J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2$5.95Canada $6.95LitepanelsA Vitec Group brandinfo@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com1x1SeriesSo|aSeriesMicroSeriesRing|iteSeriesMiniP|usSeriesHi|ioSeriesCromaSeriesyears ||ghtaheadOnly Litepanelsoffers a full spectrum of color balanced LED lightsthat are working on sets world-wide. Cool running, low energydraw, i ntegrateddi mmi ngoutput and the award-winningLitepanels quality of light-ready to deliver creativity at the speedof light. t h g | | d a e h at h g | |s r a e y i n i M C d n a r b p u o r G c e t i V As l e n a p e tt i L a p e t i l @ o f n i a p e t i l . w w w m o c . s l e n a m o c . s l e n aThe International Journal of Motion Imaging32 Cold CaseJeff Cronenweth, ASC and David Fincher investigate a compelling mystery forThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo48 Animal InstinctsJanusz Kaminski saddles up with Steven Spielberg on the World War I drama War Horse62 Lord of WarBarry Ackroyd, BSC provides stalwart support for Coriolanus director and star Ralph Fiennes74 Go with the FlowACs technical editor outlines the challenges posed by digital workflowsDEPARTMENTSFEATURES VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM TO ENJOY THESE WEB EXCLUSIVES DVD Playback: Le Beau Serge/Les Cousins The Island of Lost Souls Little Big ManOn Our Cover: Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) unearths sinister secrets in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, shot by Jeff Cronenweth, ASC.(Photo by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, courtesy of Columbia Pictures.)8 Editors Note10 Presidents Desk12 Short Takes: String Theory20 Production Slate: The Descendants ASC Awards Preview HPA Awards88 New Products & Services98 International Marketplace99 Classified Ads100 Ad Index102 Clubhouse News104 ASC Close-Up: Rodrigo PrietoJ A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 V O L . 9 3 N O . 14862J a n u a r y 2 0 1 2 V o l . 9 3 , N o . 1T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f M o t i o n I m a g i n gVisit us online atwww.theasc.com PUBLISHER Martha WinterhalterEDITORIALEXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen PizzelloSENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. BosleyASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. WitmerTECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher ProbstCONTRIBUTING WRITERSStephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard, John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer, John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich, Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia ThomsonART DEPARTMENTCREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion GoreADVERTISINGADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann323-936-3769FAX 323-936-9188e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.netADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce323-952-2114FAX 323-876-4973e-mail: sanja@ascmag.comADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell323-936-0672FAX 323-936-9188e-mail: sburnell@earthlink.netCLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno323-952-2124FAX 323-876-4973e-mail: diella@ascmag.com CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTSCIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul MolinaCIRCULATION MANAGER Alex LopezSHIPPING MANAGER Miguel MadrigalASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett GraumanASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia ArmacostASC PRESIDENTS ASSISTANT Delphine FiguerasASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila BaselyASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey ClarkAmerican Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 92nd year of publication, is publishedmonthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A., (800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywoodoffice. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints (or electronic reprints) should be made toSheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail hrobinson@tsp.sheridan.com.Copyright 2012 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA. POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.4 FORYOURCONSI DERATI ON I NALLCATEGORI ES, I NCLUDI NG:BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY ADRIANO GOLDMAN SHOT BY ADRIANO GOLDMAN WITH VIRTUOSITY. TRANSFIXING.His technique is painterly in its evocation of 19th-century English artists. Beyond that, its distinguished by an abundance of tonal variety: interiors that seem to smell of weathered furniture; softly modeled closeups that cast Jane as a country madonna. -JOE MORGENSTERN, A SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF HOW TO TURN A BELOVED WORK OF CLASSIC LITERATURE INTO A MOVIE.The wild and misty moors, thanks to the painterly eye of the cinematographer, Adriano Goldman, look beautiful, and Dario Marianellis music strikes all the right chords. Mia Wasikowska is a perfect Jane for this flm and this moment. -A.O. SCOTT,For up-to-the-minute screening information and more on this extraordinary lm, go to: www.FocusAwards2011.comOFFICERS - 2011/2012Michael GoiPresidentRichard CrudoVice PresidentOwen RoizmanVice PresidentJohn C. Flinn IIIVice PresidentVictor J. KemperTreasurerFrederic GoodichSecretaryStephen LighthillSergeant At ArmsMEMBERS OF THEBOARDJohn BaileyStephen H. BurumRichard CrudoGeorge Spiro DibieRichard EdlundFred ElmesMichael GoiVictor J. KemperFrancis KennyIsidore MankofskyRobert PrimesOwen Roizman Kees Van OostrumHaskell WexlerVilmos ZsigmondALTERNATESMichael D. OSheaRodney TaylorRon GarciaSol NegrinKenneth ZunderMUSEUM CURATORSteve GainerAmerican Society of Cine ma togra phersThe ASC is not a labor union or a guild, butan educational, cultural and pro fes sion al or ga ni za tion. Membership is by invitation to those who are actively en gaged as di rec tors of photography and have dem on strated out stand ing ability. ASC membership has be come one of the highesthonors that can be bestowed upon a pro fes sional cin e ma tog ra pher a mark of prestige and excellence.Backstage Equipment, nc. 8052 Lankershim Bl. North Hollywood, CA 91605 (818) 504-6026 Fax (818) 504-6180 backstaged@aol.com www.backstageweb.comCome visit our showroom or call for our latest Magliner product catalogWe are the largest retailer specializing in Magliner customized products and accessories for the Film and Television Industry in the worldNew YorkShowroom C.W..H. 364 W. 36th St. New York, NY 10018 (877)-Mr-CASTER (877-672-2783) backstage@cwih.com www.cwih.com6BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA, F.S.F., N.S.C.TINKER TAIL0R S0LDIER SPYFor up-to-the-minute screening information and more on this extraordinary lm, go to: www.FocusAwards2011.comTHRILLING AND MOVING FROM THE FIRST FRAME TO THE INSPIRED CLOSING MONTAGE.The greys and browns that dominate the lm thanks to the sterling work from Director of Photography Hoyte Van Hoytema perfectly capture 1970s Britain. The attention to detail is really quite extraordinary. Grade: A. OLIVER LYTTELTON, INDIEWIREHollywood remakes of successful European films may varyinquality, butTheGirl with the Dragon Tattoo ismoreintriguingthan most. Director David Fincher has alreadyproven his affinity for crime dramas with Seven, The GameandZodiac,and his previous collaborations with JeffCronenweth,ASC produced the equally compellingdramas Fight Club and The Social Network.On Dragon Tattoo, Cronenweth was a late replace-mentfor the projects original cinematographer, and hequickly found himself confronting extreme weather whileshooting on location in Sweden. Overall, the weather inNorthernEurope made for the biggest challenge,Cronenwethtells Jay Holben (Cold Case, page 32).We experienced severe winter storms as well as a very hot summer in Sweden. The cold wasthe hardest, though.Janusz Kaminski and Steven Spielberg also faced challenges on the World War I dramaWarHorse,whichfeatures battle sequences staged on an abandoned airfield in Surrey,England. Further complicating the filmmakers mission was the fact that the movies hero isa horse. As Kaminski tells Patricia Thomson (Animal Instincts, page 48), a big part of hisjob was to convey the animals feelings and make him seem larger than life. Truly, when youlook at a horse, there are no emotions in its eyes, he observes. We were glorifying Joey alittle through lighting and composition. We were always trying to place the light so that hiscoat would reflect it, and so it would create glints in his eyes.Barry Ackroyd, BSC lends a Shakespearean dimension to war withCoriolanus, whichplaced its director and star, Ralph Fiennes, squarely in the line of fire. I like to have the confi-dence of the director, and I knew that with Ralph directing and acting in the film, he had tobe able to trust that Id give him what he wanted, Ackroyd tells Iain Stasukevich (Lord ofWar, page 62).Forthose of you trying to keep pace with evolving digital workflows,AC technicaleditor Christopher Probst surveys some of the current systems and solutions (Go with theFlow,page 74). In todays industry, which finds digital-imaging tools introduced andsupplanted with head-spinning frequency, workflows are evolving in new ways and at break-neck speeds, Probst notes. Each step on this path is slippery enough to cause stumbles,either through human error or through the loss of information as image data is transferredand/ortranslated. For cinematographers, trying to stay abreast of current technologiesrequires a much broader understanding of workflows than ever before.Stephen PizzelloExecutive EditorEditors NotePhoto by Owen Roizman, ASC.82011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.As another year kicks off, the challenges facing those who desire to pursue a career in film-making seem greater than ever. Technology continues to shift and evolve, the economy hasmade even low-budget movies a risk for investors, and websites that facilitate the illegal view-ing or downloading of films and television shows are making it difficult to get more daringprojects financed. When studios or producers cannot earn a profit from the work they create,budgets get smaller, and the kinds of projects that are approved get safer.Lifting copyrighted material became popular when sampling exploded on the music sceneand was legitimized as a form of artistic expression. That opened the door to lifting images aswell, and subsequently entire movies. Such piracy has so infiltrated the mentality of the publicthat the suggestion that its wrong is met with dismissive sneers. If its out there, its mine. Whyshould I have to pay for it?Howdoes this affect cinematography? In many ways. Most of the pirate sites do notdisplay images in anything remotely like optimum conditions. The images might have beenripped onto someones laptop from a DVD that was created by someone crouching in amovie theater with a small digital camera. The images might be highly compressed sugges-tions of what they actually were. They may have