El Director de Fotografia Britanico

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ENTERPRISING
ALSO INSIDE
MAY 2009
RRP: 6.00
#20: CAMERA CREATIVE DAN MINDEL
ASC TALKS ABOUT TAKING STAR
TREK BACK TO ITS BEGINNINGS
#28: CLOSE UPS MARTIN RUHE ON
HARRY BROWN, ROGER SIMONSZ
GBCT ON NINE MILES DOWN,
W. MOTT HUPFEL III ON J ACK GOES
BOATING, SHANE HURLBUT ON
TERMINATOR SALVATION
#32: F- STOP HOLLYWOOD NAB REVIEW
AND CINE GEAR EXPO PREVIEW
#25: SHOOT THE FUTURE REPORT ON
THE BSC FILM & DIGITAL IMAGE
EVALUATIONS 2009
#19: MEET THE NEW WAVE
J AKE POLONSKY
#38: GBCT NEWS INCLUDING A
REVIEW OF THE BSC NEW
EQUIPMENT SHOW
ISSUE 33 BRITIS H C INEMATOGRAPHER page 1
Pinew ood St udios, Iver Heat h, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH, UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 1753 650101 Fax: + 44 (0) 1753 650111
PUBLISHERS
Alan Low ne Tel: + 44 (0) 1753 650101
St uart Walt ers Tel: + 44 (0) 121 608 2300
EDITOR
Ron Prince Email: ronny@ dircon.co.uk
SALES
Alan Low ne Tel: + 44 (0) 1753 650101
Email: alanlow ne@ brit ishcinemat ographer.co.uk
St uart Walt ers Tel: + 44 (0) 121 608 2300
Email: st uart w alt ers@ brit ishcinemat ographer.co.uk
DESIGN
Paul Roebuck, Open Box Publishing Lt d,
info@ openboxpublishing.co.uk
cont act : St uart Walt ers Tel: + 44 (0) 121 608 2300
THE PUBLICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE comprises of Board members from
t he BSC and GBCT as w ell as t he Publishers
BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER covering Int ernat ional Cinemat ography is part of
Law s Publishing Lt d, Pinew ood St udios, Iver Heat h, Buckinghamshire
SL0 0NH, UK
The publishers w ish t o emphasise t hat t he opinions expressed in BRITISH
CINEMATOGRAPHER are not represent at ive of Law s Publishing Lt d but t he
responsibilit y of t he individual cont ribut ors.
>> Editorial Team
Brit ish Societ y of Cinemat ographers Board Members: President, Sue Gibson. Immediate Past President, Gavin Finney. Vice
Presidents, Joe Dunt on MBE, Alec Mills, Chris Seager, Nigel Walt ers. Governors, Sean Bobit t , John de Borman, John Daly, Harvey Harrison,
Tony Imi, Phil Meheux, Nic Morris, Tony Sprat ling, Mike Sout hon, Derek Sut er, Robin Vidgeon. Secretary/Treasurer, Frances Russell.
Guild of Brit ish Camera Technicians Board Members: Jamie Harcourt (Chairman), Trevor Coop (Immediate Past Chairman),
Caroline Sax (Vice Chairman), John Keedw ell, St eve Brooke-Smit h, Shirley Schumacher, Jane Jackson, Tim Pot t er (Vice Chairman), Keit h
Mead, Rupert Lloyd Parry, Jason Coop, Sam Goldie, Suzy McGeachan (HonoraryTreasurer)
Dear Readers
I remember st anding beguiled a few years
ago in a small art gallery in Cardiff Bay.
We had just launched Brit ish
Cinemat ographer magazine, and t he art of
cinemat ography w as uppermost in t he
mind. The t hing t hat had me spellbound
w as a large phot ographic port rait of
Audrey Hepburn. The monochrome
image, one of a series of port rait s, w as a
composed of a mesmerising blend of light
and shade, sw irls of chiarascuro, sudden
shift s from black t o w hit e - all defining t he
cont ours of t hat elfish face and st ylish
cout ure. The shot clearly t ook t ime t o
creat e, but w as clearly t he w ork of a
mast er w ho could paint w it h light . He w as
Jack Cardiff.
How does one properly classify t he t alent
of some like Jack Cardiff? His passion for
mast er paint ers and t heir use of light led
t he Technicolor Company t o hire him as a
camera operat or in 1936. This opport unit y
in t urn led t o him operat ing camera for t he
first Technicolor film shot in Brit ain, Wings
of the Morningin 1937. He w as event ually
offered t he full posit ion of direct or of
phot ography for A Matter of Life and
Deathin 1946, ironically w orking in B&W
f or t he f irst t ime on t he heavenly
sequences. His next assignment w as
Black Narcissus in 1947, w here he
acknow ledged t he influence of paint ers
such as Vermeer and Caravaggio and t heir
use of shadow. He w on t he Oscar for best
colour cinemat ography for t his film. He
next film w as t he equally iconic The Red
Shoesin 1948.
Cardiff is universally revered as one of t he
great est cinemat ographers of all t ime
(and he also direct ed a number of not able
films, including Sons AndLovers). I w ould
hazard t o suggest t hat w it h such t ow ering
achievement s, never bet t ered, t hat he
made just as import ant a mark in
cinemat ography as Rembrandt , Vermeer
or Caravaggio did in art . As he once said,
t he cinemat ographer is t he person w ho
paint s t he film .
The show must go on. And w here bet t er
t han at The Edinburgh Int ernat ional Film
Fest ival, from from 17t h t o 28t h June?
There's ample room for a decent Brit ish
film fest ival t hat encourages connect ions
and dialogue bet w een t he people w ho
make films and t he people w ho make t he
t echnology for making films.
For professionals, t railblazers, innovat ors
and aspirant s t his is surely a breat h of
f resh air. The f est ival organisers are
put t ing a great deal of energy and
emphasis on t o t he product ion side of t he
filmmaking business, creat ing plat forms
for cinemat ographers, and t he art of
cinemat ography, t o shine. At a t ime w hen
Brit ish film is flying int ernat ionally, it 's
good t o support your local int ernat ional
film fest ival, w it h a fire in it s belly. Who
know s? Some new st ars might be born.
>> C ON TE N TS
Cover Photograph:
Star Trek (2009).
Directed by: J .J . Abrams.
Photo Credit: Industrial Light
and Magic. TM & Copyright
2009 by Paramount Pictures.
All Rights Reserved.
Ron Prince: has many years experience w orking in t he film, TV, CGI and
visual effect s indust ries. He is t he edit or of British Cinematographer
magazine and runs an int ernat ional communicat ions company
(w w w.princepr.com).
P03 President 's Perspect ive: Sue GibsonBSC says producers should never discount experience
P05 Product ion / Post & Techno New s: the latest news for cinematographers
P09 POV: Ginnie Atkinsoncalls onDPs to support the EdinburghInternational FilmFestival
P12 Who's Shoot ing Who?: discover whichDPs are working where
P19 Meet The New Wave: J ake Polonsky would kill to shoot a B&W movie
P22 To Live & Let DI: find out who's putting out the DI grades right now
P28 Close-Ups: Roger Simonsz, MartinRuhe, W. Mott Hupfel III and Shane Hurlbut ASC
P38 GBCT New s: the chairman's statement, plus a review of the BSC New Kit Show
P15 Cannes Preview : the Brits hit the Cote d'Azur for the world's greatest filmfestival
P32 F-St op Hollyw ood: NAB round-up and Cine Gear Expo preview
P34 Let t er From America: StevenPoster ASC says new digital practices are restoring traditional film
methodologies
P35 IMAGO New s: Nigel Walters BSC, president of IMAGO, says the UK might do better to adopt a more
Europeanapproachto the business of filmmaking
P10 Product ion New s: so who is managing the migrationof crew into the UK?
P20 Camera Creat ive: DanMindel ASC onSt ar Trek
P25 Shoot ing The Fut ure: report onthe BSC Film&Digital Image Evaluations 2009
UK
INTERNATIONAL
FEATURES
Carolyn Giardina: is a freelance journalist based in t he
US. She previously served as t he t echnology report er at
HollywoodReporter, t he edit or of Film&Video, and as
senior edit or of post -product ion at SHOOT. Her w ork has
also appeared in IBCDailyNews, Digital Cinema, Post
and Below TheLine.
John Keedw ell: t he GBCT's Eyepiece Edit or, is a
document ary and commercials cameraman w ho has
w orked on many product ions around t he w orld. He
crosses over in bot h film and t ape product ions and has
great know ledge of t he new format s and t heir met hods
of product ion.
Kevin Hilt on: is a freelance journalist w ho w rit es about
t echnology and personalit ies in film and broadcast ing,
and cont ribut es film review s and int erview s t o a variet y
of publicat ions
A Matter Of Death And Life
Dixie Bonham is a freelance ent ert ainment w rit er
based in Los Angeles. His w ork has appeared in bot h
t rade and int ernat ional publicat ions. In addit ion t o
report ing on t he t echnical side of t elevision and film
product ion, he creat es advert ising campaigns and
new slet t ers for many product ion and equipment houses.
At last , f or t he f irst t ime in nearly 20 years a
Brit ish cinemat ographer has w on t he Oscar f or
cinemat ography, and also t he BAFTA, and t he ASC
Aw ard. I know t hat Ant hony Dod Mant le DFF BSC
lives in Denmark, but t hat does not det ract f rom
t he f act t hat t he w hole count ry, let alone t he f ilm
indust ry, has been basking in his and Slumdog
Millionaire's success. It 's j ust w hat w e needed in
t his t ime of economic dow nt urn, so t hank you t o
AMPAS, t he ASC, and BAFTA, and t hank you
Ant hony f or let t ing us bask in your glory.
Since a fair percent age of t he film w as shot on t he
Silicon Imaging 2k camera, it 's not surprising t hat
publicit y w as given t o t he fact t he film w as shot digit ally.
How ever, very lit t le publicit y w as given t o t he fact t hat
t he majorit y w as shot on film. The SI2K w as used t o
great effect in t he slums, and it w ould have been nigh
impossible t o get t he same foot age by any ot her
met hod. This does not deny t he fact t hat Ant hony's
mast erful blending of t he t w o format s w as w hat made
t he end result so good. Just because digit al is new
doesn't necessarily mean it 's bet t er t han w hat w ent
before, and I am sure it 's t he experience of t he
cinemat ographer t hat count s. I w onder, w hen w as t he
last t ime t hat a first -t ime cinemat ographer w on t he
Oscar?
There has been so much publicit y w orldw ide about High
Definit ion t hat t he general opinion is t hat it must be good
if everyone w ant s it . As creat ors of visual ent ert ainment
w e only have ourselves t o blame if w e don't keep up t o
dat e w it h current t echnology, and don't believe t hat
producers and direct ors really need our expert ise t o
inform t hem of t he opt ions available t oday. Aft er all t hey
can't suddenly become expert s in t he digit al w orld
overnight . We are all really in t he same boat , learning
t oget her - DPs, direct ors, producers, edit ors - so it 's
about t ime w e all helped each ot her.
It has come t o my at t ent ion t hat some of our respect ed
Associat e Members are increasingly concerned about
w orking pract ices, and t hat t he changes being
int roduced are not alw ays efficient or cost effect ive. As
HD t ape gives w ay t o dat a as a means of acquisit ion, I
t hink w e need t o t hink carefully about w hat t his means
in t erms of cost . Tape is seen as being cheap and so it 's
easier t o shoot more t akes, w hereas dat a is cost ly t o
t ransfer and st ore and t herefore requires more discipline
on set . As w e are in an era of recession I believe it is our
dut y t o become more responsible for encouraging our
crew s t o run a t ight ship.
There has been a long est ablished procedure w hen it
comes t o crew ing in t he camera depart ment , but poor
w orking pract ices seem t o be seeping in t hrough t he
cracks creat ed by t he perceived differences bet w een
film and HD. I know t hat t imes are hard for bot h TV and
feat ure film product ion, but t hat really should be no
excuse for not employing t he most experienced crew
available. M any of t he pract ices employed w hen
shoot ing film do t ransfer very w ell t o HD product ion, and
discipline can save a lot of t ime and money. I know t here
are many up and coming DPs w ho w ould benefit from
t he experience t hat est ablished crew members can
bring t o any project , rat her t han employ t he cheapest ,
and consequent ly t he least experienced. There has
alw ays been t he t riangle of Quick, Cheap, and Good ,
and t he know ledge t hat you can only ever have t w o out
of t hree of t hese at any one t ime. It is as t rue t oday as it
alw ays has been.
I have heard anecdot es of execut ive producers judging
t he qualit y of grading from an image on t heir lapt op,
count ermanding t he DP's judgement made in t he grading
suit e. They w ere subsequent ly surprised w hen t hey saw
t he result s on a properly set up monit or, w hich only goes
t o show t hat w e need t o educat e t hose in posit ions of
pow er t hat w e do know w hat w e are t alking about . It 's
not t hat w e w ant t o appear dismissive of t he expert ise
of t hose w ho employ us, but t o quest ion t he means by
w hich t hey assess t he qualit y of our w ork. Ours is one of
t he professions w here t echnical art ist ry and experience
really do count .
Sue Gibson BSC
President
BritishSocietyof Cinematographers
U K p r e s i d e n t s p e r s p e c t i v e
Trust me, Im a DP
I know that
times are hard
but that really
should be no
excuse for
not employing
the most
experienced
crew available.
Discipline can
save a lot of
time and
money.
U K p r o d u c t i o n n e w s
First Light Movies, t he UKFC f ilmmaking init at ive t hat
helps disadvant aged young people across UK t o make
short digit al f ilms ref lect ing t he diversit y of t heir lives,
w ill receive support f rom Pinew ood St udios Group
during 2009-11.
Pinew ood's support w ill not only be financial, it w ill also be
looking t o raise t he profile of First Light Movies, ment oring
young filmmakers and allow ing t hem t o use t he st udios'
facilit ies. Various fundraising event s w ill be organised by t he
company, t hroughout t he next t hree years.
First Light Movies w as t he original brainchild of filmmaker Sir
Alan Parker and J ames Bondproducer Barbara Broccoli is t he
charit y's current chair. The organisat ion w orks w it h a diverse
range of young people from w ide social and economic
backgrounds w it h varying abilit ies. Since launching in May
2001, t he Birmingham-based charit y has enabled almost
12,000 young people bet w een t he ages of five and 19 t o
w rit e, act , shoot , produce, edit and screen more t han 900
films w it h Nat ional Lot t ery cash t hrough UK Film Council
funding. The films, ranging from document aries t o animat ions,
are made under t he guidance of professional filmmakers w it h
yout h agencies, schools, colleges and film clubs across all t he
UK regions.
First Light Movies act ing chief execut ive, Leigh Thomas, said,
This import ant and unique relat ionship w it h Pinew ood
St udios Group w ill have a significant impact on t he capacit y t o
creat e t he filmmakers of t omorrow. We are overjoyed t hat
such an import ant cornerst one in t he Brit ish movie indust ry
has chosen t o offer us t heir support in t his w ay.
First Light gets
Pinewood support
Beautiful dawn: (l-r) Pinewood's Ivan Dunleavey, Leigh
Thomas of First Light and producer Barbara Broccoli
p
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Leading members of t he Edinburgh Int ernat ional Film
Fest ival, June 17 t o 28, have revealed ambit ious plans
t o t ransf orm t he event int o Europe's premier f est ival
f or f ilmmakers over t he next f ive years.
The fest ival, w hich has run since 1947 and is t he longest
running film fest ival in t he w orld, t radit ionally t ook place
every August in parallel w it h t he w orld-renow ned t elevision
fest ival. Last year how ever, coinciding w it h a subst ant ial
t hree-year funding package from t he UK Film Council Film
Fest ivals St rat egy, it moved out of t he busy August
Edinburgh fest ival period, adopt ed a June calendar slot and
t ook on a broader remit t o embrace every aspect of t he film
indust ry.
A driving force behind t he new init iat ive is leading producer
Iain Smit h OBE, appoint ed EIFF chair last year, w hose credit s
include blockbust er f eat ures such as Cold Mountain,
Childrenof Men, The FifthElementand SevenYears inTibet.
Edinburgh has alw ays been a young, enquiring and excit ing
fest ival. We w ill build on t hat solid plat form and develop a
t opical, relevant fest ival for filmmakers t oday - w here new,
emerging and est ablished t alent s can connect w it h each
ot her, and w here filmmakers can get t o grips w it h t he
commercial and t echnological forces t hat are changing
product ion, post product ion and dist ribut ion.
Lord Put t nam, producer of The Missionand Chariots of Fire,
w ill deliver t he keynot e address about t he implicat ions for
film and t he creat ive indust ries in t he cont ext of t he
imminent Digit al Brit ain report , in w hich t he UK Government
w ill out line plans t o secure Brit ain's place at t he forefront of
t he global digit al economy.
This year's fest ival has a st rong cinemat ographic t heme.
Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC w ill be in conversat ion w it h
Ant hony Dod Mant le DFF BSC, and Red Camera Company's
Ted Schilow it z w ill present t he lat est advances in t he
company's camera t echnologies. There w ill also be a series
of mast erclasses, w orkshops and present at ions covering 3D
st ereo product ion and digit al w orkflow s, as w ell as t est
screenings, w it h t he aim of assist ing filmmakers w it h t he
vast range of film and digit al choices t hat are available.
These include a preview of t he BSC Film & Digit al Image
Evaluat ions, plus a panel debat e by Image Forum, w hich w ill
address issues relat ing t o t he image qualit y of bot h Brit ish
and int ernat ional feat ure film and t elevision product ions.
EIFF managing direct or Ginnie At kinson said, The EIFF
programme of f ilms has alw ays been a magnet f or
int ernat ional audiences and film professionals alike, but t his
year our indust ry programme w ill embrace a larger number
of filmmaking professionals, promot e cont act and discussion
bet w een t alent , cont ent and t echnology developers,
innovat ors and indust ry. If you are involved in modern
filmmaking, t here is no bet t er place t o discover w hat t he
fut ure holds t han t he Edinburgh Int ernat ional Film Fest ival.
Edinburgh Film Festival reveals
ambitions plans
Bonnie: Edinburgh International FilmFestival is focussing more on DPs and cinematography in 2009, following last
year's successful event with Roger Deakins BSC ASC and Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC
The East man Kodak Company has unveiled t he lat est
product of f ering in it s Vision3 t echnology plat f orm,
t he Kodak Vi si on3 250D Col or Negat i ve Fi l m
5207/7207, in 35mm and Super 16mm f ormat s.
We int roduced Vision3 t echnology in response t o
cust omers request s for an expanded range of capabilit ies
from capt ure all t he w ay t hrough post product ion and
dist ribut ion, said Ingrid Goodyear, of Kodak's
Ent ert ainment Imaging Division.
The new addit ion is designed t o ret ain t he richness in
colours and cont rast t hat are charact erist ic of Vision3
t echnology w it h more det ails in ext reme highlight areas.
The new film incorporat es propriet ary Advanced Dye-
Layering Technology (DLT), w hich renders finer grain
images in underexposed areas and produces cleaner film-
t o-digit al t ransfers for post product ion.
What I like about t he Vision3 5207 is it s int ense rendering
of colour, it s st rengt h w hen it is underexposed, and it s
abilit y t o reach int o t he highlight s, said Fred Murphy ASC.
It has w armer, richer, bet t er skin t ones t han it s
predecessors. It is also good t o have a relat ively fast st ock
t hat gives you st rong images in falling light , urban canyons
or gloomy day ext eriors.
Recent feat ures shot on Kodak include: Never Let Me Go,
Dir Mark Romanek, DP Adam Kimmel; Centurion, Dir Neil
Marshall, DP Sam McCurdy BSC; Nowhere Boy, Dir Sam
Taylor-Wood, DP Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC; HarryPotter
and the Deathly Hallows, Dir David Yat es, DP Eduardo
Serra; Leap Year, Dir Anand Tucker, DP Tom Sigel; Untitled
Robin Hood Adventure, Dir Ridley Scot t , DP J ohn
Mat hieson BSC; Clashof The Titans, Dir Louis Let errier, DP
Pet er Menzies Jnr. TV product ions include: Midsomer
Murders XII, Bent ley Product ions, DP Colin Munn; New
Tricks VI, Wall t o Wall TV, DP Sean Van Hales; Small Island,
Ruby Films, DP Tony Miller; Doc Martin, Buffalo Pict ures, DP
Simon Archer; Four Seasons, Gat e Television Product ions,
DP Tony Imi BSC; Merlin II, Shine, DP Dale McCready;
Spooks VIII, Kudos Film & TV, DP James Welland, Giulio
Biccari; Emma, BBC, DP Adam Suschit zky; BenHur, Pont ius
Pilat e Product ions (Muse) Inc; DP Ousama Raw BSC CSC;
and FramedBBC Wales, DP David Odd BSC.
Kodak introduces new stock
page 6 ISSUE 33 BRITIS H C INEMATOGRAPHER
The UK Film Council is f acing a 22m cut in Lot t ery
f unding over t he next f ive years as money is divert ed
aw ay f rom f ilm t o pay f or t he London Olympics. The
cut s w ill mean an expect ed 15% reduct ion in t he
amount of Lot t ery money available t o Brit ish f ilm - a
drop of around 4.4m a year. The cut s w ill be a blow
f or UK f ilmmakers w ho rely on t he UKFC f unds t hrough
a number of schemes t o help get Brit ish movies made.
This year's UKFC budget is unaffect ed up unt il next April, but
t he cut s w ill begin t o have an impact from next year. Money
from t he Nat ional Lot t ery w ill be key t o funding t he London
2012 Olympics, and UK art s and cult ural organisat ions are
preparing for a drop in t he revenue t hey receive from t he
nat ional lot t ery as a result .
The UKFC has an annual budget of almost 70m, w it h around
46% coming from Lot t ery funds, 40% from government
support t hrough grant s, and t he remainder from invest ment s
and ot her sources. It is not yet know n w het her t he level of
support from government funding could also be hit , w it h t he
cost of st aging t he Olympics rising significant ly from 2.4bn
t o over 9bn.
"We have know n for some t ime and w e have been planning
and making provision, a UKFC spokesperson comment ed.
We're planning how t o go forw ard in a climat e w here w e
know w e're going t o have less money."
The UKFC w as est ablished in 2000 and employees 90 people.
It support s Brit ish film t hrough a number of funding init iat ives
(see box), including a 16m cont ribut ion t o t he running of t he
BFI. It is in discussions w it h t he BFI and w it h regional
agencies t o discuss how t hey w ill be affect ed, and how t o
plan for t he fut ure.
The Premiere Fund of 8m - headed by Sally Caplan, w hose
remit is t o invest in mainst ream, commercially-driven films
and t o encourage Brit ish creat ive t alent - recent ly invest ed in
St ephen Poliakoff's Glorious 1939 and Sam Taylor Wood's
Nowhere Boy.
New Cinema Fund, t he Development Fund and Dist ribut ion
and Exhibit ion account for 13m of t he budget spend. For t he
2007/ 2008 t ax year t he UKFC also gave just under 8m t o
nine regional screen agencies, including EM Media, w hich
part -funded Bronson and Screen Yorkshire w hich helped
fund The Damned United.
UKFC faces funding drop
Lords launches inquiry
into British film and
television
The House of Lords' Communicat ions Commit t ee has
announced an inquiry int o UK originat ed cont ent in f ilm
and t el evi si on. The i nqui ry w i l l exami ne t he
cont ribut ion of t he UK f ilm and t elevision indust ries t o
t he Brit ish economy and how t his might be increased.
