J U N E 2 019

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER • JUNE 2019 • GOOD OMENS – JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS – TEEN SPIRIT – THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR • VOL. 100 NO. 6
 J U N E 2 0 1 9 V O L . 1 0 0 N O . 6
— ASC 100 Anniversary
th —

On Our Cover: The demon Crowley (David Tennant, left) and the angel
Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) navigate the end of the world in the miniseries
Good Omens, shot by Gavin Finney, BSC. (Photo by Sophie Mutevelian,
courtesy of Amazon Studios.)

FEATURES
30 Good Omens — The End and the Beginning
AC joins Gavin Finney, BSC; director Douglas Mackinnon; and writer-showrunner

50
Neil Gaiman on location in South Africa

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum — Slayin’ in the Rain

Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF and director Chad Stahelski present action as a

66
colorful dance

Godzilla: King of the Monsters — Royal Rumble

Lawrence Sher, ASC embraces interactive lighting for a massively scaled

82
50 monster mash

Working Portraits
AC celebrates the Society’s centennial with behind-the-scenes images of

94
members at work

Teen Spirit & The Sun Is Also a Star — It’s All Happening
Autumn Durald Arkapaw details her work on two recent feature productions

66
DEPARTMENTS
10
12
Editor’s Note

14
President’s Desk

24
Shot Craft: Underwater cinematography • ND filters

108
Short Takes: The Last Fisherman

114
Filmmakers’ Forum: Working with firearms
94

120
New Products & Services

121
International Marketplace

122
Classified Ads

124
Ad Index

126
ASC Membership Roster

128
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Suki Medencevic

— VISIT WWW.ASCMAG.COM —
 Web-Exclusive Centennial Coverage
Join us in honoring the
100th Anniversary of the American Society of Cinematographers!

Learn more about the importance of creative collaboration as we dive into the
American Cinematographer archives.

The Maltese Falcon

John Huston offers his take on Arthur Edeson, ASC’s collaborative
nature and visual expertise during the production of this classic 1941
film — the writer-director’s feature debut — and how their working
relationship became an eye-opening experience.

Natural Born Killers

Oliver Stone and Robert
Richardson, ASC candidly
discuss their kaleidoscopic
creative approach to this violently satiric 1995 crime film, for which
they employed an array of camera formats — 35mm, 16mm, Super 8
and ENG video — to create a crazy-quilt visual experience.

Rumble Fish
Stephen H. Burum, ASC details his collaboration with Francis
Ford Coppola on this stylish 1983 black-and-white drama.
“Both of us went to the wall the best we could,” Burum says.
“Francis is the kind of person who lets you go as far as you
can go. If you get in trouble he will drag you back from the
brink, but he never puts any restrictions on you.”

Fight Club
Jeff Cronenweth, ASC discusses his
close working relationship with David Fincher
on this controversial 1999 film
— the cinematographer’s first
feature — and how their work
together on previous projects
helped pave the way to a fruit-
ful collaboration.

You’ll find all this and more at bit.ly/AChistoricals

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 J U N E 2 0 1 9 V O L . 1 0 0 , N O . 6

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER

Stephen Pizzello
————————————————————————————————————
WEB DIRECTOR and ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
David E. Williams

EDITORIAL
————————————————————————————————————

MANAGING EDITOR Jon D. Witmer

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andrew Fish
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst, ASC
SHOT CRAFT EDITOR Jay Holben
DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY and WEB PRODUCER Mat Newman
DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR Samantha Dillard
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Rachael K. Bosley, John Calhoun, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Jim Hemphill,
David Heuring, Noah Kadner, Debra Kaufman, Michael Kogge, Iain Marcks,
Matt Mulcahey, Jean Oppenheimer, Lauretta Prevost, Phil Rhodes, Patricia Thomson
PODCASTS
Michael Goldman, Jim Hemphill, Iain Marcks
BLOGS
Benjamin B • John Bailey, ASC • David Heuring

ART & DESIGN

————————————————————————————————————

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer

ADVERTISING
————————————————————————————————————

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann

323-936-3769 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: angiegollmann@gmail.com
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce
323-952-2114 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com
CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Peru
323-952-2124 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: diella@ascmag.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

————————————————————————————————————

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal
————————————————————————————————————
ASC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Eric Rodli
ASC SPONSORSHIP & EVENTS DIRECTOR Patricia Armacost
OPERATIONS/EVENTS MANAGER Alex Lopez
MEMBERSHIP ADMINISTRATOR Salvador Maldonado
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ACCOUNTING Thanh Lai
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Shawnté Howard
————————————————————————————————————
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 99th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by
ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.
Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $).
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and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.
POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.
 American Society of Cinematographers
The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but
an educational, cultural and professional
organization. Membership is by invitation
to those who are actively engaged as
directors of photography and have
demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC
membership has become one of the highest
honors that can be bestowed upon a
professional cinematographer — a mark
of prestige and excellence.

OFFICERS - 2018/2019
Kees van Oostrum
President
Bill Bennett
Vice President
Paul Cameron
Vice President
Cynthia Pusheck
Vice President
Levie Isaacks
Treasurer
David Darby
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky
Sergeant-at-Arms

MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Bill Bennett
Stephen H. Burum
Paul Cameron
Curtis Clark
Dean Cundey
George Spiro Dibie
Stephen Lighthill
Karl-Walter Lindenlaub
Lowell Peterson
Cynthia Pusheck
Roberto Schaefer
John Toll
Kees van Oostrum
Amy Vincent

ALTERNATES
David Darby
Charlie Lieberman
Eric Steelberg
Levie Isaacks
Richard Edlund

MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
8
 EDITOR’S NOTE
THIS MONTH’S Associate editor Andrew Fish was aglow with a

CONTRIBUTORS
visible aura of excitement when we dispatched him to
South Africa to visit the set of the Amazon/BBC minis-
eries Good Omens, where he would convene with a
creative group of filmmakers that included renowned
Dave Brown is a profes- science-fiction and fantasy author Neil Gaiman, direc-
sional firearms instructor
tor Douglas Mackinnon and cinematographer Gavin
Finney, BSC (“The End and the Beginning,” page 30).
and safety coordinator Appropriately enough, Fish’s ultimate destina-
(Filmmakers’ Forum, tion was Atlantis, a town in the Western Cape province
p. 108). whose mythical antecedent plays a notable role in the
story. There, he discovered that the production was as
ambitious as advertised in framing its story of the angel
Mark Dillon is a freelance Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley
writer (“Royal Rumble,” (David Tennant), who have been anticipating the end of humanity ever since the
p. 66). epochal moment when Crowley tempted Eve with the apple. After arriving at the show’s
Garden of Eden, Fish received an overview of the story’s expansive journey through time
Andrew Fish is the asso- from Gaiman himself: “Yesterday we started out with the crucifixion, and then we got
ciate editor (“The End and
to do Noah’s Ark, and today we’ve got a ‘time bubble’ and the Garden of Eden. Later on
this week we have revolutionary France and ancient Rome, and we have a church in
the Beginning,” p. 30; England during the Blitz that we’re going to film as if it was a 1940s spy thriller. There’s
“Off-Road Work,” p. 44). an awful lot of stuff that I wrote [that I expected] quite casually [would] be knocked back
viciously, but what is so great about watching what Gavin and Douglas are doing, is they
Jay Holben is a filmmaker go big. And places where I expected them to go, ‘Oh, you can’t do that’ — they do it!”
and an associate member
“Go big or go home” was also the mandate on two other productions covered in
this issue: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, shot by Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF (“Slayin’
of the ASC (Shot Craft, in the Rain,” page 50), and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, shot by Lawrence Sher, ASC
p. 14). (“Royal Rumble,” page 66). Laustsen was determined to make the second sequel in the
popular franchise “even more visually powerful” with a blend of kinetic action and
Iain Marcks is a filmmaker hyper-stylized environments. Meanwhile, on King of the Monsters, Sher found himself
and a New York corre-
orchestrating a clash of jumbo-sized “Titans” that included not only Godzilla, but also
the insect-like Mothra, the pteranodon Rodan, and the three-headed dragon King
spondent for the magazine Ghidorah.
(“Slayin’ in the Rain,” p. 50). Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw was working at a more human scale
on her two latest feature projects, Teen Spirit and The Sun Is Also a Star (“It’s All Happen-
Derek Stettler is a film- ing,” page 94), but her aesthetic of “stylized naturalism” was no less involved. On the
maker and freelance writer
former project, a musical drama, she tapped her experience on music videos, and for the
latter, she used Gordon Willis, ASC’s iconic work on Manhattan as a primary reference,
(Short Takes, p. 24). noting that director Ry Russo-Young “wanted to make this [young-adult] film different
than ones we’d seen before that didn’t feel like real indies — they were brighter and too
Patricia Thomson is a precious in their execution. Our intention was to make it more real, textured and deep.”
New York correspondent As part of our ongoing celebration of the ASC’s centennial, this issue also presents
for the magazine (“It’s All
a pictorial of Society members at work on set and on location over the past 100 years
(“Working Portraits,” page 82).
Happening,” p. 94).
Photo by Chris Pizzello.

Stephen Pizzello
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

10
 PRESIDENT’S DESK
An Artist, a Murderer and a Cinematographer

A pioneer of visual studies of animal and human locomotion, Eadweard Muybridge was recog-
nized and celebrated in his field to such an extent that at one point it might have saved him from
the hangman’s noose. In what was tried in court as a crime of passion, he shot and killed his
wife’s lover with his Smith & Wesson revolver. But his extraordinary importance to science
surely contributed to the jury’s decision to set him free. He went on to produce countless more
“locomotion” photographs, including striking studies of the human body in motion.
Born in England in 1830, Muybridge first pushed the boundaries of technology when he
was tasked by businessman and former California Governor Leland Stanford with photographing
the quick movement of a horse. At the time, there was an intense debate among racing aficiona-
dos as to whether, at some point, all four hooves of a galloping horse are off the ground.
So Muybridge set out to take a series of instantaneous photographs at a racecourse in
Sacramento, Calif., of a racehorse named Occident. The experiment proved that there is indeed
a moment at which all four of a galloping horse’s hooves are in the air.
From a technical point of view, capturing these photographs was no easy task. At the
time, wet-plate photography needed exposures of up to 30 minutes. Muybridge thought over the matter and skillfully applied
his knowledge of chemistry, and then used Dallmeyer wide-angle optics to take an instant picture — and succeeded in getting
the first shadowy and indistinct picture of Occident at a trot.
This was by no means a picture with gray tones and subtlety. To get the necessary exposure, Muybridge erected a
white wall that was lit by the sun, and he then photographed the horse in silhouette. He spent years refining the process, and
along the way devised a means of triggering multiple cameras, 12 to 25 in a line, with a brief interval in between them and a
shutter speed of 1⁄1000 of a second.
It can be said that this was the point at which cinematography was born.
Muybridge continued his scientific work, recording the motion of animals and, in the later years of his experiments,
concentrating more and more on humans. The result was a visual dictionary of moving human figures, a study of movement
in everyday life. Eventually, Muybridge’s delight in narrative images took over his scientific work, and he started to consider
himself more an artist and storyteller. There are his studies of a female model wearing a fluttering shawl, a mother spanking
her child, a kangaroo hopping in a genteel manner and a mule named Denver taking a seat in a chair. And what laws of phys-
iology could he have possibly been trying to illustrate by photographing a woman throwing herself into a haystack?
When artists began studying these images in detail, the results were remarkable. His visuals became a source of inspi-
ration for painters like Marcel Duchamp, who drew inspiration from Muybridge’s motif for his iconic modernist painting Nude
Descending a Staircase, No. 2.
His later work exudes aesthetics and style, as was evident in his development of the zoopraxiscope, which allowed for
the display of moving images. For the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, he put together a series of projection materials, more
colorful and more detailed than ever before, and showed them in the Zoopraxigraphical Hall, which is now considered to have
been the first commercial movie theater. Nearby, however, German competitor Ottomar Anschütz demonstrated his elec-
trotachyscope; also known as the “Electrical Wonder,” this was essentially a spinning-disc peep-show machine that, perhaps
most importantly, could be watched for a nickel.
Shortly after that, in 1895, the Lumière brothers held the first screenings of their films in Paris. Muybridge realized he
could no longer compete. His life’s work no longer seemed as miraculous, nor was it a commercially viable source of enter-
Photo by Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC.

tainment. But it was Eadward Muybridge who not only first made possible the analysis of movement using sequential photog-
raphy, but who imbued his work with an elegance and style that can be considered the beginning of cinematography.

Kees van Oostrum

ASC President

12 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 SHOT CRAFT By Jay Holben

Underwater cinematographer Ian S. Takahashi frames a shot of Hannah Fraser while operating an Arri Alexa Mini — fitted with a
Kowa anamorphic lens — that’s encased in a HydroFlex RemoteAquaCam Mk5 housing.

Pro Perspective semantics, but it’s my job to support the main-unit directors of

I Ian S. Takahashi
Taking the Plunge
photography, not replace them. I prefer to work more from the
European style and be considered an ‘operating cinematographer.’
It is never our goal to overtake or displace the DP, but to translate
As cinematographers, we are often asked to execute the his or her vision into what works underwater — which is a very
extraordinary by capturing moments or actions of pure magic: the different world, with a different set of physical laws than they are
last glow of sunlight glinting off a climber on the sheer face of a used to. This support can range from just meeting on the shoot day
mountainside, the hero’s harrowing escape from an exploding and answering any questions they might have, to coming in at prep
building, the protagonist’s perilous roll in a vehicle down a cliff. But and working closely all the way through wrap on the water units, to
what happens when a story takes us underwater? How many of us breaking off on our own and capturing the scenes as a separate unit
Underwater photos courtesy of Ian S. Takahashi.

have the first clue how to photograph action that takes place in such altogether.”
a radically different environment? Our conversation only dipped a toe into this vast subject, but
I was recently able to explore the topic with Ian S. Takahashi, I still managed to soak up a wealth of information, and I look
an SOC camera operator and underwater-cinematography special- forward to diving deeper in the future. Here’s our conversation,
ist whose career beneath the surface began more than a decade edited for clarity.
ago. Takahashi’s credits as an underwater cinematographer include
episodes of the series Major Crimes, The Last Ship, Scandal and Ian S. Takahashi: It isn’t too often that a cinematographer
Animal Kingdom, the recent horror feature Us, and work for will have an underwater scene in a project, and it brings with it
Beyoncé, Apple and Nike. unique challenges. Everything typically associated with cinematog-
“When it comes to underwater work,” Takahashi offers, raphy — like camera systems, lenses and lighting — is affected and
“even though my [Local] 600 card says ‘director of photography,’ I needs careful consideration, and you also have to consider
think that ‘cinematographer’ can end up being a better fit. It may be manpower, scheduling, safety and cleanliness. A small number of

14 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Beyoncé’s Lemonade film [directed by
Jonas Åkerlund and shot by Pär M. Ekberg],
we were able to shoot an underwater
close-up on her on a 100mm. It all depends
on the water conditions.
What about focusing underwater
— is that a different challenge than it is on
land?
Takahashi: With the right water
techs, focus isn’t hard to do, but you need
to plan out how to achieve it. There are
two primary options for housings — flat
port or dome — and both offer different
advantages and disadvantages. When
you’re shooting through a flat port, your
focus distance is 25-percent closer under-
water than it is on land. When you’re
shooting through a dome, it creates an
Takahashi gets an angle on Stephen Curry for Kaiser Permanente’s “Overcome” commercial, again
‘aerial/virtual’ image, where focus is deter-
with an Alexa Mini housed in an RAC Mk5. The spot was the bronze winner at the 2017 Clio Awards. mined by the radius of the dome; 12 to 18
inches is a good approximation, meaning
people have dedicated themselves to this cam’s Alexa Mini housing, for more that you need lenses capable of those
specialized art form, and we’re able to maneuverability inside those tight quar- close-focus distances. Spherical primes will
come onto a project and support the DP ters. On Scandal, for a similar sequence make your life easier, but we’ve done some
and director to achieve the desired goals. with Daryn Okada, ASC, we couldn’t switch great work on anamorphic lenses with
American Cinematographer: How to the Alexa Mini, so we used a [HydroFlex diopters. Diopters can be a problem,
does a director of photography even RemoteAquaCam] Mk5, and although it however, if your shot goes from above
begin to approach an underwater scene? was tight — that housing is so much bigger water to below. With the diopter in place,
Takahashi: Once you start jumping than the Nauticam — we had the benefit of your maximum focus distance is much
into the scene, many questions will come greater stability inside the sinking, flooding closer, which may be a problem; in that
up. It’s important to know the technical car, and we still achieved everyone’s goals. case, it may be better to go with a flat port
needs as well as the visual and creative Lenses are also a significant consid- and adjust for the 25-percent closer
goals, because both factor into the deci- eration when shooting in the water. It’s a distance when you go under.
sion-making. It’s so crucial to know what lot like shooting in a hazy room: If you back Optically, the dome port allows for
you’re going to be shooting and what kind up and shoot with a long lens, you’re going the focal length to remain consistent —
of water conditions to expect — open to lose contrast, clarity, color, etc., because there isn’t any magnification — but with
ocean, surf, shallow, pool, tank, etc. of all the particulate matter in the water. the flat port, you’ll get 25-percent larger
On [the series] Lethal Weapon with The general rule is ‘wide and close,’ but any images underwater. Keep this in mind
[1st-unit cinematographer] David rule is meant to be broken. I make a huge when shooting split-level shots of your
Moxness, ASC, CSC, we had one camera effort to shoot in the clearest water that I talent. Do you want their heads to be
inside a sinking car and another outside the can, so that I can have a little more flexibil- normal and their bodies 25-percent larger?
car. We chose a smaller housing, Nauti- ity and use longer lenses underwater. For What about lighting underwater?
Takahashi: Lighting is very interest-
Quick Tip ing. In reality, very few people in this world
Underwater Housings have seen what a car looks like from the
outside when it sinks, or been inside a 747
“Cameras and housings are big choices that [take into account] a lot of variables. as it floods and catches fire, or danced with
HydroFlex has created some fantastic housings over the years, with the newest — the a mermaid 40 feet below the surface. So
[RemoteAquaCam] Mk5 — being the most versatile and able to house a variety of camera we get a decent amount of flexibility when
Photo by Nicholas Franchot.

systems. I’ve personally used three different camera systems inside an RAC Mk5, in a single day, it comes to lighting underwater — and I like
as opposed to having a separate housing for each different camera. With that said, though, if to take advantage of that!
you need to be fast and mobile, on top of and then under the water, a smaller and lighter hous- There are no light sources underwa-
ing may be needed.” ter except for whatever ‘practicals’ might
— Ian S. Takahashi be in the scene, so without those sources,
what’s lighting everything else? When

16 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Quick Tip
Team Effort

“I couldn’t do what I do without my incredible water team. From marine coordinators and safety, to water techs and assistants, to
underwater grips and electrics, these guys and gals are not only the best at their ‘industry jobs,’ but then they do it underwater, on boats,
in rivers, inside shipwrecks, and in even more challenging locations and conditions.
“Being in the water for 12 hours a day takes a physical and mental toll. When you’re cold, hungry and exhausted, and you’re going again
on the fire stunt, you need a solid team that has your back under tough circumstances.”
— Ian S. Takahashi