been reproduced through excessive copyingand duping until they no longer reflect the creators intent in any form. When someone experiences a visual work of art for the first time, they will never again beableto relive that emotional moment of discovery. It is gone forever. Yes, they may haveseen the movie, but they have not experienced it to its fullest, the way its creators intended. Digital piracy is a huge international operation. Its not just some guy in his garage with a DVD burner. In some countries,major producers and stars provide pirates with digital masters of their films, because the financial kickbacks they receive aremorethan they would earn from conventional means. This leads to a lack of concern about preservation. Why should a producer pay toproperly store materials when there is no chance of monetizing the product in the future because unauthorized copies are floodingthe market? Many thousands of movies could be lost forever.Please dont support torrent sites that show pirated material, and please dont buy cheap bootlegged DVDs of current movies.And I ask you to talk to your friends who do. Let them know that, beyond the momentary satisfaction of seeing something firstor for free, they are effectively altering the kinds of movies that will be made in the future; they are helping to ruin the im mersivecinematic experience for many others; and the movies that they love might not be available to them in the future in versions th atare better than adequate.The history of cinema is a legacy of an audience emotionally bonding with the work of a group of artists, of creating memo-ries that mold our perception of the world. The considerable negative impact digital piracy has on the profitability of the ind ustry ismatched by its negative impact on our love of the movies. Remember how you felt when you saw Frodo sail away at the end ofThe Lord of The Rings: Return Of The King, or the swell of emotion you felt at the climax of The Kings Speech, or the thrill of watch-ing Bruce Willis get the bad guys in Die Hard? Then do your part to make sure that future audiences can also experience those cine-matic highs. Michael Goi, ASCPresidentPresidents Desk10 January 2012 American Cinematographer Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC. WWW. WARNERBROS2011. COM Harry Potter Publishing Rights J.K.R.C O N S I D E R . . .THE CINEMATOGRAPHY FROM EDUARDO SERRA IS ONCE AGAINRICHLY OMINOUS AND BEAUTIFULLY BLEAK.C H R I S T Y L E MI R E ,BEST CINEMATOGRAPHYEDUARDO SERRA, A.S.C., A.F.C.12 January 2012 American Cinematographer Through a Glass BrightlyBy Iain StasukevichSteveRomanos cinematography jobs have taken him tomany far-flung locales, but for String Theory, the grand-prize winnerat the International Cinematographers Guilds 2011 Emerging Cine-matographerAwards, he and director Zach Gold never left Goldsstudio in Brooklyn in their quest to capture the big ideas surroundinga girl (Evelina Mambetova) who experiences rifts in her reality.String Theory is the latest in a series of fashion-focused shortsby Gold, and it uses A.F. Vandervorsts 2010 collection as its spring-board.According to Romano, Gold and producer/stylist DavidDumas, who also served as art director, wanted a film that was beau-tifuland haunting, with serene moments interrupted by jarringimages.My job as a director of photography is to act according tothevision of the directors, including the art director, Romanoobserves.Youre enhancing what they created, and you have tomake them feel welcome in the process.Romano,who also works as a Phantom camera technician,suppliedthe production with a Phantom HD Gold camera, Leicaprime lenses (re-housed by Van Diemen Broadcast) and most of thesmall lighting package, including a couple of 2x2 Kino Flos, a 10KFresnel, a 5K Fresnel and a handful of 2K scoops.Thegirl is introduced in a dusty, windowless room lit bydozensof warm practical lamps. She kneels, motionless, on apedestal, covered in what looks like a fine layer of silt; a soft toplight(a diffused 1K) separates her from the background. In the next shot,she comes to life and shakes off the silt, which cascades off her skinin slow motion.The filmmakers shot Mambetovas movements at 1,000 fps,recording to 512 GB CineMags. We had to match the light for therest of the scene, but with something like 5 times more light, saysRomano.We made sure the light was coming from the sameangles as in the previous shot, but we concentrated the light on herinstead of the whole set.To boost the light level for the slow-motion shot, a Mole 10Kgelled with 12 CTO, Opal and 216 was positioned above the actress. Thereare no super-wide high-speed shots in the film,notes Romano, who used tighter compositions to hide the limitedamount of light available at advanced frame rates. Having a reallygood gaffer helps. Christian Ern was our gaffer and lighting director,Short TakesPhotos and frame grabs courtesy of Steve Romano.A shock trooper shatters a girls fragile reality at 1,000 fps inString Theory. The short earned cinematographer Steve Romano the grand prize at the International Cinematographers Guilds 2011 Emerging Cinematographer Awards.Iandhe is quite knowledgeable, so I didnthave to be entirely specific about the light-ing needs for each shot.Asthe girl starts to explore hersurroundings,she is lit primarily with thepracticals. For fill and accents, Romano usedthe2x2 Kino heads behind sheets of 12CTO,Opal and 250 diffusion. For a shotshowing the girl using an airbrush to drenchan orchid in a coat of red paint, and anothershowing her contemplating a table coveredinknickknacks, the Kinos served as close,soft keylights.Romanoused a variety of differentframe rates throughout the film. I try to erronthe side of giving people more frames[thanneeded], he says. You can alwaysgo to 24 fps in post, and you can ramp yourshotsin post. However, you get a slightlydifferent 24-fps look when you originate inhigh speed because youre using a narrowershutterangle about 12,000 ofa second.You get a sharper image and choppier play-back.In another scene, the girl is bathed ina light that matches the blood-red color oftheorchid, and off-camera fans blow herhairand garments in billowing ripples.Initially, Romano shot the scene at 1,000 fpswith red gels on four overhead 2K scoops,but he soon noticed a problem with imagesoftness.We couldnt get good focus onoursubject, he says. Light moves veryslowly at the red end of the spectrum. He finished shooting the scene withthered gel, then removed the gels andreshotthe scene with diffused, uncoloredtungstenlight. Because the whole shotwasred, we could add the color [in post],and that way the shots could be in focus,he explains. I was on another job recentlywhere we came across the same issue, butredwasnt the only color of light in theframe. If you have a mix of light, you cantreally cheat it.In another corner of the girls reality,shefinds a wood box with geometricshapes cut into its side. Peering into a seam,she sees that the inside of the box is linedwithmirrors, reflecting to infinity on allsides, and contains a small swarm of butter-flies.To capture the girls point of view, thefilmmakersconstructed a scaled-up box inwhich only the bottom and one of the fourTop: String Theory begins in a dusty room where a girl (Evelina Mambetova) sits motionless and covered in a layer of silt. Middle: Awaking, the girl shakes off the silt; the action was captured at 1,000 fps. Bottom: The girl explores her strange surroundings.14 January 2012 American Cinematographer WWW. WA R NERB RO S2011. CO MF O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T I O NBEST CINEMATOGRAPHYTOM STERN, A.F.C., A.S.C.IN THE MUTED, ARTFULLY MURKY IMAGES OFCINEMATOGRAPHER TOM STERN, HOOVER IS TRULYA MAN IN THE SHADOWS. R I C H A R D C O R L I S S ,16 January 2012 American Cinematographer sides were actual mirrors. The top and theotherthree sides were panes of two-wayglass. Romano pointed his camera throughone of the two-way mirrors and lit the boxthrough the other two-way mirrors with a5K Fresnel.Romano shot the box at a T1.6, butit was still difficult to get enough light. "ThePhantomHD Gold is rated at 250 ASA,which I estimate to be less, and each paneoftwo-way glass blocked as much as 1stopsof light from both the lens and thelamps,"he says. "Further complicatingmatters,hot lamps can have an adverseeffect on butterflies, so I didnt shoot above30fps. On the tighter shots, we removedthe top glass, moved the light in a bit closerand were able to shoot at 200 fps.Ifwed shot it on the [Phantom]Flex, we would have had 2 more stops oflightsensitivity, he reflects. I could alsogeta lot more light [without heat] fromsomeof the newer LED lights we havetoday.Doinga lot of bug photography,Ive learned there are things you can do toget bugs to move, but heat will make themstop,he continues. We had to turn thelights off, cool them down and keep the topof the box off for a while. Once the butter-fliesget over it, you put the top back on,crank the lights up and shoot. No butterflieswere harmed in the making of this picture,Top, left and right:Shooting at 1,000fps while fansbillowedMambetovasclothing and hair,Romano gelled hislights red beforedeciding to do asecond takewithout the gelsand apply thecolor in post.Bottom: StringTheory is the latestfashion-focusedfilm from directorZach Gold, this oneinspired by A.F.Vandervorsts 2010collection.18 January 2012 American Cinematographer by the way.Inone of the films most stylizedsequences, Mambetova stands in a Plexiglastankthat covers her torso, and its full ofbutterflies. Shooting against a white back-ground,Romano toplit the actress with aheavily diffused 10K Fresnel and aimed twoNine-lightMaxi-Brutes at the background.Oncethe butterflies were in the tank, thefilmmakers sat back and waited for some-thing to happen.Bugs,puppies and little kids arearduous to photograph because theres nowayyou can corral them, says the cine-matographer. The beauty of the Phantomisits circular buffer. When you shootanythingabove 450 fps at 1920x1080 onthePhantom HD Gold, as long as thecamera is on, youre always recording intoits internal circular memory buffer. If you usewhats called a post-trigger, you can hit therecord button after the action is done, andyouve got the shot. At 1,000 fps, you get4.4seconds of data [in the internalmemory],approximately 2.7 minutes offootage.Thegirls reality is literally shattered at 1,000 fps when shock troopers inriotgear crash through her reflection in amirror.To give the shot a harsh look,Romano used thinner diffusion on the 10Kand 5K.Wewere fighting the light in thatscene, he recalls. It wasnt a front-surfacemirror, so I was getting two reflections frommylight sources: one from the glass andonefrom the mirrored surface behind theglass. It took a bit of finesse to get it right a combination of the mirror angle, diffusionand precise cutting of the light.StringTheorystrippy imagespresentedRomano with some creativeopportunitieshe hadnt encounteredbefore. When David Dumas first describedthis film to me, I have to admit I really didntunderstandit, he says. While we