It w ill also examine t he cult ural cont ribut ion of t he
indust ry and how current arrangement s support UK
invest ment and j obs.
The commit t ee w ill look at t he effect iveness of t he t ax credit
syst em for t he Brit ish film indust ry follow ing changes made in
2006, and how t he regulat ory syst em has impact ed on UK
cont ent in t elevision. In addit ion, t he inquiry w ill cover t he role
and object ives of t he UK Film Council, t he Government 's
st rat egic agency for film, and of t he t elevision indust ry
regulat or, t he Office of Communicat ions (Ofcom).
In launching t he inquiry, t he commit t ee issued a Call for
Evidence , and w elcomed evidence on a broad set of
quest ions t hat include t he follow ing
What t he UK film and t elevision indust ries current ly cont ribut e
t o t he UK economy and Brit ish cult ure and how might t his be
enhanced?
How do t he current UK arrangement s for raising finance and
dist ribut ing/ exhibit ing films affect t he commercial success of
t he UK film indust ry? How might changes in int ernat ional film
product ion and dist ribut ion affect t he UK film indust ry?
Have t he 2006 changes t o t he t ax credit syst em been of
benefit t o t he UK film indust ry? What effect has it had?
Is t he UK Film Council meet ing it s object ives of giving support
t o product ion and export of Brit ish films, and could it do more
t o assist t he UK film indust ry's cont ribut ion t o t he UK
economy?
Is t he current business environment in t he UK offering t he
indust ries opport unit ies for t he emergence of new t alent or
t he acquisit ion of t he managerial and t echnical skills required
by t he film and t elevision indust ries?
Lord Fow ler, chairman of t he commit t ee, said: "The film and
t elevision indust ries already make a very import ant
cont ribut ion t o t he UK economy. But companies are under
financial pressure, bot h because of st ruct ural changes in t he
indust ries and t he effect s of t he recession. We shall assess
t he prospect s for film and t elevision product ion in t he UK and
w hat might be done t o improve t hem. We w ill look int o t he
financing of t he film indust ry, and in part icular how t he 2006
changes t o t he t ax regime have affect ed it .
The House of Lords' Communicat ions Commit t ee w as formed
in May 2007 t o consider issues relat ing t o communicat ions
and t he media. The Call for Evidence on t he commit t ee's new
inquiry int o Creat ive Brit ain on screen can be found at :
ht t p:/ / w w w.parliament .uk/ parliament ary_commit t ees/ hlcom
municat ions.cfm
UKFC: New Cinema Fund helped South Yorkshire screen agency with cash for The Damned Unit ed
Jack Cardiff OBE BSC
Jack Cardiff, w ho died in April aged 94, w as t he
acknow ledged mast er of colour cinemat ography during
t he 1940s. His w ork behind t he camera ranged from t he
masculine w orld of John Hust on and Errol Flynn in The
AfricanQueenand The Master of Ballantraein t he '50s t o
'80s blockbust ers like Rambo: First Blood Part II and Conan
the Destroyer, but he w ill alw ays be associat ed w it h t he
dream-like w orlds he creat ed for Pow ell and Pressburger.
The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life And Death and Black
Narcissus, w hich brought him an Oscar, have all affect ed
and moved audiences since t hey w ere released over 60
years ago. Oliver Curt is BSC w as inspired by t hose films
and calls Cardiff his
hero, describing t he
ef f ect as "like
being in someone's
dreams... t here w as
somet hing magical
about t he camera".
Cardif f st art ed in
films as a child act or,
making his screen
debut in 1918, t hen became a number boy and a focus
puller before moving int o camera operat ion and light ing.
He had a parallel career as a direct or, gaining an Academy
Aw ard best direct ion nominat ion for his 1960 version of
DH Law rence's Sons And Lovers. He is also remembered
for t he not orious Girl On A Mot orcycle, but not for t he
same art ist ic reasons.
BFI direct or Amanda Nevill comment ed, "He w as a w orld-
class cinemat ographer w ho pioneered t he t echniques of
shoot ing in Technicolor. He made a unique cont ribut ion t o
some of t he great est films ever made. He w as a regular
and much-loved visit or as a BFI Fellow, w hose
irrepressible delight in cinema w as an inspirat ion."
Rosco
Rosco has developed a new part nership w it h Sout h African
light ing design company Congo Blue Design. Aft er being
recent ly appoint ed as a new Rosco dist ribut or for Sout h
Af rica, Congo Blue Design now of f ers Sout h Af rican
cust omers t he full range of all Rosco colours and product s.
Congo Blue Design is one of t he leading light ing design
companies in Sout h Africa, specialising in light ing design and
consult ing for bot h t heat rical and archit ect ural environment s.
Fujifilm Shorts winners
The w inners of t he inaugural Fujifilm Short s Compet it ion w ere Outcasts, lit by St uart Bent ley, scooped t he Best Film aw ard,
w hile DP Richard St ew art 's w ork on Leavingw on t he Best Cinemat ography prize. Shot on Et erna 250T 16mm st ock, Outcasts
is a vivid and original t ale t hat w arns against judging people purely by appearances. Cinemat ographer Richard St ew art select ed
Et erna 400T 35mm for Leaving, st ark port rayal of domest ic abuse.
The panel of judges comprised Mat t Adams of Technicolor, Kat ie Met calfe from Fut ure Short s, Ian Sherborn of Panalux, Hugh
Whit t aker of Panavision, BSC President Sue Gibson, Chris Seager BSC, Haris Zambarloukos BSC and Brit ish Cinemat ographer
magazine publisher Alan Low ne.
(l-r) Sue Gibson BSC President of the BSC, Winner of
FujifilmShorts 'Best Cinematography' 2009 for Leaving
Richard Stewart, and J erry Deeney marketing manager
FujifilmMotion Picture.
(l-r) Chris Seager BSC, Winner of FujifilmShorts 'Best
Film' 2009 for Out cast s Stuart Bentley, and J erry Deeney
- marketing manager FujifilmMotion Picture.
Elstree enjoys resurgence
Elst ree St udios, one of London's most f amous f ilm and
t elevision st udios, has been enj oying a resurgence of
lat e. In it s 85-year hist ory it has been t he st udio of
choi ce f or l egendary f i l mmakers such as Al f red
Hit chcock, George Lucas, St even Spielberg and St anley
Kubrick, and produced maj or f eat ures including Star
Wars and Indiana J ones f ilms, Superman, The Dam
Busters, The Shining, Closer, Derailed, The Other
Boleyn Girl and 1408.
Most recent ly Elst ree w as used by producer/ direct or Mat t hew
Vaughn for his product ions of KickAss, st aring Nicholas Cage
and HarryBrownst aring Michael Caine. ITV's new t hree x 60-
minut e genre t hriller, Murderland, st arring Robbie Colt rane,
w ill also be based at Elst ree. The st udio's George Lucas st age
w as recent ly used as t he rehearsal space for Star Wars: A
Musical J ourney, produced by Anot her Planet Ent ert ainment ,
in associat ion w it h Lucasfilm Lt d. Robbie Williams, Kylie,
Madonna, Alicia Keys, Take That, Led Zeppelin, Il Divo have
also been housed at Elst ree for t heir t our rehearsals.
Dancing onIcefor ITV, Big Brotherfor Endemol/ Channel 4 and
one of t he w orlds most successful TV show s Who Wants to be
a Millionaire?are also made at Elst ree.
In his long career Pet er Rogers produced some 100 films,
but it w as as co-creat or of t he CarryOnseries, along w it h
t he direct or Gerald Thomas, t hat he w ill be forever know n
- from CarryOnSergeant (1958) t o CarryonEmmanuelle
(1978). As much a part of Brit ish life as fish and chips and
w et bank holidays, t he CarryOnfilms remain amongst t he
most popular film comedies ever made; a genre almost in
t hemselves. As for Rogers and Thomas, once labelled "t he
rudest men in t he movies", no ot her producer/ direct or
t eam w orked t oget her for so long - almost 40 years unt il
Thomas's deat h in 1993 - or so happily. Bot h deserve t heir
place amongst ot her great part nerships of Brit ish cinema:
Pow ell and Pressburger, Broccoli and Salt zman.
Peter Rogers
Fujifilm launches
new high-speed
stock
Fuj i f i l m has i nt roduced Et erna Vi vi d2 500,a new
t ungst en-t ype mot ion pict ure colour negat ive f ilm (E.I.
500; 35mm/16mm) f ormulat ed t o of f er high colour
sat urat ion and high cont rast . Incorporat ing Fuj if ilm's
propriet ary grain and coupler t echnology, t he new
st ock delivers high colour sat urat ion and high cont rast
w it h it s high speed of E.I. 500.
As Et erna Vivid 500T shares t he same gradat ion and colour
sat urat ion charact erist ics as t he Vivid 160T, w hich is popular
for int ensit y and t ranslucence. Fujifilm says t hese t w o t ypes
can be used seamlessly.
All films in t he Et erna range are able t o reproduce nat ural skin
t ones and greys in under-t o over-exposed condit ions. In
addit ion t o t hese charact erist ics, t he new Vivid 500T is
designed t o provide high cont rast and high colour sat urat ion,
and reproduce crisp images, int ense and t ranslucent colours,
and deep blacks, enabling a w ide range of expressive
dramat ic effect s.
Opt imizat ion of orange mask densit y and sharpness balance
cont ribut e t o enhanced image qualit y for film scanning or
direct t elecine t ransfer of images from negat ive film t o
videot ape, making t his new est addit ion t o t he Fuji line-up w ell
suit ed for commercials and ot her mot ion pict ures.
Product ions shoot ing on Fuji include: The Philant hropist , Dir
Duane Clark, DP Joel Ransom; It's A Wonderful Afterlife, Dir
Gurinder Chadha, DP Dick Pope BSC; The Kid, Dir Nick Moran,
DP Pet er Wignall, Foyle's War, DP James Aspinall; Emma, Dir
Jim O'Hanlon, DP Adam Suschit zky; The Infidel, DP Nat asha
Braier; Sex&Drugs &Rock&Roll, Dir Mat Whit ecross, DP
Brian Tufano BSC. Commercials/ Promos include: Walkers
Crisps (Weilands), DP Henry Braham BSC, The Big Pink music
promo (Part izan), DP Gabi Norland; Boot s (Hammer & Tongs),
DP Denzil Armour-Brow n; Vodafone (Academy), DP Sean
Bobbit t BSC; Poet ry Season for t he BBC (Red Bee), DP Henry
Braham BSC; Morrisons (Out sider), DP Richard Mot t ; Heinz
(Blink), DP Tom Tow nend; The King Blues music promo (RSA),
DP Mat t hew Fox; Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's music promo (Warp
Films), DP Erik Wilson.
Skillset appoints
new director
of film
Skillset has appoint ed Neil Peplow as it s new
direct or of f ilm, responsible f or overseeing delivery
of t he next phase of A Bigger Future, an ambit ious
overarching st rat egic skills and t raining plan f or t he
UK f ilm indust ry.
Peplow has ext ensive product ion experience in t he film
indust ry, having been managing direct or and producer at
Meerkat Films, as w ell as w orking as a consult ant w it h film
companies t o build st rat egies and business plans. He w as
previously head of product ion at The Film Consort ium,
involved in project s such as MySummer Of Love, Bright
Young Things, The Propositionand River Queen. His career
in film began at Gruber Product ions, w here he produced
Mike Bassett: England Manager, Waking Nedand Shooting
Fish.
A Bigger Futureis a st rat egic plan for delivering indust ry-
relevant skills in t he UK film indust ry. The result of 12
mont hs research and consult at ion w it h t he indust ry - from
t hose involved in script development t o t hose w orking in
exhibit ion - it is a 50m, five-year plan. It is funded by t he
Nat ional Lot t ery t hrough t he UK Film Council, and from
cont ribut ions made t o t he Skills Invest ment Fund (SIF)
from feat ure films, and addit ionally-levered sources of
finance.
Doremi dominates
Doremi Cinema has become a recognised leader in digit al cinema
solut ions w it h a complet e end-t o-end product range. Wit h over
6,000 screens in service as of February 2009, and over 1,200 in
Europe alone, Doremi players represent current ly more t han 75%
of w orld screens in JPEG2000 DCI. On t he mast ering side, over 30
DI labs in t he USA and Europe are equipped w it h t he DMS-2000
solut ion and over 250 feat ures films have been released on using
Doremi solut ions since Sept ember 2005. Product s include cinema
mast ering (DMS-2000, MXF-2000, CineAsset ) t o produce DCP
from DSM or DCDM, playback in t heat ers for 2D/ 3D in JPEG2000
DCI and MPEG/ MXF (DCP-2000 and DCP-2000-MB4K), ingest and
st orage w it h cent ralised solut ions for mult iplexes (LMS-2000), and
cent ralised TMS (TMS-2000).
Airstar Balloons
Airst ar show cased t he lat est in light ing balloons at t he recent BSC
New Equipment Show. The Diamond gives a frameless 2.2m
square face, ideal for Rosco colour filt ers or cust om gels. The
helium fill provides sufficient lift for reflect ors and skirt s, and use
as a primary or fill-light source. The Diamond produces nearly
t w ice t he light out put of it s source. The Gaffair 400w is a pole-
mount ed, flicker-free daylight key source, designed for film and HD
product ion. Also on show w as t he Mini-Cloud, w hich is fast t o
deploy, especially on archit ect urally sensit ive shoot s.
Panalux Vizilink
Panalux has creat ed Vizilink, an int egrat ed suit e of
product s and soft w are applicat ions, t hat provides real-
t ime cont rol over live effect s and light ing sequences. The
syst em maint ains comprehensive records of all scenes,
graphical int erpret at ions of light ing inst allat ions and
accurat e 3D plot s - all useful for reshoot s and post
product ion. Haris Zambarloukos BSC, comment ed, Film
light ing has needed a light ing desk t hat is up t o dat e w it h
t he needs of modern film making and I t hink Panalux have
finally got it right .
ARRI LEDs
The LED side of ARRI's light ing business gat hered pace,
w it h a t rio of advanced LED-based product s int roduced at
NAB. Available in t w o configurat ions, t he PAX Panel Kit s fit
inside small carry cases and offer absolut e cont rol of colour
and light out put . The ARRI Background Light ing Module
provides a solut ion for cyclorama, screen, and rear-
illuminat ed panels, available in bot h RGB and w arm/ cool
w hit e modules. Using a t uneable w hit e source, t he new
LED Cast er Series boast s a special opt ical design t hat
allow s single shadow rendering and adjust ment s over a
range of correlat ed colour t emperat ures.
Litepanels
Lit epanels has launched t he 1x1 Bi-Focus, an LED light
fixt ure capable of variable spot and flood focusing. An
alt ernat ive t o energy inefficient Fresnel light s, t he ult ra-t hin
1x1 Bi-Focus offers a cool-t o-t he-t ouch, low energy draw
solut ion w it h t he abilit y t o vary t he w idt h of light beam. The
1x1 Bi-Focus feat ures t w o independent set s of daylight
colour balanced (5600K) LED bulbs set in t he one-foot by
one-foot square of t he fixt ure: one set of LEDs is comprised
of flood bulbs, t he ot her of spot bulbs. By cross-fading
bet w een t he t w o set s of LEDs, t he user can achieve
variable flood or spot out put . The 1x1 Bi-Focus used 1152
LED bulbs, t w ice t he number of a st andard 1x1.
Peplow: the man with Skillset's plan
Debut: BSC president Sue Gibson used ARRI's new
LEDs on the thriller 31N 62E
Illuminating: Panalux's new Vizilink lighting desk
P O V
Support your local
film festival
Gi nni e At ki nson, managi ng di rect or of
Edi nburgh I nt ernat i onal Fi l m Fest i val ,
says t he f est ival is expanding t o f urt her
embrace indust ry prof essionals, and t o
encourage cont act and di scussi on
bet w een t alent , cont ent and t echnology.
The Edinburgh Int ernat ional Film Fest ival may
be t he longest cont inually running film fest ival
in t he w orld and heading for it s 63rd edit ion
but it is as young and enquiring and excit ing as
it w as in 1947.
True t o it s risky nat ure, t he Fest ival changed it s
dat es in 2008 - from August , during t he melee
of t he combined TV and film fest ivals' presence
- t o being t he only show in t ow n in June. The
move w as a resounding success, at t ract ing an
increased number of audience at t endees,
indust ry delegat es and press.
Edinburgh has been ident ified as one of t he
t w o film fest ivals in t he UK of int ernat ional
significance, and w as aw arded a subst ant ial
t hree-year funding package from t he UK Film
Council Film Fest ivals St rat egy t hat w ill
support us in a grow t h spurt , ensuring t hat w e
embrace every aspect of t he film indust ry.
The EIFF programme of films has alw ays been
a magnet for int ernat ional audiences and film
professionals alike. Alw ays keeping filmmakers
close t o our heart t he EIFF brings as many as
possible t o t he film fest ival. We pride ourselves
on offering Q & A's at over 80% of t he
screenings, and on providing t he best possible
t echnical present at ion available. In 2008 no
less t han 100% of t he films w ere screened on
t he filmmaker's desired format .
Tw o years ago it w as a challenge t o provide
t he range of t ape and digit al format s required
but now, w it h an increasing diminut ion of
35mm project ion available in mult iplexes, EIFF
w hich screens in Cinew orld, t he Cameo and
t heir homebase Filmhouse, are already
planning ahead for 2010 in t erms of making
sure w e can get on screen t he w ide range of
films t hat makes a fest ival so import ant .
The EIFF relies on t he expert ise of t he
Edinburgh Filmhouse, it s t echnical direct or and
an ext ra pair of hands from t he BFI t o ensure
t he t echnical delivery across a huge range of
format s is t ip t op.
Edinburgh loves filmmakers and in 2009 it is
t he Fest ival's int ent ion t o expand and t o
embrace a larger number of indust ry
prof essionals; t o engender cont act and
discussion bet w een t alent , cont ent and
t echnology; bet w een cult ure and commerce,
innovat ion and indust ry and w e w ill be
present ing an even more ext ensive indust ry
programme t o achieve t his.
Using t he ant icipat ed Digit al Brit ain report as a
backclot h w e've asked Lord Put t nam - bet t er
know n t o some of us as David Put t nam
producer of The Missionand Chariots of Fire-
w it h his more recent 'public policy hat ' on, t o
give us a keynot e speech about t he
implicat ions for film and t he creat ive indust ries
if t he vision for a count ry w it h high speed
broadband in every corner of t he land comes t o
pass.
And w e have a major symposium - panels case
st udies and discussion - on all mat t ers t hat
concern filmmakers about funding, making and
dist ribut ing moving image st ories in a w orld
w here t he w ord 'digit al' offers opport unit ies
and challenges in all of t hese areas.
And w it h our special focus on t echnology w e
are invit ing in t hose geniuses w ho invent t he
t ools of t he t rade t o meet t he filmmakers. 3D,
digit al w orkf low s, mast erclasses, t est
screenings - all w ill be in Edinburgh, w it h t he
aim of assist ing filmmakers w it h t he vast range
of film and digit al choices t hat are available.
We great ly regret t he passing of Jack Cardiff
w ho visit ed t he Fest ival in 2005 and spoke
eloquent ly about w orking w it h Michael Pow ell
w hose w ork w e celebrat ed at t hat t ime.
How t imeous t hen, t hat w e had already
programmed t he new ly rest ored print of The
Red Shoesand t his, and a panel discussion on
digit al rest orat ion, are scheduled for 18t h
June. Roger Corman, Darren Aronovsky, Joe
Dant e, Sam Mendes, Trisha Biggar, Morag
Ross, plus Ant hony Dod M ant le in
conversat ion w it h our very ow n Seamus
McGarvey, w ill be t he subject of on st age
int erview s. We can call McGarvey our very
ow n as he is our new est Pat ron - joining st at ely
Sir Sean Connery, glorious Tilda Sw int on and
t he int ensely t alent ed Robert Carlyle in our
group of roving ambassadors - and someone
w ho proves t he legend of Edinburgh's
net w orking opport unit ies t o be t rue as it w as
during t he EIFF t hat St ephen Frears met
McGarvey aft er t he premiere of The War Zone
and invit ed him t o shoot HighFidelity.
Edinburgh loves t alent ; our Trailblazers
init iat ive is now in it s t hird year; looking at t he
emerging t alent in t he UK across all t he
disciplines w e ident ify and show case t he st ars
of t he fut ure, in associat ion w it h our friends at
Skillset .
We haven't ment ioned t he 24 w orld premieres,
t he 16 int ernat ional premieres and t he rest of
t he vibrant 2009 programme, hand picked by
art ist ic direct or Hannah McGill. We haven't
ment ioned t he 1,200 film professionals t hat
make t heir w ay t o our beaut iful cit y each year.
And, compared w it h Cannes, it 's posit ively
peaceful! We look forw ard t o seeing you t here.
Ginnie At kinson
ManagingDirector
EdinburghInternational FilmFestival
www.edfilmfest.org.uk
Economic hard t imes can be a boom period f or t he
ci nema. That ol d adage w as t rue of t he Great
Depression in t he 1930s and f or t he Brit ish home f ront
during t he Second World War, w hen audiences craved
escapi sm and gl amour, or w ere heart ened by a
pat riot ic message, reports Kevin Hilton. As t he current
recessi on squeezes t i ght er i n t he UK si mi l ar
sent i ment s are bei ng heard but get t i ng f i l ms and
t elevision drama made is much harder t oday and even
w hen it happens t he f ear is t hat t he w ork w ill go
elsew here or Brit ish crew s w on't benef it .
"The business has alw ays been cyclical," says BSC board
member Gavin Finney. "It 's been t hrough many dips in t he past
and comes out t he ot her side, but t his t ime I t hink t here is a
lot t he government could do and isn't doing." Finney and ot her
leading cinemat ographers are concerned t hat changes in t he
t ax relief syst em laid out in t he 2006 Finance Act have not
encouraged producers, principally from America, t o make
films here over t he past t w o years, despit e t hat being t he
reason for it s int roduct ion.
Nigel Walt ers, vice president of t he BSC and president of
IMAGO, agrees, observing t hat invest ment in Brit ain at t he
moment is "in a very bad st at e". But David Mart in, chief
execut ive of t he Product ion Guild, feels Brit ain has "t he best
offer for film product ion in t he w orld" right now, due t o t he t ax
credit s syst em and t he dollar- st erling exchange rat e.
"Producers are looking at t he UK and t here is a w hole range of
project s t hat have been submit t ed t o t he UK Film Council
(UKFC) for t he cult ural t est t o receive funding," he says.
The UKFC is w orking on at t ract ing "inw ard invest ment ", in
ot her w ords money from overseas, again usually t he US, t o
make films in t he UK. Tina McFarling, t he Council's head of
indust ry relat ions, acknow ledges t hat changes t o t ax relief for
filmmaking did have an impact on product ion t hree years ago
but says t he new syst em has bedded in now. "The uncert aint y
of 2006-7 has been replaced w it h a feeling of cert aint y," she
says. "The UK is very at t ract ive for inw ard invest ment and is
compet it ive on a qualit y level, w it h t he t ax credit s and
exchange rat e on t op of t hat ."
