Industrial Light & Magic’s UK branch,
MPC Canada and Peerless. London VFX shop
Bluebolt handled various cosmetic works.
Begg worked closely with the
production on a daily basis. “I really enjoyed
putting my head together with Hoyte, his
camera team, as well as Sam, throughout the
production. Hoyte and I developed a deep
mutual respect, and this level of cooperation
– around such things as camera moves, the use
of blue or greenscreen, and atmospherics, such
as smoke – definitely made things easier for each
another and our respective teams.”
granularity and cast an atmospheric haze than we
could not perhaps have otherwise created or imagined.
Did you do anything special in the DI? How was your 007 Bond experience overall?
HvH: I did the DI at CO3 with Greg Fisher, who is HvH: It’s very nice to collaborate with an auteur like Sam,
fantastic. Greg has a very keen and subtle eye for the as he wanted to make the best-possible movie. It was
tender slopes of colour and contrast. He an absolute privilege to work with Barbara and Michael.
also understands the emotional curves They have so much experience, and so much love for
throughout the film. His handling of the subject and the franchise, yet they were completely
the original material was always with open to our input, and very courageous to keep exploring
gentle steps and with huge respect and to keep it exciting. How wonderful that they fully-
to the original ideas and the supported the decision to shoot a cool new film with
negative. We fought hard to go 35mm on Anamorphic. Sometimes, in exotic locations
4K for the most of it to maintain Sam and I felt we had come home. SPECTRE was a very
as much as possible of the original beautiful, life-altering experience for me, and I’m a very
texture and sharpness of film. lucky to have been on this adventure.
Clive Jackson GBCT ACO – second unit A-camera operator
Whilst the main job at hand is to capture the action, operating A-camera on
second unit, especially on a relentless schedule such as SPECTRE, demands a
problems-solving capability.
A regular collaborator of second unit director Alexander Witt, Clive Jackson
worked on SPECTRE for five months. “During the plane crash sequence in
Austria, because of the schedule and the weather, we found ourselves working
on the sequence in separate locations on different sides of the country. The
weather was a significant challenge, as
the first footage we shot was under
cloudy skies, but then the sunshine Brrrr… Clive Jackson
came out. So we had to plot-out a shooting on the snowy
new shooting schedule for multiple slopes in Austria
cameras, and ended-up shooting in
lighting would match. Normally you
have to wait for the sunshine, but
we had the reverse and had to wait
for more somber conditions.”
As the production had to shoot
the car chase to a very tight timetable
in Rome, meticulous testing and
prep took place at Longcross Studios.
“We really had to be on top of our
game. By the time we shot for real on
the city streets, and along the banks of the
River Tiber, we had a bible of lenses, rigs and
hard-mounts, plus pre-rigged pairs of cars,
so we were absolutely ready-to-go without
any time being wasted,” he adds.
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 61
 On The Job / Edu Grau / Suffragette

Director Sarah Gavron’s

S
et during 1912 and 1913, a backdrop of stifling “Suffragette is an important movie in many
sweatshops and filthy London vistas combine respects,” says Grau. “I think it’s important for the world
feisty feature film with no-frills costumes to vividly and convincingly
evoke the grit and grime of that bygone era.
to know about historical events that have been more
or less forgotten, or are simply unknown outside of the
Suffragette, about the However, the heroine of the title is not the renowned
Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), whose name has
UK. Even through it is set 100 years ago, the story is
connected and relevant to today’s world and today’s
wrestle for women’s become synonymous with the suffrage movement.
Rather this is the story of Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan),
issues about gender and equality. It’s offers a moment
for women today to stand back, consider how far they
suffrage is not a prim an imagined Bethnal Green laundry worker, dutiful young
wife and mother, who becomes wearied by the drudgery
have come and how far they still need to go. It’s like a
call to action, saying, ‘Let’s keep going and keep pushing,
and proper affair. Far of her daily toils and the loathsome lechery of her boss.
At first she is a bystander, but she soon becomes drawn
to make the world a better place.’”
Explaining the motives that inspire his
from it. Within the first into sedition, and joins the battle for the ballot as the
cause careens into violent militancy.
imagemaking and his attraction to Suffragette, Grau,
whose credits include A Single Man (2009), Buried (2010),
few minutes of the Poignantly, the direct action group Sisters
Uncut used the opportunity of the premiere of the
Animals (2012) and Suite Française (2014), says, “I like
to shoot movies that are about characters and human
movie a brick shatters movie, during the 2015 BFI London Film Festival, to
demonstrate against budget cuts to domestic violence
relationships, with a passionate director at the helm. I
think it is maybe my sensibility that draws me particularly
a London shop window services. Helena Bonham-Carter, who plays activist Edith
New, described it as “perfect. If you feel strongly enough
towards stories of oppression or suppression. There are
not that many good stories about women, that are so
and, with shrieks from about something, and there’s an injustice there, you
can speak out and try to get something changed.” And
moving or interesting as Suffragette. Sarah didn’t want
to make it too contemplative, and I was not interested
the madding crowd of it’s exactly this spirit that proved an irresistible lure for
Spanish cinematographer Edu Grau to the £15m Ruby
in telling it in a classical, period, old-fashioned style.
I considered that approach to be counter-intuitive
“Votes for Women!”, Films, Pathé Film4 and Ingenious Media production. and counter-creative. The characters in this story are

the enthralling, hot-

passionate: they take risks and make sacrifices to change

blooded and resonating

story unfolds.

62 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

“I like to shoot movies that are about characters and human
relationships. I think it is maybe my sensibility that draws me
towards stories of oppression or suppression.” Edu Grau
society. I was impassioned to make it in a different
way, to shake things up with movement and energy, in
the same way the suffragettes themselves did in their
actions. Sarah and the producers must have liked that
about me and my approach, as I got the job on the
second interview.”
Written by Abi Morgan and produced by Faye
Ward and Alison Owen, Suffragette is a highly distinctive-
looking production. Grau shot the daytime scenes on
Super 16mm, with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, creating a
muted, pastel colour palette. With Gavron’s agreement,
he also shot every scene using two, and sometimes
three, hand-held cameras, so that angles were always
moving and the actors could never be quite sure quite
where they were being filmed from – ultimately keeping
the on-screen images unnerving for the audience.
The three main set-piece protest scenes – the
window smashing at the opening of the movie, the
violent protest outside the Houses of Parliament, and the
death of Emily Davison under the hooves of King George
V’s horse ‘Anmer’ at the 1913 Epsom Derby – are akin
to contemporary news footage, combining tight framing
and fast camera moves with long depth-of-field, to
deliver a bustling immediacy and brutality to the images
that draw the audience into the action.
Grau says he enjoyed a full seven weeks of prep
before principle photography began on 24 February
2014. “It can be both a shame and a mistake if the
cinematographer isn’t involved from the early stages, and
only gets hired after the production designer has started
their work. Coming on-board early helped me to get into
the mood of the movie, and having time to work closely
with the crew and the producers helped us to make key
decisions that really shaped the movie.”
As an example, Grau says it initially proved
difficult to find an appropriate location for the small
home that Maud lives in with her husband (Ben
Wishaw) and young son (Adam Michael Dodd). “The
early references just did not give us enough depth or
sense of an appropriate environment. However, as we
had the luxury of time to do more extensive scouting,
one day we went across to the East End of London, and
discovered the huge, brick-built tenements in Arnold
Circus, near Bethnal Green. We learned that they
were built in the early 1900s for local factory workers.
They fitted the story perfectly, as well as being visually
compelling. Obviously we made it look a lot worse in
the movie than it does today, but this is this sort of
attention to detail that helped to put the production on
solid historical ground.”
He also believes the lengthy prep and
collaborative nature between the production team
contributed to the decision to originate the daytime
sequences on Super 16mm, rather than digital. “We
all agreed that A-list actors, performing in daytime
exteriors, in a period piece, would just not look as
believable on digital. It was a cooperative group
decision to shoot on celluloid, although production
were not happy about the cost of 35mm. I think it was
Sarah who suggested Super 16mm, and this got us all
Spot the DP… Edu
got a brief role as
the arresting police
officer on the right!
excitedly thinking about how the freedom, roughness
and beauty of that film format would work in favour of
the story. It suited perfectly the suffragette attitude.”
Focusing his attentions on the look, Grau
conducted numerous tests, working closely with Cinelab
in London, before settling on a pull process, favoured
by Haris Savides ASC, in which Kodak 250ASA 16mm
Daylight stock is pulled by a stop and a half at the lab
to reduce grain and contrast and bring a range of soft,
monotone pastel colours to the visual palette.
He opted for the ARRI 416 camera, “which is a
small, beautiful and very organic to operate,” and a trio
of spherical Angenieux zooms – 15-46mm, 26-76mm
and 45-120mm – give the simple monikers Zoom 1,
2 and 3. “These are very sharp, precise lenses, that
complement 16mm very well, and allowed me and Pau
Esteve, my second-camera operator, to shoot, reframe,
create subtle variations, and to keep finding the best
of the image as we went along – in the style of Oliver
Wood on Paul Greengrass’s Bourne movies. This was
very liberating for us, in the keeping with the subject
matter of change, and the actors rolled with it too.”
However, knowing full-well that Super 16mm
would not be the ideal format to render the dim and >>
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 63