wereshooting, I started to see what he and Zachweregoing for, and now Im reallyimpressed with every part of it.Top and middle: Romano depended on the Phantom HD Gold cameras internal memory buffer tocapture stylized sequences with live butterflies. Bottom: The cinematographer finds his light. WWW. WARNE RBROS 2011. C OMF O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T I O NBEST CINEMATOGRAPHYCHRIS MENGES20 January 2012 American Cinematographer Trouble in ParadiseBy David HeuringTheDescendants,Alexander Paynes latest collaborationwithPhedon Papamichael, ASC, is a family-centered dramainfusedwith the chaotic relationships and dark humor thatmoviegoershave come to expect from the director who alsomade Sideways, About Schmidt (AC Jan. 03) and Election. The story takes place in Hawaii, where a successful lawyer,Matt King (George Clooney), must reconnect with his daughters,Alexandra (Shaine Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller), after hiswife suffers an accident and falls into a coma. When Alexandrareveals that his wife was cheating on him, King sets out to trackdownher lover. His journey, which coincides with his need tomake a decision about a family estate on Kauai of which he isthe sole trustee, leads him to face some hard truths about loveand family.Papamichaelrecently spoke withACabouthis creativepartnership with Payne, which began with Sideways and contin-ued to evolve on The Descendants. AmericanCinematographer:Tell us why yourcollaboration with Alexander Payne works. Phedon Papamichael, ASC: We have a great collabora-tion, despite the fact that we arent always on the same pageaesthetically.My main thing is that I really want to serve thedirector.Some cinematographers really want to put their ownimprint on a project to some degree. I certainly express my opin-ions,but I very much enjoy helping a director get what hewants. Im not always determined to convince the director thatthere is a different way of going about it; I get satisfaction fromfindingout what somebody likes and giving that to them. Itsimportant to me that I dont turn it into my thing. I want to getto the bottom of what makes a director tick. How do you discover that?Papamichael: Preproduction is the most important thinginthat regard. I start by discovering what kind of movies thedirector likes. That gives me some insight into how he likes totellstories. Alexander and I dont shotlist or storyboard. WeProduction SlateThe Descendants photos by Merie Weismiller Wallace, SMPSP, courtesy of Fox Searchlight.From left: Matt King (Clooney) and his daughters, Scottie (Amara Miller) and Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) walk the beach with A lexandras boyfriend, Sid (Nick Krause), as Matt searches for his wifes lover inThe Descendants.I22 January 2012 American Cinematographer spend a lot of time cooking pasta, drink-ing wine and watching movies! How did you arrive at a visualstyle for The Descendants?Papamichael:Wesaw a uniqueopportunityto show Honolulu as it israrely,if ever, shown in cinema: notglamorizedor idealized. Its a modernAmericancity with traffic jams andskyscrapers,and a few miles away,theresan almost absurdly bizarre andbeautifultropical paradise. Theres anextremecontrast in wealth and poverty.Go up the coast 30 miles, and youll seenativepeople living in tent cities. Wedidntwant to be too obvious about it,butthese contrasts are some of thethemes we wanted to represent visually. Thelook of the movie is prettystraightforward. Its all about the perfor-mancesand the intimacy of the charac-ters, and the photography was designedin part to be unobtrusive. Alexander hasavery particular visual style that reflectshispoint of view. I suggested that we gowidescreen because I thought it wasveryimportant to feel the power of theland,and to make the power of natureverypresent visually. The landscapes arejuxtaposedwith tight, claustrophobicinteriors. So you shot Super 35mm?Papamichael:Weshot 3-perfSuper 35mm with the Panaflex Platinumand Primo prime and 4:1 and 11:1 zoomlenses.I used a [Tiffen] Black Pro-Miston the lens throughout to take a little ofthesharpness off. Alexander likes theimage to have a bit of texture; he alwayswants it to look a little like an older film.We used Kodak Vision3 [500T] 5219 fornightscenes and [200T] 5213 for dayinteriors and day exteriors.I used polariz-ers and definitely went for the lushness,the color and saturation of the land.Our second-unit cinematographer,RadanPopovic, traveled around collect-ing a huge amount of images graphicshots of buildings, traffic, people on thestreets and at the beach, and landscapesinKauai and quite a few of themended up in the film. Didyou go with natural lighton all the exteriors?Papamichael: Yes. I almost neverlightelectrically on exteriors, and it waschallenging on this film because the lightandthe weather change so rapidly inHawaii. It would very often go from darkskiesto rain to full sun within minutes.That affected the interiors as well. Therewere a lot of fluctuations that presentedchallengesfor me, and also for our DIcolorist at Modern VideoFilm, Joe Finley,andthe dailies timer at FotoKem, KaySievert.Alexander had never done a DIbefore,and it was fun to show him thecapabilities.Whatwas your approach tointeriors?Papamichael: Inside I stuck to myusualapproach: all big sources, veryTop left: The crew films the long walk-and-talk on the beach. Top right and bottom: Matt and hisdaughters view their family property on Kauai.24 January 2012 American Cinematographer natural-looking.I like to make sure theaudienceis never really aware of thesource.I dont want the image to lookstylizedor lit. I use all the windowsources,and the motivation is alwayscorrect youll never see me do twopeople opposite each other, both backlit.Wewere dealing with a lot ofcontraston this movie, especially in theinteriors that opened out to views of thesea. There was a huge range of exposure.Weused the full 16 stops of the 5213!Our goal was to try to bring the levels upinside without it looking lit, and to try tocontrolthe exteriors with big guns 18Ksthat were either bounced orpushedthrough big 12-bys. We usedHalfGrid, Full Grid and, if we bounced,bleached muslin or Ultrabounce. We alsomadeextensive use of Daylight Bluebounces. I started using them on 3:10 toYuma [AC Oct. 07] and found that theylook very natural. Its a little closer to thelookof blue skies, and it feels like anaturalbounce off the water. For close-upsoutside, we often handheld 4-by-8sor 4-by-4s and had people walking withwhite or Daylight Blue bounce. Whatkind of set does Paynemaintain?Papamichael:Alexandercreatesanintimate atmosphere. Its very impor-tant to him that everyone feels the film-makingprocess is not a machine, andthatwe are not making a product. Heliterallyknows the name of every driverand every security guard on the first day.Wedidnt have hordes of hair-and-makeuppeople, and last touches wereforbidden.We were just making thissmallfilm in a very genuine way. Therewas no video village and no video assist.Onthe set, we had the operator, theassistant,the boom operator, the actorsand Alexander. His style is very economi-cal.There was usually a brief conversa-tion about how we were going to coverthe scene, and then we usually did threetoseven takes. Everyone was open toreactingto what the actors did andtakingadvantage of the moment. Wecraftedit piece by piece. Its the kind offilmmaking I really like to do.Youvegot another intimatedramain theaters now, too,Clooneys Ides of March.Papamichael:Onbig-budgetstudioprojects, you can get some satis-factionfrom pulling off this giganticenterprise,but on a movie likeTheDescendants,you feel like youve told apieceof the story every day. I like beingableto bounce back and forth betweenlargeand small projects, but movies likeThe Descendants and Ides of March are alittle closer to my heart.TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:13-perf Super 35mmPanaflex PlatinumPanavision PrimoKodak Vision3 500T 5219, 200T 5213Digital IntermediateTop left: As twocousins (MichaelOntkean, left, andBeau Bridges) lookon, Matt prepares todecide the future ofthe family estate.Top right, clockwisefrom left: B-camera1st AC Richard Brock,A-camera operatorScott Sakamoto,director AlexanderPayne andcinematographerPhedon Papamichael,ASC line up a shot.Bottom: Papamichaelchecks the exposure.ASC to Honor Spinotti, Wages, Kenny, GodfreyThe ASC will recognize three of itsmembersand one associate memberwithhonorary awards at the 26thAnnualASC Awards for OutstandingAchievementin Cinematography, whichwill take place Feb. 12 in the Grand Ball-roomat Hollywood & Highland in LosAngeles. DanteSpinotti, ASC, AIC, willreceive the Lifetime Achievement Award;WilliamWages, ASC, will receive theCareer Achievement in Television Award;Francis Kenny, ASC, will receive the Pres-identsAward; and ASC associate FredGodfreywill receive the Bud StoneAwardof Distinction, an honor that isnew this year.Spinottibegan his cinematogra-phycareer working in the televisionindustryin his native Italy. His first U.S.featurewas Michael MannsManhunter(1986), and his numerous stateside cred-its include The Last of the Mohicans(ACDec.92),Beaches,Heat(ACJan.96),L.A. Confidential (AC Oct. 97), WonderBoys,The Insider(ACJune00),FamilyMan, Red Dragon(AC Oct. 02) and therecent release Tower Heist.Spinotti earned ASC Award nomi-nationsforTheLast of the Mohicans,L.A. Confidential and The Insider, and healsoearned Oscar nominations for thelatter two pictures.Wages counts more than 50 tele-visionprojects, commercials and docu-mentaries among his credits. He has wonASCAwards twice, forRidersof thePurpleSage(ACMay97) andBuffaloSoldiers(AC May98), and earned sixmorenominations from the Society forGore Vidals Lincoln (AC April 89); Caro-line? (ACMay91); VoicesWithin: TheLivesof Truddi Chase, Part 2(ACMay91);Ill Fly Away(pilot,ACMay92);TheMoving of Sophia Myles(ACMay01);and Miss Lettie and Me. Wages has also earned two Emmynominations,forBuffaloSoldiersandIntothe West(ACJune05). His recentcreditsinclude the seriesBurnNotice,episodesofBigLoveandthe pilot forSavingGrace.Heis also renowned incinematographycircles for the tools hehasdevised on sets over the years,including Wag Bags and Wag Flags.Kenny began his career volunteer-ingon documentary crews. His featurecreditsincludeHeathers,Scary Movie,NewJack City, Shes All That andClassAct, and he is currently shooting the FXseriesJustified(ACMarch11).He hasbeen the chairman of the ASC Member-shipCommittee for 10 years, and he iscurrently serving his second term on theSocietys Board of Governors.Godfrey is the first recipient of theASCBud Stone Award of Distinction,named for the late Burton Bud Stone,whowas president of Deluxe Laborato-riesin Hollywood from 1976-1994 andservedas chairman of the ASC AwardsCommitteefor 17 years.Godfreyscareerin the industry began in a Holly-woodwarehouse that stored Kodakmotion-picturefilm, and it wasnt longbeforehe became a customer-servicerepresentative at Kodaks local office. Heserved as a liaison between the companyand cinematographers until he retired in1986. ASC honorees and