someone swims down, away from the [HydroFlex] HydroPars with 250 [diffusion] Do you have any advice for some-
surface, what’s lighting their face? There’s and went direct to get light past the actor’s one who’s looking to specialize in under-
no real source underwater, so I try to be mask and into their eyes, while mitigating water cinematography?
soft and subtle and ‘real.’ I like to accom- the reflection off the facemask. The new Takahashi: Starting a career in
plish this by wrapping the key source HydroFlex [SeaSun S30 housing for Arri’s] underwater cinematography is like
around as far as I can justify, sometimes SkyPanels gets a major thumbs up from anything else in this business — a chal-
going with a hard top-source that’s 2 to 3 me, too! lenge. Step 1: Get certified as a scuba
stops overexposed, and then go softer and It’s no secret that I like to under- diver. Step 2: Dive! I can’t stress this
less intense as we bring it around. That way light people in the water. For me, throwing enough. Cinematography and camera
we can get light on the face without it feel- Astera Titan LED tubes on the bottom to operating are hard enough to do on dry
ing too fake or like it’s coming from some subtly edge-light feet and legs allows me to land, and now you want to do it underwa-
other, unknown source. separate the actors from a darker back- ter? Diving, breathing and swimming
The same techniques one uses ground and see their bodies — when underwater have to be second nature so
above water can be adapted for use below. appropriate, of course. And if we’re getting that you can concentrate on the artistic
We’ve built book lights and 20-by-20 a bit more playful and less ‘real,’ a 4K PAR side. But it’s not enough just to be a good
bounces. For Ellen Kuras, ASC on a Verizon as an under-backlight can be fantastic. But diver — you also have to be a good cine-
commercial, we softened up some that’s me; you might not like it! matographer. It’s a marriage between
Are there any special considera- these two different creative and technical
tions for lighting underwater — any differ- skill sets.
ences from lighting on dry land? How do you build a career? Every-
Takahashi: Water is a medium that one does it differently. What I can say is
light moves through, and it changes the that working your way up with the best
light’s characteristics. The longer wave- team you can convince to hire you is a
lengths, red and orange, get ‘eaten up’ great way to go about it. I had an amazing
faster than shorter wavelengths. The mentor in Mike Thomas for nearly a
farther light passes through water, the decade. When Mike retired, he put in a
more cyan-blue it will look. If you’re in a good word for me to some people like
large pool and have to move away from a Pete Romano, ASC, and they really helped
warm light source, the color of the light will my career move forward. There was defi-
turn cool and cyan as you go. It can be frus- nitely a ‘sink or swim’ moment — pun
trating! If you have two subjects at differ- intended — as my first ‘big’ job as under-
ent distances from the light source, the water cinematographer that I got through
light will be two different color tempera- Pete was for Oliver Bokelberg, ASC, BVK on
tures when it hits each subject — and, Scandal, shooting Kerry Washington swim-
technically, a third color temp by the time ming. I gave it everything I had, and I must
it hits the lens! have done something right, because then I
Thankfully, this is more noticeable went out for Larry Reibman on Pretty Little
at larger distances, so within the confines Liars, then for Michael Weaver, ASC on
of most ‘normal’ shooting conditions this Masters of Sex, and it progressed from
won’t be too big of an issue. But you will there.
need to keep an eye out for it, and we keep For better or worse, though, your
While working on the fifth season of multiple units and gels on hand to fix it. The path will be different than mine.
Arrested Development, underwater key grip Nicholas
“Soda Pop” Franchot holds an RAC Mk5. A second one is newer variable-color LED units make it
rigged on a HydroFlex HydroHead. much easier to fix this. ➔
18 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
 that hit it, preventing them from passing
through the filter to the camera. In a
perfect world, the ND absorbs all wave-
lengths of the visible spectrum equally —
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. In
practice, however, this is extraordinarily
difficult to achieve, and some NDs trun-
cate certain wavelengths more than
others, resulting in a slight color bias to
the filter.
ND filters are calibrated in optical
densities — 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 2.1,
2.4, 2.7 and 3.0 — with each incremental
step equivalent to a one-stop increase in
light absorption, which can also be
described as a 50-percent decrease in
light transmission. In other words, each
density increment of ND allows 1⁄2 of the
light it receives to pass through. So, two
increments — ND 0.6 — transmit 0.5x0.5,
or 1⁄4 (0.25) of the light; three increments
— ND 0.9 — transmit 0.5x0.5x0.5, or
Used to control exposure, ND filters are available in a variety of shapes, sizes, strengths, and 0.125; and so forth. (See chart, page 22.)
even graduated densities.
NDs are most commonly made of
Deep Focus allowing you to set your aperture/iris for glass or optical resin. Generally, carbon
Neutral Density the desired depth of field in your image. particles are suspended in a solution that
When you’re shooting a brightly lit day is then coated onto the surface of the
In the digital world, certain lens exterior, for example, even if you can glass or “printed” onto a gelatin material
filters — particularly color-correction adjust the ISO of your camera down, light that is sandwiched between two planes
filters such as 80s, 85s, CTBs and CTOs — levels can often force you to shoot at or of glass. Most high-end cinema-variety
have faded into near-complete obscurity. above a T8, resulting in significant depth ND filters are made from optical glass,
However, as digital sensors have evolved of field that might not be artistically sometimes called water-white glass;
to be increasingly light-sensitive, one of desirable. So, for greater control over unlike traditional “window” glass, optical
the old standbys has become arguably your aperture, you can employ an ND glass has no color tint. Inexpensive ND
more relevant than ever. We’re talking, filter, thereby reducing the amount of filters sometimes suffer from a greenish
of course, about neutral-density filters, light coming into the lens and allowing tint inherent in lower-quality glass.
otherwise known as NDs — and under- you to open the aperture, which in turn NDs are available in the usual sizes
standing the differences between the will reduce the overall depth of field in and shapes, from round screw-on sizes
available varieties of ND filters will help the shot. that fit a lens’ front filter threads, to
you achieve your desired image. An ND is an absorption filter, 4"x4", 4"x5.65" and 6"x6" sizes.
The primary reason you need an meaning that it absorbs, to some degree, A variation on the ND is the gradu-
ND filter is to control your exposure, wavelengths of electromagnetic energy ated filter, which is partially clear, with a
gradual transition to a particular optical
Quick Tip density of ND. An ND 0.6 grad, for exam-
Customizable Solutions ple, might have clear glass at the bottom
of the filter and a gentle gradation
Grads don’t have to be used horizontally. In fact, they come in both horizontally and through the middle to 0.6 ND at the top.
vertically oriented options. Plus, either version can be rotated in the matte box so that the ND A grad filter is intended to affect one
portion of the grad can be placed over a brightly lit wall on one side of the frame, for example. portion of an image while leaving another
It’s often good practice to get ND grads larger than whatever filter size you would normally be portion untouched; a common use is to
using — 6"x6", for instance — to give you more flexibility in positioning the transition point position the filter so that the ND drops
without revealing the edge of the filter in your shot. down the exposure in a bright sky while
Additionally, most filter manufacturers can create custom ND grad filters at the cine- the clear portion leaves the subject on
matographer’s request, so that you can define where and how long the transition will be, and the ground unaffected.
the varying strengths of ND that will be incorporated. “Straight line” graduation isn’t the

20 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 cameras now feature built-in IR-cutting
filters in front of the sensor, making IRND
filters somewhat obsolete with profes-
sional digital cinema cameras. Prosumer
digital cameras, though, are less likely to
feature incorporated IR protection, so if
you’re working with that sort of camera,
you’re likely to be in better shape with
IRND filters. (If you’re not certain if there’s
internal IR protection, go ahead and use
an IRND filter; there’s no issue with
“doubling up” the IR filtration.)
The next generation of neutral-
density filters is the full-spectrum ND.
More than merely a combination of an ND
As this chart illustrates in numerical terms, each one-step increase in optical density allows for the
and an IR-cutting filter, the full-spectrum
transmission of 1⁄2 of the light from the previous density. ND is a different technology that evenly
truncates both the infrared and visible
only option, however. There are circular base and 2.1 at the top, and the transition spectrums evenly. Because they absorb
grads that transition from the edges to could span nearly the complete height of both spectrums in equal measure, they
the center in a radial fashion rather than a the filter. Such filters are well-suited for eliminate the need for any additional IR
linear one. There are also options regard- situations where the transition placement filtration. For example, an Arri FSND 0.9
ing the size of the transition. A soft grad might be distracting in the image. will absorb 3 stops of visible light and 3
has a long transition between clear and Here’s where things can get a little “stops” of infrared radiation. Other full-
ND, a medium grad has a shorter transi- complicated. Traditional ND filters only spectrum options include Schneider
tion, and a hard grad has a very small tran- absorb light from the visible spectrum Optics’ RHOdium Full Spectrum ND filters
sition. These can be used to varying artis- and do not affect infrared radiation, and Tiffen’s NATural ND filters. Addition-
tic effect. which is close to the red end of the light ally, Arri’s Amira, Alexa Mini and new
spectrum but is invisible to our eyes. Alexa Mini LF cameras all feature inte-
Motion-picture film isn’t necessarily grated Arri FSND filters that sit behind the
“Traditional ND filters infrared-sensitive, so when shooting film, lens and in front of the camera’s sensor.
traditional ND filters aren’t a problem. Finally, in our recent look at polar-
do not affect infrared Digital sensors, however, are sensitive to izing filters (see Shot Craft, AC April ’19),
infrared radiation, and an imbalance we examined the technique of using two
radiation.” between visible light and IR radiation can polarizers and rotating them counter to
corrupt the image by biasing the colors each other to achieve the effect of a vari-
You also need to take into consid- that the sensor “sees.” If you’re outdoors able ND, allowing you to adjust the
eration the type of sensor/format that using a traditional ND 1.2 (absorbing 4 amount of light absorption without having
you’re shooting. A soft grad on a 65mm- stops of light), you’re opening the iris of to change filters. Bear in mind, though,
sized sensor (or film), for instance, might your lens to compensate for the light that that this is done with polarizers, which are
create a subtle transition between ground the filter is stopping — but you’re not an entirely different type of filter than
and sky, but employing that same grad preventing any infrared radiation from neutral density. Two of them together can
transition on a smaller sensor may result hitting the sensor! create a custom ND, but it will have polar-
in only the transition portion of the filter This is where IRND filters come ized properties. u
being “seen” by the sensor, with the clear into play. These incorporate both tradi-
and full-ND portions not registering on tional neutral-density dyes sandwiched Erratum
the captured image. This is also true for between optical glass planes or coated Photographer Nick Mahar’s name
longer lenses; a tighter graduated transi- onto the glass itself and an infrared-wave- was misspelled in the April issue’s cover-
tion may be required as the magnification length-cutting filter. age of the ASC Master Class (“On Film,”
of the lens increases. For many years in the digital realm, p. 94). Additionally, in that same issue’s
Another type of ND grad is an IRNDs have been key tools for preventing coverage of Captain Marvel (“Taking
attenuator. This is a type of graduated IR contamination from corrupting the Flight”), the caption on p. 40 misidenti-
filter that has little to no clear area and an image in situations that involve heavy ND fied the character played by Jude Law;
extremely long transition. An attenuator usage. However, in many and perhaps the character’s correct name is Yon-
might have an optical density of 0.6 at the even most cases, high-end digital cinema Rogg. AC regrets the errors.

22 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 SHORT TAKES

The eponymous protagonist of the short The Last Fisherman (portrayed by Cao Boi) makes his way toward shore.

Last Days light while still getting a very crisp and polished image.”
I By Derek Stettler Levy’s extensive experience shooting around the world
— in some 40 countries, by his estimation — proved to be a
“Is today the day? The day I set myself free?” This narra- great asset during the four-day shoot, which was based in a
tion, spoken in Vietnamese, opens The Last Fisherman, a remote fishing village on central Vietnam’s coastline, seven
dialogue-free dystopian science-fiction short that was shot hours north of Saigon. Levy recalls that he, Ngo, and producer
entirely in Vietnam, with a Vietnamese cast and mostly local Tiffany Izzie Chang were the only Americans on the production,
crew. The short’s setting, foreign-language narration, and lack and “apart from the three of us and another producer, Quan
of dialogue work together to create a mysterious, foreboding Nguyen, whose production company Blaze produced the film,
atmosphere that leaves viewers searching for answers. almost no one else spoke any English. First AC Tran Van Hai and
The Last Fisherman premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film gaffer Phan Bao Quoc understood only basic English and could
Festival and tells the story of an aging fisherman (portrayed by barely speak it back. But I felt that barrier actually made me
Cao Boi), who uses his wits to survive in a postapocalyptic world sharper because I had to be as direct and clear as possible. It
until a chance encounter with the enemy forces him to come to forced me to really focus on what I wanted to do and therefore
terms with their shared past. Cinematographer Jared Levy say.”
Frame grab and photos courtesy of the filmmakers.

relished the opportunity to tell a story in which the visuals do Principal photography for the 11-minute short was split
most of the ‘talking,’ and he was happy to reteam with Brook- between two days on a floating raft anchored in the South
lyn-based writer-director Shal Ngo, a longtime friend and China Sea, and two days on a secluded beach that required a
collaborator. 30-minute hike through lush jungle to reach. The production
The desire to maximize their modest budget, create an therefore had to move quickly, and the crew benefitted from
otherworldly look, and make a genre piece with an Asian cast months of preproduction. During the project’s development,
brought the filmmakers to Vietnam. “I wanted the visual disso- Levy made use of ozPDA’s Sun Seeker app to calculate sun posi-
nance of a lush, tropical paradise that contrasts with the tion and camera angles for the shooting days, as his lighting
dystopian story,” says half-Vietnamese, half-American Ngo. “I plan would be largely dependent on working with natural light.
knew it would be an intense shoot where I’d need someone “Beyond the elements built into our set, and some beadboard
who could act autonomously and instinctively. Jared has very and flags, it all came down to proper planning and camera
good instincts and knows how to work quickly with available placement,” he explains. ➔
24 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
 Levy also communicated with
production designer Nguyen Dinh Phong
to outfit the raft-set with 1-stop silks
that doubled as a simple roof for the
structure. “Those elements looked liked
they belonged on the raft,” he explains,
“but were chosen and placed with sun
control in mind. Using the cloth from
above as motivated shade gave me more
flexibility to shape the available light on
mediums and close-ups.”
For night sequences on the raft,
the production found inspiration in the
look of real-life squid-fishing ships from
the region. At night, those ships blast
lights off their sides to attract squid, and
the resulting illumination made Levy
realize that practical fixtures could
provide almost all the lighting he would
need for the nighttime shots while also
contributing to the futuristic visual
aesthetic. He therefore placed eight 4'
daylight-balanced Kino Flo tubes along
the perimeter of the raft. He adds that
he further augmented the night scenes
with “two [Litepanels] 1-by-1 Astra LED
bi-color units timed to match our
daylight Kino bulbs and passed through
Opal and 250 diffusion.” All of the lights
were powered from a small generator on
the raft. “For VFX assistance, a small LED
light strip was placed on the bottom of
the holographic display in the night
scene, to help imitate the display’s glow.
Given our remote location and the diffi-
culty of powering larger units on our
floating set, that was it in terms of light-
ing on this project.”
Framed in the widescreen 2.39:1
aspect ratio, Levy shot the majority of
The Last Fisherman with his own Red
Epic Dragon camera package, which he
powered with Anton/Bauer Dionic 90
batteries. Additionally, a Sony a7S was
used for some underwater shots — in a
Dicapac WP-S10 waterproof case — as
well as for a flashback shot that the
director captured guerilla-style in a Viet-
nam nightclub, and drone footage was
captured with a DJI Inspire 1 carrying a
Zenmuse X5 camera.
For the aerial footage, Levy
recalls, “The instruction given to the
ppp Cinematographer Jared Levy operates a Red Epic Dragon camera. pp Levy and crew prepare
for a scene with Dasha Nguyen (portraying an android) aboard the short’s floating raft set. p The drone pilot [Duong Hoang Long] was to
camera is angled in for a fight scene aboard the raft. emulate cinema moves like dollies and

26 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 “We wanted something more
saturated, and we wanted to
commit to making a look with a
color-wash over certain images.”
realm as the imagery, humanity — and to protect himself, the
which gave me the fisherman must don a gas mask. The
confidence to make smoke was created with a mix of mili-
slow, dramatic camera tary-grade smoke bombs that were used
moves. I knew [those on set, and visual effects applied in post;
moves] would be the latter were provided by visual-
backed by the score in effects artist Casey Drogin at his studio
the right way.” in New York.
To maximize the For another scene, when the fish-
usable daylight hours, erman discovers a female android
the crew’s call time (played by Dasha Nguyen), the action
was at 4:15 every was shot as the sun was rising. Although
morning. On set, Levy the scene takes place at sunset, Levy
pulled double duty as explains, “we used the rising sun for
cinematographer and shooting to properly backlight the
Levy and director Shal Ngo on location in Vietnam. camera operator; sequence.” The golden magic-hour hues
working in both capac- were then accentuated during color
cranes. We didn’t want it to look or feel ities beneath the tropical sun was physi- correction to add further warmth and a
like it was from a drone.” cally demanding, especially considering sense of comfort, in keeping with Ngo’s
The cinematographer paired the that, apart from the occasional tripod or desire for the imagery to serve as coun-
Epic with a set of Arri/Zeiss Super Speed drone shot, almost every setup was terpoint to the story’s darker elements.
Mark III primes that were sourced from a handheld. No dollies or sliders were Ngo co-edited the movie with
local rental house in Vietnam. Schneider used during the shoot. Even the smooth Michael Solsky. They added digital
neutral-density filters were used to keep shots pushing in toward the raft were zooms to a number of shots, and they
the camera at 800 ISO during the day, captured handheld with the camera applied a consistent layer of grain in an
while night shots were captured at an supported from an Easyrig, with Levy effort to bring a sense of analog realism
ISO of 320 to preserve cleaner shadows. positioned on a small motorboat. to the futuristic setting. Editing was
“In an effort to keep our characters feel- The guiding principle for the shoot performed in 2K with ProRes proxy files
ing isolated, and to make the greater was to create what the cinematographer and then relinked to the original 6K R3D
world feel distant, we tried to shoot near describes as a “surreal look.” Levy notes, files for final color grading, which was
wide open, at T2.0, as much as possible,” “Something that Shal and I have been performed with Blackmagic Design
Levy explains. To lend flashback realizing as we come into our own as DaVinci Resolve by Samuel Gursky at
sequences a more dreamlike quality, filmmakers and artists is the importance Irving Harvey in New York.
Levy used a Tiffen 1⁄8 Black Pro-Mist of leaning into our creativity and being Despite the dystopian setting, it’s
filter and overcranked the camera at bold in our choices, and not shying away no spoiler to reveal that The Last Fisher-
60 fps. from them. The color grading on The man ends with the main character lying
The production presented Levy Last Fisherman was a part of that. We under a sunset sky, at peace and smiling
with the rare opportunity to be influ- wanted something more saturated, and — an experience not unlike what Levy
enced by the movie’s music. Each day we wanted to commit to making a look went on to share when, almost two
before call, the cinematographer with a color-wash over certain images.” years later, he returned to Vietnam for
listened to rough drafts of the score to For example, the short’s opening his honeymoon. “This film and the expe-
get into the mindset of the production. shot becomes a literal wash of color as rience I had in Vietnam made me realize
Levy credits composer Jay Wadley with yellow smoke drifts toward the camera I had to come back,” the cinematogra-
crafting music well-suited for atmos- and fills the frame. The smoke repre- pher reflects, “and I can’t wait to shoot
pheric imagery. “I knew the music was sents a recurring threat in the story — a there again.” u
going to play in the same emotional tactic used by the machines to wipe out

28 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End
and the Beginning

AC visits the South Africa set of

starts to give way as the road’s surface turns to powder. We

Good Omens, where Gavin Finney, BSC

emerge from the brush into a sea of sprawling stark-white
sand dunes. On this summer day in February, our driver navi-

and director Douglas Mackinnon gates the hills and slopes of the snow-like terrain. Coming into

collaborate under the guidance of

view just beyond a low-lying peak is the Garden of Eden.

writer-showrunner Neil Gaiman

We step off the vehicle and onto the set of Good Omens,
a six-episode Amazon/BBC original miniseries — based on
the novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman — directed by
Douglas Mackinnon and shot by Gavin Finney, BSC.
By Andrew Fish Hopscotching through history and across the globe, the story
has stopped here to capture a few pivotal machinations of an
angel (Michael Sheen) and a demon (David Tennant) —
We drive up South Africa’s Western Cape toward the city of specifically their maneuverings at the dawn of humanity and
Atlantis. Cows graze along the roadside, then a herd of sheep. just moments before the coming of the End Times.
Patches of sand begin to mottle the landscape. Rows of euca- Heading on foot toward the camera setups, we spot
lyptus trees line the final stretch that leads us to a slew of cars Gaiman himself, clad in black. We join him beneath a tent
and trucks at base camp. We board a Toyota 4x4 and head teeming with busy crewmembers. “One of the things that was
down a dirt road lush with tangled shrubs. The tires’ traction most fascinating to me when I came out here with Douglas

30 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 t Secretly close friends, the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen, left) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant, right) shirk their duty to usher in the apocalypse, and instead
strive to sway the antichrist (Sam Taylor Buck) to spare humanity in the Amazon/BBC miniseries Good Omens. pt Tennant (red shirt), writer-showrunner Neil Gaiman
(black shirt) and cinematographer Gavin Finney, BSC (white shirt) share a laugh on set. pu Director Douglas Mackinnon (right) and actors Michael McKean and Miranda
Richardson enjoy their own lighthearted moment.
Unit photography by Chris Raphael. Additional production stills by Ilze Kitshoff and Sophie Mutevelian. All images courtesy of Amazon Studios.

was that we couldn’t necessarily decide saying, Douglas and Gavin like it when
where we were going to shoot, because I frame the shots.” With a grin, The lead-in to the desert-based
the wind reshapes the dunes,” says the Mackinnon responds, “And he likes it time-bubble scene is a crane shot that
celebrated author, who also serves as when I write scenes. It’s the same sort of launches straight up from Crowley as he
writer and showrunner for this irrever- ‘like.’” performs an impassioned conjuration. It
ently comic take on the nature of good, After some laughter, Gaiman was captured in the U.K. at RAF Upper
evil and all humankind. “Everything concedes, “This is Douglas and Gavin’s Heyford, a Royal Air Force station, “which is
here can be reshaped by one big wind. show in terms of what you’re seeing, probably the single dreariest spot on
It all moves around. and most of the discussions I had with Earth,” Gaiman offers. “We were about a
“The weirdest thing about Good them came long before — [along] with day, maybe two days out, and we didn’t
Omens is everything is always differ- Michael Ralph, our production know if there was time to shoot [the time-
ent,” he adds. “Yesterday we started designer, who is astonishing.” bubble sequence] — and we needed to do
out with the crucifixion, and then we When asked how the show main- something to break this up as well, because
got to do Noah’s Ark, and today we’ve tains a consistent look amid all the we have been here for 16 pages.
got a ‘time bubble’ and the Garden of disparate genres, Mackinnon gestures “So I said to Douglas,” he continues,
Eden. Later on this week we have revo- toward Gaiman and amiably replies, “‘Is there anywhere else we could do it?
lutionary France and ancient Rome, “The thing that keeps it cohesive is the We’re essentially almost in their minds.’
and we have a church in England storytelling from ‘his lordship.’ And And Douglas said, ‘Actually, there’s this
during the Blitz that we’re going to film from the Good Omens book written by amazing location that we scouted for the
as if it was a 1940s spy thriller. There’s Terry and Neil — I’ve got a tattered desert outside Eden — the wilderness that
an awful lot of stuff that I wrote [that I Adam and Eve are cast
expected] quite casually [would] be out into.’ And I said,
knocked back viciously, but what is so ‘That would be
great about watching what Gavin and perfect, because it’s a
Douglas are doing, is they go big. And hark back to the open-
places where I expected them to go, ing scenes.’ And we
‘Oh, you can’t do that’ — they do it!” didn’t get time to
Gaiman pauses and points into shoot it [in the U.K.],
the distance. “Turn around quickly,” he as we knew that we
says. “When the light hits the dunes, wouldn’t. It made life
you get these strange and wonderful easier for everybody,
effects as different ones glow. You see and it meant that
the contours.” young Sam, our 12-
The director then stops by to say year-old lead, actually
hello, which prompts Gaiman to turn to got an extra trip to
us and slyly note, “Anyway, as I was South Africa.”

www.ascmag.com June 2019 31

 The End and the Beginning
u A panoramic view of
the sets and gear at
the sand dunes in
Atlantis, South Africa.
q & qu The
orientation of the set
for the hole in the wall
of the Garden of Eden
was determined with
the assistance of
Chemical Wedding’s
Helios sun-tracking
software. “That’s the
thing about sun
plotting and logistics —
it’s clockwork,” Finney
submits. “You know
what’s going to
happen, and then it’s
about bringing in the
tools to control it.

