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On Our Cover: Legendary music producer Phil Spector (Al Pacino) battles murder charges
with the help of attorney Linda Kenney Baden (Helen Mirren) during his 2007 trial in Phil
Spector, shot by Juan Ruiz-Anchia, ASC. (Photo by Philip V. Caruso, courtesy of HBO.)
FEATURES
28
40
50
Trials by Fire
The cinematographers from Phil Spector, Californication and
Chicago Fire detail their work
Strong Foundations
Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC earns the Societys Career
Achievement in Television Award
Tech Savvy
Presidents Award recipient Curtis Clark, ASC, chairman
of the Societys Technology Committee, reflects on his
accomplishments
DEPARTMENTS
10
12
14
20
56
65
65
66
69
72
74
76
40
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Short Takes: Die Antwoords I Fink U Freeky
Production Slate: Lore
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
In Memoriam: Charles Austin, ASC Alfred Taylor, ASC
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Russell Carpenter
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EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
PHOTO EDITOR Julie Sickel
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,
John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray,
David Heuring, Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner,
Jean Oppenheimer, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich,
Patricia Thomson
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American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 93rd year of publication, is published
monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
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OFFICERS - 2012/2013
Stephen Lighthill
President
Daryn Okada
Vice President
Richard Crudo
Vice President
Victor J. Kemper
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Steven Fierberg
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Stephen H. Burum
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Dean Cundey
Fred Elmes
Michael Goi
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Michael O'Shea
Robert Primes
Owen Roizman
Kees Van Oostrum
ALTERNATES
Ron Garcia
Julio Macat
Kenneth Zunder
Steven Fierberg
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
S4 Quality Deserves
the S4 Name
Now Its Official
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by Cooke
cookeoptics.com
Television cinematographers no longer feel obligated to qualify the scope of their work as small screen. With the availability of high-definition home screens and production values
at an all-time high, todays top TV projects are now commonly
hailed for their compelling visual style.
To prove the point, were showcasing three such
productions in this issue, starting with the HBO telefilm Phil
Spector. Juan Ruiz-Anchia, ASC renewed his ongoing collaboration with writer/director David Mamet to dramatize the
first trial of the notoriously reclusive music producer, who was
later convicted of second-degree murder for shooting actress
Lana Clarkson in his California mansion. Phil Spector was the
first time David and I worked together on a television project, and it was our first digital
collaboration as well, Ruiz-Anchia tells writer Michael Goldman (Trials by Fire, page 28).
It was a different challenge for us, and I think it marked an evolution in our understanding
of the craft.
Michael Weaver, ASC has already been celebrated for his work on the half-hour Showtime dramedy Californication, winning a 2009 Emmy Award (for the episode In Utero) and
a 2011 ASC Award (for the episode Suicide Solution). His approach reflects the nature of
the shows aptly named protagonist, writer Hank Moody: I think of Californication as a
comedy, but the visuals are always cued by the dramatic aspects of David Duchovnys character, Weaver tells Jay Holben (page 31). Every episode really has its own look and style
based on what he is experiencing.
On Chicago Fire, cinematographer Lisa Wiegand takes her cues from the blazes
battled by the shows courageous firefighters. In her quest for authenticity, she has studied
various ways to make fire scenes read well onscreen. Propylene is really beautiful when you
burn it or make a fireball, Wiegand tells Patricia Thomson (page 33). Its got a lot of texture
and creates black smoke within the fireball itself, but its dirty. Propane is cleaner and burns
easier, so its safer, but when you expose it, [the highlights] tend to burn out a lot quicker
because it doesnt have those black elements.
Our coverage of this years ASC Award honorees continues this month with Douglas
Bankstons entertaining and informative profile of Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC (Strong
Foundations, page 40), who was feted last month with the Societys Career Achievement in
Television Award for his work on such shows as 24, Dallas and Nash Bridges. Im flabbergasted that people feel I have that kind of body of work, he says. Ive been lucky to get
some interesting projects.
Curtis Clark, ASC was saluted with the Presidents Award, which recognizes an individual who advances the art of cinematography. As chairman of the Societys Technology
Committee, Clark has led the industry to significant technical advances, including the ASC
Color Decision List and the Academy Color Encoding System, both of which earned Emmy
Engineering Awards last year. AC has often turned to Curtis for technical guidance and counsel, and were proud to spotlight his achievements (Tech Savvy, page 50).
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
10
Editors Note
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Presidents Desk
The word heard less and less on motion-picture sets is, Cut. You know,
Action and Cut are the commands reserved for directors. Keep it
rolling is heard with increasing frequency, and we wonder where the producers are when it is said. Keep it rolling used to be reserved for those moments
when an actor needed protection from the interruption of a camera stop and
reset nudity or tears were usually involved but today, in the majority of
cases, there seems to be no acting or directing emergency prompting this
command.
We think producers should be alarmed, because keep it rolling is
an expensive expediency. We recently learned of a production on which the
time of recorded takes was doubled by the recorded moments of camera reset
and blather that should not have been recorded. It amounted to a terabyte of
data that the editor had to view in order to find and cull the real takes.