all ASC Awardnomineesin competitive categories(FeatureRelease, TV Series and Tele-film/Pilot)will be invited to meet thepublic at the ASC Open House Feb. 11 atthe Clubhouse, 1782 N. Orange Dr., LosAngeles. Admission is free.For more information on the ASCAwardsand the Open House, visitwww.theasc.com or call 323-969-4333.26 January 2012 American Cinematographer Clockwise from top-left: ASC LifetimeAchievement Award recipient Dante Spinotti,ASC, AIC; Presidents Award recipient FrancisKenny, ASC; ASC associate Fred Godfrey, recipientof the Bud Stone Award of Distinction; andCareer Achievement in Television Award recipientWilliam Wages, ASC.I Spinotti photo by Frank Connor. Kenny photo by Owen Roizman, ASC. Godfrey photo by Douglas Kirkland. Wages photo courtesy of Wages. F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T I O NRELEASED BY TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX. COPYRIGHT 2011 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX.BEST CINEMATOGRAPHYEMMANUEL LUBEZKI ASC, AMCfoxsearchlight.com/f ycCinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki relies on hand-held camerawork.It gets at the intimacy within a family, a household. But it is also remarkably uid,capturing the ow of existence this familys, our universes.Lisa Kennedy,28 January 2012 American Cinematographer HPA Celebrates Post Industry, IndividualsBy Jon D. WitmerThestars of Hollywoods postcommunity gathered Nov. 10 at the SkirballCulturalCenter for the sixth annual Holly-wood Post Alliance Awards, which celebrateoutstandingtalent and achievement acrossanumber of post disciplines. The judgesincluded ASC President Michael Goi; SocietymembersFrederic Goodich, Daryn Okadaand Robert Primes; and associate membersLouLevinson, Leon Silverman (president ofthe HPA) and Garrett Smith.One of the evenings themes was theever-changingpost landscape. You couldsaythere have been some pretty turbulentandchallenging times in postproductionthese days, and theres no doubt that thereare changes and challenges ahead, musedSilverman,the general manager of digitalstudio for Walt Disney Studios, who servedashost of the ceremony. But it is thiscommunitythat has always led throughchange.Our industry demands a fleetness ofmind and spirit that allows us to survive andsometimeseven thrive in times of radicalchange,Silverman continued. We havetrulygone from the cutting block to theclouds,and Im looking forward to wherewe go next together.Journalist and HPA Awards Commit-teeChair Carolyn Giardina joined Okadaonstage to present the HPA Judges Awards,which recognize creativity and innovation inpost. One award was presented to TestronicLaboratories for the File-Based QC Lab, andtheother was presented to ASC associateSteven J. Scott of EFilm for the digital-inter-mediate environment employed on TerrenceMalicksTheTree of Life (AC Aug.11).Acceptingthe award, Scott noted, Iremember the first time I sat in a theater andwas even aware of cinematography. It wasatthe Fox Village in Westwood, and themoviewasDaysof Heaven.I was dazzled.To think that someday I would have a part inhelping that director realize his artistic visiononscreen is still hard for me to grasp, but Imvery, very grateful.Mostof all, thanks to the cine-matographer,[Emmanuel] Chivo Lubezki[ASC, AMC], for caring so much about hisworkand the work of everyone aroundhim, Scott continued. He lifts us all withhis unyielding quest for beauty, authenticityand truth in the images he [shoots].The NAB Show sponsored the Engi-neering Excellence Award, which, Silvermanexplained, is a celebration of the increasingroleof technology and its impact on thecreativeprocess. Awards in this categorywerepresented to four companies: DolbyLaboratorieswon one for the Dolby PRM-4200Professional Reference Monitor,whichis capable of displaying the fulldynamicrange, contrast ratio and colorgamut of film stocks and professional digi-tal cameras; Sony Professional Solutions ofAmerica won for its Organic Light-EmittingDiodetechnology for reference monitors;IBMwon for the Linear Tape File System,whichprovides a simple and cost-efficientmethodfor managing large-scale dataarchives; and Lightcraft Technology earnedan award for Previzion, the companys real-time on-set compositing system.Goipresented the awards forOutstandingColor Grading with producerTodd London. Today more than ever, saidGoi,the collaboration and cooperationbetweenpreproduction, production andpostproductionis vital in our industry. Infact,cinematographers are spending somuchtime in postproduction you wouldalmost think we were getting paid for thattime. Theawards for color grading werepresentedto Steven J. Scott of EFilm, forTheHelp;Tim Vincent of LaserPacific, forMadMen,Blowing Smoke; and SiggyFerstlof Company 3, for Nissan, Zero.Ferstl was also nominated for ESPN, ArthurAshe Award for Courage. Mybiggest thanks must go toStephen Goldblatt [ASC, BSC], said Scott.His raw footage was my greatest inspira-tion.His cinematic accomplishments areobviousenough on the screen, but Imparticularly grateful for the man behind thecamera.Alsonominated for OutstandingColorGrading were ASC associate StefanSonnenfeldof Company 3, forTransform-ers:Dark of the Moon ,SuckerPunch andJameson,Fire; ASC associate Dave ColeofLaserPacific, forTron:Legacy;NatashaLeonnet of EFilm, for Love and Other Drugs;Kevin OConnor of Deluxe Media Services,for Too Big to Fail; Tom Sartori of FotoKem,forBreakingBad,Box Cutter; AidanFarrell of The Farm Group for Carnival Film& Television, for Downton Abbey, Series 1Episode 1; Sean Coleman of Company 3,forNike, Chosen; Tom Poole ofCompany 3 NY, for Jack Daniels, As Amer-icanAs; Chris Ryan of Nice Shoes, forHPA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Cyril Drabinsky (left) celebrates with HPA President Leon Silverman.HPA Awards photos by Ryan Miller, courtesy of Capture Imaging.ICHANGE YOURGAMEMONEYBALL RENEWS YOUR BELIEF IN THEPOWER OF MOVIES.THE WALL STREET JOURNALJOE MORGENSTERNIMBUED WITH EVOCATIVE PHOTOGRAPHYBY CINEMATOGRAPHER WALLY PFISTER.SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWSRANDY MYERSBESTPI CTUREBESTCI NEMATOGRAPHYWALLYPFI STER, ASCF O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T I O N30 January 2012 American Cinematographer AmericanExpress, Curtain; and TimMasickof Company 3 NY, for Converse,The Procession.OutstandingEditing awards, spon-soredby Avid Technology, were presentedto Angus Wall, ACE and Kirk Baxter, ACE,forTheSocial Network;John Wilson, ACEofCarnival Film & Television, forDowntonAbbey,Series 1 Episode 1; and ChrisFranklinof Big Sky Editorial, for AmericanExpress, Curtain.OutstandingSound awards werepresented to John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff andRick Kline of Warner Bros. Post ProductionServices and Per Hallberg and Karen BakerLandersof Soundelux, forGreenLantern;BradNorth, Joe DeAngelis, Luis Galdamesand Jackie Oster of Universal Studios Sound,for House, Bombshells; and David BrolinofUniversal Studios Sound and Bill Neil ofBuddhaJones Trailers, forDreamHouse,Trailer #1.OutstandingCompositing awardswerepresented to Jeff Sutherland, JasonBillington,Chris Balog and Ben OBrien ofIndustrialLight & Magic, forTransformers:Dark of the Moon ; Paul Graff, Brian Sales,MerysaNichols and Jesse Siglow of CrazyHorseEffects, Inc., forBoardwalkEmpire,BoardwalkEmpire; and Dan Glass,GabbyGourrier, Chris Bankoff and JeffWilletteof Method Studios, for Jameson,Fire.The show culminated in the presen-tationof the Lifetime Achievement Awardto ASC associate Cyril Drabinsky, presidentand CEO of Deluxe Entertainment ServicesGroup, Inc. Drabinskys career in the indus-try began at Cineplex Odeon Corp., wherehe served as senior vice president of distrib-ution and affairs. In 1987, he became pres-identof the Cineplex Odeon-owned FilmHouselaboratories in Toronto, which waspurchasedby the Rank Organization in1990,the same year Rank bought DeluxeLaboratoriesfrom 20th Century Fox.Drabinskytransitioned into operations forDeluxe,and in 1995 he was named presi-dent of Deluxe Laboratories North America.In 2001, Drabinsky was named president ofDeluxeLaboratories Worldwide. In 2006,MacAndrews& Forbes acquired Deluxe,and Drabinsky was appointed to his currentposition.Silvermankicked off the presenta-tionof the Lifetime Achievement Award,notingDrabinskys ties to the late BurtonBud Stone, a former president of Deluxe.Followingin the hard-to-fill shoes of oneof my own heroes, and one of those trulylarger-than-life industry legends, the incom-parableBud Stone, Cyril took the reins atDeluxe and not only made the role his own,but [also] set our entire industry on its pathtothe future, said Silverman. Over thecourseof his career, Cyril has earned therespectand admiration of his peers,competitors, clients and employees.Thesentiment was echoed by TomSherak,president of the Academy ofMotionPicture Arts and Sciences, and TedGagliano, president of feature postproduc-tionat 20th Century Fox. In a businesswhereits an Olympic sport to talk dirtaboutpeople, I could not find an uncleanword spoken about Cyril, said Gagliano. AddressingDrabinsky directly,Gaglianocontinued, I honestly can say Icould not do my job without you. And thisroom is filled with people from every studioand every film company who feel the sameway.Youre too young to get a lifetimeachievementaward, so lets just call this apitstop and lets recommit ourselves toanother 20 years together in what is still thebest damn business in the world.Ronald Perelman, chairman and CEOofMacAndrews & Forbes, offered a fewprerecorded remarks before Barry Schwartz,MacAndrews & Forbes executive vice chair-manand chief administrative officer,steppedto the microphone. I have seen[Drabinskys]vision and his determinationtransformDeluxe from its role [as a] filmprocessor to a postproduction juggernaut,saidSchwartz. Cyril has also surroundedhimselfwith a team that reflects theirleader: confident, inspired and loyal to eachother and the industry they serve so well.Oneof Cyrils many, many, manyqualitiesis his ability to be so incrediblyhumbleabout his achievements, addedWarren Stein, COO of Deluxe EntertainmentServices Group. In all the years Ive knownCyril, Ive never heard him start a sentencewith the words I did this or I did that orLook what Ive done. Its always we.Heunderstands the pressure thathe puts on us, but he also understands thatwe are human beings, enthused ASC asso-ciate Beverly Wood, executive vice presidentof technical services and client relations forDeluxesEFilm. A boss like Cyril sets anexample for an entire organization.Lifetimeachievement, marveledDrabinskywhen he stepped to the stage.Thats something that can give you pause,inpart because you feel like youre justgetting started, and in part because it makesyou look back on how everythings changedand keeps changing. Thats what I loveaboutthis business: it changes every day.You never sit still; you manage your risk andkeep moving forward.There are times I wonder what BudStonewould say if hed seen our transfor-mation,Drabinsky continued. If not forBud,I wouldnt be standing here. Hetaught me the Hollywood film industry, andnobody