American Cinematographer - April 2016 PDF

APRIL 2016
AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER APRIL 2016 VILMOS ZSIGMOND, ASC, HSC HASKELL WEXLER, ASC BATMAN V SUPERMAN PRACTICAL OPTICS: SENSOR SIZES VOL. 97 NO. 4
A P R I L 2 0 1 6 V O L . 9 7 N O . 4
An International Publication of the ASC
On Our Cover: AC salutes the lives and legacies of ASC members Haskell Wexler and
Vilmos Zsigmond. (Photos courtesy of the ASC archives.)
FEATURES
38 Carrying Cinemas Flag
20
Colleagues and collaborators remember

Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, HSC
54 Rebel With a Camera

Family, friends and comrades-in-arms pay tribute to
Haskell Wexler, ASC
72 A Clash of Titans 28
Larry Fong, ASC pits hero against hero in
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
90 Practical Optics: Testing Different Sensor Sizes

Benjamin B examines the relationship between sensor size,
camera position, focal length and angle of view
72
DEPARTMENTS
10 Editors Note
12 Presidents Desk
14 Short Takes: Nocturnes
20 Production Slate: 11.22.63 Ghost Adventures 90
100 New Products & Services
114 International Marketplace
115 Classified Ads
116 Ad Index
118 Clubhouse News
120 ASC Close-Up: Jamie Anderson
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM
A P R I L 2 0 1 6 V O L . 9 7 N O . 4
Web Exclusive
Jake Polonsky, BSC

on shooting the Showtime series
Billions
Billions photos by Jeff Neumann, courtesy of Showtime. Jake Polonsky, BSC photo courtesy of the cinematographer.
Plus blogs by
John Bailey, ASC Johns Bailiwick
Benjamin B The Film Book
David Heuring Parallax View
www.theasc.com
A p r i l 2 0 1 6 V o l . 9 7 , N o . 4
Visit us online at www.theasc.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER
Stephen Pizzello

EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andrew Fish
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Rachael K. Bosley, John Calhoun, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray,
Jay Holben, Noah Kadner, Debra Kaufman, Iain Marcks, Jean Oppenheimer, Phil Rhodes, Patricia Thomson

ART & DESIGN
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer
PHOTO EDITOR Kelly Brinker

ONLINE
PODCASTS Jim Hemphill, Iain Stasukevich, Chase Yeremian
BLOGS
Benjamin B
John Bailey, ASC
David Heuring
WEB DEVELOPER Jon Stout

ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann
323-936-3769 Fax 323-936-9188 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
CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez
SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal

ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman
ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost
ASC PRESIDENTS ASSISTANT Delphine Figueras
ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely

American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 96th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by
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6
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 - 2015/2016
Richard Crudo
President
Owen Roizman
Vice President
Kees van Oostrum
Vice President
Lowell Peterson
Vice President
Matthew Leonetti
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky
Sergeant-at-Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Bill Bennett
Richard Crudo
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
Fred Elmes
Michael Goi
Victor J. Kemper
Isidore Mankofsky
Daryn Okada
Lowell Peterson
Robert Primes
Owen Roizman
Rodney Taylor
Kees van Oostrum
ALTERNATES
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Kenneth Zunder
Francis Kenny
John C. Flinn III
Steven Fierberg
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
8
Editors Note This months issue honors a pair of ASC icons whose
legacy as cinematographers is equaled by their contribu-
tions to the Society, dedicated mentorship of students, and
passionately held principles. Over the course of their illus-
trious careers, Vilmos Zsigmond and Haskell Wexler
brought vision, insight and integrity to their achievements,
both onscreen and off.
Their artistry will live on, and was duly saluted by their
peers. Collectively, Vilmos and Haskell earned three
Academy Awards and six other Oscar nominations, two
ASC Lifetime Achievement Awards, two more career-
achievement honors from Camerimage, an Emmy Award
and two additional Emmy nominations. Their film titles
alone inspire awe and immense gratitude among all movie
lovers: McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer
Hunter, Medium Cool, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Bound for Glory, Matewan, and
many more.
I had the great privilege to know these singular cinematographers personally, and I can
assure you they lived up to their legends. Vilmos was a savvy Hollywood veteran who knew
all the angles, but also a kind, soft-spoken ambassador of cinema; his sandpapery accent was
always a welcome sound that carried the promise of good movie talk and memorable recol-
lections of a very colorful career. Haskell, as his reputation contends, was a strong and willful
firebrand who spat vinegar till his final days, whether the topic at hand was film history or
politics and current events. Sitting next to him at ASC board meetings was like being next to
a dormant cobra that would suddenly spring forth when provoked, but I also appreciated his
wry sense of humor and his compassionate concern for humanity and the common good.
The two died within days of each other, prompting consecutive waves of praise and
fond regards. To further celebrate their memories, our team of AC writers and editors sought
observations from as many friends and collaborators as we could get on the record. Hopefully,
the resulting tributes will reveal more of the qualities that made both Vilmos (Carrying
Cinemas Flag, page 38) and Haskell (Rebel With a Camera, page 54) true luminaries.
Also in this issue, two comic-book heroes go toe to toe in Batman v Superman: Dawn
of Justice, shot by ASC member Larry Fong. This super-powered smackdown presented Fong
and his crew with a variety of epic setups envisioned by director Zack Snyder, who relished
the collaboration. Larry is an amazingly receptive person, Snyder tells Iain Marcks (A Clash
of Titans, page 72). He understands my point of view, even as Im formulating it.
The magazines senior European correspondent, Benjamin B, still has a students hunger
for study, and his piece Practical Optics: Testing Different Sensor Sizes (page 90) marks the
first in a series of introductory articles on optics. In summarizing the purpose of this primer,
he notes, There is a current trend toward shooting with sensors larger than the Super 35mm
standard, with cameras such as the Red Dragon and the Arri Alexa 65. The goal of the tests
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
presented here is to explore how a different sensor size might change the look of a given
composition, and in particular its perspective and depth of field.
We hope that this practical lesson, juxtaposed with the wisdom bequeathed to us by
Vilmos and Haskell, will enrich your own visual ambitions.
Stephen Pizzello
10 Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
Presidents Desk
One morning a couple of weeks ago I started my day by watching the last 15 minutes of a movie Id
dozed off on the night before. It was originated on 35mm film and played back in Blu-ray format on
a 52" television. A few hours later I found myself in a colleagues office having a look at some Super
8 footage optically projected on the wall. In the afternoon during lunch, I was casually shown a
sequence from Lawrence of Arabia on a friends mobile phone, which gave way to scenes from an
episode of the Showtime series Billions on the same persons iPad. Then, that evening, I attended a
demonstration of an amazing new technology at the Imax headquarters in Playa Del Ray. The large-
format material was laser-projected onto a screen 60' wide and 40' high. And did I mention that it
was in 3D?
Save for an encounter with a virtual-reality rig which could easily have been arranged
this otherwise unremarkable day exposed me to as wide an array of image-delivery systems as
currently exists. Clearly, the local movie theater is no longer the only place to go for a meaningful
viewing experience, but thats been true since television began its march toward ubiquity more than
60 years ago. Tell the truth: Is there really anyone left who regrets the passing of that single-option
tyranny?
Certainly not among the modern audience. Its fascinating to consider how quickly they have
embraced so many changes in their viewing habits. But when everyone has the ability to watch whatever they want whenever and
wherever they like, it cant help but have an effect on the way cinematographers approach what they do. Most of us have adapted
quite easily. I tell the ones who havent to get over it. The multitude of platforms through which our work can be presented is the
reality of todays world. And we dont just need to be a part of that world, we need to drive it.
An important step in that direction would be to stop thinking about cinema as something rooted in a large, dark room full
of people. If youre not sure about that, talk to any young person. They just dont care! To them, the term cinema itself smacks of
the ancient and weatherworn. Today, audiences exist anywhere and everywhere. Since they ultimately dictate everything we do, we
must put aside antiquated thinking and accept that the numerous gradations between Imax and iPhone are all equally important.
We must also think differently about our cinematographic history. For more than a decade we have rarely had the chance to
live with new developments long enough to truly understand them, to make them our own; this is often the cause of those ridiculous
conversations about how much better things were in the past. While it remains important for us to know what went before, we no
longer need to cling to that legacy out of habit or reflex. We also dont need to strictly classify things as good or bad, because there
is an audience for everything. All bets are off these days, and sometimes just knowing or understanding the past is enough for us to
keep our work honest and effective.
A further unintended consequence of digital technology has been to reduce the distance between artist and audience. Never
was this made more apparent to me than on a dreary winter afternoon this past November when I sat on a panel with Vittorio
Storaro, ASC, AIC at the Camerimage International Film Festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland. At one point I floated the notion that it would
be immoral to watch his work in Apocalypse Now one of the big-screen masterpieces if there ever was one on an iPhone.
The reaction against that by the predominantly youthful audience was staggering and completely correct. I changed my mind
about the issue right there on the spot. With a few months distance from that moment, I cant believe I ever harbored a different
point of view.
As the bulb lit up, I realized that intent is all that matters. Some may find this frightening, but it actually strengthens the cine-
matographers position. Instead of one canvas thats controlled by a small group of people, we now have many canvases that can be
controlled by anyone. But theyre not united by technology theyre united by our creative spark.
If we ever enjoyed an equivalent of the decisive moment, thats over. Were now living in something much more interesting:
Photo by Dana Phillip Ross.
the constant moment.

Still a bit reluctant? Think again. Then get over it.
Richard P. Crudo
ASC President
12 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Short Takes
California artist Eric Merrell crafts abstract desertscapes by moonlight in Joshua Tree National Park in the documentary short Nocturnes.
I Shot in the Dark

By Matt Mulcahey
thing was shot in completely natural light, and the [images shot] at
night looked really interesting.
Nocturnes cinematographer Ryan Carmody, however, was
When night falls in the desert, it becomes almost an entirely skeptical. I couldnt even remember the last time I had used a [stills
new world, says California artist Eric Merrell in the documentary camera] for video, he says. I was definitely a little leery.
short Nocturnes. My goal with painting is to try and capture the Before committing to the a7S, Carmody wanted to shoot
feeling and experience of being in the desert rather than just repli- tests to determine the cameras boundaries. Los Angeles-based
cating the location itself. The same can be said of Nocturnes, a rental and production house Stray Angel Films provided the camera,
mood piece produced for the Los Angeles Review of Books that a set of Canon L-series lenses, and all the accessories needed to turn
follows Merrell into Joshua Tree National Park as he crafts his abstract the pint-sized a7S into an ergonomically practical video camera
desertscapes by moonlight. including a Movcam Cage and top handle, an IDX V-Mount battery-
Director Alec Ernest first became aware of Merrells nocturnal adapter plate, and an Arri Mini Follow Focus.
painting habits from the artists brother Jesse Merrell, a graphic Hoping to escape the luminance of Los Angeles and replicate
designer with whom Ernest previously worked on several produc- the conditions of the desert, Carmody headed up the Pacific Coast
tions. The notion of shooting in the desert at night immediately Highway to Malibu. With Jesse Merrell standing in to provide a skin-
appealed to Ernest. I love Joshua Tree, he says. Its one of the tone reference, Carmody sampled the cameras ISO options all the
All images courtesy of the filmmakers.
most beautiful places Ive ever been. Im always the guy who wants way up to the maximum of 409,600. We were pushing the camera
to go on a night hike there. So in that respect, Eric and I have a lot to see how far we could take it, and I think we were all very
in common. surprised, the cinematographer notes. Then I gave the footage to
Capturing Merrell at work with nothing but moonlight to Brandon so he could color it and determine how much noise reduc-
expose the image posed a technical quandary. Ernest discussed the tion we could put on the footage and how much he could lift the
challenge with Nocturnes colorist Brandon Chavez, who proposed a blacks.
solution: Sonys a7S, a 12-megapixel mirrorless stills/video camera After consulting with Chavez, Carmody settled on 12,800
with a full-frame sensor known for its uncanny performance in low ISO as the cameras night-exterior sweet spot. To reach that sweet
light. A friend of mine owns an a7S, and he had just shown me spot, the shoot was scheduled on a weekend with a full moon, and
some things he shot on a trip to Vietnam, Chavez recalls. Every- the a7S was outfitted with a PL mount in order to shoot at T1.3 with

Carmodys set of Zeiss Super Speed Mark 2
lenses. Occasionally Carmody would
change the shutter from 180 to 225
degrees to gain extra exposure. Addition-
ally, to take advantage of the a7Ss ability to
shoot uncompressed 4K ProRes files to an
external recorder, an Atomos Shogun was
used with SanDisk 480GB Extreme Pro SSD
drives for digital capture.
Principal photography spanned
three days with a skeleton crew of
Carmody, Ernest and Jesse Merrell, the
latter of whom Ernest taught to record
sound for the shoot. During the day, the
crew scouted locations as Eric Merrell
provided a tour of his preferred Joshua Tree
painting spots. At dusk, they returned to
shoot. The locations were sometimes as far
as 45 minutes apart. A few required a
15-to-20-minute hike from the nearest
accessible road. We wanted to find spots
that were more secluded, Ernest says. If
you go off the road a little bit, you can get
to where you dont see anything man-
made.
Carmody, for one, didnt mind the
hikes. I like doing jobs like that, where its
just me and the director, and hes carrying
the tripod and Im carrying the camera and
a backpack full of lenses, he says. Some-
times its nice to be that small.
One thing Carmody didnt have to
lug through the desert was lighting units.
We didnt have any lights with us no
LED panels or anything, the cinematogra-
pher explains. It was purely moonlight.
Occasionally the clouds would roll in
throughout the night, and if it was pretty
thick cloud cover, wed have to stop shoot-
ing because we would lose quite a bit of
light. Then wed have to wait for the moon
to peak out again.
Additional illumination was provided
by Eric Merrells practical lights a head-
lamp, plus two small LED lights on flexible
arms mounted to his easel. The cameras
low-light capabilities were so pronounced
that Carmody filtered the easel lights with
neutral-density gels to knock down their
intensity. I was pretty amazed to find that
you could see more detail through the
camera than you could with your eye,
Top: Merrell on location in the desert. Middle: The artist sits down for an interview in his garage studio. Carmody says. Even Erics one headlamp
Bottom: One of Merrells desert paintings. would light up a significant part of the land-
scape in the wide shots.

Duvetyn and lit with a 650-watt Arri Fresnel
adorned with 250 Half White Diffusion and
1 2 CTB to create the feel of moonlight.
In post, the original 4K camera files

were transcoded to ProRes LT files for offline
editing in Final Cut Pro 7. Chavez then
performed his color grade in Blackmagic
Designs DaVinci Resolve 11 for a final
output of 1080p ProRes 4:4:4:4.
The main thing that Alec was
concerned with was marrying all the
footage together, Chavez says. We had
to connect scenes that were shot at differ-
ent parts of the night and had different
levels of light into a seamless piece.
A film emulation LUT and minimal
noise reduction were added, but only a
slight lifting of the shadows was necessary.
We didnt really end up lifting the levels
much, Ernest says. In fact, there were
discussions of having to actually darken
things artificially because we wanted it to
feel dark and the camera was exposing too
well.
Carmody was impressed enough by
the a7S to re-enlist the camera a few
months later on a commercial for McLaren,
shot in Spain. Again, the task was to collect
footage in the desert under the watchful
eye of a full moon. This time, the a7S
worked alongside an Arri Alexa.
I had the Alexa attached to a Flight
Head, and I just mounted the a7S on top of
the Alexa, Carmody recounts. We were
driving through the desert at night, and we
Top: Merrell paints at night, using the full moon, a headlamp and two small LEDs for illumination. had the Alexa at 6 fps at 1,600 ISO so that
Bottom: Cinematographer Ryan Carmody readies the camera, while Jesse Merrell the image would be really blurry and
provides a source.
streaky. Then we shot the a7S at 24 frames
and 12,800 ISO, and a few shots from the
For those wide shots, Carmody typi- our shoes, Carmody says. Alec seemed to a7S made it in [the final cut]. I wouldnt
cally opted for the 18mm Super Speed. For get it the worst for some reason. Every time have even tried that if I hadnt experimented
close-ups, he preferred the 35mm. Most we turned around, Alec had some bit of with the a7S on Nocturnes. The camera
shots were achieved on a tripod, a conces- something stuck to his leg or in his foot. definitely has its niche.
sion to the cameras issues with rolling shut- There were no such hazards on To watch Nocturnes, visit lareviewof
ter. We tried to find out all of the cameras Nocturnes one additional day of shooting books.org/essay/nocturnes-the-paintings-
weaknesses during our test shoot and avoid an afternoon of b-roll and a sit-down of-eric-merrell.
them, Carmody says. Aesthetically, we interview with Merrell in the artists garage
wanted to shoot a lot of the piece on sticks studio. For the interview, Carmody used the
and be very still and quiet; so, creatively, not garages skylight as a key and softened the
moving the camera much fit the film. It was sunlight with a 4'x4' frame of 250 Half
the perfect little camera for this shoot. White Diffusion. He also employed 4'x4'
Avoiding rolling-shutter issues was floppies for negative fill. For a montage of
easier than avoiding the perils of the desert, Merrells paintings, Carmody set the a7S to
particularly Joshua Trees abundant cacti. stills mode and shot raw; the paintings were
At some point all of us got cacti stuck in suspended in front of a background of

Production Slate
High-school
English teacher
Jake Epping
(James Franco,
left) is tasked by
Al Templeton
(Chris Cooper) to
travel back in
time to prevent
the JFK
assassination in
the eight-part
limited series
11.22.63.
I Rewriting History
By Kevin Barnes
mandate, and Kevin and I came up with the 2:1 [aspect ratio] idea
and sold it to Hulu, says Katznelson, who luckily thought it was a
good idea. With these parameters in mind, the decision was made
Adapted from Stephen Kings novel of the same title, to go with a Red Epic Dragon. Images were recorded in 5K for spher-
11.22.63 is an eight-part limited series produced by J.J. Abrams Bad ical and 6K for anamorphic, and at an 8:1 compression ratio on
11.22.63 photos by Ben Mark Holzberg and Sven Frenzel, courtesy of Hulu.
Robot for Warner Bros. and Hulu. Jake Epping (James Franco) is a 512GB RedMag SSD cards.
high-school English teacher tasked by Al Templeton (Chris Cooper) to The cinematographers employed an extensive lens package,
travel back in time to prevent the JFK assassination. A supply closet which primarily included sphericals for present-day scenes and
in Als diner serves as a portal to 1960 more than three years anamorphics for period work. The spherical package consisted of
before the fateful day. Forced to blend into a decades-old era, Epping Cooke Speed Panchros (S2s and S3s), Zeiss Super and Standard
embarks on a journey of subterfuge, murder and love. Speeds, and an Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm (T2.8) zoom.
Longtime colleagues David Katznelson, BSC, DFF and Adam Anamorphic lenses consisted of Vantage Films Hawk V-Lite and C-
Suschitzky, BSC photographed the pilot and remaining seven Series lenses and an anamorphosized Angenieux HR 50-500mm
episodes, respectively. Katznelson, known for his work on Downton (T5.1) zoom. While period delineation was an overarching motiva-
Abbey and Game of Thrones, came to the project by way of pilot tion, lenses were also chosen for specific purposes within each era.
director Kevin Macdonald, with whom he has enjoyed a working The Super Speeds, at T1.3, showed their strengths in the pilots low-
history in commercials. Suschitzky was busy shooting The Whispers light setups, and the Panchros warm, rich softness in modern
for Amblin when he was recommended to 11.22.63 showrunner settings provided a subtle contrast when paired with period footage
Bridget Carpenter. The two cinematographers collaborated on many shot with anamorphic glass. Zooms were limited to the pilot, but
key decisions, such as camera format and lenses. Crediting Katznel- were employed for scenes set in both the 60s and the present day.
son for his generosity, Suschitzky notes, He respected that I had a Additionally, Katznelson leaned on the V-Lite 35mm, 45mm and
long journey to take, and he wanted me involved. It was a new, 55mm in the anamorphic range, and the Super Speed 25mm and
enjoyable experience and a real partnership. 35mm for spherical shots.
Film was not in the budget, so the pair discussed several Suschitzky photographed the lions share of the 1960s
methods of digital capture. Hulu had weighed in with a 4K delivery scenes and most of the anamorphic work. Episode two was a really

to sit in a less-stylized way in comparison to
the rest of the show. For period work, the
cinematographer referenced photographs
by Robert Frank and Fred Herzog.
Top: Epping and
Bill Turcotte The portal in Als Diner serves as
(George MacKay) ground zero for Eppings adventure. It sits
team up to across the street from the derelict Worumbo
investigate Lee
Harvey Oswald. Mill, which morphs into a thriving hub of
Bottom: blue-collar activity when Epping stumbles
Cinematographer into 1960. The need to marry these two sets
Adam Suschitzky,
BSC (right) prompted production designer Carol Spier
readies a scene to design a fully functional diner from the
with Franco. ground up. Great care was taken to balance
interior and exterior light levels. Three Arri-
max 18Ks were shone through three
20'x20' frames of Rosco Light Grid Cloth
outside the diners bank of windows. Inside,
a Kino Flo Celeb 400Q was used for fill light.
1960s scenes leaned on a classic
look, and handheld was traded for dolly,
crane and Steadicam. Accordingly, Katznel-
sons lighting strategy also shifted to illumi-
nate Epping enjoying his new life while hint-
ing at the dark events to come.
Suschitzky credits Carpenter for
providing him with a richly detailed show
bible months in advance. Visually, he says,
this series goes on a journey with a charac-
ter who comes from modern times and
ends up falling in love in the past, [and] gets
changed by it hugely. Therefore, the visuals
also had to evolve.
He referenced the photographic
work of Saul Leiter, for his use of color;
Gueorgui Pinkhassov, for his bold lighting;
and William Eggleston, for his portrayal of
dark, rich world, he notes. There were On occasion, diopters were used to increase personality through inanimate objects.
low-light night interiors and exteriors. The the lenses close-focusing capability. Motion-picture references were found in
V-Lites, with their characteristic blue flare, Arri/Zeiss Master Primes were incorporated Chinatown (shot by John Alonzo, ASC)
performed well wide open, and their lighter in the series finale for dynamic focus pulling specifically the mise-en-scne, the light-
weight made them well-suited for and to create a dystopian look, as ing, and the use of the camera to proactively
Steadicam and some handheld. The cine- Suschitzky says. Axford adds that Master tell the story and not just document it, he
matographer adds that lens flares were Primes were used only for very specific says. In Cold Blood and Road to Perdition
not something I wanted to do too often, [shots] in which we needed the speed of the (both shot by Conrad L. Hall, ASC) were
as I didnt want the lighting style to be too lens as well as the minimum focus. Work- additional touchstones.
self-conscious. As the series progressed, it horses for Suschitzky were the Standard Suschitzky preferred tungsten lamps
became more of a daylight show, and for Speed 28mm and C-Series 40mm. for the Texas interiors. I wanted the feeling
those scenes he switched to the C-Series, For contemporary scenes, Macdon- of a hot, hard sun that left deep shadows in
which are more nostalgic, slightly softer, ald drew from his documentary experience the spaces, he explains. Colored gels were
warmer, and not as sharp. on such projects as One Day in September kept to a minimum. Night called for Lee
First AC Barrett Axford worked with and Touching the Void (AC March 04), and Cyan 30 for a slightly muddy look, which
Preston Cinema Systems to provide custom employed handheld mode to keep the was mixed with warmer street light
gears for remote-focus motors in order to action fluid, loose and fresh. Katznelson produced with the aid of Lee 147 Apricot.
cover the additional travel spread on the C- posits that the choice of minimal, naturalis- Production design used a subtle palette,
Series lenses (from 34" standard to 112"). tic lighting causes the present-day scenes Suschitzky adds, so the cinematography