Around t he t ime t he new t ax credit s w ere being int roduced
t he Home Office announced t hat w ork permit s w ould be
replaced as t he basis of enabling non-UK/ EU cit izens t o w ork
in Brit ain by a point s based syst em (PBS). The Home Office
acknow ledged t he possible concerns regarding t he new
arrangement s by est ablishing an Art s and Ent ert ainment
Taskforce, w hich included represent at ives of t he Depart ment
for Cult ure, Media and Sport (DCMS), UKFC, PACT and Equit y.
UKFC organised a consult at ion group t hat included members
from t he UK Screen Associat ion, t he Product ion Guild, BECTU
and Skillset .
Point s-scoring
The PBS is managed by t he UK Border Agency (UKBA), a
depart ment of t he Home Office. Workers from out side t he
European Economic Area (EEA) looking t o w ork in t he UK have
t o show a Cert ificat e of Sponsorship (CoS), obt ained for t hem
by a sponsor organisat ion regist ered w it h t he UKBA. There
are five t iers of ent ry and each has it s ow n condit ions for
eligibilit y. The t w o t hat are pert inent t o t he film and TV sect or
are Tier 2, w hich includes skilled and sponsored w orkers,
Minist ers of Religion and sport s men and w omen, w it h t he
opport unit y for set t lement (permanent residency) aft er a
minimum of five years; and Tier 5, w hich again includes
creat ive and sport ing posit ions, but is for t emporary w ork of
up t o 12 mont hs.
A primary reason for employing skilled migrant s is w hen t here
is a short age of t he relevant skills w it hin t he UK. The
Migrat ion Advisory Commit t ee (MAC) has been formed t o
advise on t hese short ages; it w ill provide "independent ,
t ransparent and evidence-based advice t o government w here
labour market short ages exist t hat can sensibilit y be filled by
migrat ion". MAC is chaired by David Met calf CBE, professor of
indust rial relat ions at t he London School of Economics,
w orking w it h f our ot her independent economist s, plus
represent at ives from t he Commission for Employment and
Skills and t he UKBA.
Because Tier Five originally included no prot ect ion for UK
w orkers in film and TV t he indust ry bodies w orking w it h t he
Home Office (BECTU, Equit y, PACT, UKFC and t he Product ion
Guild, consult ing w it h UK Screen) draft ed t w o codes of
pract ice, one for performers, t he ot her for non-performers.
Under t he w ork permit scheme BECTU, Equit y and t he
Product ion Guild w ere consult ed by t he t hen administ rat ive
body as t o w het her t here w as a qualified person w it hin t he UK
t hat could do t he w ork being offered t o a migrant . The new
codes of pract ice do not have t hat provision, inst ead
informat ion is released aft er a cert ificat e has been grant ed
and a t rade organisat ion t hen has t o request evidence t o
make an appeal.
This process has become know n as managed migrat ion but
t hose w it hin t he film business are w ondering if t his name is
appropriat e. "Is it managed, how is it managed?" asks BSC
board member Chris Seager. "Our ow n associat ion has no say
in how t his is policed and in t heory it is up t o t he product ion
company t hat w ant s cert ain people t o w ork here." Seager
acknow ledges t hat heads of depart ment (HoDs) have
regularly been brought in by producers and direct ors t o w ork
on films in t he UK t o maint ain cont inuit y and professional
relat ionships, but is concerned t hat t he new arrangement s
could open t he w ay for more overseas personnel at nearly all
levels.
While t he BSC has no direct voice in official discussions it
w orks w it h ot her organisat ions, including BECTU, t o get it s
opinions and concerns across. BECTU assist ant general
secret ary Mart in Spence sees t he combinat ion of PBS
Managing the migration
More grips are coming in
from North America, South
Africa and Australia - it's
madness because there
are qualified grips here
in the UK.
It's reprehensible
that an American
crew - focus pullers,
grips - comes over
because it would be
impossible the other
way. There is no
reciprocity.
p r o d u c t i o n n e w s
migrat ion and t he new t ax credit s making t he bringing-in non-EU crew much easier t han before.
"A product ion company appoint s it s HoD and t hen t hat person w ant s t o bring in his or her set
of favourit e cont act s," he says. "More grips, for example, are coming in from Nort h America,
Sout h Africa and Aust ralia - t hat didn't happen in t he past . It 's madness because t here are
qualified grips here in t he UK."
The code of pract ice covering Tier Five w orkers lays dow n t he follow ing guidelines: t hat "t he
migrant is required for cont inuit y in t he creat ive sect or", has "int ernat ional st at us in t he creat ive
sect or" and is "est ablished at t he highest level in t heir profession w it hin t he creat ive sect or".
Gavin Finney acknow ledges t hat HoDs can be an except ion, but quest ions ot her levels. "I've
shot in t he US and American DPs have shot here but I t hink it 's less support able at crew level,"
he says. "It 's reprehensible t hat an American crew - focus pullers, grips - comes over because
it w ould be impossible t he ot her w ay. There is no reciprocit y."
US prot ect ionism
Brit ish cinemat ographers see more prot ect ion for jobs in t he US t han in t he UK. If a Brit ish DP
is w ant ed for a St at eside shoot , t hey have t o be a member of t he relevant union, usually IATSE
(Int ernat ional Alliance of Theat rical St age Employees, Moving Pict ure Technicians, Art ist s and
Allied Craft s). Membership is expensive and adds t o t he cost of a product ion; Finney est imat es
t hat get t ing a Brit ish DP t o LA can cost $17,000.
UK Screen and Skillset have submit t ed evidence t o MAC show ing t here is a skills short age in
visual effect s, but Neil Peplow, Skillset 's new direct or of film, says no similar discrepancy w as
found in t he camera depart ment .
"Aft er consult ing w it h t he indust ry w e found no report ed evidence of a major skills short age for
Brit ish cinemat ographers," he comment s. "What is alw ays import ant in an indust ry t hat is so
affect ed by economic dow nt urns, currency fluct uat ions and new t echnology, is t o be ahead of
t he game and be up t o dat e w it h our skills and t raining so t he indust ry can t ake advant age of
opport unit ies as t hey emerge."
MAC is due t o issue a report on skills short ages during May and indust ry bodies including t he
Product ion Guild and UKFC have been giving evidence t o a House of Lords Select Commit t ee
on Communicat ions, w hich is examining t he effect iveness of t he t ax credit syst em and t he
overall cont ribut ion t he "creat ive indust ries sect or" makes t o t he UK economy. The Writ ers'
Guild st rike in t he US affect ed product ion and w ork, w it h more US DPs being available for w ork
elsew here. Alt hough it has not happened, t he t hreat ened SAG (Screen Act ors' Guild) indust rial
act ion has also had an effect , w it h some producers holding back unt il t he sit uat ion is more
cert ain. In t he UK crew s have been furt her hit by cut backs in t elevision drama product ion,
part icularly by ITV and Channel 4, bot h of w hich are st ruggling w it h debt and falls in profit .
Dry-hire UK
David Mart in at t he Product ion Guild poses a quest ion t hat many in t he business are asking: "Is
it t ime t hat t ax breaks w ere revised t o include TV?" Mart in cit es examples of HBO project s
being made in t he UK under t he sale and leaseback syst em, w hile Nigel Walt ers calls for Brit ish
TV companies t o have t he same monet ary incent ives as t heir French count erpart s.
A common cry is, "What is t he UK Film Council doing about t his?" Tina McFarling point s out t hat
t he organisat ion does not involve it self w it h indust rial relat ions, preferring t o leave t hat t o t he
relevant unions. On t he subject of migrat ion McFarling comment s, "We are aw are of
product ions brining in cert ain key creat ive people and w e w ant t o see Brit ish crew s have every
opport unit y. What w e're also concerned about is get t ing invest ment coming int o t he count ry
because t he indust ry needs it ."
McFarling says t hat in closed discussions w it h producers t he observat ion has been made t hat
t he UK could move t ow ards providing services and people around t he w orld for not just films
but also "new forms of cont ent ". Mart in Spence at BECTU point s t o t he cont radict ion of
overseas producers w ant ing t o use locat ions, st udios and facilit ies in t he UK, encouraged by
t he t ax credit s syst em, but almost act ively denying Brit ish crew t he w ork.
This scenario almost cast s t he UK as a giant dry hire facilit y, w it h t hose rent ing it bringing in
t heir ow n preferred st aff. The Depart ment of Cult ure, Media and Sport w as cont act ed for a
comment but had not responded by t he t ime t he magazine w ent t o press. So t he last w ord
goes t o Mart in Spence: "If w e're going t o be a facilit y I w ant t o make it w et hire."
U K w h o s s h o o t i n g w h o ?
Paul Sarossy CSC BSC, represent ed by Unit ed, sent in
some phot os from Act Of Dishonour, direct ed by Nelofer
Pazira and produced by Daniel Irons for t he Nat ional Film
Board of Canada, w hich he shot just before Christ mas in
Tajikist an, around t w ent y minut es drive from t he Afghan
border. The film deals w it h t he cont ent ious issue of 'honour'
killings in Afghanist an, and Sarossy called it an amazing
experience. We discovered t heir old Soviet film st udio and
rent ed equipment (t racks, cranes, et c.) t hat hadn't been used
in 30 years. It w as an advent ure. He has just w rapped on
Chloe, direct ed by At om Egoyan, st arring Julianne Moore and
Liam Neeson, w hich w as shot in Toront o.
Mckinney Macart ney's St uart Biddlecombe has recent ly
finished shoot ing Channel Four/ MTV's music series Dubplate
Dramafor Luke Hyams. The innovat ive project is t he w orld's
first int eract ive drama, and t he t hird series w ill be back in
June. Mick Coult er BSC has been filming commericals for
Vict oria Pile and Gerard de Thame. And Denis Crossan BSC
has been on commercials w it h Tant rum, Smit h & Jones, The
Plunge Pool and Spank, John de Borman BSC shoot ing for Park
Village. Shane Daly is w inding t hrough t he st reet s of London
w it h his lens, filming Alexander Holt and Lance Roehrig's
feat ure film Forget Me Not, a love st ory of t w o st rangers w ho
meet in t he capit al and discover love over t he course of one
night . Gavin Finney BSC w ill be filming Going Postal in
Budapaest . It 's anot her Terry Prat chet t adapt at ion for Sky/ The
M ob Film Company and direct or Jon Jones, w it h t he
Discw orld inhabit ant s coming t o t erms w it h t heir new
Post mast er.
Richard Great rex BSC is pulling on his oilskins as he
prepares t o join Michael Barker on his hunt for MobyDick, as
Capt ain Ahab and Ishmael chase t he great w hit e w hale t o
t heir doom and dest ruct ion. John Lynch recent ly shoot a
'Mercedes' commercial for Dom & Nic t hrough Out sider, and
complet ed t he lat est Ashes To Ashes promos for Tim Pope
t hrough Red Bee. Phil Meheux BSC is grading his lat est film
Edge Of Darkness for direct or Mart in Campbell. Sebast ian
Milaszew ski has shot commercials in Beirut and Sout h
Africa, and just complet ed a VW commercial for direct or Woof
Wan Bau, t hrough Nexus. He is set t o lens t he feat ure film
Chateaubriandlat er in t he year. John Pardue has been busy
w it h a Hyundai campaign for Serious Pict ures, and Mark
Part ridge w ill be back in t he count ryside w it h t he next series
of LarkRise to Candlefordlat er in t he year. Jake Polonsky
(w ho you can read about in Meet The New Wave in t his
edit ion) has been busy shoot ing promos and commercials for
Just in Kerrigan t hrough Pulse Films and Rory Kelleher at
Company Pict ures. He has just complet ed a short for The
Wilson Sist ers and Film Four.
David Tat t ersall BSC is filming t he modern adapt at ion of
Gulliver's Travels for direct or Rob Let t erman, st arring Jack
Black as t he hero w ho finds himself a giant in t he land of
Liliput . Clive Tickner BSC as been w orking w it h Graham
Rose t hrough Product ion Int ernat ional and has just complet ed
a huge Ford campaign for Nick Lew in at Crossroads. Darran
Tiernan just finished Colm McCart hy's feat ure film Outcast, a
horror film about a young Romany w oman and her lover
hunt ed by a myst erious beast and t he curse t hat comes of
t heir herit age. Brian Tuf ano BSC is revelling in t he joys of
Sex, Drugs and Rock'n' Roll, t he st ory of rock st ar Ian Drury,
direct ed by Mat Whit ecross. Michael Wood has been
shoot ing commercials w it h David Baksh t hrough St ink and
Darren St at man t hrough Academy. He is current ly shoot a
corporat e for Lear Jet w it h Joe Oppenheimer direct ing.
Over at Dinedor Management congrat ulat ions t o Florian
Hof f meist er on his BAFTA nominat ion for House of Saddam.
Trevor Forrest 's feat ure he shot last year, Tormented, is
being released May 22nd. Tom Tow nend has been grading
t he f eat ure f ilm The Unloved and has been shoot ing
commercials for Radio 1, Baileys, Heinz and McDonalds.
Mike Fox BSC shot for Comic Relief earlier t his year. St eve
Buckland ret urns t o t he BBC for Casualty, and Pet er Field
has shot a commercial for Jaguar. Mart in Ahlgren lensed a
commercial for t he fashion house Next . Eric Maddison FSF
has been busy shoot ing a commercial for Douw e Egbert s, and
promos for Yusuf Islam, You Me at Six, Minist ry of Sound,
Scot t Mat t hew s and Paolo Nut ini. Ben Filby has been on
Whos
Shooting
Who?
Whos
Shooting
Who?
Adventure: Paul Sarossy CSC
BSC and crew on Act Of
Dishnour in Tajikistan
Action: Florian Hoffmeister squints into Namibian skies
U K w h o s s h o o t i n g w h o ?
commercials for Berardi, Fost ers, Blue Ribband and Pilsner
Urquell, and Pet e Ellmore has been on commercials for Aldi
and The Guardian. Damian Daniel shot a music promo for
Karima Francis and corporat es for COI and a Government
Roadshow. Franklin Dow has been shoot ing music promos
for Tow ers of London and Johnny Foreigner. St eve Annis has
been w orking on a film for Mercury Records, w hile Mat t
Cooke shot a music promo for t he Hot Melt s. Ed Marsh
filmed a commercial for Tesco and a music promo for James
Morrison.
Sarah Put t Associat e's Dave Marsh is shoot ing Fashion
for Carnvial Film & TV, w hilst Dirk Nel is shoot ing 2nd Unit on
Small Islandfor Ruby Films in Jamaica. Pet er Greenhalgh
has been confirmed Poirot for ITV Granada. Jan Jonaeus is
shoot ing Identityfor ITV Granada. Nick Dance just complet ed
Freshfor Greenroom Ent ert ainment , and Oliver Cheesman is
light ing on The Bill, Pet er Edw ards has complet ed School Of
Silencew it h Lucky Day Prods. Mike Brew st er cont inues t o
shoot 2nd Unit on Harry Potter &The Deathly Hallows for
Warner Bros. Doug Hart ingt on is current ly shoot ing The
Genius of Designfor Wall t o Wall as w ell as a document ary
about t he Star Wars Concertat t he 02 Arena for Lucasfilm Lt d.
Pet er Wignall is just st art ing Nick Moran's second feat ure
out ing as a direct or The Kid, and Will Pugh is off t o Ecuador
and India t o shoot Banged Up Abroadfor Raw TV. Paul Lang
has been w orking on t w o films, Among The Righteousfor HBO
in Morocco and Tunisia and Page And Flynn in Cambodia.
Operat ors Joe Russell is in Cardiff operat ing on t he Dr Who
Christmas Special for BBC, and Philip Sindall is operat ing on
NannyMcFee II for Working Tit le
Meanw hile over at Di gi t al Garage, St eve Gray is
current ly lensing Freestyle w it h Jason Cuddy as camera
assist ant . Freestyle is t he lat est film t o be made by Film
London's Microw ave scheme. Pet e Hayns is off t o Argent ina
t o shoot Raging Planet: Blizzard f or Pioneer. Jeremy
Humphries has st art ed on Ladette To Ladyfor RDF Media.
Nigel Kinnings has just ret urned from New York aft er
complet ing How Do They Do It? f or WAG TV. Chri s
Openshaw is current ly in Aust ralia shoot ing for Tigress.
Over at Unit ed Barry Ackroyd BSC is at t ached t o Pet er
Morgan's upcoming project , The Special Relationship, due t o
shoot in July. Robert Alazraki AFC is off t o Sout h Africa t o
shoot Miles Rost on's Promise Me, Alw in Kchler BSC is
prepping Roger Michell's Morning Gloryshoot ing in New York,
Eduardo Serra ASC, AFC w ill be on t he current HarryPotter
unt il April 2010, Marcel Zyski nd is shoot ing M ichael
Wint erbot t om's The Killer Inside Me. Alan Almond BSC is in
w orking on Diarmuid Law rence's block of Desperate
Romantics, w hich shoot s unt il t he end of April. Danny Cohen
BSC begins w ork on Dominic Savage's t w o-part drama Dive
for t he BBC at t he end of April. Andrew Dunn BSC has
begun principal phot ography on Crowley in Port land, USA.
St eve Law es' w ork on Skelligw as show n over East er on Sky
1. Lukas St rebel is w orking on Pet er Lydon's Georgian drama
Garrow's Lawin Scot land w hilst Dale McCready cont inues
t o shoot t he second series of Merlin. David Higgs BSC is on
locat ion in Ireland w orking as 2nd unit direct or w it h Anand
Tucker on Leap Year (w hose previous collaborat ive w ork on
Red Riding 1983 w as broadcast recent ly).
Tim Maurice-Jones has just finished shoot ing a new Virgin
Trains commercial w it h direct ors' Trakt or t hrough Part izan,
London. Alex Melman has recent ly shot a St rongbow
commercial w it h direct or James Rouse c/ o Out sider and
Daniel Bronks is w orking on t he new series of Secret Diary
Of A Call Girl feat uring Billie Piper w it h direct or Ow en Harris
t hrough Tiger Aspect . Simon Chaudoir has recent ly shot
anot her high-end beaut y spot for Shisheido in Tokyo, before
light ing t he GAP fashion show in London c/ o Gainsbury &
Whit ing. Tat Radclif f e has been shoot ing commercials and is
about t o st art on Criminal J ustice 2 w it h direct or Yann
Demange. Brendan Galvin is aw ay in China shoot ing a Palm
commercial w it h Tarsem t hrough Radical Media and Alw in
Kchler BSC is w orking w it h direct or Juan Cabral on a new
Sony spot w it h M J Z in Iceland. Charl ot t e Bruus
Christ ensen is shoot ing MagestenFyrster for direct or Oliver
Ussung in Copenhagen and Zac Nicholson is shoot ing
Skeletonsw it h direct or Nick Whit field.
Independent 's Ben Davis BSC just finished shoot ing
John Madden's new t hriller, The Debt, t o be released next
year. Benoit Delhomme AFCis about t o st art w ork on Hideo
Nakat a's new psychological t hriller Chatroom. Based on t he
play by Enda Walsh - it 's described as a 'comput er-age Lord Of
The Flies' about a group of t eenagers w ho use t he int ernet t o
encourage each ot her's dest ruct ive behaviour. Jess Hall
BSC is in New York shoot ing The Baster, a romant ic comedy
st arring Jennifer Anist on, Jason Bat eman and Jeff Goldblum.
Mart in Kenzie is light ing and direct ing 2nd unit for Louis
Let errier on Clashof the Titans, a remake of t he 1981 film
version of t he myt h of Perseus and his quest t o bat t le bot h
Medusa and t he Kraken monst er in order t o save Princess
Andromeda - st arring Gemma Art ert on and Sam Wort hingt on.
Sam McCurdy BSC has finished shoot ing Neil Marshall's
Centurion. St arring Dominic West and Michael Fassbender, it
t ells t he st ory of a splint er group of Roman soldiers fight ing for
t heir lives behind enemy lines aft er t heir legion is decimat ed
in a devast at ing guerrilla at t ack. Aft er complet ing t he DI at
Framest ore for Me and OrsonWellest o be released lat er t his
year, Dick Pope BSC has been shoot ing It's a Wonderful
Afterlife, his second film for Gurinder Chadha. He w ill t hen
st art immediat ely on Mike Leigh's new and as yet unt it led
project , marking t heir 10t h collaborat ion.
Casarot t o's James Aspinall cont inues on Foyles War
w it h direct or St uart Orme, for Greenlit . Nat asha Braier is in
prep on a feat ure called The Infidel direct ed by Josh
Appignanesi. Mi ke El ey has begun prep w it h direct or
Susanna Whit e on NannyMcPhee 2for Working Tit le. Mat t
Gray has just complet ed w ork shoot ing Helena Bonham
Cart er as Enid Blyton for Carnival Films In Denmark David
Kat znelson has st art ed shoot ing t he feat ure Fr &Efter, for
Nimbus Films. Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC cont inues on
t he shoot for Now here Boy w it h direct or Sam Taylor Wood.
Chris Menges BSC ASCis due t o st art on LondonBoulevard
w it h William Monahan, a crime t hriller st arring Keira Knight ly
and Colin Farrell. Woj ciech Szepel is in Germany shoot ing a
German document ary Die Geschichte Der Prostitutiodirect ed
by Kat ja Esson for LE Vision.
Wizzo Feat ures has signed t w o aw ard-w inning DPs
Damian Bromley and Baz Irvine. Damian w on an RTS craft
aw ard and w as BAFTA-nominat ed for his w ork on Spooks. He
shot Football Factoryand The Businesst hrough Vert igo Films,
bot h of w hich w ere direct ed by Nick Love. More recent ly he
shot episodes of Trial And Retributionand t he special t w o-
part er, Hunter, t hrough t he BBC for direct or Colm McCart hy.
Baz Irvine shot t he Oscar-w inning black comedy short Six
Shooterfor direct or Mart in McDonagh, and more recent ly t he
short One Of Those Days direct ed by Hat t ie Dalt on w hich
received best film and best cinemat ography nominat ions at
2009's Fuji Film Short s. Baz shot t he feat ure Mr Bean's
Holiday, direct ed by St eve Bendelack t hrough Working Tit le,
and also The Lives Of The Saintsdirect ed by Rankin & Chris.
Angus Hudson is current ly shoot ing t he feat ure The Accident
in India for direct or Dadu Chaudhuri and producer Arindam
Mit ra. Duncan Telf ord and Luke Palmer are bot h shoot ing
a drama series each on HD in Cairo for Baracka Media
Product ions. Finally, congrat ulat ions t o St uart Bent l ey,
w hose short Outcastspicked up t he best film aw ard at 2009's
Fuji Film Short s. He is current ly shoot ing a document ary for
t he Cult ural Olympiad.
Lenhof f & Lenhof f 's... Thomas Del Rut h ASC is prepping
t o shoot Flipped in Ann Arbor, Michigan for direct or Rob
Reiner and Warner Brot hers. Based on t he children's novel
Flipped, w rit t en by Wendelin Van Draanen, is a heart felt
coming-of-age st ory about w het her or not t w o 13 year olds,
w ho each has a crush on t he ot her, but never at t he same
t ime, can somehow end up t oget her. Principal phot ography
w ill be for 8 w eeks commencing June 29t h. Del Rut h's credit s
include Stand ByMe, The MightyDucks, Kuffs, LookWhos
Talkingand The Running Man.