There are considerations apart from economic ones. The moments
between takes are most useful. Actors have time to recoup their energy and
focus their performances, and actually, that is true for everyone on set, including the director. Stop the camera at the end of a take, think for a moment and
roll again. That is the discipline encouraged by film running through the
camera instead of ones and zeros.
Of course, the commands and other lingo used on set have been
bizarre from the beginning. For example, how silly is the command, Get me
400 feet of 35-millimeter film? Why mix two different standards of measure?
And today, filming is usually an inaccurate word, but we cant really substitute image capturing.
And what is an Abby, anyway? Why, its the second-to-last shot of the day, named after Abby Singer, the
legendary first assistant director and production manager.
A student from Europe recently complained to me that he was asked on a set to get a stinger and a Baby and put
it on that Cardellini. He had no clue what hed been asked to do.
Language can obscure or illuminate, but surely, we do not want to bring in a new technology and at the same time
throw out the solid procedures and craft we have all learned. Someone recently observed that film shoots were quieter and
more focused on the work than digital shoots. The luxury of digital cameras and recording with cheap media is not actually cheap, however. Data must be duplicated, moved into the post pipeline, sorted, catalogued, synced and protected.
And if on-set efficiency has really declined, how can that cost be quantified?
More importantly, how does it affect efficiency in the cutting room? A producer of television dramas recently told
me that his editorial staff had doubled because the amount of dailies had doubled. This was due in part to the keep-itrolling syndrome, but also to the fact that cheap media had encouraged more coverage of scenes, creating more footage
(goodbye to that quaint word). One-hour dramas are still one-hour dramas, but they now require more than one editor to
manage the volume of images.
More hands on the material do not necessarily make for improvements in storytelling. Send us your tales from the
cutting room or the set and help us propose suggestions for best practices in this new world.
Stephen Lighthill
ASC President
12
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Short Takes
The jury for the Music Videos Competition at the 2012 Plus
Camerimage festival presented the Best Music Video award to Die
Antwoords I Fink U Freeky. Shot by cinematographer Melle Van
Essen, the video translates a number of American photographer
Roger Ballens still-life installations into dynamic moving images.
Van Essen has a lot of documentary credits to his name, but
they dont look like most documentaries. For instance, take Mama
Calle, a stylized doc from 1991 about the street children of Mexico
City. Some people think that once the cameras are rolling, youre a
fly on the wall, but I dont believe that, he says. I find it interesting
to give a documentary a signature look, and that all depends on how
you bond with the people youre filming.
In 2005, Van Essen collaborated with Ballen and Dutch director Saskia Vredeveld on the narrative short Memento Mori, an extension of Ballens Shadow Chamber, a collection of black-and-white
photographs taken in an abandoned womens prison in South Africa.
Meanwhile, South African rave-rappers Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser of
Die Antwoord were using Ballens flash-blasted tableaux as inspiration for the kitschy documentary fiction in their music, live performances and music videos. Early last year, Die Antwoord asked Ballen
to co-direct (with Ninja) the video for I Fink U Freeky, and Ballen
14
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Cinematographer
Melle Van Essen
brought American
photographer
Roger Ballens still
photographs to
life for Die
Antwoords I
Fink U Freeky,
winner of Best
Music Video at
the 2012 Plus
Camerimage
festival.
Top: Yo-Landi
Visser stands with
live rats crawling
on her shoulders
for a scene in the
video. Middle: A
photograph
entitled Caged
(2011) from
Ballens Asylum
series. Bottom,
from left: Melle
Van Essen, Visser,
Ninja and Ballen
on the set.
16
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Top: Ballens
Bathtub (2011)
shows a pair of
hands reaching
out of a bathtub
and clutching a
duck. Middle: A
bathtub is used
in one of
the seven
installations at
Johannesburgs
Marcias Studios.
Bottom: To
capture the
lighting required
for Ballens
aesthetic, the
crew blacked
out the
warehouse and
lit the sets
entirely from
the inside.
18
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Production Slate
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Photos by Vanessa Fuentes. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Music Box Films.
The camera
maintains an
intimate
relationship with
14-year-old Lore
(played by
Saskia
Rosendahl)
throughout
much of Lore,
shot by Adam
Arkapaw and
directed by Cate
Shortland.
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Top: As her
younger sister
(Nele Trebs)
looks on, Lore
examines the
remnants of a
bonfire her
father set to
burn evidence
of his Nazi
affiliation.
Bottom: Lore is
unsettled by
Thomas (Kai
Malina), a
young, silent
man who joins
her family on
its journey.
March 2013
Top: Shortland
(third from right,
wearing blue
shirt), Arkapaw
(center, wearing
dark beret) and
their
collaborators
prepare to film
the children
bedding down
for the night.
Bottom:
Arkapaw and 1st
AC Luke Thomas
capture a close
shot of Malina.
March 2013
Top: Shortland
and Arkapaw
strove to
counter the dark
core of the story
by emphasizing
the childrens
pastoral
surroundings.