copy in my bag that I’ve been carrying vision, and I think it’s only fair to say the person. We [use] these shoulder-
about for nearly a year now. I actually that no 10 minutes looks like any other blade pinions as information for our
gave up very early [on the idea] that 10 minutes.” effects guys, so the CGI wings will
there had to be one look for the show. Lamenting the absence of move naturally with the bodies. And I
The look is somehow going to bleed out Pratchett, his co-author, who passed think it makes a lot more sense than
from all of us, and it’s about trusting away in 2015, Gaiman notes, “I don’t trying to put giant wings on, as
and having faith in that, rather than ever not think about what Terry would anybody who has seen Flash Gordon
trying to impose a set of rules.” Gaiman be thinking. ... I [sometimes] just say, [can attest].” We’re pretty sure Gaiman
adds, “We are creating six hours of tele- ‘Why aren’t you here?’ I love that Rob is trolling us when he adds, “It doesn’t
Wilkins, who was Terry’s assistant for even work for Brian Blessed.”
years — his Man Friday — is out here. We depart down the shallow
TECH SPECS Terry is always being represented on slope of a dune toward the enclosed
the set by Rob, and that means a lot.” tent that houses video village. Producer
2.39:1 Gaiman then points out another Paul Frift extends a cordial greeting.
significant sight. “And there, walking “Welcome to Atlantis,” he says.
Digital Capture by, is David in wings,” he says, as It’s day 84 of the production’s 109
Tennant heads toward set sporting a days of principal photography. We look
Arri Alexa SXT, Mini, Arriflex D-21 blazer specially outfitted with a pair of out into the sandy expanse, amid which
(modified for hand-crank capture); truncated feathered wings extending a rehearsal for the “time bubble” scene
Panasonic Lumix GH4 (for some of about 11⁄2' above his shoulders, each is in process under overcast skies. The
the production’s drone work) wing terminating with a green ball. angel Aziraphale (Sheen, holding a
Gaiman explains that the shoulder sword whose green blade will later be
Leitz Leica Summilux-C, rigging is in place “because CGI wings replaced with flaming steel) and the
Arri/Fujinon Alura zooms, tend to look a bit rubbish, and one demon Crowley (Tennant, holding a tire
Arri/Zeiss 8R rectilinear reason [for that] is they never actually iron) are communing with 11-year-old
match up with the body movements of antichrist Adam Young (Sam Taylor

32 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

Buck) in an otherworldly void — i.e., Scenes at a Soho
this desert — and the stakes couldn’t be cross street, which
higher. The sequence takes place near included interiors at
the end of the tale, and is one of only Aziraphale’s bookshop,
two scenes, we’re told, in which the were shot at Bovingdon
two protagonists reveal their true Airfield in Hertfordshire
forms. The meaning of something else — a former World War II
that Gaiman told us — “On the day Royal and U.S. Air Force
that an angel gets their wings, that is base — in December,
the day to be here” — becomes a bit when daylight ended
more clear. before 4 p.m. To extend
On the opposite side of the tent shooting days for daytime
from where we’re standing, an Arri scenes, gaffer Andy Bailey
Alexa SXT is mounted to a and his crew “rigged six
SuperTechno 50 crane on the back of a 21-foot hybrid helium
Mitsubishi flatbed truck, whose tires balloons, all on cranes,”
have been deflated to a low PSI to help Finney says. “And then
with traction. The camera is set to two more cranes with two 18Ks on each one of them. We could shoot down every
capture a 2.39:1 image to ProRes 4K street, and [inside and outside]. It meant that rather than be panicked into complet-
UHD — the standard for this produc- ing the day’s work before 3:30, we could just ‘relax’ — and as the daylight faded, we
tion — via the wide end of an turned all the balloons on, and that segued into a night-for-day.” Mackinnon
Arri/Fujinon Alura 15.5-45mm (T2.8) attests, “Gavin handed me full, proper days for filming.”
zoom. The crane is retracted and the Describing an unexpected challenge, the filmmakers note that they had
camera faces down toward the sand. planned for wind and rain on this set, “but we knew it wouldn’t snow,” the director
When action is called, the crane presses recalls. “Then it did. It was the heaviest December snowfall in England in about 12
forward and concurrently tilts up the years.” Finney adds, “It was the day after we’d pre-lit everything. And then a snow-
camera to aim it straight ahead, then plow that they brought in to clear it took out the main electricity panel and deflated
continues extending to push in on the all our balloon lighting. We had a day to clear the snow and rebuild everything.
trio. With the camera now locked, the That’s when you find out how good your lighting crew is — and they were superb!”
dialogue is played through, after which

www.ascmag.com June 2019 33

 The End and the Beginning
A Steadicam-mounted
MK-V Omega-system
auto-leveling
revolution “AR” rig —
operated by Matt
Fisher (u) — and a
Technocrane on an off-
road vehicle with a
self-leveling column
were primary tools for
“getting that motion
that Douglas wanted
as a thread throughout
the whole
[production] — that
kinetic energy,” Finney
says. “We used cable-
cam in the woods as
well (uu), so we
could fly the camera in
through the trees.”

the actors are called upon to reposition. rig backs up to accommodate. Armed Mackinnon, Finney and others keep
First AD Francesco Reidy with brooms, crewmembers sweep the watch on the action from here. Finney
explains that this staging change sand to remove footprints. later notes that he “tends to move
involves bringing Tennant slightly Peeking into video village, we between a small monitor near the main
downhill, so he and Sheen are on an see from the 25" Flanders Scientific camera and video village.” Behind the
equal plane. “We need to take it off the OLED monitors that the production is tent is an additional viewing station
slope,” Reidy says. With the actors in currently shooting at 25 fps and EI 800, outfitted with 17" HD monitors, where
their new positions, the SuperTechno and with a 180-degree shutter. Gaiman, we check back periodically to note the
framing. We’re told that Atomos
Shogun Inferno monitors are used by
the filmmakers for “more mobile play-
back” as well.
Action is called for a proper take
of this push-in to a three-shot. The
crane performs its tilt-and-surge
motion. “You won’t have long to do
whatever you’re going to do,” we hear
Crowley say to Adam. The filmmakers
run another few takes, after which a
silver ball, gray ball and Macbeth color-
checker card are brought in to be
captured for visual-effects reference.
As the crew resets, Mackinnon
introduces us to the cinematographer,
who’s working with the camera crew to
When the cast was shown a sizzle reel about six weeks into production, “I set up for the closer shots. We ask him
think suddenly everyone kind of ‘got it,’” actor David Tennant notes. “Because, about continuity challenges when
tonally, [Good Omens is] quite difficult to pinpoint.” With its mix of fantasy and shooting midday on a wide-open land-
satire, the show can be described as “a drama, or a comedy, or actually a genre all scape like this. “The clouds are some-
on its own,” he adds. “It’s quite hard to name. And it’s also quite hard to know what thing I’m used to, coming from
you’re in. I think we were all quite relieved to see [the reel]. You suddenly saw the Britain,” says the cinematographer,
surety of purpose that Douglas and Gavin had. The reel gave us a handle on what who’s known for his work on such tele-
it needed to be, and the range of styles that they needed to corral into telling this vision productions as Wolf Hall and
very particular story.” Unforgotten. “It doesn’t faze me, and in
fact it works here. We knew when we

34 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End and the Beginning

Fisher operates the AR rig in a fiery blaze.

were [planning] this that the sun would the garden, this is what we see — just up the set so that it was perfect for
be high in the sky, and for that, it was desert and danger.” where the sun was going to be. And
fine to get this almost seamless white. It becomes apparent that we then I shot photographs of that, and
The sun is coming out slightly now, so showed up not only for the end of Good sent them to Douglas so he could see
I’m going to have a [silk], just for the Omens, but the very beginning as well. exactly how it was going to look.
actors. Whereas when we’re shooting Mackinnon, who’s also helmed “I took shots through [Chemical
the dunes for [the biblical characters] on such shows as Sherlock and Doctor Wedding’s] Helios sun-tracking soft-
Adam and Eve, it will be later in the Who, gives us a look at the Garden of ware, so I knew exactly what time we’d
day, and we’ll get the dunes carved out Eden build. He notes that he and need to be there to get those shots,”
and contoured. Finney “both trained at the [National Finney continues. “I tend to make sure
“These dunes will also be used Film and Television School in the U.K.], I’m physically [at the site], so I’ve actu-
for the outside of the Garden of Eden,” so we have a cinematic sensibility, we ally seen it happen at the predicted
the cinematographer elaborates, as he think. And a moment like this is very time.” He adds with a laugh,
gestures in a westerly direction toward cinematic on it’s own — I mean, it’s the “Especially when I’m telling people to
a diorama-like patch of greenery placed Garden of Eden, and it’s Adam and Eve build a very heavy set that you can’t
against a set of wooden double walls. leaving, so how can we make that cine- move.
“That’s what those two set-walls are. So matic?” “Douglas is one of the only direc-
when Adam and Eve are expelled from He then shows us the large hole tors I know who also uses sun-tracking
in the brick-facade wall where the software whenever he scouts a loca-
greenery ends — through which, at 7:15 tion,” Finney adds. “He’s automatically
“We work a lot out [on the scouts], p.m. tonight, the sun will be “right bang thinking about the best direction to
but we work it out with the freedom to in the middle,” Finney later tells us. The shoot each location — and we’d often
change it on the day. You can’t be too cinematographer adds that he had stand there, both facing the same direc-
locked down. You have to have a plan, but scouted the dunes “at sunrise and tion, saying, ‘That’s where we want to
you have to have a plan that’s flexible.” sunset to see what the best time to shoot shoot at 4 p.m. in two months’ time!’
— Gavin Finney, BSC was. We decided sunset would be Throughout the shoot, Douglas would
better, so I went again at sunset to line always give me the time to find — and,

36 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End and the Beginning

u Aziraphale meets with

Archangel Gabriel (Jon
Hamm) at the Heaven
offices. qu Arri
SkyPanels were called
upon to light through the
Heaven set’s frosted-glass
windows. q “The whole
point of Hell is it’s all a
bit s---,” Gaiman quips. “If
Heaven is the top of a
beautiful, pristine
skyscraper, Hell is the
offices in the basement.”

if necessary, wait for — the best light for the

scene.”
“The thing that we rely on more than
anything else is our eyes,” offers Mackinnon, who
has reteamed with Finney on Good Omens after
working with him some time back on Gentlemen’s
Relish and The Flying Scotsman. “I think people
underestimate [the power of the] eyes. And when
I’m working with Gavin, it feels like our eyes are
the same eyes — we’re looking at the same thing.
When we arrive at a place, I don’t have to go, ‘I
think it’s over here.’ That feeling is past collabora-
tion and moves into instinct.”
Now that the sun is out, the crew sets up

38 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End and the Beginning

p A helium balloon containing tungsten bulbs was placed up in the trees to create this in-
camera ethereal-light effect. u When two 18K HMI Fresnels were aimed toward this
custom-built, bullet-hole-riddled bar-set from the outside — and with the aid of some
atmosphere — “pencil-thin” beams of light filled the room. The scene didn’t make the final
cut. “That happens on every film,” Finney notes. “You sometimes have to ‘kill your babies,’
as they say.” q An ode to 1940s noir, this night interior was shot during the day at a church
in Cape Town, South Africa. It was lit by candlelight and supplemented with Arri SkyPanels.
The windows were filtered, and cranes outside the structure provided blackout frames and
an 18K for moonlight.

frames of Half Grid and blackout mate- duced for select angles. One Alexa is from very low to very high, so you can
rial, and the closer shots are captured. fitted with a Leica Summilux-C prime swoop over objects. We [would go]
While the silk is used to filter the lens and mounted on sticks, while the from close to wide, [and shift from]
sunlight, “the blackout is to give some other is paired with a Summilux-C and low-angle to high-angle. It looks fantas-
shape,” Finney explains. “Either to kill mounted to an MK-V Omega-system tic. The Technocrane, which pushed in
the bounce off the sand, which is quite auto-leveling revolution rig on a Nexus all the time, and the AR rig on the
strong, or to come in quite close on the sled — colloquially known as an Alien Steadicam [created] the signature look
side to give some contrast to the image. Revolution rig — which is in turn of Good Omens.” Regarding A-camera
Basically, it’s using big flags to shape affixed to a Steadicam. Finney explains operator Matt Fisher’s prolific use of
and control the light.” that this MK-V “AR” system “gives you the AR rig, Finney notes with a laugh. “I
A greenscreen frame is intro- a third axis on the camera. It lets you go don’t think he ever did a Steadicam
shot without it.”
In regard to maintaining
a sharp image amid ongoing
camera movement, Finney
adds, “My hat goes off to our
focus pullers, whose job is
getting harder and harder.
They have their own hi-def
monitors attached to their
controls, which are useful, but
mostly it’s done by feel. It was
always a difficult job, [but
with] high definition — and
now 4K — [as well as] large
sensors and fast, sharp,
modern lenses, you’ve got

40 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End and the Beginning
The production aimed to create the look of early filmmaking
for a scene in which Aziraphale and friends perform a dance called a
“gavotte.” They employed a digital Arriflex D-21 that had been modified
to capture only when its custom-integrated Arriflex 435 handle module
is cranked — and to capture according to the speed that the crank is
turned. The camera was first constructed in 2008 at Finney’s request,
with the aid of Bill Lovell, who was then head of digital at Arri Media,
“and the world’s first and only hand-crankable digital camera was
born!” Finney attests. “Ten years later, I asked the current head of
cameras and digital systems, Andrew Prior, to see if he could resurrect
this unique camera.”
“The D-21 is the only digital motion-picture camera that can
utilize this analog hand-crank system, as it has a 435 analog mirror shut-
ter system,” Prior reports.
With Matt Fisher operating, Finney both cranked the camera
and handled focus on the Lensbaby creative-effect lens. “If you keep the Lensbaby loose in its mount and hold it while you’re
cranking it,” the cinematographer notes, “you kind of joggle the lens, and that looks like film weave when you see it in camera.
It was mad and crazy, but absolutely appropriate. It was a lovely scene, and people applauded at the end of every take.”

virtually no circle of confusion, and zoom, the production also carried a ates the B camera, having taken over
virtually no leeway and very little time 45-250mm (T2.6). from Ed Clark in the U.K., with the help
to get it right. And somehow these men The crew works quickly to get the of 1st AC Kent Satram, who took over
and women are getting incredible last shot while the sun is still well posi- for Steve Rees upon the move to South
shots. They have to be in a zone where tioned. When asked later about the Africa.
they’re just getting it.” rush, the cinematographer quips, “I’m The gaffer on the South African
The cinematographer notes that always in a mad dash to catch the light.” portion of the production is Lesley
the most frequently used Summilux- With the aid of 1st AC Derek Manuel, and the key grip is Mark
C focal lengths were 21mm, 25mm Ueckermann — who took over for U.K. Davidson. Gaffer Andy Bailey and key
and 29mm, “but we had the full set, first assistant Leo Holba — Fisher grip Rupert Lloyd Parry served in the
from 16mm to 135mm, and we used captures a medium shot of Buck, then U.K.
an [Arri/Zeiss 8R] 8mm rectilinear pushes into a particularly well- Finney reports that he first met
for quite a few scenes as well.” In composed close-up of the boy against the show’s composer, David Arnold,
addition to the Alura 15.5-45mm the barren desert. Vince McGahon oper- “on my graduation film at the NFTS. He
“We [created] a war movie,” Gaiman says of this office retreat gone awry. “Just a little one.” Mackinnon adds, “Whatever genre the
moment demands, that’s what we explore.”

42 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End and the Beginning
and B-camera 2nd ACs Ezra Van
Finney notes that the Schalkwyk and Leon Lotz, and camera
2.39:1 aspect ratio suits trainee Kyle Oberholzer.
the scenes with Adam
Young’s gang, ‘the Them,’
particularly well. “You’ve Our ride back to set is a bit trickier this
got four of them in the time around, with some lateral sliding
frame, because they’re that’s not actually precarious but
always together,” he says.
“You get four close-ups. It certainly memorable. We arrive to see
also fit the locations really the prepping of the garden wall, and
well — and [production notice that the camera crew is adjacent
designer] Michael Ralph
designed his sets to fit to the build, shooting something else.
within that aspect ratio.” Heeding Gaiman’s advice — “If you get
a chance, peek over somebody’s shoul-
der” — we angle in for a look.
didn’t study there, but he knew the gear-laden vehicles rolls off into the The dolly-mounted camera is
director — and his music, even back desert. We miss our van to base camp, trained on Adam (Anthony Kaye) and
then, was fantastic.” so we hitch a ride on the back of a Ford Eve (Schelaine Bennett) — who are way
The production breaks for lunch. Ranger that bounces along the uneven, off in the distance — yielding a grand
The time-bubble set is broken down, nearly frictionless ground. Our intrepid wide-shot that frames them amid the
packed up, and a caravan of crew- and traveling companions are respective A- vast, desolate topography. Adam

OFF-ROAD WORK

“Crowley’s car is a 1920s Bentley that [which had been shot and stabilized by projectors causing reflections in the car body-
can travel at 120 miles an hour,” says Good Dunton]. We would also have a couple of work were either front-projected onto screens
Omens cinematographer Gavin Finney, BSC. projectors that would light the actors with hung overhead, or back projected if that was
Director Douglas Mackinnon adds, “We had the same footage that was going past them. easier to rig. Projectors were Barco 3-chip DLP,
a real vintage Bentley that could do 70 miles This way, the director, the actors and ranging from 8,000 lumens to 40,000 lumens in
an hour, but only after an brightness.
hour of building up to it — so We had projectors every-
that wasn’t going to work. where — on the floor, behind
We had to devise different the windscreen, on trusses. The
ways to make it go fast. With projectors were all on
Gavin’s help and an amazing [wheeled] stands, so we could
guy called Lester Dunton [of move them around very quickly.
Dunton Projection FX, and The car was on [a wheeled rig],
son of Joe Dunton, BSC], we so we’d usually rotate it and
built a Bentley interior.” AC then tweak the lighting. We also
spoke with Finney about the had Kino Flo Celeb [LED panels]
setup. all the way around.
Gavin Finney, BSC: We did do some green-
With Lester Dunton as kind screen — there were certain
of on-set advisor, we shot a shots where we start out with
lot of the car interiors, espe- the camera tracking in the road,
cially Crowley’s car, with and when it’s put together, it
wraparound rear projection, will look like we’re moving
rather than greenscreen. We towards the car, around the
used a system of projectors [and multiple the operators, can actually see, in camera, side of the window, and then into the car, to a
screens] not just behind the car [and visible exactly the finished product — and there’s close-up of Crowley. We couldn’t do that by
through side windows], but also projecting no compositing to do. And it’s burnt-in, so projection. It looks great, but that had to be
reflections into the windscreen and the you have to get it right on stage. The projec- shot with greenscreen.
bodywork, so that the interactive lighting is tors that directly lit the actors went through — Andrew Fish
exactly synced to the background plates 4-by-4 250 White diffusion frames. The

44 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End and the Beginning
wields a green-bladed sword against an
invisible foe. We’re told that he’s fight-
ing a lion to be inserted in post.
“We photographed the lion at a
U.K. facility called Amazing Animals
that has cages with greenscreens,
camera traps [systems that remotely
trigger the camera for wildlife record-
ing], and lighting rigs, where dangerous
animals can be safely filmed and
humanely treated,” Finney says. “I was
able to exactly match the lighting quality
and direction from the desert shoot, so
that the lion fit into the scene perfectly.
The trainer had seen the South Africa
footage, and was able to make the lion
behave as if he was swatting away
Adam’s sword.”
To shoot a scene with William Shakespeare (Reece Shearsmith) at the Globe Theatre without Upon completion of Adam’s
having to fill hundreds of seats with background actors, Gaiman had a solution. “‘Oh, that’s desert battle with the phantom predator,
easy!’” he recalls saying to the director. “‘Do you want a rehearsal or do you want it to be a the crew gets a clean shot and then
flop?’ Douglas said, ‘A flop is more fun.’”
captures the visual-effects accou-
trements. “They use two balls,” Finney
explains. “There’s a reflective silver ball,
which gives you a 360 of the whole
scene, so they can zoom into it and see
where the cameras, lights, sun and
clouds were. It’s like a fisheye-lens effect.
Then there’s a gray ball, which gives you
the shape of the light and the direction of
it, which they also use to map 3D
elements. And then they have a Macbeth
color checker, so they can get the right
colors. They do that on every shot [that
visual effects is] going to work on. And
with those elements, they can work out
what we were using and where every-
AC visits Cascade Country Manor in the city of Paarl — about an hour’s drive thing was, so they can reproduce that in
southeast of Atlantis — where the scene featuring the biblical story of Adam, Eve, the environment of the CGI.
the serpent and the apple will be shot beside a waterfall in the days to come. “We “Jean-Claude Deguara — ‘J.C.’ —
knew we wanted dappled light,” Finney later recalls, “and the sun is pretty reliable is the visual-effects supervisor on the
[on the Western Cape], but again, it moves, and it’s not always where you want it. film,” Finney continues. “He works out
So we put an 18K in a tree, which is quite something. Then underneath that we of a company called Milk VFX, and
strung camo netting, [after which] the designer, Michael Ralph, and his crew put in they’re doing the bulk of the effects. He
trees and false foliage, which we could use to create our own space of light and was there with on-set visual-effects
dapple. We also threw little particles of dust and feathers into the air, so it was alive. supervisor David Jones, and they took
It’s very animated as [the SuperTechno pushes] into the tree and the apple. And for notes and reference photographs for
the reverse, we had a bluescreen [mounted to a Manitou Telehandler lift for set everything — every shot.”
extension], because we were looking back along a path to a hotel. As daylight wanes, Kaye and
“We wanted to see the waterfall in the background in full flow,” the cine- Bennett are back out on the dunes. Via
matographer adds, “but we were there in the middle of a drought, so they fixed up megaphone, they’re asked to move 20
a pumping system where they could take the water from the bottom of the falls to paces to the left. Aimed at the hole in the
the top, and store it in tanks to be released for each take.” wall, an Alexa SXT, fitted with a
Summilux-C, is affixed to a jib atop a

46 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 The End and the Beginning

Chapman/Leonard Hybrid III dolly on notes. “So you’re going to have to

“There was actually a [note] in the tracks. Off to the side are a couple of pump some light back in, and part of
script,” Gaiman reports, “where I said [the silk frames, a 12'x12' Ultrabounce, and that was [using the Ultrabounce, which
Noah’s Ark sequence] should be shot in an 18K HMI. does so] in a soft manner — and we
such a way that implies that we have the “When you’re looking directly at added more to it with the 18K. In the
budget to show anything we want to — we the sun and then the camera pulls back middle of the day an 18K is not going to
just don’t want to.” to the shadow side of the wall, there’s do a lot, but at that time of the evening
about a 7-stop difference,” Finney it’s going to help.”