More adventure: another view of Act Of Dishnour in
Tajikistan, lensed by Paul Sarossy CSC BSC
Eye eye: Trevor Forrest on the set of Tormented TV: DP J eremy Humphries is starting on RDF's
Ladet t e To Lady
The red carpet has had it s annual shake 'n' vac, t he Croiset t e has been buf f ed, and
t he ros is chilling - all in ant icipat ion of t he 62nd Cannes Int ernat ional Film Fest ival,
writes Ron Prince. Here's t he inside t rack on w hat some of t he Brit s are doing, plus
ot her highlight s, along t he j olly old Cot e d'Azur t his year.
The 62nd Cannes Film Fest ival w ill probably go dow n as t he fest ival w hen aut eurs really came
t o t he fore, w it h a verit able w ho's-w ho of Riviera regulars, including four previous Palme d'Or
w inners, and a decent show ing from Brit ish-made films.
Alongside ent ries from Quent in Tarant ino, Ang Lee, Pedro Almodovar and Lars von Trier, are Ken
Loach w it h Looking For Eric, in w hich a lovelorn, foot ball-obsessed post man is ment ored by
Gallic soccer st ar-t urned-t hespian Eric Cant ona, and Andrea Arnold, w ho segues from her
acclaimed debut Red Road, (w hich w on t he Cannes jury prize in 2006) t o t he Lot t ery-funded,
t eenage girl drama FishTank. Also in compet it ion, and also funded by Lot t o cash is Bright Star,
a Brit ish period-romance about 19t h cent ury English poet John Keat s, st arring Ben Whishaw
and Abbie Cornish, direct ed by Aust ralian Jane Campion.
Playing out of compet it ion is Terry Gilliam's fant asy The Imaginariumof Doctor Parnassus,
feat uring Heat h Ledger's last performance, w it h Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law
sharing Ledger's role. Only t w o US t it les are in t he bat t le for t he Palme d'Or - Tarant ino's
Inglourious Basterdsand Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock- t he t hinnest US presence in compet it ion
since 2006.
Brit ish film is flying right now, said John Woodw ard, CEO of t he UK Film Council. This
year's Cannes line-up show s t hat t he Brit ish indust ry is delivering w orld-class cinema, w hich
complement s t he commercial success t hat w as recognised at t he Oscars earlier t his year.
It 's significant t hat bot h Jane Campion's Bright Starand Andrea Arnold's FishTankw ere funded
w it h public money, and demonst rat es t he absolut ely vit al role t hat public funding plays in
get t ing independent films made in an increasingly t ough economic climat e.
Many congrat ulat ions t o Ken Loach, one of our most est ablished filmmakers, represent ed at
Cannes yet again w it h Looking for Eric, and Terry Gilliam w it h The Imaginariumof Doctor
Parnassus.
Adding t o t he Brit ish moment um in Cannes w ill be t he Edinburgh Int ernat ional Film Fest ival
(EIFF) (w w w.edfilmfest .org.uk), w hich t akes place from June 17t h t o 28t h. Film producer Iain
Smit h (Wanted, Childrenof Men, Cold Mountain, Entrapment, Local Hero), w ho is also t he chair
of t he Fest ival, w ill be w it h a t eam t hat includes managing direct or Ginnie At kinson, t o drum up
support for t he event w hich has ambit ious plans t o develop int o Europe's premier fest ival, a
hot bed of net w orking, for filmmakers. One of EIFF's t hemes is digit al product ion, w it h a view t o
helping producers get t o grips w it h t he lat est t echnology. EIFF is host ing a cockt ail part y aboard
Kodak's boat next t o The Bunker on Monday 18t h, from 5-7pm, and also co-host ing The
Scot t ish Part y w it h Scot t ish Screen on Tuesday 19t h, from 6-8pm at Long Beach, opposit e The
Carlt on Hot el.
Monday night is foot ie night , as Deluxe's annual kick-about for film dist ribut ors w ill t ake place
from 7:30pm at t he St ade Maurice Chevalier II in Cannes La Bocca. Deluxe has just bought up
Arion, t he Denham based post -product ion and duplicat ion facilit y. Anyone w it h aching ankles
from t he mat ch, or simply a penchant for fine French faire, w ill enjoy Technicolor's renow ned
Tuesday lunch at The Carlt on.
Wit h it s prime beachfront locat ion on t he Esplanade Georges Pompidou, fest ival delegat es w ill
again be able use t he UK Film Cent re's facilit ies including free comput ers and WiFi, plus t he
Sun Terrace Caf for meet ings. One-t o-one film finance and legal surgeries can be booked via
t he informat ion desk, plus t here w ill be open discussions daily on a range current film issues
w it h film financiers, producers, direct ors and dist ribut ors.
Part ners include UK Film Council, Brit ish Council, Film London, Film Agency for Wales, Skillset ,
Scot t ish Screen, FDMX, Hill Dickinson, Mazars and Tenon Media. More t han 12,000 fest ival
delegat es from 82 count ries, visit ed t he UK Film Cent re in 2008, w it h over 203,000 hit s on t he
I N T ERN A T I O N A L I N T ERN A T I O N A L c a n n e s p r e v i e w
Auteurs line
up for the
Palme d'Or
Brit packer: Auteur Ken Loach, whose Wind That Shakes The Barley won won Palme
d,Or in 2006, is back this year with Looking For Eric
w ebsit e (w w w.ukfilmcent re.org.uk) and 13,000 dow nloads of informat ion packs on UK
companies at Cannes.
Wit h Ridley Scot t 's unt it led Robin Hood advent ure st art ing at Sheppert on, st arring Russell
Crow e and Cat e Blanchet t (Sir Ridley's sixt h feat ure t o be based t here), and Tw ent iet h Cent ury
Fox's Gulliver's Travelsin at Pinew ood, st udio execs can be found aboard t he good ship, (it 's a
yacht act ually) Valia from Friday 15t h May unt il Tuesday 19t h May. Wat ch out for commercial
direct or Nick Smit h, sales direct or Paul Baker, Dennis Weinreich, MD of post product ion,
market ing manager Julia Hillsdon and sales manager Noel Tovey. Pinew ood is sharing it s yacht
w it h Morgans Hot el Group and Air New Zealand. Post product ion group.
Elst ree St udios w ill be represent ed in t he form of managing direct or Roger Morris. Elst ree's
George Lucas' st age recent ly w elcomed back St ar Wars, w ell Star Wars: A Musical J ourney,
for st age rehearsals before going on a European t our. ITV's new t hree-part t hriller, Murderland,
st arring Robbie Colt rane, is also based at w orld famous st udios, and Elst ree w as recent ly t he
st udio of choice for producer/ direct or Mat t hew Vaughn's product ions of Kick Ass, st aring
Nicholas Cage and HarryBrownst aring Michael Caine.
Now w it h t he Wes Anderson direct ed Fantastic Mr Foxunder it s belt , plus credit s on Andrea
Arnold's FishTank, 3Mills St udios' st udio execut ive Derek Wat t s, bookings manager Melanie
Faulkner and market ing/ publicit y manager Kat e Wat t w ill be st epping out t o ext ol t he virt ues of
shoot ing in east London.
Kodak's L'Appart ement is back again. Locat ed in t he heart of t he Int ernat ional Village, next t o
t he American Pavilion, it w ill be open from 9am unt il 6pm every day. It 's a great net w orking
venue and a relaxing place for filmmakers t o cat ch up w it h one anot her, as w ell as t he Kodak
t eam. David Webb, Karen L'Aiguille, Dan Clark and Sam Clark w ill be at t ending from Kodak in
t he UK.
For t he 22nd year in a row Kodak w ill be t he main sponsor of t he Camera d'Or, t he int ernat ional
aw ard for first t ime film direct ors. The w inner of t he Camera d'Or w ill receive 50,000 Euros
w ort h of Kodak Mot ion Pict ure filmst ock for t heir next project . Kodak is also running it s
t radit ional co-product ion breakfast s in associat ion w it h ACE (European Independent Producers
Associat ions), and helping young filmmakers make it t o t he big screen w it h sponsorships of t he
Cannes Short Film Corner and Int ernat ional Crit ics Week. Ot her key Kodak part nership event s
held at t he Kodak L'Appart ement are NPA (New Producers Alliance), St raight 8 and WFTV
(Women in Film and TV). On Monday at 12.30pm Kodak are host ing a UK VIP Lunch as usual.
Fuj if ilm w ill be exposing a new Et erna filmst ock t his year, t he Vivid2 500, a t ungst en-t ype
mot ion pict ure colour negat ive film formulat ed t o offer high colour sat urat ion and high cont rast .
The company w ill also be explaining t he raisond'etreof consolidat ing it s US and Canadian
mot ion pict ure divisions int o t he Fujifilm Nort h American Mot ion Pict ure Group, headquart ered
in Los Angeles, w it h offices in New York, Toront o and Vancouver.
In one of t he largest moves w it hin t he Indian film indust ry, Chennai-based Gemini/Anand Cine
Service is launching one of t he most advanced DI and digit al film operat ions in India, if not t he
w orld, at t he Fest ival. Gemini/ Anand Cine have, for a long t ime, been one of India's most
successful film operat ions - most of sout hern India's cinema project s go t hrough Gemini's film
lab, as w ell as using film rent al equipment supplied by Anand Cine Service, including cameras
such as ARRI's D-21, plus light ing, and grip equipment . In t ot al Gemini/ Anand Cine Service
employs over 1000 st aff, w it h operat ions in Chennai and Hyderabad. Tarun Kumar w ill be in
Cannes along w it h St eve Shaw of Light Illusion, w ho helped est ablish t he new digit al division
Hungary is enjoying a surge in domest ic and int ernat ional product ions, and Judit Romw alt er, a
represent at ive from camera, light ing and grip house Sparks w ill be promenading, and t alking
I'll be back: Andrea Arnold whose Red Road won the Cannes jury prize in 2006 is back
with teen drama Fish Tank
OPENER
"Up," U.S., Pet e Doct er, Bob Pet erson
CLOSER
"Coco Chanel & Igor St ravinsky," France, Jan
Kounen
IN COMPETITION
"Bright St ar," Aust ralia-U.K.-France,
Jane Campion
"Spring Fever," China-France, Lou Ye
"Ant ichrist ," Denmark-Sw eden-France-It aly,
Lars von Trier
"Ent er t he Void," France, Gaspar Noe
"Face," France-Taiw an-Net herlands-Belgium,
Tsai Ming-liang
"Les Herbes folles," France-It aly, Alain Resnais
"In t he Beginning," France, Xavier Giannoli
"A Prophet ," France, Jacques Audiard
"The Whit e Ribbon," Germany-Aust ria-France,
Michael Haneke
"Vengeance," Hong Kong-France-U.S.,
Johnnie To
"The Time That Remains," Palest ine-France,
Elia Suleiman
"Vincere," It aly-France, Marco Bellocchio
"Kinat ay," Philippines, Brillant e Mendoza
"Thirst ," Sout h Korea-U.S., Park Chan-w ook
"Broken Embraces," Spain, Pedro Almodovar
"Map of t he Sounds of Tokyo," Spain,
Isabel Coixet
"Fish Tank," U.K.-Net herlands, Andrea Arnold
"Looking for Eric," U.K.-France-Belgium-It aly,
Ken Loach
"Inglourious Bast erds," U.S., Quent in Tarant ino
"Taking Woodst ock," U.S., Ang Lee
OUT OF COMPETITION
"The Imaginarium of Doct or Parnassus,"
Canada-France, Terry Gilliam
"The Army of Crime," France,
Robert Guediguian
"Agora," Spain, Alejandro Amenabar
UN CERTAIN REGARD
"Samson & Delilah," Aust ralia,
Warw ick Thornt on
"Adrift ," Brazil, Heit or Dhalia
"The Wind Journeys," Colombia, Ciro Guerra
"Demain des l'aube," France, Denis Dercourt
"Irene," France, Alain Cavalier
"Air Doll," Japan, Hirokazu Kore-eda
"Independance," Philippines-France-Germany,
Raya Mart in
"Le Pere de mes enfant s," France-Germany,
Mia Hansen-Love
"Dogt oot h," Greece, Yorgos Lant himos
"Nobody Know s About t he Persian Cat s," Iran,
Bahman Ghobadi
"Eyes Wide Open," Israel, Haim Tabakman
"Mot her," Sout h Korea, Bong Joon-ho
"The Silent Army," Net herlands,
Jean van de Velde
"To Die Like a Man," Port ugal,
Joao Pedro Rodrigues
"Police, Adject ive," Romania,
Corneliu Porumboiu
"Tales from t he Golden Age," Romania, Hanno
Hofer, Razvan Marculescu, Crist ian Mungiu,
Const ant in Popescu, Ioana Uricaru
"Tale in t he Darkness," Russia,
Nikolay Khomeriki
"Tzar," Russia-France, Pavel Lounguine
"Nymph," Thailand, Pen-ek Rat anaruang
"Precious," U.S., Lee Daniels
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
2009 SCREENINGS
about t hey are servicing show s such as The Debt, direct ed by John Madden, w it h Ben Davis
BSC t he DP, and t he t hird season of BBC's RobinHood, w it h DPs Ernie Vincze BSC, Pet er
Thornt on and Alasdair Walker.
Image Forum w ill be represent ed by Mart in Hammond and DP Chsis Seager BSC, and ot her
DPs from t he UK at t ending include Derek Sut er BSC, Pet er Hannan BSC, Robbie Ryan BSC,
Bruno de Keyzer BSC and Gary Shaw, w ho w ill be screening Moon. You w ill also bump int o
producers, direct ors, agent s and product ion execut ives of just about all t he major film facilit ies
and service companies in t he UK - t oo many t o name now, but rest assured t hey w ill be t here.
Ledger: Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doct or Parnassus features Heath Ledger's
last performance
U K m e e t t h e n e w w a v e
Filmography (so f ar):
TV: Spooks (2004), Hustle (2004), Secret
Smile(2005), Primeval (2007)
When did you discover you w ant ed t o be
a cinemat ographer?
I'd alw ays been int erest ed in st ills
phot ography as a kid, but it w asn't unt il my
Dad t ook me t o see Drowning ByNumbers
w hen I w as 16 t hat somet hing just clicked in
my head. When I w alked out of t he Renoir I
knew I w ant ed t o make films. Aft er t hat I
devoured everyt hing I could, in t he days
w hen you could go and see European art
house t riple bills at t he Everyman, t he Scala
and t he Riverside.
Where did you t rain?
I first picked up a movie camera at Saint
Mart in's, and w ent t o film school at t he
American Film Inst it ut e and t hen t he Royal
College of Art .
What are your f avourit e f ilms?
2001, it 's a unique experience on every level.
A Matter Of Life and Death, as it st ill feels
modern and ground-breaking, and has one of
t he few great cinemat ography script gags
w it h, One is st arved for Technicolor up
t here . Ipcress File, for great framing and
great music. Tampopo, Juzo It ami's very
funny past iche of The SevenSamurai set in a
Tokyo noodle bar, it s visually invent ive,
genuinely hilarious. Rushmore, as Wes
Anderson has never bet t ered t his brilliant and
fabulously shot comedy.
What 's t he best advice you w ere ever
given, and f rom w hom?
Ivan St rasburg - my first t eacher at t he RCA -
w hen I w as w rit ing dow n somet hing he w as
saying, said Don't w rit e it dow n. If you
can't remember it , it 's not w ort h
remembering! I'm not sure if he w as right ,
but it sounded good.
Who are your DP/indust ry heroes?
Michael Samuelson. He w as a huge help
w hen I w as st art ing out , and it w as part of
his w hole et hos t o nurt ure t alent . I w ill
alw ays be very grat eful for his help.
J ack Cardif f. I st ill can't believe Black
Narcissusw as shot in a st udio. His w ork w it h
Pow ell and Pressburger is surely alw ays
going t o be one of t he great est achievement s
in t he art of cinemat ography. Roger Deakins.
I t hink Roger has in t he last few years hit a
peak of w ork t hat most of us can but dream
about . And t he fact t hat he operat es t hose
movies himself I don't know w here he get s
t he energy f rom. Alw in Kuchler. Of t he
younger generat ion, Alw in's w ork really
st ands out t o me. He's not af raid of
experiment ing and going out on a limb. I'm
alw ays int erest ed t o see w hat he's been
shoot ing.
Have you received any nominat ions or
aw ards?
Nominat ed for best cinemat ography at CADS
music video aw ards in 2002, 2005 and 2006,
w on in 2004. Best young camera/ light ing
person B+ aw ards in Broadcast Magazine
2002. Winner ARRI aw ard f or best
cinemat ography Fuji Film scholarship 1996.
Aw arded Freddie Young/ BSC cinemat ography
scholarship at t he RCA 1995-7. My short film
School Of Life w on best short film at t he
BIFAs in 2004.
What 's your proudest moment ?
The birt h of my son.
What 's t he w orst knock-back you ever
had?
Get t ing separat ed f rom direct ors you've
developed a good relat ionship is alw ays a
shame.
Tell us your most hilarious f aux pas?
Probably asking a producer w hat his TV show
w as act ually about. Looking back on it , it may
have not come out quit e t he w ay I int ended.
Or maybe it did.
What one piece of kit could you not live
w it hout ?
Panavision's 55mm macro anamorphic lens.
My favourit e piece of glass.
What 's t he hardest shot /t hing you've
had t o light /f rame?
First shot of t he Ismail Merchant film Cotton
Mary w here I w as operat ing f or Pierre
Lhomme AFC. He w ant ed a t racking 300mm
w it h a geared head. I w as sw eat ing like a pig.
My operat ing improved t hough.
Tell us your hidden t alent /part y t rick?
I have a double first in Hist ory and English
from Oxford, so I'm not bad at Trivial Pursuit
(except t he sport quest ions), and I make a
mean schnit zel.
In t he ent i re hi st ory of f i l mmaki ng,
w hich f ilm w ould you love t o have shot ?
Some recent choices Ant on Corbijn's
Control, as I'd kill t o shoot a B&W movie.
Soderbergh's Out Of Sight, as it 's one of t he
coolest films ever made. Alhough I'm sure
Kubrick w ould have driven me mad, 2001is
probably THE one.
What are your current t op albums?
Vampire Weekend, and I have a guilt y
pleasure in t he new Prodigy album. It 's like
going back in t ime t o 1997.
What are your aspi rat i ons f or t he
f ut ure?
To shoot an anamorphic movie in or around
London w it h five day w eeks, my choice of
crew and cat ering from The Ivy.
We've identified a new wave of
cinematographers who have a decent slew
of films under their belts are not upstarts,
but not quite of a certain age either are
not yet members of the BSC but who have
the potential to become the next Roger,
Alwin, Roger or Jack.
Jake Polonsky
F EA T U RE F EA T U RE c a m e r a c r e a t i v e
When direct or J.J. Abrams caught up w it h his Mission
Impossible III cohort cinemat ographer Dan Mindel
ASC, he asked hi m t o capt ure a back-t o-t he-
beginnings kind of proj ect - in more w ays t han one,
w ri t es Dixie Bonham. Phrases l i ke t he great est
advent ure of all t ime , and t he incredible st ory of a
young crew 's mai den voyage onboard t he most
advanced st arship ever creat ed: t he U.S.S. Ent erprise
abounded. And how about , t he f at e of t he galaxy rest s
in t he hands of James T. Kirk and Spock ?
Mindel got it . Anot her Star Trek. Having done a franchise w it h
J.J. before, I had a bit of an idea of w hat he w as going t o w ant
- t o cont inue t he concept , but make it bigger, fast er, more
excit ing. Hardly! The big, fast part - t hat w as a given. It 's
w here he w ant ed t o st art t hat I found fresh, new and - w ell,
excit ing.
Immediat ely, Mindel assembled his family - long-t ime
operat ors Colin Anderson, Andrew Row lands and Philippe
Carr-Forst er, first assist ant John Connor and gaffer Bruce
McCleery (w ho has moved on t o DP and became w hat t he
t w o call part ners behind t he lens, helming t he second unit
and more) and Chris Prampin (McCleery's former right hand
and now t he project 's gaffer.) Mindel relayed Abrams's
inst ruct ions t o t hem. Don't w at ch t he movies, but rat her t he
t elevision show s as a reference point . This Star Trek w ill
maint ain t he posit ivit y t hat came from t hose TV show s - t he
good-nat ured can-do feeling t hat w ill alw ays be present .
It w as t o t ell t he st ory of how t his vast advent ure began - and
how very different people learned t o w ork t oget her t o save
t he w orld.
Flare ups
And, w ork t oget her everyone did - in front of and especially
behind t he cameras. M indel and Abrams had det ailed
conversat ions and ext ensive pre-product ion discussions
about t he look t hey w ere aft er - alw ays know ing t hey w ould
shoot on film and even employ a few of t he anamorphic
anomalies discovered on MI III.
The pot ent ial for flares in t his format is huge, and t hey are
beaut iful, says Mindel. JJ really w ant ed t o use t he flares
t hroughout t he movie. He liked w hat happened and w e
decided t o consciously add a sense of imperfect ion t o t he
frame and t herefore, an element of realism.
We carried t his int o some of t he set designs, he adds. The
Ent erprise w as t o have an enormous amount of lit t le spot
light s t hat w ould, at different t imes, ant agonise t he hell out of
t he lenses.
And, our camera crew, he laughs, gent ly.
Aft er 30 years of learning t o prot ect lenses, it t ook a few
w eeks for John, Colin and Phil t o get used t o t he concept .
Aft er t hat learning curve, t hey got int o t he groove and began
direct ing t he flares and even encouraged our gaffer Chris
Prampt on t o use his flashlight t o 'give t hem somet hing t o
w ork w it h.' They became mast erful at keeping bot h Chris and
I out of frame - as w e gave t hem t hat 'ext ra' flare.
To get as much for everyone t o w ork w it h as possible, Mindel
devised a new syst em of w orking t oget her.
When he w as my gaffer, I really relied on Bruce McCleery t o
keep me organised, he says. He's also shot several splint er
unit s and second unit s for me, and I w ant ed t o t ake advant age
of his abilit y t o not only organise, but also creat e, for Star Trek.
So, in addit ion t o shoot ing t he second unit st unt sequences,
and oft en w orking in t andem w it h our first unit , J.J. and t he
main cast , Bruce became t he liaison bet w een all
depart ment s.
The flare potential
in anamorphic is
huge and we decided
to consciously add a
sense of imperfection
to the frame and,
therefore, an element
of realism
To Boldly Go ...
Dan Mindel ASC takes us
to where it all began
Family: Mindel assembled his long-time operators, first assistant and gaffer for the new space adventure
Dynamic: fluid and energetic cameras travel with and against the stunt performers
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F EA T U RE F EA T U RE c a m e r a c r e a t i v e
For every set , I w ould meet w it h t he art direct ors and t he
product ion designer, Scot t Chambliss, w orking w it h models
and blueprint s and sw at ches and samples, and out of t hose
sessions w e w ould present ideas for t he visual present at ion
of t he set s, especially as t hey relat ed t o light ing fixt ures and
concept ual ideas, explains McCleery. Dan also asked me t o
meet w it h t he VFX depart ment and head Roger Guyet t , w ho
also direct ed t he second unit . In t hese sessions, w e w ould
st udy t he pre-visualizat ion animat ics of specific scenes t o
assist in t he logist ics.
Int ense pre-prod
Ext ensive meet ings w ere also required t o creat e a w ell
t hought out approach t o handling t he biggest challenges in
t he project - t he massive shut t le set s.
Tw o fully-const ruct ed int erior and ext erior t reat ment s,
explains Mindel, had t o be creat ed so t hat t hey could be re-
designed t o become medical, personnel t ransport , capt ain's
shut t les, et c.