did not use any bold or unnatural colors.
Narratively, Suschitzkys 1960s
tended toward what he interpreted as
macabre and sinister. In episode two,
Francos character takes up residence in a
boarding house, where the homeowner,
Arliss Price (Michael ONeill), a World War II
veteran, reluctantly describes the horror by
which he acquired his Bronze Star. ONeills
monologue carries the scene from the
warm glow of sunset to a chilly night inte-
rior, all in one take. Quinton Peeples script
was a gift for a cinematographer,
Suschitzky opines. Here, the cinematogra-
phy is in concert with the dialogue.
For the scene, he and gaffer
Michael L. Hall designed a series of lighting
cues across an array of instruments. The
hero fixture was an Arri T12, which key
grip Robert Daprato rigged to a
Chapman/Leonard Hybrid IV camera dolly.
The lamp was shone through various gobos
and dimmed as the dollys boom was slowly
lowered over the course of two minutes. I
wanted to see the sun move on the wall as
it sank, says Suschitzky. Background rooms
and windows were lit for sunset and night
and transitioned simultaneously. Amid the
changes, there was also the constant of the
practicals, which remained illuminated
throughout the scene. Only the Arri 300s
and Chimera Pancake Lanterns that
augmented them were brought up, causing
the practicals to become more noticeable as
the light around them changed. Two Kino
Flo Celeb 200 LED fixtures were mounted in
a rigged ceiling grid and slowly faded to
zero from their 2,800K sunset setting. Most
tungsten lamps were patched to a 24x2.4K
ETC Sensor portable dimmer pack; the T12
used a Lex 24K dimmer. The entire setup
was controlled via DMX cable and an ETC
Insight 3 lighting console.
One of the hero sets was the Texas
School Book Depository, where Epping
confronts Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel
Webber). The notorious sixth-floor interior
was duplicated in a rented warehouse in
Hamilton. Bluescreen was positioned
outside the sets corner window Oswalds
sniper position and the plates for his POV
were shot from a set constructed on the
Top: Epping travels with Frank Dunning (Josh Duhamel) to the kill floor of a meat-packing plant. roof of the real building in Dallas. Six 18K
Middle: Suschitzky and crew prep the scene at the plant. Bottom: Cinematographer
David Katznelson, BSC, DFF (second from left, pointing) discusses a scene with his crew. Fresnels on Matthews Low Boy Crank-O-
Vators were set up outside the set windows,

Epping and
Turcotte listen in.
bounced into bleached muslin, and back taking a home movie. I studied the DaVinci Resolve 11 by Shane Harris at
through Rosco Light Grid Cloth for ambient Zapruder footage extensively and shot tests Company 3 Los Angeles. Virtual sessions
level. Two Arri M90s played directly through to determine the most authentic look, with the cinematographers were made
opaque side windows on the key side. Five Suschitzky says. I chose Kodak [Vision3] possible by Company 3s London-based
Arri M40s were rigged from grid pipe 250D 7207, combined with a beautiful old suite. Suschitzky asserts that a good grade
outside each window and angled into the Angenieux 9.5-57 16mm zoom, to match hinges on the black levels: Blacks hold the
room to duplicate hard sunlight. Interior the footage from the Sixties. image together and define the shows tone.
sources were limited to a few China hats Katznelson and Suschitzky moni- I work from the principle of a full negative,
with 100-watt bulbs on dimmers. I tored the productions capture process on a so that I can reach into the shadows if
wanted to create a tension here in the clash pair of Sony PVM-1741 OLED monitors, needed.
of 5,600K with 3,200K lighting, while provided by Bling Digital. Having had exten- Similar to his belief that story and
maintaining a threatening atmosphere, sive prep with his digital-imaging techni- character come first, Suschitzky espouses
Suschitzky explains. cian, Erik Greensmith, Katznelson afforded substance over style in the color grade. In
The re-creation of the eponymous the DIT autonomy during the day and the end, he believes a balance was achieved
day in Dealey Plaza was no small feat. preferred to go over the footage after wrap between authorship and subtlety. This
Hundreds of extras in period costume took using Blackmagic Designs DaVinci Resolve show is all about substance, he says. Its
places along the motorcade route. As the 11. Suschitzky opted for an on-set collabo- about history in the making or the
gunshots were fired, the vehicles acceler- ration with his DIT, Robert Stronghill, who remaking.
ated and the extras scattered in a choreo- added LUTs via Pomforts LiveGrade; CDLs
graphed fashion. Suschitzky explains with a were imported into Resolve. Deluxe Toronto TECHNICAL SPECS
laugh, The controlled way of working in provided three 2TB drives for delivery each
Toronto was traded for a more documen- night, which were loaded with RD3 files, 2:1
tary shooting style in Dallas. In fact, CDLs and the Resolve projects for reference. Digital Capture
perched atop the infamous concrete wall, Stronghill rendered 4K H.264 masters from Red Epic Dragon
Suschitzky himself shouldered an Arriflex the previous days work, which Suschitzky Cooke Speed Panchro; Angenieux Optimo;
416 with a taped ground glass marked to often viewed on a 5K Apple iMac on the Zeiss Super Speed, Standard Speed;
the same Super 8 viewing field as the Bell & truck at lunch. Dailies were made available Vantage Film Hawk V-Lite, C-Series;
Arri/Zeiss Master Prime
Howell Model 414PD used by Abraham on an iPad at video village and on the
Zapruder, the man who inadvertently Deluxe website.
captured the actual assassination while Final color was performed on

Right to left:
Executive
producer Zak
Bagans,
cinematographer
Jay Wasley, and
operators Aaron
Goodwin and
Billy Tolley
investigate
allegedly
haunted
locations around
the world on
Travel Channels
Ghost
Adventures.
I Shooting Specters footage captured by Bagans and his team Im seeing when Im there.
Ghost Adventures unit photography by Ashley Wasley, courtesy of Travel Channel. Additional images by Aaron Goodwin.
By Kelly Brinker during their overnight investigation. Every location presents a unique
Under Bagans direction, the series story that thrusts the crew into a rigorous,
It all started in an apartment near style and production value have continually fast-paced, run-and-gun production sched-
Detroit. Zak Bagans, then a film student at evolved. Each location we investigate has ule without a script to serve as a guide.
the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan, its own unique story and energy that I Bagans first receives a one sheet from
had a ghostly encounter that sent him on a absorb, he explains. I then interpret that researcher Jeff Belanger with a brief descrip-
quest to prove the existence of the paranor- experience into the tone of each episode. tion of the location and the names of the
mal. For the first half of the show, the re-enact- people he will interview. From there, the
Teaming up with camera operator ments create the mood and buildup. Then story is developed once the crew arrives at
Aaron Goodwin, Bagans set out to investi- we take the viewers on the lockdown with the location.
gate supposedly haunted locations through- us, as we share our passion for the raw, The production is divided between
out Nevada for the 2004 documentary bare-bones investigating of the paranor- two crews. Bagans runs the A crew
Ghost Adventures. Shot with a Panasonic mal. which focuses on the interviews and the
AG-DVX100A and onboard lights, the One of Bagans chief stylistic inspira- lockdown investigations with cine-
documentary won the Grand Jury Prize for tions is director Terrence Malicks The Thin matographer and audio-visual tech Jay
Best Documentary Feature from the New Red Line, shot by John Toll, ASC (AC Feb. Wasley on A camera, Goodwin on B camera
York International Independent Film and 99). Malick took scenes of brutality and and Billy Tolley on C camera. The B crew is
Video Festival in 2006 and first aired on the then hit you with a contrasting philosophical led by one of four producer-editors, working
Sci-Fi Channel the following year. Travel narration over long, drawn-out shots of alongside cinematographer Mike Stodden,
Channel then commissioned a weekly series Mother Nature, Bagans describes. These who operates the main camera for the B
of the same name. Bagans continues to narrations with the visuals metaphorically crew, and Louis Zieja, who handles the
serve as the executive producer, director and speak to the deeper spirit of life, no matter second camera. The B crew focuses on re-
lead paranormal investigator for the show, the situation. So when Im at a location and enactments and b-roll footage.
which is currently in its 12th season. Im hearing that 200 people died from The A crew and the producer arrive
Each episode of Ghost Adventures is tuberculosis in this sanatorium, Ill stop for a at the location first to conduct the inter-
presented as a short documentary focused moment and do these shots of Mother views for the top of the show. Goodwin and
on a single location. The first half of the Nature, the trees swaying, the overcast sky. Wasley each operate a Canon Cinema EOS
episode covers the history and eyewitness We assemble these images together to C300, recording to CompactFlash at 23.98
accounts of the locations hauntings, with convey a philosophical thought through a fps and 1920x1080 resolution, and paired
on-site interviews, re-enactments and b-roll very moody, tonal narration so the audience with a variety of Canon L-series zoom
footage; the second half comprises the can really feel what Im feeling and see what lenses. When needed, they light the scene

using portable, battery-operated Ikan
IB508-v2 Bi-Color LED fixtures. Those are
definitely our go-to lights, explains Wasley.
You can take them to locations and not
have to worry about a power source.
Theyre small, compact and easy to set up.
And their color balance is adjustable, so you
can easily go from daylight to tungsten. We
also usually travel with a small Arri kit that
includes a couple 300s and a 650.
Wasley and Goodwin both use
customized shoulder mounts. I like to call it
a Frankenstein rig, explains Wasley.
Goodwin adds, We take different pieces
from different mounts [and] customize it
into what is right for us. Mine is customized
so I can set the camera in any position and
use [the rig] as a tripod on the ground if I
Top: Bagans operates
need to. Were on the fly and we dont
and monitors the know whats going to happen until we get
Clown Motel footage there, so it helps to have equipment that
captured by the DJI
S1000 octocopter,
works with our guerrilla style.
while Tolley and For the C camera, Tolley uses a
Wasley observe the Canon XF105, again recording 23.98 fps,
drone. Middle: The DJI
Phantom 3 Professional
1920x1080-resolution files to Compact-
drone uses a Flash. During an interview, Im like a free-
proprietary camera floating creeper, he explains. Ill literally
that shoots up to 4K.
Bottom: Goodwin sets
get in a bush and rack focus from the leaves
up his Canon Cinema in the foreground to whats going on in the
EOS C300, which is interview, creating a POV shot that looks like
affixed to his shoulder
mount and placed atop
youre creeping into the conversation.
a tripod. Tolley also serves as the main aerial
photographer. Over the past three years
we have been using drones, he reveals.
The crew started with DJIs Phantom 1
Professional drone fitted with a GoPro
Hero3 camera, and the production recently
upgraded to a Phantom 3 Professional; the
newer model uses a proprietary camera that
shoots up to 4K although the crew typi-
cally records 1920x1080 files on miniSD
cards with an iPad Mini as a monitor.
You actually see what the drone is captur-
ing on the iPad, Tolley adds. It gives you
all kinds of flight specs, tells you the altitude,
overlays a map with GPS and you can do
all kinds of tracking shots.
Tolley also uses his personal DJI
S1000 octocopter with a mounted Canon
EOS 5D Mark III shooting 1920x1080
footage at 24 fps to SD cards on some of
the episodes. During the season-11 episode
Grand Canyon Caverns, the octocopter
was used for a shot that flies over the
Caverns Inn sign and captures the crew

since. The style, he says, continues to
evolve as we try new techniques and incor-
porate more creativity into the b-roll and re-
enactments.
Stodden adds that hes heavily influ-
enced by Owen Roizman, ASCs cinematog-
raphy for The Exorcist (AC Feb. 74). That
film, he says, gets referenced a lot. If a
producer wants to give an example of what
type of shot he wants, many times The Exor-
cist will come up.
For Ghost Adventures 100th
episode, the crew shot on location in the
real St. Louis home where the events that
inspired The Exorcist occurred in 1949. It
was a highlight of my career to be in the
same house, in the same room where that
story actually happened, re-enacting some
of the events that actually took place in that
house, Stodden enthuses.
For the re-enactments, Stodden
shoots with an EOS C300, recording
1920x1080 footage at 23.98 fps to CF
cards, and using Canon L-series zooms.
Zieja predominantly shoots with a 5D Mark
III while capturing time lapses, b-roll footage
and additional re-enactment shots as
needed. Both also use a Sony NEX-FS700U,
especially to capture slow-motion shots at
120 fps and greater; the FS700 records
1920x1080 footage at 23.98 fps to SD
cards. Additionally, they carry a Canon EOS
60D and will even employ an iPhone
using an Olloclip lens system if it gets
them the shot they need. For filtration,
which is used as necessary when exterior
conditions call for it, they have a polarizer
and a set of graduated ND filters.
Top: Goodwin, Wasley and Bagans prep for an interview with former scientologists for an episode
When producer and supervising
called Secret Scientology Lab. Bottom, from right: Tolley, Wasley and Goodwin the latter using a editor Joseph Taglieri runs the B crew, he
motorized slider capture Bagans monologue at the Scientology-lab location. brings his Sony a7S II camera, with which
the crew records at 4K to SD cards. The a7S
driving into the location in classic cars; Tolley formula for shooting. You have to absorb as II is regularly fitted with a Sigma 24-105mm
used it again for the episode Clown Motel much of the environment as you can; you (f4) DG OS HSM zoom lens with a Canon EF
and Goldfield High School, to capture really need to be in a highly creative, intu- mount; Taglieri also carries a Tokina 11-
footage of the motel and aerials of the itive place on every shoot. We have a very 16mm (f2.8) zoom, a Canon EF 100mm
neighboring cemetery. short period of time [two days] to get all Macro (f2.8) and a Lensbaby. At press time,
Upon arrival at the location, the B these shots. the production was planning to add a Sony
crews first order of business is to conduct a The original style for the b-roll and PXW-FS7 to the B crews camera package.
walk-through with the producer, during re-enactments was developed by the shows Like the A crew, the B crew carries
which they discuss the b-roll and re-enact- first cinematographer, Christian Hoagland, an Arri lighting kit with two 650-watt and
ments that will need to be captured based along with Bagans and the producers at MY two 300-watt tungsten units. Stoddens
on Bagans interviews. Every location is Entertainment. Stodden came aboard as a lighting package also includes two Litepan-
different and presents a unique set of chal- director of photography during the third els 1x1 Mono LED Daylight Spots, one
lenges, Stodden explains. There is no season and has been with the show ever Litepanels MiniPlus Daylight Spot dual kit,

and leaves the location, the A crew prepares
for its lockdown. For this portion of the
shoot, Wasley places four Canon XF105s on
robotic heads; the cameras are fed back to
a nerve center, where Wasley monitors
and controls each of them throughout the
overnight shoot. (The XF105s record 29.98
fps, 1920x1080 footage to CompactFlash
cards.) Additionally, Bagans and his team
use Sony HDR-PJ710Vs and HXR-MC50Us
as X cameras inside the location, captur-
ing 29.98-fps footage at 1920x1080 to SD
cards. They also have a GoPro Hero3+
(which records 1080p files to microSD) and
a Canon EOS M2 (which records HD files to
SD cards) both modified for full-spec-
trum shooting as well as a Testo 885
thermal-imaging camcorder, which records
to a tethered laptop.
When the production returns to its
home base in Las Vegas, Tolley serves as
media manager, going through all of the
lockdown footage and earmarking shots for
Bagans review. Using Adobe Premiere Pro,
Bagans and editor Devin Lawrence prepare
the investigation portion of the show and
then send it off to New York, where Taglieri
adds it to his own Premiere Pro timeline,
where hes prepared the history portion of
the episode. All color correction is
performed via Premiere at Broadway Video
in New York, and final deliverables are
output at 1920x1080.
Zak and the crew are extremely
rigorous, says Daniel A. Schwartz, execu-
tive producer for Travel Channel. Theres a
lot of discipline in how they put together
the show and develop a look and even
change the look depending on the mood of
the place. This is a passionate endeavor for
these guys. They love it, and that is why it
works.
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.78:1
Top: Wasley captures Bagans conducting an interview for the episode Chinese Town of Locke. Digital Capture
Bottom: Cinematographer Mike Stodden shoots a demonic scene with the C300 in a remote
Canon Cinema EOS C300, EOS 5D Mark III,
location in Arizona.
EOS 60D, EOS M2, XF105;
Sony NEX-FS700U, HDR-PJ710V,
and a Pepper light kit that includes four motorized sliders. Stodden also likes to use HXR-MC50U, a7S II; GoPro Hero3, Hero3+;
150-watt units with dimmers. a saddlebag for quick slider moves across Testo 885; Apple iPhone
To facilitate camera moves, Stod- smooth surfaces such as hardwood floors or Canon; Tokina; Lensbaby
den and Zieja often employ Dynamic bannisters.
Perceptions Stage One and Stage Zero Once the B crew gets its footage

Carrying Cinemas
Flag
Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, HSC arrived in the United States in 1957 as a
stranger in a strange land. When he died on Jan. 1 at the age of 85, he had
long cemented his position among the masters of American cinema. Here, his
colleagues reminisce about shared projects, shared meals and his boundless
passion for making images and sharing knowledge.
Interviews by Mark Dillon, Andrew Fish, Michael Goldman, Jim Hemphill, Jean Oppenheimer,
Jon Silberg and Jon D. Witmer

John Bailey, ASC (operator on
Winter Kills): Like the cinema migrs
from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Vilmos
escaped an oppressive political power, but Opposite and above:
he brought with him a powerful witness Vilmos Zsigmond,
ASC, HSC behind the
in thousands of feet of film footage to camera. Top left:
indict that society. The courage he Zsigmond portrait
showed during the [Hungarian] by ASC associate
Douglas Kirkland.
Revolution of 1956 continued to inform Bottom: Zsigmonds
his work as an American cinema artist at formula for winning
the forefront of the technical and aesthetic an Oscar.
revolution of the New American Cinema
Images courtesy of the American Society of Cinematographers and the AC archives.
of the 1970s. There is a beautiful, even

sublime irony that many of the most
passionate American movies of that era
were photographed by this foreign-born
and -trained artist as he forged his own him. And that passion was mutual recognizable and intimate as real life
American identity in film after landmark he had a great affection for them, as was the zeitgeist of the day, but Vilmos
film. well. went further. He transformed his
subjects and brought to his photogra-
Richard Crudo, ASC president: James Chressanthis, ASC, phy what he called poetic realism.
Vilmos exploded the boundaries of what GSC (camera intern on The Witches of
cinematographers thought they could do. Eastwick, director on No Subtitles Yuri Neyman, ASC (co-
He was outwardly a gentle soul, but with Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos): Vilmos, founder, with Zsigmond, of the
an iron backbone. Just imagine his deter- along with his cinematic brethren, Global Cinematography Institute):
mination in leaving everything familiar really changed the way movies looked, The humanity in Vilmos images is
and escaping Communist Hungary, and and he raised [the level of ] what the almost unprecedented. We discussed,
then arriving in the United States a total audience expected of cinematography many times, the danger for young cine-
stranger with no idea where or how to in mainstream movies. He consciously matographers to become technological
begin anew. That he made it to the top of brought his own European sensibilities, junkies without understanding the core
his profession is all you need to know and the influence of Italian neorealism, of our profession: the love of humanity
about his drive. Combine that with a the French New Wave and and artistry. The greatest legacy Vilmos
warm and engaging personality, and youll Impressionist painters. Breaking out of would have liked to pass on to the next
also understand why students flocked to the studio and shooting drama as generation of cinematographers is that
www.theasc.com April 2016 39