48
 The final grade for Good Omens was
performed with FilmLight Baselight by
Gareth Spensley at Molinare in London. “It's
such an important part of what we do now,”
Finney attests, “so it's in my contract — I've
got paid attendance to the grade. Neil
Gaiman and Douglas Mackinnon both sit in
when they can, which [is] quite a lot. It’s crit-
ical to be there to make sure that it gets
done the way you had intended while shoot-
ing. Gareth was an incredible asset and did a
beautiful job on a very complicated grade.”

“It was a very good team, creating this completely new

world,” Finney says of the Good Omens crew. “Seeing
these people unleashed, able to do something mad, is
great fun. There’s nothing too crazy. If the question
was, ‘Is this mad?’ — everyone would go, ‘No!’ There’s
nothing too bonkers to try out.”

Looking at the image on the slowly, then speeding up. After the disappearing over a dune.
monitor, we see that the sun is — as take, there’s discussion that there The filmmakers ponder a lens
predicted — right bang in the middle. should be footprints leading up to Kaye flare and declare it “good.” Action cues
There are two “action” cues — and Bennett, who had actually been are issued once again. Through a hole in
first for the actors to begin their walk, driven to the location. A couple of the wall of the Garden of Eden, we
and then for the camera. A grip pulls crewmembers take the walk, making watch as Adam and Eve go forth into
the dolly back from the hole, first tracks toward the performers before the wilderness under the setting sun. u

49
 Slayin’ in the Rain
Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF and his One or more of the following adjectives may cross viewers’

collaborators infuse John Wick:

minds while watching John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum:

Chapter 3 – Parabellum with a

violent, colorful, theatrical, balletic, polished, baroque.

rich color palette and “musical”

Though reducing the film — photographed by Dan Laustsen,
ASC, DFF and directed by Chad Stahelski — to its basic

camerawork
components seems akin to disassembling a luxury vehicle in
lieu of driving it, its precision engineering is truly a marvel to
consider.
Laustsen had just wrapped 2015’s Crimson Peak with
By Iain Marcks Guillermo del Toro when Stahelski asked him to go behind the
camera for 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2. “Crimson Peak was a
very dark and colorful movie,” says Laustsen, who received
ASC and Academy Award nominations for his distinctive
cinematography in del Toro’s The Shape of Water (AC Jan. ’18).

50 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 tt & p Assassin
John Wick (Keanu
Reeves) fights to
clear his name and
escape his past in
the action feature
John Wick: Chapter
3 – Parabellum.
t Cinematographer
Dan Laustsen, ASC,
DFF.

“Chad wanted that for his film as well.” story,” Stahelski notes. “I come from a weapons shop, where the camera cuts
Stahelski’s background is in place of loving dance and theater and from wide shot to wide shot, sustaining
martial-arts stunt work, with credits as fine art — action can be all of those the action in long takes so that the audi-
martial-arts choreographer for Keanu things — and one of my favorite ence can better appreciate the physical
Reeves’ Man of Tai Chi and martial-arts painters is Caravaggio.” When he was prowess of Reeves’ performance — an
Unit photography by Niko Tavernise.

stunt coordinator for the Wachowski looking for a cinematographer for John elaborate fighting style that combines
siblings’ Matrix sequels; 2014’s John Wick: Chapter 2, Stahelski recalls, “I Japanese judo and jujitsu, Brazilian
All images courtesy of Lionsgate.

Wick (co-directed with David Leitch and asked myself, ‘Who paints with light?’ jujitsu, Russian sambo, Filipino kali, and
shot by Jonathan Sela) was his director- The answer is Dan Laustsen.” Muay Thai, more for the benefit of show
ial debut. In strictly cinematographic terms, than for self-defense.
“In Hollywood, action filmmak- Parabellum functions less like an action “Ninety-nine percent of high-
ing was kind of looked down upon movie and more like a Hollywood level stunt work is dance — not pirou-
until The Matrix, and then people real- studio musical. The film’s first battle is a ettes, but how you move your body,”
ized that action could also be part of the close-quarters knife fight in an antique asserts Stahelski, who continues to train

www.ascmag.com June 2019 51

 Living Color

American Cinematographer: How

do you define a project’s color palette?
Does this come through testing, or from
preconceived ideas that you or your
other collaborators have?
Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF: When I
read a script I get a lot of images in my
head, with color ideas and light ‘moods.’
I also get a lot of inspiration from my
daily life and my still photography. Later,
as we have more concrete and detailed
talks about the script and we start finding
locations, a more exact discussion
evolves around colors and moods. This is
always a deep collaboration between the
director, the production designer and
myself. We all try to give each scene an
exact mood and color palette, unified by
the style and mood of the whole picture. gaffer and me. The LED light is fantastic, Guillermo had a strong vision of a very
Color- and exposure-testing is an as you can create all colors and control colorful movie. It was a huge inspiration
integral part of the preparation process the exposure easily and quickly from an for me and set me off in the direction I
and helps us to communicate to all iPad or a dimmer table. Our base color am heading now. In Crimson Peak, we
departments what we are aiming for. from the LEDs in-frame was greenish or went back to our favorite color palette,
When I [perform] these tests, I always clear white, 4,500K or daylight 5,600K. with steel blues and deep oranges.
have my DIT with me, so that I’m sure At what point in your cinematog- The first time I heard about The
that the exposure and the colors are raphy career did you start to develop a Shape of Water [AC Jan. ’18], it was going
exact. I want the colors and the lighting strong sense of color with your lighting? to be a black-and-white movie. Now, a
to be right on-set and in-camera. To me, Laustsen: I have always been true black-and-white movie is every cine-
it is not an option to change them later in fascinated with the Danish landscape matographer’s dream — and especially
the DI. painters from the Golden Age [circa mine, as I have been a black-and-white
How did your color palette evolve 1800-1850] as well as the Norwegian still photographer since I was 17. But in
from John Wick: Chapter 2 to Chapter 3? painter Edvard Munch. When you look at the end, Guillermo made the perfect
Laustsen: In Chapter 2 our base his painting The Scream, you can really decision for The Shape of Water, and we
color was more to the cold side for the feel the power of color. But you need a created a color palette that beautifully
backlights, and the contrasting colors story that can carry it and a director who carries the story, with green, Steel Blue
were red, 3,200K tungsten with 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 loves it. In the early 2000s I had made and very little red.
85 gels on the lamps, and 4,500K clear many films that were very desaturated, Can you share a bit more regard-
white. In Chapter 3 our base color for the ending with an eight-hour TV series ing your preference for achieving these
backlight was [Lee 117] Steel Blue, which called 1864 that unfortunately wasn’t colors on-set and in-camera, as opposed
is more to the green side, and our black-and-white, but that had very little to in the color grade?
contrasting colors were Golden Amber, color. [After that] I needed to go in a Laustsen: When a director has a
Deep Golden Amber, deep red, and different direction. vision and all departments work towards
5,600K white fluorescent. The colors in How has your work with color that goal, to me it is important that the
Chapter 3 are more saturated, the blacks been influenced by your collaborations camera image is precise and captures
are deeper, and the lighting is more with different directors, particularly what we are striving for on the set. I think
single-source and classic than in Chapter Guillermo del Toro? the DI is a fantastic tool, but I have
2. This gives a more powerful and cleaner Laustsen: When I made my first always been inspired by great painters
look, I think, and it works really well with film with Guillermo, Mimic, in 1997, we and photographers from around the
Chapter 3’s action scenes. wanted to make a very dark and colorful world who have painted with light. In
In Chapter 3 we also used a lot film. We used a lot of Steel Blue and that vein, I want to create as much as
more LED strips and tubes in the image, Deep Amber on that movie. Then we possible in-camera, bringing forth the set
as part of the set design. This was a result didn’t work together for many years. design with my lighting and color.
of the tight collaboration between the When he called the next time, for
director, the production designer, the Crimson Peak, I had just finished 1864.

52 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Slayin’ in the Rain
stuntpeople with Leitch through their in the same room. We’re all looking at electric billboards flashed overhead.
company 87eleven. “I love the aesthetic the same reference images. Everyone For this scene, the filmmakers’
of motion. A lot of our shots [in goes to the stunt rehearsals. No one task was more to control the abundance
Parabellum] are lifted straight from works in a bubble.” of light already present than it was to
Singin’ in the Rain and West Side Story. Picking up moments after the provide their own. Even still, according
We’re mixing Buster Keaton and denouement of Chapter 2, Parabellum to key grip Charlie Marroquin, little was
Charlie Chaplin with Hong Kong opens with the titular protagonist possible beyond flagging or creating
cinema from John Woo, Jackie Chan (Keanu Reeves), a deadly assassin with negative fill with handheld 4'x4' solids.
and the Shaw Brothers.” a price on his head, racing against the In addition to the Steadicam, Laustsen
“We wanted to go wider than clock and fending off waves of lethal called on a MovieBird 45 or a Scorpio 23'
Hollywood action films normally do enemies as he attempts to clear his name crane — both sourced, along with a
and really show off the choreography,” and make a clean break from his dark Libra remote head, from Monster
Laustsen agrees. “When the camera, past. “After we made Chapter 2,” Remotes — while gaffer Bill Almeida set
lighting and actors are all moving Laustsen notes, “we discussed how we up three Arri SkyPanel 360s powered by
together, it really is a dance.” could make 3 even more visually putt-putt generators for close-ups.
powerful. The main setting was still SkyPanel 360s were also used to back-
There’s something to relish in every New York, but we wanted to bring out light the special-effects rain. “Times
razor-sharp frame of Parabellum, the city even more forcefully. We Square looks very cool, but lighting-
whether it’s the way Laustsen’s light decided to shoot all at night, with rain as wise for us it was a little more documen-
rakes across a brick wall or wraps much as possible. Rain is fantastic tary,” Laustsen explains.
around an actor’s face, or the textures of because it gives a third dimension to the A few blocks to the east, the film-
Kevin Kavanaugh’s ornate production picture, but it is a challenge to do it, makers secured the historic Grand
design, or costume designer Luca especially in a city like New York.” Central Terminal’s Main Concourse for
Mosca’s fashions, which range from the Principal photography took a tense standoff between Wick and a
impeccable to the dilapidated. The place between May and July 2018 rival assassin named Zero (Mark
movie possesses a coiled, thrumming on location in New York City. The Dacascos). The transit landmark repre-
energy — rain-soaked, neon-lit, and story begins in Times Square, with sented something of a coup for
deeply textured, without a stray line or a wounded, disoriented Wick and Stahelski, who had wanted to shoot
contour in its design. “Everyone had to his loyal pit bull navigating a sea of there while making the first two John
be on the same page,” Stahelski says. pedestrians. On location, A-camera/ Wick films, “but only if he was allowed
“The first thing we do in preproduction Steadicam operator Henry Tirl tracked to light it,” says Laustsen. “We didn’t
is get all the department heads together Reeves through the rain while colorful want to do it like a documentary and

On location in Grand Central Terminal’s Main Concourse, multiple cameras roll on a scene between Reeves and Mark Dacascos (portraying rival assassin Zero).

www.ascmag.com June 2019 53

 Slayin’ in the Rain

Laustsen studies the frame for a close-up of Anjelica Huston (as the Director) in her character’s office.

only use whatever light was available. well as two tungsten helium balloons per window, each gelled with Lee 117
But it’s complicated to bring in lifts and that were sleeved with 1 ⁄ 4 Plus Green to Steel Blue.”
big lights and to make it feel like your lift the overall ambience. “I really like Practicals played a key role in the
light is a part of the place.” the Lee Steel Blue, and it works so well visual design of the production, provid-
This time it worked out. To at night, especially when it’s contrasting ing mood and tone as well as exposure.
complement the concourse’s 10 globe- with green or red,” Laustsen muses. The filmmakers weren’t allowed to
shaped Beaux-Arts chandeliers, each of “It’s fantastic on the skin tones, espe- change any of the existing practicals in
which contains 110 bare compact-fluo- cially on Keanu. That was our back- Grand Central, so instead they added to
rescent bulbs, Laustsen directed ground color most of the time.” them — a technique they repeated
Almeida to set up three Arri 12K tung- Almeida adds that the three throughout the film — mounting blue
sten Fresnels gelled with Lee 117 Steel windows on both the east and west Astera AX1 wireless LED tubes to the
Blue as a key light coming from the sides of the concourse — six windows in concourse’s hand railings. “You can
direction of the three 60' round-arched total — “were lit with Arri T12s from the even see them in the shot,” the cine-
windows on the lobby’s west side, as ground [outside the location], one light matographer points out. “We used prac-
ticals as often as possible because we
wanted a dark movie with a lot of high-
Laustsen used the same primary camera package to shoot both Chapter 2 and lights and strong color contrast.”
Chapter 3: Arri’s Alexa XT with Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphic lenses, with two Alexa
Minis added for the third film. Regarding the lenses, Laustsen offers, “They’re super- Stahelski, Laustsen and Kavanaugh
sharp and unforgiving, so if you make a mistake you can see it right away. There are spent the first two months of a three-
no surprises.” month preproduction schedule scouting
The Master Anamorphics’ low-distortion design also prevents dramatic, streak- locations. “We were looking for loca-
ing lens flares, and so the technicians at Arri Rental in Secaucus, N.J., fashioned a tions with texture, windows, staircases
flare filter — comprising three strands of nylon fishing line stretched across an empty and odd, dramatic angles,” Laustsen
filter frame — for the XT’s and Mini’s Internal Filter Modules. When a front-of-lens describes.
filter produces a flare, Laustsen observes, it “just looks like the light is catching on a One of the movie’s most dramatic
piece of flat glass in front of the lens. It’s more beautiful when the flare comes from locations is the United Palace, which
the lens itself” — and that’s the effect that was replicated with the behind-the-lens occupies an entire city block between
nylon lines. “With the filters inside the camera,” the cinematographer adds, “it was West 175th and West 176th Streets in
also easier for first assistant Craig Pressgrove to do the lens changes.” Manhattan’s Washington Heights

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 Slayin’ in the Rain
neighborhood. Opened in 1930, the love that the key light on Keanu and Wick learns that the only person
roughly 3,330-seat neoclassical theater Anjelica is warm, and the seats are red, who can absolve him of his crimes
was originally one of Loew’s five mega- but the dancer’s spotlight is blue- against the underworld is in Morocco.
cinema Wonder Theatres. In Parabellum green,” the cinematographer notes. “We According to Laustsen, everything that
it serves as the Tarkovsky Theater, wanted to have contrasting colors all the was set in Morocco — the outdoor
home of a Russian ballet/assassin acad- time, and we looked for that in our loca- bazaar, the hotel, the coin foundry —
emy governed by a woman only tions, too.” was shot on location in the country’s
known as the Director (Anjelica The Tarkovsky’s backstage rooms coastal town of Essaouira, and on the
Huston). were actually shot in an empty estate Erg Chebbi dunes near Erfoud. “I loved
The filmmakers made use of the house north of Manhattan, in Yonkers. shooting in Morocco, but organizing
theater’s lobby and auditorium. When In the Director’s office, a fire rages in the things was a little complicated,”
Wick first approaches the Director, she’s fireplace as Wick and his former mentor Laustsen relates. “We brought some of
seated in the orchestra pit under negotiate the terms of his safe passage. our camera crew from New York, and
dimmed house lights, rehearsing one of An industrial glass chandelier fitted we pulled an operator and 1st assistant
her students from behind a desk with 4' Colt LED tubes hung over the from the U.K. Gaffer Francesco Zaccaria
topped with a warm practical lamp. wide table where Reeves and Huston came from Italy.”
There wasn’t much about the location’s sat, and the slatted background Wick’s path to redemption leads
existing practicals that the production windows were lit by 5K tungsten him deep into the desert, to the remote
was able to change, so once again Fresnels gelled with Special Steel Blue tent of the Elder (Saïd Taghmaoui),
Laustsen used color to create separation and Lee 250 diffusion. Caravaggio’s where a pact is made that frees Wick
within the space. The crew lined the Judith Beheading Holofernes rested on the from the underworld’s death mark, but
aisles with AX1 LED tubes — and mantle over Reeves’ shoulder. “Those only at the expense of the one thing he
tucked another beneath the desk, unob- Renaissance paintings behind Keanu holds most dear.
trusive but not entirely concealed — to and Anjelica are in keeping with the In order to expose for the open-
provide a small amount of fill in the palette of the rest of the scene,” Laustsen sided, Bedouin-style tent’s interior with-
vast auditorium. A single Vari-Lite VL6 says. “Nothing is by accident. Every out losing detail in the surrounding
gelled with Lee 354 Special Steel Blue location, every shot is designed as desert, Laustsen enlisted the combined
spotlighted the ballerina on stage. “I precisely as we could make it.” strength of six 18K Arrimax HMIs gelled
and diffused with various combinations
Director Chad Stahelski (wearing white shirt) and Laustsen confer behind the bar of the Continental of 1 ⁄ 4 and 1 ⁄ 2 CTO and Lee 251 and 250.
Hotel — actually the interior of the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower in Brooklyn. While the 18Ks pushed light in from one
side of the tent, four 9K Arri HMIs
bounced additional light off the floor.
“As the sun moved around the tent,”
Zaccaria notes, “it was a question of
controlling the sunlight with 12-by-12
diffusers or blacks.”
“We were shooting ISO 800 all the
time,” Laustsen adds. For the tent scene,
he notes that he was “lighting to a T16
[or] T18, then knocking it down to
between T2.8 and T4 with ND filters in
the camera.”
Upon his return to New York,
Wick must fulfill his portion of the
agreement by executing Winston (Ian
McShane), a trusted confidant and the
owner of the Continental Hotel, one of
many secret, posh lodgings that cater to
“I needed someone who could light fast, because the more time I spend on the underworld’s elite.
lighting, the fewer takes I get. And not just someone who’s going to light for me — The exterior of the Continental
he’s got to be a world-creator. Dan was a big part of how we designed the film, was shot in lower Manhattan, but the
even down to how we built our sets.” hotel’s interiors were filmed in down-
— Chad Stahelski town Brooklyn, in the former

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 Slayin’ in the Rain

Two cameras frame-up on Saïd Taghmaoui (as the Elder) in an open-sided tent built on location in Morocco.

Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower — Day interiors were lit mostly the hotel’s power, extinguishing the
which now serves as an event space — from the exterior, with condors carrying interior lights until a backup generator
whose glass-and-wrought-iron front Arrimax 18K HMI PARs that were kicks in and activates an approximately
doors open to a 128'-long vaulted bank- aimed through the location’s long, 250' green-hued perimeter light, which
ing hall with limestone facing, marble tinted windows. Arri SkyPanel S60s the crew realized with Astera AX1 tubes.
floors, carved teller stations, and a 63'- were used to augment the window light “We wanted to do something that we
high ceiling supported by Romanesque for close-ups. Night interiors used the hadn’t tried before, something very
columns. For its role as the same setup but swapped the HMIs with dramatic,” Laustsen says. The result is a
Continental’s lobby, the hall was 24K tungsten Fresnels gelled with deadly dance as John Wick and the
furnished by Kavanaugh with two Special Steel Blue. Additionally, Continental’s concierge Charon (Lance
round settees crowned with statues of Almeida and his team rigged Martin’s Reddick) mow down wave after wave
the Roman war gods Bellona and Mars, Mac Aura XB and Clay Paky’s Mythos of gun-toting enemy fighters, with the
a fully-stocked bar, and a lounge on the and Sharpy Wash 330 moving lights green LED tubes flickering wildly and
mezzanine. from above, while Chroma-Q’s Color Vivaldi’s “Winter” and “Summer”
Force II and Astera’s AX3 LightDrop concerti playing over the soundtrack.
TECH SPECS and AX5 TriplePar units provided archi- “I love the look of that scene,”
tectural washes from the ground. Laustsen remarks. “With the blue light
2.39:1 Despite his arrangement with the coming through the windows, the green
Elder, Wick decides to let Winston live. LEDs, and the red in the background,
Digital Capture As a result, the army of the High Table, you have the film’s three main colors in
Photo by Mark Rogers.

led by the Adjudicator (Asia Kate one big shootout.”

Arri Alexa XT, Mini Dillon), descends upon the Continental
to finish the job — and Wick — once Parabellum’s stages were located at
Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphics and for all. Gold Coast Studios in Long Island, N.Y.
When the army arrives, they cut The first of the production’s two notable

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 Slayin’ in the Rain
stage-bound sets is the Continental’s Coast was the “manager’s office,” a worked with a virtual-reality computer
terrace, for which the Rockefeller Center labyrinthine two-story glass-and-steel model based on Kavanaugh’s design.
rooftop garden was used in Chapter 2. structure meant to represent the top “Chad, Kevin and I had discussions
The schedule didn’t allow for much floors of the Continental, with a 270- about color — cool lights inside, warm
time to shoot Parabellum’s scene, which degree view of the adjacent skyscrapers. light outside,” says the cinematogra-
takes place at sunrise. “You cannot make It’s in this space that Wick and Zero ulti- pher, who wanted what he describes as
the sun rise [for] a movie,” Laustsen mately face off mano a mano. “The an “organic” light element for both
notes wryly. “It’s one or two shots, and concept was to create a space where spaces. The art department therefore
then you have daylight, and then you’re everything is exposed, a place where added a 35'x14' LED wall to the set’s
fighting to control the light.” there are no secrets,” Kavanaugh second floor and a 28'x12' LED billboard
So, for more control, the scene explains. to the rooftop; the latter was positioned
was moved onstage, where the set was To help him integrate the lighting between the glass structure and a
surrounded with a sectional 45'x350' into the design of the set itself, Laustsen 40'x440' Rosco SoftDrop that was backlit
bluescreen lit with SkyPanel S120s; a
120' black velour curtain was used to
control blue spill coming from off-
camera. Early-morning ambience was
provided by 176 overhead SkyPanel
S60s, and the light of the rising sun was
simulated by a 20K tungsten Fresnel and
a 24K Dino light with medium bulbs,
both gelled with 1 ⁄ 2 CTS.
The other key set built at Gold

q Ian McShane (center, portraying Winston) and

Lance Reddick (as Charon) cross the Continental’s
lobby. u Charon takes up arms as the Continental
comes under siege.