Bottom: Thomas
(back to
camera),
Arkapaw and
key grip Glenn
Arrowsmith get
ready to shoot.
complete confidence in colorist Jamie Hediger, who had worked with him previously
on Animal Kingdom (AC Sept. 10).
Wonderful and unique is how
Arkapaw describes working with Lore director Shortland. Cate is more concerned
with mood and emotion than narrative,
he says. One of my favorite quotes about
filmmaking is, A director is a person who
catches butterflies, and Cate embodies
that. Her eyes are always searching for the
butterflies in the scene.
TECHNICAL SPECS
an absolute angel and managed the workload of two second ACs. And I learned a
nice trick from Michael [Adcock] when the
sun came out while we were shooting an
exterior courtyard under an overcast sky.
Adcock covered the courtyard with 20'x20'
frames of Half Grid and placed black net
underneath them. It proved to be a perfect
match for the earlier overcast sky.
Arkapaw says he likes to soften his
light sources twice before they play on the
set. This is especially true when lighting
interiors from outside. Adcock elaborates:
If we used Pars, wed bounce them off
bead board or Ultrabounce and then push
26
March 2013
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Trials by Fire
Phil Spector (HBO)
Cinematographer: Juan Ruiz-Anchia, ASC
The professional relationship between Juan RuizAnchia, ASC and writer/director David Mamet goes back to
House of Games (1987), so the cinematographer well knows
what it takes to craft visuals to match Mamets writing style.
Their latest collaboration is the HBO movie Phil Spector,
which portrays events surrounding the first trial of Spector (Al
Pacino), in 2007, for the murder of Lana Clarkson, and
focuses primarily on his relationship with his attorney, Linda
Kenney Baden (Helen Mirren).
Their highly personal interactions, most of which take
place in Spectors exotic mansion, a mock courtroom on a
soundstage, and in an actual courtroom, had to be invented by
Mamet because attorney-client privilege prevents the pairs
real conversations from ever becoming public. One thing
28
March 2013
By Michael Goldman,
Jay Holben and
Patricia Thomson
|
American Cinematographer
Phil Spector photos by Philip V. Caruso, courtesy of HBO. Californication photos by Jordin Althaus and David
Russell, courtesy of Showtime. Chicago Fire photos by Matt Dinerstein and Elizabeth Morris, courtesy of NBC.
Opposite page (from left): Scenes from Phil Spector, Californication and Chicago Fire. This page,
top: Attorney Linda Kenney Baden (Helen Mirren) meets with client Phil Spector (Al Pacino) at
Spectors mansion. Middle: The set, built inside a mansion in Long Island, posed interesting
color and lighting challenges for cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia, ASC. Bottom: Director
David Mamet on set with Pacino and Mirren.
www.theasc.com
March 2013
29
Trials by Fire
March 2013
Left: In this seasons Californication premiere, Hank recalls his first encounter with
Karen (Natascha McElhone) in New York City. Above: B-camera/Steadicam operator
Tim Bellen (left) and A-camera operator Andy Graham prepare to capture the
action as Hank goes toe to toe with his daughter, Becca (Madeleine Martin).
Californication (Showtime)
Cinematographer:
Michael Weaver, ASC
...[Im] never really all that interested, but I find myself telling her how
beautiful she is anyway cause its true
all women are in one way or another.
You know, theres always something
about every damn one of you. Theres a
smile, a curve, a secret. You ladies really
are the most amazing creatures. My
lifes work. But then theres the morning
after, the hangover, and the realization
that Im not quite as available as I
thought I was the night before. And
then shes gone, and Im haunted by yet
another road not taken.
The
half-hour
dramedy
Californication, which recently kicked
off its sixth season on Showtime, might
be subtitled The Tao of Hank Moody
thanks to its emphasis on its main characters state of mind. Created by Tom
Kapinos, the show stars David
Duchovny as Moody,
a best-selling author
who plunges into the
depths of writers
block and escapes
into womanizing,
alcohol and drugs. As
he stumbles from one
sexual encounter to the next, he tries,
with sporadic success, to maintain good
relations with a significant ex, Karen
(Natascha McElhone), and their sullen
daughter, Becca (Madeleine Martin).
Michael Weaver, ASC, who won
an ASC Award last year for his work on
Californication, has been the series
director of photography from the
beginning. (Peter Levy, ASC shot the
pilot.) Weaver started in the industry in
an unusual way: as a paid intern for
aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.
The options were to go into the news
station and work as a runner, or go
someplace like Lockheed and jump
right into shooting, recalls Weaver.
After I spent a summer interning, they
hired me as a full-time cinematographer, and I was constantly out shooting.
It was great, really. I had a whole studio
and lab at my disposal, and I could go in
and test anything. It was a phenomenal
education. I did that for a few years and
then came to Los Angeles in hopes of
www.theasc.com
31
Trials by Fire
Top: Key players in the sixth season include Atticus Fetch (Tim Minchin, left), a musician
collaborating with Hank on a rock opera, and Faith (Maggie Grace), a groupie who serves as
Hanks muse. Bottom: While directing the first episode of season six, Duchovny confers with
cinematographer Michael Weaver, ASC (seated on dolly) on location in New York.