>> dingy lighting of night-time Edwardian Britain, Grau
says he and the production team also made the
decision early-on to shoot digital. Scenes set during
the hours of darkness were captured using under-
exposed ARRI Alexa Studio cameras, set to 1,200ASA,
with a Codex ARRIRAW workflow. The glass included
Kowa Prime lenses, plus a combination of 20-
80mm and 18-100mm Cooke zooms, with classic
soft diffusion to start bringing the image towards a
celluloid look. Cameras and lenses were supplied by
Panavision in London.
As for lighting, Grau says in order to faithfully
reflect the dark and filthy conditions of the time, he
opted to light spaces rather than faces, to envelop the
characters, mainly using bounced Tungsten light, a few
LEDs and, sometimes, just candles. “In those days, lights
were a new introduction to the home, and were not very
powerful. The portrayal of the feeling of the darkness
that they lived in, and the emergence of our characters
into light were subtle themes that I played throughout,
always in keeping with the spirit of the movie.”
Grau’s crew was a mix of longtime collaborators
and brand new acquaintances. Working alongside Grau,
operating second camera was Pau Esteve Birba. The pair
attended film school together in Spain, and Esteve has
been Grau’s first choice on Buried, Animals and Trespass
64 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Against Us. So too gaffer Jim Plannette, who has worked
on five movies with Grau. The production also harnessed
the talents of local gaffer Andy Lowe. Jake Marcusson
and Sam Barnes were first ACs, whilst Rupert Lloyd-Parry
was key grip on A-camera, with Fric López Verdeguer
gripping on B-camera. Peter Robertson was engaged as
C-camera operator and on Steadicam.
“Our camera crew was amazing: conscientious,
diligent and always sensitive to the situation,” says
Grau. “They worked really well together and made it
a joy for me. As I have known Pau for many years, our
way or working is very organic and collaborative. He
is like another DP on set, and we criticise each other’s
work all the time to make it better. He is a true friend: a
special person on set. ”
Grau also pays tribute to production manager
Cass Marks. “So often the cinematographer does
not appreciate the work of the production manager,
but Cass was amazing at keeping us wrangled
and choosing the right person for the job. All the
production team was priceless.”
The plan is… Edu explains
his intentions to an
attentive Carey Mulligan
The production shot at locations around London,
including a first inside the Houses of Parliament, as
well as the home counties, with a brief pause to shoot
the interior of Maud’s house in a studio. Crucially, the
working regime was five-day weeks for ten weeks.
“It’s so good for the crew and the cast, and is the only
proper way to work,” Grau comments. “Longer hours
affect people lives, are counter-productive, dangerous,
and do not make movies any better. I hope it is
forbidden practice to shoot longer weeks in the future.”
Grau graded Suffragette at Goldcrest with DI
colourist Rob Pizzey over a two-week period. “An
important part of the job was to balance the Super
16mm and Alexa footage, but because of the way we
had shot and processed these – the pull-processing of
the celluloid at the lab and the under-exposure of Alexa
but with fast ASA – it was much easier than expected,
and I am happy with the result.”
Report by Ron Prince
CLOSE-UP / Alwin Küchler BSC / Steve Jobs
S
teve Jobs is a figure of Shakespearean dimensions:
an iconic figure of the digital age, a hero to his
many fans and a notoriously complex, difficult
man who often treated his friends and family with
coldness and contempt. Making a movie that portrays
such a character is enough of a challenge – Aaron Sorkin
wrote the script based on Walter Isaacson’s book Steve
Jobs – but director Danny Boyle and cinematographer
Alwin Küchler BSC had a range of logistical issues that
complicated production even more.
Boyle and Küchler, who had worked together on
Sunshine and 28 Days Later, got together to discuss the
script. “I call it a thriller with words because it was an
absolute joy to read Aaron’s script,” says Küchler. “It was a
page turner. I was drawn to it right away.”
Steve Jobs is constructed in three acts, each one
depicting a crucial period in Job’s life and career, in the 40
minutes leading up to the introduction of a key Apple product.
“Danny said he wanted to approach it like a theatrical
piece,” says Küchler. “He wanted to shoot the first act,
then shut it down, rehearse the second act with the actors,
shoot it, and then shut it down again. It was important to
Danny was that there was a lot of freedom for the actors.”
The two main actors, Michael Fassbender and
Kate Winslet (who plays Jobs’ personal assistant Joanna
Hoffman), had to learn so many words that Boyle
shortened each film day to keep the energy level up.
Boyle also decided he wanted to shoot in real locations in
the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Americans thought Danny was bonkers for
wanting to shoot in San Francisco,” says Küchler. “There’s
a heavy price tag when you work in this city. Everything is
more expensive, but once Danny decides to go a route, he
embraces it and makes it work.”
Working in the San Francisco Opera House and
the San Francisco Symphony Hall created an inspiring
realism, adds Küchler, but because they were both very
active venues, the film crew had to work around
Alwin Küchler BSC
those schedules, with shoots usually
scheduled from 10pm until the
following morning.
“We had to share the lighting
spaces, so I couldn’t always hang my
lights and leave them,” he adds. “In
the San Francisco Opera, for example,
my gaffer/chief lighting technician Len
Levine, and I, had to rehearse bringing
the lights in and out, to make it as fast
as we could. That’s a very different way
of lighting than what we normally have
when we have control over the space.”
Because the movie’s three acts
span from the 1980s to 1990s, Küchler
suggested to Boyle that they mix film
and digital. “The story lent itself to showing how Steve
Jobs played his part of taking us into the digital age,” he
explains. Boyle loved the idea. Act 1 was shot in 16mm
with the ARRI 16 SR3 camera using Angenieux Optimo
zooms including the 15-40mm T2.6 and the 28-76mm
T2.6 as well as Zeiss 16mm Super Speed Primes. Act
2 was shot in 3-perf Super 35mm, with the Arricam LT
and ST, using ARRI/Zeiss Master Primes and Angenieux
zooms. Act 3 was shot with the Alexa XT “with pretty
much the entire focal range,” says Küchler, who says he
used rental house Keslow Camera.
“I was trying to get the sharpest lenses for the last
act, so we used zooms a lot on the Steadicam.” the planets, says Küchler, who notes that Haley matched
There was also some limited use of the RED Epic Fassbender’s energy in portraying Jobs’ intensity.
Dragon. Film stocks, pre-ordered from Kodak, were Vision3 “The story is about people keeping up with Steve
500T 7219 and 500T 5219. All the film was processed at Jobs,” he says. “Danny is always good about creating an
Fotokem in Los Angeles. atmosphere – that what’s happening in front of the camera
Although Act 2 has some flashbacks to Act 1, and Act is also happening behind the camera. So we were always
3 to Acts 1 and 2, Boyle and Küchler made the decision to working to keep up with Danny to fulfill that vision.”
stick with the medium of each act. “Otherwise it would be too Because Boyle wanted to liberate the actors – “so
distracting,” Küchler says. “If you’re looking at a 16mm picture, that they would be like racehorses at the start of the
you forget about the grain, but when you see it gate” – that meant a minimum of relighting. Küchler,
in comparison with digital, you notice the lack working with Levine, relied on LED lights, because of their
of grain. We didn’t want it to come across as form factor and the speed and ease of deploying them.
pretentious or stop the flow of the language.” He used LiteGear xFlo ballasts to retrofit the fluorescent
The one exception is in Act 3, when fixtures, using the ETC Eos Titanium lighting-control desk
Sculley and Jobs are talking about when they to set levels. In the grid, the crew hung Mac Tech LED
met, and we see a flashback of them seeing Job’s tubes. Other lights included Kino Flo 2-foot 4-bank, 15-
father in a restaurant in the late 1970s. “We shot inch 4-bank fluorescent fixtures, BarFly 100s and 200s,
that in digital with vintage Cooke Panchro lenses,” Par20 and Par46 LED fixtures, all controlled by the RatPac
says Küchler. “But we did not shoot in 16mm.” 10-channel 1.2K dimmers hidden on the set.
Almost the entire movie was shot Steve Jobs was finished at Technicolor London,
with Steadicam, operated by A-camera with DI artist Jean-Clément Soret. “Making Steve Jobs was
operator Geoffrey Haley, not just because physically tough,” Küchler concludes. “We had very short
the film crew had to move quickly down hours and it was a very restrictive environment. But our
narrow corridors but because Jobs is always director was very good at embracing these restrictions. If
the centre of the action, the sun, with the you look at it as a challenge, you become inventive, and
other characters revolving around him like good things come from it.”
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 65
 CLOSE-UP / Ed Lachman ASC / Carol
A work of heart Carol, based on the semi-autobiographical novel
‘The Price Of Salt’ by psychological suspense author
Patricia Highsmith (Strangers On A Train/The Talented
Mr. Ripley), is about a young department store
clerk (Rooney Mara) who falls in love with an older
married woman (Cate Blanchett).
P
rior to production in March 2014, Carol
had been under development for 11 years
by British producers Elizabeth Karlsen and
Stephen Woolley of Number 9 Films and
Tessa Ross of Film4 Productions. The completed film,
with a screenplay by Phyllis Nagy and co-produced by
New York-based Killer Films, was selected to compete
for the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival,
where it received a rapturous response, including a
standing ovation, and where Mara tied for the Best
Actress award with Emmanuelle Bercot for Mon Roi.
The Cannes critics particularly lauded the
direction of Todd Haynes, Blanchett and Mara’s
performances, the cinematography of Ed Lachman
ASC, as well as the costumes and the score.
Haynes (I’m Not There, Far From Heaven, and
HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce) has often chosen
Lachman to shoot his films, starting with Far From
Heaven, and continued that collaborative approach
when taking on Highsmith’s underground novel that
has since become a feminist lesbian classic. Indeed,
Lachman’s cinematography on Carol has been critically
acclaimed, with one reviewer describing his work as
“utter magic.”
“Carol is a form of melodrama,” says Lachman,
“a film style that observes people from the outside,
where you’re watching social forces affect peoples’
lives. We created that through subjective shifts. We
begin with Therese and end up with Carol.”
Haynes and Lachman spend a lot of time
crafting the look of each project, says Lachman, with
66 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
“different rules and visual language.” They did the
same for Carol. One visual aspect unique to the film
is that Therese is an aspiring photographer. “We
begin to see her world opening up through her
images,” says Lachman, who reports that he and
Haynes looked at mid-century American women
photographers including Ruth Orkin, Esther Bubley,
Helen Levitt and Vivian Maier. “Our approach to the
look was to incorporate a subjective viewpoint of
the amorous mind – the mind of someone falling in
love, when you read every sign and symbol of the
other person.”
Lachman notes that they rejected the “high
gloss 1950s Douglas Sirk world of melodrama” –
one used to great effect in Far From Heaven – in
favour of a “soiled and muted palette of colour still
photography of the 1940s.” They also revisited
American photographer/painter Saul Leiter, whom
they had used as a visual reference for Mildred
Pierce. “Leiter created layered compositions;
subjects that are obscured by abstractions and
seen in reflections and partially visible space,” says
Lachman. “By using Leiter’s images, we were not
only creating a representational view of the world
but also a psychological one to help represent the
mind of someone falling in love.”
To that end, Haynes and Lachman decided
to shoot Carol on Super-16mm film, with an ARRI
416, as they on Mildred Pierce. Lachman used
several Kodak negative stocks: 7219 500ASA
Tungsten; Kodak negative 7207 ASA 250 daylight;
 “Carol is a form of melodrama, a film
7213 200ASA Tungsten and 7203 50ASA Daylight. His
lenses included a Zeiss Master Zoom 16.5-110mm T2.6;
a Cooke Varo-Panchro 20-60mm T3.1; and a Cooke

style that observes people from the

Super16 10-30mm T1.6.
“We wanted to reference film stocks of a previous
time period, in grain structure and colour separation,” says
Lachman. “The grain structure in film and its movement

outside, where you’re watching social

is affected by exposure: finer grain in highlights and
larger grain in low light, which can’t be represented
digitally, even if you can add digital grain later. The colour