Ent erprise w as a bit of a challenge, he says. For example,
it has a view screen w indow and a deck t hat gave us a bit of
a problem. In t heory, t his w as supposed t o be a massive piece
of glass. But , because it w as curved, w e couldn't get a piece
of glass t o sit t here w it hout breaking. We w ant ed t he
reflect ions of t he int erior on t he screen, t o give us life. So, t he
only answ er w as t o t ake t he glass out and use Plexi over t he
w indow s, allow ing us t o shoot reflect ion plat es t hat ILM could
put over a green screen.
Light ing t he ships t ook a very large creat ive t eam, says
McCleery. In t he space ships w e had t he art and fixt ure
depart ment s w orking t oget her t o embed lot s of Rosco light
pads int o t he consoles and cont rol panels.
Light ing expert Al de Mayo coordinat ed w it h PRG and
companies like Element Labs t o implement t ools like t he
St ealt h LED video panels and Versat ube video fed LED t ubes
t hat suggest ed t he movement of light and informat ion.
Mindel and McCleery also w orked t o int egrat e even more
high- end light ing int o t he set s t o enable f reedom of
movement and t o creat e t he look t hat Abrams w ant ed t o
achieve. DMX-fed dimmable fluorescent s from Lit egear w ere
encased in frost ed Plexiglas housings in most of t he set s. This
allow ed Chris Prampin t o w ork w it h dimmer console
programmer Josh That cher t o programme t he changing light
values and different act ivit y modes on t he ship.
We also used a mult it ude of different LED arrays t hat Al
came up w it h for archit ect ural art iculat ion of t he set cont ours
on t he Ent erprise, and t o simulat e comput er act ivit y, says
McCleery. We placed dozens of simple MR11 and MR16
fixt ures in high-t ech looking fixt ures t o 'sex up' t he image and
flare t he anamorphic lenses. And, behind fake inst rument s w e
placed many ot her moving light s t o give energy and
movement t o t he background in shot s as w ell as t o t he
at mosphere in t he foreground.
How ever, t he evil Narada ship, w as complet ely opposit e t o
t he Ent erprise. Product ion designer Scot t Chambliss creat ed a
t heat rest yle set w it h moving element s t hat could slide
around and change t he shape and dept h of a set t hat felt like
it w as const ant ly moving. Moving rock and roll light s allow ed
Primpt on t o keep t his dark and moody, and help illuminat e
deep areas and sw eep int o t he foreground, suggest ing
unknow n dept hs and creat e anxiet y.
The same t ool w as used in t he shut t le st at ion. It suggest ed
const ant act ivit y in t he void above frame as if shut t les w ere
alw ays coming and going, and being guided by an int ricat e
pat t ern of light s. For t his t hey used t he 3k Shogun Xenon
moving light s on 110 foot condors alongside Light ing St rikes
unit s from Luminys and ARRI 18k Arrimax unit s mount ed w it h
t he Arri MaxMover t o eliminat e having t o put an operat or in
t he condor basket and prot ect t he hist orical WW II hangar
used for locat ion.
In-camera
Product ion-friendly light ing int egrat ed int o complicat ed set s
w asn't t he only t hing t hat w as t he dict um for Star Trek. The
t eams also w orked hard t o do as much of t he act ion in-
camera. There is a sequence w here t hree of t he key act ors
depart a shut t le and hurt le freest yle t ow ard a Romulan drill
plat form t hat is t hreat ening eart h. They pass int o t he
at mosphere and event ually init iat e t heir chut es t o open and
land. And it w as all done in-camera inst ead of VFX.
We w ant ed a fluid and energet ic moving camera t ravelling
w it h or against t he st unt performers w ho w ere t et hered t o a
syst em of t ravelling cables, explains M cCleery. Their
movement s w ere not so simple as just up and dow n, but
oft en involved a variet y of manoeuvres and int eract ion t o
suggest peril or lack of cont rol.
We made ext ensive use of a 50ft Technocrane, and on some
occasions mount ed a 30ft Technocrane on t he plat form of a
Chapman Tit an crane t o give us a different degree of
flexibilit y.
To w hip around t he aerial t ravellers flying against Mylar
reflect ors, t he t eam chose t he Chapman G-3 gyro st abilised
head, w hich offered t he range, from st raight up t o w ell past
st raight dow n, and could be arranged t o pan lat erally along
t he long axis of t he w ide frame in any configurat ion.
The head on t he crane could rot at e past 360 degrees w it hout
a st op, explains McCleery. To give t his even more sense of
urgency, w e added Clairmont 's image shaker.
High-oct ane images
Addit ional high-oct ane images w ere creat ed w it h a handheld
camera operat ed by Andrew Row lands in a bosun's chair
using virt ual video goggles. It creat ed a highly organic energy
and excit ement t o t he image. At different point s, Mindel
w ould send t he camera chair hurt ling up at t he skydivers w ho
w ere hurt ling dow nw ard t ow ard t he camera, t hen w hip t he
camera dow n w it h t hem as t hey w ent past .
The size of t he set for t his w as, as McCleery put it , pick point
for t he st unt cranes and descender rig at approximat ely 120ft
w it h Dodger st adium and dow nt ow n LA looming in t he
dist ance.
The t w o t eams w ould also mount a camera and a head on a
120 foot condor t o get a dow nw ard perspect ive on t he sky
t ravelers as t hey emerged from t he shut t le or as t hey
approached t he drill plat form below.
When t hey could, t he t w o t eams w ould frame t he skydivers
against t he sky t o avoid more VFX w ork. When t hey began t o
see t he real LA large green screens w ere suspended from
const ruct ion cranes or condors.
Frequent ly, t he parking lot w as blanket ed in w et (it w as a
rainy t ime in LA! ) greenscreen fabrics, w it h a five foot green
cushion of st unt pads in t he middle below t he descant er rig,
Mindel and McCleery recall.
And t hat 's only one of t he complicat ed in-camera shot s t hat
Dan Mindel and t eam t ackled w it h ent husiasm for direct or J.J.
Abrams's back t o t he beginning version of t he St ar Trek
phenomenon.
This Star Trek will
maintain the
positivity that came
from the original TV
shows the good-
natured, can-do
feeling
Warp factor: lighting the ships took a very large creative team
U K l i v e a n d l e t D I
Soho facilit y Pepper... has announced a raft of appoint ment s
and st rat egic invest ment s at it s Greek St reet and Noel St reet
premises. Appoint ment s include former Deluxe Digit al colourist
John Claude, w hose CV includes DI credit s for Brideshead
Revisited and Happy-Go-Lucky, and sound mixer How ard
Bargroff, responsible for The Colour of Magic, Killshot, Franklyn
and EasyVirtue.
The highlight of Pepper's t echnology invest ment w ill be t he
complet e rebuild of St udio 1 at Noel St , making it capable of
mixing large- scale feat ures. Pepper is also revamping it s ot her
sound st udios, put t ing HD project ion int o it s large long-form
broadcast st udio and building a new fourt h surround st udio w it h
voiceover boot h for non-long form w ork.
We are delight ed t hat John has joined us, creat ing a real force
in DI services, said joint MD Shane Warden. Pepper has t he
largest DI grading t heat re in London, and coupled w it h our
redesigned sound st udio at Noel St reet w e w ill have an
unbeat able combinat ion of services in cent ral Soho. The
significant acoust ic and layout changes w ill creat e a luxurious
dest inat ion for int ernat ional and Brit ish feat ure sound mixing in
t he heart of Soho.
Pepper has st art ed w ork on t he Sony Columbia feat ure Planet
51, w hich w ill use bot h t heat res. In addit ion, commercial
direct or Jane Coombes has joined Warden as joint MD.
Ascent 142 has complet ed t he post -product ion on short film
Love Hate, a romant ic comedy 'w it h a difference', and t he first
project t o be shot on Mscope camera equipment , supplied by
ARRI Media.
Mscope is a w idescreen format developed by ARRI t o facilit at e
t he use of anamorphic lenses w it h t he ARRIFLEX D-21 filmst yle
digit al camera in HD capt ure mode. It combines t he cinemat ic
aest het ic of anamorphic cinemat ography w it h digit al
acquisit ion, and allow s anamorphic images t o be recorded as a
dual HD signal.
Usually w hen w e do a 2.35:1 job shot in HD, w e t ake t he 1920
x 1080 image and crop t he t op and bot t om t o end up w it h a lit t le
more t han 800 lines, said Laurent Treherne, digit al film
t echnical direct or at Ascent 142. Mscope uses t he full 4:3
surface of t he sensor [ 1920 x 1440 pixels] and records t he
anamorphic pict ure using t w o HD st reams on HDCAM SR.
This meant t hat Ascent 142 had over 60% more image
informat ion t o w ork w it h in t he DI grade. The HD ingest and
conform w as done on Ascent 142's Smoke and a specific plug-
in 'spark' w as developed t o recombine t he t w o HD st reams,
recreat ing t he original anamorphic pict ure.
The grade w as complet ed using a Da Vinci Resolve syst em and
project ed w it h a Barco DP90.
Because t he pict ure is anamorphic w e had t o use t he Resolve
t o squeeze it back t o a flat version w hile grading, said Treherne.
For t he film-out w e used t he anamorphic 'un- squeeze' version,
w hich gave us t he full resolut ion available from t he camera
sensor.
Love Hate is t he st ory of an affair bet w een a young charit y
w orker and a w oman w ho t urns out t o be t he physical
embodiment of his hat red. The film st ars t w o of Brit ain's hot t est
young act ors, Ben Whishaw and Hayley At w ell, and w as
commissioned for Film London's Pulse Plus scheme.
Technicolor's new Lexingt on St reet facilit y has complet ed
t he DIs on a raft of feat ures. These include, Hippie Hippie Shake,
direct ed by Beeban Kidron w it h cinemat ography by Michael
Seresin BSC; Ealing St udio's FromTime to Timelensed by Alan
Almond BSC; t he Mat t hew Vaughn direct ed Kick Ass, w hich
w as shot by Ben Davis BSC; SherlockHolmes, direct ed by Guy
Rit chie, w it h Philippe Rousselot t he DP; Oliver Parker's Dorian
Graylit and framed by Roger Prat t BSC; and The Unloved, w hich
w as direct ed by Samant ha Mort on w it h Tom Tow nend in charge
of t he cinemat ography.
MPC's Jean-Clement Soret w as responsible for grading
SlumdogMillionaire, w hich w as, by his ow n admission, his most
challenging feat ure grade t o dat e. The film w as aw arded w it h
eight Academy Aw ards (including Best Pict ure/ Best
Direct ion/ Best Cinemat ography), seven BAFTAs (including Best
Film/ Best Direct or), four Golden Globes (Best Pict ure/ Best
Direct or/ Best Screenplay/ Best Original Score) and t he Screen
Act ors Guild's (SAG) t op aw ard for ensemble cast .
Shot on locat ion in India, t he film mixed 35mm and Si2K digit al
camera foot age w it h Canon digit al st ills, all creat ing implicat ions
in t rying t o creat e t he colourful filmic look direct or Danny Boyle
w ant ed. Add t o t his, t he fast paced, dynamic cut and t he fact
t hat foot age came from a range of different cameras in varying
w eat her condit ions and bright ness levels, and all-in-all a lot of
effort w as required t o make t he result s look seamless.
Cont act bet w een t he audience and t he act ors w as also
import ant , and t his w as achieved w it h various digit al t ools t o
enhance facial expressions. Thanks t o great lat it ude of freedom
in t he grading process t ime w as spent w it h Danny Boyle and DP
Ant hony Dod Mant le searching for appropriat e looks and
at mospheres.
As w ell as t he grade, MPC also handled t he huge t ask of
processing t he files from t he Si2K cameras used on t he shoot .
At Dod Mant le's admission, it w as a t ough shoot w it h limit ed
possibilit ies for light ing. Many shot s ended up being pushed t o
t heir limit s in t he grade. MPC's DI t eam had a range of t ricks t o
de-grain and sharpen t he images t o enhance t heir qualit y. This
w as part icularly useful w hen mat ching 35mm and digit ally
acquired images.
CinePost product ion in Munich has significant ly expanded
it s DI grading suit es 3D st ereo film and digit al foot age, w it h new
Barco digit al cinema project ors, as w ell as mast ering and server
syst ems for DCPs. Act ive shut t er lenses from XpanD are used
during grading and screening w it h Barco 2K digit al project ors.
The syst em employed, w hich is w idespread in Germany,
involves project ing t he image alt ernat ely t o t he left and right
eye, w hile synchronisat ion w it h t he digit al project or is
performed via infrared. The benefit is t hat a special silver screen
is not necessary, so t hat even grading and screening can be
performed in 2D.
There are, only a few st ereoscopic product ions out t here right
now, how ever w e support t he ent ire st ereoscopic w orkflow,
from online edit ing, colour grading and t it le design all t he w ay t o
DCP. The experience w e've gained has proven highly useful in
pract ice, for example in our st ereoscopic processing of t he
t railer for Ice Age 3, explained t echnical sales manager
Mat t hias Saulich at CinePost product ion Geyer, Berlin.
On t he t echnology front Cint el Int ernat ional has announced
a record quart er for it s diTTo 2K/ 4K pin regist rat ion film scanner
To Live
and Let DI
Squeezed &unsqueezed: a true anamorphic image of the
two stars of Love Hat e, as captured by the D-21's 4:3
sensor, plus the final undistorted Mscope image of the
same frame
Pepper: investment not to be sneezed at Double Negative: worked on over 250 VFX shots for The Boat That Rocked
l i v e a n d l e t D I
w it h t he sale of diTTo's t o Eurolab (Rome), Digiquest (Hyderabad), Bew egt e Bilder (Tubingen) and
Cinemat eca Brasilia (Sao Paulo).
UK digit al film consult ancy Light Illusion is helping Gemni/ Anand Cine Service launch new
digit al film facilit y in Chennai, India. In one of t he largest moves w it hin t he Indian film indust ry,
Gemini/ Anand Cine Service is launching one of t he most advanced DI and digit al film operat ions in
India.
Equipment at t he new facilit y includes ARRI scanning and film recording syst ems, D-21 cameras,
including anamorphic capt ure capabilit ies via ARRI's M-Scope t echnology, and RAW dat a capt ure
via T-RAW. The chief DI syst em is Quant el's Genet ic Engineering, w it h mult iple Pablo DI
w orkst at ion covering edit orial, colour correct ion, VFX, rest orat ion, audio, review, and 3D st ereo
capabilit ies, all at up t o 4K resolut ion real-t ime.
Cult show Red Dwarf has made a long-aw ait ed ret urn t o t he small screen, using Red cameras.
VFX guru Mike Seymour w as hired as t he VFX supervisor and also as advisor on t he w orkflow. Andy
Mart in, t he DP, creat ed specific light ing and colour palet t es so t he product ion w ould play
cinemat ically, w hilst also producing high-qualit y green screen foot age for t he post and VFX effort s.
The t hree episodes, w hile only 23 minut es each, had 262 effect s shot s.
Seymour, w ho also runs fxphd.com, an online VFX t raining and consult ing company, asked for
everyt hing t o be shot daylight or daylight filt er balanced in order t o help t he VFX post process. The
Red cameras ran at RC36, shoot ing 180-degree shut t ers at 320 ASA, but w it h Mart in rat ing and
t reat ing t he cameras like 200 daylight film st ock.
The sw eet spot for greenscreen w ork is w it hout a doubt 320 ASA, says Seymour. This gamut
of t he cameras and t he noise response curves are best on t his combinat ion of set t ings. We shot
4K HD - t hat is t o say, double HD in a 16:9 aspect rat io for an HD 4:4:4 mast ering finish.
The original R3Ds w ere sent t o Evolut ions for t he online, w hich used Baselight w it h t he new SDK
Red opt ion, allow ing direct access t o t he R3D files. A second copy of t he R3Ds w as sent t o Sydney
t o fxphd.com w hich handled t he visual effect s. The project w as w orked on in mult iple locat ions
around t he w orld, and w as managed online using Sohonet for high- speed t ransfers. St udent s on
Seymour's online VFX t raining courses w ill be able t o recreat e t he visual effect s seen on Red
Dwarf.
London's Double Negat ive w orked on 250 shot s in The Boat That Rocked, lensed by Danny
Cohen BSC, and direct ed by Richard Curt is. Work st art ed for Double Negat ive w it h t hree mont h's
w ort h of pre-visualisat ion, follow ed by t he four-mont h filming schedule. A st ills shoot and Lidar of
t he boat w ere carried out before t he principle phot ography. The crew shot on locat ion in Port land
Harbour in Weymout h some addit ional shoot ing at Pinew ood. Double Negat ive's w ork included t he
final sinking sequence, w it h shot s creat ed ent irely in CG. The company has also provide VFX
services for Angels And Demons, IronMan2, HarryPotter and the DeathlyHallows: Part 1, The
GreenZone, Prince of Persia: Sands of Timeand The Wolf Man.
Cult: Red Dw arf is back courtesy of fxphd.ocmand Evolutions
F EA T U RE F EA T U RE s h o o t i n g t h e f u t u r e
In t he consumer market , magazines and w ebsit es are packed w it h review s and
evaluat ions of digit al cameras, mobile phones, comput er sof t w are, processors and
every ot her elect ronic gizmo imaginable - giving people at least a chance of making
an inf ormed decision bef ore t hey shell out t heir hard-earned cash. There is no f ull
equivalent in t he realm of t he prof essional cinema camera, but t his didn't seem t o
mat t er t oo much at one t ime because t he choice w as bet w een a f ew f ilm cameras
and a handf ul of st ocks, w it h video only an occasional cont ender.
Today t he choice has grow n - it 's now here near consumer levels, but film is now jost ling for
posit ion w it h high definit ion video, dat a and digit al in all it s forms. To provide some object ive
informat ion on t he performance and capabilit ies of individual cameras t he BSC launched it s Film
and Digit al Image Evaluat ion programme (F&DIE) t his year. This put 18 cameras and 19 format s
t hrough t he same set t ings and paramet ers, t he aim being t o make t he choice of equipment as
pract ical as possible.
"We w ant ed t o put t he choice of camera back w it h t he direct or of phot ography, making
decisions based on fact s rat her t han hype," explains Gavin Finney BSC. "There are some act ors
w ho refuse t o be filmed in HD because of t he w ay t hey t hink it makes t hem look, so w e w ant ed
t o undo t he hype and be able t o say w hat t he cameras do, w hy t hey are different and how t hey
might not be quit e w hat t he manufact urers say t hey are.
Finney says t he project is aimed squarely at execut ive producers, line producers, producers and
act ors. "There are some cameras t hat w ill make performers look t errible and ot hers t hat make
t hem look good, w hich is w hy close-up shot s w ere an import ant part of w hat w e w ere doing,"
he explains.
Fashion has alw ays played a part in t he select ion of t echnology, but t he aim w as t o get aw ay
from such a herd ment alit y. "Just because you use t he camera Ant hony Dod Mant le used on
Slumdog Millionairedoesn't mean you'll w in lot s of Oscars," comment s Finney.
Anot her spur for t he assessment s - t he w ord 't est s' is st udiously avoided by all t hose involved
due t o it s laborat ory, bench t est connot at ions - w as t he declarat ion by t he BBC t hat it no longer
w ant ed t o receive mat erial on Super 16mm film for it s HD services.
BSC F&DIEs
Report by Kevin Hilton
Talking shop: the BSC's Film& Digital Image Evaluation (F&DIE) programme will provide objective information on the performance and capabilities of individual cameras
Balance: BSC's F&DIEs aims to undo the hype and say what cameras can and can't do
F EA T U RE F EA T U RE s h o o t i n g t h e f u t u r e
"That came like a bolt from t he blue," says Sue Gibson BSC,
t he president of t he BSC w ho oversaw t he various shoot s. "As
w e got used t o t hat idea w e had t o look at w hat else w as
available. There w as so much publicit y put out by t he
manufact urers of new cameras, like Red and Sony, w e felt it
incumbent on us t o t ell t he t rut h and say object ively w hat
each one can do under different circumst ances."
Anot her import ant aspect w as t he w orkflow of every camera
and how foot age could be t ransferred easily and quickly t o a
post -facilit y for edit ing and grading. Coordinat ing w hat Gibson
describes as a "rat her big vent ure" w as Mart in Hammond,
w ho had originally been at t he BBC meet ing as a
represent at ive of Kodak, but w ho ret ired f rom t he
manufact urer and now w orks as a media consult ant .
"There is a need for educat ion in t he market on t his issue,"
says Hammond. "The indust ry w as t old it couldn't use
S16mm, so w e set out t o t ake aw ay t he myt hs surrounding
ot her cameras and format s." Hammond and t he BSC arranged
70,000 funding t hrough Skillset , but Gibson says t he balance
w as made up by "in kind" payment s, w it h manufact urers and
facilit ies providing equipment free of charge.
Pinew ood St udios made it s B St age available during February.
Tw o set s w ere est ablished t here; one a shop int erior, t he
ot her for close-ups. Ext eriors w ere shot around t he grounds at
Pinew ood. Finney and John Daly BSC w orked on t he shop set ,
light ing it for bot h night and day. Robin Vidgeon BSC looked
aft er t he close-ups, w hile Chris Seager BSC w as also involved
in t he project .
The cameras put t hrough t heir paces w ere: ARRI435, Super
35mm four-perf using four difference st ocks (Kodak and Fuji),
Sony F35, Panavision Genesis, ARRI D-21, Red, Super 16mm
(again four different st ock from bot h Kodak and Fuji), Viper,
Silicon Imaging 2K, Sony 900R, Sony EX-3 and Panasonic
HVX201. The Canon 5D MKII DSLR camera t hat offers full-
frame 1080p HD shoot ing capabilit ies, along w it h 21.1
megapixel st ills, w as also included.
Daly describes t he light ing as "not overly elaborat e" but w it h
a large cont rast range. "The idea w as t o st ret ch t he cameras,
so t here w ere ext remely bright and dark areas," he says. "It
w asn't beaut y light ing." Set s w ere lit t o 200ASA, regardless
of camera or acquisit ion format , using ND filt ering w it h
cameras set t o st op F28.
Cinemat ography st udent s f rom t he London College of
Communicat ions helped compile t he dat a sheet s, w hile
const ruct ion st udent s at EIM/ EMLC w ere involved in set
carpent ry and paint ing. The set s, designed by Malcom St one,
are being kept for fut ure assessment s. The Hat Fact ory w as
heavily involved in t he project , bot h as a facilit y and t hrough
Joe Dunt on building a dolly t o accommodat e eight cameras at
a t ime for t he ext erior shot s.
Dunt on comment s t hat DPs t oday "get bogged dow n w it h t he
t echnicalit y of t he bit s and chips" and can lose sight of t he
creat ive, light ing side of w hat t hey do. While t he aim of t hese
sessions w as t o shift t he balance back t o t he DP and
creat ivit y, Chris Seager observes t hey w ere also import ant t o
highlight t he pot ent ial confusion in t erms of w orkflow s.
"Every camera has it s ow n w orkflow and t hey can add a
lot of t ime t o a product ion and, as w e know, t ime equals
money," he says.
The foot age w as graded t o a grey scale, w it h no secondary
colour correct ion. The aim is t o show t he finished mat erial on
a big screen so t hat t he performance of each camera can be
properly assessed. There w ill be screenings during t he Cannes
Film Fest ival, follow ed by ot her special present at ions and a
roadshow around t he UK. A "Making of..." DVD has been
produced by Richard Blanshard.
