Cinematography

Surviving the Night

Wed, 08/10/2016 - 09:57 -- Nick Dager

When Luke Sauer, veteran director of photography of reality television production, including Wives with Knives and I (Almost) Got Away with It, was selected to shoot the Lasso he knew it would involve a lot of night shoots. Lasso, a survive the night thriller directed by Evan Cecil, centers around senior community center workers Kit (Lindsey Morgan) and Simon (Andrew Jacobs), whose lives are turned upside when they find themselves fighting to stay alive against a group of bloodthirsty cowboys from the local rodeo. Lasso is his first feature project. Currently in post-production, the film is slated for an early 2017 release.

Creating a 4K Master for Quality

Wed, 06/29/2016 - 15:29 -- Nick Dager

Director/DP Hal Long had a challenge. “The producers (including Bill Rogin and Cole Klapman) are committed to having a 4K master for residual use,” Long said. “And for season two, I wanted a 4K camera that would deliver better color accuracy and separation.” Long, a longtime user of Panasonic P2 cameras said that was why both seasons of Gunny Time were shot and finished in 4K with Panasonic VariCam 35 4K cinema camera/recorders.

ASC Names Kees Van Oostrum President

Wed, 06/15/2016 - 11:46 -- Nick Dager

The Board of Governors of the American Society of Cinematographers has elected Kees Van Oostrum to serve as president of the organization. This is Oostrum’s first term, which will run for one year, beginning immediately. The ASC Board also selected its slate of officers. They include: Bill Bennett, Dean Cundey and Lowell Peterson as vice presidents; Levi Isaacs as treasurer; Fred Goodich as secretary; and Roberto Schaefer as sergeant-at-arms.

Panavision Integrates Cooke’s /i Technology

Wed, 06/15/2016 - 11:38 -- Nick Dager

Panavision has joined the growing list of companies to support Cooke Optics’ /i Technology , pledging to build support for Cooke Optics’ /i Technology protocol into its portfolio in the future. Cooke's /i Technology is an open metadata protocol that enables film and digital cameras to automatically record key lens data for every frame shot and provide it to post-production teams digitally.

Storaro Receives Cine Gear’s Top Honor

Mon, 06/13/2016 - 14:01 -- Nick Dager

Cine Gear Expo proved once again to be Hollywood’s pre-eminent gathering for members of the top motion picture, video and new media community to see the latest industry art, technology and trends. This year did not disappoint the nearly 16,000 attendees. Highlighting the 2016 Special Screenings was Vittorio Storaro being honored with Cine Gear’s Cinematography Lifetime Achievement Award.

Crafting a Classic New York Romance

Fri, 06/03/2016 - 11:43 -- Nick Dager

Post work for director Rebecca Miller’s new romantic comedy Maggie’s Plan, currently in wide release from Sony Pictures Classics, was a labor of love for Technicolor PostWorks New York. A long-time supporter of independent film, the facility furnished suites and systems to picture editor Sabine Hoffman and her crew. It also provided resources for dailies processing, editorial finishing, color grading, sound mixing and deliverables. The project involved months of concentrated effort, spanning pre-production through the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Guardians 2 Turns to Red 8K, Codex

Thu, 04/07/2016 - 13:30 -- Nick Dager

Director James Gunn is using Red’s 8K Weapon camera on Marvel’s latest cosmic adventures in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2. Behind-the-scenes, Codex workflow systems, operated by Santa Monica, London and Atlanta based production services company Shed, are enabling the smooth and speedy transition of a river of 8K data from on-set into post production. The cinematographer on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is Henry Braham BSC, who previously used Red Epic cameras on The Legend of Tarzan. He is one of the first DPs to deploy the new Red Weapon camera, fitted with the 8K Red Dragon sensor, on a long-form show, describing it as “the little big camera. Perfectly counterintuitive. And perfect for this production.”

A Strong Optical Personality

Mon, 04/04/2016 - 11:08 -- Nick Dager

When director of photography Julián Apezteguia, ADF (La Asociación de Autores de Fotografía Cinematográfica Argentina — Argentinian Society of Cinematographers) got the chance to work with director Pablo Trapero for the second time, on the director's latest film El Clan — a dark story set in the 1980's about a family of kidnappers and murderers — they used a full range of Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses to give the film a “strong optical personality.”

The Spring: Single Camera VR

Mon, 03/21/2016 - 13:54 -- Al Caudullo

I recently worked as a camera operator on a VR feature called The Spring. The first question of many questions that I had for Greg Passmore, owner of Passmore Labs, Austin, Texas was, “When you are shooting a 3D 360 degree VR movie in a cave where at times you are perilously close to the top of the caves due to the water level, where do you position the crew?” His reply threw me off guard. He said, “Anywhere I want.” It was then that he told me he was shooting with one Red Epic camera. The question then was, how?

Shooting Widescreen

Mon, 03/21/2016 - 12:38 -- Nick Dager

Cinematographer Adam Stone and director Jeff Nichols have been close collaborators since film school and share the same sensibilities, particularly with their preference for the anamorphic format. “Not knowing any better, we shot our first low-budget indie, Shotgun Stories (2007), in widescreen,” Stone said. “That film did better than expected, and we attributed some of its success to the format—widescreen added a weight and elegant stateliness to the story.”

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