forces affect peoples’ lives.” Ed Lachman ASC

separation in film affected by gels, or colour temperature,
is also lost and different for my eye, digitally, and the RGB
layers, even though microscopic, create a colour depth of
the image, which I find lacking in digital photography. As
an analogue, when you look at a painting and experience
its tactility, you’re affected by the brush strokes’ sense of
depth and how the colours mix. In a digital photograph,
you lose that sense of depth.”
Deciding to go with film created one of Lachman’s
first challenges: finding film loaders. The movie’s opening
sequence was the most challenging to shoot, and
reflected Haynes’ predilection for a “never static” camera.
It opens on a street at night, looking down a sidewalk
grate as the stream arises. The camera then begins to
rise and tilt up to follow commuter’s feet coming out
of the subway station exit, and then pans to the actor
across the street.
“We follow him around a corner into a high-
end restaurant as the camera booms up 30 feet,” says
Lachman. “We couldn’t use a track because of the traffic
coming across the street, so we devised
a way on a camera car
mounted with a 30-
foot Louma crane
that allowed us
to orchestrate
extending and
retracting the arm
through traffic
with the
actor as he crosses the street. It ends up, finally, in its
boomed-up position as he enters the restaurant.”
Another challenge was the weather, since Carol
was shot in Cincinnati in the bitterly cold February and
March in 2014. “All the night travelling shots with the
car were done on location with a camera car,” he says.
“It could have been done in a studio, but Todd wanted
the actual locations and the feeling of the source
lighting in the streets.”
Cincinnati stood in for New York City in the
late 1940s/early 1950s. “Much of the architecture
in Cincinnati still references that time period, which
was a great support visually for us,” he says. “With my
gaffer of many years John Deblau, we created many
custom lighting rigs with incandescent bulbs in strips
with chicken wire and muslin, lightweight 30-inch paper
china balls with a 2,000 watt tube, industrial mogul
base fixtures. We also used some theatrical lighting,
specifically 750 Lycos with 19-inch and 36-inch
shutters that we could bounce and cut the light in
the small locations we found ourselves in,” says
Lachman. “The rest of the lighting was standard:
Tungsten 9-lights, 5Ks, 2Ks on the daylight
side, 18Ks to 1200 pars. The only unusual
lights were 5K and 12K T-Pars which have a horizontal
mounted bulb, focused by a parabolic lens, which
creates shafts of incredible light output.”
Lachman worries about the demise of film
infrastructure. “If Kodak is still going to produce film,
we’re going to need labs,” he says. “Eight months ago,
the last professional lab in New York closed.” Carol was
the last film to make prints at Film Lab New York, says
Lachman, who says he did a test to show Haynes what
the film could look like even if it went through a DI.
“The questions was, would there be a different feeling
in the image because we originated in Super-16mm,”
says Lachman. “And there was.” The digital intermediate
was completed at Goldcrest in New York.
Ed Lachman ASC

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 67

 CLOSE-UP / Andrew Dunn BSC / The Lady In The Van

Andrew Dunn BSC

T
here are stories that are quintessentially British using low light instead of environs and
and as cinematographer Andrew Dunn BSC says, creating an interior set of characters
the writer Alan Bennett and his work couldn’t the vehicle in a studio. “In a involved:
be more British. The latest film to be based way it’s anti-lighting,” Dunn “We did pay
on Bennett’s writings is The Lady In The Van, telling, in comments. “We were attention to
slightly stylised form, the tale of how a homeless woman putting dark things around satellite dishes
came to live in the vehicle of the title parked on the the camera and beyond it and road
author’s driveway and the relationship that developed to so we can get into the markings but
between them over a15-year period. darker parts of a scene. It on a budget
This is the third feature written by Bennett that was tricky shooting in the like ours we
Dunn has photographed and the fourth he has worked van, which was only four were more
on with director Nicholas Hytner, who also directed and a half feet wide and interested in
Bennett’s The Madness Of King George (1994) and The sitting in a ten feet wide people in the
History Boys (2006), as well as The Crucible (1996), taken drive. When daylight street and the
from the play by Arthur Miller. The Lady In The Van stars was fading we created events that tell
Maggie Smith as Miss Mary Shepherd and Alex Jennings daylight inside with the story.”
in a dual role as two incarnations of Bennett: AB, who minimal lighting, using a couple of highlights to make The Lady
has to deal with the irascible woman living outside his the sequences feel real and as though they weren’t lit.” In The Van was shot in October, November and the
home, and Alan, the writer telling the story. Dunn’s gaffer on the shoot was Andy Long, who beginning of December 2014. Dunn says he always
Dunn says that having the same actor playing already had a lot of experience working in low light uses some filtering for his shoots and on this one it was
both parts - a change from the stage version, in which environments for Gavin Finney BSC on Wolf Hall. As with a mixture of Schneider and Tiffen filters.
different actors take the two roles - called for visual his other films for Hytner, Dunn operated the camera “I have a collection of those in my personal filter
effects work that in part dictated the choice of camera himself, which, on the interior van scenes, made for case,” he comments, “and it was a combination of the
and recording format. intimate working with the star. The camera, lens and grip two to create the different lighting looks.” He adds that
“We shot on the ARRI Alexa in 1.85 aspect ratio for package was supplied by Panavision. he also worked closely with his regular DI colourist, Paul
the VFX but also because of the budget,” he explains. “We “I was in there with Maggie using a handheld camera, Ensby, to enhance the look and give it extra depth.
used compositing, which was a lot more economical clambering round with apple boxes to do the shooting,” he In addition to starring Maggie Smith and two
than motion controlled cameras, and says. “We thought it would be better if we filmed in the Alex Jennings, The Lady In The Van marked a reunion
allowed us to have Alex as the two Alan van so that the audience feels it is in there with her.” for both Dunn and Hytner with most of the cast of
Bennetts interacting with each other. We The realism of the film is heightened by it being The History Boys, who appear in small roles, including
had a terrific VFX consultant in Mervyn shot in Alan Bennett’s house in Camden Town, which Dominic Cooper, Russell Tovey and James Corden,
New, and a great crew in general.” he still owns but doesn’t live in any more, and on now a US talk show star, who plays a market trader.
The Lady In The Van is Gloucester Crescent where it The star of that film, Richard Griffiths, died in 2013
the first of the films Dunn has stands. Miss Shepherd arrived but Dunn says by a coincidence a child performer
shot for Hytner to feature a there in the late 1960s; in 1974 playing one of the children in The Lady In The Van had
digital camera. He says he is Bennett became worried that the same name, so everyone felt the departed actor
now used to “chopping and she was something of a target still had a presence on set.
changing” between digits and out in the street and offered Like Corden, Dunn has been splitting his time
film and thinks the Alexa her his driveway, where she between Britain and America. He has continued
was “the right choice” for and her van stayed until working with director Lee Daniels, who he first
this particular production, her death in 1989. That worked with on 2009’s Precious (as discussed in
giving it “depth and part of north London is BC38), following that with the highly-acclaimed The
texture”, although he says now heavily gentrified Butler (2013) and the pilot for the TV music dynasty
that while digital cameras and hugely expensive melodrama Empire. The two are reuniting for a biopic of
do deliver that more as a in terms of property the comedian Richard Pryor, subtitled Is it Something I
matter of course today, “it and although Dunn Said?, which is in pre-production. With Keeping Up With
does take some TLC to says efforts were The Jones for Greg Mottola and The Lady In The Van,
give a human aspect”. made to convey the Dunn sees this as his “comedy year”. That continues as
The Alexa also different periods of he now begins shooting a film marking the return of
made it possible to shoot time, the emphasis Bridget Jones, who he describes as “a slightly different,
inside a van on location was more on the but charmingly-dotty woman”.

68 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

CLOSE-UP / Dan Mindel ASC BSC / Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

When director JJ Abrams

and cinematographer Dan
Mindel ASC BSC approached
Star Wars Episode VII: The
Force Awakens, they weren’t
just facing an extraordinarily
complex shoot, but the
latest chapter in a beloved
and iconic franchise. They’d
done it before, with Mission:
Impossible III and Star Trek
Into Darkness. But this was

>>
Star Wars, the mother of all
sci-fi fantasy films.

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 69

 CLOSE-UP / Dan Mindel ASC BSC / Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
“The fans know the backstory
and so many more details
than I ever will,” Mindel says. “So it’s
something we take really seriously and try to honour all
the time. The mandate is the same as what we learned
from doing the Mission: Impossible and StarTrek movies: we
have to protect what came before us.”
Abrams and Mindel have worked on five films
together, since Mission: Impossible III nearly ten years ago,
and Mindel calls the director “one of the most creative
people you’ll ever meet.” Their first conversations on The
Force Awakens focused on the look of the film, which would
be a nod – in every way from casting to set design – to
the original Star Wars. That quite naturally led to their easy
decision to shoot on film. “We decided to give the texture
of the film a similar feel to period movies made at the time
of the first Star Wars movie,” he says.
Working with Panavision in Woodland Hills, California,
Mindel settled on two Panavision XL cameras and Kodak 5219
film stock. “I asked them to decorate the cameras in matte
black, specially painted for the movie as a commemorative
colour,” he says. “We named A-camera Millennium Falcon
and B-camera was Dark Star, and Panavision engraved
them, to make them something that will be looked at later
down the line as the cameras used in the movie.”
Mindel wants to make clear that the decision
to shoot on film was not a knee-jerk reaction against
digital technology. “We might appear to be Luddites in
the decisions we make regarding how these movies are
captured,” he adds. “But the truth is that we’re far from it.
We look at the technology very carefully and take it very
seriously. As far as storytelling goes for the big screen,
I can tell you unequivocally that film is by far the most
70 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
texturized and powerful medium that exists. And that’s
why we chose it and why we continue to use it.”
Lenses would be crucial in creating the period
look that the filmmakers were going for. For over a year,
Mindel worked closely with Panavision vice president of
optical engineering Dan Sasaki, to create the lens series he
wanted, now called the Panavision Retro Cs.
“Dan is the foremost lens master on the planet,”
says Mindel. “I got together with him and my focus puller
and, over the year before we started shooting, we were
designing these lenses.”
The process was iterative. Sasaki would make a
lens, Mindel and his crew would shoot with it, and then
they’d all look at the results on a big screen and make
whatever tweaks were necessary.
“By working this way, we were able to come up
with a series of lenses that looked like how I wanted them
to look: a little softer, a little more patina to them than
modern lenses,” says Mindel. “These lenses also allowed
me not to put diffusion in front of the lens, but rather have
it built into the lens. I love what Dan and Panavision did.”
The most challenging aspect of shooting on film
was the fact that in the past few years, the infrastructure
supporting a film shoot has been falling away. Mindel
was determined to make it work although he notes that
all the major film labs in the UK had closed, leaving him
with few choices. Because The Force Awakens was shot
in Pinewood Studios, as well as Abu Dhabi, Iceland and
southern Ireland, Mindel leaned towards choosing a lab in
Europe. He ultimately picked i-dailies in London, although
he considered the possibility of shipping dailies to FotoKem
in Los Angeles as a back-up plan.
Mindel found that i-dailies wasn’t quite ready for the
job he proposed they take on. “They were in demand and
under-equipped for a movie of the size we were going to
give them,” he says. “Fortunately, our schedule pushed and
that gave me more time to put copious camera tests into
the lab and see how the quality control was going to be.”
In a stroke of luck, one of the second units began
shooting in Iceland to capture the snowy landscape before
it melted. That gave Mindel the chance to test out the lab
before principal photography began.
“It enabled me to put real-time dailies through the lab
and to use them to get the lab up and running the way we
wanted to work,” says Mindel, who singles out i-dailies’ Nigel
Horn and Clive Noakes as doing “a great job. The lab stepped
up to the plate and functioned in a completely professional
way, and delivered dailies the way we needed them.”
With the lab in place, Mindel set up his basic
workflow. After the film was processed at i-dailies, the
negative was shipped to Company 3 in London; a driver
transported a hard drive back to Pinewood so the crew
could watch digital dailies on a big screen. That’s of
great importance to Mindel, who notes that a big screen
enables him to keep an eye on focus as well as exposure.
The entire camera department watched dailies in the
morning before they began the day’s work, an important
feature of how Mindel prefers to work.
Although a couple of assistants were brought
in from the US (to manage the flow of information and
material to editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey,
studio executives and visual effects company Industrial
Light & Magic), Mindel says, “we were able to find excellent
 “It was absolutely incredible,
I was able to deal with 1,000
people a day on the main set,
which is insane if you think
about it.”Dan Mindel ASC BSC