March 2013
33
Trials by Fire
Top: Chicago Fires Lt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney, left) and Lt. Matthew Casey
(Jesse Spencer) find themselves pitted against each other after the death of a fellow firefighter.
Bottom: Cinematographer Lisa Wiegand checks the light.
March 2013
Trials by Fire
shots look like they dont match, says
Wiegand. So we either find ways of
doing things at similar focal lengths on
both cameras or, if were on a wider lens
close to the actors faces, well have the
other camera on the longer lens getting
shots like silhouettes in the smoke.
We use lots and lots of white
smoke on set because its safer to work
in than black smoke, she adds. Were
conservative about black smoke on set
and add whats needed in post.
Occasionally, a complex scene
involves bracketing and composites. For
instance, in a dramatic moment in the
pilot, a floor collapses in a burning
building and two firefighters fall
through it. Using a locked-off camera,
the filmmakers ran separate passes,
sometimes at multiple exposures, for the
falling stuntmen, flaming beams and
falling debris. We used a slightly wider
lens than we needed for the final shot so
we could push in and put a little handheld motion on it, says Nachmanoff.
Then, we composited them all
together and balanced out the exposure
so it looked right.
Most often, however, Wiegand
controls the exposure as the scene
unfolds in a double-fisted maneuver on
remote iris controls. I have my own
setup where I work off two 2512-inch
monitors and a dual waveform system,
says the cinematographer, who does not
use a digital-imaging technician on the
show. In my hands I have both iris
controls. We have this aesthetic of
following the characters, and sometimes
it involves following them from outside
to inside, or from inside the fire truck to
a sunny exterior. Im often doing a fivestop iris rack in one shot, and because
we have characters with different skin
tones, Ill often have to ride the iris just
to make sure I get enough detail on
everyones faces.
Despite the complexity of the
action, sometimes the best solutions are
low-tech. For the episode Rear View
Mirror, the team was stymied by one
scene that felt dramatically flat. In it, Lt.
Matthew Casey ( Jesse Spencer) and
two residents are trapped in an eighth-
Fire and
rescue
personnel from
Chicago
Firehouse 51
respond to
a call.
36
March 2013
American Cinematographer
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Trials by Fire
From left: Mouch (Christian Stolte), Severide, Jose Vargas (Mo Gallini), Capp (Randy Flagler)
and Gabriella Dawson (Monica Raymund) arrive at the scene.
38
Wiegand and
director Jeffery
Nachmanoff
confer on
the set.
Strong
Foundations
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Top: Charters
and his father,
Roy, take a break
between
weddings in
1956. Bottom:
Charters stands
over the Orinoco
River with an
Eclair ACL for a
documentary
about people of
the Bahai faith
in 1976.
viaduct-with-a-train-approaching-andis-rescued-at-the-very-last-moment
type of narrative. Thats what I grew up
around, so it was only natural that I
started asking my dad to borrow the
Bolex, he says.
When he was stumped by the
math at the University of Auckland, his
art-history professor advised him to
enroll in the art school and look into
www.theasc.com
41
Strong Foundations
wounded, Charters returned to
Auckland and became the first person
to graduate from the photography
department as a filmmaker.
A short film Charters made in
school about two people on a Yamaha
motorcyle did well at a film festival in
Sydney, and he subsequently sold it to
Yamaha. I could mount the 16mm
Bolex and a 10mm lens all over the bike
and handhold it while sitting on the
seat, he says. My dear friend Bob
Harvey had a Fiat 500 with a canvas
roof, and we took the door off so I
could sit in the back and shoot out from
ground level. It was a great tracking
vehicle.
Top: Charters
wields an Arri
16BL while
shooting a
student film
for Richard
Loncraine in
1969. Bottom:
Charters stands
over a group of
villagers in
Suriname for the
documentary
The Green Light
Expedition.
I ended up going
to four movies a
day and skipping
class. That was my
film education.
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Top: Charters uses a dolly he built and shipped to Hafai to use in the Bahai Gardens and Shrines in 1980.
Bottom: Charters and fellow crewmembers stand behind John Huston following the shooting of
American Caesar, a documentary about Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
43
Strong Foundations
director of Psycho IV, Mick Garris, then
brought Charters aboard the 1992
supernatural thriller Sleepwalkers. Two
collaborations with producer Stephen J.
Cannell followed, the series The Hat
Squad and Traps. During that time, I
had an amazing opportunity to hang
with Connie Hall [ASC] for three days
while he was shooting Jennifer 8,
Charters recalls. Those were some of
the most influential days of my life as a
cinematographer.
When Charters shot TekWar and
TekWar: TekLords, telefilms that experimented with 3-D imagery, he realized
right away that 3-D was a whole new
I had an amazing
opportunity to hang
with Connie Hall
[ASC] for three days
while he was
shooting Jennifer 8.