In t he US t he ASC, Producers Guild of America (PGA) and
Revelat ions Ent ert ainment ,. w hich provided funding, has held
a Camera Assessment Series, t he result s of w hich w ill be
announced at t he PGA's Produced by Conference in June.
While t his might appear t o be duplicat ion of effort Sue Gibson
is confident t he BSC's evaluat ions w ill creat e a "level playing
field" t hat benefit s everyone involved in a shoot , from act ors
t o producers t o cost ume and product ion designers t o make-
up art ist s, as w ell as direct ors of phot ographers.
World premier: the first screening of the BSC F&DIEs will take place on 8th J uly at NFT1, South Bank, London
Universal: J oe Dunton says the camera evaluations are
for every professional in the production of moving
images
U K c l o s e u p s
The 1984 sci-f i/act ion classic The Terminator has gone
on t o produce a TV series, video games, and t hree
f eat ure sequel s-t he t hi rd bei ng t hi s summer's
Terminator Salvation f rom Warner Bros., helmed by
McG and lensed by direct or of phot ography Shane
Hurlbut ASC (t he but t of t he much-publicised on-set
cont ret emps w it h Christ ian Bale).
McG w ant ed t o do w hat BatmanBeginsdid for it s franchise
- he w ant ed a complet e reinvent ion, Hurlbut explains. This
is 20-years aft er t he original came out , and t he view er is more
educat ed t o a different st yle.
The new film, set in post -apocalypt ic 2018, is focused on
John Connor - played by Christ ian Bale - as t he man w ho w ill
event ually lead a human resist ance. Sam Wort hingt on and
Bryce Dallas How ard also have leading roles.
In t his film, comput ers have t o build machines, and t hey are
creat ing t heir ow n indust rial revolut ion. So w e decided t his
w as going t o be like t he Indust rial Revolut ion in 1880s
Pit t sburgh. It 's not high-t ech. It 's raw. We w ant ed t o show t he
dirt , grease and grime of t his indust rial revolut ion, w it hout t he
grain.
There w ere 77 days of principal phot ography, shot largely on
locat ion in New Mexico. Shoot ing began in May 2008 and
concluded in August . Second unit shot anot her 40 days.
Hurlbut shot 35mm, relying primarily on Panavision and it s
Primo prime and zoom lenses, as w ell as ARRI for some of t he
handheld and high- speed phot ography.
Of t he act ion in t his film, Hurlbut says: It 's in your face. McG
w ant ed it t o be unrelent ing, because t he Terminat ors are
unrelent ing.
A key act ion sequence in t he film w as st aged near a
convenience st ore w here a Harvest er - an 85 ft t all Terminat or
t hat 'harvest s' humans - show s up, grabbing people. A chase
ensues and in t he end t he st ore is blow n up.
Hurlbut used 13 cameras t o shoot t he explosion, and also
used a helicopt er, w hich helped t o creat e t he scale w hen t he
85 ft . Harvest er w as added in post , as w ell as a crash camera,
Technocrane, and Russian arm. The ent ire act ion sequence
t akes less t han one minut e of screen t ime, and w as filmed as
a series of hookups t o appear as a cont inuous shot . It w as a
huge ballet of cars bombs, Hurlbut recalls. It has an
incredible int ensit y in t he Children Of Men st yle of
phot ography.
In t he film you feel very int imat e w it h t he act ors, t he DP
cont inues. The handheld shot s give it a nice document ary
feel, and you feel like you are experiencing t he event s w it h
t hem. Then you jump w ide t o show t he geography and
paramet ers and w hat t hey are up against . That w as t he st yle
of t he phot ography - t hat push/ pull of incredible int imacy t o
incredibly w ide shot s.
To help find t he desired look, Hurlbut experiment ed w it h some
of t he film going t hrough Technicolor's 'Oz' process. He
explains t hat t his lab t reat ment removes colour from t he
negat ive, creat ing a silvery, black-and-w hit e st yle image. The
final look w as creat ed in t he digit al int ermediat e process,
w orking w it h Company 3 colourist St efan Sonnenfeld.
Shane Hurlbut ASC
Terminator Salvation
U K c l o s e u p s
The one remark t hat most st ands out f rom people w ho
have seen sneak preview s of Nine Miles Downis t hat
it is unusual. Direct ed by Ant hony Waller a NFTS
graduat e w ho previously direct ed Mute Witness as
w ell as An American Werewolf In Paris, it t akes t he
audience t hrough a night marish decent int o one man's
del i ri um. What st art s out as a st rai ght f orw ard
i nvest i gat i on i nt o t he st range di sappearance of a
drilling crew f rom a Saharan scient if ic sit e becomes a
decent int o a psychological hell t hat securit y guard
Adrian Paul (Highlander) has dug f or himself. He is not
hel ped by t he myst eri ous appari t i on of t he one
remaining crew member, Kat e Naut a (Transporter II),
w ho seems t o only f uel his suspicion t hat somet hing
very evil has been unleashed by t he scient ist s w hen
t hey dri l l ed an unprecedent ed ni ne mi l es dow n.
Al t hough t he movi e doesn't act ual l y t ake pl ace
underground, it cert ainly digs deep int o t he t roubled
psyche of Adri an Paul 's charact er Jack, w hi ch
present ed DP Roger Simonsz GBCT w it h a f ew unusual
visual challenges.
I very much w ant ed t o creat e a visual line t hat w ould
accompany Jack's journey, says Simonsz. The st rengt h of
t he movie lies in t he fact w e t ell it most ly from his point of
view, so as event s unfold w e might find ourselves in t he same
locat ion, but Jack's percept ion has complet ely changed and
t herefore I might light t he same place complet ely different ly
t o mat ch w here w e are in Jack's head.
This w as t rue for bot h locat ion and st udio. Due t o cert ain
product ion requirement s, t he movie w as first shot indoors in
a disused champagne fact ory on t he out skirt s of Budapest
before finishing in t he desert around Tozeur, Tunisia, w here t he
shell of t he scient ific research st at ion w as built w it h a
complet e derrick. For Simonsz, shoot ing in t his order first
seemed t o present only disadvant ages, but now he t hinks
ot herw ise.
Obviously shoot ing int eriors first is a night mare as t here is a
very large chance t hat w hat ever you decided w as happening
out side of t he set for a part icular scene is not w hat you w ill
find w hen you get t here, but t here is very lit t le you can do
about it . Admit t edly, t he Sahara is a bit more predict able t han
London, but w e st ill managed t o get caught out by a real
sandst orm w hen w e w eren't ready yet t o shoot all of our
sandst orm foot age. That meant t hat w e could use some of it ,
but t hen had t o move elsew here unt il t he w eat her improved.
It w as only w it h hindsight t hat I realised t hat I w as able t o
t ake much great er creat ive risk w it h t he light ing in t he st udio,
as I w asn't const ant ly t rying t o t ell myself w here t he sun
w ould be in realit y. Of course, I had a rough idea as I knew
how t he set w as posit ioned in relat ion t o t he sun, but I
w orried less and t herefore had more space in my head for t he
creat ive rat her t han t he t echnical st oryt elling.
There w ere also t w o scenes t hat w ere meant t o t ake place in
t he desert , w hich had t o be shot in t he st udio. One w as a long
dialogue scene at sunset , w here it w as deemed best t o film
t he real sunset and act ors w it h a w ide shot in real t ime, and
t hen shoot t he coverage in t he st udio. The ot her w as a sunrise
sequence w here t he unfort unat e Jack falls in a cess pit .
Here I had t o t ake great care as bot h sequences w ould have
t o cut seamlessly bet w een st udio and locat ion and I had no
idea w hat I w ould face in t he desert . During t he recce I t ook
copious not es about sun posit ion and colour. In t he end I
phot ographed a macbet h chart in t he condit ions I w as hoping
t o be in w hen w e ret urned and asked Eszt er Nagy, t he
colourist at Colorfront in Budapest , t o bring t he phot o back t o
neut ral. I w ould t hen bring t he correct ed and t he uncorrect ed
pict ures back on my lapt op as a split screen and I w ould look
t hrough t he gels in my sw at ch book unt il t he correct ed phot o
looked like t he original one again. Now I knew w hat gels I
needed for my light s t o eit her mat ch t he sunset or predaw n.
Anot her challenge w as recreat ing desert sunlight in a
Hungarian w int er. The complex w here most of t he act ion
t akes place is t raversed by a series of long corridors, eit her lit
by fluorescence or sky light s.
The problem w it h re-creat ing sunlight indoors isn't really t he
int ensit y, direct ion or colour, it 's t he dist ance. Due t o t he
effect s of t he inverse square law I couldn't really put a series
of Par Cans on t he roof of t he set t o simulat e sunlight as at
t hat proximit y, t he act or's heads w ould be a st op bright er t han
t heir knees in a w ide shot w hich w ould look odd. The only w ay
is t o get your source as far aw ay from your subject as
possible, w hich in my case w as t he roof of t he fact ory. This
creat es t he problem of lux levels as t he furt her aw ay t he light ,
t he st ronger it needs t o be. As t he skylight s measured only
0,8 met res squared I didn't need a 5 kW t hat w ould t hrow
light everyw here, I just needed somet hing t hat w ould fill t hat
area w it h light t o simulat e t he desert t op light . Dramat ically
speaking, I w ant ed somet hing t hat w ould give t he effect of
light lit erally falling st raight dow n. I once shot in t he sout hern
Sinai in June and remember seeing t he shadow of a person
w alking as being just a line bet w een t he heels; t hat 's w hat I
w as looking for. I t est ed a few different unit s t hat could
possibly achieve t his and set t led on a mix, he explains.
For slant ed sunlight Simonsz chose Par cans, for moonlight he
used ETC source 4s, as t hey have a very clean beam, and t he
hot t op light w as provided by 18 ADB Svobodas, w hich are
nine 28 volt crow n silvered lamps mount ed in parabolic
reflect ors w it h spill rings, w hich give a w onderful shaft of
light ; most ly used in operas.
Simonsz says t hat Visiont eam in Budapest did a great job in
sourcing t hese unit s t o give t he number he needed. This
w hole rig ran t hrough a ETC Congo desk so t hat once t he t russ
w as flow n out t he t eam could cont rol everyt hing from t he
ground w hich gave t hem a very quick t urn around bet w een
t he different corridors: moonlit , night mare, early morning,
gust s of sand flying across t he roof and burning bright day.
I w as very fort unat e in Budapest t o have t he opport unit y t o
w ork w it h Colorfront , w hich provided an excellent view ing
environment . Every day aft er w rap, Ant hony and I w ould go
and w at ch t he previous day's rushes in a digit al cinema w here
Eszt er w ould inst ant ly give me t he sort of grade I w as looking
for. This meant I could show Ant hony w hat I w as aiming for
and t he edit or, Jamie Travill, w as already w orking w it h graded
rushes. This also meant t hat t he producers could t ake
preview s t o film fest ivals t hat looked almost like t he finished
result , even t hough w e w ere st ill filming.
The movie is now being finished in London at Prime Focus and
is due for release soon.
Roger Simonsz GBCT
Nine Miles Down
U K c l o s e u p s
Vi gi l ant e f i l ms have experi enced a resurgence i n
consumer ent husiasm recent ly, as demonst rat ed by
producer Luc Besson's recent Taken, t oppi ng t he
int ernat ional box of f ice f or several w eeks. This could
be a sign of t he t imes. Fear of an uncert ain and host ile
w orld at our doorst ep solicit s a desire t o have our
pat ch prot ect ed. One t hing is cert ain - in Harry Brown,
t he upcoming UK-f inanced Michael Caine shoot -em-up,
DP Mart i n Ruhe (Control, U2's Linear) saw an
opport unit y.
Ruhe knew direct or Daniel Barber and scribe Gary Young w ere
on t o somet hing by put t ing Caine w it h firepow er in t he
housing est at es of London. Ruhe's int erest became piqued by
recollect ing t he dirt y rough films like Get Carter, w hich
fascinat ed me. He also relished t he idea of t rying his hand at
a new genre.
HarryBrownt akes a hard look at violent crime in t he UK as t he
product of yout h disenfranchisement in poorer areas. Caine
plays t he t it ular charact er, an aging ex- serviceman, w hose
best friend is lost t o juvenile st reet violence. His ire soon finds
him packing a handgun t o t each t he delinquent s a lesson.
Ruhe had previously w orked w it h Barber on a commercial and
found himself impressed by t he direct or's visual acumen.
Harry Brown's budget - a challenging 5 million - afforded
Ruhe t he inspirat ion t o branch out int o new digit al t echnology,
as using film t urned out t o be impract icable. He picked up t he
Sony F35 HD camera, provided by Take 2 along w it h ARRI
Mast erprime and Angenieux Opt imo lenses, for t he first t ime.
Familiarising himself w it h t he gamut of compet ing HD opt ions,
Ruhe found t he camera's performance in low light sit uat ions a
great asset . HarryBrownis t he first feat ure t o be shot w it h
t he F35.
Quit e oft en w e ended up shoot ing our night ext eriors w it h an
F- st op of 1.3, w hich meant a hell of a job for my focus puller,
says Ruhe. There w as no dept h-of field-at all!
Ruhe's focus puller, Tim Bat t ersby and gaffer, Julian Whit e
from Control joined him again for HarryBrown. Jem Mort on, a
frequent collaborat or from Ruhe's spot jobs leant his hand as
dolly grip.
So as not t o overpow er t he realism and at mosphere of t he
council est at es, Ruhe used small st reet light s in lieu of film
light s.
I t hought our scenes should just blend in w it h t heir
surroundings. Light ing, especially at night , should be decent
and real. We set t he camera t o 6db gain for t he night scenes
and used a lot of pract ical sodium or mercury vapour
floodlight s. These at las fit t ings carried 400 w at t bulbs. I rat ed
t he camera usually at 500 ASA, at night 1000 ASA.
We got t hese hyper real-looking night s, w it h definit ion in t he
sky w here you can really feel t he clouds. We used t he raw
look of t hose floodlight s and t hey blended perfect ly. I liked t he
mixt ure of orange w it h t he green and cool light from t he
mercury vapours.
Barber's met hod is t o t rust in t he DP's underst anding of visual
and emot ional milieu, w it hout sw amping him t hem
references. Art ist ically, Ruhe likes t o find his ow n direct ion
w it h t he look of his w ork.
Wit h all t he pict ures w e see each day you have t o make it
somet hing w ort hw hile t o w at ch, he says. It might not be
t he slickest or most t rendy look, but I t hink it 's bet t er t o not be
t oo predict able, t o alw ays look for somet hing unique w hich is
not t oo cont rived or forced.
Ruhe's pat h t o feat ure cinemat ography t ook him t hrough over
300 commercials and 200 music videos, aft er w hich he
landed a job shoot ing Ian Curt is biopic Control for famed music
phot ographer- cum- direct or Ant on Corbjin. Bef ore Harry
Brown, he lensed Julie Delpy's second feat ure as direct or, The
Countess.
I t hink DPs have t he most beaut iful job in t he w orld. At t he
camera, everyt hing comes t oget her; t he performance, all t he
w ork every t eam member put s int o it When everyt hing
comes t oget her t here can be magic. I t hink it 's a great
privilege t o be a DP.
Lionsgat e has HarryBrownslat ed for a November release in
t he UK. Post product ion is being done at Framest ore in
London. The light ing package w as provided Panalux.
Martin Ruhe
Harry Brown
c l o s e u p s
W. Mott Hupfel III
J ack Goes Boating
Bringing a play t o t he big screen can of t en be f raught w it h more t han a f ew
challenges. Add t o it t hat Mot her Nat ure gives you snow w hen you don't w ant it , or
supreme cold w hen you're w orking on t he open st reet s of New York f illed w it h
w orking people, moving cars and t he inevit able paparazzi, and t he t ask t akes on a
w hole new level of complicat ions.
How ever, bring t oget her Oscar-w inning act or (Capote) Philip Seymour Hoffman, t o st ar and
direct , and cinemat ographer W. Mot t Hupfel III (w ho w orked w it h Hoffman on Savages), and
t here isn't much t hat t he t w o can't accomplish.
We're not doing Long Day's J ourneyor The Winslow Boy. Philip had a st rong sense of how t o
bring t hese st age charact ers, and t he event s in t heir lives, int o t he real w orld, says Hupfel.
First and foremost , J ackGoes Boatingis a love st ory. The format t o t ell t he st ory of t he end of
one relat ionship and t he beginning of anot her, and how it affect s each ot her's arcs had t o
support t he place t he charact ers are in at t he t ime.
This is w hat Jack (Hoffman) might have been t hinking as he sat on t he edge of a st age in front
of a 'sw imming pool' blue w at er effect t ransposed int o a real pool, real locat ion. Or, w hen Jack
and Connie (Amy Ryan) explore t he beginnings of t heir relat ionship it 's not under a st reet light
in front of a st orefront faade. It 's a complicat ed crane shot t hat goes from w ide t o t hree feet
int o t he face t hen shoot s out over t he pond in Cent ral Park - w it hout seeing t he t rack in t he
w ide shot Hupfel int erject s light ly - or a long w alk and t alk dow n 46t h St reet at night - in
freezing cold w eat her, of course, he cont inues in a mat t er-of-fact voice.
Working on t he st reet s of New York can be invigorat ing and, w ell, a lit t le frust rat ing, Hupfel
admit s. Especially w hen you are on a limit ed budget and you really need t he cooperat ion of it s
resident s.
One of our biggest sequences is w hen t he charact ers first kiss, he explains. It is night . It is
romant ic. It is New York. We w ant ed magical realism. We t ook over t he w hole park on 46t h
st reet bet w een 9t h and 10t h Avenues - but w eren't able t o close dow n t he st reet s t o t raffic,
except for maybe t he 20 seconds w hen cameras w ere rolling. We w ere limit ed on t he number
of lift s w e could afford, so w e t hought 'night - people w ould have t he light s on in t heir w indow s
- w hy don't w e ask t hem t o t urn t hem on at a magical t ime?'
Our locat ion manager w as amazing. He delivered about 15% of t he w indow light s available on
t he locat ion. It added t o t he magic. We added a few 4k balloon light s from t he ground and shot
w it h t he Arricam ST, t he Cooke S4 lenses w ide open, pushing our Kodak 5218 a st op and w e
got t he magic. Thanks t o Philip's amazing grasp of t he st ory and how t o make it unfold, his spot -
on performance - and, so import ant t o capt uring t his st ory, t he incredible cameraw ork of one
of t he best operat ors in t he business Craig Haagensen - magic happened.
When you are w orking on a conservat ive budget , in an oft en uncont rollable locat ion, w it h
Mot her Nat ure put t ing in her t w o cent s, a 200% commit ment from everyone involved is vit ally
import ant . That commit ment is going t o show, w hen audiences see J ackGoes Boatingon t he
big screen next year.
Close Ups were reserached and written by
Dixie Bonham, Carolyn Giardina and Ron Prince
Lot s of product announcement s and
hardly any cab lines, t hat is how many
may remember t he 2009 NAB Show in
Las Vegas, writes Carolyn Giardina.
Ref lect ing t he grow ing use of digit al
cinemat ography cameras, new t ypes of
lenses and recording devices t hat enhance
w orkf low w ere big st ories at NAB.
Meanw hile all product cat egories feat ured
affordable opt ions in t he t roubled economic
t ime, w hich w as also reflect ed in t his year's
light er at t endance.
For inst ance, just prior t o t he st art of NAB -
and on t he heels of Panavision president / CEO
Bob Beit cher being replaced by Discovery
Net w orks exec William (Billy) M. Campbell -
Panavision proposed a t w o-perf film syst em
designed t o combine high-qualit y imagery
w it h cost - saving. In fact , Panavision suggest s
t hat t he t w o-perf syst em could assist
filmmakers in cut t ing film st ock and negat ive
processing cost s by 33 t o 50 percent on a
given project . Panavision now offers modified
35mm Panaf lex cameras w it h t w o-perf
movement s available for rent al. The company
says t his offers t he abilit y t o shoot 2.35 w ide-
screen images. The cameras handle
Panavision's spherical film lenses.
Lenses
Cooke Opt ics had a big st ory at NAB w it h t he
reint roduct ion of it s classic Panchro lens. The
PL mount ed lens for 35mm film and digit al
product ion is a modern redesign of t he
original Cooke Panchro t hat w as used in film
product ion during t he early and mid-20t h
cent ury.
The new Panchro By Cooke lens is designed
by t he same t eam t hat produces t he Cooke
S4/ i lens; it is calibrat ed and colour-mat ched
t o exist ing Cooke lenses and incorporat es
Cooke's / i t echnology. The new Panchro
sacrifices one st op of light (T2.8 compared
w it h T2.0 for Cooke S4), w hich Cooke says
w ill result in a smaller, light w eight and
affordable choice w hen a fast er lens is not
crucial, or w hen shoot ing in dif f icult
sit uat ions such as crash scenes or VFX shot s.
Cooke also recommends Panchros f or
st ereoscopic product ion.
Priced for independent filmmakers, t he six
Panchro By Cooke prime lenses - 18, 25, 32,
50, 72 and 100mm - w ill be available t o
purchase individually or as a set , likely t ow ard
t he end of t he year.
ARRI preview ed a new set of Compact
Primes-billed as light w eight , affordable, high
qualit y lenses for all digit al or film cameras
w it h a PL mount .
Based on t he opt ics of t he Zeiss ZF st ill
phot ography lenses, t hey w ill list at about
half t he price of Ult ra Prime lenses.
According t o ARRI, The T* coat ing provides
good flare suppression for rich blacks and
high cont rast . The modern lens design
ensures low dist ort ion, high resolut ion and
excellent colour rendit ion for sharp, punchy
images.
Available in July, t he Compact Primes are
offered in T1.5 for 50 and 85mm, T2.1 for 28
and 35mm, T2.9 for 21 and 25mm and T3.6
for t he 18mm focal lengt h.
ARRI also int roduced t he Mast er Macros 100
f or applicat ions including t able t op
cinemat ography, product shot s, or close-up
insert s. The Mast er Macros 100 offers a 1:1
magnificat ion rat io, a maximum apert ure of
T2.0 and an opt ical design developed
specifically for macro w ork. It has been
designed and built by Carl Zeiss.
Recorders
Codex Digit al highlight ed product ivit y and
w orkflow w it h t he launch of t he Codex
Port able and Transf er St at ion combo, a
port able recording and dailies t ransf er
syst em. It basically bridges t he gap
bet w een product ion and post product ion,
explains Codex co-founder Delw yn Holroyd.
Codex has a new relat ionship w it h Glue
Tools, w hich has creat ed a plug-in for Final
Cut Pro t hat allow s user t o digit ise from
Codex direct ly int o ProRes 422 and ret ain
met adat a from t he recorder. Codex syst ems
have been used on a diversit y of product ions.
In broadcast t hese include BBC kids TV series
Grandpa In My Pocket , spot s for Apple's
iPhone and Lincoln cars, and most recent ly a
6 cameras 'live' shoot f or st and-up US
comedian Dane Cook for HBO. It has also
been used on major st udio pict ures such as
Walt Disney's Alice In Wonderland, w it h
Lucasfilm's Red Tails and Disney's TRON 2.0
in product ion.