crew in England,” from the art department to the grips. Mindel once to
“The grip and electric were some of the best people I’ve consciously stayed get it right.
ever worked with, anywhere in the world,” singling out away from using We did this
gaffer Perry Evans, plus grips Gary and Paul Hymns and gear that didn’t a lot, and it’s
Gizza Smith in particular. “It’s hard to find people who are exist – such as fabulous to
so committed to what they do.” the Technocrane watch.”
In the original Star Wars, the crew went to Tunisia; for – when the original Another
The Force Awakens, the crew ended up in Abu Dhabi, which Star Wars was important
had built up infrastructure to appeal to film productions. made. “We tried production
“It was absolutely incredible,” says Mindel. “I was able to to use dollies,” he continuity from the
deal with 1,000 people a day on the main set, which is insane says. “We did a lot original Star Wars
if you think about it, in the middle of the desert. They were of ‘dance floor’, where was Industrial Light &
feeding us, transporting us, we had cell phone coverage… it the dolly and actors are choreographed Magic, which was born
was phenomenal. This is the industry we live in now. It’s global on a floor that allows the dolly to move out of its pioneering
and everyone has to be prepared to travel around the world.” anywhere as opposed to staying on track. work on the original
On the stage, the crew shot using sets that were The dolly grips [Hymns and Smith] were Star Wars. “ILM has
exact replicas of those used on the original film, including – like ballet dancers the way they were able so much experience
and especially -- the Millennium Falcon. “That’s iconic,” says to move the camera around the floor with working with film that
Mindel. “It couldn’t be changed physically although the movie the actors. That is a spectacular way to make it wasn’t an issue at
was set 35 years later.” Because he wasn’t able to retrofit or films. The guys on camera and dolly have to all,” says Mindel. “JJ and
change the Millennium Falcon in any way, that restricted his listen to the dialogue, know the script and, on I, on every single movie
lighting plan as well. “We used the lighting plans and fixtures cue, move with the actors without messing it we’ve done together have
that were already there,” he says. up. There are four, five, six people working at used ILM as our VFX go-to
people. They have taught us
so much about how to do
Feel the Force... this in a meaningful way that
Dan Mindel ASC
BSC on set with doesn’t jar the viewer when
Director JJ Abrams you’re immersed in the movie.”
With all its many moving
parts, Mindel stresses that, “every
piece [of Star Wars Episode VII: The
Force Awakens] is made with care, love
and attention.” “I’m not even talking
about the other departments,” he
says. “I’m just talking about the camera
department. I want to get across that
film needs to be preserved. We took
what we know and what was in front
of us and were able to use it in the
way that people have been making
movies for 100 years. The result is a
hand-made, analogue-derived film.”

Close-Ups were researched and written by

Debra Kaufman and Kevin Hilton.

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 71

 LIVE & LET DI / WHO’S DIALLING-IN THE DI GRADES
LipSync… has has a busy
time tweaking the looks
on several productions,
including London Road
Technicolor, London: supervising digital colourist Peter
Doyle completed the 2D and 3D stereo grade of Pan,
directed by Joe Wright, with Seamus McGarvey BSC
ASC the cinematographer. Doyle is also grading multiple
previews for Tarzan (dir David Yates, DP Henry Braham
BSC) and Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (dir Tim
Burton, DP Bruno Delbonnel AFC ASC). Jean Clement is
completing the HDR and 3D grades for In The Heart of The
Sea (dir Ron Howard, DP Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC
ASC), whilst colourist Tony Dustin has been grading Secret
In Their Eyes (dir Billy Ray, DP Daniel Moder).
On Technicolor’s broadcast post-production
side, senior colourist Dan Coles completed the grade of
People Just Do Nothing and Top Coppers, both produced by
Roughcut Television
for BBC3. He is
also in the process
of grading series
nine of ITV1
detective drama
Lewis. Colourist
John Claude has
been grading The
… has deli vere d DIs
Technicolor London y of the Gamechangers for
& Doy le, the stor
for Houdini BBC 2 (dir Owen
ry Houdini and
friendship between Har
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Harris, DP Gustav
Danielsson).
Projects handled by Technicolor’s
dailies post production team include Lost City Of Z (dir
James Gray, DP Darius Khondji AFC ASC), the ITV/Big Talk
mini-series Houdini & Doyle, and TV series Galavant.
In further news, Technicolor recently announced
the acquisition of London-based facility The Mill, for
€259 million on a debt-free basis. Founded in 1990, The
Mill is recognised as a premier visual effects provider
for advertising agencies and brands, and has operations
in London, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The
acquisition accomplishes several objectives set out in
Technicolor’s strategic Drive 2020 roadmap, namely to
establish a leading position for VFX and digital creation,
reinforce its portfolio of brands including MPC, Mr. X
and Mikros Image, and add talent and expertise around
emerging technologies such as virtual reality.
Molinare: has enjoyed a couple of bumper months having
graded no fewer than six films screening at this year’s
London Film Festival. These included Nick Hornby’s
Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan, shot by Yves Belanger, and
chilling thriller The Ones Below, lensed by DP Ed Rutherford,
plus documentaries including the thrilling Steve McQueen:
The Man And Le Mans, including cinematography by Matt
Smith, Elstree 1976 which goes behind the scenes of the
original Star Wars, with footage shot by Sonny Malhotra,
and the ground-breaking Listen To Me Marlon, narrated
by Brando himself, utilising his archive audio files, with
additional cinematography by Ole Bratt Birkeland.
Molinare DI grader Jat Patel pulled out the
stops for sci-fi thriller, Narcopolis about a new breed of
72 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
police officer in the near future, working in a city where unsettling to evoke an alien planet. It’s a complex show, with
all recreational drugs are legal. It was directed by Justin blockbuster movie aspirations, and whenever we can use the
Trefgarne, with Christopher Moon the DP, and Elliot Cowan, grade to add that extra sparkle it gives you a great buzz.
Jonathan Pryce and Elodie Yung leading the cast. “Narcopolis “I’m always looking for ways to extend the magic
was a great film of the VFX shots beyond the digital
to grade, as it’s a matte paintings of alien planets
classic dystopian, and spaceships. Using Baselight’s
noir look with impressive compositing tools we can
splashes of add background atmospherics right
strong colours there in the grade – hide a weeping
in scenes to angel in mist, add falling snow to a
compliment meeting with Santa Claus, or layer
the narrative of floating embers to a scene at the side
the legalisation of a volcano. A heavily-treated sky
of drugs,” said replacement can transform a typical
Patel. “Shot over British landscape into something
a few countries much more alien, and doing this in
and locations, the grade allows the process to
the challenge be collaborative and, most
was to make the Molinare… conjured up some
importantly, to hit tight
landscape look interesting colour grades for deadlines. When dinosaurs
like it was from a Dr Who and Narcopolis stomped around London
single believable we animated their moving
future London in different time zones, which we achieved shadows into the surrounding
over a five-day grade. We used Baselight’s VFX ability to drama shots to continue the
create complex effect shots to help accentuate the plot sense of threat through the
twists, including camera shakes, flares, smoke, flicker, boom whole scene and not just the
removals, window reflections and many more subtle effects.” standout VFX shots, and it’s
Meanwhile colourist Gareth Spensley got to work this kind of “stretching the
on 12 x 60-minute episodes of Dr Who, series nine, which magic” that’s so important on a
sees Peter Capaldi return as The Doctor to deal with Daleks, Narcopolis
show like Dr Who.”
underwater ghosts and even Vikings. “Grading Dr Who is Meanwhile, Molinare
a real treat for a colourist. Every episode is different,” said has formed a strategic and
Spensley. “One show might involve a period look for a creative alliance with Manchester’s oldest independent
Victorian adventure and the next something strange and post facility Flix. The companies will share technical and
Onsight: using match footage, never-before-
Onsight… helped to transition the
look from gritty to glorious for the seen material, plus special interviews including
rugby-doc Building Jerusalem Jonny Wilkinson and Sir Clive Woodward,
shot by DP Joel Devlin, the new feature
documentary Building Jerusalem tells the
extraordinary story England’s Rugby World
Cup win in 2003. Onsight worked with New
Black Films to manage the high volume of
data from the ‘90s to present day, which
involved an extensive conform process, due
to the range of formats. The team, including
online editors Matt Pamplin, Chris Young and
sound supervisor Andy Coles, also performed
archive restoration, the grade, audio and
mastering. Senior colourist Andy Lee focused
on a gritty feel to reflect the nature of the
sport and history. He also developed a look
that progressively brightened as the England
team reaches its glorious victory over the
Aussies in the epic final.