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 Slayin’ in the Rain

The two-story “manager’s

office” set was built onstage at
Gold Coast Studios. Gaffer Bill
Almeida says he used this
“‘magic sheet’ to reference all
the LED strips installed [in the
set].” He adds that the sheet is
“basically a simplified graphic
representation of a more
traditional lighting plot,” which
in this case was not created
“because [the lighting] was so
vast and built-in. We also
installed backlighting for the
giant drop all around the set.
Everything else was lit as
needed on a shot-to-shot basis.”

his opponents and being smashed

through glass pedestals, walls and floors
— until he comes face to face with his
nemesis. “We filmed this sequence with
a [Chapman/Leonard Hustler IV] dolly
and a Libra head, a Steadicam, and a
couple of crane shots [with a MovieBird
45 and Aerocrane jib],” Laustsen details.
“We didn’t want to go handheld
because of all the straight lines. It would
be a much more powerful look for the
film if the frame was always parallel to
the set.”
“When we did bring in lights for
the close-ups, we used Arri SkyPanel
S60s and Astera AX1 LED tubes that we
could attach virtually anywhere using
magnets and clips,” Almeida adds. “The
Astera tubes worked out great because
they’re easy to hide, and if you saw a
by 150 SkyPanel S60s through Magic from an ETC Ion Xe console operated by reflection, it just looked like the lighting
Cloth sourced from The Rag Place. Kent Arneson; Laustsen took advantage that was built-in already.”
Almeida and his rigging crew of that control to increase the intensity
installed more than a mile of LiteGear of the light over time — until the very Dailies were provided by Company 3
Chroma-Correct RGB-Daylite LED end of the fight, when the two combat- in New York. “I wanted [the dailies] to
LiteRibbon into the glass and steel set, ants are photographed primarily in be as close to the final look as possible,”
using aluminum profile and plastic silhouette against the LED walls. the cinematographer says. “The film’s
diffusers provided by Kavanaugh’s art Wick literally fights his way color palette was specifically designed
department. Cues were orchestrated through the set — alternately smashing in-camera from scene to scene. Of

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 Slayin’ in the Rain
the old days, with my gaffer on the set.”
The final color grade was
performed by ASC associate Jill
Bogdanowicz at Company 3 in Santa
Monica, Calif. “We were putting a bit
more black into the picture, making it a
touch more saturated, taking the red out
of the actors’ faces when they’re fighting
— just making it more consistent,”
Laustsen explains. “Of course, we used
power windows to make the set a little
bit darker. When you’re shooting and
running out of time, instead of flagging
something off, you leave it for the DI.
“It’s more or less a classical
approach,” the cinematographer adds.
“If you control your color on set as we
did, you can have a more precise look.”
Zero — standing in front of a massive LED wall on the second floor of the manager’s office —
awaits Wick’s arrival. u

course, everything will be more beauti- the camera’s color temperature, “but we
ful after the DI.” were capturing everything in ArriRaw
Laustsen worked closely with anyway, so we could change it later,”
DIT Patrick Cecilian on set to make sure Laustsen remarks. “Otherwise, I was
the exposure was correct and to adjust doing most of the color as it was done in

64
 Royal
Rumble
Mothra, Rodan and
King Ghidorah join the melee
in Godzilla: King of the Monsters,
directed by
Michael Dougherty and shot
by Lawrence Sher, ASC
By Mark Dillon

He’s back, he’s angry, and he’s got company. seeks a peaceful resolution, her ex-husband, Dr. Mark
In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, human actions trig- Russell (Kyle Chandler), has personal reasons for a more
ger the reappearance of the titular “Titan,” who was last hawkish approach. First, though, he must rescue Emma
seen returning to the sea after saving San Francisco. But and their teenage daughter Madison (Millie Bobby
other legendary monsters also have been roused — the Brown) from a shady group with its own agenda.
insect-like Mothra, the pteranodon Rodan, and the three- Director Michael Dougherty describes himself as a
headed dragon King Ghidorah — each of whom is devas- lifelong fan of the franchise, and he relished the opportu-
tatingly powerful. As these behemoths vie for supremacy, nity to make what he calls his “dream Godzilla movie.”
the human world becomes collateral damage. Though King of the Monsters continues the story from
The Monarch organization, which has long tracked 2014’s Godzilla — directed by Gareth Edwards and shot by
the beasts, hopes to contain the threat. Dr. Emma Russell Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC (AC June ’14) — Dougherty
(Vera Farmiga) has developed technology to communicate strove to give audiences something different. “We had to
with — and potentially control — the Titans. While she up our game,” says Dougherty, who co-wrote the script

66 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

Unit photography by Daniel C. McFadden and Wallace Michael Chrouch. All images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

t The eponymous Titan asserts his dominance in

Godzilla: King of the Monsters. p The feature’s
human cast includes Charles Dance, Millie Bobby
Brown and Vera Farmiga. u Cinematographer
Lawrence Sher, ASC (left) and director Michael
Dougherty confer at a monitor.

with Zach Shields. “One of the rules

of sequels is to go a bit bigger and
bolder with each chapter. Thankfully
we have four giant monsters, so it was
easy to go bigger.”
King of the Monsters marks
the first collaboration between
Dougherty and cinematographer
Lawrence Sher, ASC. Sher came to the
project following his directorial dies such as The Hangover and its two movie, it’s tricky to get people to take
debut, the feature comedy Father sequels. He knew that making the a chance on someone who hasn’t shot
Figures. “That was an incredible expe- transition might take some convinc- one before and isn’t the obvious
rience that I enjoyed immensely,” ing, but working in his favor was the choice.”
Sher says. “Directing made me feel additional photography he did on the Sher quickly won over
inspired again to shoot — and to 2014 Godzilla. “That was a good expe- Dougherty. “He came in with a look
shoot something challenging and rience, and it dipped my feet into that book of frames from films — some
different then I had done before.” world,” Sher reflects. “Perhaps it also sci-fi, some not —  that he felt
Specifically, Sher was looking to allowed [producer] Mary Parent to captured what this movie could look
dive into blockbuster action after see that I could shoot this movie. Most like,” the director recalls. “I had
having built a cinematography cinematographers believe they can do already collected some of the same
résumé that was dominated by come- any genre, but on a big sci-fi action ones. It was one of those eerie

www.ascmag.com June 2019 67

 Royal Rumble
moments of synchronicity, when you continues. “Those filmmakers weren’t that felt real and kept the movie on
feel a connection right away. We afraid of shadows and grain. I miss the ground level as much as possible,” Sher
spoke the same visual language, and I atmospherics and texture of those films. notes. “We wanted to carry on that tradi-
knew we would see eye to eye.” As we start to embrace digital, I worry tion and make the audience feel it’s
Blade Runner (AC June ’82) was a the image is getting too clean and participating in the movie, and to
prominent reference. “That’s a gorgeous perfect all the time, which takes away convey how unbelievable it would be to
science-fiction film, never surpassed in from the tension you can build with live in a world with these monsters. We
terms of aesthetics,” the director says. darkness and shadow and splashes of also wanted to introduce more dynamic
Alien (AC Aug. ’79) was also an influ- light.” color, and we found inspiration in
ence, as were its sequels Aliens and The filmmakers also carried science-fiction movies of the ’70s, ’80s
Alien3 (AC Dec. ’92). “There is a moody forward visual elements from the previ- and ’90s that had a very real and dirty
and grounded quality in those films that ous Godzilla. “We liked how [Edwards look. We had atmosphere in nearly
we wanted to bring back,” Dougherty and his collaborators] created a universe every set.” ➔

Jazz Improvisation
Throughout production on Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the camera was often placed on a Technocrane under the care of A dolly
grip Alan “Moose” Shultz and Technocrane operator Jason Talbert. “We played jazz,” cinematographer Lawrence Sher, ASC describes. “We
would run the scene complete from top to bottom without rehearsals or marks. I communicated with them on HME headsets, and we
would just watch the actors and improvise moves in real time, creating dozens of individual shots that ended up in the movie — small
camera moves, huge wraparounds, big reveals, and push-ins into close-ups. Then we’d do another full take and try an entirely different
series of camera moves, making close-ups and push-ins to other people in the scene, capturing new pieces of coverage. Because of the
skills of those two, and of 1st AC Gregory Irwin on focus, we were allowed the freedom to constantly move the camera and not ever feel
like the technical was compromising the creative.
“We did this for many scenes in the movie,
whether on a 50-foot Techno, 30-foot Techno, or tradi-
tional dolly track on dance floor,” Sher continues. “It was
like being able to do Steadicam or even handheld
masters, but on a Technocrane. Our Libra tech, Aaron
York, recommended using this HH attachment that
allowed the Libra controls to be placed on a shoulder
and operated like a handheld camera. That gave us the
ability to combine the feel of handheld and even high-
frequency camera shake with the precision and mobility
of a crane in ways that an operator [with a camera] on
the shoulder or sled couldn’t do — things like super-low-
mode and rising to 20 feet, or craning over the seats on
the control deck of our huge stealth-bomber set [see
below], or fire or other obstacles on the ground.”

68 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Royal Rumble

For one of the movie’s outsized action scenes, the

production built a partial replica of Fenway Park’s
“Green Monster” left-field wall.

less anamorphic distortion. The Alexa

65 gave us more image resolution,
and when we went spherical it gave
us even more image quality.”
The lens package included
Panavision C Series, E Series, G Series
and T Series anamorphic primes, as
well as a 150mm anamorphic Macro
Auto Panatar. For certain long-lens
Despite Dougherty’s concerns primarily with anamorphic lenses, shots the crew also carried Nikon
regarding overly crisp images, the though the filmmakers recognized Nikkor 300mm and 400mm spherical
filmmakers opted to shoot digitally. that certain visual-effects shots would primes with rear anamorphic
They considered Arri’s Alexa XT benefit from being shot with spherical adapters; once or twice, Sher esti-
Studio camera, but Sher believed the lenses. “Mike and I love the anamor- mates, the 300mm was also paired
greater resolution of the large-format phic look in Alien and Close with a 1.4x extender. “We stuck
Alexa 65 system would better serve Encounters of the Third Kind [AC mostly with primes for 90 to 95
the big-scale, effects-heavy movie, Jan.’78], and we wanted the feel of percent of the movie,” Sher notes.
which was destined for Imax screens. [anamorphic’s] dirty imperfections,” “Philosophically, we were trying to be
The producers agreed. Sher explains. “We would go spheri- close to the actors to keep an intimate
In keeping with the last Godzilla cal to use more of the sensor for and ‘immediate’ relationship. The C
— as well as Kong: Skull Island, which visual-effects shots that we knew we 60mm became a much-used lens for
exists in the same onscreen universe would have to reposition, or extend at us because it had a close-focus of 19
— the production elected to work the top or bottom, and to have a little inches, which made it useful for

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 Royal Rumble

Several vendors collaborated on the King Ghidorah stares down the Argo, a super-sized stealth bomber.
design of the creatures, who are supposed
came into play on C camera for select quarters — such as those in an Osprey
to measure as high as 400' tall. Among the
day exteriors. For spherical shooting, military-aircraft interior set and a
vendors was special-effects house
the crew used a set of Panavision submarine interior set — the filmmak-
Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. — headed by
Primo 70s ranging from 14mm to ers would sometimes switch to Arri’s
Alien franchise veterans Alec Gillis and Tom
80mm. In all cases, the filmmakers Alexa Mini camera. “We also had
Woodruff Jr. — whose artists designed
framed for a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. various security-camera and body-
Rodan in clay, which thrilled Dougherty.
Sher would often shoot at T2.8, camera shots, for which we used Sony
“Their first stab was a beautiful, huge,
and to arrive at that in big night exte- a7 cameras and actual police body
sculpted Rodan maquette that took me
riors, he would sometimes raise the cameras,” adds DIT Nicholas Kay.
back to being a kid reading Cinefex and
camera’s exposure index to 1,600 or “They all shoot 30 fps, so we had to
Fangoria and seeing pictures of designers
2,000, as in a sequence in which convert the footage.”
poring over beautiful clay sculpts,” the
monsters clash at Boston’s Fenway
director says.
Park. The production built a replica of Principal photography spanned June
While the monsters that appear
part of the stadium’s famous “Green to late September 2017 and took place
onscreen are entirely digital creations, their
Monster” left-field wall and in and around Atlanta, Ga., with sets
movements benefited from motion-
surrounded it with bluescreen, then constructed at Blackhall Studios and
capture references that lent an organic
re-created the rest of the environment at an OFS Optics warehouse facility
quality based on actual real-world physics.
with plates and CGI set extensions. that has been retrofitted for produc-
“When we knew we needed tion.
extreme close-ups and handheld more depth of field for the creatures, Most scenes required a tremen-
[shots].” He adds that the C Series we would bump up to T4 or T5.6,” dous amount of interactive light to
40mm was another workhorse lens. Sher adds. “We didn’t want a lot of suggest the atomic bioluminescence
The crew always ran two mushiness in the background — in of the Titans, each of which emits its
cameras — A camera was operated by the large format, that can make it feel own distinguishing palette: blue for
Christopher TJ McGuire, and B was strained. What might otherwise look Godzilla, red for Rodan, yellow for
operated by Thomas Lappin — with a out of focus and beautiful at T1.4 or King Ghidorah, and a mix of pastel
third camera added approximately a T2 might make the creatures look less yellow and blue for Mothra. The
quarter of the time; Panavision ATZ real because of their size and proxim- colors were CG-animated as part of
70-200mm (T3.5) and ALZ10 42- ity to the lens.” the creatures but also needed to play
425mm (T4.5) anamorphic zooms For Steadicam moves in close on the live-action human characters

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 Royal Rumble

Ken Watanabe (as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa) navigates a

bluescreen expanse.

creature, whose color display shifts

into a slower-moving kaleidoscope of
cooler hues.
The production would roll
through the entire five-minute
sequence, with the moving and
changing lights controlled by console
programmer Elton James and gaffer
Dan Cornwall on an expanded High
End Systems Hog 4 lighting console.
The bioluminescence was created
with video content that was fed into a
and the physical environments. bridge to a circular walkway from series of Roe Visual’s Hybrid LED
In an early scene, for example, which the cryptozoologists look in on panels that were arrayed out to 30'x8'
Emma and Madison are at a research the cocoon; the rest of the environ- and positioned on Pettibone telehan-
station that Monarch has established ment was created with the aid of a dlers on opposite sides of the room.
in a Chinese mountain temple to 425' bluescreen that ran along the The bioluminescent video
monitor Mothra’s cordoned-off perimeter. As Mothra hatches, her content here and elsewhere through-
cocoon. Production designer Scott colors burst forth, varying with her out the movie was sourced from
Chambliss’ team built a huge set, in mood. Monarch’s electric-shock jabs images of railroad worms, comb
Blackhall Studios’ Stage 9, that anger the Titan and push her light jellies, fireflies and the aurora bore-
encompassed a control room, a emission into hotter reds and yellows. alis. The panels were often suspended
decontamination chamber, and a foot- Emma uses her device to calm the on cranes and could be fed video of

74 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Royal Rumble

Godzilla squares off against King Ghidorah.

the monsters — sometimes sourced monsters coming at actors. And Elton the color and intensity of, among
from previs, and at other times with could map any fixture so that when other fixtures, Arri SkyPanel S60-Cs
images of previous iterations of the the light from the video ran across rigged on condors as well as Martin
monsters that James found online — that [portion of the] map, it would Atomic 3000 LED units that provided
to help with the actors’ eyelines and illuminate [the fixture accordingly].” a strobe effect. The live sequencing of
performances, in addition to directly “If it wasn’t the bioluminescent such lighting cues could be recorded
illuminating the actors and working effect of monsters, it was flickering and reused for subsequent takes;
in concert with a scene’s “movie” lights or emergency beacons that we according to Cornwall, the movie
lights. were creating,” Sher adds. “We required more than 12,000 cues,
“A fireball across that screen needed to have interactive lighting to whereas an average blockbuster
will give you a great exploding fire represent storms — most of the movie might need 500.
source,” Cornwall notes. “We used takes place in storms — as well as the Around Mothra’s cocoon, 35
the panels for lighting when driving monsters fighting.” hanging Kino Flo Image 87s and the
in vehicles, flying in aircraft, and for James’ mapping would guide same number on the floor were

TECH SPECS
Digital Capture

2.39:1

Arri Alexa 65, Alexa Mini

Panavision C Series,
E Series, G Series, T Series,
Macro Auto Panatar, ATZ, ALZ10,
Primo 70; Nikon Nikkor

76 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Royal Rumble
directed at the bluescreen, while
Sourcemaker RGBH LED Blankets
keyed the actors. A dozen Digital
Sputnik LED units provided light that
represented a decontamination
process, while GLP Impression X4
and X4 Ls contributed to Mothra’s
colorations and to red emergency
lighting. For a shot in which Madison
reaches out to touch Mothra while the
creature is in its larval form, light
from the monster’s head was created
by a Chimera Pancake Lantern outfit-
ted with pulsating, color-changing
Sourcemaker LED Ribbon, which set-
lighting technician Kyle Morgan
directed on an extension pole toward
Brown.
Interactive lighting was also
employed for a scene set in a Monarch
ocean base, from which Godzilla’s
movements are tracked through a
huge underwater window. The
observers see the monster approach-
ing — his bioluminescence serves as a
beacon in the murky waters — but are
unsure whether he comes as friend or
foe. When the monster arrives, he
generates a massive amount of light
as part of a display of intimidation.
This set was built at the OFS
warehouse, and much of the room
was lit by computer monitors, accent
lights and architectural fixtures; Sher
credits fixtures foreman Phillip
Abeyta with rigging the many
dimmable practicals. The crew also
tucked LED fixtures and ribbon
where they could, and they kept
movie lights off the ground to enable
shooting in 360 degrees. The scene
opens with McGuire’s 40-second
Steadicam shot, which brings the
scientists into their positions in the
space.

During preproduction, Company 3

senior colorist and ASC associate
member Jill Bogdanowicz came to
Atlanta to help create the show LUT
and make sure everyone was on the
same page. As Sher wouldn’t be
Space lights hang above a gimbal-mounted Osprey aircraft set, and large LED panels provide interactive around for all of post, he was
lighting to represent the monsters’ bioluminescence. comforted to have Bogdanowicz step

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 Royal Rumble
from EC3, the dailies unit for EFilm
and Company 3, to evaluate dailies.
Bogdanowicz performed the
final grade at Company 3 in Santa
Monica, with Dougherty sometimes in
the room and sometimes participating
remotely. Four weeks were spent on
the 2D theatrical version, working
with EXR files in Blackmagic Design
DaVinci Resolve 15 running on Linux
hardware. Bogdanowicz added grain
to further realize the filmmaker’s
desired look.
She says the monsters’ colors
were among the grade’s top priorities.
“They all have subtle skin colors, and
they’re in a lot of different environ-
Sher considers his next move from inside the Osprey.
ments, such as Antarctica with the
aboard early on; the duo had worked DIT Kay on a first-pass grade, using cold, blue ice. And then there’s fire and
together on four previous features. the show LUT as a base. They worked explosions and a lot of atmosphere, so
Plus, Bogdanowicz was particularly on Barco RHDM-2301 monitors set to we made sure their skin colors stayed
well-versed in the filmmakers’ Blade P3 color space and calibrated to consistent and worked well within
Runner reference, having worked on match the Barco cinema projectors those environments. We also tweaked
that film’s digital restoration. used by EFilm dailies colorist Ben the visual effects as they came in, to
On set, Sher collaborated with Estrada. Sher used the eVue platform make sure they flowed together.”

80
 The true king sends a steel-blue warning to his enemies.
Throughout the grade, Sher release later this year and coming on movie,” the cinematographer reflects.
chimed in remotely as time permitted the heels of Godzilla: King of the “It’s been a really good stretch for me
from Company 3’s facility in New Monsters, Joker promises to be another to go deeper into cinematography
York; he was in the Big Apple shoot- bold statement about the breadth of and work on getting better at what I
ing Joker, the Batman villain’s stand- Sher’s abilities. “King of the Monsters do.” u
alone feature helmed by Hangover was a great opportunity for me to put
director Todd Phillips. Slated for my stamp on a big science-fiction

81
 Working
Portraits

AC opens the archives for

this pictorial of ASC
members past and present
working their magic behind
the scenes
 The view behind the scenes can be every bit as inspiring as
the action that ultimately appears onscreen. In celebration of
the ASC membership’s century of making moving pictures,
we combed through the magazine’s photo archives to revisit a
number of Society members at work on sets and locations —
beginning with John F. Seitz, ASC (opposite, standing, wear-
ing fedora) on the set of Sunset Boulevard (1950); Nancy
Schreiber, ASC (above left), who was in the midst of shooting
a documentary when this photo was taken on location in West
Virginia; Bradford Young, ASC (above right) at work on Ain’t
Them Bodies Saints (2013); Ellen Kuras, ASC (right) behind the
camera on A Little Chaos (2014); and William A. Fraker, ASC,
BSC (below) considering his next move onstage. ➔
All images courtesy of the AC archives.

www.ascmag.com June 2019 83

 Working Portraits

Karl Struss, ASC was behind the

camera for the Babe Ruth vehicle Babe
Comes Home (1927; top left), and he
teamed with co-cinematographer
Charles Rosher, ASC (top right, at
camera) on Sunrise (also 1927).
William H. Daniels, ASC (above left,
seated at right) photographed Greta
Garbo on a long string of films, includ-
ing Queen Christina (1933), directed by
Rouben Mamoulian (seated beneath
camera). Director Frank Capra (above
right, seated beneath lens) partnered
with Joseph Walker, ASC (behind
camera) on Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington (1939) and other projects.
Stanley Cortez, ASC (right,
leaning on knee) is seen here on the set
of The Night of the Hunter (1955), watch-
ing a scene with Shelley Winters from
behind director Charles Laughton.
“Any creative cinematographer is
really an interpreter of the drama,”
Cortez said. “We do it with light, with
optics, with the camera, with all kinds
of gimmicks. Who cares what we use?
If the result is there, that’s what’s
important.” ➔
84 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
 Working Portraits

Laszlo Kovacs, ASC (above Third Kind (1977). “Laszlo and I were While shooting The Parallax
left) tests out a rig for an “aerial shot” inseparable, and some people View (1974) for director Alan Pakula,
while on location in Peru for The Last couldn’t tell us apart,” Zsigmond told Gordon Willis, ASC (above right,
Movie (1971), directed by Dennis AC. “[Director] Dick Donner gave me second from left) found himself atop
Hopper. Kovacs famously arrived in a T-shirt that said, ‘My Name Is Not Seattle’s Space Needle. “It’s not fun
Hollywood with fellow Hungarian Laszlo,’ and Laszlo one that said, ‘My to be on top of that thing,” Willis
cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, Name Is Not Vilmos.’ Occasionally recalled. “Fortunately, the wind
ASC, HSC — seen below (pointing) we switched shirts to confuse every- wasn’t that high the day we were up
on the set of Close Encounters of the body.” there.” ➔

86 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Working Portraits

Longtime Ingmar Bergman collaborator Sven Nykvist,

ASC (above, operating camera) frames a tracking shot of
Liv Ullmann during production of Cries & Whispers (1972).
Two decades later, Dean Cundey, ASC (left, wearing green
shirt) helped craft a somewhat more fantastical drama while
on location for Jurassic Park (1993). “I’ve always felt that any
time you’re trying to get an audience to accept the unbeliev-
able, you have to present it to them in the most believable
terms to give them something to hold onto,” Cundey said.
William Wages, ASC (below, far right) sets up a
shot during the production of the six-part miniseries
Into the West (2005). ➔

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 Working Portraits

Matthew Libatique, ASC (top left) helped launch the has teamed with director Alfonso Cuarón on numerous features,
Marvel Cinematic Universe when he shot Iron Man (2008). including the sci-fi drama Children of Men (2006).
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS (above left, operating wheels) Robert F. Liu, ASC (below) checks the light for an exterior
worked on an epic scale befitting her home country when she scene on location for the series Lou Grant. “I gradually convinced
teamed with director Baz Luhrmann for the period feature the producer to shoot more on location and less onstage,” Liu
Australia (2008). Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (above right) reflected. “That was rare for a TV series at that time.” ➔

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 Working Portraits

Edward Lachman, ASC (above left) captures last light at Menges shared the film’s cinematography credit — and an
sunset. “As a child I shied away from and actually abhorred Academy Award nomination — with his good friend Roger
cameras,” Lachman told AC when he received the ASC Lifetime Deakins, ASC, BSC (opposite, left). During the shoot, Menges took
Achievement Award. “I always had the feeling, like Eastern over when production delays and previous commitments caused
thought, that your photographic image could steal your soul — Deakins’ departure from the project. “When I started out, Chris was
now I know it does!” kind of my idol — and always has been, actually,” Deakins said. “I
Chris Menges, ASC, BSC (above right) prepares to capture a think he’s probably the greatest cinematographer working today.
contemplative moment on Stephen Daldry’s The Reader (2008). I’m flattered to be on the same [title] card as him, really.”