March 2013
Strong Foundations
Nash Bridges, he asked Charters to
come to San Francisco to shoot it. Says
Charters, I went to San Francisco
with director Rob Cohen to shoot an
outrageously expensive promo for the
show I think it was $4.5 million for
10 minutes! The network picked it up,
and I never went back to Canada.
Nash Bridges gave Charters a
healthy budget with which to work.
For example, Nashs apartment set was
built 18' off the ground in an old
flying-boat hangar on Treasure Island,
which allowed Charters to shoot from
the apartment balcony down into the
day or night TransLites. The
TransLites cost upwards of $290,000,
I watched the
pilot for 24 and
thought, Wow, this
is good!
March 2013
American Cinematographer
Strong Foundations
48
Charters at
work in North
Korea in 2008.
. . . as seen on TV!
Pioneering Remote Phosphor lighting
www.trucolorlighting.com
49
Tech
Savvy
Curtis Clark, ASC, chairman of the
Societys Technology Committee, is
honored with the Presidents Award for
advancing the art of cinematography.
By David Heuring
|
50
March 2013
American Cinematographer
www.theasc.com
March 2013
51
Tech Savvy
Clockwise from top: Clark arrives in Venezuela for a World Wildlife Fund PSA; takes a break with his son,
Jonathan, while shooting the sports drama Talent for the Game (1991); composes a frame for the same
film; and rides a crane while shooting Triumph of the Spirit (1989) at the Auschwitz-Birkenau
concentration camp in Poland.
March 2013
Tech Savvy
Clark frames up
over Paul
McCartneys
shoulder while
shooting a
music video.
54
Clark frames
Farrah Fawcett
while shooting
the acclaimed
telefilm
Extremities
(1986).
55
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to:
newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact
information and product images. Photos must be
TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.
March 2013
American Cinematographer
58
March 2013
aperture diaphragm and lens coatings optimized for minimal ghosting and flare, the
EF 35mm f/2 IS USM lens achieves beautiful, soft backgrounds and excellent image
quality.
For additional information, visit
www.usa.canon.com.
Environmental Lights Up
DMX Control
EnvironmentalLights.com, a provider
of high-quality LED lighting, recently added
a 24-channel DMX Decoder to its Studio
Series of DMX controllers and decoders. This
new addition allows for greater design flexibility and higher load capacities, and
includes the newest scrambled pulse-widthmodulation technology.
It takes the DMX output from any
standard DMX console or controller, and
decodes the signal so you can drive 4-wire
LED RGB lights such as LED wall washers,
LED strip lights or LED Modules, says Alicia
60
March 2013
Come visit our showroom or call for our latest Magliner product catalog
We
W
e are the largest retailer specializing in Magliner
Magline customized products and accessories for the Film
m and T
Television
elevision
e
Industry in the world
62
March 2013
American Cinematographer
International Marketplace
64
March 2013
American Cinematographer
CLASSIFIED AD RATES
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold
face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First word of ad
and advertisers name can be set in capitals without extra
charge. No agency commission or discounts on classified
advertising.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER. VISA,
Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are accepted. Send
ad to Classified Advertising, American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX
(323) 876-4973. Deadline for payment and copy must be in
the office by 15th of second month preceding publication.
Subject matter is limited to items and services pertaining
to filmmaking and video production. Words used are subject to magazine style abbreviation. Minimum amount
per ad: $45
CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE
Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds
at the ASC web site.
Internet ads are seen around the world at the
same great rate as in print, or for slightly more you
can appear both online and in print.
For
more
information
please
visit
www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail: classifieds@theasc.com.
Classifieds
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
SERVICES AVAILABLE
STUCK? BLOCKED?
Give me 30 minutes (at no cost to you):
212.560.2333. www.laurienadel.com
STEADICAM ARM QUALITY SERVICE OVERHAUL
AND UPDATES. QUICK TURNAROUND. ROBERT
LUNA (323) 938-5659.
www.theasc.com
March 2013
65
Advertisers Index
16x9, Inc. 59
Eastman Kodak C4
AC 59, 65, 69
Adorama 5, 47
AJA Video Systems, Inc. 19
Arri 7
ASC 1
AZGrip 64
Filmotechnic USA 48
Filmtools 69
66
Glidecam Industries 15
Kino Flo 55
Koerner Camera Systems 61
K-Tek 6
Lights! Action! Co. 64
Maccam 64
Manios Optical 64
Matthews Studio Equipment
64
M. M. Mukhi & Sons 65
Movie Tech AG 64, 65
NAB 70
NBC Universal 57
Nevada Film Commission 38
New York Film Academy 35
Oppenheimer Camera Prod.
64
Outsight 27
Panavision, Inc. 25
Panther Gmbh 39
Pille Film Gmbh 64
Pro8mm 64
Production Resource Group
49
Schneider Optics 2,
Sim Digital 23
South Carolina Film
Commission C3
Super16 Inc. 65
Thales Angenieux 13
Tiffen Company 11
v2 Lighting Group 49
VF Gadgets, Inc. 65
Vimeo 53
Visionary Forces 6
Willys Widgets 65
www.theasc.com 4, 8, 54
61, 63, 66, 71
In Memoriam
69
Its all about ME, and how the Mobile Experience is energizing the transformation of Media & Entertainment.