creative resources and enable clients to take advantage
of regional access as they require. For instance they can
edit their production at Flix’s brand new state of the art
facility in White Tower at MediaCityUK; and take advantage
of Molinare’s creative talent in London, whilst utilise the
technical support of both companies to manage efficient
workflows.
Pinewood Post Production: Bull for John Stanley
Productions recently posted at Pinewood Post Production.
Outpost provided offline, online and Pinewood Digital
provided the grade facility with Stuart Fyvie as the colourist.
Unusually the sitcom was shot on Alexa to give both studio
and location scenes a more filmic look.
LipSync Post: provided post-production as well as equity
investment services for three features at the Toronto
International Film Festival – London Road, produced by
BBC Films and Cuba Pictures, directed by Rufus Norris,
with cinematography by Danny Cohan BSC; London Fields,
directed by Mathew Cullen, shot by DP Guillermo Navarro,
and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Cara Delevingne and
Johnny Depp; and Kajaki directed by Paul Katis, lensed by
Chris Goodger.
The Soho facility is now providing equity
investment and full post-production services – including
grading, sound mixing, titles design and VFX – on the
upcoming supernatural thriller The Crucifixion, starring
Sophie Cookson, Javier Boter and Alexis Rodney, shooting in
Romania with Xavier Gens in the director’s chair and Daniel
Aranyo the DP.
Technicolor PostWorks
NY… helped recreate
1980’s Yonkers for
HBO’s Show Me A Hero,
Technicolor PostWorks, NY: handled dailies processing,
editorial conforming, final colour grading, sound mixing
and deliverables for HBO’s new six-part drama Show Me A
Hero, directed by Paul Haggis, and written by David Simon.
Show Me a Hero is set in 1980’s Yonkers, New York and
centres on conflicts among elected officials, bureaucrats
and citizens over federal court ordered construction of
low-income housing. It stars Oscar Isaac, Winona Ryder,
Jim Belushi, Alfred Molina and LaTanya Richardson-Jackson,
among many others.
The challenge for Technicolor PostWorks was to
deliver six hours of feature-quality material under tight time
constraints. Simon’s insistence on realism and absolute
fidelity to the series’ time period also set a high bar.
Both dailies and final colour grading were
performed by senior colorist Sam Daley. During pre-
production, Daley worked with cinematographer Andrij
Parekh to prepare colour LUTs as an aid in setting looks
on the set. “We created two LUTs, one that was colder
for bureaucratic settings and one that was warmer for
human interest aspects of the show,” Daley recalls. During
production, Daley applied colour looks to each day’s camera
media using a Colorfront system. Going beyond what
is normal at the dailies stage, Daley performed detailed
grading on a scene-by-scene basis in order to set looks that
were near to final. His aim was to provide the editorial team
with imagery in close to finished form, and to make final
grading more efficient.
“The Colorfront system allowed me to set ASC
CDL values that I could carry over to the final grade,” he
explains. “Most of the colour correction was done with
Technicolor PostWorks NY…
collaborated with Ken Burns
and Daniel J. White on the
restoration of The Civil War
primary grades. During final grading, I used Resolve
mainly for global adjustments within scenes, saturation
adjustments, beauty work and tracking.”
Final grading sessions with Daley were
conducted under the supervision of Haggis, Parekh and
producer Nina Kostroff Noble. Daley notes that the
ultimate look of the series was influenced by the work of
artists Giorgio de Chirico and Tamara de Lempicka and
classic films such as The Conformist, The Insider, The Yards
and The Assassination of Richard Nixon. 
“It’s a high contrast look,” he says. “There
is a lot of backlight built into the photography with
desaturation added on my end. We often toned down
the background colors to make the characters stand out.”
Having used Colorfront, with its limited set
of colour tools, proved an advantage in arriving at
an authentic period look. “It does not appear to be a
modern digital correction where windows, keys and
other tricks are used to create a highly polished look,”
says Daley. “This was a very aggressive grade that
was based on a toolset similar to what was available
at the time.”
Technicolor PostWorks also collaborated
recently with Ken Burns and Daniel J. White to restore
and remaster in 4K the landmark PBS documentary
The Civil War for its 25th anniversary rebroadcast and
Blu-ray release. The Civil War was shot on 16mm film
by Burns and his co-cinematographers Allen Moore
and Buddy Squires in a production spanning more
than ten years. For the new restoration, 50,000 feet
of original negative, conserved by George Eastman
House, was scanned frame-by-frame. This enormous
task was shared between George Eastman House and
Technicolor PostWorks, using identical ARRIScan film
scanners at 4K resolution.
Data management was a major challenge
throughout the process. 4K files for the full ten-part
series comprised more than 110TB of data with more
than 25TB kept “live” at any one time. Restoration
was accomplished by a team of artists, editors and
producers, including vice president of creative services
Ben Murray, conform editors Jeff Cornell, Allie Ames
and Ryan McMahon and colorist Jack Lewars on
Autodesk Lustre.
Nube Studio, Mumbai: set up to provide
uncompromised grading services for the Indian market,
Nube has opened with a Baselight Two grading
workstation as its centrepiece. The colour-driven facility
is providing services for commercials, music videos,
television and film throughout the region. Open since
June 2015, Nube as completed over 100 commercials
for brands including BMW, Philips, Cadbury, Amazon,
Honda, Nescafe, Olay, Jaguar, Lifebuoy and Renault.
Oxido, Mexico City: has invested in new Daylight
on-set grading systems from FilmLight. The Daylight
systems have been fitted into two data management
vehicles that can be driven to studios or locations to
provide digital dailies and start the grading process.
Oxido has two Baselight suites in its OxidoFilms
operation, supervised by colourist Fernando Medellin.
Colour grading files created in FilmLight’s Baselight
Linked Grade (BLG) format in Daylight can be
transferred alongside the media, so colourists see
the decisions made on set immediately. Daylight also
synchronises audio – essential for the editorial outputs
– and allows the director and DP to attach notes to
each shot, providing helpful guidance for the editor.
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 73
 CLAPPERBOARD / Ron Collins / by David A. Ellis
Former Movietone news cameraman Ronald Ernest
Collins was born on the 29th January 1942 in
Cheltenham and went to school in London. His ambition
was to be meteorologist, but after leaving school in
1958 he joined Rank Screen Services in Hill Street,
London. His first job was as an office boy followed by a
job with Rank as a trainee model animation cameraman
in Hammersmith, London. After a year he joined Paul
Barralet Productions as a trainee assistant cameraman.
The company was a well-known industrial documentary
film production company.
74 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
I
n 1960 he moved to Movietone News, which
was based in Soho Square and was part of 20th
Century Fox. He was appointed by Paul Wyand, the
assignment manager, as an assistant cameraman on
a six-month trial. Wyand had been Movietone’s chief
cameraman and had written a book about the newsreel
business and his life as a newsreel cameraman called
Useless If Delayed.
Movietone began in 1928 and it is likely that
one of the first cameras was the Bell & Howell Eyemo.
Another camera used was the Wall camera, a sound
on film system by Movietone. It later adopted under
licence the Western Electric variable density system
until Movietone went over to magnetic recording. The
Wall camera recorded sound only nine frames ahead of
the picture, which meant it had to be edited before it
could be projected twenty frames ahead. The Wall had a
four-lens turret, which could be rotated while shooting.
The Newman-Sinclair camera followed the Wall. Another
model used was the Cameflex by Éclair. This camera was
used until Movietone News closed in 1979.
After six months Collins was given the opportunity
to go out on his first solo assignment and was given a
heavy, ancient Newman–Sinclair camera to operate. His
task was to provide two minutes of screen time of the
Christmas lights in Oxford Street.
The Newman-Sinclair cameras had been in
use from the early 1930s and were used on many
documentaries. Stanley Kubrick used one on some
sequences of A Clockwork Orange. As an assistant Collins
worked alongside a chap named Norman Fisher, who
was then chief cameraman.
On location… Ron Collins, wearing glasses,
with assistant cameraman Michael
Anderson on a shoot in Norfolk in 1962
In 1963 Collins became a fully-fledged cameraman
on a weekly wage of £22. With Fisher he worked on
Movietone’s contribution to the TV programme This
Week. Fisher and Collins were responsible for shooting
whole sections of the programme. They were both
engaged to shoot sequences for the hit TV cop series No
Hiding Place, using a 35mm Arricord self-blimped camera.
Other work included filming documentaries to promote
movies produced or distributed by 20th Century Fox.
These included The Longest Day and The Sound Of Music.
Asked if there were any assignments that stood
out, he said, “One that stands out was being invited to
Windsor to shoot material for the Queen’s forty-second
birthday with her family. That was a privilege. The film
was in colour and that material was used by the BBC
every night when their service was closing down.”
Collins was one of the cameramen who covered
the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.
Until 1963 Movietone provided film for the
United Press Movietone Television (UPMT), the
first truly global television news service. Movietone
cameramen were required to shoot some items in 16mm
using the Paillard Bolex, the Bell & Howell silent cameras
and Aurican sound camera.
From 1963-1967 Movietone continued to supply
United Press International Newsfilm (UPIN) with 16mm
films for the news service. Collins said that newsreel
companies made a lot of commercials for television in
the early days of independent television.
Academy Award…
Derek Lightbody and
Ron Collins collect a
major gong for the
virtually showdowless
Aurasoft light
Snapped… during the
making of the film
The Longest Day
“One that stands out was being invited
to Windsor to shoot material for the
Queen’s forty-second birthday with her
family. That was a privilege.” Ron Collins
Often on an assignment he would be a one-man
band, operating, directing and doing all the other required
skills. He said there were no set hours. It really depended
on where the job was located. Sometimes it could be done
in a day; sometimes you needed to stay in a hotel.
When going on an assignment how much film did
he carry? “You were told by the editorial staff that we
want two or three minutes of material depending on the
importance of the story and if it was in black and white or
colour. On 35mm you would always take two magazines
to cover the story and maybe a third as a back-up.”
Collins gained a reputation for his work in sport.
In 1968 he worked on the Mexico Olympic games and
Taking a squint….
pictured at the Grand
National, Aintree, in the
mid-1960s, with an Éclair
Cameflex CM3 with B&L
cinemascope attachment
was DP on a number of feature documentaries. He was
employed by Movietone for ten years, leaving in 1968
to do other freelance work. Between other work he
carried on working for Movietone on a freelance basis
for a further ten years.
When working abroad did he hold on to the
unprocessed film until getting back to England? “In
the majority of cases we held on to the film until we
got back because the stories abroad were mainly soft
news stories – they weren’t what we called hard news
stories,” he said.
Collins said he doesn’t regret one moment of it.
He worked with about eight cameramen. One of them
was Michael Samuelson, brother of Sir Sydney. “I was
able, while training, to pick up their best points,” he said.
Collins won two awards for his news work. In
1968 he won the World Newsreel Award in the general
news category for a soft news story called On The River.
In 1981 Collins was part of the film crew that filmed
football sequences in the John Huston movie Escape
To Victory. In October 1999 Collins was awarded a
Fellowship of the British Kinematograph Sound and
Television Society. It was for services and innovations
provided to the film and television industries.
In 1969 Collins formed a company that went
on to turn over millions of pounds called Optical
& Textile Ltd, which was later renamed Optex. The
company provided a wide range of equipment to the
motion picture industry. The company won several
awards including the Prime Time Emmy Award for the
first compact image intensifier. Later the company
was given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts &
Sciences (AMPAS) a Technical Achievement Award
for the design of a virtual shadowless soft light called
Aurasoft. This also won a Prime Time Emmy. Collins
now lives in Sri Lanka.
Thanks go to Ian Gallacher for information written
by his father Terry, who was Movietone’s assignment
manager from 1961-1964. Further information can
be found by searching online, Ron Collins / Terence
Gallacher Recollections Of A Career In Film.
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 75
 INNOVATOR / Jeff lawrence / ronford Baker / by KEVIN HILTON

Gripping
stuff
Ronford Baker is known on the international filmmaking scene for its innovative
fluid heads and tripods, in addition to other support hardware such as tracks
and sliders. The company was founded by camera rental company owner
Ron Ford and engineer Harry Baker. Today the public face of Ronford Baker is
managing director and designer Jeff Lawrence, who has been involved in product
innovation since the very early days. He talks to Kevin Hilton about significant
products, famous commissions and how he sees the market in the future.