understood it like him, because heknew what it comes down to is communi-catingwith the customer on a personallevel.The industry is in constant change,andnothing changes faster than technol-ogy, he said. At the end of the day, we tryto remember that these are just tools. Thejob every day is to make our clients visionconnect. I feel incredibly fortunate to be partof this fascinating business. ASC President Michael Goi (left) and producer ToddLondon (right) congratulate ASC associate Steven J.Scott on his award for Outstanding Color Grading. for your CONSIDERATIONBEST CINEMATOGRAPHYPhedon Papamichael, ASCA sharp and scintillating lens on Washington run amok.Karen Durbin / ELLE 32 January 2012 American Cinematographer DavidFincher has tackled some twisted tales over thecourse of his career, notablySeven (AC Oct. 95), FightClub (AC Nov. 97) and Zodiac (AC April 06), but hislatest picture, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, could behismost complicated narrative yet. Adapted from the firstbook in Swedish author Stieg Larssons wildly popular trilogy,the film follows Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a renownedinvestigative journalist who accepts an unusual job offer afterhisjournalism career is derailed by accusations of libel.Wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer)asksBlomkvist to solve a 40-year-old cold case, the disap-pearance of Vangers niece, Harriet, and in return Vanger willDavid Fincher reteams with Jeff Cronenweth, ASC to remake the Swedish hit The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.By Jay Holben|not only pay handsomely, but also help disprove the libel accu-sationsagainst Blomkvist. During his investigation, whichrevealsa number of sordid family secrets, Blomkvist teamswithyoung, eccentric hacker Lisbeth Salander (RooneyMara), whose eye-catching tattoo gives the story its title. Larssons trilogy The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, TheGirl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the HornetsNest was brought to the silver screen by Swedish filmmak-ers in 2009, and when Fincher began prepping his version ofDragon Tattoo,he was keen to retain its native elements byshooting extensively in Sweden and using a Swedish crew. Itwas an aesthetic choice, says Fincher. We wanted it to lookandfeel like a Swedish film, and I think it does. We werealready getting flak for doing a Hollywood version of the story,so we made a commitment to doing as much of the movie aspossible in Sweden, with a Swedish crew. Thatcrew initially included a Swedish cinematogra-pher,but after a few weeks of shooting, Fincher decided tomake a change. He called Jeff Cronenweth, ASC, one of hislongtimecollaborators, and asked him to take over.Cronenweth recalls, I got a call at 6 in the morning, and it wasBobWagner, Davids assistant director, asking how I wasdoing. I said, Im fine, Bob, but its 6 a.m., so this obviouslyisnta social call. Whats up? He said David and the cine-Cold Casew ww.theasc.com January 2012 33matographer werent seeing eye-to-eye,andhe asked if I was available to takeover.I gave it a lot of thought becauseit was a tough situation, continues thecinematographer. One doesnt want toreplace someone else. Its always unfor-tunate.I hadnt been involved in theprep, and I was worried about commu-nicationwith the crew, thinking theymight resent me because I was replacingoneof their own. But David and I goway back, weve worked together manytimes, and, luckily, we had discussed themoviebefore he embarked on it.Ultimately,the decision was not thathard,and it was really smooth sailing.Thecrew welcomed me with openarms.Its a difficult thing to walk ontosomeone elses film, and Jeff didnt agreeto it overnight, says Fincher. In retro-spect,I would have done it a differentway and not been so committed to theidea of an entirely Swedish production;I would have started with Jeff from thebeginning. I was really lucky he was ableto bail us out and that we got a chanceto work together again.The production was using the Pixsystem,an online project-managementplatform that facilitates instant access toreports,script changes and dailies, andwith it Cronenweth was able to view allof the footage that had been shot beforehe arrived in Europe. He met with thekeyproduction team in Zurich on aSaturday morning, and by the followingTuesday he was shooting in Stockholm.Herecalls, I had just come off acommercialin Miami, and suddenly Iwasout on the water in Stockholm,trying desperately to stay warm! It wasquite a shock to the system. Fortunately,[A-camera operator] David Worley wasthere, and he was a very familiar face. Ihadworked with him back onAlien3[ACJuly92] with my dad [JordanCronenweth, ASC].Wehad a British grip andcameracrew and a Swedish electricaldepartment, and we all got on fantasti-cally,he adds. The first week wasreally just day-to-day, shooting based onwhathad already been decided andrescouting at night, but by the time wegotto the second week, I was up andrunning.Cronenwethwas with theUnit photography by Baldur Bragason, Patricia Castellanos and Merrick Morton, SMPSP. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Columbia Pictures.Opposite page: After agreeing to help a journalist investigate a decades-old disappearance, computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) is drawn into a much deeper mystery. This page, top: The journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), meets with retired business executiveHenrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). Bottom: Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, ASC surveys a snowy setting on location.34 January 2012 American Cinematographer production for more than 150 days of itsapproximately160-day shoot, andbecause of script changes, he ended upreshooting several of the sequences thathad been filmed during the first week.Theambitious productioninvolvedlocations in Sweden,Switzerland, Norway and England andstagework in Los Angeles. (Someminor process work was shot onstage inStockholm.) We started in Stockholm,and then we spent two weeks in Zurichbefore the Christmas break, and then Iwentback to Los Angeles and startedprelighting stages, recalls Cronenweth.Afterour holiday break, we shot foraboutthree months onstage in L.A.During that time, David and I plannedthenext phase of the shoot, and I gotthesame prep time as everyone elsebefore heading off to England for threeanda half weeks, and then back toSweden.Overall, the weather in NorthernEurope made for the biggest challenge,he adds. We experienced severe winterstorms as well as a very hot summer inSweden.The cold was the hardest,though. Fincherhad used digital captureonhis previous three features,Zodiac(shotby Harris Savides, ASC),TheCurious Case of Benjamin Button(shot byClaudioMiranda, ASC;ACJan.09)andTheSocial Network(shotbyCronenweth;ACOct.10), and hedecidedto do the same onDragonTattoo,selecting Red Ones upgradedwiththe Mysterium-X sensor. RedsnewEpic was just becoming available,butusing it as the main camera posedtoomany problems when the shootbegan, according to Cronenweth.Atfirst we had a hard timegettingcards for the Epic, he recalls.Inaddition, at that time, all Epicfootagehad to be sent directly to Redfor transcoding before it could be sent toCold CaseThe emotionally remote Lisbeth is isolated in the frame until she teams up with Blomkvist.w ww.theasc.com January 2012 35editorial,and we just werent comfort-ablewith that. But John Schwartzman[ASC]was working with the Epic onTheAmazing Spider-Man andhelpingtopave the way. By the time theywrapped,RedRocket could handle theEpicfootage, andSpider-Manhadmade a huge number of cards available,so we shot the last 20 percent of DragonTattoo with the Epic.Wemade sure not to switchcameras within a sequence, he contin-ues. Although the Epic has a lot moreresolutionand slightly different colorrangethan the One, the color is closeenoughthat we were confident all ourfootage would match. Indeed,at press time the digitalgrade was underway at Light Iron withcoloristIan Vertovec ( TheSocialNetwork), and Cronenweth reports thatmatching between the two cameras hasbeenas seamless as anticipated. Wereworkingwith a Quantel Pablo 4Kcolor-correction system and a Sony 4Kprojector in a theater-type setting. Werebasicallyjust fine-tuning the originalfootage as captured on set, making somesubtleadjustments to better matchshot-to-shot within a scene, and doingsome repositioning.The filmmakers found one of theEpics most significant advantages to beitsHDRx function, a simulated highdynamicrange mode that enables asecondary,darker track of video to berecorded,allowing for 1-5 stops ofselectablehighlight bracketing via thesecondary, faster-shutter exposure track.We used that to get about 3 more stopsoflatitude, says Cronenweth. Itrecords on a separate track thats a frameoff, and you then use software to sync itback. It really fills up the data cards bydoubling the recorded information, butfor certain situations its invaluable.Wealso like the fact that theEpic is smaller and lighter than the OneThe productions digital Red cameras were frequently required to capture low-light situations.36 January 2012 American Cinematographer image, and with the Epic we had 5K towork with. We utilized the extra resolu-tionto create our own frame lines,smallerthan what you get using theentire sensor. Actually, we did that withboththe One and the Epic, allowingroom for repositioning shots. For exam-ple, if an operator clipped an eyebrow onatilt up, we had plenty of space tocorrectthe composition. We also usedtheextra space created by the extra resolutionto help stabilize many shots,including all the driving footageweshot in Stockholm. The Epic givesyoumuch more information than youactuallyneed, and that gives you moreflexibility.Ilike the picture the Red givesme,the way it feels, says Fincher.Ultimately, thats what people are talk-ing about when they say they prefer oneformatover another. When peoplespeakfondly of the anamorphic lensesfrom the 1970s, theyre talking about thefeeling they get from that certain kind ofimage. I like the Red One MX a lot in fact, I wish we hadnt switched to theEpicat the end of our shoot. Theresnothing wrong with the Epic, but I sortoflike the graininess of the MX[image].Its an aesthetic choice, not atechnical one. anddoesnt have that cameras quirks,continuesthe cinematographer. Inaddition, you can overcrank up to 96 fpsand stay in 5K [resolution]. David alsolikes to have the option of manipulatingthefinal composition or stabilizing the Cold CaseTop: Banks offluorescentfixtures augmentsource lamps fora dialogue sceneinvolvingPlummer andCraig. Bottom:Cronenwethpractices hisbedside mannerduring a hospital scene. Kodak, 2011. Vision and Kodak are trademarks. FromFinchers perspective,perhapsthe biggest advantage of theRed is its size. Because its small, I feellikethe filmmaking process itselfbecomessort of intimate, he says.Filmmaking is a small circus thatsthe nature of the beast but I prefer tokeepit as intimate as possible. Whenthe mechanics become too consuming,itstoo easy