Second screens enhance lm, television, gaming and music with interactive content and applications and
add a new dimension to the art of storytelling.
Meeting Expectations for content that engages the viewer challenges creators to employ the latest tools
and innovations and respond to ever-changing sets of technical requirements. Continue your
evolution at NAB Show on all aspects of sound, picture, animation and effects. Its a Marketplace
Energizedshowcasing technologies designed to streamline the production process, and keep
content fresh and protable. Give yourself something to smile about. Register today!
www.nabshow.com
U
Usse C
e Co
de
od
e PPA
A112
2
in North Hall:
In Memoriam
71
72
March 2013
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Thomas Ackerman
Lance Acord
Marshall Adams
Javier Aguirresarobe
Lloyd Ahern II
Russ Alsobrook
Howard A. Anderson III
Howard A. Anderson Jr.
James Anderson
Peter Anderson
Tony Askins
Christopher Baffa
James Bagdonas
King Baggot
John Bailey
Florian Ballhaus
Michael Ballhaus
Andrzej Bartkowiak
John Bartley
Bojan Bazelli
Frank Beascoechea
Affonso Beato
Mat Beck
Dion Beebe
Bill Bennett
Andres Berenguer
Carl Berger
Gabriel Beristain
Steven Bernstein
Ross Berryman
Josh Bleibtreu
Oliver Bokelberg
Michael Bonvillain
Richard Bowen
David Boyd
Russell Boyd
Jonathan Brown
Don Burgess
Stephen H. Burum
Bill Butler
Frank B. Byers
Bobby Byrne
Patrick Cady
Antonio Calvache
Paul Cameron
Russell P. Carpenter
James L. Carter
Alan Caso
Michael Chapman
Rodney Charters
Enrique Chediak
Christopher Chomyn
James A. Chressanthis
T.C. Christensen
Joan Churchill
Curtis Clark
Peter L. Collister
Jack Cooperman
Jack Couffer
Vincent G. Cox
Jeff Cronenweth
Richard Crudo
Dean R. Cundey
Stefan Czapsky
David Darby
Allen Daviau
Roger Deakins
Jan DeBont
Thomas Del Ruth
Bruno Delbonnel
Peter Deming
Jim Denault
Caleb Deschanel
Ron Dexter
Craig Di Bona
George Spiro Dibie
Ernest Dickerson
Billy Dickson
Bill Dill
Anthony Dod Mantle
Stuart Dryburgh
Bert Dunk
Lex DuPont
John Dykstra
Richard Edlund
Eagle Egilsson
Frederick Elmes
Robert Elswit
Geoffrey Erb
Scott Farrar
Jon Fauer
Don E. FauntLeRoy
Gerald Feil
Cort Fey
Steven Fierberg
Mauro Fiore
John C. Flinn III
Anna Foerster
Larry Fong
Ron Fortunato
Jonathan Freeman
Tak Fujimoto
Alex Funke
Steve Gainer
Robert Gantz
Ron Garcia
David Geddes
Dejan Georgevich
Michael Goi
Stephen Goldblatt
Paul Goldsmith
Frederic Goodich
Victor Goss
Jack Green
Adam Greenberg
Robbie Greenberg
Xavier Grobet
Alexander Gruszynski
Changwei Gu
Rick Gunter
Rob Hahn
American Cinematographer
Gerald Hirschfeld
Henner Hofmann
Adam Holender
Ernie Holzman
John C. Hora
Tom Houghton
Gil Hubbs
Shane Hurlbut
Tom Hurwitz
Judy Irola
Mark Irwin
Levie Isaacks
Peter James
Johnny E. Jensen
Jon Joffin
Frank Johnson
Shelly Johnson
Jeffrey Jur
Adam Kane
Stephen M. Katz
Ken Kelsch
Victor J. Kemper
Wayne Kennan
Francis Kenny
Glenn Kershaw
Darius Khondji
Gary Kibbe
Jan Kiesser
Jeffrey L. Kimball
Adam Kimmel
Alar Kivilo
David Klein
Richard Kline
George Koblasa
Fred J. Koenekamp
Lajos Koltai
Pete Kozachik
Neil Krepela
Willy Kurant
Ellen M. Kuras
George La Fountaine
Edward Lachman
Jacek Laskus
Denis Lenoir
John R. Leonetti
Matthew Leonetti
Andrew Lesnie
Peter Levy
Matthew Libatique
Charlie Lieberman
Stephen Lighthill
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
John Lindley
Robert F. Liu
Walt Lloyd
Bruce Logan
Gordon Lonsdale
Emmanuel Lubezki
Julio G. Macat
Glen MacPherson
Paul Maibaum
Constantine Makris
Denis Maloney
Isidore Mankofsky
Christopher Manley
Michael D. Margulies
Barry Markowitz
Steve Mason
Clark Mathis
Don McAlpine
Don McCuaig
Michael McDonough
Seamus McGarvey
Robert McLachlan
Geary McLeod
Greg McMurry
Steve McNutt
Terry K. Meade
Suki Medencevic
Chris Menges
Rexford Metz
Anastas Michos
David Miller
Douglas Milsome
Dan Mindel
Charles Minsky
Claudio Miranda
George Mooradian
Donald A. Morgan
Donald M. Morgan
Kramer Morgenthau
Peter Moss
M. David Mullen
Dennis Muren
Fred Murphy
Hiro Narita
Guillermo Navarro
Michael B. Negrin
Sol Negrin
Bill Neil
Alex Nepomniaschy
John Newby
Yuri Neyman
Sam Nicholson
Crescenzo Notarile
David B. Nowell
Rene Ohashi
Daryn Okada
Thomas Olgeirsson
Woody Omens
Miroslav Ondricek
Michael D. OShea
Vince Pace
Anthony Palmieri
Phedon Papamichael
Daniel Pearl
Edward J. Pei
James Pergola
Dave Perkal
Lowell Peterson
Wally Pfister
Bill Pope
M A R C H
Steven Poster
Tom Priestley Jr.