92
 During production of Jarhead (2005), Deakins stands (above right) tracks a pickup truck down a dirt road as a storm
beneath an overhead grid of space lights on Universal’s Stage 12, brews. For her work on the feature, Morrison became the first
where he and the crew created an extended twilight-to-dawn woman to be nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar. “I try
“exterior” sequence. “I chose to do that sequence onstage to choose projects that are meaningful to me and ideally have a
because we wanted to get this feeling that [the actors] were in message that will engage the audience in some form of social
this thick smoke, in a kind of limbo.” consciousness,” she told AC. “Mudbound had the added bonus of
On location for Mudbound (2017), Rachel Morrison, ASC being a period film, which is a gift to any cinematographer.” u
 It’s All
Happening
Autumn Durald Arkapaw brings she shot while still in school, won Best Micro-Budget

“stylized naturalism” to the

Feature at the Raindance Film Festival and was picked up

features Teen Spirit and

by IFC. Or 2010, when she shot 2nd unit on a black-and-
white 35mm Levi’s campaign with Harris Savides, ASC,
The Sun Is Also a Star and Melodie McDaniel. Or 2013, a breakthrough year
thanks to Palo Alto, directed by Gia Coppola and based on
James Franco’s novel. Or subsequent years full of eye-
By Patricia Thomson catching commercials and music videos, like Arcade Fire’s
“Porno,” directed by Kahlil Joseph, for which she used
It’s a good year to be cinematographer Autumn Durald Arri’s Alexa XT B+W camera in infrared mode during
Arkapaw, who’s had three features opening in quick carnival in Haiti.
succession: Untogether rolled out in February, followed by Her experience shooting music videos for Janelle
Teen Spirit in April, and The Sun Is Also a Star in May. Monáe, Solange Knowles, London Grammar and others
But in the decade since the California native gradu- put Durald Arkapaw in a good place to shoot Teen Spirit, a
ated with her Masters from AFI, there have been many Cinderella story with music at its core. Helmed by actor
good years. Like 2009, when Macho, a mumblecore film and first-time feature director Max Minghella, the movie

94 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

Teen Spirit unit photography by Parisa Taghizadeh; photos and frame grabs courtesy of LD Entertainment and Bleecker Street.
The Sun Is Also a Star unit photography by Atsushi Nishijima; photos and frame grabs courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

t Violet (Elle Fanning) pursues her passion for singing in the feature Teen
Spirit. p The crew captures a Steadicam shot between actors Yara Shahidi
and Charles Melton (portraying Natasha and Daniel) on location in New
York for the feature The Sun Is Also a Star. u Cinematographer Autumn
Durald Arkapaw.

follows Violet (Elle Fanning), a shy hours. As he sets about his task, the Teen Spirit for a long time. When it got
teen on the Isle of Wight with a two debate fate vs. coincidence, greenlit to be shot in London, they
passion for singing. When auditions poetry vs. science, all while the clock suggested hiring a local DP, but Max
for the television competition Teen is ticking toward the imminent depor- fought for me. We’d been friends for
Spirit come to town, she enters, then tation of Natasha and her family. three years by then and had talked
finds an unlikely mentor at the local AC recently connected with about this film a lot. It’s a brave film
dive bar, Vlad (Zlatko Buric). Durald Arkapaw to dig into her work to approach on an indie budget — a
Incorporating the language of music on both features. character-driven drama, but then it
videos, the 33-day shoot had Fanning amps up at times and sucks you into a
performing tunes by Robyn, Annie American Cinematographer: pop spectacle.
Lennox, Sigrid, Orbital and more. How did your participation in Teen There’s a variety of looks, from
The Sun Is Also a Star is based Spirit come about? pastoral shots on Violet’s farm to
on the young-adult best-seller by Autumn Durald Arkapaw: highly produced music numbers.
Nicola Yoon. Directed by Ry Russo- Max Minghella was a big fan of Palo What were your visual touchstones?
Young, it recounts the one-day love Alto. He had a few projects he was Durald Arkapaw: Lost in
story between Jamaica-born Natasha interested in making, and his Translation, Flashdance, Sucker Punch.
(Yara Shahidi) and Korean-American producer reached out to my agents. But the reference he loved, which I
Daniel (Charles Melton), who meet We hit it off and ended up making a always teased him about, was the
by chance on the streets of New York. music video together. Katy Perry documentary Part of Me.
Daniel tells Natasha he can convince Max and [La La Land producer] It’s a voyeuristic documentary, where
her to fall in love with him within 24 Fred Berger had been working on they follow Katy around on tour —

www.ascmag.com June 2019 95

 It’s All Happening

The lighting for Violet’s musical performances gets increasingly slick as her star continues to rise.

not that Max wanted it to look exactly in film school, and Palo Alto was shot Tell us about Violet’s audition,
like that, but there were some really with Panavision lenses, so the love where she sings ‘Dancing on My
lovely frames in there, and I knew the started early on. In the case of Teen Own.’ The half-moon lights in the
tone was important to him. Spirit, it was a no-brainer. With The stage curtain have a lovely effect
On both films, you coupled Sun Is Also a Star, the director actually when the focus falls off.
Arri’s Alexa Mini with Panavision’s had in her look-book that she wanted Durald Arkapaw: That was just
C Series anamorphic primes and 11:1 to shoot vintage Panavision anamor- an LED Star Drop Curtain that
48-550mm [T4.5] anamorphic zoom. phic, so I suggested the C Series. I like production designer Kave Quinn
You tend to gravitate toward a milkier, dreamier, low-con look. suggested. We didn’t want a standard
Panavision lenses in general. Why? They’re beautiful when shot wide red curtain — too theatrical. You want
Durald Arkapaw: I first devel- open; I love them for complexions some texture back there, but not too
oped a relationship with Panavision and beauty close-ups. pronounced. She should feel like she’s

AC: Early on in Teen Spirit, Vlad, a

former opera singer gone to seed, hears
Violet sing at a dive bar. You’ve said
that was one of your favorite scenes to
light. Why?
Autumn Durald Arkapaw: It’s
where he first sees her beauty and
relates to her. Emotionally, that’s always
touched me. She’s this lonely girl and
there’s this lonely man, and they have a
connection through her singing on this
little stage.
When I first saw that location, I really liked it. It’s dingy and had a lot of character already built in. You could
imagine the people who hung out there. I felt we did it justice in the way it was lit. I tend to like naturalistic stuff
that’s stylized. That space has a natural feeling, but it ups the ante with sodium vapor streaming in through the
windows. Then there’s a little toplight onstage, rigged above her, and a heart-shaped light behind her on the
wall. We shot that day-for-night, so it was all tented-out. I like to keep everything outside, which gives actors
room to work and makes the set feel like a real space.

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 It’s All Happening
swimming in a deep black sea, but
you want some depth in the falloff
behind her.
It’s lit with a moonlighty, kind
of industrial light. It’s not supposed
to look so beautiful yet, nor as warm
and inviting as the bar scene where
she’s in her own element. Her first
audition is on a bigger stage in front
of these very important people, so
keeping them in darkness was a
choice we talked about. That loca-
tion had red curtains on the reverse
shot of the judges. I embraced that
and put some side edge-light
through the door. I tend to like
moodier lighting, and that was the
space to do it.
That audition effectively
becomes a three-minute music
video, with a montage of Violet in
various settings. Was that shot-
listed, or did Max find that in the
editing room? He’s said that edit-
ing is his favorite part of the
process.
Durald Arkapaw: Yes, it is. He
edited the music video we’d done
previously. That’s what’s great about
him: He knows exactly what he
wants. But he’s very open to collab-
oration and any ideas you might
have. As for those montages, he defi-
nitely had all those beats in mind;
the home life and horse were all
shot-listed.
As Violet moves up to the
semifinals, then finals, the lighting
gets increasingly slick. Tell us
about those musical numbers.
Durald Arkapaw: Because we
had so many acts in the semifinals, it
was more about simple lines and
graphics, and then changing the
color for each person. The lighting
for Violet is a soft frontlight, hard
sidelight, and the backlight is from
the LED screen, which is a simple
design we came up with. That was a
very stylized choice, keeping her in
darkness and using a strobe once the
song amps up. For the finals’ ‘Good
ppp & pp The lighting setup for Teen Spirit’s finale incorporated a large array of PAR cans Time’ performance, where all the
above the stage. p Durald Arkapaw and director Max Minghella check their frame. acts are on stage together, our

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 It’s All Happening

Aside from one stage day for pickups, The Sun Is

Also a Star was entirely shot on practical
locations around New York City.

screens get much bigger, and most of

our coverage was from a Technocrane.
We shot it as a oner, where you flow
from character to character.
Where was that finale shot?
Durald Arkapaw: Excel
London, where they put on big
concerts. It was one of our most
expensive locations, but we found a
lot of sets within that building. It was
Max’s favorite location. The produc-
tion value we got was a big asset. Glastonbury, England, that I really designing the lighting cues to match
You designed unique lighting loved. I started with that as a base the music. On the day of, we made
for each of the finalists. design; we had about 260 PAR cans on changes live.
Durald Arkapaw: That was our a rig above her while we did this low- Beyond PAR cans, what units
biggest technical setup. We were basi- angle wide Steadicam shot on stage. were used?
cally shooting mini-concerts for each We used an events company in Durald Arkapaw: Lots of vari-
of these five acts, so [each would] London called SXS to install our LED ous Chauvet moving-head units,
have its own vibe, lighting and screens and lighting. We had two days Showtec Sunstrips, and some
graphics, which my friend Geoff Oki to rig all the lighting at Excel. After Molefays. The  LED panels were
designed for us. For Violet’s number, they put in the rig, gaffer Jonny [made by] Esdlumen, all driven by 4K
‘Don’t Kill My Vibe,’ I pulled refer- Franklin and I spent about five hours image-processing and playback.
ences from a Kanye West concert in — after we wrapped our shoot day — Then, for our stage-performer key

100 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 It’s All Happening
light, we had a 12-by-12 soft push on Natasha says about New York, ‘I love who’s done a lot of New York movies.
the ground — six Arri S60 SkyPanels. this city.’ One of your tasks was to Not many people get to shoot in
We didn’t want it to look like make us love it, too. When you were Grand Central or the American
your typical American Idol show. I’ve in school, you wrote about Woody Museum of Natural History.
read some reviews that said, ‘We can’t Allen and Gordon Willis, ASC. Was I was astonished at some of the
see their faces all the time!’ For me, Manhattan on your mind during permits you got. You had aerials
‘real’ doesn’t feel overly lit, bright and production? directly above LaGuardia Airport
ugly. We had no intention of lighting Durald Arkapaw: Yes, 110 and quite close to the Statue of
this exactly how people are used to percent. Manhattan was my biggest Liberty’s face.
seeing American Idol or the British reference. I love New York and have Durald Arkapaw: Exactly. You
equivalent. It should have a style and fallen in love there as a young person, have certain pilots who are ‘ballers,’
character that feels like it comes from so it was touching to tell this one-day who push the limit. Gotham Film
the music-video world that you see love story. Plus, I was interested in the Works did our aerials and came back
her in prior to the finale. That was a diversity aspect of it, and immigration with some amazing stuff. I can’t
bold choice. is very on-topic now. [imagine] this film without those aeri-
Where did you color-grade? Was the whole movie shot on als.
Durald Arkapaw: Literally the practical locations? The story takes place over 24
day after I wrapped The Sun Is Also a Durald Arkapaw: Yes, we just hours. That must have been a sched-
Star, I flew to London to color-correct did one stage day for pickups. uling jigsaw on this 27-day shoot.
Teen Spirit at The Post Republic with Initially, they were trying to shoot in Durald Arkapaw: That’s the
colorist Lee Clappison. Max apprecia- Toronto for budgetary reasons, but Ry difficult aspect of shooting a film like
tes seeing close to the final look on set fought for New York. The locations this, a summer film in NYC that needs
— as do I — so I do a lot of grading were in her treatment, and cheating it to feel like one consistent day, when
with my DIT on set. [Ed. Note: For would have been cheating the story. you don’t know when it’s going to
Teen Spirit, Durald Arkapaw worked She wanted to make this [young- rain. It was a challenge — especially
with DIT Jacob Robinson, and for The adult] film different than ones we’d for the AD, Murphy Occhino, who
Sun Is Also a Star, she worked with seen before that didn’t feel like real always had to protect us with cover-
Bjorn Jackson.] The LUT for Teen indies — they were brighter and too set days. But we got pretty lucky
Spirit was one I’d used on prior films; precious in their execution. Our inten- considering our challenges.
I’d built it with my colorist at tion was to make it more real, textured How did you capture the
FotoKem, Al Arnold. So we were and deep. That’s what attracted me to magic-hour scene, where the leads
already looking at an image we were the project the most. have a romantic moment on the
somewhat happy with. I adored our production Roosevelt Island Tramway?
In The Sun Is Also a Star, designer, Wynn Thomas, a legend Durald Arkapaw: We timed

TECH SPECS
Teen Spirit
2.39:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa Mini
Panavision C Series primes,
ALZ11 zoom,
Panafocal zoom

The Sun Is Also a Star

2.39:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa Mini
Panavision C Series primes,
ALZ11 zoom

102 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 It’s All Happening

AC: In The Sun Is Also a Star, there’s

a scene in Caffe Reggio, where Daniel
explains to Natasha how he’s going to
make her fall in love with him. That’s one
of many instances where your lighting of
Yara Shahidi’s face is exquisite.
Durald Arkapaw: Yara is such a
beautiful girl. That’s where the C Series
lenses come in — they provide a soft
texture, which is great for complexions. I
did a lot of book lights for her, which I love.
For the scene in Caffe Reggio, her key light
was an Arri M40 bounced into Ultrabounce
outside. We diffused the M40 inside with
6-by-6 Full Grid near the actress and a 4- pp Natasha and Daniel sit in Caffe Reggio. p Alongside Durald Arkapaw, director Ry Russo-Young
by-4 frame of 250 after that. studies Shahidi’s close-up.
I like my key light to be very soft,
then have hard backlight or a hard slice that out for the sunset, making sure between the skyscrapers.
behind the subject. Since that space had a the day was going to be clear. It was Durald Arkapaw: It’s called
dark interior, I already had contrast. We important that you see that sunset in ‘Manhattanhenge.’ [Ed. Note: Coined
had an 18K coming through to create the background, and feel the day by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse
harder ‘sun’ on them at the little table. emotionally end. So that was floating Tyson, the term describes the sunrises
Three S30 SkyPanels were rigged inside, around on the schedule. It was shot in and sunsets that align along
above the windows, to balance exposure, one day — everyone in the tram, Manhattan’s east-west streets twice a
and some smaller HMI units created edges including me, handheld in the corner. year.] It was something Ry always
for extras in the wide shot. That is one of my favorite scenes. wanted to capture. I shot it in prep,
The scene ends with a fireball- but it got cloudy right before the sun
sun setting in perfect alignment was supposed to drop between the

104 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

buildings, so that day was a bust. But nine restaurant so I could put my fill and a diffusion frame for the key
we had another opportunity after we lights there — I didn’t want to light light.
wrapped one day during principal from the main floor, because we It was amazing to go in there
photography. The B camera went out wanted to shoot a big wide. I lit the and figure that out. In old black-and-
and shot it, and that’s what you see in wide with two xenons and a mirror. white reference photos from the 1920s,
the film. There’s one Technocrane shot where you have all the haze because people
Give us an overview of your the camera goes from Daniel in a were allowed to smoke, and there was
lighting package for the movie. wide, swings around, goes to no construction surrounding Grand
Durald Arkapaw: All day exte- Natasha, and zooms in on her face. Central back then, so the sun could
riors were shaped using a lot of nega- When we got closer for the cutaway actually stream in through those
tive fill to create contrast. We lit all of close-up, we had a 4-by-4 bounce for windows. I did a lot of light studies
our interiors; the only things that
weren’t ‘my’ lighting were architec-
tural practicals in our bigger locations.
The hair-care store already had a lot of
fluorescents, so we just changed out
tubes to match temperature, then
flagged or turned off the ones we
didn’t want.
We had a lot of 18K HMIs on
condors for bringing ‘sun’ into vari-
ous spaces, like Natasha’s parents’
apartment, Daniel’s family home, and
the bookstore. I prefer to keep every-
thing off the floor on set, so we
brought in big sun streaks, then
balanced exposure inside with
[LiteGear] LED LiteMats rigged on the
ceiling.
The final bookstore scene —
Rizzoli on Union Square — was a big
rig for us. We rigged three 15-foot LED
ladder lights 8 feet above the actor,
diffused with Light Grid and skirted
in the middle section of the store for
Natasha’s long walk-up to Daniel. We
also used one 4-by-4 and two 8-by-8
blanket lights diffused with Full Grid
at the end of the store where they
meet. I had a lot of fun lighting that
space with gaffer Ken Shibata and key
grip Greg Cahill. I heard they may
shoot an alternate ending, but I hope
this one stays. It’s a beautiful scene.
In Grand Central, sunlight
strikes the floor around Natasha
when Daniel first spots her. How did
you accomplish that?
Durald Arkapaw: That was a
big deal for us, and I pushed to light
that scene with bigger units so you
could feel the sun. In Grand Central,
there are so many restrictions for
filming. We had to buy out the mezza-
 It’s All Happening

“I love New York,” the cinematographer says. “The

locations were in [Russo-Young’s] treatment, and
cheating it would have been cheating the story.”

there, and nowadays the sun doesn’t

come directly in the windows
anymore. There’s a streak of light that
comes in on one end, but it’s very
low-exposure — it’s actually bounced
light off of a skyscraper — and isn’t
enough to feel like the sun on camera.
So I was adamant about lighting that
space. The movie is called The Sun Is
Also a Star!
Say a word about the grade.
Durald Arkapaw: I work with
Tom Poole in New York [on commer-
cials], and this was supposed to be wanted a denser, softer black, so he What’s next?
our first feature, but the color kept gave me five LUTs during my camera Durald Arkapaw: I’m in prep
pushing, so he wasn’t available by the tests to look at. with Spike Jonze on this Beastie Boys
time they did post. He suggested How was it working with Ry Story live show that’s based off of
Drew Geary, who also works at Russo-Young? their recent memoir. That shoots in
Company 3 in New York, and he was Durald Arkapaw: Ry works Philly and New York, then I jump
fantastic. We used a LUT that Tom hard, is very organized and knows straight onto Gia Coppola’s next film,
made for my camera test — not based what she wants. I like to work fast, so Mainstream, which stars Andrew
on a specific stock, but with a filmic we made a good team and were able Garfield.
curve and Tom’s own magic potion. I to accomplish a lot on that film. u

106 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 FILMMAKERS’ FORUM
myself who are there to help get those shots. A good firearms
expert is not just there to supply guns; we also help tell the
story. To do that, we use everything from fake firearms,
designed to look acceptable from a distance, to real firearms
that both look authentic and can fire blanks when desired.
CGI may be used for close-range gunshots that could not
be safely achieved otherwise, but yes, even with all the
advancements in visual effects and computer-generated
imagery, we still fire guns with blanks. The reason is simple: We
want the scene to look as real as possible. We want the story
and characters to be believable. Blanks help contribute to the
authenticity of a scene in ways that cannot be achieved in any
other manner. If the cinematographer is there to paint a story
with light and framing, firearms experts are there to enhance a
story with drama and excitement.
But this expertise costs money. Working firearms are not
cheap, and neither are blanks. So why spend the money when
you can just give everyone a plastic gun and say, “Go ahead, act
— we’ll fix it in post”? Because it’s not just the look of the guns.
Experienced firearms experts directly contribute to the story
while helping you achieve the shots you want, safely and
quickly.