S.t w o show ed it s new OB-1 on-board
recorder w it h removable FlashMag solid-
st at e magazines, w hich t he company says
w ill combine a compact size, low pow er
requirement s and an affordable price.
The 8x5x4 inch OB-1 w eighs 6 pounds and is
designed t o be mount ed direct ly ont o digit al
film cameras. S.t w o report s t hat it records
uncompressed 4:4:4 RGB from t w o cameras
simult aneously t o DPX files w it h met adat a
support , and it requires less t han 28 w at t s of
camera pow er at 10 t o 36V DC. Under t he
t erms of a new global sales and market ing
part nership, OB-1 and FlashMag w ill be in
invent ory at Band Pro Film & Digit al.
Keisoku Giken int roduced t he UDR-D100, an
uncompressed 2K port able HDD recorder for
acquisit ion. The syst em offers a hard disc or
Flash memory as a removeable recording
pack. Recording t ime is 100 minut es at 1920
x 1080 24p, 4:4:4 in a HDD pack (1.50 TB)
and 22 minut es in a Flash pack (384 GB). The
UDR-D100 can also be used for st ereoscopic
3D shoot ing at HD, 4:2:2 format using 2ch
HD-SDI input . A relat ed UDR-Pack Reader is a
dat a loader t o a nonlinear edit ing syst em.
I N T ERN A T I O N A L I N T ERN A T I O N A L f - s t o p h o l l y w o o d
Technofest in Vegas
ARRI: previewed a new set of
Compact Primes, billed as
lightweight, affordable, high-
quality lenses for all digital or
filmcameras with a PL mount
I N T ERN A T I O N A L I N T ERN A T I O N A L f - s t o p h o l l y w o o d
AJ A Video Syst ems expanded int o
product ion w it h t he int roduct ion of t he Ki Pro,
a port able t apeless video device t hat records
files t o t he Apple ProRes 422 codec direct ly
from camera. It w as developed t o allow
f ilmmakers t o skip t he process of re-
rendering t o an edit ing codec by giving
immediat e access t o ProRes 422 files direct ly
from camera. AJA suggest s t hat Ki Pro could
also have applicat ions for on- set monit oring,
by providing inst ant access t o mult iple
display devices simult aneously.
Dailies
The t opic of digit al dailies received a perhaps
surprising amount of at t ent ion at NAB. MTI
Film debut ed a DA (digit al acquisit ion) Head
module for it s Cont rol Dailies syst em, w hich
t he company says w ould deliver fast er-t han-
real-t ime processing of digit ally-acquired
dailies from sources including Red One,
Panasonic P2, Panavision Genesis, Viper
FilmSt ream and Arri D-21 digit al cinema
cameras, as w ell as media in DPX file format .
Used in a w orkflow, t he DA module can be
used t o ingest and decode digit ally-acquired
source media, and MTI's Cont rol Colour could
be used for primary colour correct ion or t o
apply LUTs prepared during product ion.
Digit al Film Technologies - t he company t hat
w as formed in 2008 w hen it purchased t he
post product ion syst ems from Grass Valley -
is offering Bones Dailies as part of it s Bones
Linux-based post product ion sof t w are
syst em. Also at NAB, Digit al Vision
preview ed Digit al Vision Dailies, t he
company's w orkf low t ool f or t he dailies
process.
Digit al Vision also added On-Set capabilit ies
t o it s Film M ast er digit al int ermediat e
syst em. Designed t o be used st andalone or
combined w it h it s Dailies syst em, it allow s
product ions t o t rack colour decisions made
during t he shoot .
The Foundry show cased version 5.2 of Nuke,
w it h a Red Raw file reader; and version 6,
w hich aims t o solve lens dist ort ion issues. It
also caught at t ent ion w it h a t echnology
demonst rat ion of how Nuke can compensat e
for rolling shut t er effect s.
And DVS t urned some heads w it h a preview
version 3.0 of it s Clipst er post syst em, w hich
t he company says can offer real-t ime full
qualit y 4K decoding and debayering of Red
mat erial.
St ereoscopic 3D
M eanw hile, 3D ent husiasm cont inued,
result ing in several announcement s
pert aining t o st ereoscopic product ion t ools.
Silicon Imaging w as cat ching t he eye of
at t endees w it h an int egrat ed 3D cinema
camera and st ereo visualisat ion syst em. The
SI-3D shoot s uncompressed raw imagery
from t w o synchronised cameras and encodes
t o a single st ereo CineFormRAW QuickTime
f ile, along w it h 3D LUT colour and
convergence met adat a. SI report s t hat t he
st ereo file can t o be played back and edit ed
in full 3D on an Apple Final Cut t imeline,
w it hout t he need for proxy conversions.
The SI-3D syst em uses t w o remot e SI-2K
Mini cameras w it h a P+ S int erchange lens
mount connect ed t o a single processing
syst em via gigabit Et hernet .
3Alit y Digit al - t he company behind U2 3D-
says it w ill begin selling it s 3D camera rig.
Panasonic meanw hile t hrew it s hat int o t he
ring w it h early plans for 3D product ion t ools,
including a t w in-lens P2 professional camera
recorder and a 3D-compat ible HD plasma
display.
Also w it h an eye t ow ard t he fut ure, NHK
demoed dazzling imagery, coming from it s
prot ot ype 8K digit al cinemat ography camera.
This included foot age of t he Las Vegas st rip,
w hich w as t ransmit t ed live t o t he NHK boot h
at t he Las Vegas Convent ion Cent re.
Cine Gear Expo
Many cinemat ography t echnology suppliers
w ill next be exhibit ing t heir new est
product ion t ools at Cine Gear Expo 2009.
Scheduled t o t ake place June 4-7 in Los
Angeles, Cine Gear is ret urning t o t he
Paramount Pict ures St udio Lot , w here t he
annual event debut ed in 1996.
The event w ill again include t he exhibit ion, as
w ell as panels, mast er classes and a film
series. New t his year, t he film series has
added a document ary compet it ion. Cine Gear
president Karl Kresser report s t hat prizes for
all film compet it ion cat egories - including
independent feat ure, independent short and
st udent s - w ill receive equipment and rent al
packages. Panavision for inst ance is donat ing
four w eeks of camera equipment rent al as a
prize.
A new segment at Cine Gear Expo - dubbed
Select ed Pages f rom t he Hist ory of
Cinemat ography - w ill include t he screening
of classic movies and discussion led by Yuri
Neyman, ASC.
This year's films are The Godfather and The
Shadow of Forgotten Ancestors. Panel
part icipant s w ill include t he ASC - w hich w ill
be recognized at CineGear f or it s 90t h
Anniversary t he Int ernat ional
Cinemat ographers Guild and American
Cinema Edit ors. Also present ing sessions are
exhibit ors including Fujifilm, Kodak and Sony.
Wit h t he result s of t he BSC Film & Digit al
Image Evaluat ions nearing complet ion, along
w it h a similar set of evals from t he ASC, BSC
and ASC members w ill t ake part in a panel
discussion on Friday at 4.30pm.
Exhibit ors w ill include Band Pro, Fujifilm,
Kodak, Mole Richardson and Technocrane.
They w ill show t heir product ion gear at
Paramount 's New York St reet and St age
16. In addit ion t o t he ASC Anniversary, Cine
Gear w ill salut e Band Pro and Fujifilm.
Labour
As t his issue of Brit ish Cinemat ographer
w ent t o press, t he Screen Act ors Guild's
nat ional board approved a t ent at ive deal on a
feat ure film and primet ime TV cont ract w it h
t he Alliance of Mot ion Pict ure and Television
Producers. A commercial cont ract has also
been approved by t he joint SAG/ AFTRA
board. Bot h go t o membership for rat ificat ion,
w here t he film/ TV cont ract st ill faces a
challenge.
The old cont ract bet w een SAG and AMPTP
expired June 30, st alling much product ion in
t he process.
Watch the birdy: (l-r) cinematography writer Bob Fisher with Wally Pfister ASC, Richard Crudo ASC, Velinda Wardell ACS, Gavin
Finney BSC, and ASC president Daryn Okada ASC, enjoying real "barbecue" conditions at Cine Gear 2008
Here's how t hings used t o w ork in t he w orld of f ilm
product ion: at t he end of each day's shoot ing, t he f ilm
loader sent t he negat ive t o t he lab w it h camera not es,
w here t he f ilm w as processed; a w ork print w as pulled
and inspect ed f or qualit y cont rol issues. When w e
phoned t he dai l i es grader i n t he morni ng about
yest erday's f oot age, w e heard about dynamic range
or t he col our management runni ng a poi nt
magent a. The ent ire process served as an invisible
backst op t hat t he di gi t al w orkf l ow has f orever
changed. The end-t o-end (device independent ) colour
management of t he cinemat ographer's domain - t he
phot ographic qualit y of t he image - used t o be a
universal language; now w it h digit al f ilmmaking, w e
have a diverse planet of many seers and languages. Is
t his a good t hing? Is t his a bad t hing? It 's neit her, of
course. It 's simply anot her example of t echnology's
hand at w ork, opening one door even as it closes
anot her.
In 1989, I w as asked by NHK/ Sony in Japan, and Panavision
USA, w ho t oget her had developed a new high-definit ion
Panacam camera (analogue video capt ure) t o prove t heir new
syst em w as capable of shoot ing mot ion pict ures. My first
quest ion w as if t hey had a script and direct or, so t hat w e
could approximat e t he filmmaking process. They said: can't
you just t ake some pret t y girls out on t he beach and shoot
t hem for t he day! Nearly a million dollars lat er, w it h a script ,
direct or, and all t he light ing and filt ering I'd use on a feat ure
film, w e complet ed a 15-minut e short t hat - surprise - looked
pret t y darn good! When NHK in Japan saw it on t he big
screen t heir response w as, t his looks t oo much like a movie!
We w ant somet hing much sharper.
In t he ensuing decades, I w at ched uneasily as High Definit ion
video qualit y w as put fort h as a global st andard. My response,
like ot her cinemat ographers, w as t o pressure manufact urers
and engineers t o come up w it h somet hing t hat could t ruly sit
next t o celluloid on a peer-review ed basis; four years ago,
t hanks t o camera advances made by t he same companies
w ho approached me t w o decades ago - Sony and Panavision
- digit al t echnology is finallyready for prime t ime.
Here's how t hings w ork t oday: w hile t he camera assist ant and
operat or posit ions remain as pert inent as ever, t w o ot her
camera t eam jobs have t aken on great er import ance. Prior t o
image capt ure, t he on- set w orkflow is fine-t uned via High
Definit ion monit ors and scopes by t he cinemat ographer and a
Digit al Imaging Technician (DIT) t o afford DPs t he best
approximat ion of t heir light ing, exposure, and colour palet t e
goals. DITs use an array of look-up t ables (LUTs) t o
approximat e everyt hing from print st ock emulat ion t o basic
colour t iming (w hich st ay w it h t he image as met a-dat a
t hroughout t he post -product ion process) w it hout ever
impact ing image capt ure. [ The cinemat ographer can also use
a t ool called t he ASC Color Decision List (CDL), w hich is
recognized by many post -product ion facilit ies.] DITs provide
an opt imum signal t o t he playback t echnician so ot her
creat ives on t he set , namely t he direct or, producer or even
act ors, can see a fair replicat ion of t he cinemat ographer's
vision. They are t he DP's backst op, as w ell as a buffer for film
crew s making t he t ransit ion t o digit al product ion. Didn't t he
guy in t he lab inspect ing dailies at t he crack of daw n each
morning serve t he same t ype of essent ial purpose?
The digit al loader is anot her key camera depart ment posit ion
w it h t he pot ent ial t o rest ore t radit ional film met hodologies
now t hrow n int o havoc by t he different w orkflow s associat ed
w it h digit al product ion. They t ake t he media back t o a camera
t ruck, w here t hey dow nload t he digit al dat a capt ured by t he
camera, and prepare t hat dat a for hand off t o VFX, edit orial
and t he like, all t he w hile carefully review ing t he foot age for
t he cinemat ographer on set . The posit ion offers a w ealt h of
opport unit y for t hose coming int o t he indust ry t o observe t he
DP's skills, as w ell as t o get at t he heart of new digit al
t echnologies. Working w it h new processes (like Panavision's
Digit al Transfer St at ion), t he loader can help t o recapt ure
some of t hat invisible w orkflow t he film lab once provided
from dailies t hrough release print . By review ing all digit al
capt ure on- set minut es aft er t he mat erial has been t urned
over, loaders play a vit al funct ion in ret urning t he direct or of
phot ography t o being t he guardian of t he image, prot ect ing
t he product ion against mishap t hroughout t he phot ographic
process, digit al or analogue.
So back t o t he fut ure w e go. Tw ent y years aft er my
experience in Japan, digit al t echnology is blurring t he w orlds
of visual effect s and cinemat ography, product ion and post -
product ion, engineering and light ing int o a st ew of filmmaking
processes t hat bot h reach back t o t he past and plunge
headlong int o t he unknow n. In t he rush t o get t o w here w e
are going, let 's all st rive t o remember w here w e came from,
so t he t ally of gains and losses in cinema hist ory w ill forever
balance out .
St even Post er ASC
National President
International Cinematographers Guild
IATSELocal 600
I N T ERN A T I O N A L I N T ERN A T I O N A L l e t t e r f r o m a m e r i c a
Steven Poster ASC says that new digital practices are
restoring traditional film methodologies, and returning the
DP to the role of guardian of the image.
Plus a change
Digital
technology is
making a stew
of filmmaking
processes that
both reach back
to the past and
plunge
headlong into
the unknown.
I N T ERN A T I O N A L I N T ERN A T I O N A L i m a g o
It is almost f our years since t he Lodz Declarat ion of
Ci nemat ographers passed a resol ut i on cal l i ng on
product ion companies t o cease exploit at ive pract ises
in t he f ilm and TV Indust ries. Working condit ions, it
st at ed, have det eriorat ed t o such a crit ical degree t hat
i mmedi at e act i on i s i mperat i ve . I t cal l ed upon
represent at i ve f i l m organi sat i ons i ncl udi ng uni ons,
societ ies, guilds and government s t o encourage t he
secessi on of expl oi t at i ve pract i ces and rest ore
accept able w orking condit ions t o our indust ry. Lazlo
and Vilmos w ere among t he signat ories.
An ident ically w orded resolut ion could be passed at
Camerimage 2009, and have t he same relevance. The long
w orking days and unsafe w orking environment s t o w hich film
and TV professionals are exposed have hardly changed.
Indeed t hey may have det eriorat ed furt her, unemployment
has cert ainly increased. As t he Aust rian AAC president , Kurt
Brazda, w rot e in 2005, at t he beginning of t he 21st cent ury,
human beings and t heir social right s are in a very low ranking
w here economic needs and profit become t he cent re of
int erest .
Fodder f or cheap w ages
The film schools in t he UK have been renamed Academies,
giving quest ionable improvement t o educat ional st andards.
The result is t he same t hroughout Europe; providing
ent husiast ic, hopef ul, but unemployed f odder f or t he
product ion companies. Low er w ages and condit ions for film
w orkers have become normal, as t he oversupply of t rained
st udent s is rampant t hroughout Europe.
The st rengt h of European cult ure is it s diversit y and if it s film
indust ry is t o ret ain it s individualit y and prosper it is import ant
t hat European film product ions are properly subsidised eit her
by nat ional lot t eries or levies. The fut ure cannot be t rust ed t o
bankers. Government s, st at es and even regional aut horit ies
are now compet ing t o encourage filmmaking by offering t ax
init iat ives and locat ion incent ives. This represent s t he
subprime of t he film indust ry and must be halt ed before melt -
dow n occurs.
Which compet ing body w ould not w ish t heir next film t o be
called In Berlin or In Barcelona, or even In Bradf ord,
rat her t han In Bruges? The Brit ish Government 's policy of
Managed Migrat ion is fulfilling a UK Film Council obsession,
w hich believes t hat t he only fut ure for t he UK indust ry is
inw ard invest ment from t he USA. Backs are t urned t ow ards
Europe despit e having an indust ry as big as Hollyw ood.
Cinemat ographers are not consult ed by government s, and it
mat t ers not t o PACT (employers associat ion in t he UK) if t he
relat ively free ent ry of film t echnicians from t he USA result s in
even more unemployment for t he home film w orkers. It
means cheaper labour. The principle of reciprocit y in
agreement s is for suckers it appears.
New medicine required
Not every low budget product ion can enjoy t he int ernat ional,
crit ical and financial success of Slumdog Millionaire, shot
using P&S Technik SI2K and w it h 50% film, nor ManOnWire,
The MarchOf The Penguinsor Vera Drake, w hich w ere all shot
on 16mm. How ever, few direct ors enjoy t he int ernat ional
respect and admirat ion show n t ow ards Mike Leigh or Ken
Loach. Bot h w ould hardly know w here t o st art on a high
budget product ion. They make relevant and pract ical films,
given t heir budget rest raint s. Their w ork is appreciat ed by
European audiences and deserves t o be funded w it h dignit y.
The problem is, how ?
In t he present economic climat e, in w hich anarchist s posing
as bankers have decimat ed and upt urned t he World economic
order, low budget films represent , almost cert ainly, t he short
t erm fut ure for t he film indust ry. How ever t en low budget
films in product ion result in many more cinemat ographers and
crew s in employment t han one American blockbust er, w it h it s
subsequent profit s heading w est w ards across t he At lant ic.
The example of t he French indust ry deserves t o be examined.
Why are t heir cinemat ographers st ill enjoying relat ively full
employment ? Perhaps it is because t hey are funded not by
just Government , as is oft en assumed, but by a syst em similar
t o one w hich once exist ed in t he UK? It w as called t he Eady
Levy, and w as at t ribut ed t o t he rise in Brit ish cinema in t he
1960s including t he J ames Bond movies. Direct ors of t he
calibre of Lumet , Hust on and Kubrick moved almost
permanent ly t o t he UK, and a number of dist inguished
European direct ors such as Polanski, Truffaut and Godard
w ere at t ract ed t o it s shores. The Levy even provided funding
for t he Nat ional Film and Television School. The money from
t he French Levy, w hich is basically bums on seat s, has t o be
ret urned only t o producers and t hen only re-invest ed in French
film product ion, made in France by French t echnicians.
Anarchists dressed as bankers
continued over >>
It is carefully cont rolled. The French do not allow profit s t o escape t o America. These desperat e
t imes for film product ion in many European count ries require decisive act ion. This means a re-
evaluat ion of t he old and ret hinking w here met hods of funding are failing, as evidenced by
present European film indust ry unemployment . It w ill do no harm t o examine a syst em such as
provided by t he French w it h it s st ill relat ively healt hy film indust ry.
DVD sales are falling in Europe by around 30% a year, but t hey could be included in a European
levy and ext ended w hen necessary t o encompass new audio-visual sales t echniques such as
Blu-ray (sales up 300% last year) and by t axing Int ernet Service Providers. The ISPs make t heir
money by exploit ing t he expert ise and w ork of film w orkers. Surely rat her t han make t he person
w ho dow nloads feel a criminal t he ISP should be made t o pay a levy on t he w ork t hey t ransmit ?
The French government has implement ed various measures aimed at assist ing local film
product ion and cinemas. These include an inst ruct ion t o Canal Plus t hat part of t heir broadcast
licence goes t o support t he product ion of films. Taxes are levied on film and TV channels for use
as subsidies for film product ion t oget her w it h t ax breaks for invest ment in films. The sale of
DVDs and ot her audiovisual w orks show n in cinemas is prohibit ed for six mont hs t o ensure
revenue for t he cinemas and t heir w orkers.
Piracy is t he product of a syst em w hich allow s piracy t o happen. On a recent visit t o a deprived
t he area of Sout h America, Francis Ford Coppola w as delight ed t hat so many poor people w ere
able t o see his films. Piracy has different meaning for different people. France has just passed
a law w hereby det ect ion of illegal piracy in dow nloading forces t he ISP, aft er giving t hree
w arnings, t o cut off t he offending subscriber for one mont h. Perhaps t he case for such a levy
w hich has t o be ret urned t o producers t o make new films in t he home count ry could be
int roduced on a European basis in t he same w ay as it exist s in France?
No easy solut ions
Tax concessions are here t oday, but oft en gone t omorrow. Should any w orker have t o depend
for his livelihood on a w eak currency or fluct uat ions in exchange rat e for securit y of
employment ? Today w e are t old t hat Hungary is t he most at t ract ive count ry in w hich t o invest .
On a visit t his year t o t he amazing facilit ies at t he Korda St udios t he only w orkers I w it nessed
w ere t he gardeners. The madness of product ion companies chasing cheap labour around t he
w orld is a criminal w ast e of human resources.
Tomorrow 's Hungary may w ell be named Turkey. How ever, at w hat price do w e lose t he high
skills of t he East European film t echnicians? Polit ical censorship has been replaced by financial
censorship. What price in human resources t he legacy of t rained labour being abandoned on
t he scrap heap as yet anot her at t ract ive t ax deal comes t o shift invest ment t o a new profit able
hub, w it h it s oft en unproven and unskilled labour force?
At a seminar in London recent ly t he dist inguished Brit ish producer, Iain Smit h posed t he
quest ion as t o how an indust ry can be sust ained if it cannot nurt ure and encourage it s
leadership. In an indust ry w here t he best t raining is oft en doing t he job, he quest ioned w het her
t he expert ise and skills of t he great Brit ish t radit ion of cinemat ographers is being slow ly
reduced by t he unint ended consequences of t he t ax credit , despit e it s obvious usefulness.
Educat ion and t raining are keyw ords. Schools should be encouraged t o t each pupils t hat it is
w rong t o dow nload w hen payment is obligat ory. The respect for t he profession of
cinemat ography has t o begin by a revaluat ion of t he differing craft skills in t he classroom. There
is no hope of changing EU law in favour of t he film indust ry if t he Brussels eurocrat s in charge
of legislat ion have no idea of t he funct ion of t he cinemat ographer.
It is import ant for us all t hat producers obt ain more money. They need t o invest in order t o
survive. Producers and employees have a common int erest , t he success of our product and
adequat e finance securit y for t heir families. The common enemy is greed. How ever before
greed has a chance t o t ake over, crew s t o have t o be able t o w ork. Economic necessit y caused
by t he lack of w ork result s in great ly reduced rat es. The cynical may be forgiven for
cont emplat ing t his as a conspiracy t o creat e a cheap European labour force. It hurt s t he self-
employed most , especially in t hose count ries w here social benefit s are denied.
Hope f or t he f ut ure?
The Lodz Declarat ion of 2005 result ed in Imago appoint ing a w orking commit t ee w hich, under
t he legal direct ion of Dr Crist ina Busch, in 2007 drew up guidelines for aut horship and w orking
condit ions for cinemat ographers. The Model Cont ract w ill be used as a fut ure basis for
cont ract s w hich provide guidelines for w orking condit ions and int ellect ual propert y right s
across European borders. It is support ed by t he Brit ish t rades union BECTU and t he t ext for it
can be found on t he Imago.Org w eb sit e.
The Model Cont ract does not pret end t o be a panacea t o all t he problems of t he
cinemat ographer and t heir crew. We are lit t le nearer a solut ion t oday t han w e w ere four years
ago. How ever t he debat e must cont inue. Imago is dedicat ed t o promot e issues affect ing
cinemat ographers by part icipat ion in European Conferences such as t he EU XXL in Krems,
Aust ria w it h it s grow ing Brussels influence. In March 2010 t he EU XXL host s a conference
focussing on t he w orking life and issues affect ing t he cinemat ographer. This is an import ant
milest one for cinemat ographers, a great opport unit y for our voice t o be heard in Europe.