Carrying Cinemas Flag
of character, love for people, and love for
the art of cinematography.
His love for people is shown in
every film he did, in every frame, in every
lighting and camera setup, starting from
his documentary footage about the night-
marish invasion by the Soviet Army of his
beloved Budapest, and continuing
through his earliest Hollywood days,
when he was called William Zsigmond
and was shooting the classic B-horror
film The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who
Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up
Zombies.
Michael Goi, ASC: A cinematog-

raphers early work defines his or her
artistic abilities. Its what you have
accomplished with no money or
resources, just your imagination and a
camera, that demonstrates whether or not
you have what it takes. When I first saw
Vilmos work in The Sadist, I saw the
same innovation and love of cinema that
I saw in McCabe & Mrs. Miller and
Deliverance. The only thing that had
changed was that the latter movies were
artistic and important, but Vilmos eye
was essentially the same. Vilmos work
has always been important.
As opposed to many low-budget
movies of the time, The Sadist [made use
of ] compositions that would keep multi-
ple characters in the same frame but not
on the same plane, thereby increasing the
tension in the relationships. The effect
of gasoline temporarily blinding the
villain was accomplished very effectively
Top, from left: Frank by sliding a Vaseline-smeared glass in
Gardony, future ASC front of the lens. When one of the female
member Laszlo
Kovacs, Zsigmond,
characters leaves the site of a brutal
producer Ivan Nagy, confrontation, the camera leads her on
an unidentified the dolly, with the antagonist watching
participant and a
sound man shooting
her from behind. It was great cinematog-
a commercial in 1960. raphy doing what it should: telling the
Middle: Zsigmond story and making the audience experience
and director Robert
Altman (the pair on
the world through the character.
the right) on location
in Vancouver for Caleb Deschanel, ASC: Vilmos
McCabe & Mrs.
Miller. Bottom:
first big film, McCabe & Mrs. Miller,
Zsigmond in a made a big impression on me and a lot of
wetsuit operating on other young filmmakers and cinematog-
a camera raft for
Deliverance.
raphers. Vilmos gutsy use of pre-fogging
[or flashing] the film literally expos-

ing the film to a small amount of light, to
soften the image, before it went through
the camera was revolutionary. As a
cinematographer, you always worried
when you sent film to the lab. Did I
expose it properly? Is it in focus? Will the
lab process it properly? Will it be
scratched? All these things were a
mystery until you saw the film in dailies
the next day. To add to that uncertainty
the unknown of pre-fogging the film
seemed crazy.
I never thought about it at the
time, but what was it in Vilmos work that
inspired [director] Robert Altman to hire
him? What did he see in Psycho a Go-Go?
Or Satans Sadists? Or Five Bloody Graves?
Or Horror of the Blood Monsters? Altman
saw something there, or met him and
sensed something under the surface, and
hired him. It is the wonderful serendipity
of art that greatness emerges at unex-
pected times and from unexpected places.
Warren Beatty (actor on McCabe

& Mrs. Miller): Bob [Altman] and
Vilmos were very much in sync. Bob was
very collaborative, and in the improvisa-
tional nature of [McCabe & Mrs. Miller],
it developed as we went along. We didnt
pin down dialogue until late in the game,
and we also had a lot of very interesting
improvised stuff going on with the people
who were in the background and it
worked. The negative was flashed, and
there was some controversy at that time
with the studio, that once you flash it you
cant un-flash it. The studios attitude was,
Are you sure you want to do this? And
the answer was, Yes! I thought it looked
beautiful. Top: Zsigmond
I always had a great affection for shooting a scene
Vilmos. He was heroic. I felt, Wow, for The Long
Goodbye with
when I finally make another movie, Id actors Elliott
love to do it with Vilmos. But unfortu- Gould and Nina
nately it didnt quite work out that way, van Pallandt.
Middle: Zsigmond
because Ive never made a lot of movies. on the set of
He was a very lovable guy, and I really Cinderella Liberty.
enjoyed working with him. Bottom: Goldie
Hawn and
Zsigmond on set
Frederic Goodich, ASC (director for The Sugarland
on Kickstart Theft): The first time I met Express.
this visionary was in 1974. Soon after,
Irby Smith, second AD on McCabe &

Mrs. Miller, gave me Vilmos phone
number. I was thrilled when he invited
me to his house, willing to critique my
efforts at shooting 16mm reversal. I
lugged in a 16mm projector, which we set
on a board across his pool table in the
basement. He watched three educational
shorts Id shot and directed. During the
projection, he made few comments, but
nodded affirmatively several times. As I
was leaving that night, I helped him
trundle several very full trash cans up his
steep driveway from the garage to the
street. He was grateful for that and
seemed impressed with my shooting
efforts; he encouraged me to stay in
touch, which I did.
He was a mentor over the years. I
perceived how Vilmos experimental
nature was evident early on in his career,
and his gutsy approach inspired me: the
use of forced development in Images; the
use of flashing to create an old, faded-
photograph look for McCabe; the
combining of a black-and-white dupe
and its original color negative during
inter-positive printing to desaturate
sections of Deliverance; the unmotivated
moving shots throughout The Long
Goodbye; the dolly-zoom as a way of
masking field-of-view changes; the
extended master shots of Heavens Gate;
the groundbreaking, silent, 35mm
Panaflex camera he hand-held for much
of The Sugarland Express; the poetic real-
ism throughout his favorite film, The
Deer Hunter; and the list goes on.
Steven Poster, ASC (2nd-unit

cinematographer on Close Encounters of
the Third Kind, The Border and The
River): On Close Encounters, they were
rigging the set in the mountain for four
months. They built a scaffold and perma-
nent 120 feet in the air with dozens of
arcs and 10Ks. [The production] said to
Vilmos, Youre going to have to start
shooting on Monday morning. He said,
But I havent turned any lights on. I cant
walk into the biggest set ever built
indoors for a motion picture and not aim
the lights! And they said, The only way
Zsigmond at work during the production of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. we can let you do that is if you let Steven
Poster take over first unit for a day.

Thats what I remember about him:
that intensity. And that was the same kind
of intensity I had and [director] Steven
Spielberg had, and it was great to know
that the crew shared that. He was as much
a creative partner on Close Encounters as
anyone involved. And he was really a great
guy.
Kenneth Nishino (camera assis-

tant on Heavens Gate, Blow Out, Jinxed!,
Table for Five, The River, No Small
Affair, Real Genius, The Witches of
Eastwick, Maverick, Assassins and The
Crossing Guard): Vilmos was my mentor
and hero. I first met him on Heavens Gate.
What a tremendous journey and incredi-
ble experience I had working with him
and for him he was a master!
Top: Zsigmond on
the set of The
Michael Gershman (Tyler Mount
River. Bottom, assistant on Cinderella Liberty and The
from left: William Sugarland Express; camera assistant on
Barber, B-camera
1st AC; Zsigmond;
The Deer Hunter, The Rose, Heavens
John Connor, Gate and Blow Out; operator on Jinxed!,
B-camera Table for Five, The River and Fat Man
operator; Joseph
Urbanczyk, AFI
and Little Boy): [Heavens Gate] was
Intern; Michael intense, but I had a great time. The work
Gershman, was hard; it was full of dust and smoke
A-camera
operator; Kenneth
and long, long hours because the locations
Nishino, A-camera were so far away from where we stayed.
1st AC; and We crossed the million-feet-of-film mark
James Shepard,
A-camera dolly
Id never gone through that much film
grip on location on a picture before. But I had confidence
for The River. in [director] Michael Cimino and Vilmos
that it was going to be a wonderful
picture. I could see what we were doing,
and I knew it was beautiful.
And he said yes. My first day on Richard Dreyfuss (actor on I think Vilmos realized that the
a motion picture as a grown-up cine- Close Encounters of the Third Kind): Im film may have been somewhat out of
matographer was the evacuation scene a person who never dreams of his control. But he was getting to do what he
in Close Encounters. It was out of his current life. But when we were shooting loved to do, which was to create beautiful Bottom photo courtesy of Joseph Urbanczyk.
generosity and need that he actu- Close Encounters, Vilmos got into an images. And Michael gave him a huge
ally said, You can do it. argument with [a member of his light- amount of freedom to do that. And we
He always had that generous ing crew]. I dont know what the were shooting in such great locations.
sense. He was as interested in the work content was, but I know that it was furi- Each day was beautiful. The light was
I was doing as he was in his own. He ous something both he and the other beautiful. I think Vilmos enjoyed himself
just had that beautiful enthusiasm about guy felt really strongly about. It was so tremendously.
him that allowed him to get excited real and strong that in the middle of the
about every aspect of the work. I learned movie I had a dream about it, and in the Joseph D. Urbanczyk (camera
from him to just put your head down dream, this argument was holding up intern on The River and No Small Affair;
and go forward at all costs. He always shooting. Now, in fact, it didnt hold us camera assistant on The Two Jakes; oper-
had dogged perseverance toward his art up at all, but I felt the incident so ator on Maverick, The Crossing Guard,
and his principles. intensely that in the dream it did. The Ghost and the Darkness, Playing by

| Memories of Vilmos |
I interviewed Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC,

HSC for the first time in 1978, after
he earned an Academy Award for his
role that every member of his crew
played. I always listen to my crew, he
said. You can never tell when one of
artful cinematography on Close them will see something that I missed
Encounters of the Third Kind. I saw the or have an idea for enhancing the
emotions on his face and heard them in story.
his voice when he told me, I remember Vilmos once told me that Laszlo
walking up those steps knowing that 80 had just completed production of a
million people were watching on televi- wonderful film, and he offered to
sion. That was the first time I felt that I introduce us. It was a two-way street.
belonged. Laszlo regularly told me I should write
Vilmos shared memories of his about a wonderful film shot by
early life in Hungary, including his Vilmos.
student days at the Academy of Drama Vilmos and Laszlo introduced
and Film in Budapest, where he met me to Lajos Koltai, ASC, HSC in
fellow future ASC member Laszlo 1995. Lajos is a native Hungarian who
Kovacs. Gyrgy Ills taught us that also studied filmmaking at the
film is an important part of our culture Academy of Drama and Film. He told
and that it was our responsibility to help me that Vilmos sent Gyrgy Ills
train the next generation, Vilmos said. Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living copies of American Cinematographer
Vilmos and Laszlo documented and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. every month. When Lajos saw Vilmos
the brutal suppression of an uprising I shot Futz in 1969, Vilmos picture in one issue, he was inspired to
against the Soviet Army in October, told me. It got terrible reviews, but pursue his own dream.
1956. They subsequently carried laun- Haskell Wexler [ASC] called and said I was able to witness Vilmos
dry bags filled with 12,000' of 35mm my cinematography impressed him. global influence on the next generation
motion-picture film across the border That meant the world to me. Haskell when he received a Lifetime
into Austria. I asked Vilmos what had was already part of the mainstream and Achievement Award at the
motivated them to risk their lives. had won an Academy Award for Whos Camerimage film festival in Torun,
Laszlo and I believed it was important Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1967. Poland, in 1997. It was like traveling
for the world to see that our people I interviewed Vilmos after he with a movie star. Everyone wanted to
fought for freedom and were murdered and director Michael Cimino meet him.
by the Russians, he replied. completed production of The Deer Vilmos and Laszlo never forgot
After arriving on the East Coast Hunter in 1978. Shooting that film their roots. They organized and partic-
of the United States in January, 1957, he was like playing jazz music together, ipated in a two-week master class at the
and Laszlo lived in a refugee camp. I Vilmos said. I love working with direc- Academy of Drama and Film in
learned how to speak English one word tors who are passionate about telling Budapest; for those two weeks, they
at a time, he recalled. stories with images. If a movie doesnt would spend 16 hours a day mentoring
Vilmos soon followed his dream say something of value, I dont think its the next generation of cinematogra-
to Los Angeles, where his first job was worth making. phers.
processing film and making prints at a The Deer Hunter was an ambi- I have countless treasured
still-photography laboratory. Not long tious endeavor, with scenes filmed memories of Vilmos. It was my good
after, he was shooting 16mm educa- during a five-month period on practical fortune to write 62 stories about him;
tional and training films for schools and locations from Ohio to Thailand. I he discussed the films he had shot and
businesses. dont believe that you should ever shoot shared his feelings about the issues and
During the early 1960s, Vilmos on a stage when an appropriate location people he cared about. I moderated
joined a new wave of cinematographers exists, Vilmos told me. The cast and seminars with Vilmos at film festivals
who were shooting commercials. He audiences both respond to what is real. and other events. He was a legendary
told people his name was William, We shot early scenes in an actual steel filmmaker and a wonderful friend.
because it sounded more American. He mill where the actors were right there
also began shooting ultra-low-budget with the workers. They were sweating, By Bob Fisher,
independent movies such as The Sadist, which made it look and feel real. honorary ASC member
The Nasty Rabbit and The Incredibly He also stressed the important

Heart, Life as a House, Timeline, Jersey
Girl and The Black Dahlia): I applied to
AFI with the [understanding] that if I did
get accepted, there was a possibility that I
could intern with Vilmos. I got in, and I
turned down another picture to intern on
because I really wanted to intern with
Vilmos. He came to AFI to speak as a
guest lecturer, and after the lecture I
explained the situation, and we just hit it
off. He said, Of course, Id love to have you
on board if we can work it out. But the
movie that were doing is The River; its in
Tennessee, we cant pay you, and youre
going to have to live in the camera room in
the hotel. I said, Thats great! Lets do it!
So, sure enough, I interned on that
for three months. The mud was up to our
waists every day, and wed take the equip-
ment to my hotel room caked with mud
and stacked to the ceiling. I loved it so
much, but The River was one of the most
physical, demanding jobs Ive ever encoun-
tered in my career. That and The Ghost and
the Darkness in South Africa were the
toughest shows.
Michael Douglas (actor on The

Ghost and the Darkness): The Ghost and the
Darkness was a difficult shoot. There was a
relative amount of conflict between the
director and producer. Throughout, Vilmos
had great dignity, diplomacy, and a
wonderful sense of humor during very
trying times. He did a superb job on the
picture.
Gershman: Blow Out was a hard

film as well. But I never saw Vilmos get
down when we were working. He was
always positive. And I think that the idea
that he was always creating beautiful
images he thrived on it.
Vilmos would say, Michael,
Michael, there are no rules, Michael! You
can do whatever you want to do! Thats
something that stayed with me as I became
a cinematographer: The only rule is that
there are no rules.
Urbanczyk: When we got back

[from The River], I asked Vilmos if I could
Top: Zsigmond with director Richard Donner. Middle: Mel Gibson and Zsigmond on the set of
intern again with him on another movie. Maverick. Bottom: Zsigmond on the Maverick set.
And he said, Well, let me look into it.

Were going to be doing a movie up in San
Francisco called No Small Affair. And they
worked that out, too, which leads to
another story. Across from the equipment
room where I slept was the production
Top: Zsigmond office, and on my way to work, Id say good
on location for
The Ghost and morning to the production coordinator.
the Darkness. Midway through the film, there was a
Bottom: crew party. Vilmos and I walk in the door,
Zsigmond on
the set of and he looks across the way and sees this
Playing by beautiful blonde. He says, Joseph, who is
Heart. that blonde over there? I said, Thats
Susan Roether, the production coordina-
tor. And before I could even blink, he did
a beeline right to her. And the rest is
history they were married for the next
30 years!
Chressanthis: In 1986, Howard

Schwartz, ASC recommended me for an
internship with Vilmos, and I worked on
The Witches of Eastwick. I watched and
absorbed many lessons while he worked
with director George Miller, Jack
Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Michelle
Pfeiffer and Cher. I experienced firsthand
his collaboration with gaffer Colin
Campbell to achieve virtually all his looks
in camera, without the benefit of digital
effects.
It was toward the end of that film,
on location at the Doheny Mansion in
Beverly Hills, that Vilmos announced,
Today there will be a long lunch! George
Miller asked why, and Vilmos replied,
Today is the 30th anniversary of the
Hungarian Revolution. There will be a
long lunch! He turned and walked off the
set. Out on the grounds of the estate, a
group of Hungarians had come with food
and wine, and they set up an impromptu
banquet. Laszlo Kovacs arrived, and he
and Vilmos embraced. The two of them
presided over the gathering and toasted
the Revolution, and the friends and family
they lost. I thought to myself, What
amazing characters; what a story they had.
In a [business] not renowned for it, Vilmos
and Laszlo defined loyalty.
Richard Donner (director on

Maverick, Assassins and Timeline): Two
of the most wonderful people I ever
worked with in this business were Vilmos

he was always ready to belly laugh
whichever way it went, and move on.
None of the strains of shooting a movie
carried past wrap, so you started the next
day right back in your collaborative
friendship.
The actors felt very free [on set],
and Jack Nicholson loved him. Hes what
Jack called the fastest of the best. When
you showed Vilmos the choreography of
the scene, by the time he took that visual
photograph in his head boom he
could get his gaffer working. He could
see the movie before the movie, like a
painter looking at a canvas. And he had
quite a tuned machine with his guys.
Urbanczyk: I always cite an

instance when we were shooting Playing
by Heart. We had a difference of opinion
on how to execute a certain shot, and I
came up with a small compromise of
what he had in mind. Without missing a
beat, he turned to me and said, Hey,
Joseph, there is no compromise for
perfection. I loved it. Thats the way
Vilmos thought, and thats the way he
brought out the very best in everyone
who worked with him.
Top: Zsigmond and director Irwin Winkler (gesturing) on the set of Life as a House. Gershman: As an assistant, you
Bottom: Fellow ASC member Frederic Goodich and Zsigmond. had to be on your game all the time.
Because he expected you to be working
Zsigmond and Laszlo Kovacs, and at as unique as it could be. He was the as hard as he was working and there
first I would get them confused. Vilmos greatest, not only as a filmmaker, but as a was nobody on the set that worked
started wearing a T-shirt that said I am human being. harder than he did. He challenged every-
not Laszlo, and Laszlo wore one that body around him to perform as well as
said I am not Vilmos. They would play Sean Penn (director on The he performed. He challenged me, and
tricks on me I was shooting with Crossing Guard): I was inspired by that was one of the great things I enjoyed
Vilmos, and he snuck Laszlo in, in front Vilmos. [I learned from him] that when about working with him.
of me, looking through the camera! I you think youre paying attention, theres I also liked the fact that when you
Bottom photo courtesy of Frederic Goodich, ASC.
had no idea how he got there. more attention to be paid. I think partly went out to dinner with him at night,
Vilmos brought things to life like because of how the guy grew up and how you had a great time. You sat, you drank
nobody ever did. And when Friday came he ended up coming to the United wine, he talked about his history coming
around, it was very, very depressing, States, he saw 360 degrees. Watching from Hungary, and he talked about other
because it meant I wasnt going to have him look at the set where he was films he had worked on and people that
the weekend with him. He was such a going to kick light and where he was not he knew. You couldnt ask for a better guy
delight and a pleasure. Nothing with going to kick light was a portrait of to have dinner with. He was just delight-
Vilmos was ever a challenge; no matter concentration that I thought I had, until ful to be around.
what you threw at him, he would just I saw him.
look at you, rub his chin, and say, Give He was very warm, with a great Irwin Winkler (director on Life
me a minute. It was a privilege to work sense of humor. We were both right and as a House): Vilmos made me laugh,
with him, and aside from the pleasure of both wrong on several occasions, as it made me cry, made me better.
the experience, the end result was always turned out when we saw the footage, and

Mike Sowa (colorist on The Black
Dahlia and Louis): I first met and worked
with Vilmos in 2001 on a [miniseries]
called The Mists of Avalon. We were grad-
ing backplates for visual effects, so I spent
about a week with him. I was a little
nervous, but literally five minutes after
meeting Vilmos I felt like we had been
working together for years. His love for
making films was incredibly infectious, as
was his enthusiastic, open-minded
approach to the digital grading process.
I had the honor of grading Vilmos
first digital-intermediate feature in 2006.
Grading The Black Dalia will forever be
one of the highlights of my career. One
memory that stands out was the time
Vilmos invited Laszlo Kovacs to the DI
theater. There I was, in between two
absolute legends in the business. With
great enthusiasm and wildly animated
gesturing, Vilmos explained to his dear
friend how exciting it was to have such
wonderful grading tools available in this
new world of digital.
Stephen Pizzello (American

Cinematographer editor-in-chief and
publisher): When I was covering Brian
De Palmas The Black Dahlia for the
magazine, Vilmos invited me to a DI
session at EFilm. Upon arriving, I was
happy to see his lifelong brother from
another mother, Laszlo Kovacs, sitting at
the timing desk, just hanging out and
keeping his best friend company. Laszlos
health was declining by then, and he
seemed to be nodding off, but never
underestimate the vigilance of an accom-
plished cinematographer. At one point, as
Vilmos was scrutinizing a scene, Laszlo
must have opened an eye, because he
suddenly sat up and warned, Careful,
Vilmos that shot is a little soft. Vilmos
squinted, looked at the screen a bit more
closely and croaked, Uh-oh I think
hes right! Ill have to talk to Brian about
that. Laszlo settled back into his seat, and
we soon heard him snoring, but he had his
pals back.
Vilmos always came through in the
clutch like at Polands Camerimage
cinematography festival [in 2014], when I
was seeking another informed panelist for
Hollywood. His work with moving images
was rooted in his love for still images, which
started all the way back in the 1950s. As his
From left:
Zsigmond in
career as a cinematographer unfolded in
Malibu in 1976 America, he continued to take pictures on
with Billy and off movie sets and created a beautiful
Williams, BSC;
Conrad L. Hall,
body of work.
ASC; William A. During our collaboration on Torn
Fraker, ASC, BSC; From the Flag which has a substantial
John Alonzo,
ASC; Laszlo
amount of archive footage from 1956 by
Kovacs, ASC Vilmos himself my fellow producer,
and Owen George Adams, got married and wanted
Roizman, ASC.
one of Vilmos photographs as a wedding
gift. I went over to Vilmos house to pick the
print, and we happened to walk by the glass
display where he kept his accolades, includ-
a tribute to Gordon Willis [ASC]. I esteem and trust me, Gordy did not ing his Academy Award. Suddenly, he
spotted Vilmos walking through the afford that level of respect to many handed me his gold Oscar statue and said,
lobby of festival headquarters, hailed so his enthused participation was espe- Practice! As a young film director, I was
him, and asked if he would join us cially gratifying. deeply touched by this generous gesture, and
onstage the next afternoon. No problem, it will stay with me forever. Upon wrapping
Stevie I will be there. Just tell me what Klaudia Kovacs (producer and up my speech, I offered to clean the
time. He showed up right on schedule, co-director on Torn From the Flag): [Oscar], but Vilmos sense of humor
without any kind of reminder. Gordon Originally I met Vilmos at his photog- surfaced: Leave your fingerprints! In 10
had always held Vilmos in the utmost raphy exhibition on Melrose Avenue in years, they will be worth a lot of money.
52
Mindy Kaling (creator and star of through the lens of his own experience were attempting to achieve. This master
The Mindy Project): When my director a complicated childhood, finding of cinematography was a master student
Charles McDougall told me Vilmos had passion in his photography, coming and a master teacher.
signed on to shoot my pilot, I couldnt within a hairs breadth of death while
believe it. Charles had worked with him bravely filming a revolution, and then Urbanczyk: Above all, I like to
before, and Vilmos had read the script and fleeing as a refugee before building a think he taught us about that delicate
liked it, and I think it was as simple as that. new life in a strange and forbidding new balance of light and shadow, and not just
All I had told Charles was that I wanted land. Vilmos Zsigmond was fearless, in the creation of film, but also the light
the show to look like a beautiful movie relentless in his art, but also modest, and shadows within ourselves, in our
but getting Vilmos involved exceeded all generous and kind. He lived and he lives. In his youth in Hungary, he stood
of my expectations! still lives, because his images will last to with his camera before the darkest shad-
Vilmos had such a focused, quiet the end of humankind. ows of oppression; later, he went on to
energy, and spoke to me in such a gentle become one of the greatest cinematog-
way. [It was] very calming and appreciated. Goodich: During our numerous raphers in the world. And by his extra-
He was also quick to laugh a quality I conversations about cinematography, ordinary life and example, he showed us
loved. Vilmos told us about his experience my impression was that a certain all the very opposite of what he had
on McCabe & Mrs. Miller, which is one of wisdom related to his life experience, a witnessed in his youth. He revealed to
my favorite movies. He talked about Julie centeredness worth noting and learning us, both as a filmmaker and as a friend,
Christie with such reverence. It felt so from, was expressed without words, that magnificent light that lives forever
special to hear him talk about his leading primarily in his eyes his eyes spoke. in the human spirit. For that and
ladies. He was a consummate gentleman, much more I am eternally grateful to
patient and attentive. He had this smile: this wonderful man who was my mentor
Chressanthis: I think the cine- enigmatic at times, a tender inspiration and my friend.
matography in his masterpiece films and encouragement, a subtle way to
reflects his aesthetic rigor, but also was shot make you feel good about what you
53
Rebel
WithaCamera
Haskell Wexler, ASC died on Dec. 27, 2015, at age 93, leaving behind a
vast body of feature-film and documentary work infused with his personality
and passion. AC spoke with his family, friends, colleagues and collaborators
about his legacy as a firebrand, iconoclast, filmmaker and mentor.
Interviews by Mark Dillon, Andrew Fish, Michael Goldman, Jim Hemphill,
Jean Oppenheimer and Jon Silberg