Experience Matters
When handled by people who know what they’re doing,
firearms are as safe as any other prop on set. Their presence
should not put people on edge. They are one of the tools of
Firearms safety coordinator Dave Brown. filmmaking, and extra time spent in preparing for and setting
up scenes involving firearms and blanks will pay off in the
authenticity of the scene, while saving time and money by
Filming With Firearms getting the shot in the camera instead of fixing it in post.
I By Dave Brown Cast and crew need to be calm while they go about their
jobs, not worrying about their safety because someone
It’s been said that if you find a job you love, you’ll never constantly reminds them how dangerous firearms are, or runs
work a day in your life. Well, in a career that has so far spanned around yelling “Fire in the hole!” when guns are loaded with
25 years of handling firearms on film sets, collaborating with blanks. Safety is not about scaring people. It’s about treating
actors to make their characters look real, and helping to keep firearms with respect, consistently checking every firearm on
casts and crews safe, I don’t think I’ve actually “worked” a day set, and working with the same quiet, calm professionalism as
in my life. And I’ve loved every minute of it. a good camera operator.
Even more importantly, I’ve managed to learn a few The mark of a good firearms safety coordinator is know-
things about safety and the use of firearms in the film industry. ing our jobs so thoroughly that we can almost always find a way
Filmmaking is a collaborative process. I learned right to get you the desired shot. This is why an “expert” cannot just
Photos courtesy of Dave Brown.

from day one that every job on a film set is important. Coordi- be someone with a license or certificate hanging on their wall.
nating the safety of firearms is perhaps one of the more unique A firearms license does not make anyone an on-set expert any
occupations in the industry, but the role is still just one small more than a driver’s license makes someone a stunt coordina-
cog in a very large wheel. All of those “cogs” need to work tor.
together to get the shot quickly, safely and within budget. Firearms experts know guns as much as cinematogra-
This is why there is a close relationship between direc- phers know lenses. We know safe distances and angles. We
tors, cinematographers, camera operators and experts such as know safety gear. We know how to safely get gunshots with

108 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

blanks at almost any distance you desire. loaded with enough gunpowder to create cartridges they are designed to simulate.
But good firearms experts know the a bright flash at the end of the barrel, Even without a projectile, the
importance not just of working with guns, thereby convincing the audience that the burning flame, hot gases, and debris from
but also of getting along with people. We gun has been fired. burned and unburned flakes of gunpow-
are not on set to instill fear. We’re there Ironically, the flash at the end of der create a very real hazard at close
to inspire confidence. We may know the barrel is pure Hollywood. Real distances. However, these hazards are
when we need to say “no” but, just as firearms rarely have any muzzle flash. The based on physics and can therefore be
importantly, we know how and when to gunpowder in a real cartridge is designed predicted and controlled by someone
say “yes.” to burn within the length of the barrel. In who knows what they’re doing.
The need for expertise is not order to burn in front of the muzzle and The muzzle flash from a blank is
restricted to real firearms; there are risks create that bright flash, blanks need far very brief. Although our eyes can usually
even with fake firearms. We all know the more gunpowder than the actual see it clearly, that flash only lasts a frac-
costs of using amateurs or doubling up
crew positions, but other less-obvious
cost-cutting measures, such as using all
replicas and generating all the muzzle
flashes in post, can also hurt perfor-
mances — actors will hate it. Unless you
spend time preparing for CGI scenes and
use experts who know what they are
doing, the lack of heft and noise can make
the scene seem fake, and bad techniques
can make the cast look like amateurs.
When there are firearms on set,
you should be able to glance around and
find an experienced firearms safety
expert standing near the camera to give
guidance to the cast and crew. We also
sometimes stand directly in the line of
fire, to provide a safe eye line for the
actors. We stand in front of our work, and
I would never ask an actor or crewmem-
ber to stand anywhere I am not willing to
stand myself.
There is a saying that amateurs
practice until they get it right; profession-
als practice until they can’t get it wrong.
Handling the firearms on a film set should
be as important to the cast and crew as
the packing of a parachute is to a
skydiver. After all, skydivers don’t get
their parachutes packed by the amateur
who finally got it right after 10 tries; they
get them packed by the professional who
has never gotten it wrong in 30 years.
It’s like hiring a cinematographer.
Productions not willing to pay for a
professional will be shocked at the cost of
employing an amateur.

Working With Blanks

A blank is a cartridge that’s fired
from a real or blank-firing firearm. The
blank contains no bullet — the actual
projectile part of a cartridge — but is
Brown has decades of experience in keeping cast- and crewmembers safe, and in bringing authenticity
to the use of firearms onscreen.

tion of a second. Gunshots from modern ing on film and you see a good flash in
rifles and handguns are not likely to be the monitor or eyepiece, trust me: It was
captured on any more than one or two not captured on the film frame. Shoot
frames. Even then, there is no guarantee another take. If you’re shooting digital,
that you’ll capture a “good” flash. This is the opposite is true — if you like what
where experience is invaluable. Skilled you saw in the monitor, it is there. Digital
cinematographers and camera opera- also gives you the advantage of play-
tors know that a flash might only be back, so you can immediately check to
captured in one out of four or five make sure you got a good flash.
attempts. How do we resolve this? You If the muzzle flash ended up invis-
can sometimes optimize capture with ible, truncated or maybe just a puff of
variable shutter angles and frame rates, smoke, shoot another take. Every time I
but when we need one nice, clean hear someone yell, “We’ll fix it in post!”
muzzle flash, the solution is often as I die a little bit inside. As a perfectionist,
simple as shooting another take. I want to fix it now — and it’s often as
You can actually tell when you’ve simple as reviewing the footage and
captured a good flash. If you are shoot- shooting another take. Guns are not
special effects; our resets are quick. available to us. Blanks should always be
Some firearms are “better” than aimed slightly to the side of another
others. Much like the flashbulbs on an actor, but no matter how much we cheat
old Graflex Speed Graphic press camera, the angle, the blast still exits the barrel
shotguns and muzzle-loading period in a cone shape — and actors may miss
firearms have longer burn times, and their marks entirely. In practical terms,
flashes are often captured across multi- this is why the vast majority of gunshots
ple frames. in motion pictures are done as a tight
shot on the actor firing the gun. There is
Brown’s Law usually no reason why we need the actor
Blanks expel gunpowder and hot who’s being “shot” to be in the same
gases out of the front of the barrel in a frame at the same time.
cone shape. This is harmless at longer But don’t forget, safety does not
ranges, but the explosion can seriously end with the cast. Even though the actor
injure someone if it’s too close. Early in getting “shot” might be relaxing in their
my career, I wanted to find a simple way trailer, your camera crew will still be in
to explain these hazards and readjust front of the gunshot. Protecting the
the setup as required. crew and the camera is every bit as
Brown’s Law was born. important a part of the job. Brown’s Law
Brown’s Law simply states that still applies.
the hazard of a scene involving a blank is Safe distances vary widely
directly proportional to the power of the depending on the load and the type of
blank, and inversely proportional to the firearm, which is why we test everything
square of the distance away from the in advance. But I’ll share a secret:
gunshot. As a formula, it looks like H = Normally, I take the distance that people
P/D2, where H is the hazard of the scene, need to be away from a gunshot, and
P is the power of the blank, and D is the then triple it. That way, we avoid
distance from the muzzle of the gun to dangers that can result if our safe
the actor or crew standing in front of it. distances are gradually inched closer, or
The formula offers a good illustra- when a full-power blank has to be
tion of why some scenes are more easily quickly substituted for a half-power or
shot than initially expected, while other quarter-power blank to achieve a better
“simple” scenes can cause nightmares. look. Tripling the distance also provides
The single most important factor in the that one extra redundancy that allows
safety of your cast when firing a blank is for the “human factor” in the event that
sufficient distance. Distance is your an actor makes a mistake.
friend. We can protect your crew with At moderate ranges — with a
safety gear; we can’t always put safety handgun, that might be 10' to 15' —
gear on actors. both actors and camera operators will
We can sometimes employ blanks feel the pressure wave from a blank, but
with varying amounts of gunpowder, the two most important things we worry
giving us different power levels and about are eye protection from the debris
adding further control over the hazards, and ear protection from the noise at
but that is not always possible. If we virtually any distance in front of the gun,
substitute a half-power blank for a full- even well off to the side.
power blank, we cut the hazard to Modern wraparound safety
anyone standing in front of that gunshot glasses and face shields do an excellent
by half. But semiautomatic and auto- job. They are made from a material
matic firearms require a certain power called polycarbonate, which provides
to cycle the action properly, and using good protection from debris or impact,
an underpowered blank can result in and in my extensive tests, I know that if
serious — and very dangerous — jams. everything goes wrong, that thin shield
This is why we use distances and of polycarbonate will protect against
angles to keep actors safe, and we blast debris, metal shavings or the force
always plan for the most powerful blank of the explosion from even full-load
 was preparing for our last scene
together, Robin asked me why I always
pulled the trigger eight times. I told him
my personal reason: “The first six are for
you, the seventh one is for me, and the
eighth one is for Brandon Lee.” The very
talented James Glennon, also a skilled
person with a firearm, nodded his head
in silent agreement.
In the film business, lessons are
sometimes learned the hard way. But
the most important lesson I ever learned
was from my very first day on the job: I
don’t work with guns. I work with
people.
I am fortunate to be able to
collaborate with so many talented
people doing such amazing work. I never
forget that I’m working with friends and
colleagues whom I need to keep safe. I
never forget that if an actor makes a
mistake, they get another take, but if a
weapons handler makes a mistake, it will
blanks at contact distance. Wear your No one should be injured for the make headlines in the morning.
safety gear and make sure your crew sake of a movie. Remind the crew that Firearms experts and cinematog-
does, too. no one looks like a hero because they raphers form relationships that go
Actors don’t always wear forego eye or ear protection. Eyes can beyond mutual respect. We share many
earplugs; in wide, outdoor spaces, it’s never be replaced, and long-term hear- characteristics. We want it good, we
more a matter of choice and personal ing damage can never be undone. want it safe, we want it quick, and we
comfort level. The sound of a blank may want it within budget. We speak the
seem loud, but it does not contain the Collaborating With Talent same language. We are some of the
same damaging frequencies as the The best part of a career in film is most experienced people on set. We
sound of a real bullet when it breaks the the opportunity to work with so many understand each other. And we make no
sound barrier just in front of the muzzle. amazingly talented actors and cine- apologies for being perfectionists,
But hearing damage is cumulative. In matographers. One of the highlights was because at the end of the day, we both
tight spaces or at close range, everyone teaming with cinematographer James intensely love what we do.
should be wearing earplugs. Plus, the Glennon, ASC and actor Robin Williams
sound is significantly higher in front of on the 2005 film The Big White. During Based in Winnipeg, Canada, Dave
the muzzle than it is behind, so camera shooting, I was fortunate to become Brown is a professional firearms instruc-
crews should also be wearing both face friends with both — and I quickly found tor who has worked with military, police
protection and good-quality earmuffs out that beneath the humor, Robin and government agencies on advanced
(also called “cans”). Williams never missed a detail. skills and weapons handling. As a
At particularly close range, Many of our scenes involved a firearms safety coordinator, he has
earmuffs over the top of earplugs can revolver. Every day I would show him the worked on features including Stryker,
even help to prevent that flinch that empty firearm, load six dummy The Big White, Capote, The Plague, The
might jerk the camera or bump the focus cartridges into the chambers so it looked Lookout, You Kill Me, Hunting Season,
every time the gun goes off. I often bring fully loaded to camera, and demonstrate Reasonable Doubt, Heaven Is for Real
several sets of modern electronic that it was completely safe by pointing it and A Dog’s Purpose, as well as televi-
earmuffs for the camera crew because in a safe direction and pulling the trigger sion series and theater productions.
they can amplify ambient sounds while eight times. Brown also helped develop a firearms
cutting out the sudden sound of a Over the course of two months, safety presentation for IATSE film and
gunshot. The best electronic muffs work he silently observed that I always pulled theater technicians across North Amer-
by cutting out only the frequencies of a the trigger exactly eight clicks — two ica. u
gunshot; the wearer can still hear more than necessary for the revolver’s
normal sounds. six chambers. Then, on our final day, as I

112 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES
• SUBMISSION INFORMATION - Please email 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.

FSND filters, 12-volt power input, extra power outputs, a new

Codex Compact Drive and a new MVF-2 high-contrast HD
viewfinder. Built for a long life in challenging professional
conditions, the Alexa Mini LF features a carbon body and can
withstand a temperature range of -4°F to 113°F.
Compatible with almost all Mini accessories, the Alexa
Mini LF brings significant enhancements to the Mini camera
design. Among them are extra connectors, including regulated
12-volt and 24-volt accessory power; a new six-pin audio
connector; built-in microphones; and improved Wi-Fi. Six user
buttons adorn the camera’s operating side, and the camera
and viewfinder each has its own lock button. User access to the
Arri Opens New West Coast Facility, Releases Mini LF recording media and VF and TC connectors has been made
Arri has moved its West Coast facilities — Arri Inc. and easier.
Arri Rental U.S. — to new digs at 3700 Vanowen St. in Burbank, The Alexa Mini LF allows internal recording of
Calif. MXF/ArriRaw or MXF/Apple ProRes in a
“The move to a new home is all about serving the variety of formats and aspect ratios. It
creative community further,” says ASC associate member is the first camera to feature Codex’s
Glenn Kennel, president and CEO of Arri Inc. “Our custom- new Compact Drive, a 1TB drive
designed building allows us to engage with that community in that offers a competitively priced
new ways and showcase our industry-leading products and recording solution. With it comes a
services. Having everything under one roof gives content USB-C Compact Drive Reader that
creators and customers the best experience possible.” can be used without any extra soft-
The new facility offers loading zones, a large parking lot, ware or licenses on Mac or Windows
offices, meeting rooms, communal areas, testing rooms, a 64- computers. In addition, a Compact
seat screening room and demo areas. Drive Adapter can be used in any dock that accepts SXR
Two key areas are Creative Space, a dressed shooting set Capture Drives, an advance that can potentially more than
for tests and workshops that features state-of-the-art equip- double download speeds.
ment, and the screening room, which features a 4K Christie DLP Another development from Codex now makes large-
digital projector with 7.1 surround sound. These resources are format shooting a more practical and budget-friendly option:
expected to facilitate ASC Master Classes, Arri Academy work- Codex High Density Encoding uses lossless encoding to reduce
shops, creative salons and Arri Cinema Club screenings, among ArriRaw file sizes by around 40 percent during downloading or
other events. later in the workflow. This lowers storage costs, shortens trans-
The service department is expanding the range of fer times and speeds up workflows. HDE is free-of-charge for
repairs and alterations to camera equipment it can offer on use with Codex Capture or Compact Drives.
site. A clean room allows for sensor cleaning and filter assem- At the heart of the new MVF-2 viewfinder for the Alexa
bly, while a new imaging lab provides a controlled environment Mini LF are the same high-contrast HD OLED display, color
for HDR evaluations and R&D. science, and eyepiece found in the Alexa LF’s EVF-2 viewfinder,
In the lobby of the building, a tech table allows allowing optimal judgment of focus, dynamic range and color
customers to handle the latest Arri tools, such as the Stellar on set. In addition, the MVF-2 features a 4" flip-out monitor
app, Pro Camera Accessories and Electronic Control System that can display the image or the camera-control menu, provid-
products. Visitors can browse a range of Arri merchandise in ing maximum flexibility for different camera configurations.
the nearby gift shop. The MVF-2 can be used on either side of the camera and
Additionally, Arri has expanded its large-format camera connects via a new, flexible CoaXPress VF cable that has a reach
system with the release of the Alexa Mini LF, which integrates of up to 32' for remote camera operations. It features a refined
the compact size and light weight of the Alexa Mini with the user interface, a built-in eyepiece lens heater for defogging,
large-format Alexa LF sensor. The camera will begin shipping and a built-in headphones connector.
this summer. For additional information, visit arri.com.
The Alexa Mini LF features three internal motorized

114 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Litepanels Announces
Gemini 1x1
Litepanels has introduced the
Gemini 1x1 Soft, a cine-quality LED light
that weighs 11.7 pounds and draws a
maximum of just 200 watts.
Gemini 1x1 Soft offers accurate
full-spectrum white light and, as a full
RGBWW light, delivers every color in the
360-degree color wheel along with
plus/minus green adjustment. These
features make it ideal for lighting talent
and rendering skin tones, giving users
the ability to match a broad range of
ambient lighting conditions quickly and
easily. The unit’s compact power supply
means it is fast and easy to rig. Users can
instantly switch the light from AC power
to battery power (using V-Mount, Gold
Mount or XLR output batteries) and
maintain similar lighting intensity.
Users have control through four
lighting modes: CCT Mode, for true
daylight and tungsten with fine tuning;
HSI Mode, to create any color in the 360-
degree spectrum; Gel Mode, to dial up
gels in seconds; and Effects Mode, for an
array of lighting effects.
Gemini 1x1 Soft is ready to go
right out of the box — no assembly
required. In addition to its onboard
controls, the LED offers a broad range of
control options, including DMX, wireless
DMX and Bluetooth, for easy integration
into an existing lighting setup. It provides
smooth dimming from 100 percent to
0.1 percent with no flicker and without
losing color consistency.
Gemini 1x1 Soft is available now
for a list price of $2,650.
For additional information, visit
litepanels.com.
➔
 10' with a 20-degree lens — without
changing the form factor from its previ-
ous version.
Compatible with the same legacy
product line of accessories, interchange-
able lenses, light-shaping tools and
mounts, the Sumospace+ also incorpo-
rates the Sumosnap screwless quick-
release mount for industry-standard
16mm baby-pin spigots. With the
Sumosnap integration, the Sumospace+
is easily adaptable for the modular
Sumolight Super Mount system.
Tiffen Flies New Steadicam Dimmable from 0-100% and
The NAB Show in April brought a controllable via DMX/RDM or Ether-
sneak peak of a new, high-end net/Wi-Fi, the bi-color Sumospace+
Steadicam rig from the Tiffen Co.
Dubbed the Steadicam M-2, it follows in
the footsteps of its bigger sibling, the
M-1, by incorporating a modular design
that allows operators to customize their
setup to specific applications or their
personal needs. Almost all components
will be interchangeable between the
M-1 and M-2 systems.
Some of the M-2’s new features
include a top stage (tilt or non-tilt) with
integrated Volt electronics and controls,
a redesigned Volt-ready gimbal, and boasts smooth and accurate color
other redesigned elements that signifi- adjustment from 2,800-6,500K as well as
cantly reduce overall weight while high color rendition (TLCI 99, CRI 95).
supporting an expected load capacity of With a 120-degree fixture beam angle,
40 pounds (18kg). Designed with exten- the fixture is compatible with three
sive feedback from operators, the M-2 interchangeable lenses for 20-, 30- or 60-
builds on the success of the M-1 by offer- degree beam angles. Flicker-free at all
ing an option that is more integrated, frame rates, the Sumospace+ draws only
more modular and more cost effective. 500 watts at maximum consumption and
The Steadicam M-2 will officially weighs only 15 pounds.
launch at the Cine Gear Expo and begin For additional information, visit
delivery in the summer. sumolight.com.
For additional information, visit
tiffen.com. Hawk Lands in L.A.
Hawk Anamorphic L.A., the North
Sumolight Launches Sumospace+ American base for Hawk lenses, is now
Sumolight, a Berlin-based LED open. The facility houses a full selection
lighting manufacturer with a U.S. opera- of Hawk lenses to serve the needs of
tion headquartered in Los Angeles, has filmmakers and rental houses alike,
unveiled the Sumospace+ lighting along with a small studio space for light-
fixture, a fully compatible redesign of its ing and makeup tests; lens collimation
predecessor, which received a Cine Gear bays for testing and calibration; and a
Expo Technical Award in 2015. The laboratory for lens service, repair and
Sumospace+ now features an internal, adaptation.
passively cooled power supply with no Formerly owned by an architect,
moving parts, and the lumen output has the ivy-covered building has been exten-
been increased — to up to 16,000 lux at sively redesigned. Service will meet the

116
 can be rushed. If your goal is long-
term success, it takes time and
careful planning. We were lucky
to find such a nice building, which
is in harmony with our company’s
attitude and ethos. Finally, we’re
ready for the most important
element — our talented
colleagues behind the camera.”
The full range of Hawk lenses
will be available for hands-on
evaluation at Hawk Anamorphic
L.A., including the new Hawk
Class-X, MiniHawk and Hawk 65
lines, as well as V-Lite and Vintage and minus green/magenta color control.
highest standards set by Vantage Film’s ’74 lenses in 2x and 1.3x anamorphic With an aperture of 24"x18", the Jab
global operations, with experienced and formats, and Vantage One T1 spherical Quad is bright enough to be used outside
knowledgeable staff trained at Vantage lenses. Also available will be related in the daytime, and it can also be used to
headquarters in Weiden, Germany. tools including Bethke filters as well as replace a 6K space light.
For ASC associate members Peter the Vantage PSU-4 Digital Video Assist At 278,000 lumens, the Punch
Martin and Wolfgang Baumler, known as system, which can simultaneously Quad features an aperture of 36"x24". It
“the Hawk guys,” the opening of Hawk handle input from as many as eight has the equivalent output of four Punch
Anamorphic L.A. represents the culmina- cameras. fixtures in an IP65-rated soft-panel
tion of more than three years of work “With all 10 of our lens lines on fixture. The high-efficiency LED light was
and planning. site — the most extensive array of built to compete with large HMIs while
“We’re thrilled to see this project anamorphic lenses in the business — consuming 10 percent of the power,
come to fruition,” Martin says. “After 25 cinematographers can easily test, according to the company.
years of success and growth around the compare and determine which glass is The Quads come in daylight, tung-
world, we are establishing a bricks-and- right for a given project, large or small,” sten and variable, with a range of 2,900K
mortar presence in Los Angeles. The goal Martin notes. “It’s a comfortable envi- to 6,000K. They can be controlled in
is to facilitate the availability of our ronment, with no shipping complications three ways, via AadynTech’s user-inter-
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118 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE

120 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIED AD RATES
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First word
of ad and advertiser’s name can be set in capitals without extra charge. No agency commission or discounts on
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duction. Words used are subject to magazine style abbreviation. Minimum amount per ad: $45

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www.ascmag.com June 2019 121