to get distracted from therealreason were there: to capture theactorsperformances. When the geargetstoo big, I feel like theres a wallbetween my cast and me, and its hard togetaround it to talk to them. I reallypreferto have that relationship, thatconnection,be immediate. How weshoot,where we shoot and what weshootwith all play a role in finessingthat relationship. Shootingwith two camerassimultaneouslyand having the cine-matographeroperate the B camera areusuallypart of the plan. David hasalmostalways worked that way, saysCronenweth. I was the B-camera oper-atoronFightClub andSocialNetwork,andClaudio [Miranda] was the B-camera operator on Benjamin Button. Fincherexplains, I try as muchas possible to put that second camera inaplace where it will get me anothersetup that I actually need Im neverjust looking for gravy. It can be frustrat-ing for my cinematographer and toughfor lighting, but Im going to challengehim to bring that second camera as fararound as possible, to not just stack [thecameras] and get a medium and close atthesame time. Im going to shoot apretty wide and fairly disparate view. IfIcan, Ill do opposing coverage, 180degrees. That does make lighting tough,butsometimes getting those perfor-38 January 2012 American Cinematographer Cold CaseTop: The crewconfronted frigidconditions onlocation inNorthern Europe.Bottom: Workingin the relativewarmth of asoundstage inSweden, the crewsimulates the coldwhile setting up acar shot. our extendedfamily of lightweightOptimo zoomsnow includes45 120mm.973.812.3858angenieux@tccus.com www.angenieux.comTheperfectportraitlenshasfinallyarrived 45-120mmOptimozoomlensjoinsouraward winning15-40mmand28-76mmfamilyof hand-held lenses to provide a combined focal rangeof15-120mm.Theyallowyoutotake fewer lenses on location without any sacrifice in performanceandwithouttheexcessweight ofalltheprimelensestheyreplace.Plus Optimo35mmZoomLensesdeliverthe extremelyfastaperturesandoutstanding contrastandcolorreproductionthathave made them the optics of choice for DPs all over the world. Take our extended family of Optimo 35mmZoomLensesonyournextshootand experience the difference.NEW 45mm - 120mmActual product image may vary15mm - 40mm28mm - 76mm40 January 2012 American Cinematographer mances simultaneously is whats best forthe movie.In keeping with Finchers prefer-ence for keeping the technical footprintassmall as possible on the set,DragonTattoodidnthave a digital-imagingtechnician.I dont believe in tweakingon set, says the director. Why would Iwanta tent and more people around?Thats anathema to me. Instead, just as they did onSocialNetwork,Fincher and Cronenweth setonelook-up table at the beginning oftheshoot and didnt change it.Originally we thought we might haveoneLUT for every location, but thatgotconfusing, notes Cronenweth.Ourapproach is similar to using justonefilm stock. If we change anything,itsthe color of the light or the filterinsteadof chasing LUTs. It makesthings faster and easier.TheRed One is known forhavinghigher sensitivity in the bluespectrum,and the filmmakers used an80D filter on the lens most of the time.AlthoughSweden has a cool, desatu-rated palette in winter, we used the 80Dtoraise the color temperature about400K,which gave a little more bluelight to the sensor and gave us more lati-tudeto work with later, saysCronenweth.The production shot primarily onthelocations described in LarssonsCold CaseStepping awayfrom hercomputer,Lisbeth seekssome answersthe old-fashioned way.42 January 2012 American Cinematographer Cold Casenovel.The notion of these horrors,theseparticularly evil doings, takingplacein an environment thats icy,snowyand somewhat inhospitable justseemedright to me, says Fincher. Icouldntsee setting the story anywhereelse. In Northern Europe, youre cut offfromthe rest of the world a goodportionof the year in a very uniqueplace.The people are hearty, and thewintersare very hard. Im happy wedidnttranspose the story to Seattle orMontrealor, worse, play Montreal forSweden. However,the unique propertiesof natural light at that latitude presentedsomechallenges. At summers peak,Stockholmexperiences 19 hours ofdaylight,and at winters peak, just sixhours.Moreover, the winter sun barelymakes it off the horizon, even at highnoon,and the summer sun typicallyreaches a point about 54 degrees off thehorizon at the height of the day. Theresa reason why SvenNykvistsmovies look like they do!Fincher notes with a laugh, referring tothe late ASC cinematographer who wasfamousfor his collaborations withfellow Swede Ingmar Bergman. Earlyin his career, Cronenwethworked with Nykvist as a camera assis-tantand operator. Sven brought hisownversion of soft light to all of hismovies, he says. He was very inspiredbythe light of his hometown. In thesummer,it almost never gets dark, andbecause youre so far north, the sun cansetand then rise again, about an hourlater, in almost exactly the same place. Ifyou want a dawn shot, dawn can last twohours!The light changes so muchthroughoutthe year that its very chal-lenging on a project as long as this one. Wehad short nights when wegot there and really long nights when weleft,adds Fincher. It can be verydisconcerting if youre not used to a six-hourday. You can start work in themorningand then find the sun goingdown at lunch.Weset out to embrace theSwedish winter, says Cronenweth. Itsastrong element in the story, almost acharacter of its own, and we spent a lotof time out in the snow with those veryunique light tonalities. We embraced allof the idiosyncrasies of the locations.The biting cold of winter gave risetoone of the productions few equip-mentproblems: the low temps causedsomeof the floating elements in theArri/ZeissMaster Primes to misalign,sothe lenss witness marks were off.The Master Primes have seven floatingIn an attempt to blend into society, Lisbeth adopts a more feminine style, donning a blonde wig and dressing conventionally.BuiltonrevolutionaryThunderbolttechnology,UltraStudio3Dhasa blazingly fast 10 Gb/s connection thats up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0! Machined from a solid piece of aluminum, UltraStudio 3D is an attractive, ruggeddevicethatspackedwithfeaturespreviouslyonlyavailablewith aworkstation.Itsperfectforthoseonthegoasanextremelyportable companion to your camera, notebook and favorite editing software.Connect to any Deck, Camera or MonitorUltraStudio3Dfeaturesahugerangeofvideo andaudioconnections.DualLink3Gb/s SDI,HDMI,componentanalog,NTSC,PAL ands-videoforcaptureandplaybackinSD, HDor2K.Alsoincludedis2chXLRAES/EBUaudioand2chbalanced XLRanalogaudio.ConnecttoHDCAMSR,HDCAM,DigitalBetacam, Betacam SP, HDV cameras, big-screen TVs and more. UltraStudio 3D even supportstwostreamsoffullresolutionvideoupto1080pHDfornew stereoscopic 3D workows!Hardware Down ConversionIf youve ever wanted to monitor in both HD and SDwhileyouwork,thenyoulllovethebuiltin high quality down converter. Use the Dual Link SDI outputs as a simultaneous HD and SD output, or you can switch back to Dual Link 4:4:4 when working in the highest quality RGB workows. Select between letterbox, anamorphic 16:9 and even center cut 4:3 down conversion styles!Advanced 3 Gb/s SDI TechnologyWith exciting new 3 Gb/s SDI connections, UltraStudio 3DallowstwicetheSDIdatarateofnormalHD-SDI, whilealsoconnectingtoallyourHD-SDIandSD-SDI equipment. Use 3 Gb/s SDI for 2K and edit your latest feature lm using real time 2048 x 1556 2K resolution capture and playback!More Third Party Software CompatibilityUltraStudio 3D works with the software you love to use! Use QuickTime software, or the worlds most popular editing software such as Final Cut Pro and PremierePro!YoualsogetPhotoshopplug-ins tograbandoutputframes,plusrealtimepreview inAfterEffectsandNuke.Noothereditingsolutionsupportsmore software on Mac OS X, so now you have the freedom to build your studio your own way!Learn more today at www.blackmagic-design.com/UltraStudio3DUltraStudio 3D$99544 January 2012 American Cinematographer elements, and in extreme temperaturesthatcan create obstacles, saysCronenweth.The first assistantsended up having to pull focus more offof monitors, by eye. Theyre phenome-nallenses, and I would definitely usethemagain; they probably held up aswell as any equipment does in that kindofenvironment. But its something tobeaware of when youre working inextreme weather conditions.Someof the movies large exte-riorsetups posed other challenges.Salanders main mode of transportationis her motorcycle, and she is not a timiddriver.Many sequences show herzippingaround dangerously icy roads,andCronenweth had to tackle one ofthesescenes, a 5-mile run through aforest at night, on his second day on set.Ithought, How are we gonnadothis?! he recalls. We ended uptacklingit very simply, actually, and itlooksquite believable. We used aninsertcar to either chase or lead themotorcycle. When we were chasing her,we simply increased the strength of theheadlight on her motorcycle by addingsomeheadlight fixtures with quartzglobesand wide-angle lenses so thelight would fan out and hit the trees infront of her on both sides of the road. We then put a small bounce onthe front of the camera car, about 2 stopsunderexposed, to get some detail on herandthe motorcycle. Lastly, we usednarrow-beamHMIs to softly projectahead of and above her to illuminate theforest.When we were leading her, weused the same bounce idea on the truckand the same narrow HMIs, and let themotorcycles headlight bounce and lighther with just soft return.Makingnight exteriors like thiseventougher was the moisture fromnearbybodies of water, which createdmistthat often froze to the lenses onmovingshots. The filmmakers usedstandard rain spinners to keep moistureoff the lenses, but the mist would freezeon the spinners and transform them intorotating diffusion filters. To combat this,thecamera assistants mounted hairdryersbelow the spinners and kept aconstant flow of warm air on the spin-ning blades. Drivingsequences involving carswere shot onstage in Sweden using whatCronenweth and gaffer Harold Skinnerlaughinglydescribe as Rich-MansProcess. Skinner explains, It was yourtypicalgreenscreen stage, but we builtthis rig with LED media panels aroundthecar so that we could playCold CaseLeft: A large silk and a solid hung from crane arms help the crew shape the look of a street scene. Right: While shooting a night-exterior chase sequence,crewmembers used rain spinners and hair dryers to keep mist from freezing on the camera lenses.We set out toembrace the Swedishwinter. Its a strongelement in the story,almost a character ofits own.Dolby congratulates Light Ironon the successful completion of its recent projects.Thank you for using the Dolby Professional Reference Monitor in color grading.Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. 