BC: How did you come to work for Ronford Baker? BC: What kind of work were you and the company
JL: I joined about three months after the company doing in the early days?
started in 1966. I had worked for Harry Baker when he JL: Someone would come to us with a problem, saying
was manager at an engineering company where I was that something wasn’t working, or they wanted us to
working while I was doing my City & Guilds at college. make it better. Harry brought in two other people soon
Engineering had always been an interest and I’d been after the company was set up; one was a turner and
into motorbikes and cars. Ronford Baker was set up the other was me. I was working in the machine shop
because Harry used to do repairs and special things for on the milling lathe, as well as assembly work. All the
Ron Ford’s camera rental firm. In those days you couldn’t construction was done in the back of Harry’s brother’s
get spare parts for barn on a farm in Watford. We were there until three
some of the equipment. years ago, when we moved to new premises in Kings
Ron had a small Langley. Where we started out was nothing very
engineering company sophisticated and wasn’t the best environment to work
based in a gatehouse at in ­– it didn’t have a damp course and there was water
Borehamwood Studios running down the walls – but it did have character. For
and people would bring the first three years we sub-contracted special jobs for
Miller heads and other Ron Ford and expanded from there. We also worked for
equipment in because other rental companies. There was always something on
it either didn’t work the go and only three people to work on it.
properly or they wanted
it to do something else. BC: Who did the requests for modifications and special
Ron suggested setting equipment come from, and is it the same as today?
up a dedicated company JL: Every filmmaker wants to get a different angle, so
and said he would put up if there aren’t the tools it’s a kind of evolution to make
the money. The original them. A lot of the work we did in the late ‘60s and early
idea was also to service ‘70s was for Stanley Kubrick, on films like A Clockwork
ARRI film cameras, Orange (1971). Where we were based at the time
because no one was was quite close to where he lived in Elstree. He was a
doing that at the time, very demanding man, but had some wonderful ideas
but I don’t think they and would spend a lot of money to get just one shot.
ever did work on any. The trouble is half the movie-going public wouldn’t

76 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

understand what he was doing. In other cases requests
for modifications or new products would come through
a rental company or the camera operator. These days we
usually work with the grip, although sometimes they’re
passing on what the director of photography wants.

BC: What was Ronford Baker’s first innovation?

JL: The first tripods appeared in April 1967. Back then
there were only wooden tripods or metal ones with the
tubes inside each other. If those got damaged then they
wouldn’t work properly. When David Lean started making
Ryan’s Daughter (1970, DP Freddie Young BSC), there was
a requirement for constant use of the camera on a tripod
in the sea. Wooden tripods wouldn’t be any good for that
so Harry said he could do something tubular made out
of aluminium. It couldn’t be steel because it was going to
be used for six months up and down a beach in Ireland.
What he came up with was a completely new design
and led to our heavy-duty tripod, which was followed
by the medium duty and then the lightweight. We’re still
producing them today and 99% of other tripods used in
filmmaking are very close copies of that original design.

BC: The company is also well known for its fluid heads.
How did those come about?
JL: Back in the early days fluid heads had only two

“The first product I had a lot of input into

settings: on and off. People were bringing heads in to
us because they wanted them to do more than that.
Harry looked at some of the equipment that was brought

was the F (Fluid) 7 head, which was in 1972.

in and said, “If I couldn’t make something better than
that I couldn’t call myself an engineer.” At the time the
camera that was being used most on productions was

One of the main things about it was it doesn’t

the ARRI 2C, which was cylindrical and looked a bit
like a washing up liquid bottle. We developed the first
variable fluid head for that, which was our F15. That was
in development from 1967 to 1968 and was released in

need a counter-balance because the mass of

January 1969. There were later versions of our heads for
other cameras, including the F2 on the Eclair. We made
lots of those. After that came the F7 and F4, leading

the camera is balanced on the pivot point of

up to the Atlas range we have today. The F15 was a
pre-counter balance head but the later ones did have a
counter-balance. For the last 28 years heads have been

the tilt. It also allowed nodal filming.”Jeff Lawrence

one type or the other.

BC: You’ve also produced sliders and dolly track.
How did you approach those areas?
JL: Sliders have only been around about 11 to 12
years and they again came from a request from
people working on productions. The original ones
were OK for DLSRs but they weren’t that popular. We
made something that was aimed at the professional
film market. With the track ARRI went to another
manufacturer but that company didn’t want to make
it so they came to us.
BC: How much input did you have into the early
innovations of Ronford Baker?
JL: I was involved in the development of products
from the
beginning,
including the
F15, although
not a great
deal in the early
days. The first
product I had a lot
of input into was
the F (Fluid) 7 head,
which was in 1972.
One of the main
things about it was
it doesn’t need a
counter-balance because the mass of
the camera is balanced on the pivot point of
the tilt. It also allowed nodal filming. The reason
for developing the Fluid 7 was to accommodate the
Eclair NPR [Noiseless Portable Reflex] camera, which
had a tall base-to-lens-centre height. It works with
half a gimbal and today is the Atlas 7 fluid head for
a range of digital cameras, including ARRI
and RED. The original F7 was built
for Johnny Alcott [the late John
Alcott BSC, cinematographer
on Stanley Kubrick’s A
Clockwork Orange, Barry
Lyndon (1975) and The
Shining (1980)]. Today 90%
of remote heads are based on its principle of half
a gimbal. After that came the F4, which was very
popular with the BBC at Ealing, where they had
ARRI and Aaton cameras.
BC: The company that you head up bears the
names of two other men but you’ve been with it
from nearly the beginning and are as associated
with the products and innovations of Ronford
Baker as the founders. How did that progression
from the machine room to designer and managing
director come about?
JL: Harry died 12 years ago. He had two daughters
and one said I was the son he never had. I think
he was grooming me for taking over at some point
and 30 years ago he got me involved in running the
machine shop. The youngest of Harry’s daughters,
Vicky, came to work for the company and the idea
was eventually we would run the company between
us. But Vicky wanted to go in other directions so I
bought her out about ten years ago.
BC: What directions do you see for the company
and the development of camera support hardware
in the coming years?
JL: We’ve got three projects on the go at the
moment but I can’t talk about them right now. In
the last couple of years we’ve adapted existing
products to suit new demands in the industry.
About five years ago we produced a double-sided
version of the Atlas 7 head for 3D rigs, which was
used first on Hugo (2011, dir Martin Scorsese, DP
Robert Richardson ASC, stereographer Demetri
Portelli). More recently the sliders were motorised
with a kit that can be added to the original product.
It doesn’t matter about the length of the slider, you
just add a belt for movement. That was produced in
the last year and we started delivering about three
months ago. Three of the main rental companies –
Panavision, ARRI and Movietech – are now stocking
it. Development of new products is ongoing as
we get new requests from the hire firms and the
industry in general.