Rodrigo Prieto
Robert Primes
Frank Prinzi
Richard Quinlan
Declan Quinn
Earl Rath
Richard Rawlings Jr.
Frank Raymond
Tami Reiker
Robert Richardson
Anthony B. Richmond
Tom Richmond
Bill Roe
Owen Roizman
Pete Romano
Charles Rosher Jr.
Giuseppe Rotunno
Philippe Rousselot
Juan Ruiz-Anchia
Marvin Rush
Paul Ryan
Eric Saarinen
Alik Sakharov
Mikael Salomon
Roberto Schaefer
Tobias Schliessler
Aaron Schneider
Nancy Schreiber
Fred Schuler
John Schwartzman
John Seale
Christian Sebaldt
Dean Semler
Ben Seresin
Eduardo Serra
Steven Shaw
Lawrence Sher
Richard Shore
Newton Thomas Sigel
Steven V. Silver
John Simmons
Sandi Sissel
Santosh Sivan
Bradley B. Six
Michael Slovis
Dennis L. Smith
Roland Ozzie Smith
Reed Smoot
Bing Sokolsky
Peter Sova
Dante Spinotti
Terry Stacey
Eric Steelberg
Ueli Steiger
Peter Stein
Tom Stern
Robert M. Stevens
David Stockton
Rogier Stoffers
2 0 1 3
Vittorio Storaro
Harry Stradling Jr.
David Stump
Tim Suhrstedt
Peter Suschitzky
Jonathan Taylor
Rodney Taylor
William Taylor
Don Thorin Sr.
Romeo Tirone
John Toll
Mario Tosi
Salvatore Totino
Luciano Tovoli
Jost Vacano
Theo van de Sande
Eric van Haren Noman
Kees van Oostrum
Checco Varese
Ron Vargas
Mark Vargo
Amelia Vincent
William Wages
Roy H. Wagner
Mandy Walker
Michael Watkins
Michael Weaver
William Billy Webb
Jonathan West
Haskell Wexler
Jack Whitman
Gordon Willis
Dariusz Wolski
Ralph Woolsey
Peter Wunstorf
Robert Yeoman
Richard Yuricich
Jerzy Zielinski
Vilmos Zsigmond
Kenneth Zunder
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Alan Albert
Richard Aschman
Kay Baker
Joseph J. Ball
Amnon Band
Carly M. Barber
Craig Barron
Thomas M. Barron
Larry Barton
Wolfgang Baumler
Bob Beitcher
Mark Bender
Bruce Berke
Bob Bianco
Steven A. Blakely
Mitchell Bogdanowicz
Michael Bravin
Simon Broad
William Brodersen
Garrett Brown
Ronald D. Burdett
Reid Burns
Vincent Carabello
Jim Carter
Leonard Chapman
Mark Chiolis
Denny Clairmont
Adam Clark
Cary Clayton
Dave Cole
Michael Condon
Grover Crisp
Peter Crithary
Daniel Curry
Ross Danielson
Carlos D. DeMattos
Gary Demos
Mato Der Avanessian
Kevin Dillon
David Dodson
Judith Doherty
Cyril Drabinsky
Jesse Dylan
Jonathan Erland
Ray Feeney
William Feightner
Phil Feiner
Jimmy Fisher
Scott Fleischer
Thomas Fletcher
Salvatore Giarratano
Richard B. Glickman
John A. Gresch
Jim Hannafin
William Hansard
Bill Hansard Jr.