2011 Dolby Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. S11/25091 QuickTimemovies of the backgroundplatesthrough the panels and projectthereflections and interactive lightdirectlyfrom the background platesonto the car and the actors. The LEDpanels were 3 feet high by 14 feet longon both sides of the car, and we addedanother for the back and front windows.Usingthis system, we got real interac-tive lighting from the actual backgroundplates, so it feels much more authentic.Toreduce spill and reflectionsfromthe greenscreen, Skinner hungDuvetynon curtain tracks so he couldmaskoff any area of green that wasntdirectly behind the actors. One pivotal scene that was reshotbecause of script changes shows youngHarriet outside a cottage and boathouseona waterfront Vanger property. Thescene was originally shot on location inStockholm,but when the filmmakersreturnedfor reshoots, they discoveredthe property had new owners who hadtorn down both buildings. In addition, awinter storm had killed two large treesthathelped make the location unique.Cold CaseTink LEEwww.leelters.com142A sharp snap splits the silvery silence. A whisper of time, suspended.Lisbethssleuthing skillsshine a light on somehorrifyingsecrets.46Fincherand production designerDonald Graham Burt decided to recon-struct the cottage onstage at ParamountStudios and the boathouse and dock atReds studio. Itwas a huge set, and I wasntreallysure how to approach it,confessesCronenweth. There weresomepractical lights on the dock thatgave us a base look, especially when weadded atmosphere. We decided to use asingle2K out from the cabin to thewaterand hillside we hung blacksandadded some sky augmentation inpost and it was perfect.Weslipped a bare 2K globeinside a Big Eye 10K housing with nolens, just to protect the globe and createavery large open-face source, saysSkinner. The dock lights were all clear25-wattpractical globes, so we addedsome 14 CTO to the 2K to match theirwarmth.We augmented with a single1K Baby Fresnel to help when we weredoingturnarounds and the 2K got alittle too garish and flat, but that was it.Its very simply lit and very beautiful.Anight scene that showsSalandermeeting Blomkvist at hisStockholmapartment required amassiveshot that encompassed severalblocks of cobblestone streets. Its an oldpartof Stockholm on this grand hill,andDavid wanted the coverage toencompassall four directions at nightforabout two blocks, recallsCronenweth. In and of itself, thats notsucha bad thing, but in April inSweden,you only have four hours ofdarkness! So the challenge was to lighttwoblocks in each direction and havethe ability to quickly do turnarounds, tomove into any direction and switch ourbacklight and whatever keys we had onthe fly. Our rigging crew spent an entirenight setting it up.Wehad eight constructioncranes,four generators and 20 electri-cians,and the special-effects team wasmaking snow at the same time it wasquitethe expansive setup, addsSkinner.In the end, we got it in our fourhours,and everything worked fantasti-cally,says Cronenweth. Davids finalestablishingshot was done just as thesky was starting to change colors, but wegot it in under the wire. CookeOpticsLimitedBritish Optical Innovation and Quality Since 1893.The Cooke LookOne Look. All Speedscookeoptics.comT: +44 (0)116 264 0700Canada, South America, USA: T: +1-973-335-4460TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 Digital CaptureRed One, EpicArri/Zeiss Master Primes 4748 January 2012 American Cinematographer The period drama War Horse represents new turf for cine-matographerJanusz Kaminski and director StevenSpielberg,even though the film is their 13th featurecollaboration. The movie tells the story of World War Ithroughthe eyes of a horse who is raised by a farm boy,Albert(Jeremy Irvine), in Devon, England, and then fallsintothe hands of various British, French and Germanmasters during the war. World War II has become a hallmark of Spielberg andKaminskiscollaborations, which began withSchindlersList(AC Jan. 94), but War Horse is their first foray into the GreatWar.I was very excited about it because Id never had thechance to re-create this war before, says Kaminski, speakingto AC on a break from Spielbergs Lincoln. The picture is also something of a novelty in that its afamily-friendlystory that takes place during wartime. Thesource material is a young-adult novel of the same name byMichael Morpugo, and the Walt Disney Co. is releasing theDreamWorksproduction. However, Kaminski notes, Thismovieis not a quintessential Disney thing. Its not happy,bright,chocolate-covered storytelling. Its got very brutalmoments, very sad moments. The filmmakers decided to shoot widescreen to play upthe pastoral landscape of Devon, where the story begins, andtheychose Super 35mm over anamorphic because theybelievedthe latter might be too beautiful, says Kaminski,adding, We wanted the images to have a slightly gritty feel.Wewanted to do beautifully composed wide shotswherethe land would play a significant role, continues thecinematographer. We talked about John Ford films . Stevenwas fascinated by the relationship between humans and land humans do not blend with the land, they shape it. In thefirst act, when Albert is training the horse or trying to plowthe field, you see him in this amazing Devon landscape whereclouds are rolling across the sky. The shots are so wide you cansee the light patterns rolling across the field.Kaminskiwas keen to create the movies look in-camera, even though originating in Super 35mm and the real-ities of digital exhibition meant a digital intermediate wouldbe part of the post process. In fact, he color-timed the pictureWar Horse, directedby Steven Spielbergand shot by Janusz Kaminski,sends a valiant creature to the frontlines of World War I.By Patricia Thomson|AnimalInstinctsw ww.theasc.comJanuary 2012 49photochemically at Deluxe Laboratoriesin Hollywood with timers Clive NoakesandJim Passon, and we just matchedthelook of the print in the DI with[colorist]Yvan Lucas [at EFilm], hesays. There were very few adjustments.Steven and I make the movie onthe set, he emphasizes. I do not createthe look of the movie in the DI, just asSteven does not create the movie in theeditingroom. Thats not the way wework. An important part of our process isscreening35mm film dailies, which wedid with an Arri LocPro throughout theshoot.KaminskishotWarHorse ontwoKodakVision3 negatives, 250D 5207and 500T 5219, both of which he oftenpulledone stop, and he developed afiltrationstrategy that involved usingClassic Soft and Coral filters together forDevonsequences and other idyllicpassages,and then transitioning toDouble Fog filters for the muddy look ofwar. Finally, for the triumphant return ofthe hero, he layered on sunset grad filters.Principalphotography lasted 63daysand took place mostly on practicallocationsclose to London. Many keycrew were longtime collaborators of bothSpielbergand Kaminski, including A-cameraoperator Mitch Dubin, A-camera1st AC Mark Spath, lightingdirector(supervising gaffer) DavidDevlinand key grip Jim Kwiatkowski.TheirBritish counterparts were B-camera/Steadicamoperator GeorgeRichmond,B-camera 1st AC JonathanChunkyRichmond, gaffer EddieKnight and key grip David Appleby.When Spielberg is in the directorschair, one hallmark of the production isspeed,and Kwiatkowski recalls tellingApplebythatWarHorse wouldbe thefastestmovie hed ever worked on. Itwas June 29, and the grips had just beenhanded six previsualizations for compli-catedaction scenes. Production was settostart Aug. 1. Stevens schedules arealways like a race, Devlin observes. Heloves the energy of shooting quickly andseeingthe film made right before hiseyes. Even if he had 300 days to shoot afilm, hed shoot it in 50.Another hallmark of a Spielbergproduction is complex camera choreog-raphy.Steven is extremely versatilewiththe camera, which means hismovies are always challenging to shoot,saysKaminski. He likes really bigshots, and his camera always moves. Every shot is elaborately chore-ographed,adds Dubin. He alwaysshoots them as complex masters. Eventhough a lot of the shots might be cutup in the end, its better for the actors ifwe shoot the entire scene.Achievingbig, complicated shotsvery quickly would be a challenge underanycircumstance, but the particulars oftheWarHorseshootratcheted up thedifficulty. For starters, some locations werequiteremote. The Devon sequenceswere shot in Dartmoor National Park,alarge moorland crossed by rockyroads. Getting generators in there wasachallenge, Devlin recalls. Onegeneratorhad to be placed almost1,700feet away, so it required a lot ofPhotos by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP and David Appleby. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of DreamWorks.Opposite page: Albert(Jeremy Irvine) bondswith his familys newhorse, Joey. Thispage: After Albertsfather (Peter Mullan)pays top dollar forJoey, he endures theire of his wife (EmilyWatson, middle) andlandlord (DavidThewlis, bottom),who threatens torepossess theNarracotts farmunless they maketheir rent payment.50 January 2012 American Cinematographer cabling and preparation.Thenthere was the rain, whichcameboth at the whim of MotherNatureand on demand, especially forthe combat scenes. At one point duringabattle, Joey escapes into No MansLand,a 480-yard stretch along theWesternFront that was full of barbedwire and trenches. No Mans Land wasavast field that became a horrible,muddy,violent place, says Dubin. Itwas so hard to work in there. Everybodywore black rain gear, so you could nevertell who anybody was. At the end of theday, theyd turn on the power hoses andspray us down.Toppingit all off was the chal-lenge of building so many scenes aroundahorse. The main character, Joey, wasplayedby five of them. There was anequinehair-and-makeup department,and each horse had its own trainer. (Theheadtrainer was Bobby Lovgren.)Eachhorse had its own specialty: onelaiddown, another bucked up, oneplowed, and another was good at turn-ing his head to look backward on cue,says Kaminski.Suchactions were vital tosuggesting Joeys thoughts and emotionsas was the animals eyelight duringclose-ups.Truly, when you look at ahorse, there are no emotions in its eyes,saysKaminski. They dont blink, theydont smile and they dont get sad. Theyjust get tired.Giventhat Joey is the centralcharacter and a hero the filmmak-erstried to make the horse stand outfrom its environment. We were glorify-ingJoey a little through lighting andcomposition, says Kaminski. We werealwaystrying to place the light so thathis coat would reflect it, and so it wouldcreate glints in his eyes.To get a horse to act, a trainer hadtobe in the animals line of sight, andsometimestwo trainers were necessary if, for instance, the horse had to lookin one direction, and then in the other.For scenes involving several horses, thataddedup to lots of trainers. The trickwas to put a trainer in the horses sightbut not in the frame, says Dubin. For aclose-up, thats easy. But for wide shots,whichSteven likes, we had trainershiding all over the place behind balesofhay in the barn, up in the rafters,everywhere.Thefilmmakers worked with aprevisteam from The Third Floor toplotout the movies most complicatedaction scenes, but Spielbergs collabora-torsobserve that his mastery of cine-matic storytelling is due as much to hisown instinct as it is to such preparation.Stevencan walk onto a set with verylittlepre-planning