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 77

 IMAGO NEWS / Paul René Roestad FNF / PRESIDENT OF IMAGO
THE FUTURE
IMAGO held its 23rd Annual General Assembly in Jerusalem, Israel, on October 17th/18th with
46 member delegates attending from as far as Australia, Japan and Canada. It was the first time in
IMAGO´s history that the General Assembly was held outside Europe. The Israeli Society ACT, under
their former President Idan Or and his excellent crew, hosted the event generously and perfectly.
T
his year, IMAGO president Nigel Walters BSC
unfortunately come to the end of his maximum
term in office, and stepped down. His eight-year
presidency has been a highly successful period for
IMAGO. The federation has developed immensely and has
nearly doubled in size. It now has 48 member countries,
with more than 4.000 member cinematographers, and has
more activities and energy than ever. IMAGO started as a
European federation, and developed during Nigel’s term
in office to be international, today with members all over
the world – a successful move forward for the Federation.
The new Board of IMAGO is very grateful, and Nigel has
agreed to continue to advise and work for IMAGO in
different capacities, but he will naturally be excused during
any rugby matches with Welsh participation.
IMAGO´s new board and president
During the General Assembly in Jerusalem a new board was
elected: the new IMAGO president is Paul René Roestad
FNF (Norway), and the board members are Nina Kellgren
BSC (UK), Daniele Nanuzzi AIC (Italy), Predrag Bambic SAS
(Serbia), Elen Lotman ESC (Estonia), Rolf Coulanges BVK
(Germany) and Ron Johanson ACS (Australia).
IMAGO’s new president, Paul René Roestad FNF
had his film education in Britain (Manchester and London),
and then worked his way up after starting as camera
assistant and filming numerous features, TV dramas, shorts
and documentaries. Today, in addition to working as a
cinematographer, he also works as a producer and director
in his own production company in Oslo.
He has previously been president of the Norwegian
Union of Film Workers, vice president of the Norwegian
Society of Cinematographers and general secretary of
IMAGO, in addition to many years as a board member of
the above mentioned Societies.
IMAGO – what´s it all about then?
IMAGO is a federation for the world´s national societies
of cinematographers. It was initiated by Luciano Tovli AIC,
and established in cooperation between the AIC (Italy), BSC
(Britain), AFC (France) and BVK (Germany), in 1992. Why?
The founders concluded that cinematographers needed an
umbrella to bring European cinematographers together to
discuss and find solutions to challenges of common interest,
to promote cinematography on an international level, and
to share and exchange experience and knowledge. IMAGO
has expanded greatly over the years, today with member
societies all over the World. IMAGO’s aims and activities
are many, and focussed on, amongst others, the following:
78 | British Cinematographer | November 2015
Promoting cinematography: the importance of
cinematography to the general public, film colleagues and
the cultural-political environments.
Sharing experiences: post-education, updating and
training; sharing knowledge and experience between
cinematographers world wide, both in technical and creative
areas, and informing and updating on new technology and
future developments of importance to cinematographers.
Arranging master-classes, workshops and creative sessions
where cinematographers meet other cinematographers to
learn from each other’s experiences and knowledge.
Authorship & collecting: Informing and updating member
cinematographers and societies on the development
and situation of authorship for cinematographers
in different countries around the world. Informing
about the possibilities of membership for international
cinematographers in national collecting societies.
Working conditions: monitoring the situation,
experiences and developments of working conditions for
cinematographers worldwide.
Monitoring and influencing technical developments:
cooperating with all main camera and filmmaking
equipment manufacturers to transfer the experiences from
cinematographers to the manufacturers, in the belief that
manufacturers utilizing cinematographers’ experiences will result
in equipment better, suited to ease cinematographers’ work.
A federation, not a union
It is important to underline that even though IMAGO
works to monitor and inform our members of, amongst
others, authorship and working conditions, IMAGO is not a
union, but a federation that works to inform and promote
cinematographers’ interests in all areas. Even though the
number of our members who believe cinematographers
are authors/co-authors of the image, and that all
cinematographers naturally should have acceptable working
conditions, is rising steadily, the decision to implement or
work to promote these views within their society and country
or not, is up to the national societies themselves. IMAGO
just works to keep its members well-informed on how other
national societies handle and work with these challenges
and other topics of interest cinematographic interest.
The future!
The General Assembly in Jerusalem showed that the
interest in, and need for, cooperation and sharing
experiences between cinematographers has never
been bigger. Many countries that have not previously
had a cinematographic society are forming them in
The usual suspects… the new
board of IMAGO (l-r): Rolf
Voulanges BVK, Pedrag Bambic
SAS, Elen Lotman ESC, Paul René
Roestad FNF president of IMAGO,
Nina Kellgren BSC and Ron
Johanson ACS. The board member
Daniele Nannuzzi AIC was absent.
order to participate in the international fellowship of
cinematographers that IMAGO provides. Turkey is the latest
society formed for that purpose, and the Turkish Society
of Cinematographers was welcomed as IMAGO´s 49th
member during the Jerusalem Assembly.
IMAGO´s Committee for Creative Technologies in
Cinematography is uniting cinematographers from all the
world´s corners to discuss common challenges. This involves
cooperating with manufacturers to tailor-make camera
equipment to maximally suit professional cinematographers,
and also with cinema projection equipment manufacturers to
make sure our images are projected in the best possible way.
Even influencing cinema screen manufacturers to make the
best screens for the projection of our images. This is just a
few examples of the vastly important work they do.
IMAGO´s Master Class and Education Committees
are arranging masterclasses where cinematographers from
all around the world come to convey detailed information
to their colleagues about their experiences and creative
methods in their latest films.
IMAGO is planning two large international
conferences in Brussels focussing on working conditions
for cinematographers, which many fear are deteriorating,
and on cinematographers’ authorship situations worldwide.
Both conferences will have an extensive number of highly-
qualified and influential international speakers. These
were initiated by Nigel Walters and the new IMAGO
administration will carry this important work forward.
The fifth IMAGO Oslo Digital Cinema Conference
is took place from Oct 30th to Nov 1st, gathering
cinematographers together from many countries discussing
the latest creative and technical developments. The
conference is arranged bi-annually in cooperation with
the Norwegian Society of Cinematographers and the
Norwegian Film Institute. It is regarded internationally as a
high-quality arena where more than 200 cinematographers
and camera manufacturers meet to discus and share
knowledge in digital technical and creative areas.
Visit www.odcc.no for more information.
Keep in touch
The interest shown by cinematographers globally to meet,
discuss topics of high importance, both technical and
creative, is rapidly increasing. That tells us that the need for
IMAGO as an international hub for information, sharing,
discussion and influencing, and as a direct connection and
information line between all national cinematographers
societies, has never been bigger. For more information visit
www.imago.org. And please like us on Facebook!
 IMAGO NEWS / NIGEL WALTERS BSC / Vice-President BSC
Film is
beautiful
The Manaki Brothers Festival ended its
36th year of celebrating cinematography by
awarding the Golden Camera 300 to Matyas
Erdely HSC for his incredible craftsmanship
in shooting the film Son Of Saul.
T
his award, to the Hungarian cinematographer,
marked the culmination of the festival where, in
ten days of photographic screened excellence, the
pendulum had swung encouragingly towards films
from central and south eastern Europe.
The Balkans are seldom far from controversy and the
press corps covering this charming festival, in Macedonian
city of Bitola, was rife with rumours that the jury were
experiencing difficulty in agreeing the final result of the main
competition. Given the quality of the programme this was
hardly surprising. The professional cinematographers present
at the screening were unanimous in the opinion that Son
Of Saul was the masterpiece of the festival and thoroughly
deserved the prestigious Golden Camera 300.
The jury, under their chairman Ryszard Lenczewski PSC,
awarded Macbeth the Silver Camera 300, for an evocative
visualization by the Australian cinematographer, Adam Arkapaw.
The Bronze Award went to the Colombian, Mateo Guzman,
for his cinematography on La Tierra y La Sombra. The
International festival selector, Blagoja-Kunovski Dore, had
chosen well some of the best films available from the recent
major European Festivals of Cannes, Venice and Berlin.
The festival traditionally opens with the showing of
a Macedonian feature. The film Lazar, unlike some previous
Macedonian premiers, thrilled the full audience. It showed
high production values, a pointer to the value of being in a
co-production with Croatia, Bulgaria and France. The craft
values, welded effectively by the director Svetozar Ristovski,
augur well for the future of filmmaking in the region. The
cinematographer was Dejan Dimeski from Skopje.
Under the encouraging vision of the festival director,
Dimitar Nikolov, the SEE CAMERA Program is an innovative
introduction in this melting pot of Southeast East Europe
culture. The purpose is to promote films from the region.
Thankfully the Best Cinematography prize is retained, and
the first recipient for 2015 was Milos Sric from Serbia for his
skill filming the Slovenian/Austrian co-production The Woods
Are Still Green. The inaugural Golden Manaki prize went to
the Turkish film Sivas directed by Kaan Mujdeci. The jury in
this category were Diomides Nikita, Cyprus, Maja Bogojevic,
Montenegro and Miroslav Moncilovic, Serbia. They claimed
complete harmony in their decision-making.
A New European Cinema programme has been
introduced under Dejan Trajkoski. He describes it as
“lyricism, philosophy, an experimental approach, an
uncompromising visual expression, critical towards societies
and reality, an open-mindedness towards the depths of love,
fears”. In short almost anything under the sun!
Line up… the
delegates
at IMAGO’s
Bitola 2015
conference in
Macedonia
Closing ceremony
at Manaki… with
Nigel Walters BSC r
Sof
presenting Jaromir n
ACK with the Golde e
Camera 300 Lifetim .
Achievement Aw
ard
The Best Film was awarded to the Icelandic Rams
which won its director, Grimur Hokanarson a prize of
€10,000 euros given by the Hungarian Film Lab towards his
next project. Best Cinematographer went to Vasco Viana for
the Portuguese film Mountain directed by Joao Salaviza.
The respected Serbian veteran cinematographer and
director Bozidar-Bota Nikolic stole the loudest applause on
the opening night when presented with his Golden Camera
300 by the Major of Bitola, Vladimir Talevski. In his speech he
mentioned film as a collective art and how grateful he was
to those who helped him win the award. The Macedonian
president, Dr Gjorge Ivanov, presented Bruno Ganz with
a special Golden Camera 300 Award for his outstanding
contribution to World Cinema Art, about which there was
no controversy, only universal pleasure! A similar award was
presented to the Russian Actor Aleksey Serebryakov, best
known for his monumental performance in Leviathan.
Short films preceded the screening of the thirteen
films in main competition. If an applause register had been
present the loudest ovation would have been shared for the
Small Golden Camera between the outstanding Macedonian
films, Pepi I Muto, shot by Dimo Popov and Down From
Heaven, by Goran Naumovski. As a jury member it was
difficult to separate the excellence of the storytelling by
either cinematographer. The award was finally given to the
popular Goran Naumovski for the latter. It was presented by
Frosina Boshkova responsible for the imaginative VIP Junior
Programme. As a result of this sponsored youth programme
the children of Bitola are educated to appreciate the craft of
the cinematographer. Where else in the world?
The Documentary Programme under the respected
guidance of Gena Teodosievska, continues to champion
the importance of the genre. A closer overview of the
programme timings in future festivals would ensure a greater
opportunity to enjoy the wider value of the documentary,
important for social and educational development.
Following an invitation error several years ago
when two distinguished cinematographers were invited
simultaneously and both to some embarrassment replied
positively, the Festival Committee have continued the
tradition of giving Golden Camera Achievement awards at
both the opening and closing ceremonies!
The Laureate, to whom I had the privilege of
presenting his Award this year, was the veteran Czech
cinematographer Jaromir Sofr ACK, known for his
collaboration with his director and friend Jiri Menzel. This
resulted in two young men winning an Academy Award
in 1966 for Closely Watched Trains. Jaromir has previous
Eastern European promise…
Dimitar
Nikolov, the new Manaki
Festival
director, has forward-look
ing vision
contact with the Manaki Festival as
president of the jury and winner of
the Golden Camera in 2007 for I
Served The King of England. In the
early days of IMAGO, Jaromir Sofr
made an important contribution
to the participation of the Czech
cinematographers after co-founding
the ACK in 1990. A former Head
of Cinematography at Famu he
addressed the audience with his
hope that future audiences would
be able to watch quality films correctly digitised. The Czech
Society is instrumental in the fight for recognition of the role
the cinematographer should play in digital restoration.
This year workshops were given by Deborah van Dam,
a Dutch filmmaker, masterclasses by Milcho Manchevski,
the Manaki Script Lab continues in collaboration with the
TorinoFilmLab, Sony gave a presentation of 4K cinematography,
and the ACK, with president Marek Jicha, supported by Jaromir
Sofr, illustrated their progress on their digitising system. Various
presentations, exhibitions and entertainment augmented
the festival programme. When the restored cinema of
the Manaki Brothers, burnt down in 1927, is completed
in 2016, Bitola will boast four theatres, meters apart, all
showing 2K projection, with a seating capacity of 1,200.
Balkan conference
IMAGO held the Fourth Balkan Conference of
Cinematographers, featuring the topic of the future of
4K technology in regional filmmaking. It was attended by
delegates from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Albania, Serbia
and Croatia. A visiting guest cinematographer from Kosovo,
Afrim Spahiu, was invited to address the delegates on the
issues and problems affecting the few cinematographers
in his country. An informed and independent view on the
challenges to be faced by new technology was valued from
the Sony representative from Sofia, Djorde Djukanovic.
IMAGO is also grateful for the participation of Tomi
Salkovski SFS; Dimo Popov SFS president; Pedrag Bambic
SAS president; Milos Spasojevic SAS vice president; Piro
Milkani, Albania, Silvestar Kolbas, Croatia, Valentin Perko,
Slovenia, Simon Tansek Slovenia President, Ivan Tonev,
BAC president, IMAGO vice-president. Attending also were
Ryszard Lenczewski PSC and Bozidar-Bota Nikolic, Serbia,
and the Iranian cinematographer Morteza Gheidi who had
the film Nahid in main competition.
The conference delegates were welcomed by the new
Manaki festival director, Dimitar Nikola. He is determined to
establish a platform of excellence to meet the challenges of
the many crafts of filmmaking in the Balkans. The Manaki
Brothers, Yanaki and Milton, can rest in peace assured that
the oldest festival for cinematographers remains in caring
hands. Milton is buried in Bitola, Macedonia, and Yanaki near
Thessanonika, Greece. Brothers united in the spirit created in
Bitola from their pioneering cinematography.
Jaromir Sofr ACK
with the Golden e
Camera 300 Lifetim .
ard
Achievement Aw ha
Jic
Photos by Marek
K
ACK, president AC
British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 79
 GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / by Tim Potter - Chair - GBCT

Our finest hours

T
he recent EU court ruling has finally confirmed
what I have been saying for years – that
travelling for the purposes of work is work.
It means that those who do not have a
permanent place of work should count the time they
spend travelling from and to their home as part of their
working day. Since the introduction of the Working
Time Regulations in 1998, I have maintained that if you
are required to render your services at various places
that are dictated by your engager, then the time it takes
you to get to these various places is part of the work
that you are being asked to do. In the past I have argued
scheduled day off. The timing of your 11-hour break
will no longer be from camera wrap to camera call. It
will have to take into account the time taken to travel to
and from the location. This will have a big influence on
the timing of any claw-back after late shifts, split days
and night working.
There is nothing in the ruling that says that this
time should be paid; that is up to the individual to
negotiate. The Working
Time Regulations only refer
to working hours not pay.
Productions will “those who do not have a
will win hands down and this will be the motivation
for productions to finally act on the issue of excessive
hours. Prep and wrap departments will only be able to
work legally if the camera hours are reduced. Claw-back
will have to be replaced with rest days if turn-rounds
from late or night shifts are to occur legally.
If overtime or long commutes push anyone into
danger of breaching the 11-hour break, the amount
of time that the
next day’s call will
have to be pushed
later will now have

permanent place of work

that the time spent travelling from a production’s main try to ignore the ruling to take that travel
base of operations to a location was work. The part of and continue to set illegal time into account.
the journey that was from home to the production base schedules, so the new rules The way we can

should count the time they

was thought to be equivalent to a normal commute. will have little immediate begin to act on the
This was a distinction made by the HMRC when effect on camera crews. new ruling is to
considering travel expenses. It was a difficult distinction But it will give those make any breaches
to make in practice as most of us travelled directly to
our locations. However, the EU court has gone further
departments who work
before and after camera spend travelling from and of the 11-hour
break a matter of

to their home as part of

than I thought they would by including the part of travel hours more ammunition to complaint that will
that is from home to base. argue for shorter working force productions
This will now affect the way in which productions days. Any success they have to reschedule

their working day.”

count the working time of individual members of
the crew. The UK ‘opt-out’ from the Working Time
Directive has been included in the wording of the
Working Time Regulations. This allows for waivers from
some, but not all, of the provisions of the Act. Most of
us in the film and television industry sign waivers for the
48-hour week, but we cannot waive the 11-hour break
between shifts. The Act does not give us the authority
to waive the breaks between calls and weekend breaks.
The ruling now means that your personal 11-hour break
starts when you arrive home and ends when you leave
home for your next shift. Add 24-hours to this for every
will inevitably have a knock-
on effect on camera hours.
This is the way in which we
will be able to use this ruling
to improve our conditions. If your working time (work +
travel) reaches or exceeds 13-hours then claw-back of
start times will now be legally impossible. Prep and wrap
departments are being routinely scheduled to break this
part of the law. With the affect of this ruling making
the abuse greater, it will not be long before someone
gets sufficiently angry and heedless of their future
career that they will take a production to court. They
accordingly. If any
TIM POTTER such breaches are
not met with the
legal requirement
for ‘compensatory rest’, which is usually taken as a later
call the next day but which must be given within a
reasonable time (courts tend to take reasonable in these
circumstances to be within a week), should now be put
into dispute and any failures to give any worker the
correct 11-hour break should be reported to BECTU.
The more pressure we can apply, the sooner we can
achieve changes to our excessive hours.