Opposite: Haskell
Wexler, ASC during
production of
American Graffiti.
This page, top:
Wexler on the set
of Medium Cool.
Bottom: Portrait of
Wexler by Merrett
T. Smith.
Richard Crudo, ASC president:

Haskell was one of a kind. With his
affinity for the documentary, he brought
many nonfiction qualities to feature
films and turned them into a new
convention. There is no one close to him
in the way that he blended personal
beliefs with a mainstream career. I didnt
always agree with him, and we had
some fiery discussions arguments?
Images courtesy of the American Society of Cinematographers and the AC archives.
over the years, but he was also singular

in that even if he disagreed, he always
respected your right to your opinion.
Thats what makes this country great,
he would say as we parted, invariably
with a smile and a handshake.
Jeff Wexler (one of Haskells

children): Pop got his sense of political
and social activism early on. I think it
came partially just from observing the
world, seeing the things that were good
and the things that werent. Also,
though, my grandparents, [Simon] and
Lottie Wexler, were very progressive
although I think Pop ended up being a
little more progressive than they were!
When Pop was maybe 7 years
old, Grandpa Sy bought a 16mm Bell &
Howell camera. Sy and Lottie loved
traveling and would often take the kids

Rebel With a Camera
Top left: Wexler

measures the
light on set. Top
right: Wexler
mans the camera
for One Flew
Over the Cuckoos
Nest. Bottom:
Wexler (upper
left) on set for
Whos Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?
with actors
Elizabeth Taylor
and Richard
Burton.
Marines during the Second World War.

His ship, the SS Excello, was torpedoed
by a German U-boat. The Excello
survivors spent days in a lifeboat before
landing in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Haskell felt like he really became a man
from that experience. He was all of 20
years old, but he said, I learned that I
would survive.
Haskell had a strong humanistic
streak and a very strong sense of justice.
Thats what drove him. Last summer he
shot a documentary about some inner-
city kids doing opera. He did it as a
favor, but then he got totally involved
with it. He told me, This is what art is
about: showing people; using your art to
educate people without hitting them
over the head.
on vacation, recording their trips with Italy, 1934. How amazing is that? Buddy Squires, ASC: You can
the camera. Somebody asked me see his personal passion for story, for
whether I could confirm that the first Rita Taggart (Haskells wife): social justice, and to make beautiful
time Pop ever picked up a camera was in He told me that when he first picked up images in even his earliest documen-
1934, in Mussolinis Italy. I had never a camera as a kid, he felt comfortable. taries [for example] in The Bus, where
heard that, and Id started looking He actually felt more comfortable with he is telling the story of people on their
through old home movies when I stum- a camera. He was a great observer of way to the March on Washington. At
bled upon footage of Lottie and Sy people, but he always saw beyond the one point, there is a gorgeous close-up of
Pop must have been operating the frame. Its as though he saw the total a silhouetted hand on a rain-soaked
camera. There was a title card inserted world. window on a bus moving through the
into the footage that read, Mussolinis Haskell served in the Merchant countryside, and that shot tells us as

Rebel With a Camera
much about whats going on as anything

Top left: Wexler verbal in that scene.
on set for The You see how visually aware he was
Thomas Crown
Affair. Top right:
he was always able to show us what
Director Hal he was interested in, with those kinds of
Ashby and details. I would advise young filmmakers
Wexler on set for
Bound for Glory.
to just pay close attention to what
Middle: Wexler Haskell is showing you. Look at his rela-
supervises an tionships between people. Look at when
over-the-shoulder
shot of David
he chooses to play an entire scene in
Carradine on the close-up. Look at when he is referencing
Bound for Glory different people in a scene within the
set. Bottom:
Wexler dons a
same frame. In Whos Afraid of Virginia
mask for a dust- Woolf?, there is a scene played in multi-
storm scene in ple shots over shoulders of different
Bound for Glory.
people in the same room talking to each
other. He uses focus selectively to guide
us through the scene, directing us to the
most emotionally powerful interpreta-
tion, often not focusing on the speaker.
He did that in his documentary work all
the time.
John Bailey, ASC: Haskells 60-

year career, wielding the camera as an
instrument of societal and political
change, is uncontested just the way
he would have liked it. In a business
where many fear to stick up their heads
too high, Haskell stood on a ladder to be
sure to be seen. You loved him or hated
him, but even his most grudging oppo-
nents cannot deny the revolution he
created in cinematic style, beginning
with his in-your-face and unflattering
but-oh-so-appropriate cine-
matography on Whos Afraid of Virginia

Rebel With a Camera
other cameramen Id worked with. He

Top left: Wexler was involved in so many causes. He was
on set staging a a revolutionary. He felt very strongly
punching-bags
POV of Robert about the theme of the film. And what-
Forster in a scene ever I wanted him to do, he always
from Medium Cool. found some way to do it. One day we
Top right: Wexler
directing Queens had an actor on the run; his character
Gambit, a was trying to get across state lines, and
television we were following as the police were
commercial for
Gucci Timepieces. chasing him with some hounds. I said,
Bottom: Wexler Wouldnt it be interesting to get a point
and his cast prep of view of the dogs? And Haskell said,
a scene for
Medium Cool. No problem. He took his small clair
camera, strapped it to a couple of 2-by-
4s and put two grips on each side, hold-
ing it about 18 inches off the ground.
Woolf?, for which he won his first Jeff Wexler: He talked about He turned it on and had the grips run
Academy Award. politics and events going on in the through the bush. Then he said, OK,
world all the time to the exclusion of youve got about a minute and a half of
Pamela Yates (documentary almost anything else, which sometimes dog point of view. When I came to edit
director and creative director of the really pissed us all off. [Laughs.] I wasnt the film, there it was. A priceless piece
film and digital-media company that interested in politics until I got to of film.
Skylight): In the final film we did college, and suddenly it dawned on me At another point we were sitting
together, Rebel Citizen, about his body that all these things he had been saying on the banks of the Mississippi River
of work as a documentary filmmaker, all these years were true and so looking up at this bridge that a charac-
he exclaims, The best thing about insightful and so important. That ter would need to cross to get out of the
winning those Academy Awards for brought us even closer together. state, and there was Rod Steiger sitting
cinematography is that when I say some up there in a car. We had to shoot it
of my bullshit ideas, somebody is going Norman Jewison (director of In from so far away, and I asked Haskell
to listen to them, and theyll preface the Heat of the Night, The Thomas how close we could push in to the car.
what I say with, Academy Award Crown Affair and Other Peoples He got this very long zoom lens, and he
winner Haskell Wexler Money): We first worked together on could go from a wide shot into a fairly
In the Heat of the Night. He wasnt like close one. I said, Can we do the zoom

Rebel With a Camera
he fired the camera operator after the
first week of filming. He asked Vilmos
Zsigmond if he could recommend
someone for the job, and Vilmos
suggested me. Haskell interviewed me
over the phone and I was hired.
The Democratic National
Convention was held in August 1968 at
the International Amphitheatre in
Chicago at the same time we were film-
ing. Haskell was aware of the possible
anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, and
that the unexpected might happen
during this convention. He cleared the
production schedule for the entire week
of the convention to be prepared for any
disturbances that might occur. As he
predicted, the anti-war demonstrations
erupted. The production team was given
yellow hard hats to protect us and to
make it possible for us to see each other.
The filming began in and around Grant
Park and the nearby streets.
Haskell had Verna Bloom, the
actress, walk through Grant Park look-
ing for her son. She wore a bright yellow
dress that made it easier for us to see her
while she walked through the crowds in
the park. By then, tear gas had filled the
air and trash cans had been set on fire.
The anti-war demonstrations were in
full swing and the park and the streets
were filled with demonstrators, Chicago
police and the Illinois National Guard.
Squires: Medium Cool was revo-

lutionary in its use of real, unfolding
historical events to tell a scripted story.
Some of the strongest parts of that film
On the set of Blaze, Wexler lines up a shot with director Ron Shelton (top, pointing) and preps the have to do with the documentary
camera for a scene with Paul Newman. aspects of the setting. Haskells ability to
be present in the midst of all that chaos,
rhythmically? Ill be putting music in In The Thomas Crown Affair, I still tell his story, but also be incredibly
here, and it would be great if we could think his work is brilliant. Its a film that sensitive to the drama that was unfold-
zoom in to the beat. He said, OK, you is really style over content. And he made ing around him outside the bounds of
sing to me and Ill work the zoom. I just it so exciting. He had a great skill for his dramatic script it is that sensitiv-
started a beat bop bop bee bop-a- lighting, and he gave the whole thing a ity to an ongoing situation, and his
dee and he was turning the zoom. kind of romantic and beautiful sheen empathic abilities to really understand
When I was done I went, Ba-dum! and that was perfect. what is happening all around him, that
waved my arms, and he said, Perfect, makes both his documentary and fiction
just in! When we printed it, the Michael D. Margulies, ASC work so powerful.
composer was amazed that we could lay (camera operator on Medium Cool):
in a flute passage that was in sync with Haskell was the writer, director and Yates: Haskell was nimble and
that zoom. cinematographer for Medium Cool, and captured stunning shots with his clair.

Rebel With a Camera
We photographed these and the heavy
smoke, and this may be the reason
Haskell walked into the tear gas while
filming [the demonstrations].
Haskell loved the balance of the
16mm clair, and several of the scenes
were shot with the 16 and then blown
up to 35mm. We filmed as much like a
news show as possible: small crew, light
equipment. Haskell knew what he
wanted and we got it.
Medium Cool was a picture of a
man with a camera, and that is the best
way to describe Haskell he was the
man with a cameras eye. Everywhere we
went he would be looking at light and
how it hit people. He would ask if it
looked better the way it hit one person
or another, where was the backlight
coming from always looking at light
and shadow.
Robert Forster (actor on

Medium Cool): As I watched this guy in
action, I couldnt believe it. I had worked
on the railroad. I had been an iron-
worker. I had done serious hard work,
Top: Wexler and
but I never worked as hard as I did with
Vilmos Haskell Wexler. This guy was a horse! I
Zsigmond, ASC, was in my 20s and he was in his 40s. I
HSC lead a
discussion at a
thought 40 was too old to work that
cinematography hard of course, I was misinformed
seminar in about what 40 would be like. But this
Hungary.
Bottom: Actress
guy was such a slugger. He kept shoot-
and niece Daryl ing until there was no light, and then he
Hannah stands shot with film he could use for low light.
beside Wexler as
he receives his
Being directed by Haskell was
star on the catch-as-catch-can sometimes pure
Hollywood Walk improvisation and sometimes covering
of Fame.
what was in the script. He did so much
on the fly. Hed made documentaries,
and he brought that to Medium Cool. He
said, You were a boxer, right? Okay,
well do a day in the boxing gym. And
thats where that whole scene came
from.
He definitely didnt subscribe to
the warm-and-fuzzy, make-actors-feel-
comfortable approach. He wasnt some-
He even was tear-gassed himself started we went to an Army base to see one to say, Great take! In fact the only
which he used in the film, of course. what the National Guard had to combat thing he said about my performance was
riots. They had Jeeps with chain-link after the film was finished he told
Ron Vargas, ASC (1st AC on gates attached to the front ends; they me, You know, the editor said youre
Medium Cool): Before production had smoke guns that simulated tear gas. pretty good.

B7H=;<EHC7JB;DI;I
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Richard Gere (actor on Days of
Heaven): We were supposed to start
shooting in Texas in the spring or early
summer, but the production got
pushed later and later, and we ended up
in Canada. Because production was
delayed, Nstor [Almendros, ASC]
had to leave before it wrapped, and
Haskell was brought in to shoot the last
couple of weeks. Nstor set the tone, of
course; Haskell watched the footage
and matched what Nstor had been
doing. Both men were true artists, but
their personalities were quite different.
Nstor was a very soft, sensitive person;
Haskell was more assertive an alpha
personality. Haskell had the kind of
personality [required of ] a director,
who has to be able to lead a set of 400
people. Not every cinematographer can
do that. And he was a storyteller in the
sense that whatever the story required,
he could do. You wouldnt expect the
guy who shot Bound for Glory to have
also shot Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Top: Wexler
Jeff Wexler: Pop and I worked shows off
on seven or eight features together his trusty
12on12off cap
Bound for Glory was the first one as with fellow
well as 40 or so documentaries and ASC member
Frederic
Top photo courtesy of Frederic Goodich, ASC. Bottom photo courtesy of Suree Towfighnia.
commercials. He initiated many of the

Goodich.
documentaries, but he would shoot for Bottom: Wexler
other people when he believed in the with Four Days
subject matter. He also pretty much in Chicago
producer Suree
funded them. He loved viewing the Towfighnia.
world through the camera; I think it
was his way of being involved in social
and political struggles.
Another thing I learned from
Pop is that the way we talk about things
is really important. Being a camera- Haskell was the fighter. You realize as through the first few categories, and
man, he knew that the way in which you grow up you need both, and I think when it came to new business, I found
you frame something influences [the a lot of us are natural-born people- out that the guy I came with was
viewers] attitude. I remember him pleasers, so Haskell was the one guy [being] brought up on charges for oper-
telling me early on, When we go in who taught me to stick up for what you ating a camera. What ensued I can only
and kill a bunch of people, its called a believe in. More importantly, he describe as inspiring. He stood up in
mission, which has a religious connota- believed in me. He was the one who the middle of the crowd and took on the
tion. When the bad guys go in and kill gave me a shot after my dad went down whole room. It was like Mr. Smith Goes
a lot of people, we say its a slaughter. with Guillain-Barr Syndrome and I to Washington. I was shocked because I
was still green as grass. He was a cham- thought these brothers were all about
Conrad W. Hall: Next to my pion for so many people and causes that solidarity. Nope. The union leaders
dad [Conrad L. Hall, ASC], Haskell many might view as controversial. wanted blood, and he was going to have
was probably the most influential man My first union meeting, it was no part in it.
in my life. My dad was the lover and Haskell who took me. We sat there

Rebel With a Camera
really build those things. We shot the
scene over eight days, quarter pages at a
time, and Haskell, when we did the
scout, said, If you want this to hang
together, you need to do this shot at 3
oclock and this shot at 10 oclock. So
we scheduled it [that way], and when
we put it all together it worked perfectly.
Ive worked with a bunch of great
cinematographers early in their careers,
and I think a lot get to the point of, Do
I really want to go back and have a third
of the equipment package and half the
time Ill have on these bigger pictures?
But Haskell continued to make docu-
mentaries throughout his life where
youre doing catch-as-catch-can light-
ing. And his own features he directed,
he didnt have much money. He kept his
Director John Sayles with Wexler on location for The Secret of Roan Inish. hand in run-and-gun filmmaking. I
remember that on set, he would say,
There are no problems, only opportu-
Bailey: If they ever made a movie would say, Im sure you didnt take this nities.
out of Jack Abbotts In the Belly of the long to shoot Medium Cool, which
Beast for the title alone, Haskell wasnt really fair since Blaze was a Taggart: Haskell was lively and
Wexler should have been the director- different kind of movie. Wed get after very funny. His humor came out of the
cinematographer. Haskell never shied each other like that, but when the scene moment. He was also very generous.
away from controversy, political or cine- was lit, it was gorgeous! He definitely People would call and just want to talk,
matic; in fact, he relished it, much to the wasnt a yes-man, but I was certainly and he would talk to them. If he saw
dismay of some colleagues who butted very happy with the results. somebodys work that he thought was
heads with him. There arent many fantastic, hed call and tell him.
cinematographers, after all, who have John Sayles (director of
been placed on the FBIs watch list Matewan, The Secret of Roan Inish, Bobby Bukowski: I had been at a
because of their political activism. Limbo and Silver City): I worked with screening at the Clubhouse, and I natu-
him four times I think I hold the rally had my phone off. When I walked
Yates: Haskell believed his docu- record. The first time was Matewan. It outside and picked up my messages,
mentary film Underground, about the was a very ambitious movie, like all the there was a voicemail saying, This is
radical Weather Underground fugitives, ones we made with Haskell. A big Haskell Wexler and I want to talk to
cost him his job as the cinematographer period piece about miners. We had very you. I called him back and he said, I
of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest when little money and time, [but] his speed- saw two of your movies this year. Those
the FBI called the set to investigate to-talent ratio was great. When youre would have been Time Out of Mind and
him. And when he requested his FBI in a hurry as you always are on an 99 Homes. He said, I just want to say I
file via the Freedom of Information Act, under-budgeted, ambitious movie like what you were doing and Id like to
it came to him heavily redacted. One you need a cinematographer to do his know how you did it. Why dont we
page was entirely blacked out except for best with the time hes got, and with have lunch together? I was [going to
his name. Haskell it was often, Oh! Were done be] away and couldnt make an appoint-
lighting? Lets go! ment for lunch until I got back. When
Ron Shelton (director of Blaze): Theres this sequence at the I returned to L.A. literally the week
Im sure everybody you interview will beginning of the movie where the that he died I thought, Okay, this is
say he was cranky and cantankerous. I miners walk out of the mine and go on a good week to have lunch with
cant imagine anybody wouldnt say that. strike. Its probably 14 shots. We had to Haskell. Unfortunately, I got the news
But that didnt prevent us from having a go to locations throughout three differ- of his passing.
good time working together. ent counties to find the old workers I must say that it was very
I would get into it with him. I housing and other details we couldnt moving and inspiring for me to hear

| Four Voices in Chicago |
Gordon Quinn (co-founder of Haskell took over for me, telling me not to on him. He would pause and be visibly
documentary-production company worry: It will all be fine. In the back of my impacted by the loss of rights and
Kartemquin Films): I first met Haskell head, I was thinking, I will never work economic opportunities, and the tragic
when he came by Kartemquins first again. And more importantly, I screwed realities that people shared with him
studio in the old Hyde Park Bank up working with Haskell, whom I desper- stories that were deeply American, yet
Building in the late Sixties. We were just ately wanted as a mentor. I went home an were being lost in the big media hype of
starting out and had a vision for what emotional mess. the day. This is not about politics, he once
we wanted to do, but we were pretty The next day I got a call from told me. This is about a system thats fail-
much taking whatever jobs came along. Haskell. He asked me to come over to his ing us.
Haskell told us that it was best to make house and show him my work. With great Haskell had the instinct to know
money selling our skills camera, trepidation I went over to meet him. He when to film and when to be present. He
sound, editing and honing them on was amazing. We spoke for hours. He never stopped being curious and fighting
other peoples dimes. Keep your eye on asked me what I truly wanted to do. I told for the right thing. Theres a huge space to
your vision, he told us, and dont be him that I just wanted to make films that fill when it comes to using our cinematog-
distracted by competing for work you had some social meaning, but that I also raphy power for good as [filmmaker]
dont care about. loved to photograph the world I loved Andy Davis said, 93 on, never off.
Over the years Id see Haskell everything about making images. He Haskell continued until the very end to
from time to time at demonstrations, looked at me and said, Go back home to speak up for what mattered, and he saw
events and festivals, and an occasional Chicago. Buy a camera and shoot! Make his role of celebrity as one that could help
visit to Kartemquin. He was always films! He told me not to worry about what influence for the better.
fighting for something: within our others are doing, but that if I just kept
camera union, for the safety of his fellow shooting and making films that it would Peter Kuttner (filmmaker):
workers, and for democracy and trans- all work out. I took his advice. I went Haskell had rounded up three generations
parency within our organization; in the home and bought a camera. I began my of filmmakers to work with him on the
country, for civil rights; and in the journey with Kartemquin Films in day of the march [depicted in Four Days in
world, for basic human rights for all. Chicago. I sent him my work all the time, Chicago]. It began in Grant Park, appro-
His documentaries and the features he and he would send me critiques always priately close to the spot in Medium Cool
directed were all part of the struggle. He gentle but spot on. where an off-camera voice famously
was a risk-taker both in the stances he After I had the privilege of working shouts, Look out Haskell! Its real! as a
took and, creatively, in how he told with Barbara Kopple on American Dream, tear-gas canister goes off close to the lens.
stories. Haskell sent me a note that, to this day, I As the marchers moved forward, the
look at when Im feeling down. It said, I cameras split up, and the next time I saw
Peter Gilbert (documentarian): told you it would work out. Haskell was just after the Afghanistan and
Like many young filmmakers, I moved Iraq war vets had thrown their service
out to L.A. to pursue my dream to be a Suree Towfighnia (producer on medals over the fence toward the
cinematographer. I ended up working at Four Days in Chicago): In the winter of temporarily fortified lakefront building
Fox as an errand boy for a group of 2012, I called Haskell to talk about the housing NATO. The Chicago police, now
producers, and after a couple of months NATO summit coming to Chicago and bolstered by state troopers, started to
they asked me what I wanted to do. I the counter summit organized by groups surround demonstrators, preparing for
told them I was a cameraperson; they of progressives, veterans and Occupy arrests. Haskell, of course, was oblivious to
told me they would try to help me out. Chicago. The week would culminate with all of this, wearing, as always, his black ball
A week later I received a phone call a march through downtown to the NATO cap of invincibility with its blazing-white
from Haskell. I was 22 years old and meeting, with dozens of veterans return- 12on12off emblem. I could see his light-
idolized him. Medium Cool was one of ing their medals by throwing them back weight digital camera shooting above the
the films that inspired me to dream of to NATO. Haskell percolated on what crowd as I was pushed by police in full riot
making films. He asked me if I knew story to tell. gear in another direction.
how to load clair cameras. I said yes, Four Days in Chicago is told from a It wasnt the first time that follow-
and he asked me to work with him the specific moment in time and place, a docu- ing Haskell got me into trouble, nor was it
next day on a documentary for a band. mentation of what mainstream media the last, even in the all-too-short time
When I got to the location, I often presents as the other. Roaming the since the NATO protests. But the trouble
realized that I was the only loader for streets that week with Haskell was a was always of the kind that, in the end,
four different types of cameras. I was so dream for me, sharing time with one of the made the world a better place. So it was
over my head. At one point I was almost most talented and compassionate souls I worth it. For that alone, Id follow him
in tears working in a changing bag. know, with a camera in my hand and a lav anywhere.