Richard Hart
Robert Harvey
Michael Hatzer
Josh Haynie
Charles Herzfeld
Larry Hezzelwood
Frieder Hochheim
Bob Hoffman
Vinny Hogan
Cliff Hsui
Robert C. Hummel
Roy Isaia
Jim Jannard
George Joblove
Joel Johnson
John Johnston
Mike Kanfer
Marker Karahadian
Frank Kay
Debbie Kennard
Glenn Kennel
Milton Keslow
Robert Keslow
Douglas Kirkland
www.theasc.com
Mark Kirkland
Timothy J. Knapp
Karl Kresser
Chet Kucinski
Chuck Lee
Doug Leighton
Lou Levinson
Suzanne Lezotte
Grant Loucks
Howard Lukk
Andy Maltz
Steven E. Manios Jr.
Steven E. Manios Sr.
Peter Martin
Robert Mastronardi
Joe Matza
Albert Mayer Jr.
Bill McDonald
Karen McHugh
Andy McIntyre
Stan Miller
Walter H. Mills
George Milton
Mike Mimaki
Michael Morelli
Dash Morrison
Nolan Murdock
Dan Muscarella
Iain A. Neil
Otto Nemenz
Ernst Nettmann
Tony Ngai
Mickel Niehenke
Jeff Okun
Marty Oppenheimer
Walt Ordway
Ahmad Ouri
Michael Parker
Dhanendra Patel
Kristin Petrovich
Ed Phillips
Nick Phillips
Joshua Pines
Carl Porcello
Howard Preston
Sarah Priestnall
David Pringle
Phil Radin
David Reisner
Christopher Reyna
Colin Ritchie
Eric G. Rodli
Domenic Rom
Andy Romanoff
Frederic Rose
Daniel Rosen
Dana Ross
Bill Russell
Kish Sadhvani
David Samuelson
Steve Schklair
Peter K. Schnitzler
Walter Schonfeld
Wayne Schulman
Juergen Schwinzer
Steven Scott
Alec Shapiro
Don Shapiro
Milton R. Shefter
Leon Silverman
Garrett Smith
Timothy E. Smith
Kimberly Snyder
Stefan Sonnenfeld
John L. Sprung
Joseph N. Tawil
Ira Tiffen
Steve Tiffen
Arthur Tostado
Jeffrey Treanor
Bill Turner
Stephan Ukas-Bradley
Mark Van Horne
Richard Vetter
Dedo Weigert
Evans Wetmore
Franz Wieser
Beverly Wood
Jan Yarbrough
Hoyt Yeatman
Irwin M. Young
Michael Zacharia
Bob Zahn
Nazir Zaidi
Michael Zakula
Les Zellan
HONORARY MEMBERS
Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.
Col. Michael Collins
Bob Fisher
David MacDonald
Cpt. Bruce McCandless II
Larry Parker
D. Brian Spruill
March 2013
73
March 2013
Society Welcomes 6 to
Active Membership
New active member Enrique
Chediak, ASC came to the United States
from Ecuador. He studied cinematography
at New York University under Sol Negrin,
ASC, and in 1996 he won cinematography
awards for three separate films at NYUs
First Run Film Festival.
Chediak also won the cinematography award in the Dramatic category at the
1997 Sundance Film Festival for Hurricane
Streets. Since then, his feature credits have
included Desert Blue, Songcatcher, Down in
the Valley, The Good Girl, 28 Weeks Later
and 127 Hours (co-photographed with
Anthony Dod Mantle, ASC, BSC, DFF).
Cort Fey, ASC has been shooting
films for 24 years. He grew up in Seattle,
where his father was a freelance cameraman and editor for commercials, documentaries and narrative projects. His on-set visits
and minor roles in his fathers productions
gave him a taste of behind-the-scenes
action.
Feys interest in filmmaking picked
up at the University of Pennsylvania, where
he co-founded the Penn Film and Video
Foundation while earning a bachelors
degree in American history. His work led
him to the University of Southern California
School of Cinema Arts, where he earned a
masters degree in film production.
He began his professional career as a
gaffer and a cinematographer in lowbudget independent films. He moved on to
shoot in the stunt and action unit for the
series Fastlane. Since then, hes worked on
primetime series such as Cold Case, Bones,
Lost, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and
Grimm.
Jon Joffin, ASC grew up in South
Africa. His familys 16mm projector served
as his gateway into the world of cinema,
allowing him to study rented film strips.
Joffin realized he wanted to become a cinematographer after watching Apocalypse
Now in a movie theater in Canada.
American Cinematographer
Clubhouse News
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
Definitely Rodan (1956), a terrible Japanese movie about a flying
pterodactyl that decimates Tokyo. In my teens, I saw Bergmans
Persona (1966), and although I didnt understand it at all, my world
totally changed. I discovered poetry and mystery in imagery.
Which cinematographers, past or present, do
you most admire?
I learn from absolutely everyone. There is so much
fine work being done across the spectrum, but the
cinematographers who have probably influenced
me the most are Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC, for
redefining the way light and space speak to the
viewer; Owen Roizman, ASC, for his chameleonic
ability to adapt his work to the guts of a story; and
Conrad Hall, ASC and Caleb Deschanel, ASC, for
giving their lighting a sense of magic but embellishing their frames with the natural grace notes of
accidental light we find in the real world.
March 2013
76
American Cinematographer
Close-up
J U S T
R I G H T.
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