80 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / by John Keedwell

Bright ideas… audiences

enjoyed Marvel’s Fantastic
Four and Disney Pixar’s
Inside Out using the Christie
6P laser projector

IBC… and the

lessons for cinema
The recent IBC 2015 show in Amsterdam was again a huge spectacle of technology and
innovation in the methods of sending moving pictures to an audience. There were interesting
developments and many advances on established technologies, and there were the inevitable
“pixel chasers” showing us the latest in a higher and higher definition television screens.

T
here were only really a few “wow” moments at
the show as many of the current advances were
improvements and modifications of conventional
technology, particularly in cameras and lighting. 4K
is now the base level standard of many cameras it seems,
with Sony, Panasonic and Blackmagic now producing
relatively inexpensive 4K-capable cameras for under
£5,000, some even under £1,000 in the case of Blackmagic.
The improvements in technology and manufacturing
enabling such advances are spectacular and mind-blowing,
and the effect on the business will be potentially massive.
The IBC show is, of course, predominantly a
television technology show, not specifically for cinema.
The techniques and technology for television transmission
are very different to that of cinema projection and
cinematography due to the huge difference in viewing
conditions, size of screen and overall immersion and
connection with the screen content.
Yet it is safe to say electronic cameras are now the
established way of producing a huge volume of the movies
we see. It pains me to think of film now being seen as “old
technology”, as many of the techniques are now based in
the digital domain, yet the advances are primarily concerned
with creating a better experience for the audience across
both cinema and television, even with a different audience
experience and production value.
One of the IBC Daily magazine’s headlines was
announcing NHK’s advances into 8K television production
within a few years, and NHK have been at the forefront
of higher resolution cameras and TV displays over many
years now. This again highlighted the debate about where
technology is taking us, and where “chasing the pixel count”
will end. With television the viewer naturally sits closer to
the smaller screen than theatrical releases in cinema, of
course, so there is a limit to the size of screen and how
much extra the human eye can resolve. The introduction
of 8K resolution high dynamic range screens in the Future
Zone left me examining the picture as an electronic image
I didn’t engage with. I felt I was looking at electronic image
and not watching a compelling story, as the sharpness and
enhancement of the image made it become unbelievable.
The human eye in real life doesn’t see saturated colours,
edge detail and certainly doesn’t see everything in focus
from close-up to infinity. Because of this the picture looked which emphasised the full capabilities of an extended colour
“too real”, if that makes sense. It didn’t make compelling gamut. Christie’s latest laser projection technology uses
viewing, even though it was technologically advanced six specific primary colours rather than filtered or polarised
and highly detailed. This is an aspect driven by technology broad-spectrum white light to create a vivid and bright image
without taking account of how the “Mk-1 eyeball” actually to engage the audience, and this, combined with a specially
perceives things. By making it “hyper real” it actually makes installed Dolby sound system meant a cinema experience
it “un-real” to watch, and this is an aspect of electronic second to none, and it was a special treat to witness.
cameras and productions compared to the more organic The fundamental business model of cinema was
approach of film cameras and cinema production. also closely examined. With live events now being shown
Higher definition electronic cameras and projection on the big screen as an event attraction themselves, there
will clearly have a huge knock- could be a fundamental change in how cinemas are utilised
on effect for rising quality and perceived, and what
standards in both television Disney Pixar’s Ins direction cinema needs
ide Out
and cinema productions, and to steer to ensure long-
the need for talented crew, term success.
set design and seamless All-in-all IBC
postproduction effects will 2015 was a good show,
become much more crucial for but not for the usual
discerning audiences. Training, reasons. Technology is
education, quality standards advancing rapidly in our
and attention to detail will business, and some may
become even more essential wonder which way we
as camera and cinema are heading in terms of
projection standards increase. resolution, data rates,
In essence, if any element is dynamic range and the
substandard on the screen it viewing experience. Some
will be noticed by the ever- may argue 4K resolution
critical audiences. is more than sufficient as a
Perhaps more standard for cinema going
interesting in terms of forward. Others argue
cinematography was the discussion about high dynamic 8K. Even 16K was being
range (HDR) projection for cinema, and this was a recurring discussed for future standards. The fundamental issue isn’t
theme within the show. 2015 marks a major step towards necessarily about resolution, it’s about delivering compelling
better quality theatrical releases and consistent standards, content and ultimately telling great stories the viewer is
and this was demonstrated by releasing the first two cinema engaged with to ultimately have a fantastic experience.
releases in a cinema HDR format and an extended colour This has to be paramount at every stage of the production.
palette nearing Rec.2020. Cutting corners and using poor techniques with camera
The 2015 IBC Big Screen Experience closely examined operations and movement, set design, sound, hair, make-up
the topics that are shaping the future of cinema and big- and costume will ultimately show up massively on the ultra
screen entertainment. Packed audiences enjoyed Marvel’s high-resolution, high dynamic range, crisp, bright projection
Fantastic Four and the Disney Pixar film Inside Out, using screen. So a quality of technology as well as the trained
the high brightness Christie 6P laser projector. Inside Out professionals to use that technology must always feature at
was demonstrated in a specially-created version for IBC, the top end of the priorities.

British Cinematographer | November 2015 | 81

 GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / by John Keedwell

After a 10-year renovation the

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
reopened in April 2013, so
I made a point this year of
staying an extra day after the
IBC show to take a look. The
Rijksmuseum is now the home
of classic magnificent paintings
from Rembrandt, Vermeer,
Van Gogh and more.

Y
ou may ask why I am telling you this? Taking × 4.4m). The original painting was apparently even larger, for the vanishing point within the painting was pointed out.
reference from the master painters and other but when it was moved from one building to another many A screw on the rear wall was immaculately rendered with
art forms has always been a large part of years ago it apparently wouldn’t fit the new building. The exquisite shadow detail. The Rembrandt also had fantastic
the cinematographer’s art, and studying of decision was then apparently taken to cut off parts of the detailing in the clothing worn by the two main characters,
composition, light and the ability to tell a story within a painting from the top and the left side. I guess, at that time, and the background action characters are all masterpieces
single picture has always been of interest and influence a Rembrandt wasn’t seen as quite as valuable as it is today. within their own right.
to the great cinematographers. However the visit to the However the current painting is suitably huge and certainly The underlying difference between the two paintings
museum demonstrated many aspects in other areas, dominates any room it would hang in. is the subject matter and the scale. The Rembrandt has a
predominantly related to cinema screens and how the The second famous painting is by Johannes Vermeer massive story unfolding behind the two main characters,
human eye perceives detail. called “The Milkmaid”, sometimes called “The Kitchen and in terms of a movie it would be a fantastic wrangling of
Surprisingly there were many fantastic lessons to Maid” (c1657). Another classic Vermeer painting, “Girl background extras to enable them to achieve their poses
be learned by current high definition cinema in looking With A Pearl Earring” (1665), was the inspiration for the all at the same time as the painting. The Vermeer is a very
at the paintings from Rembrandt and Vermeer, although eponymous 2003 film, of course. The Milkmaid painting simple picture of a maid pouring milk, yet equally compelling
the painters will not have understood this at the time of is striking in many ways, as the quality of light and the and a painting to be studied in greater detail.
producing their masterpieces, of course. Comparing two detail in the picture is Comparing the viewing distance of these two
particular paintings by quite extraordinary, paintings has huge relevance to what I was discussing above
Rembrandt and Vermeer yet this picture is tiny about resolution, pixel count, dynamic range and content.
hopefully illustrates this ays been in comparison to The detail within the Rembrandt is like comparing it to an 8K
Fine art… has alw on for
point, and will put into a source of inspirati may
Rembrandt’s “The Night resolution cinema, as an example. The detail is phenomenal
and
perspective such current cinematographers techies Watch”, being only 17 and masterfully executed, as one would expect from a
discussions about ultra high still help inform theD imaging 7⁄8 in × 16 1⁄8 in (46cm Rembrandt, yet on standing further back to take in the whole
about details in UH
definition cameras and × 41cm) in size. picture this detail is diminished by the lack of resolving power
where the cinema business Both paintings of the human eye. In terms of cinema it is very similar to
is heading. are clearly masterpieces, an IMAX viewing, where the framing and action within the
On heading through yet their scale could scene is somewhat altered when the film is for IMAX, as the
the museum I entered a large not be more different. viewer can take the time to look around the whole scene in
room, which was surprisingly The Rembrandt needs greater detail. The Vermeer is much lower “resolution” and
full of many other people a massive room to the viewing distance is much closer to see the fine detail, yet
compared to the rest of the fully appreciate it, and the detail is still there, although on a smaller scale.
museum. The reason for the viewer needs to The question from these paintings for cinema is how
this was evident after a few stand much further much definition or resolution do we need to see? Or, put
seconds of arriving in the room. away to take it all another way, how much do we actually see when we look at
The painting from Rembrandt in. The Vermeer is a it with our eyes? It may mean the start of longer takes within
called “The Night Watch” much closer viewing the scene to let the viewer look around the image, yet this is
(1642) dominated the room in experience, and a counter intuitive to the cinematography techniques of light
a multitude of ways. The first small puncture hole and shade, focus pulling, camera movement and lens choice,
thing to strike any viewer is the in the painting that along with action within the scene and compelling dialogue
sheer size of the painting, taking Vermeer had put and story. Higher resolution is great as long as it comes with
up a whole wall of the room at their himself and all the traditional storytelling techniques we have come to
11.91ft tall × 14.34ft wide (3.6m used as a reference love and cherish within the cinema.

82 | British Cinematographer | November 2015

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