Rebel With a Camera
from someone I considered a great
master and a great teacher not only
as a cinematographer and director, but
as a human being. The idea that he took
the time to sit down and watch the
movies and watch them carefully
that would have been enough. But to
take it a step further and have the inter-
est to want to talk about it, it was
momentous for me. Its always a rare
and beautiful occasion when you can sit
down with another freak who can talk
about lighting for four hours. I was
looking forward to that with him,
especially.
Javier Aguirresarobe, ASC,

AEC: I retain an unforgettable memory
of the master photographer, Haskell
Wexler. It dates back to 1985. I was
taking my first steps in the profession,
and Haskell was a jury member at the
San Sebastian Film Festival, where, by
coincidence, he saw one of my movies
in the non-official section: Golfo de
Vizcaya. He wanted to meet me, and so
it was, Haskell, my maestro, my virtual
mentor, that faraway day some 30 years
ago, was there in front of me, asking me
about my work on the set of that
modest production. An incredible
moment! With a notepad in hand, he
wanted to know how I constructed my
light. We had a memorable and
wonderful conversation that ended
with, Ill see you again whenever you
want in Malibu.
Frederic Goodich, ASC: I was

privileged to know Haskell as a guiding
light an uncompromising, restless
giant of a radical thinker and doer, a
force to be reckoned with for more
than half my life. During a panel at the
American Documentary Film Festival
in Palms Springs in March 2015,
Haskell spoke eloquently of his
commitment to conveying truth as he
saw it: My general philosophy is that
life, the movie, is with us whether it is
called documentary or whether its
called fiction. As storytellers, we have to
function with some moral, some human
thing. How we do has to be connected
Rebel With a Camera
to what we do. Perhaps its good to be
controversial in a world thats gone a
little crazy!
Joan Churchill, ASC: I think he

wanted to reach people and make them
have a look at how distant they have
become from their humanity. He
blamed the media the news media
and the corporate media for a lot of
that, for people losing control of their
lives. That is why, I think, he got so
involved [in later years] in the Occupy
movement. He said he wanted to use his
art to really change how people thought,
to try and change the world. You hear
that all the time, but he really did try to
shine a light on injustices.
And he took that right to his
death. He was never going to give up.
And it was always things that he
personally cared passionately about,
even in our own industry. That is what
Wexler behind the camera. Who Needs Sleep? was about. It is what
Bus Riders Union was about organiz-
70
ing people to challenge race and class Fraturdays Friday filming schedules Taggart: Haskell felt that a single
bias in city spending to provide that go straight through the night into individual could make a difference,
adequate bus service. He was still in Saturday morning. He chronicled how although he wasnt a Pollyanna about it.
touch with a lot of the families [featured these long shooting days have led to He would always say, You have to keep
in that film] at his death. They came to sleep deprivation and death for fighting. If you despair, you are part of
love him. He cared about that issue; it crewmembers who fall asleep at the the problem. He refused to lose hope.
was personal to him. He was a commu- wheel. And from Who Needs Sleep?, He also had a tremendous amount of
nicator and loved telling those kinds of Haskell [co-founded] the 12on12off energy; its as though he had an energy
stories. initiative as a way to limit the filming field around him.
In his later years, he took up workday to 12 hours, with a 12-hour
making documentaries with a new turnaround. Jeff Wexler: The thing I most
vengeance. He was delighted to be admired about my father was his
asked to work on them. People would Hall: For all his activism, he was passion and commitment. He stood up
be thrilled to have him there, but he was so sweet and gentle. When my dad for what he believed in, even when his
not interested in doing it for money passed, he was there with Rita and was views werent popular. He taught me to
he just loved the game. He was practi- always available. He came to see my be aware of my responsibility as a
cally born with a camera in his hand. He sons student film work at Chapman human being on the planet to my fellow
was spitting vinegar until the very last University. He became someone I could human beings. Remarkably, he main-
moment. go to about anything. The industry has tained a sense of hope until the day he
lost a great champion, and my heart died.
Yates: His documentary film that goes out to Jeff, Mark and the rest of his
has directly impacted so many of us is family. They broke the mold when they
the expos Who Needs Sleep? He created Haskell, and I will be forever
demonstrated that there is no need for grateful he came into my life.
the long hours on film sets, nor for
71
A Clash
of
Titans
P
hotographed by Larry Fong, ASC and directed by Zack
Larry Fong, ASC and director Zack Snyder, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the sequel
Snyder employ film negative and to 2013s Man of Steel (photographed by Amir Mokri),
customized optics to capture an epic and kicks off the DC Extended Universe with the first
silver-screen teaming of the comic-book realms two heaviest
face-off between iconic superheroes
Unit photography by Clay Enos.
hitters.
in Batman v Superman: Dawn of If only it were under more amicable circumstances.
Justice. Following the destruction of Metropolis, the world struggles
with the existence of a Superman (Henry Cavill) is he
friend or foe? while in Gotham City, the Batman (Ben
By Iain Marcks Affleck) has already made up his mind, turning his one-man
war on crime into a war on the Kryptonian. Meanwhile,
| eccentric tycoon Lex Luthor ( Jesse Eisenberg) schemes to

Inc., Ratpac-Dune Entertainment LLC and Ratpac
capitalize on the heroes feud, and the

Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
mysterious Diana Prince (Gal Gadot)

watches from the sidelines.
Snyder points out that Dawn of
Justice takes many of its cues from Frank
Millers 1986 graphic novel The Dark
Knight Returns, in which an aging, jaded
Batman goes head-to-head with a
Entertainment, LLC.
fascist-state version of Superman. Fong

recalls that during his student days at Art Opposite, this page top and middle: Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) battles Superman/Clark Kent
Center College of Design in Pasadena, it (Henry Cavill) before joining forces with Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to defeat a new foe
created by eccentric tycoon Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
was schoolmate Snyder who got him Bottom: Cinematographer Larry Fong, ASC on the Daily Planet set.
into comics and graphic novels and

A Clash of Titans
not only Millers work, but Watchmen,
which the collaborators later adapted for
the big screen (AC April 09). However,
it was the photographic realism of
Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfisters
Dark Knight films, and the desaturated,
handheld aesthetic employed by Mokri
in Man of Steel that Fong was most
concerned with honoring. But Zack
said to me, Dont worry, its fine. Were
going to create our own world, Fong
relates.
I dont want to dictate my point
of view, other than to say that this is
what works for us, says Snyder. That
being said, Im pretty involved when it
comes to the films palette, and Larry is
an amazingly receptive person. He
understands my point of view, even as
Im formulating it.
Dawn of Justice was primarily
photographed in 35mm anamorphic,
Top: Wayne meets with select sequences filmed in 15-perf
with his faithful Imax and 5-perf 65mm. With some
butler, Alfred
Pennyworth (Jeremy exceptions, the entire film was shot on
Irons), at Wayne Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, which
Manor. Middle: Irons under most conditions was rated at 500
and director Zack
Snyder discuss a ISO. (Fong used 85 filters and neutral-
scene outside the density filters to control color tempera-
Wayne Mausoleum. ture and exposure.) It was the first time
Bottom: Prince and
Wayne interact at Id committed to just one stock, but I
a gala. chose to [do so] for consistency and
because its a great stock, says Fong.
We pushed our film one stop for some
night exteriors. Our philosophy was that
if were going to shoot film, then dont
be afraid to show a little grain, so when
the kids ask why were shooting film, we
have something to point to. In this age
of artificially added grain, flares and
film-emulation software, it feels good to
do it all for real.
Panavision Woodland Hills
provided Fong with Panaflex
Millennium XL2s, System 65 Studio
Cameras and Arriflex 435s. Imax MSM
9802 and MKIII cameras were
provided by Imax. Additionally, some
nighttime aerial and underwater
sequences photographed, respec-
tively, by David B. Nowell, ASC and
Ian Seabrook were captured with
Arri Alexa XT cameras. Simulated
documentary footage was shot on Super

16 with Arriflex 416s, and TV-station
footage was shot on digital video with
Panasonic VariCams by Geoff George
and his team. Canon EOS 5Ds and
GoPros were used for select car-mount
and surveillance-camera footage, and
even iPhones were used for minor digi-
tal-video elements. I think the only
format we didnt shoot was Super 8,
says 1st AC Bill Coe.
Shooting the Imax sequences
posed certain challenges. Actors some-
times found the cameras size and noise
levels intimidating when filming close-
ups, prompting Fong to swap in the
quieter and more compact System 65
camera bodies, fitted with System 65 Top: Lois Lane (Amy Adams), Kent and Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) discuss events in the
prime lenses. With Dan Mindel, ASC, Daily Planet bullpen. Bottom: The crew preps a scene with Kent at his office desk.
BSC concurrently shooting Imax for
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, parts and
personnel were often shuttled interna- format still photography. Hasselblad owned by Christopher
tionally between the two productions. According to Coe, the MSM and Nolan.
The struggle was more than worth it to MKIII Imax cameras are mechanically We called it the Nolan 80, says
the filmmakers. That giant format is a the same, except that the production Coe. Its a fast lens, and it focuses down
way to take the audience one step paired the MSM with spherical to 2 feet, 3 inches. The other lens we
further into an immersive world, says Hasselblad lenses and the MKIII with used a lot was the Hasselblad 100mm,
Snyder. I love the feeling you get from spherical Zeiss lenses. By far, the film- but the minimum focus on that lens was
those cameras. Its like looking at large- makers preferred lens was an 80mm 4 feet, so wed use diopters to get into

A Clash of Titans
Left: Batman uses the Bat-Signal to lure Superman to Gotham. Right: The rooftop
battle between superheroes was filmed on a raised stage at Michigan Motion Picture Studios
in Pontiac.
the close-ups. The depth of field on unique appeal, and baffled it for usabil- the baffling. In an ideal situation the
Imax cameras is already minimal, so ity in any type of lighting condition. cinematographer wants light to go
when you add a diopter it makes my life Weve never produced a lens quite like through the lens without any random
as a focus puller incredibly difficult. To this. reflections, and when we design a lens
ease the situation, a system was some- According to Sasaki, a piece of we do it with an eye toward ideal condi-
times employed in which A-camera raw, polished glass will transmit light, tions, says Sasaki. But we also know
operator John Clothier would work off but still reflect greater than 20 percent that in real life, light sources are every-
a video monitor, while Coe would look of the light back out. This unwanted where, so we use baffles to control the
through the cameras eyepiece and pull reflection is mitigated with lens coat- random light reflections that werent
focus with a Preston remote. ings, which use constructive interfer- accounted for in the original design. It
Fongs anamorphic lens package ence to increase transmission by can be as simple as painting the exposed
included two complete sets of modified cross-canceling the light coming into edge of a lens element, or something as
Panavision C Series anamorphic the lens with another reflection. complex as a metal fin inside the lens
primes, from 25mm up to 100mm, as By experimenting with the that deflects away the light we dont
well as 135mm and 180mm E Series thickness of the coating layers on key want to go through.
anamorphic primes. In the zoom cate- internal elements, we were able to Sasaki reveals that over the years,
gory he had a 40-80mm AWZ2 (T2.8) control the color of the light that gets many of Panavisions classic lenses have
for crane work and a 70-200mm ATZ reflected out and the color of the light evolved to match the current language
(T3.5), as well as 11:1 48-550mm thats transmitted, so we were able to go of the motion-picture industry. If you
(T4.5) and 3:1 270-840mm (T4.5) from the standard C Series blue-purple look at a C Series anamorphic lens that
anamorphic zooms the latter of flares to a more striking red-blue, which was developed in the Seventies, it will
which is known as the Hubble because Larry responded to because those also look nothing like that same C Series
of its size. happen to be the colors of Supermans lens in use today, he remarks. Fongs E
ASC associate member Dan costume, Sasaki explains. Series prime elements were re-spaced to
Sasaki, Panavisions vice president of Fong also wanted the lenses to achieve a closer match to the modified
optical engineering and lens handle strong backlight in close-ups, C Series anamorphics, but the zoom
strategy, describes the process by which while maintaining the texture associated lenses were left in stock form, as were
the anamorphic primes were tuned to with C Series lenses. By experimenting the Imax and System 65 lenses.
Snyder and Fongs specifications: Larry with element spacing in the spherical Panavision went above and
wanted a C Series look but with a portion of the lenses, Sasaki was able to beyond [with] all of our crazy requests,
different tonality, so we did three things: achieve a good contrast with a soft roll- recalls Fong. They even went so far as
designed a custom flare, gave the lens a off. Another aspect of glare control is in to paint all our camera bodies and

magazines matte black, on request of
the director. The cameras were engraved
with the words Zack Snyder Edition.
Research and development
continued with Fong and costume
designer Michael Wilkinson perform-
ing a battery of lighting tests on the
superhero suits. Slight color and detail
modifications were made to the Man of
Steel version of Supermans suit; gaffer
Jim Grce notes that this costume in
particular reflected more light than the
others. On the other hand, Batman has
almost no color in his suit, says Fong.
Its black and gray, and the material is
like a texturized cloth, with wear and
scratches and a matte finish.
In addition to lighting the
Bat-suit with Kino Celeb 201s, 401s
and SourceMaker LED Blanket lights,
Fong had the electricians hand-
hold battery-operated SumoLight
Sumo100+ LED units to bring out the
eyes hidden deep within the Dark
Knights shadowy cowl.
When its time to step in and save
the day, Diana Prince undergoes a
dramatic physical transformation to
become Wonder Woman, trading
elegant and graceful for powerful and
intimidating. Fong developed two sepa-
rate approaches to photographing the
character. As he recalls, All of the early
wardrobe tests for Diana Prince looked
like photo spreads in a fashion maga-
zine, so we went with that and tried to
make the character look as glamorous as
possible within the context of each
scene.
As Diana, we lit her with
conventionally flattering light, with
Celebs and Dedos in conjunction with
whatever practicals were already on
location, says Grce. When she became
Wonder Woman, we were able to get
away with using hard light and sidelight
the same dramatic approach we used
for Batman and Superman.
The cities of Metropolis and
Gotham could be described as alter
egos. Fong characterizes the former as a
shining jewel and the latter as the
tarnished underdog. They face each
other from the opposite shores of a wide
77
A Clash of Titans
bay, and though theres a strong rivalry

Top: The camera,
mounted to a between the two municipalities, theyre
SuperTechno close enough that both were devastated
crane, captures in Man of Steel s climactic battle. The
Batman on the
rooftop. Middle: filmmakers underscored this relation-
An Imax camera ship by digitally inserting the opposing
peers over skylines in many exterior shots.
Batmans
shoulder during a Production began in May 2014
superhero battle and wrapped in December. Much of the
sequence. Gotham footage and some of
Bottom: Batman
and Superman Metropolis were captured at locations
face off in in and around Detroit, with stage work
the rain. at the Michigan Motion Picture
Studios in Pontiac. Additional
Metropolis locations were filmed in
Chicago, and the films opening scene
was shot in the mountains and deserts
of New Mexico. The reason you
choose any location is because the envi-
ronment informs the image, says Fong.
After that, its a matter of how you light
the characters, and the colors you use.
In Man of Steel, scenes taking
place at the Daily Planet were filmed on
location in Chicago, but Fong and
Snyder wanted more control over the
set while making Dawn of Justice so
production designer Patrick Tatopoulos
re-created the Planet bullpen on the
second floor of an unused administra-

A Clash of Titans
tive wing at the Michigan Motion

Picture Studios.
The story required various light-
ing cues on the Planet set, so Grce and
rigging gaffer Roger Meilink replaced
the overhead fluorescent fixtures with
hybrid LiteGear LiteRibbon LEDs that
were independently operated from a
board by Jeff Amaral and Michael
Monte. Custom-made LiteRibbon
sources attached to foam board of vari-
ous sizes and covered with muslin were
used as key lights for close-ups. Key grip
Gary Dodd and rigging key Kevin Erb
set up giant greenscreens lit with Kino
Flo Image 80s outside the windows, and
Fong simulated daylight with Arri
M40s and Arrimax 18Ks. The
Metropolis skyline was later inserted
courtesy of the visual-effects artists
supervised by John DJ DesJardin.
Instead of a greenscreen in the
deep background, however, Fong simply
asked the art department for large prints
of a stock-footage cityscape a day
version and a night version that he
taped onto the windows. Even though
this is a big-budget movie, if there was a
way to do something cheaply and
simply, we did it, says the cinematogra-
pher.
We did some pretty heavy
effects work on this show, Dodd notes.
We stacked shipping containers and
Top and middle: The two combatants confront each other again, this time atop the Batmobile. truss to support four connected 42-foot-
Bottom: The Edge camera crane mounted on a Mercedes-AMG and operated by Brooks Guyer
is employed to capture the Batmobile driving through an explosion.
by-80-foot greenscreens in an empty
parking lot in Pontiac that serviced

A Clash of Titans
Top and
middle: The
crew readies
the Metropolis
Heroes Park set
for day and
night scenes.
Bottom: The
crew preps a
visual-effects
scene where
Metropolis
citizens await
rescue on their
rooftops during
a flood.
multiple set pieces, including the

LexCorp helipad. Our biggest setup was
on a stage a 38-foot-by-650-foot
circular greenscreen for the Doomsday
battle sequence.
On the outskirts of Gotham City,
the once-majestic Wayne Manor has
fallen into ruin its gutted, hollow
shell an allusion to the Wayne legacy
and Bruces crumbling inner life. The set
was constructed as interiors-only in a
giant field north of Detroit. Snyder
points to a scene there, in which Bruce
and loyal aide-de-camp Alfred
Pennyworth ( Jeremy Irons) consider
retiring the Batman, as emblematic of
the films aesthetic philosophy: Dark,
but rich and thick with design.
The set was ringed with large,
open windows, with the characters
blocked deep into a dark corner. Fong
tried to reach them with Arri M40s, 90s
and 18s positioned outside the windows,
and with Celebs and Sumos inside, but
Zack kept telling me to make it darker,
until the characters were practically in
silhouette, he recalls. Only when I
started paying attention to the dialogue
did I realize what a darkly emotional
scene this was, which is why Zack
wanted it that way.
A Clash of Titans
night shoots employing hard,

Top: Stacked shipping
containers and truss remote-controlled LRX lights, Bebee
were utilized to support lights and Arrimaxes on 80' and 120'
large greenscreens Condors, located 60 to 70 yards away
constructed in a
parking lot in Pontiac from the action. We might use some
that serviced multiple Opal diffusion or the like, but mostly
sets, including the anything that far away has already
LexCorp helipad.
Bottom: The largest diffused into a big, broad source by the
setup on a stage was time its reached the actors, adds Dodd.
the circular greenscreen For close-ups, we bounced light or used
for the battle sequence
in which Wonder Light Grid, maybe sandwiched with
Woman joins forces 250 [diffusion].
with Batman and The idea was to keep the light
Superman against
Doomsday. raw and natural, says Grce. If we used
CTO, CTS or CTB gels, it was mostly
to keep our colors consistent with the
By contrast, the Batcave, with its set. Everything was wired into a dimmer environment.
cutting-edge technology, represents the board, so all we had to do on the day is A predominantly handheld
Wayne familys true legacy: fighting come in and supplement our characters camera was used to convey a sense of
crime. Constructed on two stages at the light with the usual Celebs, Sumos and rawness and naturalism in Man of Steel,
Michigan Motion Picture Studios, the LiteRibbon boards. In the cave, hidden but Fong and Snyder felt that their
glass, steel and concrete lair consists of a Lekos, Nine-Lights and 10Ks were vision for Dawn of Justice would be
forensics lab, a functional suspended bounced off the surface of the water to better served with a stable, mounted
bridge (capable of supporting the weight reflect shimmering patterns across the camera. Our camera was mostly on
of the practical Batmobile), a garage and set. dollies and cranes, says Fong. A few
an armory. It was a massive pre-rig, When night falls, Batman goes to scenes were handheld, but only when
notes Fong. Because of all the glass, work on the streets dispensing cold- they needed to be.
there was no place to hide lights. Most blooded criminal justice. The filmmak- Clothier primarily operated with
of the sources had to be built into the ers spent an entire month conducting a geared head mounted to either a

A Clash of Titans
Chapman/Leonard Hustler or Super
PeeWee dolly, gripped by Mike Moad.
For crane shots, an Alpha remote head
was mounted to one of the Techno 15,
SuperTechno 30 or SuperTechno 50
cranes teched by Rodney Sandoval. A
car-chase sequence in downtown
Chicago called for the use of an 80'
Akela fixed-arm crane, a Grip Trix
motorized camera platform equipped
with an Alpha head or Steadicam
also operated by Clothier as well as a
vehicle-mounted SR4 carbon-fiber arm,
an Edge crane system mounted on a
Mercedes-AMG operated by Brooks
Guyer, and a Biscuit motorized process
trailer.
Though Snyder had much of the
film storyboarded in detail prior to
shooting, nothing was set in stone and
decisions were sometimes overturned
even moments before the camera rolled.
As Clothier puts it, The camera move-
ment has to be appropriate to the story.
You cant be self-indulgent, because you
want the audience to think about the
characters, not about the shot.
The classic scenario is where you
choreograph an incredibly elaborate
shot and its not even used in the movie
because theres no time for a two-minute
master, adds Fong.
One elaborate camera move that
did make it into Dawn of Justice is actu-
ally comprised of multiple moves
stitched together in post. The shot is
part of an apocalyptic dream sequence in
which the Earth is laid to waste by alien
forces. It begins with Batman fighting a
squad of enemy troopers in the back of a
big-rig trailer. The camera follows the
skirmish out the back of the trailer, then
tracks 360 degrees around Batman as he
is finally overwhelmed.
The shot was filmed in one day,
entirely in Imax, at an abandoned rock
quarry on the outskirts of Detroit. A
SuperTechno 50 was positioned on the
drivers side of the trailer on a raised
platform with 40' of track. The camera
was underslung on the crane and
Top: During the rooftop battle, Superman and Batman crash through a skylight and land in the lowered into the trailer through a slot
penthouse of an abandoned building. Middle and bottom: Superman unmasks the Caped Crusader. cut along the length of its roof, and the
gap was sealed with Duvetyn to prevent

The crew captures Batman as he battles a squad of enemy troopers in an
apocalyptic dream sequence.
light leaks. Because the trailer was so fight begins as Superman descends from
narrow, another slot was cut in its side the sky to meet an armor-suited Batman
for the camera to back into for profiles at the docks behind the building.
of the fight. Once the action moved Superman is immediately barraged with
outside, the camera followed neces- every weapon in Batmans arsenal. The
sitating a 5-stop iris pull by Fong special-effects guys provided fire, rain
and the slotted truck and crane plat- and explosions, says Fong. We did a
form were swapped out for a complete ton of stunt work and visual effects. It
picture truck and trailer, which appear was epic craziness.
in subsequent segments of the shot that For fire and explosion effects, we
looked back toward it. The would gel a 12-Light Maxi-Brute, then
Technocrane was then repositioned and hook up the individual lights with
the move was finished with the camera Socapex connectors and run them sepa-
revolving around a 75'-diameter circle rately through a dimmer board, Grce
encompassing the fighters. explains. Additionally, Grce and best
One of the more complicated boy Dan Jones devised a custom
sequences to actualize was the show- controller for a LiteGear 1x1 panel to
down between Batman and Superman. simulate the reactive light of muzzle
Batman lures Superman to Gotham in flashes from automatic gunfire during
the middle of the night by activating close-ups.
the Bat-Signal realized here with an The battle is taken to the roof,
old searchlight housing retrofitted with which was shot on a raised stage at
a 20K bulb atop an abandoned Michigan Motion Picture Studios, a set
building. The two heroes, neither that was bordered by black drapes on
convinced of the others honorable one side and greenscreen on the other
motives, proceed to have at each other and then deluged with special-effects
with all the resources they can muster. rain. Here, Fong used 20Ks for moon-
The fight was filmed out of light, dimmable 2K zip lights rigged
order, first on stage and then on location around the perimeter to provide full
at Detroits Michigan Central Station, backlight coverage, and Lightning
the latter of which stood in for the Strikes at the four corners of the set.
abandoned building. In the film, the The combatants crash through a
87
A Clash of Titans
skylight to the penthouse beneath them,
which was set on another stage. Two
remote 20Ks on a 50' track were used to
reference the moonlight pouring
through the broken roof, along with
more water and rain. The fight contin-
ues, crashing through the floor to the
next story below.
Now theyre on another set, a big
abandoned bathroom with toilets, sinks
and shower stalls, Fong describes.
They smash through the stalls and
through a doorway until they reach an
atrium where Batman throws Superman
over the side 10 stories though the
raised set went only a couple of stories
down before visual effects took over.
Back at Michigan Central
Station, Superman lands on a pile of
radiators at the bottom of the
atrium (which seems kind of odd, but
its based on something we actually saw
on a tech scout, says Fong). Space
A portion of the fight between Batman and Superman was filmed on location at
Detroits Michigan Central Station.
restrictions and structural weaknesses at
the location were circumvented by using
88
five groups of four lightweight 4'x4' were developed at FotoKem, the former TECHNICAL SPECS
LED Blanket lights hung from a pipe scanned at 2K resolution by Deluxes
grid over the set, which provided light EFilm and the latter at 8K by FotoKem, 2.39:1, 1.43:1
from above with snap-on egg crates to who then sent raw DPX files to
control light spill. Company 3 for dailies. Dailies were Anamorphic 35mm,
The battle comes to its conclusion graded in Blackmagic Designs DaVinci 5-perf 65mm, 15-perf Imax,
Digital Capture
in an adjacent lobby with enormous Resolve, and Deluxe provided dailies-
windows and a ceiling so high its viewing on location with its EC3 Star Panavision Millennium XL2,
amazing we were able to pound in all the Waggons trailer and eVue calibrated System 65; Arriflex 435,
light we did, says Fong. The windows viewing system. The final grade was Arri Alexa XT;
were [approximately] 10 times the performed at 4K in Resolve by colorist Imax MSM 9802, MKIII; GoPro;
Canon EOS 5D
height of an average window, so that and ASC associate Stefan Sonnenfeld at
much more light was required. The Company 3. Panavision C Series, E Series;
cinematographer used a battery of LRX Fong is thrilled to have helped Zeiss; Hasselblad
lights on Condor cranes to carry out the bring some of the worlds most iconic
task. superheroes to the screen. Its what Kodak Vision3 500T 5219
The color-grade process for drew me to the project, he says. That, Digital Intermediate
Dawn of Justice began with a Nikon and of course collaborating with Zack
DSLR that Fong used to shoot lighting- once again. Working with him is an
evaluation stills on set. At the end of exciting process. Being able to develop
each day, he performed a basic color looks and strategies, and making visuals
grade on select stills and forwarded the a priority and having a director fight
results to dailies colorist Dave Lee at alongside you for things like single-
Deluxes Company 3 in Los Angeles. camera coverage and shooting on film
The 35mm and Imax camera negatives is a cinematographers dream.
89
Practical Optics:
Testing Different
Sensor Sizes
I
In the first in a series of must start with a disclaimer: I am by no means an expert on
optics. I am merely a student of optics, and my goal is to
introductory articles about explore practical optics by shooting simple tests that can be
optics, AC examines how camera shared with fellow students.
position, sensor size, focal length 1. The Subject: Perspective and Sensors
and angle of view interact to There is a current trend toward shooting with sensors
contribute to the distinctive look larger than the Super 35mm standard, with cameras such as
of various formats. the Red Dragon and the Arri Alexa 65. The goal of the tests
presented here is to explore how a different sensor size might
change the look of a given composition, and in particular its
By Benjamin B perspective and depth of field.
The idea was to devise a testing approach that students
| can easily replicate to reproduce our results and perhaps
continue their own research. To keep things simple, we used a
single full-frame camera and then framed for cropped images

Opposite:
Camera assistant
Marion
Delahousse holds
within that full frame to emulate two the slate while
vertical
smaller sensors. We also used a single references
zoom to get different focal lengths. demarcate the
Thus you should be able to replicate horizontal field
of view for an
these tests with any full-frame camera optics test. This
and zoom. page, clockwise
from top left:
Cinematographer
2. The Team Pierre-Hugues
I shot the tests with the help of Galien, AFC;
Pierre-Hugues Galien, AFC, a cine- Kevin Felix-Lassa
and Marion; the
matographer who has shot several note- painting
worthy features, including Now or Never Autumn, by
by Serge Frydman, Too Close to the Sun Siew Ying
Chong.
by Yves Angelo and Dad in Training by
Cyril Gelblat.
Two crewmembers kindly agreed
to act as models: Marion Delahousse, a One day I hope to shoot tests with the Canon EOS 5D. (On a historical note,
camera assistant, and Kevin Felix-Lassa, Alexa 65 (54.1mm horizontal), which 36mm is also the width of the
a student at the International Institute would require shooting with large- VistaVision frame used by Paramount
of Image and Sound near Paris. In the format lenses. Its worth noting that the filmmakers in the 1950s, and notably by
tests, Marion was in the foreground, and jump from Super 16mm to Super 35 in Alfred Hitchcock for Vertigo and North
Photos and illustrations courtesy of Benjamin B.
Kevin was 6' behind her. Farther behind our tests is analogous to the jump from by Northwest).
on the wall, we placed another face, a Super 35 to 65mm.
giant painting by my friend Siew Ying In our tests, one camera is used to B. 3-Perf Super 35mm 25mm x
Chong. emulate three sensor sizes with a 1.78:1 14mm
ratio: At present, Super 35 is the
3. Three Sensor Sizes standard sensor size for spherical
Pierre-Hugues recommended A. Full frame 1.78:1 36mm x 20mm features. We used the dimensions of
using a Leica SL. The cameras full- The largest size uses the maxi- AbelCines helpful 35mm Digital
frame sensor measures 36mm horizon- mum width of the Leica SLs full-frame Sensor Comparison Chart (blog.abel
tal about halfway between the 6K sensor, which measures 36mm x 24mm cine.com/2010/08/30/35mm-digital-
Red Dragon (30.7mm) and Reds the standard full-frame for still sensor-comparison-chart-2).
upcoming 8K Weapon (40.96mm). photographs and cameras like the

Practical Optics: Testing Different Sensor Sizes
tion. Short focal lengths have wide

Above: This
angles of view; long focal lengths have
test chart narrow ones. The field of view is the
indicates the width (or height or diagonal) of the
relative sizes
of 36x20mm,
image at a given distance.
Super 35mm A focal lengths angle of view is
and Super different for different sensor sizes. With
16mm, all
with a 1.78:1
a given sensor size, the angle of view
aspect ratio. never changes, while the field of view
Right: Frame increases with distance.
lines on the
Leica SLs
viewfinder 5. Constant Field of View
screen. In each of our five series of tests,
we kept the same field of view at
Marions distance from camera.
Another way to think about it is to
C. Super 16mm 12mm x 6.75mm the viewfinder monitor as a framing imagine Marion standing against a
As a reference for a small sensor, reference. window shaped like the 1.78:1 frame; in
we chose the Super 16mm dimensions The Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24- each series of tests, the camera lens or
defined by Arri (www.arrirental.com 90mm zoom we used has a maximum position varied, but we always framed
/pdf/format_guide.pdf ). When cropped aperture of f4 at the long end. We there- Marion in the same window the
to Super-16 size, the Leica image is fore shot everything at f4, to keep the same field of view around her. This
close to HD resolution, which is still aperture constant, even though that means that Marions size and position in
good enough for evaluating perspective. implied more depth of field than T2.8 the five series of frames remains similar
or T2. even as we varied sensor size and focal
We made a test chart with length, or sensor size and camera
Photoshop that displays the three sensor 4. Angle of View and distance.
sizes relative to each other. We printed Field of View
the chart, shot it, and then traced the Every focal length is defined by
frame lines on a piece of clear tape on its angle of view from the camera posi-

The lens has a constant angle of view and, at a given distance from the camera, horizontal field of view in this case, the width of
the frame around the figure.
6. Same Distance, 7. Larger Format, longer lenses for similar compositions.

Different Lenses Less Depth of Field. This is one reason many filmmakers
At a fixed camera distance with The most apparent difference compare 65mm to 35mm anamorphic.
the same focal length, the angle of view when matching a composition between To achieve the same composition at a
narrows as we go from 36x20 to Super different formats at the same distance is given distance in 65mm, you need to
35 to Super 16, and so does the field of that the longer lenses of the larger roughly double the focal length used in
view at Marions position. formats have less depth of field than the Super 35. This is comparable to the
In our first test, we set the camera wider ones of the smaller formats. Its doubling of focal length when going
position 5' away from Marion in the also striking how identical the composi- from Super 35 spherical to 35mm
foreground, with Kevin about 6' behind tions at 5' look: Kevin and the painting anamorphic.
her. Then we zoomed out as we went to maintain the same size for the three
smaller sensor sizes so as to maintain the focal lengths. I imagine that we would 9. Same Lens,
same field of view around Marion in the see more variation in the composition if Different Distances.
foreground, going from a focal length of we had shot at a closer distance to The next round of tests involved
67mm in 36x20, to 48mm in Super 35, Marion, because the angles of view keeping the same focal length but
to 24mm in Super 16. would be less aligned. changing the camera distance as we
In this series, the Super 35 choice The loss of focus on Kevin is went to different sensor sizes in order to
of 48mm is a medium focal length that somewhat subtle at f4, but it becomes maintain the same field of view around
evokes classic Hollywood, while 24mm more obvious when we go to longer Marion in the foreground.
is a more contemporary choice for a lenses in our second series of tests, Think again of the frame around
wide shot. To get a real understanding of which compare a closer shot at 90mm in Marion as a fixed window. As the
the different looks in this range of focal Super 35 with the same shot at 45mm camera moves farther away (as we go to
lengths, you really need to see the in Super 16. smaller sensor sizes), Marions size in
camera or the people move, which the window frame stays the same, but
would provide a fuller illustration of 8. Larger Formats Mean we see less of the background. The field
how the lenses render space. Longer Lenses. of view around Marion is the same, but
So the first takeaway from our the field of view around Kevin in the
tests is that when you need to keep the background narrows, making him
same distance, larger formats require bigger in the frame.
Left: The focal length is changed in order to maintain Marions framing at a

fixed camera distance for different sensor sizes. Above: The diagram
illustrates that longer focal lengths are required for larger formats.
Below: The loss of depth of field with longer focal lengths is especially
apparent when comparing the 45mm and 90mm, matched for this close-up
composition in Super 35 and Super 16 formats.
10. Perspective and Focal-Length Personality

These tests reveal the quality of perspective as
modulated by camera distance. In optics, perspective
describes the transformation of imaged objects with focal
length and distance. Another way of saying this is that
perspective describes the way a lens renders space, with an
impact on:
- how parallel lines are rendered

- the magnification of background elements
- the appearance of depth in the image
- the portraiture of the face
To me, angle of view and perspective define the

personality of a focal length what makes, say, a 24mm
different from a 90mm. As noted earlier, you really need
to see the camera move, or people move within the frame,
to get a full appreciation of how a lens renders space.
96 April 2016
The camera position is changed in order to maintain Marions framing with fixed focal lengths. Left: A shoulder shot of Marion with a 90mm is
matched for different formats by moving the camera; the field of view at Marions position is constant, but, as the camera gets farther away, Kevin
and the painting in the background increase in size and therefore appear to get closer to Marion. Middle: A medium shot of Marion and Kevin with a
50mm also shows background magnification and spatial compression. Right: A closer shot of Marion with a 24mm is also matched for the three sensor
sizes by moving the camera; note how Marions face appears to change with different camera distances.
11. Magnification Its important to note that magni- 13. Conclusions

and Compression fication and compression are created by Briefly, our conclusions from
Its striking to see Kevin and the camera distance for all three focal these tests are:
background painting increase in size with lengths, even though these artifacts are
all three focal lengths as the camera gets accentuated by the narrower angle of A. At the same distance, larger formats
farther away, while Marion stays the same view of the 90mm. imply longer lenses and therefore less
in the foreground field of view. depth of field.
Magnification is simply a matter of 12. The 24mm Personality
occupying more space in the frame. In order to emphasize the B. At the same distance, large and small
Longer focal lengths, like the 90mm, will personality of the 24mm lens, we formats will offer similar compositions if
have narrower angles of view than wider started on the 36x20 large format just you adjust focal length.
lenses, and will therefore decrease the 15" away from Marion. As we move to
fields of view and yield higher magnifica- 5' with this wide-angle lens, the shape C. Changing camera distance while
tion. and look of Marions face is trans- matching the foreground field of view
Compression is linked to magnifi- formed. This highlights how each focal will change the image perspective, and
cation, because objects appear closer as length has its own way of rendering a in particular background magnification
they increase in size. When Kevin occu- face, and how its depiction of space and and the apparent depth of the space in
pies almost the same width in the frame as its portraiture can be radical at short the frame.
Marion, he appears to be very close to her. distances.
So the narrow angle of view of the 90mm D. Therefore, the camera distance to
will appear to compress the distance subject is key to the perspective of the
between Marion and Kevin more than the image.
wider angle of view of the 50mm.

The diagram shows that Super 16 has a narrower angle of view with the same lens than
Super 35. To match the field of view around Marion, the camera has to move farther away.
Kevin occupies more of the frame in the narrower angle of view and thus appears bigger
and closer to Marion.
Thanks format comparisons. Thanks too to

Thanks to ASC associate Dan Gerhard Baier, Rainer Hercher and
Sasaki, vice president of optical engi- Tommaso Vergallo from CW
neering at Panavision, for his keen Sonderoptic, for the loan of a Leica SL
insights; Dan has worked with me on and 24-90mm zoom lens for the tests. A
Panavision white papers that I have special thanks to Pierre-Hugues Galien,
written about related topics. Thanks to Marion Delahousse and Kevin Felix-
Andrew Young at Panavision. Thanks Lassa.
also to Markus Frderer, BVK; Edu
Grau; and Ellen Kuras, ASC, who For additional coverage of this topic,
participated in a Panavision workshop along with instructional videos, visit
that I organized during the 2015 edition www.theasc.com/site/blog/thefilmbook.
of Camerimage, with similar themes of
99
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Panasonic Unveils VariCam LT array of lenses. The EF mount can be switched out to a robust PL
Panasonic recently unveiled the mount, expanding the range of compatible lenses that can be used.
VariCam LT 4K cinema camera, which The control panel can be separated from the camera body to facili-
inherits the same super- tate real-time control and easy menu access. The camcorder has a
35mm sensor and imag- magnesium body for durability and reliability in challenging shooting
ing capabilities that locations.
distinguish the award- Among the camcorders top-level production assets are ND
winning VariCam 35, filters (clear, 0.6, 1.2, 1.8); an optional OLED electronic viewfinder
but with significant with optical zoom functionality; 24-bit LPCM audio; focus assist;
reductions in size, anamorphic lens de-squeeze; PreRec, interval and one-shot func-
weight and price. tions; IP control via Panasonics AK-HRP200 camera remote
Like the VariCam 35, the controller; and built-in GPS. Features new to the VariCam LT include
VariCam LT (model AU- power hot swap, IR shooting (further enhancing the camcorders
V35LT1G) delivers 14+ stops of dynamic extreme low-light capture at ISO 5,000), 23.98 PsF output, and
range with V-Log, as well as the VariCam 35s inno- image presets as scene files.
vative dual native ISOs of 800/5,000. Weighing just under 6 pounds, Professional interfaces include: 3G-HD-SDI x3 (SDI-out x2
the VariCam LT is ideal for handheld, Steadicam, jib, crane, drone, and VF), LAN, genlock in, time-code in/out, USB2.0 Host and
gimbal and other operating modes. The camera is tailor-made for USB2.0 Device (mini B), and three XLR inputs (one five-pin, two
owner-operators, independent filmmakers, documentary makers three-pin). The flexible interfaces allow for the use of the Panasonic
and corporate-production creators. AU-VCVF10G viewfinder as well as third-party viewfinder solutions.
The VariCam LT can record in formats including 4K, UHD, 2K For more information, visit www.us.panasonic.com/varicam.
and HD, and like the VariCam 35, it is capable of High Dynamic
Range (HDR) field capture. The camcorder also offers Apple ProRes
4:4:4:4 (up to 30p) and ProRes 4:2:2 HQ (up to 60p) support for HD
recording, as well as Panasonics AVC-Ultra family of advanced video
codecs. New codecs introduced in the VariCam LT include AVC-Intra
LT and AVC-Intra 2K-LT, both designed to offer capture rates up to
240 fps in imager-crop mode.
The VariCam LT offers extended color gamut, support for the
Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) workflow, and in-camera
color grading with the ability to record an ungraded 4K master
along with all on-set grading metadata. The new N-Look color-
processing feature acts as a blend of V-Log and video, and allows
filmic documentary acquisition without the same need for intense
color grading. Cooke Optics Furthers Anamorphic/i Series
The VariCam LT differs from the VariCam 35 in being a one- Cooke Optics has begun shipping the 65mm Macro,
piece, short-bodied camcorder instead of a two-piece system with a 135mm, 180mm and 300mm Anamorphic/i lenses, marking the
camera head plus a recorder. While the VariCam LT does not feature completion of the original 10-lens prime Anamorphic/i set. Addi-
parallel sub-recording, it does have an SD slot for high-resolution tionally, the company has introduced the first of two Anamorphic/i
proxy recording; proxy files can be wirelessly uploaded via FTP to zoom lenses, the 35-140mm, with a longer zoom scheduled for the
facilitate wireless color grading. Variable frame rates are available end of this year.
with LongG6 recording. The 35-140mm Anamorphic/i zoom is a true front anamor-
There is one expressP2 card for all formats, including high phic with oval bokeh throughout zoom and focus. The patented
frame rate and HD/2K/UHD and 4K recording; the 256GB expressP2 optical design brings together a unique combination of attributes
card can record up to 90 minutes of 4K/4:2:2/23.98p content. Raw that allows shooting from very wide angle to telephoto with a 4x
output from SDI is planned to be supported by a firmware upgrade zoom ratio. The color and depth-of-field characteristics are matched
early this coming summer. to the Anamorphic/i primes, and the lens includes /i Technology for
The VariCam LT features an EF mount suitable for the wide metadata capture.

Cooke Optics has also announced /i3 DNxHD recording formats will be coming to while leveraging the investments theyve
(/i Cubed) firmware, the next generation of its Reds DSMC2 line of professional cameras: made in Avid in-house production systems.
/i Technology metadata system, which Weapon, Scarlet-W and Red Raven. The DNxHR and DNxHD formats will
provides detailed lens data to visual-effects Avid DNxHR and DNxHD are be added to the simultaneous-recording
and postproduction teams. The /i3 firmware renowned for their ability to reduce storage capability that Reds DSMC2 cameras
provides distortion-mapping of the specific and bandwidth requirements, and DNxHD currently offer via Redcode raw and Apple
lens in use. has been accepted by the Society of Motion ProRes formats. Avid DNxHR and DNxHD
Metadata is seen as crucial in other Picture and Television Engineers as the foun- will be made available via a free firmware
areas of content creation but has not been dation format for the VC-3 standard. Addi- upgrade in mid-2016.
adopted as widely in acquisition up to now, tionally, these formats offer seamless direct- For additional information, visit
notes ASC associate Les Zellan, chairman and to-edit experiences for professionals looking www.red.com.
owner of Cooke Optics. We believe that /i3 to keep the highest image quality possible
is a significant technological advance that will
make an enormous difference to [visual-
effects] and post workflows. The information
that we are able to collect from the lens
makes mapping so much more accurate,
which will save a great deal of time and
money in post.
For additional information, visit
www.cookeoptics.com.
Red Adds Scarlet-W, Avid Codecs

Red Digital Cinema has unveiled the Scarlet-
W, the latest addition to the companys line of
professional cameras. The Scarlet-W features
a Red Dragon
sensor, inter-
changeable lens
mounts, simulta-
neous recording
in Redcode raw
and Apple
ProRes formats,
an intelligent
OLPF system,
and in-camera
3D-LUT outputs.
The Scarlet-W captures 5K at 60 fps,
4K at 150 fps, or 2K at 300 fps with Redcode
raw. The cameras wide dynamic range
produces cinema-quality images rich with
natural color. The Scarlet-W also offers an
upgrade path to Reds Weapon camera and
uses the DSMC2TM line of accessories
compatible with both Red Raven and
Weapon cameras giving shooters the
option to move between camera systems
without having to purchase all-new gear.
Scarlet-W customers have a choice of
purchasing the Brain only to build a kit that
best fits their needs or choosing the full Scar-
let-W Base I/O V-Lock Package.
Red Digital Cinema has also
announced, with Avid, that Avid DNxHR and
which is of particular importance in a portrait
lens as it reduces flare and ghosting, even
with backlit subjects or similarly challenging
lighting conditions.
For accurate autofocusing, the 85mm
includes a ring-drive SSM motor system that
provides ample power and speed to drive the
Sony Launches G Master Lenses lens large, heavy focus group. Its equipped
Sony Electronics has unveiled its with two position sensors to support flawless
flagship G Master brand of interchangeable focus control of the large, heavy lens
lenses, beginning with three E-mount full- elements. The lens is dust- and moisture-resis-
frame lenses: the 24-70mm (f2.8) standard tant and has an aperture ring with on/off-
zoom, the 85mm (f1.4) prime and the 70- switchable click stops that can be adjusted
200mm (f2.8) telephoto zoom. based on whether a user is shooting still
The FE24-70mm GM Standard images or movies. It also has an AF/MF switch
Zoom is built with three aspherical and a focus-hold button.
elements, including a newly developed, The FE 70-200mm GM OSS Telephoto
extremely precise XA (extreme aspherical) Zoom delivers excellent sharpness and clarity
element that reduces aberration and deliv- throughout the entirety of its zoom range
ers exceptional resolution from corner to thanks to its three advanced lens elements
corner throughout the entire zoom and XA, Super ED and ED as well as its Nano
aperture range. Additionally, an ED (Extra- AR coating. The lens features a floating focus-
low-Dispersion) glass element and Super ing system that contributes to an impressive
ED glass element keep chromatic aberra- minimum-focusing distance and ensures AF
tion to a minimum while maximizing reso- performance is optimized during both still
lution and bokeh without any unnatural and video shooting.
coloration. The lens includes an SSM (Super Sonic
The lens features a 9-bladed aper- Motor) plus dual linear motors that work
ture that maintains a near-circular shape at together to move large lens elements quickly.
all settings and is coated with Sonys origi- The lens also has built-in Optical SteadyShot
nal Nano AR coating to suppress reflections image stabilization for capturing sharp, blur-
and ensure spectacular contrast and clarity. free subjects at all focal lengths, and a rotat-
The zoom has a direct drive SSM (Super ing tripod mount that allows the camera to
Sonic wave Motor) focusing system that be quickly removed from a connected tripod
works with incredible efficiency thanks to a as needed. The 70-200mm telephoto zoom
new set of algorithms that positions the is dust- and moisture-resistant with an addi-
lens elements quickly and accurately. The tional fluorine coating added to the front
motor is smooth and quiet, and the lens is lens. It also has a focus-hold button as well as
dust- and moisture-resistant and features a a focal-range limiter.
compact, streamlined design that includes Sony has also announced new
an AF/MF switch as well as focus hold, compact 1.4x and 2x Teleconverters
zoom lock and hood-release buttons. Two models SEL14TC and SEL20TC, respectively
new matching filters for the FE24-70mm that offer even greater reach while main-
GM lens have also been introduced: the VF- taining the overall streamlined design and
82MP MC protector and VF-82CPAM feel of the 70-200mm lens.
Circular PL filter. For additional information, visit
The FE 85mm GM Telephoto Prime www.alphauniverse.com.
also features a new XA element as well as
three ED glass elements that work together Sony Expands Camera Lineup
to ensure that the in-focus areas are Sony has introduced the PXW-Z150
captured in extremely high resolution while 4K camera, which combines enhanced low-
the surrounding out-of-focus areas dissolve light performance and multiple file-transfer
smoothly into a soft backdrop. It has a options in a compact design for professionals
circular aperture with an 11-blade iris. The who need to quickly and easily shoot, edit
lens has Sonys original Nano AR Coating, and deliver broadcast-quality content. The
102
PXW-Z150 is Sonys third professional 1"
camcorder, joining the HXR-NX100 and
PXW-X70.
The PXW-Z150s flexible operations
make it suited for corporate and event
production, as well as broadcast, documen-
tary, online content creation, or any applica-
tion requiring fast turnaround times. The
PXW-Z150 features a 1.0-type stacked Exmor
RS CMOS image sensor, giving shooters the
high sensitivity needed to deliver clear, sharp
pictures in extreme low-light conditions. A
high-speed readout ensures high-speed
motion shooting with minimum distortion.
The camcorder supports Full HD 120 fps
continuous high-speed shooting, which
enables 5x slow motion. The PXW-Z150
supports 4K XAVC Long (maximum
100Mbps) high-quality shooting. Full HD
XAVC Long 4:2:2 10bit 50Mbps and the
broadcasting format MPEG2HD
(50Mbps/35Mbps) are also supported.
Videographers can deliver high resolu-
tion and contrast from the center to the edge
of the cameras high-performance 4K-
compatible 29-348mm wide-angle G lens
with 12x optical zoom. The Clear Image
Zoom technology operates at 24x zoom and
18x zoom in HD and 4K modes, respectively,
in addition to the standard optical 12x zoom.
A built-in four-step ND filter offers the flexibil-
ity of exposure and depth-of-field control.
The PXW-Z150 also provides extended func-
tionality with three independent lens rings.
High visibility is delivered with the
wide viewing angle and high-contrast 0.39-
type 1440K OLED viewfinder, alongside the
3.5-type 1550K LCD panel.
Users can take advantage of the
camcorders advanced network functions,
such as built-in Wi-Fi for live-streaming capa-
bilities and FTP wireless connections. The
PXW-Z150 can also be easily controlled by a
smartphone or tablet using a Wi-Fi remote.
The camcorders interface options
include: 3G-SDI, HDMI, XLR, cold shoe, USB,
remote and composite (phono). The PXW-
Z150 has a battery life of up to 400 minutes
an APS-C-sized sensor, as the only other
cameras to feature this capability are the
full-frame a7R II and a7 II models.
Other enhancements to the a6300
include silent shooting functionality, the
ability to use AF in focus-magnifier mode,
of continuous expanded flexible spot AF, and Eye AF in AF-
recording time. C mode.
The camcorder has The a6300s new image sensor
two memory card slots and supports SDXC employs copper wiring in its structure,
and SDHC media; the dual media slots also which improves light-collection efficiency
enable backup, simultaneous and relay and significantly accelerates readout speed.
recording.
Sony Electronics has also introduced
the a6300 mirrorless camera, which boasts
a 4D Focus system that can lock focus on a
subject in as little as 0.05 seconds. Addi-
tionally, the a6300 has 425 phase-detec-
tion AF points that are densely positioned
over the entire image area, and can shoot
images at up to 11 fps with continuous The Bionz X processor features an
autofocus and exposure tracking. upgraded image-processing algorithm
The new mirrorless model also has designed to maximize the sensors overall
the ability to support full live-view continu- capabilities. These two key components
ous shooting on the Tru-finder or LCD work together to produce images with low
screen at up to 8 fps, producing a real-time noise and exceptional resolution in sensitiv-
shooting experience that combines all the ity settings up to ISO 51,200, in particular in
benefits of an electronic viewfinder with the mid-to-high sensitivity range.
the immediacy of a through-the-lens opti- When shooting in 4K, the camera
cal viewfinder. uses full pixel readout without pixel binning
The versatile a6300 is equipped with to collect 20 megapixels of information,
a newly developed 24.2 megapixel (approx- and then oversamples the information to
imate effective) APS-C-sized Exmor CMOS produce high-quality footage with excep-
sensor that works together with a Bionz X tional detail and depth. The camera utilizes
image-processing engine to produce the XAVC S codec during video shooting,
outstanding image quality throughout the recording at a high bit rate of 100 Mbps
entire ISO range of 100 to 51,200. It can during 4K recording and 50 Mbps during
also shoot and record high-resolution 4K standard Full HD shooting. Additionally, the
video with full pixel readout and no pixel camera will focus approximately twice as
binning in the popular Super 35mm fast as its predecessor during movie shoot-
format. ing thanks to its new and improved AF
In addition to the extensive AF system.
coverage, the a6300 debuts a new high- Other professional-caliber video
density tracking AF technology that signifi- features include the ability to record Full HD
cantly improves subject detection and at 120 fps at 100 Mbps. This mode allows
tracking performance. This new technology footage to be reviewed and eventually
can quickly activate a large number of AF edited into 4x or 5x slow-motion video files
points surrounding a subject and intelli- in Full HD (24p or 30p) resolution with AF
gently adjust them in accordance with the tracking. The a6300 also offers S-Log
subjects motion. The cameras 425 phase- gamma recording for wide-dynamic-range
detection AF points, enhanced tracking and shooting approximately 14-stop latitude
focus accuracy are all available when using in S-Log3 gamma setting and supports
A-mount lenses with a mount adaptor like S-Gamut for a wider color space.
the Sony LA-EA3. This is a first for Sony E- Also included on the new camera is
mount interchangeable lens cameras with a microphone line input that accepts exter-
104
nal microphones and supports XLR input
with Sonys XLR adapter kit, as well as
Gamma Display Assist, a new function that
allows users to monitor images or check
focus when recording S-Log movies. The
camera has enhanced zebra functionality for
greater exposure control. Picture profile
settings are available, as well as time
code/user bit and more.
The a6300 is equipped with a high-
contrast, high-resolution XGA OLED Tru-
Finder with approximately 2.4 million dots
that offers exceptional corner-to-corner visi-
bility. There is a new mode available for the
viewfinder that allows display of images at
120 fps, ensuring that action is displayed
smoothly with very few afterimages,
making subject tracking through the Tru-
Finder easier than ever.
The Wi-Fi- and NFC-compatible
a6300 features a robust magnesium-alloy
design and can be customized to fit nearly
any shooting style, with nine customizable
buttons to which 64 different functions can
be assigned. The camera adds a digital level
gauge as well as upgraded dust and mois-
ture resistance, a reinforced lens-mount
structure, and a new shutter-release button
and mode dial with improved operability
and grip.
For additional information,
visit www.sony.com/pxwz150 and
www.alphauniverse.com.
BandPro, IB/E Introduce

Macro FF Lenses
Klaus Eckerl, president of IB/E, and
ASC associate Amnon Band, president and
CEO of Band Pro, have unveiled a line of
professional APO Macro FF lenses. The
lenses were designed to address the indus-
try-wide movement toward larger-format
sensors, including Red Weapon 6K and 8K,
Sony a7, and Arri Alexa 65 cameras. These
larger sensors require lenses that can cover
their larger area.
The APO Macro FF lens family
consists of three focal lengths: 100mm, compared to its predecessor throughout its
150mm and 180mm. The lenses feature standard ISO speed range of 100-51,200.
full-frame (24mm x 36mm) coverage, 1:1 Expansion ISO speeds of 50, 102,400,
magnification, consistent T-stop (T2.9), and 204,800 and 409,600 are also available. A
robust and durable cine mechanics. first for the Canon EOS-1D series, this
Based in Germany, IB/E is a globally camera features a 360,000-pixel RGB+IR
respected optics manufacturer known for metering sensor with enhanced precision
cutting-edge expanders, adapters and and performance compared to its predeces-
lenses, including the Arri 65 lenses. sor, improving facial recognition and track-
APO Macro FF lenses will be avail- ing, as well as nature scenes.
able this summer. Additionally, the advanced AE
For additional information, visit system can detect and compensate for flick-
www.bandpro.com. ering light sources such as sodium-vapor
lamps that are often used in gymnasiums
and swimming pools. When enabled, this
anti-flicker system automatically adjusts
shutter-release timing to help reduce dispar-
ities in exposure and color, especially during
continuous-burst shooting.
For filmmakers, the EOS-1D X Mark
II offers high-resolution DCI 4K video, with
smooth movie recording to an in-camera
CFast 2.0 memory card. An additional card
slot supports standard CF memory cards up
to UDMA 7.
The built-in headphone jack
supports real-time audio monitoring. The
Canon Upgrades cameras 4K Frame Grab function allows
EOS-1D X, XA Cameras users to isolate a frame from recorded 4K
Canon U.S.A., Inc., has announced video and create an 8.8 megapixel still JPEG
the EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR camera, which image in-camera. When combined with the
incorporates a new 20.2-megapixel 35mm EOS-1D X Mark IIs high-sensitivity full-
Full Frame Canon CMOS sensor and Dual frame CMOS sensor, the ability to record
DIGIC 6+ Image Processors. The camera Full HD video at frame rates up to 120p will
also combines the ability to capture high- allow videographers to produce high-qual-
resolution still images at speeds up to 14 ity slow-motion video even in extremely low
fps and high-definition video at up to 4K light. To make video shooting even more
60p featuring Canons proprietary Dual intuitive, the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II
Pixel CMOS Autofocus (AF) technology. cameras touch-screen LCD allows videog-
The Canon EOS-1D X Mark II raphers to select the cameras AF point
camera is designed to deliver high perfor- before and during video recording with
mance, speed and image quality, with Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which provides
improved comfort for professional photog- responsive, accurate and quiet camcorder-
raphers. The camera includes an improved like video autofocus to DSLRs.
61-point High-Density Reticular AF II system The camera also offers a built-in GPS
with all AF points selectable by the user receiver with compass for precise geo-
(and up to 41 cross-type points depending tagged information of latitude, longitude,
on the lens in use). The improved AF system elevation and direction. This is especially
includes expanded coverage that supports valuable to wildlife photographers and
AF at maximum apertures up to f8 with all photojournalists who need to track their
61 points for high-precision autofocus even locations, as well as to sports photogra-
when using EF super-telephoto lenses with phers who require the ability to sync a
an EF extender. multiple-camera setup with extreme accu-
The camera boasts excellent racy and precision. It is possible to use the
dynamic range and reduced color noise cameras built-in GPS to automatically sync
106
the cameras time to the atomic clock. An
improved grip makes the camera easier for
photographers to hold and maneuver while
shooting.
In response to feedback from profes-
sional EOS users, the AF points in the EOS-
1D X Mark II cameras Intelligent Viewfinder
II can be illuminated in red for improved visi-
bility, especially when shooting in dark loca-
tions. AF sensitivity in low light has been
doubled from EV -2 to EV -3 at the center
AF point when the camera is set to One-
Shot AF, enabling the camera to autofocus
in extremely dark shooting conditions such
as a moonlit nightscape. Viewfinder AF
coverage has also been increased for
greater compositional flexibility.
As with all EOS-1D series cameras,
the EOS-1D X Mark IIs rugged construction
and magnesium-alloy body is weather resis-
tant. The camera also features improved
controls and more in-camera image-quality
enhancements than ever before, including
a Digital Lens Optimizer function offering
high-quality aberration correction.
Canon has also introduced the XA35
and XA30 Full HD professional camcorders,
which are highly portable and capable of
capturing high-quality video in low light,
and offer wireless connectivity for easy
uploading of files. Both camcorders feature
a Canon 20x High Definition Optical Zoom
Lens and a new, advanced HD CMOS Pro
image sensor with low-luminance noise of
+3dB for improved low-light image capture.
Enabling a wide range of imaging possibili-
ties, the duo also features two new video-
recording modes: Highlight Priority, which
facilitates the faithful expression of tonal
gradations, colors and sharpness in the mid-
to high-brightness range; and Wide DR,
which delivers an expanded dynamic range.
These compact, ergonomically
designed camcorders weigh only 2.6
pounds (including battery), allowing for
extreme mobility and portability. Both
camcorders feature detachable handles and
utilize Canons DIGIC DV4 Image Processor
and Intelligent Optical Image Stabilization
with powered and dynamic modes and
auto on/off mode.
The XA35 and XA30 camcorders
feature Full HD (60p and native cinematic at
24p) 1920x1080 recording capabilities with
dual SD card slots, recordable to AVCHD
(28Mbps) and MP4 (35Mbps), and an
HD/SD-SDI output (XA35 only). The new
Highlight Priority video-recording mode
makes it possible to capture visual charac-
teristics that might otherwise be lost due to
video compression.
Drawing from technologies
employed in Canons Cinema EOS System
lineup of professional digital cinematogra-
phy products, the Wide DR mode achieves
a dynamic range that has been expanded
to 600 percent compared to the 300
percent on the predecessor Canon
XA25/XA20 camcorder models. The mode
helps minimize the occurrence of under-
and overexposed areas to help create
smooth color gradations, even when shoot-
ing in environments that tend to produce
under- and overexposed regions, such as
those with drastic differences in lighting
conditions.
The brightness performance of
these camcorders when shooting infrared
has been improved approximately 1.4 times
higher than the previous models. Infrared
shooting uses an infrared diffused LED light
to enhance brightness to the very edges of
the image while shooting in low-light situa-
tions. The sensitivity of the new sensor also
enhances this feature.
Also new to the XA line of HD
camcorders are slow (maximum 0.4x) and
fast (maximum 1,200x) recording options.
These modes can be accessed through the
easy-to-operate user interface displayed on
a 3.5", 1.23-million-dot OLED touch-panel
display and 10,000:1-contrast-ratio elec-
tronic viewfinder with controllable iris. The
display features a view-assist function,
which provides users the ability while in
highlight-priority (gamma) mode to
adjust brightness and gamma setting of
both the display and EVF to help display
subjects in the most realistic way possible.
To help facilitate better focus ability, these
models feature High Definition Peaking for
Focus Assist. In addition, both models allow
for full manual control and assignable
buttons for custom shooting, and also have
advanced display features that allow for
adjustment of zebra, color bars and test
tone.
The XA35 and XA30 HD camcorders
both feature wireless connectivity for easy
sharing and uploading of files. FTP file
transfer of MP4 (3Mbps) video is enabled
by dual-band wireless support (5GHz and
2.4GHz), which also allows for data shar-
ing. A wireless-remote feature enables
users to control the XA35 and XA30
camcorders via a Web browser on the users
compatible PC or mobile device. In playback
mode, video files can be uploaded to social-
media websites via the free Movie Uploader
app, currently available only for compatible
iOS mobile devices.
The XA35 and XA30 HD camcorders
also support use of the optional Canon GP-
E2 GPS receiver, which can be connected
via USB cable to provide location and time
information recorded during shooting.
Additional features include connectivity to
various inputs and outputs, including two
phantom-powered XLR audio inputs with
main ground control, and optional Blue-
tooth mic and two-way intercom-like capa-
bility.
For additional information, visit
usa.canon.com.
IndyND Tackles GoPro Exposure

IndyND has introduced a filter pack-
age and smartphone app for use with
GoPro cameras in order to offer cinematog-
raphers increased control over the cameras
exposure without relying on shutter speed.
With IndyNDs intuitive light-meter
smartphone app, GoPro users can judge review footage as soon as the game or prac-
the lighting conditions of any setup and tice is complete. Plus, high-quality HD
quickly use the corresponding 4-, 5-, 6- or footage can be simultaneously recorded to
7-stop color-coded neutral-density filters, SD cards in the camera for backup or archive
which are hand-crafted and made from purposes.
high-quality glass. The result is cinematic Beyond its built-in UTC and live
motion blur instead of the GoPro cameras streaming capabilities, the GY-HM650SC
telltale choppy look in bright day exteriors. HD streaming engine with Wi-Fi and 4G LTE camera includes all the professional features
The pack of four filters comes connectivity allows live HD transmission of the GY-HM650 mobile news camera.
bundled with the app at an affordable directly from the GY-HM200SP to the With its integrated Fujinon wide-angle 23x
price. For additional information, visit ProHD Broadcaster server powered by Zixi, zoom lens and three 12-bit CMOS sensors,
www.indynd.com. Wowza Streaming Engine, other hardware the lightweight camera offers superior low-
decoders, and content-delivery networks light performance and excellent sensitivity
like Ustream and YouTube. Other features (f11 at 2,000 lux). Audio features include a
include dual XLR audio inputs with built-in built-in stereo microphone, two XLR inputs
phantom power that are mic/line switch- with phantom power, shotgun mic holder,
able, an integrated handle with hot shoe headphone jack, and separate input for a
and dedicated microphone mount, and SDI wireless mic receiver.
and HDMI video outputs. For additional information, visit
JVC has also introduced the GY- pro.jvc.com.
HM650SC ProHD camera, which records
time of day info (UTC) within the metadata
JVC Grows 4KCam, to synchronize multiple cameras and
ProHD Families biometric data collected by player-tracking
JVC Professional Video has intro- devices used by athletic coaches to analyze
duced the GY-HM200SP 4KCam team performance. This camera announce-
camcorder with embedded score-panel ment coincides with JVCs partnership with
graphics. Designed to enhance single- XOS Digital, a provider of digital coaching
camera local-sports coverage, the camera technology for sports organizations.
produces a real-time score overlay on With its built-in GPS capability, the
recorded or streamed video output without GY-HM650SC retrieves coordinated univer- P+S Technik, Kish
the use of an external CG and production sal time (UTC) via satellite and embeds a Redesign Xpander
switcher. real-time reference within the video meta- Kish Optics and P+S Technik have
The GY-HM200SP can receive score data. As a result, the system allows a coach collaborated to redesign the Kish Xpander
information directly from a mobile device to instantly find a portion of video associ- lens. Assembled at P+S Techniks facility in
connected wirelessly to the camera using ated with any specific biometric or posi- Ottobrunn, Germany, the new version is
an intuitive GUI. It will also be possible for tional data point. ready for delivery.
the camera to interface directly to the In addition to the ability to include By attaching the Xpander Lens to a
sports venues scoreboard controller UTC time-stamp data within its recording, Super-35mm cinema zoom, users can take
through a wired or wireless interface. The the GY-HM650SC can include specific advantage of larger-format sensors without
camera includes basic layouts to cover a metadata related to the type of play compromising the lens focal-length capabil-
wide variety of sports, but JVC will also be (offense, defense, kickoff, etc.) via an intu- ity; the Xpander can be attached to most
able to customize the overlay with the itive mobile GUI. The metadata can then be existing zoom lenses where there is enough
names and logos of teams. interpreted by the XOS Thunder platform, space between the back of the lens and the
Beyond its built-in graphics overlay, allowing the system to automatically cate- first obstacle in front of the sensor. The
the GY-HM200SP includes all the profes- gorize and separate plays into appropriate Xpander is not compatible with spinning
sional features of the GY-HM200. It has a folders, which can save hours of post- mirror-shutter cameras.
1 2.3" BSI CMOS imager and integrated 12x recording cutting and tagging. The Kish Xpander Lens allows full-
zoom lens with optical image stabilizer and With the GY-HM650SCs flexible sensor coverage for Arri Alexa Open Gate
24x dynamic zoom in HD mode. The streaming capabilities, coaches can send and Red Dragon sensors, and is compatible
camera records 4K Ultra HD, 4:2:2 Full HD footage directly to the analytics platform as with a wide range of cinema lenses to
(50 Mbps), and SD footage, and a new 70 a stream or an FTP upload after each play prevent vignetting. Compatible lenses
Mbps mode records 4K footage in smaller, via 4G LTE connection or Wi-Fi. As a result, include: Angenieuxs 17-102mm zoom, 25-
more manageable files on economical Class footage does not have to be uploaded 250mm HR zoom, Optimo 17-80mm and
10 SDHC/SDXC memory cards. The built-in manually, so coaches and players can 24-290mm zooms, and compact Optimo

zooms; and Cookes 18-100mm zoom. with the Long Record option; Gigabit Ether-
For additional information, visit net control with FasMotion software on a
www.pstechnik.de. PC or Mac computer; remote camera
control with any laptop, smartphone or
tablet running a Web browser on a wired or
Wi-Fi network; autonomous control to
automatically record and save to onboard
storage when given a trigger signal; and
1080p60 or 720p60 HDMI video output.
Additionally, TS5 cameras have a 7" touch-
screen display and may be operated on
internal battery power. All 5-Series cameras
are available with a C-mount, Nikon F-
mount, or PL lens mount.
Fastec Offers Faster Imaging For additional information, visit
Fastec Imaging has announced www.fastecimaging.com.
higher frame rates for Fastec 5-Series High-
Speed Cameras via a free camera firmware
update.
The TS5 and IL5 series originally
launched with maximum data rates from
Quad HD (2560x1440 at 350 fps) to Full HD
(1920x1080 at 630 fps). The new frame
rates, achieved through sensor-timing opti-
mization, extend this high data rate to lower
resolutions as well. For example, HD
(1280x720) increases from about 940 fps to
more than 1,440 fps. The faster perfor- Movcam Controls Lenses
mance enables TS5 and IL5 High-Speed 16x9 Inc., a leading distributor and
Cameras to be used for a more diverse producer of high-end accessories for film
range of still photography and video appli- and video production, has introduced
cations that require recording of high-speed Movcams Single-Axis and Dual-Axis Wire-
events for slow-motion replay or stills. less Lens Control systems.
TS5 and IL5 High-Speed Cameras are Both the Single-Axis and Dual-Axis
available in four configurations: the TS5/IL5- systems are easily adjustable and calibrate
Q records up to 2560x2048 (QSXGA) at 243 automatically. Configurable lens-motor
fps to onboard memory for 6.3 seconds, the torque; a 1.5" OLED screen (on the SCU-1
TS5/IL5-H records up to 1920x1080 (HD Hand Control unit) visible in direct sunlight;
1080p) at 630 fps to onboard memory for and an ergonomic, modular design are just
6.4 seconds, the TS5/IL5-S records up to a few of the systems features. The SCU-1
1280x1014 at 1,000 fps to onboard Hand Control Unit boasts a modular design
memory for 6.4 seconds, and the TS5/IL5-L and can be upgraded from a Single-Axis
records up to 800x600 at 1,650 fps to system to a Dual-Axis system via the addi-
onboard memory for 10.4 seconds. All tion of the ZSU-1 Zoom Extension Module.
models are able to record higher frame rates Start/stop functionality on the SCU-1 is
at lower resolutions and have a maximum compatible with popular cameras from Red
frame rate of more than 18,000 fps at Digital Cinema, Canon, Sony, Arri and
128x64. Blackmagic Design. (The latter requires an
Features include a state-of-the-art additional cable sold separately.) The
5MP 12-bit high-speed CMOS imaging systems are compatible with Canon and
sensor; the ability to save an 8GB memory Fujinon broadcast ENG-lenses. A Multi-Axis
buffer to onboard SSD in as little as 40 Wireless Lens Control system will be avail-
seconds with the SSD option; the ability to able late this spring.
stream high-speed video directly to an For additional information, visit
onboard SSD for much longer recordings www.16x9inc.com.
111
Benro Supports Cameras spreader, a metal 75mm bowl, oversized extremely helpful
Benro has announced two BV Pro quick-positive leg locks, and dual-spike feet when changing
professional video tripod kits. Both kits are with pads, making this kit perfect for heavy lenses and
designed for the demanding filmmaker and loads and rigged cameras. adding accessories.
videographer, and allow for precise control The BV4 Pro and BV6 Pro tripod kits Benro has also
over the counterbalance, pan drag and tilt are packed with useful features usually expanded its System-
drag. found on more expensive tripods. Stepped Move line with the
The new Pro versions of the BV4 and counterbalance does the heavy lifting when addition of three
BV6 incorporate the eighth-generation operating hefty camera rigs or longer travel jibs. The new
two-stage aluminum tripod. This profes- lenses; having individual steps allows the MoveUp jibs are
sional tripod features a double-tandem leg operator to dial in the right amount of travel-friendly
design that uses an adjustable, removable counterbalance for each setup, which is and compact,
and each
includes its
own custom,
rolling grip case. Available in
both 75mm and 100mm
versions, the MoveUp8, MoveUp15 and
MoveUp20 are compact, easy-to-assemble
travel jibs that support camera payloads up
to 8kg (17.6 pounds), 15kg (33 pounds)
and 20kg (44 pounds), respectively.
The MoveUp8 can be mounted to a
75mm video tripod and accepts a 75mm
video head, while the MoveUp 15 and
MoveUp20 can be mounted to a 100mm
video tripod and accept a 100mm video
head. Users can attach a video monitor to
the side of the jib with the provided 38"-16
and "-20 accessory mounts; managing
monitor cables is easy with any of the four
included Velcro straps. The full range of
travel is 79.5" for the MoveUp8 and 90"
for the MoveUp15 and MoveUp20.
Benro products are exclusively
distributed by MAC Group in the USA. For
additional information, visit www.macgrou
pus.com.
International Marketplace

Telecine &
Color Grading
Jod is a true artist with
a great passion for his craft.
John W. Simmons, ASC
Contact Jod @ 310-713-8388
Jod@apt-4.com
Classifieds
CLASSIFIED AD RATES EQUIPMENT FOR SALE EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set 4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion, Polas etc. A Worlds SUPERMARKET of USED MOTION
in bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per word.
First word of ad and advertisers name can be set Good Box Rental 818-763-8547 PICTURE EQUIPMENT! Buy, Sell, Trade.
in capitals without extra charge. No agency CAMERAS, LENSES, SUPPORT, AKS &
commission or discounts on classified advertis- 16,000+ USED PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT ITEMS
MORE! Visual Products, Inc. www.visual
ing.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER. VISA, www.ProVideoFilm.com
Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are accept- products.com Call 440.647.4999
www.UsedEquipmentNewsletter.com
ed. Send ad to Classified Advertising, Ameri-
can Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, 888 869 9998
Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973.
Deadline for payment and copy must be in the HOLLYWOOD STUDIO ANTIQUES
office by 15th of second month preceding publica- www.CinemaAntiques.com
tion. Subject matter is limited to items and servic- BUY-SELL-TRADE
es pertaining to filmmaking and video production.
Words used are subject to magazine style abbre-
viation. Minimum amount per ad: $45

Advertisers Index
Aadyn Technology 77 Digital Sputnik Lighting RED Camera 36-37
Abel Cine Tech 33 Systems 43 Revolution 435 D & C 17
A.C. Entertainment DMG Technologies 69 Rosco Laboratories, Inc. 85
Technologies 99 Duclos Lenses 107 RST Visions 52
Adorama 27 Eastman Kodak C4 RTS, Inc. 13
AJA Video Systems 113 Samys DV & Edit 21, 23, 25
Alan Gordon Enterprises 115 Filmotechnic 106
F.J. Westcott 104 Scheimpflug Rentals 111
Arri 9, 29 Schneider Optics 2, 71
Arri Rental 35 Fluotec 83
Freak Show HD 8 Selected Tables 116
B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio Shape WLB, Inc. 88
63 Grip Factory Munich/GFM 107 Super16, Inc. 115
Backstage Equipment, Inc. Groupe TVA 93
Teradek, LLC C2-1
102 Hasselblad Bron, Inc. 70 Thales Angenieux 19
Barger 52 Horita Company, Inc. 114 Tiffen 57
BBS Lighting 79
Black Sheep SL 8 J.L. Fisher 89 Ushio America, Inc. 77
Bolt Stage Mexico 17 Jod Soraci 115
Vantage Gmbh 95
Camberwell Studios Ltd. 115 K5600 45 Vitec Videocom C2-1, 81
Canon USA 11 Kino Flo 53
Cavision Enterprises 114 Koerner Camera Systems 105 Willys Widgets 114
www.theasc.com 115
Century Optics 2, 71 Ledsmaster/Ledsfilm 7
Chapman/Leonard Lights! Action! Co. 114
Studio Equip. 31
Maccam 87
Chroma-Q 99
Mac Tech LED 101
Chrosziel Gmbh 105
MAT Berlin 59
Cinebags, Inc. 114
Matthews Studio
Cinec/Albrecht 112
Equipment 51
Cinegears, Inc. 109
Mels Studio and Post 93
Cine Gear Expo 117
Mole-Richardson/Studio
Cinematography
Depot 108, 114
Electronics 103
Movie Tech AG 115
Cinekinetic 114
Cineo Lighting 61 NBC/Universal 101
Convergent Design 67 Nila, Inc. 8
Cooke Optics 15 OConnor 81
Crawford Media Services, Inc.
C3 P+S Technik Feinmechanik
CTT Exp & Rentals 103 Gmbh 109, 115
CW Sonderoptic Gmbh 49 Panasonic Communications Co.
5
Panavision 64a-b
PED Denz 51
Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
Gmbh 114
Powermills 114
Pro8mm 114
Quixote/Smashbox Studios 97
116
Clubhouse News
Above: Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC. Right:

Associate member Leon Silverman (right) passes the
baton to new HPA President Seth Hallen.
Society Welcomes van Hoytema Cinematheque Salutes Zsigmond Manios Sr. Receives SOC Honor
New active member Hoyte van The American Cinematheque Associate member Steven Manios Sr.
Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC was born in recently presented a film-series tribute to recently received the Society of Camera Oper-
Switzerland and raised in the Netherlands. the late Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, HSC at ators 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award for
He studied cinematography at the Polish the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Co- Distinguished Service for his groundbreaking
National Film School in Lodz, and upon sponsored by the ASC and AC, the series work in camera optics. The SOC Lifetime
graduation he returned to Amsterdam to included the features McCabe & Mrs. Achievement Awards were presented with the
gain a foothold in the industry. He served as Miller, The Long Goodbye, The Deer SOCs Cammy Award at a black-tie event held
a clapper loader for Jules van den Steen- Hunter, Blow Out, Obsession, Close at Paramount Studios. The event also served
hoven, NSC, and as a camera trainee for Encounters of the Third Kind, The Sugar- as a fundraiser for the Vision Center at Chil-
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.

Robby Mller, BVK, NSC. Van Hoytema land Express and Heavens Gate, with intro- drens Hospital Los Angeles.
then returned to Poland, where a film- ductions made by ASC members Caleb
school friend offered him a job pulling focus Deschanel, Michael Goi, James Chres- Silverman Passes HPA Baton
on a Swedish TV series; when his friend left santhis and M. David Mullen. During the recent HPA Tech Retreat in
the show early, van Hoytema completed the Indian Wells, Calif., ASC associate member
episode and earned his first professional Camerimage Winners Show Leon Silverman announced that he is step-
cinematographer credit. in Los Angeles ping down as president of the HPA. It was also
He began shooting a steady stream Camerimage, in partnership with announced that the organization has changed
of Scandinavian productions, one of which the ASC and the American Film Institute its name from the Hollywood Post Alliance to
Tomas Alfredsons vampire story Let the Conservatorys cinematography discipline, the Hollywood Professional Association.
Right One In was an international hit, recently held its sixth annual winners show Launching and leading HPA, shoulder
bringing van Hoytema to the attention of at the AFI campus in Los Angeles. The show to shoulder with a dedicated and impressive
filmmakers around the world. Van Hoytema brings selected winning films from the board, staff and volunteers, has been one of
has won three Guldbagge Awards Camerimage Film Festival to Los Angeles, the most exciting and rewarding accomplish-
Swedens equivalent to the Academy with five features, three documentaries, ments of my career, said Silverman. It has
Awards for his work on Let the Right three student etudes and one music been a true honor to work with so many
One In, The Girl and Call Girl. video screened over the course of three colleagues, especially during these exciting
Van Hoytemas recent film credits days. Carol, shot by Golden Frog-winner times of industry transition and expansion.
include Interstellar (AC Dec. 14) and Spec- Ed Lachman, ASC, was among the The HPA Board of Directors has elected
tre (AC Nov. 15). He received an ASC features screened. Seth Hallen to succeed Silverman, who will
Award nomination for his work on Tinker continue to serve on the board in the newly
Tailor Soldier Spy (AC Dec. 11). created role of past president.

Top left: AC editor-in-chief and publisher
Stephen Pizzello, Sebastian Lumme of
Camadeus Film Technologies, Oliver
Schietinger of TCS New York, AC associate
editor Andrew Fish, Erik Schietinger of TCS
New York, and Seth Emmons of CW
Sonderoptic/Leica Cine hang at ACs
Sundance reception. Top right: Partygoers
also included filmmakers Lauretta Prevost,
Maria Rusche, Jendra Jarnagin, Elle
Schneider, Polly Morgan and Autumn Eakin.
AC Hosts Sundance Reception

American Cinematographer hosted
its first Sundance Film Festival reception at
this years event in Park City, Utah. The party
drew a lively crowd of 100 cinematogra-
phers and filmmakers who enjoyed a
catered spread of bratwurst, pretzels, cock-
tails and charcuterie.
Sundance has always been great
because of the adventurous, independent
filmmaking the festival helps to promote,
along with its educational initiatives and
collaborative atmosphere, says Stephen
Pizzello, AC editor-in-chief and publisher.
Ive been attending since the mid-Nineties,
but this was the magazines first attempt
to establish a physical footprint at the
festival, and Im pleased to report that
our reception was a big hit. I have to thank
our very generous sponsors TCS New
York, Camadeus Film Technologies and
CW Sonderoptic/Leica Cine for provid-
ing the food and drink, an elegant venue,
and shuttle service for guests. It was a very
friendly and productive partnership, and
were hoping it will become an annual
tradition.

Close-up Jamie Anderson, ASC
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impres- What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?
sion on you? One of the best has to be working with Jack Lemmon and Walter
The puppets in Lili with Leslie Caron, Ahab and the whale in Moby Matthau reprising their roles of Felix and Oscar [in The Odd Couple
Dick, and everything in Disneys Alice In Wonderland all scared me II]. What a pair what a pleasure and privilege!
enough that Ive never forgotten any of them.
Have you made any memorable blunders?
Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most Many years ago I went to Miami to assist Bobby Byrne, ASC in
admire? shooting a new ending for a picture. He had asked that I bring a set
I was very lucky to work with and learn from many, including Conrad of attenuator filters. When we and the tripod were knee-deep in the
Hall [ASC]; Vittorio Storaro [ASC, AIC]; John sea a few days later, he asked for the filter and
Alcott [BSC]; Allen Daviau [ASC]; Tak Fujimoto it was then that I learned the difference
[ASC]; Jordan Cronenweth [ASC]; and John between the grad I had brought and the atten-
Hora [ASC], among others. Today there are uator he wanted. Yikes. That was a bad
many doing beautiful work: [ASC members] moment. Hes a much nicer man than I
Deakins, Richardson, Lubezki, Elswit and many deserved just then.
others. The work accomplished on television
today is extraordinary feature quality. What is the best professional advice
youve ever received?
What sparked your interest in photogra- Roger Corman would always tell his first-time
phy? directors before the first day of shooting,
Dads darkroom in the downstairs bathroom Whenever you get a chance, sit down! Still
got me started. My father was an advertising good advice.
writer-producer for Kodak commercials. I got
hooked. I still love the smell of the chemicals. What recent books, films or artworks have
inspired you?
Where did you train and/or study? The photography that Emmanuel Lubezki
Undergraduate at NYUs Tisch School of the Arts, where I was so accomplished on Birdman absolutely blew my mind. Wow.
lucky to learn about American directors from a young teacher Fearless mastery.
named Marty Scorsese. Graduate work at the Roger Corman New
World Pictures College that got so many of us going in Hollywood. Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to
Invaluable experience, never-ending fun! try?
Westerns are the most fun, and period films in general. I would love
Who were your early teachers or mentors? to do something from the Sixties.
Bruce Hill, who had a camera-rental house and was instrumental in
the development of video assist, was my first mentor. He had If you werent a cinematographer, what might you be doing
worked at Mitchell Camera during the development of the Mark II. instead?
He was a brilliant camera guy and taught me so much. A wonderful I first went off to school to study architecture, but fortunately I was
man. steered in a different direction. Over the years, I have met at least a
dozen other cinematographers who began by studying architecture.
What are some of your key artistic influences? Its a curious thing.
Painters, of course, throughout the ages: the Impressionists, Hudson
River School, Vermeer, Hopper, Henry Poor. Photographers like Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for
Walker Evans, Adams, Robert Frank, Winogrand, Avedon, Eggle- membership?
ston. And Bob Dylan. I am very grateful to Steven Poster, Robbie Greenberg and John Toll.
How did you get your first break in the business? How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
Hard to define the first break, but maybe a phone call in 1971 from There is a powerful feeling of belonging to an extraordinary group
Roger Corman to my friend Jonathan Kaplan in New York, hiring of artists, and a group with such an important history. I am so fortu-
him to come to Hollywood to direct Night Call Nurses. He brought nate to be a part of it.
three of us with him, I shot 2nd unit, and none of us ever left.

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APRIL 2016

An International Publication of the ASC

Colleagues and collaborators remember

54 Rebel With a Camera

90 Practical Optics: Testing Different Sensor Sizes

An International Publication of the ASC

Jake Polonsky, BSC

Visit us online at www.theasc.com

the constant moment.

12 April 2016 American Cinematographer

I Shot in the Dark

14 April 2016 American Cinematographer

16 April 2016 American Cinematographer

In post, the original 4K camera files

18 April 2016 American Cinematographer

20 April 2016 American Cinematographer

22 April 2016 American Cinematographer

24 April 2016 American Cinematographer

26 April 2016 American Cinematographer

28 April 2016 American Cinematographer

30 April 2016 American Cinematographer

32 April 2016 American Cinematographer

34 April 2016 American Cinematographer

38 April 2016 American Cinematographer

of the 1970s. There is a beautiful, even

www.theasc.com April 2016 39

Michael Goi, ASC: A cinematog-

40 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Warren Beatty (actor on McCabe

www.theasc.com April 2016 41

Steven Poster, ASC (2nd-unit

42 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Kenneth Nishino (camera assis-

44 April 2016 American Cinematographer

I interviewed Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC,

46 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Michael Douglas (actor on The

Gershman: Blow Out was a hard

Urbanczyk: When we got back

www.theasc.com April 2016 47

Chressanthis: In 1986, Howard

Richard Donner (director on

48 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Urbanczyk: I always cite an

50 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Stephen Pizzello (American

54 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Richard Crudo, ASC president:

over the years, but he was also singular

Jeff Wexler (one of Haskells

www.theasc.com April 2016 55

Top left: Wexler

Marines during the Second World War.

56 April 2016 American Cinematographer

much about whats going on as anything

John Bailey, ASC: Haskells 60-

58 April 2016 American Cinematographer

other cameramen Id worked with. He

60 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Squires: Medium Cool was revo-

62 April 2016 American Cinematographer

Robert Forster (actor on

64 April 2016 American Cinematographer