and know exactlyhow he wants to shoot it and how manyshotshe needs, says Dubin. His eyesimmediately turn into a 21mm lens.Animal InstinctsAfter England goes to war with Germany,Albert is forced to part ways with Joey whenhis father sells the horse to a British officer.52 January 2012 American Cinematographer Of course, ideas developed in prepoften change on set. One example of thisinWarHorse isa British cavalry chargethatwas filmed on the Stratfield Sayeestate. The scene expresses a key idea inMorpugos book: that World War I wastheend of the horses usefulness as aninstrument of war. As Dubin sums it up,Thestory is about the change from agentlemans war to a mechanized war.The scene begins with the Britishcavalryapproaching a German campthrougha field of golden reeds. Thesesoldiers are very handsome, very proper,very passionate about the glorious aspectofthe war, and I wanted it to be a bitlargerthan life, says Kaminski. Wetried to create the glorious part of it, butwith a realistic take.Thecharge appears successful atfirst, but suddenly the Germans open firewith machine guns. No blood is shown.Instead, the film cuts to a shot of rider-lesshorses, and finally the camera pullsback to reveal the field littered with deadsoldiers and horses. This sequence wasextensivelyprevisualized because thecharge involved dozens of horses gallop-ing at high speed on uneven terrain, saysKaminski. We used two or three differ-ent camera platforms that would travel atvarious speeds, and we occasionally hadtwo cameras and two insert cars travelingAnimal InstinctsTop: The camera crew dollies past a muddy battlefield for a sequence staged at Wisley Airfield in Surrey, England. Middle: An English soldier spots Joey after the horse becomes entangled in barbed wire between enemy trenches. Bottom: Albert and his nemesis from Devon, David (Robert Emms, right), charge into battle. 2011 Panasonic Corporation of North AmericaAG-HPX250The AG-HPX250 handheld delivers an unprecedented level of image quality 10-bit, 4:2:2 intra-frame AVC-Intra for its 5.5-lb. size. Its 2.2 megapixel 3-MOS imagers produce superb low light images. It offers a 22X zoom lens, genlock/timecode input for multi-camera operation, 3 independent adjustable (Zoom/Focus/Iris) rings, and a faster, solid-state workow. Unprecedented quality, handheld size. 54 January 2012 American Cinematographer [atthe same time]. We did a couple ofdays of extensive rehearsals with a skele-ton cavalry, and that allowed us to figureoutif it was possible to achieve whatSteven had envisioned in the previs.Once we figured that out, Id haveideas about where the lights should be,he continues. Of course, in England, itscloudy,then halfway through the day itbecomessunny, and then its cloudyagain. So you just play your cards accord-ingto the weather. We wanted a lowersun for the wide shots. You can get awaywith overcast moments and mismatched[light]when the camera is traveling athighspeed, because you know thesequencewill be cut up into very shortshots.Spielberg initially envisioned usingsome type of cable rig to achieve the bigcamera pullback, but his crew speculatedthat such a rig would take too much timeto set up. Dubin observes, If the shot isperformance-driven, Steven doesnt everseem to grow impatient, and he will do asmanytakes as needed. But if its just atechnicalshot, even a very complicatedone,he wants to do it once and moveon. The speedy solution proved to bean Akela crane. We kept it in one posi-tion and did this incredible pullout, saysKwiatkowski.With its 70' arm, the Akela was anoft-used tool onWar Horse, as was a 50'Animal InstinctsTop and middle: A 50' SuperTechnocrane was mounted on a Bickers 4x4 Taurus Quad to capture shots of Joey and other horses pulling heavy artillery up a steep hill. Bottom: A Scorpio Stabilized Head overslung on a Bickers Racing Quad was used to capture a mounted German soldier, Gunther (David Kross), pulling his younger brother from the march to spare him from combat. 15, 20, 32 ... Introducing the 73 HydrascopeEquipment that works in any environment weather resistant and tough LOCATIONS:California: 888 883 6559New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio & Florida: 888 758 4826UK: +44 1 92 326 5953TELESCOPING CRANESWith Stabilized Remote Camera SystemsCHAPMAN/LEONARDStudio Equipment, Inc. 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Thats what Steven doesbest:tell the story with the camera.Characterscome in and out all in onetake that lasts about 45 seconds.When Steven described the shot,I knew where I had to put the camera,but I didnt know howto do it, he adds.Spielbergwanted to use a BickersRacingQuad with the Steadicam, butthe team eventually determined that thehill was too steep, and the weight on theback of the quad would be too great. Sothegrips borrowed a page from thespecial-effects team, which was planningtohaul the cannon up with a 10-tonwinchburied between I-beams.Kwiatkowski built his own winch paral-lelto theirs on a lesser grade. This wascinchedto the Bickers 4x4 Taurus,whichcarried the Technocrane. Wewereable to level the crane and pulledthat vehicle up with the winch in coordi-nationwith the special-effects crewbringingup the cannon, saysKwiatkowski.After four takes, we gotthe shot. It was pretty intense.In contrast to the grips huge arse-nal,the productions lighting packagewasrelatively modest, according toDevlin.At its core were five ArriMax18Ks.Wed use all those lights everyday, on every setup, says Devlin. Whenweran out, we were out! Our lightingpackage wasnt very big at all comparedto, say, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom ofthe Crystal Skull.TheHMIs were deployed evenon sunny Devon exteriors.The Devonscenesare meant to suggest innocence,thebeginning of Albert and Joeysfriendship, so the lighting is more ideal-ized,says Kaminski.I wanted deepblue skies with white clouds, so I used adaylightstock and frontlit the actors sotheydstand out and look glorious56 January 2012 American Cinematographer Animal InstinctsSuperTechnocranemounted on aBickers 4x4 Taurus Quad. Steven reallylovesthe Technocrane, Kwiatkowskinotes, and we did a lot of elaborate shotswith just the arm. The production alsoused a MovieBird 20 from Alpha Grip,carried by a Bickers camera car. Thecranes were often outfittedwithScorpio Stabilized Heads. Thatwasthe trick, because those headsenabled us to do some longer-lens shotswithgreat stability, says Kwiatkowski.That worked really well on the cavalrychargesnot only for technical reasons,butalso because the cameras stabilityshowcasedthe natural energy of thehorses.Anotherindispensable tool wastheRussian Arm, which was used totrackalongside galloping horses.Equippedwith a gyrostabilized FlightHead and offering 360-degree panningcapability,the remote arm rode atop aStealth high-speed tracking vehicle, anditcould get quite close to the horses.Thehorse trainers had worked withthatvehicle before, so they knew whattheycould and couldnt do, saysKwiatkowski.TheRussian Arms speed andhandling were put to the test in a sceneshowing Joeys flight through the woods.Theproduction cleared a 400-yardstretchof terrain for the liberty horse(onewithout a rider) and picked out aparallel path for the Stealth.Thoroughbredscan accelerate to fullspeed within a couple of strides, but theStealthhad to carry four people pluscrane and camera. The driver had onefoot on the gas pedal, all the way down,andone foot on the brake at the sametime,says Dubin. When the horsetook off, the driver just took his foot offthebrake. The horse could be at fullspeedwithin seconds! It was reallythrilling.Some rigs were custom-designed,occasionallyat the last minute. Oneexamplewas something used forCannon Hill, a scene that shows Joeyandother horses struggling to haul acannon up a steep hill. After the previswas scuttled because of safety concerns,Spielbergplanned another elaborateshot that moved from the bottom of theCameraoperator MitchDubin capturesbattlefieldclose-ups ofAlbert and hisfriend fromDevon.58 January 2012 American Cinematographer against the landscape.Weoften used very hard lightthat was diffused a little bit, similar to thewayarc lights were used in the 1970s,says Devlin. Whereas wed typically usefour 18Ks through a large frame of diffu-sion, like a 12-by-20, on this wed use justone 18K through a 4x4 diffusion, whichwouldgive the same intensity butwouldnt be as soft. And with one light,itsmore frontal; that makes it a flatterlightand gives it a richer look, almostlike a classic movie from the 1970s.For scenes set in the trenches andNoMans Land, production designerRickCarters crew built three sets onWisley airfield in Surrey. It was a beau-tifulset, with quintessential imagery oftheFirst World War everythinglookedscorched and destroyed, saysKaminski.Because Joey had to travelthrough it at a full gallop, often in wideshots,the set was vast, which meantKaminskihad to light large areas fornight scenes. Logistically, that was diffi-cult,because we also had to light thehorse so he wouldnt just blend into thenight, he says. Its lit like a Christmastree, but at the same time I think it looksrealistic.Cameratests in No Mans Landimmediately revealed a problem: the bayhorsewasnt visible against the red soil.Thehighlight on the horse from theexplosionsdidnt read as strong as theAnimal InstinctsTop: The 50' SuperTechnocrane, mounted on a Bickers 4x4 Taurus Quad, is positioned in No Mans Landto capture shots of Joey galloping straight into barbed wire. Middle: 1st AC Mark Spath adjusts focus for a shot captured with a Scorpio Stabilized Head. Bottom: Armed with a bullhorn, cinematographerJanusz Kaminski coordinates some explosive action.www.clairmont.comLetushelpyoupicktherighttoolsforyourjob. Filmordigital, werehereforyou. Youcanchoosefromavastvarietyof35mmand16mmfilmcameras. Thesearecoupled with the industrys widest selection of lenses andaccessoriestogivecinematographerstheabilitytomaximizetheircreativity. 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Please visit our website tosee whats new in our inventory.Sincerely, Clairmont CameraCREATIVITY!Your Mind, Our Tools!Hollywood818-761-4440Vancouver604-984-4563Toronto416-467-1700Albuquerque505-227-2525Montreal514-525-6556Michael Condon, SOCVP Digital DivisionAndree MartinVP Technical Servicesground, explains Devlin, so the eye wasdrawnmore toward the shadow of thehorse than the rim light. Onething that makes warmovieslook eerily real is when thepersons face is brighter than the sky, hecontinues.We found that true onSaving Private Ryan [AC Aug. 98], andweused that same technique [to lightactors]here: burning diesel fuel anddarkening the sky behind the person.But a bay horse required a differ-ent solution. In the end, Carter decidedto darken the color of the soil by paintingit. That set was about 1,200 feet by 800feet,Devlin marvels. When the soilwas all churned up, Ricks crew had to goback and repaint it [for another take].Joeysflight across No MansLand includes wide shots full of smokeandmist backlit by flares and flames.Thebeast is running across the land-scape,silhouetted, says Kaminski. Itl