Imago has also at t ended t he Uni-Mei Seminar for Creat ors t his April in Madrid. The
accept ance by fellow art ist s present of t he Cinemat ographer as creat or of his w ork w as very
encouraging. Uni-mei is t he largest grouping of individuals around t he w orld represent ing many
millions of w orkers in t he art s, audiovisual, cult ural and ent ert ainment indust ries If t he Imago
init iat ive of host ing a World Conference of Cinemat ographers next year receives funding from
t he EU Media Mundus Proposal Uni-mei have agreed t o play a role in t he Working Condit ions
debat e of t he Conference. We look forw ard t o real progress in t he next four years.
Ten low budget films in
production result in many more
cinematographers and crews in
employment than one American
blockbuster
<< from previous page
Imago congratulates the appointment of the distinguished French
Cinematographer Caroline Champetier as the newly elected president of
the AFC, and Astrid Heubrandtner AAC who was elected in Vienna last
February as the president of the Austrian Society.
Of the 37 societies that are part of the federation, five are now headed by
women - J oan Hutton CSC, Ines Carvalho AIP, Sue Gibson BSC, Caroline
Champetier AFC and Astrid Heubrandtner AAC.
Champetier replaces Remy Chevrin AFC who becomes a joint cice
president, along with Pierre-WilliamGlenn AFC and J acques Loiselux
AFC. Heubrandtner replaces Kurt Brazda AAC who served as president for
25 years, and devoted himself to improving the awareness of many issues
regarding cinematographers in Europe, The new joint vice-presidents are
WolframZoettl AAC and Alexander Boboschewski AAC.
Elles presidentes!
In 1981 Luciano Tovoli and his f riend Gabrielle Lucci, w it h t he support of Nest or
Almendros f ounded in t he It alian t ow n of L'Aquila w hat t hey believed t o be t he f irst
I nt ernat i onal Fest i val of Ci nemat ographers. Wi t h t he encouragement of
cinemat ographers f rom around t he w orld such as Vilmos Zsigmond, John Bailey and
Vit t orio St oraro and many ot hers it grew in success and popularit y.
The dream of a fest ival grew int o t he realit y of a Film Academy in 1993. Wit h t he collaborat ion
of t he Universit y of L'Aquila it soon became est ablished as a cent re of learning as The Academy
of t he Image. A Nest or Almendros w ing w as est ablished in memory of our most respect ed
cinemat ographer w ho had died t he previous year. Over 150 st udent s had broken up for East er
from t he Academy w hen disast er st ruck during t he night of April 7t h. The absence of some of
t hem from t he t ow n may have saved t heir lives. One female fift h-year st udent w as found alive
aft er 40 hours buried in t he rubble.
The int ernat ional encouragement and co-operat ion Luciano received from cinemat ographers
from all over t he w orld in t hose early days helping t o realise his dream for young st udent s in
L'Aquila, inspired Luciano TovoliAIC ASC t o lay t he foundat ions of Imago in 1992. Today t he Film
Academy has been dest royed and lies in rubble on a hill out side t he t ow n. Memories remain,
a few cans of film are salvageable, but t he physical and ment al scars w hich come w hen a place
of such creat ivit y is oblit erat ed from t he face of t his Eart h w ill long remain.
Hopes of holding t his year's 15t h Fest ival Int ernat ional Fest ival at t he end of November have all
but been abandoned. There is no school, no buildings. Not hing.
Today the dream stands in ruins
Go to eDIT for less!
All members of t he BSC/Imago member considering a visit t o t he eDIT
Filmmaker's Fest ival, 4, 5 and 6t h Oct ober in Frankf urt am Main, are ent it led
t o great ly reduced ent ry f ees. w w w.edit -f rankf urt .de
Burcharest Workshop
IMAGO has organised a special w orkshop f rom June 1st t o 3rd in Bucharest .
For more det ails visit w w w.imago.org
GBCT - The chairman speaks
U K g b c t
Well, w hat lit t le gem of w isdom am I supposed t o
come up w it h t his t ime? Perhaps w e should make
t hi s sect i on f ul l of gardeni ng t i ps, or DI Y
suggest ions f or t his season's unexpect ed spell at
home. I have even cont empl at ed a sat i ri cal
psychology column under t he heading Thought s
f rom w it hin t he Shed . You know how your mind
w anders and you begin t o put t he w orld t o right s
amidst t he background w hif f of w hit e spirit and
spilt creosot e. (Whilst list ening t o t he local radio
t elling you t hat your f oot ball t eam has j ust blow n a
2 -nil lead at Blackpool) And w hy does t he algae in
t he pond j ust keep get t i ng more and more
abundant ?
But it s not very filmic t hough is it ? And t his is a serious
publicat ion f or t he promot ion and discussion of
cinemat ography in all it s many guises.
Having ment ioned last t ime about t roubled t imes in
t elevision lan, I w as t ruly saddened t o hear of t he demise
of t he Leeds -based depart ment s of t he ITV net w ork,
formerly Yorkshire Television. I am not sure w hat has
act ually got t he chop, but suffice t o say t hat w hat w as
once an ext remely creat ive part of our nat ional t elevision
service is effect ively no longer. I personally spent many,
many mont hs based in Leeds and it s environs, w orking
on product ions such as A Touchof Frost, StayLuckyand
Where The Heart Is, et c, and as my grandfat her had
begun his very successful act ing career at t he t urn of t he
20t h cent ury in Leeds, I alw ays felt a great affinit y w it h
t he area and it s w onderful people.
All t he crew s t hat I w orked w it h w ere great t echnicians
and great fun t o be w it h. It 's a very sad sign of t he t imes
t hat such a w ealt h of t alent and expert ise should be
t hrow n int o disarray. I w ould have t hought t hat having a
solid regional base set in a vibrant film-friendly cit y,
surrounded by some of t he most glorious count ryside in
t he w orld, w ould be an asset t hat couldn't be
squandered. But seemingly t he account ant s know bet t er.
What a pit y.
Thank you Yorkshire for your hospit alit y. I sincerely hope
t hat sooner rat her t han lat er, it w ill again be a regional
cent re of excellent t elevision and filmmaking, as it so
richly deserves t o be.
Meant ime t here are st ill many t errific t echnicians living in
t he area, and quit e a few of t hem are members of t he
GBCT. Just a reminder t hat t hey are easily reached via
t he GBCT crew direct ory or t hrough t he guild office in
London. Please bear local people in mind if you are
shoot ing up t here. They w ill need our support in t he
mont hs ahead.
Jamie Harcourt
GBCT Chairman
The Damned
United
2009 BSC New
Equipment Show
Round-Up
Anot her successf ul BSC Equipment show w rapped at
Elst ree St udios in March. It w as great t o see so many
people t here, and it appeared t hat t here w as a younger
audience t han in previous years, assuming more f ilm
st udent s w ere t aking an int erest in t echniques and
equipment , w hich w as great t o see. The show w as
part icularly w ell-at t ended on t he Friday, w it h many
exhibit ors lef t exhaust ed at t he end of t he f irst day af t er
t alking f or so long. The Sat urday w as also ext remely
busy, w it h an ext remely large t urnout of people.
As I arrived at t he George Lucas st age in Elst ree st udios,
perhaps t he most obvious fact or w as t he amount out gear
out side before w e even arrive. There w e light ing hoist s,
t racking vehicles, cranes and ot her gear, so much in fact t hat it
w as a challenge t o even get ont o t he st age.
Perhaps t he most visible out side w as t he Bennylit e, w hich is a
most impressive and ingenious 5600K mobile film light ing unit ,
designed t o simplify many of t he problems associat ed w it h film
locat ion shoot ing. The Bennylit e uses st at e- of -t he-art
elect ronic ballast t echnology allow ing it t o achieve a
significant ly low er w eight t han convent ional HMI film light ing.
This allow s t he Bennylit e t o be erect ed on Skylift Bront o Cherry
Pickers, rat her t han t he larger cranes normally associat ed w it h
light ing rigs of a similar size.
As a result , Bennylit e can be used w hen filming on locat ions
w here access is somet imes difficult , such as in narrow st reet s,
t ow n squares and similar enclosed, confined spaces, reaching
height s of up t o 150ft . The Bennylit e ut ilizes t he capabilit y of
eit her 16, 32 or 48 X 1200W HMI par light s t o deliver 20kw,
40kw or 60kw of light respect ively and comes equipped w it h
spot , diffused spot , medium, w ide or flood lenses. Addit ionally
all bulbs can be dimmed up t o 50 per cent .
On vent uring int o t he st age, t he main obvious bit of kit t here
w as t he huge long Bag O Lit e on t he Licht Technik st and. This
w as a massive 29 met res long, w it h an 18Kw ArriMax at eit her
end. It virt ually t ook up t he w hole of one w all of t he st udio and
illuminat ed a great deal of t he st udio on it s ow n. This w ould be
a great t ool for w alking shot s, w it h large areas able t o be lit
w it h a soft light over a large area, and car phot ography w ould
be t he ot her obvious use.
There w as also t he vast array of light ing possibilit ies on t he
Cirro-Lit e st and, encapsulat ing LED, fluorescent , discharge and
incandescent light ing. Frieder Hochheim t he president of Kino
Flo w as also in at t endance on t he Cirro-Lit e st and t o
demonst rat e first hand t he Kino range of unique fluorescent
lamps t hat have revolut ionised many areas of light ing
t echnology. Having Frieder t here demonst rat ed t he magnit ude
of credibilit y t he BSC New Equipment Show now has w it h
various companies around t he globe.
David Amphlet t from Gekko Technology w as also cheerfully on
hand w it h Cirro-Lit e t o give demonst rat ions of Gekko's mult iple
aw ard-w inning LED lamps. Gekko w as excit edly confident
Cooke 2x converter
U K g b c t
M a n u fa c tu rin g a lu m in u m p re c isio n tra c k ,
S tra ig h t a n d C u rve d D o lly Tra c k in va rio u s d ia m e te rs.
C ra n e Tra c k fo r te le sc o p ic -c ra n e s a n d M o tio n C o n tro l.
Twin D o lly Twin Tu b e Twin S lid e r
Tru ssD o lly B a rTru ss
B a se d in A m ste rd a m , H o lla n d www. so lid g rip sy ste m s. e u `
about a revolut ionary new product being developed. I w as left
w it h t he w ords keep your eyes on NAB in April, w e are
having a launch t here of our new lamp t hat w ill blow your
mind .
I now know t hat w hat t hey w ere referring t o w as t he brand
new kedo lamp, t he w orld first fully-adjust able, focusable,
single source mult i colour light . This is pow ered by Gekko's
kleer colour light engine, and t he remarkable t echnology
involved is able t o creat e any colour ext remely accurat ely,
w hat 's more t his w ill be highly- st able and accurat e over t he
lifet ime of t he lamp. So if you have a part icular light ing gel you
like, it can be dialled in at t he flick of a sw it ch. There are many
preset s t hat accurat ely mimic a broad spect rum of colours
w it hin a single lamp fixt ure. The lamp has full DMX cont rol and
can be dimmed w it hout changing colour. It is also passively
cooled w it h silent operat ion. This is t ruly an ext remely
versat ile lamp t hat is somet hing t o closely w at ch.
Looking back w it h hindsight t o IBC last year, t he legendary
Gekko egg show ed us somet hing of t he colour concept , and
now it is developed int o a fully operat ional product . Gekko is a
Brit ish company founded in 2004, so some great st rides
forw ard in t echnology has been achieved in t hat very short
t ime. w w w.gekkot echnology.com
Movie Int ercom from Berlin, Germany manufact ure t he only
realist ic light ing cont rol syst em on t he market for t he
recreat ion all kinds of flicker from fire, w elding, light ning, TV,
project or f licker, neon signs, short - circuit ,
"broken"fluorescent s, flashers & more. The unit s are easily
modified on t he fly and feat ure unique sensor opt ions like t he
opt ical sensor t hat can t ake it s queue from a blow n out candle
or sw it ched light .
A big challenge for DP's is mimicking nat ural light ing effect s
and making t hem look realist ic. The randomness of a candle
flame, for example is different t o t hat of a camp fire. Olaf
show ed a box of t ricks t hat could mimic a flicker from a TV
screen, a cinema project or, a candle, a flame, w elding,
light ning, and many ot her effect s besides, and even a dodgy
flickering fluorescent light w as able t o be reproduced w it h a
fluorescent light fit t ing it self. It can be alt ered t o be as smoot h
or as aggressive as t he user w ant s, is DMX compat ible, and
can t heref ore cont rol just about any light w it h DM X.
ht t p:/ / w w w.movie-int er.com
Anot her int erest ing light w as in t he form of t he Cine Pow er G7
Galaxy, a lamp fixt ure w it h 7 lamps in an array t hat could be
independent ly sw it ched and dimmed. This enables it t o
produce t he equivalent of a 800 - 6kW 5600K daylight source
t hat could be run from a domest ic supply, or if subst it ut ing t he
individual lamps for ceramic bulbs it can effect ively t urned int o
a 2,000W t o 14,000W equivalent 3200K source. The lamps
use New Ceramic CST lamp t echnology from Philips, and are
said t o be 400% more efficient and out put 4 t imes less heat
t han convent ional t ungst en bulbs. Bot h opt ions show ed a very
low heat out put for a great deal of light out put , w hich has t o
be beneficial for art ist es, crew and environment .
Since t he huge success of Slumdog Millionaire, t here w ere
cert ainly many companies keen t o show us t heir close
connect ions w it h t he film. Whilst it w as st ill somew hat hazy
as t o t he exact cont ribut ion some made, it is clear t o say t hat
t his w as a mixed media product ion, shot on bot h 35mm film
and digit al cameras. A large select ion of ARRI film cameras
w ere used, w it h Cooke lenses. Fuji film w as used on a great
part of t he film, w it h Fuji UK supplying 400,000 feet of
filmst ock t o t he product ion. Anot her major cont ribut or for t he
st udio scenes and slum locat ion scenes w ere Silicon Imaging
w it h t he use of t heir SI-2K Mini sensor mount ed in various
different light w eight camera configurat ions and recording t o a
lapt op comput er in a rucksack for t he running scenes. An
unusual st ep w as t aken w it h t he Canon EOS 1D MkIII st ills
camera shoot ing w it h it s video feat ure t o shoot some covert
scenes t hat w ould ot herw ise draw n t oo much at t ent ion
around t he Taj Mahal.
Talks w ere scheduled each day form various exhibit ors, and
alt hough t he cent ral forum area w as conspicuous w it h it s
absence t his year, t he t alks w ere more int imat e on t he various
Ronford Baker Atlas 7 Gekko kedo rear panel Bag O Lite on the Licht Technik stand
U K g b c t
boot hs, and people at t ended if t hey w ere int erest ed. One t alk
w as given on t he P+ S Technik st and by Carlos Alvarez, and
he t alked in det ail about Slumdog Millionaireshoot ing w it h t he
SI-2K modular funct ions, and how a Canon st ill camera body
w as used t o disguise t he camera. He also unveiled t he
Weisscam HS2 High speed camera t hat is just about ready t o
be launched.
Pirat e are High Speed camera hire specialist s, current ly w it h
t w o Phant om HD kit s int egrat ed w it h HD eyepieces,
CineMags & CineSt at ions and a full range of cine lenses &
accessories, producing True HD (1920 x 1080) film-like qualit y
images. Pirat e also have t he Phot ron Fast cam SA 1.1, capable
of 10,000 fps at 16:9 St andard Definit ion.
In addit ion t o providing full crew & equipment , Pirat e offer
equipment rent al t oo - such as mot ion cont rolled hot heads
and modelmovers, analogue high speed video for mot ion
analysis w ork & video assist use and effect s equipment .
w w w.pirat e.co.uk
Cooke Opt ics lenses delivered again and did not disappoint .
They ably demonst rat ed t he new 1.4x and 2x convert er. On a
300mm T2.8 t his convert s t o a 420mm T4 or a 600mm T5.6
respect ively. It w as possible t o focus t he 300mm on an eye
from about 10ft aw ay, and w it h Cooke's reput at ion it w ill be a
magnificent t ool t o use in t he field. For t he near fut ure t here
are t he lat est range of lenses in t he form of t he Cooke
Panchro's.
While many DPs prefer t o specify Cooke lenses t o t ake
advant age of t he Cooke look as w ell as t he on- set usabilit y
and reliable operat ion, cost has somet imes been a barrier. In
addit ion many purchasers of digit al cameras like Red also
w ant a full set of lenses for an affordable price. Cooke also
w ant ed t o open up t he opport unit y t o use Cooke lenses in
risky sit uat ions such as on-board st unt w ork because low er
cost lenses reduce rent al and insurance cost s.
Like t he S4/ i lenses, t he Panchro's are designed for mot ion
phot ography and t hey don't breat he w hen focussing. The
lenses are one st op slow er t han t he S4/ i, as a result t hey can
be smaller and light er. The six Panchro By Cooke prime lenses
- 18, 25, 32, 50, 72 and 100mm - w ill be available t o purchase
individually or as a set , and are due t o ship lat e in 2009.
w w w.cookeopt ics.com
Haw k show ed t heir V-Lit e 1.3x anamorphic lenses, w hich
w ere developed t o squeeze an image w it h a 1.3x squeeze.
This means an aspect rat io of 1:2.40 can be achieved w it h
various digit al cameras, ut ilising nearly t he w hole sensor area.
For example, t he Arri D21 has a Super 35- sized 4:3 sensor
t hat can be fully used for 1:2.40 release.
Abakus specialise in lenses t hat are cust om made for special
project s, and t here w as an ult ra w ide angle lens called t he
st adium lens. Ext raordinarily w ide. A new high impact
borescope lens w as also on show, w it h a front element lens
diamet er only 2.5mm w ide at t he end point !
There w ere also many fant ast ic bit s of grip kit such as t he
Super Technocrane, and t he Louma 2, t hat has a 32' reach and
w it h a lens height of 33' under slung or 37' 6" over slung. This
provides a new range of t ools t o get t hat t ricky shot quickly
and easily. Their demonst rat ions w ere t ruly exhilarat ing t o
w at ch and see w hat t hey can achieve w it h skilled operat ors.
Mark Robert s Mot ion Cont rol w ere show ing t he Talos Mot ion
Cont rol Rig, Modula Rig syst em and t he SFH-30 pan t ilt head.
The Talos goes places w here t radit ionally a Milo w ould have
gone but being half t he w eight and size of t he Milo, t he Talos
is much easier and less cost ly t o t ransport . This allow s t he
Talos t o be used more easily and frequent ly. It is also
incredibly quick t o set up and fit s t hrough st andard doorw ays.
w w w.mrmoco.com
Helifilms w ere show ing t heir V14 HD Gyro st abilised camera
syst em mount ed on a cust omised Nissan Navara, and t his
head can be mount ed on a helicopt er for superb aerial shot s
in t he right hands.
Jeff from Ronford Baker t ripods had t he final prot ot ype of a
new t ripod head syst em t hat is t ot ally modular. The At las 7
unit is about t o go int o product ion and t he unit w as incredible
t o see w hen it w as demonst rat ed by Jeff. The height , w idt h
and at t it ude of any camera could be alt ered very quickly, and
a nodal point of a lens could be readily found for any camera
lens combinat ion, making t he execut ion of roll over shot s
easily produced. The pan and t ilt w ere separat ely added in
modular form, and t he w hole syst em w as a marvel of
engineering, and as ever w it h Ronford Baker, it w as all
beaut ifully made and finished.
The Alien Revolut ion MK-V V2 AR syst em has advanced
again, proudly announced as t he most advanced body
mount ed camera st abilizat ion plat form in t he w orld. The rig is
St eadicam mount ed, and t he t op of t he range syst em is t he
Aut o-levelling Revolut ion Syst em. This gives Operat ors t he
abilit y t o shoot from ground level t o 8 feet , and aut omat ically
change modes in less t han a second. The camera and monit or
are st abilized, no mat t er t he angle of t he sled. Operat ors are
finding new and unique w ays of creat ing shot s t hat w ere once
impossible, and allow ing a w hole new w ay of moving t he
camera and t elling t he st ory.
The new V2 Lit e base Genesis is an all new (pat ent pending)
design, it has a number of all new feat ures and is designed t o
w ork w it h all t he new breed of cameras. (as w ell as all t he old
ones t oo). The main innovat ion of t he V2 Lit e base is t hat t he
w hole base can be invert ed, so t he post can eit her join t o t he
D-Box as normal or t o t he base it self. This allow s for t he user
t o put t heir ow n cables dow n t he post , very useful w it h new
cameras like t he RED One and t he SI Mini. The D-Box w ill
w ork w it h t he RED cameras bat t ery input s, Monit ors, cables
and mount s. Even t hough t his is a light w eight sled t here is no
limit t o t he w eight of cameras you can use w it h it . Like ALL
MK-V Sleds it can fly from DVC t o IMAX. w w w.mk-v.com
In t erms of post product ion, Myt herapy D-Cinelab, w ere
formed t o provide digit al post product ion services for t he film
and t elevision indust ries by combining it s t radit ional
cinemat ography background and digit al image processing
know ledge.
At t he end of March 2009 Myt herapy announced t hat it has
opened a new facilit y in London's West End t hat is able t o
handle t he ent ire high-end digit al post product ion on a project .
Alt ernat ively t hey can complement ot her post facilit ies by
assist ing in creat ing an efficient w orkflow from acquisit ion,
t hrough post , t o deliverables of 2K and 4K cont ent .
It is t he first facilit y t hat t akes raw camera processing beyond
simple conversion and int o t he realm of advanced post -
product ion, offering services such as noise removal, grain and
film st ock mat ch, and colour art efact removal. It is also t he
only facilit y in Europe t hat offers real-t ime t ransfer of raw
camera dat a in 4:4:4 10-bit log and image sequence.
Myt herapy support s cameras such as Red One, Silicon
Imaging 2K, Phant om HD and Arri D-21. w w w.myt herapy.t v
New York Film Gear w ere exhibit ing t heir grip gear at t he
show for t he first t ime, and is now t he U.K. dist ribut or of
Modern St udio Equipment . Some int erest ing equipment w as
t here, and possibly t he most int erest ing w as a series of rods,
suct ion mount s, t ubes and clamps, a st ruct ure could be built
t o demand. Wit hin a car, for example a light could be put
anyw here t o f it very quickly and easily.
w w w.new yorkfilmgear.com
Rogue Element proudly launched a new concept for 2009 in
t he form of locat ion facilit ies for digit al film product ions. A
new t ruck has been devised t hat enables product ions t o
conduct t asks normally required of a full post facilit y on
locat ion, saving valuable t ime and money in making t he
product ion and ext remely quick and efficient process. Full
grading and dailies area available t o playback in a calibrat ed
suit e, offline digit izing t o FCP & Avid, archiving t o LTO dat a
t ape and more.
In all t he BSC show w as seen as a great success from t he
many people I spoke t o. Brit ain st ill excels and in many areas
w e act ually lead t he w orld. Take Cooke lenses, Ronford Baker,
Gekko Technology, t he MK-V Alien Revolut ion, Cine Pow er,
Abakus and ot hers as examples..
The GBCT section is written and compiled by John Keedwell GBCT
BSC Elstree exterior New York FilmGear table Gekko Kedo Blue
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