 ADVERTISERS’
INDEX
Abel Cine Tech 57 Duclos Lenses 97, 120 Quasar Science, LLC 93
Aerocrane Sales & Leasing Eastman Kodak C4 Rag Place, The 105
116 Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Gmbh 73 Ratpac Dimmers LLC 55
Alan Gordon Enterprises Really Right Stuff 113
120 Fiilex/Dicon Lighting 101
Filmotechnic 17 Red Digital Cinema 45
Amazon Services LLC 21 Revolution 435 D&C/
Arri 19, 63 Filmtools 107
Fluotec 115 Bolt Mexico 103
Arri Rental 71 Rip Tie Company 120
ASC Photo Gallery 122 Formatt KT 5
Fujifilm/Fujinon 79 Rosco Laboratories Inc. 87
Astera Manufacturing Ltd. Rotolight Group Ltd. 43
32a-p Grip Factory Munich/GFM 8 RPM Lighting, Inc. 116
B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio HBO 7, 9 Samy’s DV & Edit 35, 37, 39
117 Schneider Optics 3
Backstage Equipment, Inc. Infinity Photo-Optical
Company 121 SIM International 119
110
Band Pro Film & Digital 47 Innovative Dimmers 55 Teradek, LLC C2-1, 85
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 23 J.L. Fisher 49 Thales Las France SAS 27
Tiffen C3
Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC 59 K5600 64 Tilta 91
Cavision Enterprises 120 Kino Flo 41 Tokina Cinema 5
Chapman/Leonard Koerner Camera Systems 8
Studio Equip. 69 Vantage Gmbh 75
Lee Filters 81 Velvet Light 61
Cinekinetic 120
Lightgear 80
Cinematography www.ascmag.com 122
Lights! Action! Co. 120
Electronics 8
Lighttools 48
Cooke Optics 25
Lindsey Optics, LLC 120
Creative Handbook 123
CRP MB Studios 65 Maccam 111
CTI Media 7, 9 MBS Equipment Comp. 65
CTT Exp & Rentals 92 Mole-Richardson 121
NBC/Universal 77
Netflix 11, 13, 15
Opertec UA 99
Osram Sylvania 109
P+S Technik Feinmechanik
Gmbh 115, 121
Panasonic System
Communcations Company
29
Panavision, Inc. 89
Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
Gmbh 120
Pro8mm 120

122
 MEMBERSHIP ROSTER
OFFICERS – 2018-’19 ACTIVE MEMBERS Peter L. Collister Nathaniel Goodman John R. Leonetti Bill Neil
Kees van Oostrum Thomas Ackerman Jack Cooperman Victor Goss Matthew Leonetti Alex Nepomniaschy
President Lance Acord Jack Couffer Jack Green Philippe LeSourd John Newby
Marshall Adams Nelson Cragg Adam Greenberg Peter Levy Yuri Neyman
Bill Bennett Javier Aguirresarobe Jeff Cronenweth Robbie Greenberg Matthew Libatique Sam Nicholson
1st Vice President Lloyd Ahern II Richard Crudo David Greene Charlie Lieberman Vern Nobles Jr.
Paul Cameron Russ Alsobrook Dean R. Cundey Xavier Grobet Stephen Lighthill Crescenzo Notarile
2nd Vice President Howard A. Anderson III Stefan Czapsky Alexander Gruszynski Karl Walter Lindenlaub David B. Nowell
James Anderson David Darby Rob Hahn John Lindley Rene Ohashi
Cynthia Pusheck Peter Anderson Allen Daviau Jess Hall Jimmy Lindsey Daryn Okada
3rd Vice President Fernando Arguelles Roger Deakins Gregg Heschong Robert F. Liu Jules O’Loughlin
Levie Isaacks Paul Atkins Jan de Bont Henner Hofmann Walt Lloyd Thomas Olgeirsson
Treasurer Christopher Baffa Bruno Delbonnel Adam Holender Bruce Logan Woody Omens
James Bagdonas Thomas Del Ruth Ernie Holzman Gordon Lonsdale Michael D. O’Shea
David Darby
King Baggot Frank DeMarco John C. Hora Emmanuel Lubezki Vince Pace
Secretary
John Bailey Peter Deming Tom Houghton Julio G. Macat Anthony Palmieri
Isidore Mankofsky Florian Ballhaus Jim Denault Gil Hubbs Glen MacPherson Phedon Papamichael
Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Barrett Caleb Deschanel Paul Hughen Paul Maibaum Andrij Parekh
Andrzej Bartkowiak Ron Dexter Shane Hurlbut Constantine Makris Daniel Pearl
MEMBERS John Bartley Craig DiBona Tom Hurwitz Denis Maloney Brian Pearson
OF THE BOARD Gary Baum George Spiro Dibie Judy Irola Isidore Mankofsky Edward J. Pei
John Bailey Bojan Bazelli Ernest Dickerson Mark Irwin Christopher Manley James Pergola
Bill Bennett Affonso Beato Billy Dickson Levie Isaacks Michael D. Margulies Dave Perkal
Mat Beck Bill Dill Tim Ives Barry Markowitz Lowell Peterson
Stephen H. Burum
Dion Beebe Anthony Dod Mantle Peter James Steve Mason Wally Pfister
Paul Cameron Mark Doering-Powell Johnny E. Jensen Clark Mathis Sean MacLeod Phillips
Bill Bennett
Curtis Clark Andres Berenguer Todd A. Dos Reis Matthew Jensen Don McAlpine Bill Pope
Dean Cundey Carl Berger Stuart Dryburgh Jon Joffin Don McCuaig Steven Poster
George Spiro Dibie Gabriel Beristain Bert Dunk Frank Johnson Michael McDonough Jaron Presant
Stephen Lighthill Steven Bernstein Lex duPont Shelly Johnson Seamus McGarvey Michael A. Price
Karl-Walter Lindenlaub Ross Berryman John Dykstra Jeffrey Jur Kevin McKnight Tom Priestley Jr.
Lowell Peterson Josh Bleibtreu Richard Edlund Adam Kane Robert McLachlan Rodrigo Prieto
Oliver Bokelberg Eagle Egilsson Stephen M. Katz Geary McLeod Robert Primes
Cynthia Pusheck
Michael Bonvillain Frederick Elmes Ken Kelsch Greg McMurry Frank Prinzi
Roberto Schaefer Richard Bowen Robert Elswit Victor J. Kemper Steve McNutt Christopher Probst
John Toll David Boyd Scott Farrar Wayne Kennan Terry K. Meade Cynthia Pusheck
Kees van Oostrum Russell Boyd Jon Fauer Francis Kenny Suki Medencevic Richard Quinlan
Amy Vincent Natasha Braier Don E. FauntLeRoy Glenn Kershaw Chris Menges Declan Quinn
Uta Briesewitz Gerald Feil Darius Khondji Rexford Metz Earl Rath
ALTERNATES Jonathan Brown Cort Fey Gary Kibbe Anastas Michos Richard Rawlings Jr.
Don Burgess Steven Fierberg Neville Kidd Gregory Middleton Frank Raymond
David Darby
Stephen H. Burum Mauro Fiore Jan Kiesser David Miller Tami Reiker
Charlie Lieberman Bill Butler John C. Flinn III Jeffrey L. Kimball Douglas Milsome Robert Richardson
Eric Steelberg Frank B. Byers Anna Foerster Adam Kimmel Dan Mindel Anthony B. Richmond
Levie Isaacks Patrick Cady Larry Fong Alar Kivilo Charles Minsky Tom Richmond
Richard Edlund Sharon Calahan Markus Forderer David Klein Claudio Miranda Antonio Riestra
Antonio Calvache Ron Fortunato George Koblasa George Mooradian Bill Roe
Paul Cameron Greig Fraser Lajos Koltai Reed Morano Owen Roizman
Gary Capo Jonathan Freeman Pete Kozachik Donald A. Morgan Pete Romano
Russell P. Carpenter Tak Fujimoto Neil Krepela Donald M. Morgan Giuseppe Rotunno
James L. Carter Alex Funke Willy Kurant Polly Morgan Philippe Rousselot
Lula Carvalho Steve Gainer Ellen M. Kuras Kramer Morgenthau Martin Ruhe
Alan Caso Robert Gantz Christian La Fountaine Rachel Morrison Juan Ruiz-Anchia
Vanja Černjul Ron Garcia George La Fountaine Peter Moss Marvin Rush
Michael Chapman David Geddes Joe Labisi David Moxness Paul Ryan
Rodney Charters Darren Genet Edward Lachman M. David Mullen Eric Saarinen
Enrique Chediak Dejan Georgevich Jacek Laskus Dennis Muren Alik Sakharov
Christopher Chomyn Michael Goi Dan Laustsen Fred Murphy Mikael Salomon
James A. Chressanthis Stephen Goldblatt James Laxton Hiro Narita Linus Sandgren
T.C. Christensen Adriano Goldman Patti Lee Guillermo Navarro Paul Sarossy
Joan Churchill Paul Goldsmith Rob Legato Michael B. Negrin Giorgio Scali
Curtis Clark Dana Gonzales Denis Lenoir James Neihouse Roberto Schaefer

124 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

J U N E 2 0 1 9

Tobias Schliessler Amelia Vincent Mark Chiolis George Joblove Tony Ngai Ira Tiffen
Aaron Schneider William Wages Michael Cioni Tor Johansen Jeff Okun Steve Tiffen
Nancy Schreiber Fabian Wagner Denny Clairmont Joel Johnson Marty Oppenheimer Matthew Tomlinson
Fred Schuler Roy H. Wagner Adam Clark Eric Johnston Walt Ordway Arthur Tostado
John Schwartzman Mandy Walker Cary Clayton John Johnston Ahmad Ouri Jeffrey Treanor
John Seale Michael Watkins Al Cleland Mike Kanfer Michael Parker Bill Turner
Christian Sebaldt Colin Watkinson Dave Cole Andreas Kaufmann Dhanendra Patel Stephan Ukas-Bradley
Joaquin Sedillo Michael Weaver Michael Condon Marker Karahadian Snehal Patel JD Vandenberg
Dean Semler William “Billy” Webb Grover Crisp Frank Kay Gary Paz Arthur Van Dover
Ben Seresin Mark Weingartner Peter Crithary Dan Keaton Eliott Peck Mark van Horne
Eduardo Serra Jonathan West Daniel Curry Michael Keegan Kristin Petrovich Jannie van Wyk
Steven Shaw Jack Whitman Scott Dale David Keighley Ed Phillips Dedo Weigert
Lawrence Sher Lisa Wiegand Marc Dando Patricia Keighley Nick Phillips Marc Weigert
Brad Shield Jo Willems Ross Danielson Debbie Kennard Tyler Phillips Steve Weiss
Richard Shore Stephen F. Windon Carlos D. DeMattos Glenn Kennel Joshua Pines Alex Wengert
Sidney Sidell Alexander Witt Albert DeMayo Robert Keslow Jorg Pohlman Evans Wetmore
Newton Thomas Sigel Dariusz Wolski Steve Demeter Lori Killam Carl Porcello Franz Wieser
Steven V. Silver Peter Wunstorf Gary Demos Douglas Kirkland Sherri Potter Beverly Wood
John Simmons Tom Yatsko Mato Der Avanessian Mark Kirkland Howard Preston Jan Yarbrough
Sandi Sissel Steve Yedlin Kevin Dillon Scott Klein Sarah Priestnall Hoyt Yeatman
Santosh Sivan Robert Yeoman David Dodson Timothy J. Knapp David Pringle Irwin M. Young
Michael Slovis Bradford Young Judith Doherty Franz Kraus Doug Pruss Michael Zacharia
Dennis L. Smith Richard Yuricich Peter Doyle Karl Kresser David Reisner Bob Zahn
Roland “Ozzie” Smith Peter Zeitlinger Cyril Drabinsky Ross La Manna Christopher Reyna Nazir Zaidi
Reed Smoot Xiaoding Zhao Matthew Duclos Jarred Land Colin Ritchie Michael Zakula
Bing Sokolsky Jerzy Zielinski Jesse Dylan Chuck Lee Eric G. Rodli Joachim Zell
Peter Sova Kenneth Zunder Kavon Elhami Doug Leighton Robert Rodriguez Les Zellan
Glynn Speeckaert Seth Emmons Lou Levinson Domenic Rom
Dante Spinotti ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Jonathan Erland Suzanne Lezotte Andy Romanoff HONORARY MEMBERS
Buddy Squires Pete Abel Per D. Fasmer Forest Liu Frederic Rose Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.
Terry Stacey Rich Abel Ray Feeney Joe Lomba Daniel Rosen Col. Michael Collins
Eric Steelberg Alan Albert William Feightner Grant Loucks Dana Ross Bob Fisher
Ueli Steiger Richard Aschman Chris Fetner Howard Lukk Jim Roudebush David MacDonald
Peter Stein Gerhard Baier Jimmy Fisher Andy Maltz Bill Russell Larry Mole Parker
Tom Stern Kay Baker Thomas Fletcher Gary Mandle Barry Russo D. Brian Spruill
Robert M. Stevens Joseph J. Ball Claude Gagnon Steven E. Manios Jr. Chris Russo Marek Zydowicz
David Stockton Amnon Band Benjamin Gervais Steven E. Manios Sr. Kish Sadhvani
Rogier Stoffers Carly M. Barber Salvatore Giarratano Chris Mankofsky Dan Sasaki
Vittorio Storaro Craig Barron John A. Gresch Michael Mansouri Erik Schietinger
Gavin Struthers Thomas M. Barron Dan Hammond Gray Marshall Oliver Schietinger
David Stump Larry Barton Jim Hannafin James Martin Steve Schklair
Tim Suhrstedt Wolfgang Baumler Bill Hansard Jr. Peter Martin Peter K. Schnitzler
Peter Suschitzky Bob Beitcher Lisa Harp Robert Mastronardi Walter Schonfeld
Attila Szalay Mark Bender Richard Hart Mel Mathis Wayne Schulman
Masanobu Takayanagi Bruce Berke Robert Harvey Joe Matza Alexander Schwarz
Jonathan Taylor Steven A. Blakely Michael Hatzer Albert Mayer Jr. Steven Scott
Rodney Taylor Joseph Bogacz Josh Haynie Bill McDonald Yang Shao
William Taylor Jill Bogdanowicz Fritz Heinzle Dennis McDonald Alec Shapiro
Romeo Tirone Mitchell Bogdanowicz Charles Herzfeld Karen McHugh Don Shapiro
John Toll Jens Bogehegn Larry Hezzelwood Andy McIntyre Milton R. Shefter
Mario Tosi Michael Bravin Sean Hise Stan Miller Ryan Sheridan
Salvatore Totino Simon Broad Frieder Hochheim Walter H. Mills Marc Shipman-Mueller
Luciano Tovoli Michael Brodersen Bob Hoffman George Milton Leon Silverman
Jost Vacano William Brodersen Vinny Hogan Mike Mimaki Rob Sim
Stijn van der Veken Garrett Brown Jay Holben Michael Morelli Joseph Slomka
Theo van de Sande Terry Brown Cliff Hsui Dash Morrison Garrett Smith
Eric van Haren Noman Reid Burns Christine Huenergardt Nolan Murdock Timothy E. Smith
Hoyte van Hoytema Vincent Carabello Nichole Huenergardt Nancy Murray Kimberly Snyder
Kees van Oostrum Jim Carter Robert C. Hummel Dan Muscarella Stefan Sonnenfeld
Checco Varese Elisabetta Cartoni Zoë Iltsopoulos-Borys Iain A. Neil Michael Sowa
Ron Vargas Martin Cayzer Alan Ipakchian Otto Nemenz John L. Sprung
Mark Vargo Leonard Chapman Jim Jannard Ernst Nettmann Joseph N. Tawil

www.ascmag.com June 2019 125

 CLUBHOUSE
NEWS
President Kees van Oostrum joined
senior previs/postvis supervisor Ryan
McCoy, visual-effects supervisor Jim
Berney and senior colorist Andrea Chle-
bak for “Cinematography as a Process:
When Does It Begin and End?,” a session
co-presented by the ASC and ICG; and
Matthew Libatique, ASC sat down for a
“Close-Up” conversation, part of NAB’s
Creative Master Series, that explored his
varied body of work.
ASC members Bill Bennett, Sam
Nicholson and David Stump headlined a
session on the NAB Show’s Main Stage,
“ASC 100th Anniversary: Full Circle —
Past, Present and Future of Cinematogra-
phy.” Their conversation looked back at
past advances and peered into the future
of such topics as volumetric and virtual
cinematography; the panelists also
discussed how the ASC is particularly rele-
vant today as a source of information,
inspiration and networking for the global
community of cinematographers. As the
pp James Laxton, ASC. t Matthew Libatique, ASC (right). u ASC members (from left) panelists illustrated, the collective pool of
Bill Bennett, Sam Nicholson and David Stump.
creative and technical knowledge makes
Society Welcomes Laxton dent Spirit Award nomination; California the ASC an invaluable resource to anyone

Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.

New active member James Laxton, Solo; Tusk; and Camp X-Ray. In addition who is professionally involved in cine-
ASC is best known for his work on direc- to features, Laxton’s portfolio includes matography and creating visual stories.
tor Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (AC March music videos for Zayn and Exitmusic, and Additionally, in a fun outing that
’17), for which he earned an Academy commercials for clients including Apple, has become a tradition, active and associ-
Award nomination for Best Cinematogra- Nike, Audi, Guinness and Spectrum. ate members, ASC and AC staff, and
phy. His work on the feature also earned Born in San Francisco, Laxton supporters of the Society and the maga-
Laxton an ASC Award nomination for attended Florida State University, where zine gathered for the annual ASC and
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematog- he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. American Cinematographer party at the
raphy in a Theatrical Release, a Film Inde- Today, he is based in Los Angeles. KISS by Monster Mini Golf course in the
pendent Spirit Award, a Los Angeles Crit- Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. This year’s
ics Association Award, a National Society ASC, AC Active at NAB festivities were sponsored by the Tiffen
of Film Critics Award, and a New York Film The annual National Association of Co., which dressed the attendees in
NAB photos courtesy of the NAB Show.

Critics Award. Broadcasters Show took place in April in custom “safety” vests that, under the 18-
Laxton recently reteamed with Las Vegas, and the ASC and AC were busy hole course’s black lights, glowed nearly
Jenkins for If Beale Street Could Talk (AC throughout the event. Among other as brightly as the ASC’s storied history.
Jan. ’19), based on the novel by James activities, Society members Dean
Baldwin. Laxton’s cinematography was Cundey, Dana Gonzales, Jon Joffin and For further coverage and addi-
again nominated for several awards. James Neihouse participated in a series tional news, visit theasc.com/ac/news.
The cinematographer’s earlier of 100th-anniversary-themed panels u
work includes Medicine for Melancholy, hosted by the Tiffen Co. and moderated
which earned him his first Film Indepen- by AC managing editor Jon Witmer; ASC

126 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 CLOSE-UP
Suki Medencevic, ASC, ASBiH, SAS

When you were a child, what film made the sunrise and sunset scenes. Heavy rain started in
strongest impression on you? the morning and lasted all day. Everybody was
Apocalypse Now and Enter the Dragon. convinced that we would never get to shoot the
sunset scene, but I kept insisting that we would,
Which cinematographers, past or present, do and that we should keep rehearsing. While the
you most admire? rain was still pouring, the sun dipped under the
Jaroslav Kučera, and ASC members Vittorio clouds and created the most amazing sunset I
Storaro, Roger Deakins and Chivo. have ever seen. The camera was ready and the
actors were on their marks — and since this was
What sparked your interest in photography? a dream sequence, the rain added a surreal
In high school, I was interested in astrophotogra- effect we would never have thought of.
phy. Gradually, I started taking pictures of
people, landscapes, and anything that would catch my attention. In Have you made any memorable blunders?
my hometown — Derventa, Bosnia and Herzegovina — we had a Every day on the set there are some blunders on a small scale,
very active photography club where we shared our ideas and inspi- which I manage to resolve and nobody is aware of. So far, there has
rations. not been a big one.

Where did you train and/or study? What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received?
I started my cinematography education in Belgrade, Serbia, at the A friend who is a seasoned cinematographer told me shortly after I
School of Dramatic Arts — FDU. After three years, I continued my came to the U.S., ‘If you want to be a cinematographer, don’t waste
education at FAMU, a national film school in Prague, Czech Republic. your time doing anything else.’

Who were your early teachers or mentors? What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
I was fortunate to study under some great European cinematogra- The Smell of Film Emulsion — or Miris Filmske Trake — an autobiog-
phers. In Belgrade at FDU: Milorad Marković and Predrag Popović. In raphy by renowned Bosnian cinematographer, and dear friend,
Prague at FAMU: Jan Kališ [ACK]; Jaromir Šofr [ACK]; and Jaroslav Mustafa Mustafic. And Born to Ice, a photography book by Paul
Kučera. Nicklen.

What are some of your key artistic influences? Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to try?
Since my early days, photography has been an important source of Fantasy stories and fairytales have always inspired me. I am also
inspiration — and I’ve admired the works of such classic masters as interested in exploring VR as a new medium.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Ansel
Adams. When I was first discovering cinematography, I was equally If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing
influenced by cinematographers Sergei Urusevsky, Yuri Ilyenko, instead?
Sven Nykvist [ASC], Vittorio Storaro [ASC, AIC] and Jaroslav Kučera I would be a photographer, for sure — but a chef or a musician is a
from Europe, and [ASC members] Gregg Toland, Conrad Hall and possibility.
Haskell Wexler from the U.S. But the film that made the strongest
impact, and inspired me to become a cinematographer, was Blade Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for member-
Runner and the work of Jordan Cronenweth [ASC]. ship?
Jacek Laskus, Phedon Papamichael and Christian Sebaldt.
How did you get your first break in the business?
After graduating from FAMU, I came to the U.S. to pursue a career How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
as a director of photography. Francis Ford Coppola’s editor Anne Being an ASC member is a great honor and a responsibility to deliver
Goursaud was transitioning into directing, and she brought me in for the highest standard in cinematography. It is also a great opportu-
the movie Embrace of the Vampire with Alyssa Milano, Jennifer Tilly nity to meet some of the world’s leading cinematographers and to
Photo by Leslie Iwerks.

and Martin Kemp. participate in the exchange of ideas, and in the many activities
within the ASC. Being a part of the International Committee at the
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project? ASC has given me the opportunity to be involved in many projects
During production of the Taiwanese film In a Strange City, shot in focused on strengthening our global cinematography community.
the Philippines, we were at a location by the ocean to film the u

128 June 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary