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THINK SCHNEIDER.Phone: 818-766-3715 800-228-1254 email: info@schneideroptics.comwww. s c h n e i d e r o p t i c s . c o m The International Journal of Motion Imaging28 Funk Soul BrotherStephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC shoots his first digital feature with Get on Up, a stylish biopic about soul singerJames Brown42 Capturing All 4 SeasonsTom Stern, ASC continues his collaboration with directorClint Eastwood on the musical Jersey Boys54 Bad BloodFour cinematographers, including ASC members CheccoVarese and Gabriel Beristain, lend chills to the vampire seriesThe Strain66 Shaking a Familys FoundationBen Richardson shoots the indie film Happy Christmas onSuper 16mmDEPARTMENTSFEATURES VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM On Our Cover: Iconic performer James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) belts out a songin Get on Up, shot by Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC. (Photo by D. Stevens, courtesyof Universal Studios.)10 Editors Note12 Presidents Desk14 Short Takes: Giants20 Production Slate: And Uneasy Lies the Mind76 New Products & Services80 International Marketplace81 Classified Ads82 Ad Index84 In Memoriam: Gordon Willis, ASC86 Clubhouse News88 ASC Close-Up: Kramer MorgenthauA U G U S T 2 0 1 4 V O L . 9 5 N O . 8425466The International Journal of Motion ImagingA U G U S T 2 0 1 4 V O L . 9 5 N O . 8LOOK FORMORE AT WWW.THEASC.COMwww.theasc.comJohn Baileys Bailiwickan extraordinary personal blog that Iwholeheartedly recommend. Matthias StorkAuthor, Chaos CinemaThe Movie That Haunts YouThe Rite of Spring at 100Bill Brysons Little Hike Jack Cardiffs Magic LifeThe Spinning Top and the ParvoWillard Van Dyke and Edward WestonThe Red Book:A Psychic OdysseyIn Search of a Cinema Canon Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros John Alton: Cinematographys Outlier The Unhinged Animator: Tex Avery Carl Sagan and the Pale Blue DotA u g u s t 2 0 1 4 V o l . 9 5 , N o . 8T 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 at www.theasc.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHERStephen Pizzello EDITORIALMANAGING EDITOR Jon D. WitmerTECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher ProbstCONTRIBUTING WRITERSBenjamin B, Douglas Bankston, John Calhoun, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Jean Oppenheimer, Iain Stasukevich, Patricia ThomsonART & DESIGNCREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer PHOTO EDITOR Kelly Brinker ONLINEMANAGING DIRECTOR Rachael K. Bosley VIDEO EDITORKinga DobosPODCAST EDITORS Jim Hemphill, Iain Stasukevich, Chase YeremianWEB DEVELOPERJon StoutBLOGSBenjamin BJohn Bailey, ASCDavid HeuringADVERTISINGADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann323-936-3769Fax 323-936-9188e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.netADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce323-952-2114Fax 323-952-2140e-mail: sanja@ascmag.comCLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Peru323-952-2124Fax 323-952-2140e-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 Nelson SandovalAmerican Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 94th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A., (800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood office. Copyright 2014 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 90078.6 OFFICERS - 2014/2015Richard CrudoPresidentOwen RoizmanVice PresidentKees van OostrumVice PresidentLowell PetersonVice PresidentMatthew LeonettiTreasurerFrederic GoodichSecretaryIsidore MankofskySergeant At ArmsMEMBERS OF THEBOARDJohn BaileyBill BennettCurtis ClarkDean CundeyGeorge Spiro DibieRichard EdlundMichael GoiMatthew LeonettiStephen LighthillDaryn OkadaMichael O SheaLowell PetersonRodney TaylorKees van OostrumHaskell WexlerALTERNATESIsidore MankofskyKarl Walter LindenlaubRobert PrimesSteven FierbergKenneth ZunderMUSEUM CURATORSteve GainerAmerican Society of Cinematog raphersThe ASC is not a labor union or a guild, butan educational, cultural and pro fes sion al organization. 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.8One Look. All SpeedsThe Cooke LookNEWT2.8T1.4T2.0CookeOpticsLimitedBritish Optical Innovation and Quality Since 1893.cookeoptics.comT: +44 (0)116 264 0700Canada, South America, USA: T: +1-973-335-4460This months issue spotlights a pair of movie musi-cals whose makers put some new spin on a famil-iar genre.GetonUp,shotbyStephenGoldblatt,ASC,BSC,offersanon-linearlookattheturbulentpersonalhistoryofdynamicperformerJamesBrown.RecountingtheshootforJeanOppen-heimer(FunkSoulBrother,page28),thecine-matographernotesthatthemoviesapproachismore a kaleidoscope of the life of James BrownthananA-to-Bbiopic.Thestorylinejumpsback-and-forth in time, covering some 60 years, and thephotography reflects the changing periods.The production was the first digital feature forGoldblatt, whose imaging arsenal included the ArriAlexa,CanonsC500andanIkegamiEC-35.Thelatter camera was used to lend a vintage look to asequence depicting Browns 1971 concert at Olympia Hall in Paris; for this performance setpiece and others, the crew sought to replicate the look of period concert lighting. We couldhave done all sorts of rock-and-roll effects, acknowledges Goldblatt, but we didnt becausethey didnt exist back then.On Jersey Boys, director Clint Eastwood also transitioned to the digital realm with thehelp of Tom Stern, ASC, AFC. The pair detailed their approach for AC contributor and East-wood biographer Michael Goldman (Capturing All 4 Seasons, page 42). Our goal was togo down the list of everything that could screw us up, and make sure it didnt, says Stern.After all, no one wants to walk up to the Man with No Name and explain things like latency,bandwidthandgigaflops!ThecinematographerreportsthatEastwood,whohasalwaysfavored a fast pace on set, was exceptionally pleased with one aspect of the new workflow:Instead of flipping mags every eight minutes, wed flip mags every 26 minutes, which forClint is like Christmas seven days a week!Santa is probably still making his list, but the indie feature Happy Christmas is alreadyhere for those of you who need an advance dose of holiday mishegas. Cinematographer BenRichardson bucked the digital trend on his collaboration with pioneering mumblecore direc-tor Joe Swanberg, shooting the movie, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance FilmFestival, on Super 16mm. Super 16mm was my first love, and we didnt know how muchlonger we would have the option to shoot movies on film, Richardson tells Noah Kadner(Shaking a Familys Foundation, page 66). When film represents a substantial portion of atight budget, each take is precious. We got some magic moments because of that focus.FourcinematographersCheccoVarese,ASC;MiroslawBaszak;GabrielBeristain,ASC, BSC; and Colin Hoult signed onto the FX Network series The Strain to help executiveproducer Guillermo Del Toro realize his ambitious vision of a vampire plague in New York City.My hope is that if youre scanning your TV and you see this show, youll say, Oh my God what is this? Varese tells ACs Canadian correspondent, Mark Dillon (Bad Blood, page 54).This is a world thats about to end. The vampires are taking over, so nothing is pretty; every-thing is a bit gritty, sordid and disturbing.Stephen PizzelloEditor-in-Chief and PublisherEditors NotePhoto by Owen Roizman, ASC.10Though many of you might think it more a guilty pleasure than something to shoutabout in a public forum, I have no hesitation in revealing that Planet of the Apes (the 1968original,ofcourse)isoneofmyall-timefavoritemovies.AndwhyshouldIfeelstrangeaboutthat?Itsafantasticscience-fictionstoryadaptedfromanoutstandingbookandmolded into a hell of a ride by a director, cast and crew who were functioning at the topof their game. Theres a multi-faceted hero, adventure, plenty of action, sex (well, at leasttheintimationofit,betweenchiseledstarCharltonHestonandhiscurvaceoushumancompanion, Linda Harrison) and a serious underlying theme. You also cant forget the apesthemselves the makeup actually works and the alien world in which were immedi-ately immersed. Then theres the shock ending, whose effect was so strong that contem-porary films, both cheesy and grand, continue to ape it 46 years later.Director Franklin J. Schaffner had already enjoyed a long and successful career by thetime he signed on to shoot this simian saga. He started out in television during the late1940s and went on to direct nine more movies after Apes, among them two that I oftenfind worming their way into my all-time Top 20: Patton (1970) and Papillon (1973). ASCLifetimeAchievementAwardrecipientFredKoenekampwasSchaffnersmostfrequentfeature-filmcinematographer,butforPlanetoftheApes hechosetoworkwiththelegendary Leon Shamroy, ASC.These days, people tend to toss that word legendary around with blind aban-don, but in Shamroys case the adjective is truly deserved. A past president of the ASC, he was born in 1901 and became a cine-matographer in 1926 after working on the laboratory side for a number of years. Over the course of a career that included suchmemorable films as Twelve OClock High (1949), The Robe (1953) and South Pacific (1958), he earned a record 18 Academy Awardnominations, with four wins.Shamroy was also an early adopter of the 2.40:1 CinemaScope format, which he used to extraordinary effect on Planet ofthe Apes. Check out the films 32-minute opening sequence, shot mostly in and around Utahs Lake Powell and Arizonas GlenCanyonNationalRecreationArea.Thissectionofthemovieisaveritablecliniconhowtoexecuteepic-scalewidescreenshots.Certainly it ranks alongside the work of Freddie Young, BSC (who conducted his own widescreen tutorials with Lawrence of Arabiaand other classics) or the broad canvasses created by the cinematographers who partnered with Stanley Kubrick. That Shamroyachieved his look without the help of todays digital tools makes it all the more impressive. In an almost completely day-exterior situ-ation, theres barely a mismatched shot to be found, and we all know how difficult it can be to maintain that kind of consistency.The rest of the movie offers a near-perfect blend of location and back-lot situations, interspersed with set work whose lighting andcompositions represent some of the last (and best) examples of a style that was going out of vogue. Combined with the moviessuccinct, elegant pacing and a music and sound-effects track whose sophistication rivals anything youll hear today, Shamroys workis elevated to something more impressive than youll find in most high-end dramas, let alone the science-fiction genre.Its interesting to note that the hand-crafted qualities of Planet of the Apes were completely swept aside with the release ofStar Wars a mere nine years later, but both of these classics share those strands of DNA that make certain movies memorable. I intu-itively recognized the creative significance of Apes when I first saw it at age 11, and apparently those feelings have stuck with me,because Im still looning about it all these years later.Even if the thought of watching Chuck Heston running around in a loincloth is not your cup of tea, I urge you to acquire acopy of Planet of the Apes (the Blu-ray is amazing) and give it a chance. As a reader of this magazine, you owe that much to thememory of Leon Shamroy.Anyway, its summertime. Go ahead treat yourself!Richard P. CrudoASC PresidentPresidents Desk12 August 2014 American Cinematographer Photo by Douglas Kirkland.Multiple Formats on the Fly By Douglas BankstonCinematographerMichaelPescasiohadaVisionResearchPhantomFlexcamera.DirectorMarkPellingtonhadneverworkedwithonebefore.Amutualfriendbroughtthetwofilmmakerstogether in Los Angeles, and what started out as a test shoot turnedinto a full-fledged music video. The band Bear Hands, who special-ize in driving pop hooks fused with disco and funk melodies, bene-fitted from this happenstance collaboration for its single Giants.AlthoughhehasdirectedsuchfeaturesasArlingtonRoad,The Mothman Prophecies, Henry Poole is Here and I Melt with Youandco-helmedtheconcertfilmU23DPellingtonhasbeensynonymous with music videos since the early days of MTV. WhenBear Hands management approached him with the Giants track,Pellington recognized an opportunity to work with Pescasio and testthe Phantom Flex for his upcoming feature, Clang, which hes plan-ning as a multi-format mixture of digital and analog mediums.I thought this would be a good testing ground for my filmand a chance to work with Mike, who is a really accomplished cine-matographer, and be a little punk rock about it get the band, getsome girls and get some graphic locations, the director says.Pescasio, who recently wrapped Uncle Nick, his first feature asa director of photography, came up through the grip and electric sideofproductionbeforemovingovertocameraoperatorandcine-matographer. He purchased a Phantom Flex4K camera, but due toproduction delays, Vision Research sent him a Phantom Flex on aninterim basis. The 2.5K camera is capable of frame rates up to 1,275fpsat1920x1080resolutioninHQModeandevenhigherframerates at lower resolutions.I was watching Marks videos when I was in film school,says Pescasio. Were both from Baltimore, and I remember think-ing, This is a guy I need to meet. Cut to 20 years later, and weretalking about shooting something interesting in high speed, and itevolved into this music video. It became not only a Phantom exper-iment, but an experiment with anything that is a capture device.The production spanned all of one night and covered variouslocations within a two-block radius of its base camp in downtownLos Angeles. Pescasio and Pellington deployed an arsenal of camerasboth old and new, including the Phantom Flex (recording to onboard512GBCinemagsin2.5Kraw),aREDEpicMXwithAngenieuxRougelenses(recordingtoonboardSSDsin5KRedcoderaw),aCanon EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X with Canon L Series primesand a LensBaby selective-focus specialty lens, an iPhone, a Sony Digi-talHandicamDCR-TRV120DigitalHi8(a.k.a.Digital8)camera,aVHS camera (footage from which did not make the final cut), andPescasios own Arri 235 and personal set of Zeiss Super Speed MK IIIlenses.Atanygivenmomenttherewerethreeormorecamerasrolling, recalls Pescasio. I was shooting the film camera, Mark hadthe Epic and his assistant, Matt Sakatani Roe, who is a great cine-matographer, had another camera. It seemed like everyone had acamera. Ive never been on such a chaotic experience, but Mark justsaid, Go with me. Itll be a good time and by the end we will havesomething great.For the Arri 235 material, Pescasio pulled three rolls of Fuji-film Velvia 50D 8540 reversal stock from his refrigerator, and Pelling-tonbroughtshortendsofKodakVision2500T5218andVisionCinematographerMichael Pescasioand directorMark Pellingtonturned a VisionResearchPhantom Flexcamera test intoa multi-formatmusic video forBear Handssingle Giants.I14 August 2014 American Cinematographer Unit photography by Shayan Asgharnia. Frame grabs courtesy of the filmmakers.Short TakesTMwww.cineverse.netLOS ANGELES CHICAGO NEW ORLEANS MIAMICINEVERSE is a Division ofVERINTRODUCING...VER Digital Cinema + Fletcher Camera & Lenses + PACE A unique and powerful full-service lm and digital equipment rental house for the motion picture,commercial and television production industries featuring an extensive worldwide inventory,technological innovation, and unparalleled service. Committed to the Craft of Cinematography.CINEVERSE is your collaborative equipment rental partnerin creating your Cinematic Artistry200T5274.Toavoidstoploss,Pescasioeschewed color-correction filters. The firstthing we shot was film, the cinematogra-pher recalls. The plan, he says, was to walkup and down the street and get portraits ofthe band members and other people in thesetting sun. But by the time we were able tostart rolling, the sun was gone.The suns absence was disconcerting,sincethesmallproductionwasparticularlyleanonlighting.Itwaskindofacrap-shoot, Pescasio acknowledges. When wewere shooting film, I tried to make sure wehad pools of light so I could actually get anexposure.Wepushedsomeofthefilmafewstopsbecausetherewasnotenoughlight. Mark was like, Whatever, just shoot!I tried everything I could to get an image onall these formats.Pellingtonaddsthatpartoftheexperiment was to see how bare bones wecould be and still make something interest-ing. I operated a lot on this, the direc-torcontinues.Itfeltsogreathearingthefilmrollthroughthemagazine.IfeltthisnostalgiaitwaslikeIwastouchingamemory. With a digital camera, I look to theAC to turn it on before he hands it to me;otherwise, I wont know its on. Thelightingpackageprimarilyconsistedofacoupleofbattery-poweredLitepanelsLEDfixturesandaSunGun,whichenabledamobile,run-and-gunshooting style. For the high-speed Phantomshots,though,Pescasiomanagedtosqueeze in additional units. I told Mark, Ifwe shoot high speed, we will need at leasta 2K or its going to flicker, he says. WefoundanalleylitbysodiumvaporswhereMarklikedthebackgroundtexture.Tomake them pop, I keyed the subjects with16 August 2014 American Cinematographer Top: The filmmakers shot each scene with multiple cameras, including a Red Epic MX (left) and a Sony Digital8 Handicam (right). Middle: 35mm film was also utilized for portraits of the band. Bottom: Pescasio (at camera) lines up a shot with the band members.two open-face Arri 2Ks through some diffu-sion,powering[thelights]witha6,500-watt generator. If there is a flickering edgelight in there, its from 1K Par cans. The over-allflicker,however,isfromthesodiumvapors.In fact, the potential for flicker fromtheindustriallightingandlower-wattagesourcesindowntownL.A.gavePellingtontheideatoaddstrobingthroughoutthevideo,sothreeMartinAtomic3000DMXstrobelightswererentedfortheshoot.These3,000-watt,5,600KXenonunitswere wired to 20-amp DMX circuits and fedtoasmallDMXcontrolleroperatedbygaffer Lou Ramos.Lous a straightforward kind of guy,and hes been around forever, says Pesca-sio. They call him Studio Lou because hecame up through the studio system. He wasbesidehimself,sayinghedneverworkedon anything like this before!Shooting with the high-speed Phan-tomdidrequirePellingtontoadjusthismethodologyandactuallyplanshots.Atfirst, Mark was thinking he could just grabthecameraandgetsomehigh-speedstuff, says Pescasio. I had to explain thathe needed to tell the performers what to dobecause we could only shoot eight secondsof real time at 800 fps. The Phantom workwas the most planned part of [the shoot].Indeed, a lot of shots were on-the-flydiscoveries.Roe,whoalsoservedas2nd-unit director of photography, says, I wouldgrab my skateboard, grab a camera and gooff for 30 minutes or so and just shoot. Hewasaccompaniedonthesevisualwalka-bouts by camera operator Erick Wilczynski,whose three-second macro videos, capturedwithaniPhone,Pellingtondiscoveredthrough Instagram. Erick and I would walkaround with his iPhone and the Hi8 and getcertainelementsanddifferenttextures,Roe explains. He came up with this tech-nique to throttle the night vision on and offontheHi8.Itlookedliketheimagewaspulsingbecausetheexposurewouldtakesome time to catch up.Pellington adds, Some really beauti-ful mistakes come out of messing with theexposure. The director says flashlight gagswerealsousedforin-cameraflares.Immostinterestedinthemistakesandthenoise. Markgivesyoudirection,butitisvery abstract, says Roe. He wont tell youwhat to shoot, but hell tell you the emotionhe wants you to capture. Ive worked withhimforsolongthatIhaveaprettygoodunderstanding of what he wants. Its inter-esting to see how fast new people can pickuponhisdirection.ItwasthefirsttimeMichaelandErickhadworkedwithMark,and they took to it pretty quickly.FotoKem processed the productionsnegative,whichwasthenscannedonaSpiritDataCineatNtropic,wherePescasioandPellingtonworkedwithcoloristMarshallPlanteforthefinalcolorgrade.Wecouldntfindanyonetoprocessthereversal film normally, Pescasio notes, sowehadtocross-processit,whichwastoobad. But it looked interesting anyway.When it came to the edit, I felt theEpic stuff was the least interesting becauseitwasthecleanest,Pellingtonnotes.Working with editor Ben Redmond who,the director says, is a great director in hisown right Pellington wanted the visualsto come hard and fast during the verses tomatchthesongsdrivinglyricsandbeats,andthencalmdownduringthechorus.(RichmondworkedwithProRes4:2:2HQfiles in Adobe Premiere and After Effects.)I was making videos like this, withreally fast cuts, in 1985, but I wanted some-one younger to edit [Giants] because thewhole editing approach has changed, thedirectorexplains.Kidsraisedondesktopsare different from kids raised on [Sony] RM-440s or on film. Bens natural instinct wasntto cut fast, so I told him, This is an experi-ment. In the verses you have to be under 15frames per shot and you can never repeat a[capture]mediumfromcuttocut,likecutting from one film shot to another filmshot.Thewaythingsrubagainsteachotheristhemeaningandconnectionbetween clips. Plus, its really interesting tosee the texture of a person go from superdegraded to super high end. I love what hedid. 18 August 2014 American Cinematographer Pescasio (left) and Pellington (middle) each operate a camera on location in downtown Los Angeles. 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. DOLLIES...Super PeeWee IVPart of the PeeWee seriesTime Saving Camera Support for all your needs!Hustler IV Pedestals, Mobile Cranes, Arms & Baseswww.chapman-leonard.comAsk about our Sound Stage in FloridaCHAPMAN/LEONARDStudio Equipment, Inc. 20 August 2014 American Cinematographer Shooting a Feature on an iPhoneBy Ricky FosheimPeter (Jonas Fisch) is a freshly minted movie star. He has it all:wealth,fameandabeautifulexpectingwife(JaimeSpezzano).When the couples two best friends join them at their new mountainmansionforPetersbirthday,envy,secretsandparanoiaplayoutagainst a barren winter landscape. As the two couples grow increas-ingly antagonistic, they turn to alcohol and drugs to bury the past,and when an old acquaintance shows up unexpectedly, Peter mustscramble to protect his new life. The harder he fights to hold it alltogether,though,thefasterhedescendsintoacavernousmentalabyss.Asthenightgrowslate,Peterstrugglestodecipherrealityfrom a twisting rabbit hole of truth and illusion.The two writers of And Uneasy Lies the Mind, Jonas Fisch andDillonTucker,areanabstractpainterandpoet,respectively.Whentheyapproachedmeaboutproducing,directingandshootingtheproject,Iknewrightawayitwasgoingtobeanunconventionalmovie. The whole story unfolds through the fragmented and trau-matized memories of a man who has been robbed and violently hitover the head. The films visuals needed to reflect this point of view,which is far from crisp and clean.Myfirstthoughtwastoshooton16mmfilm.Withoutthebudget for that, though, I set out on a quest to replicate a 16mmaestheticwithnewerdigital-cameratechnology.Fromthestart,Iwelcomedgrain,dirt,flaresandanyothertechniquesthatwouldhelp me create a dirty, fragmented and organic look. I was heavily influenced by Janusz Kaminskis work on SavingPrivate Ryan [AC Aug. 98], in which he used in-camera tricks andothertechnologicalmeanstoessentiallybreakdownthe35mmimage. The disorienting images that resulted had an inherent beautyin the way they captured the feel of battle. I was also influenced bythe camerawork of Harmony Korines Gummo, Thomas VinterbergsTheCelebration,RichardLinklatersTape andRomanPolanskisRepulsion Ive always been a big fan of the bold images in thosefilms.My research led me to a community of filmmakers who wereshooting on iPhone cameras with 35mm lens adapters. Inspired bytheir work, I purchased an iPhone 5 and a Turtleback SLR Jacket lensadapter,thenwenttoDivisionCamerainHollywoodtoconductcomparison tests against the Red Epic MX and Canon 5D Mark III.Theresultsblewmymind:TheiPhonefootagewasraw,dirty,vignetted and unlike anything Id seen before. I immediately fell inlove with the look, and I decided to fully embrace these unconven-tional limitations as powerful storytelling tools. The Turtleback adapter incorporates a focusing glass with apatterned texture, almost like a fingerprint. Hair, dirt and oil from myhands would always get stuck on the glass, adding further textureand imperfections that I completely welcomed. In fact, I elected notto clean or replace any of the dirty parts, and at times I even addeddust or dirt. Another interesting result of the focusing screen is a vignettearound the entire image. You can control this vignette by adjustingtheiris;themoreyouclosedown,theheavierthevignettegets.Even at a mid-range f-stop of 5.6, the edges become extremely darkandfullofaberrations,andbegintodeteriorateinbeautifulandProduction SlateAll images courtesy of the filmmakers.Peter (JonasFisch) endures amental collapsein the featureAnd Uneasy Liesthe Mind, whichdirector/cinematographerRicky Fosheimshot entirely onan iPhone 5.ITHE FINEST ANAMORPHIC GLASS22 August 2014 American Cinematographer unpredictableways.Additionally,theamountofvignettingisaffectedbythefocallengthofthelens.Togivemyselfcomplete control over this effect, I opted toshoot with f1.4 Nikon Nikkor AI-S F-mountlenses, and I shot the majority of the moviewith35mmand50mmlenses,whichproducedamediumvignette.The18mmwasextremelyvignetted;Ihadtoshootwide open with that lens or it looked like Iwas shooting through a black hole.Shootingwideopenalsoallowedtheactorstomoveinandoutoffocus.Iembraced this shallow depth-of-field, plac-ingthecamerarightinthemiddleoftheaction,wheretheactorswouldliterallybump into me at times. Again, this added tothe atmosphere of disorientation and claus-trophobia I hoped to achieve. IrecordeddirectlytotheiPhone5whileusingtheFilmicProapp,whichallowedmetocontrolthecolortempera-ture,framerateandbitrate;Ielectedtoshoot at a bit rate of 50 Mbps instead of theiPhonesnative24Mbps.FilmicProalsoallowed me to adjust the capture frame rateand output frame rate, the effect of whichis akin to adjusting the shutter on a conven-tional camera. I shot a number of the moreabstractsequencesat6fpsandplayedthem back at 6 fps within the 24 fps videofile,resultinginincrediblyblurredmove-mentandawatercolor-likelook.Astheseabstractscenesprogressed,Icontinuedtoadjusttherecordingandoutputratestofurther deteriorate the images.When recording while the iPhone ispluggedintoacharger,anelectricalpulseaffectstheimageeverycoupleofseconds, you get a quick flash from a singleframethatisslightlyoverexposed.WhenIdiscoveredthisbizarreandunexpectedeffect, I of course fell in love with it. After all,what better way to represent a dying mansfragmentedmemoriesthantohaverandomelectricalpulsesuncontrollablychanging the exposure of the image?The small iPhone camera rig allowedme to place the camera anywhere I wanted.Wemounteditonsledsgoingdownskislopes,insmallcubbiesonset,inthekitchen sink and even directly on the actorsbodies.TheiPhoneissounobtrusiveandsimple to use, it freed me to move and reactto the actors, who in turn appreciated thecamera because it allowed them to stay incharacter for longer periods of time. Principalphotographytookplaceover four weeks of extreme winter weatherinMammothLakes,Calif.,whereweshotinthebeautifulcabinhomeofafamilyfriend. Inside the house, I rigged 6' coveredwagonsfittedwithsix250-wattincandes-centglobesanddrapedinmuslin;weattachedhookstothe15'-highceilingsowecouldhoistthecoveredwagonsuporFosheim (in white shirt) lines up a shot with Fisch and Michelle Nunes while employing a lightweight dolly rig and a Turtleback SLR Jacket lens adapter.24 August 2014 American Cinematographer down depending on the shot.To dig into the actors eyes and makethem pop, I floated a couple of China balls.Ididntaddeyelightsforbeauty,ortobetterseereactions;instead,Iconsideredthe eye lights to be portals into the charac-tersdarkandtwistedpsyches.Attheclimax of the movie, one of the charactersgets sucked into a television, which acts asaportalbetweentherealworldandhismemories.Here,theeyelightservedasaway to show this connection to the outsideworld. Extremelycoldweatherwithtemperaturesaslowas5Fahrenheitprovedtobeoneofthemostdifficulthurdlesontheshoot.AfullychargediPhone5willdieinlessthantwominuteswhen exposed to such frigid temperatures.Betweentakes,Iwouldtuckthecamerabeneath my armpit to keep it warm. Evenso,welostnumeroustakeswhenthecameradiedinmid-shot.Werotatedbetweenthree64GBiPhones,andevenundernormalshootingconditionswewouldrunoutofbatterybeforewedrunout of memory.Forthefilmsopeningandclosingtitlesequences,Itooktwoofthestorysmajor elements ice and oil and shotthem in ways that would suggest the darkandfragmentedtoneofthemovie.Theopening credits involved dying and freezingwaterinhomemadealphabetice-cubetrays; I pulled the letters out of the freezerTop: Jack (DillonTucker) witnessesPeters mentalcollapse. Middleand bottom: The crew gets a shot of Fisch on location inMammoth Lakes, Calif.26 August 2014 American Cinematographer and shot them at 1 fps as they melted ontoa large tray of ice. The end credits involvedprinting out the title cards on paper I wouldtape to the back of a greasy glass casseroledish;IthenaddeddifferentlayersofclearandblackliquidsthatImovedwithahairdryer,shootingmostlyat2fpswithamagnetic clip-on macro lens. In both cases,the result is reminiscent of a Stan Brakhagefilm or a Jackson Pollock painting. WetranscodedthenativeH.264footageintoProRes4:2:2andeditedwithFinal Cut Pro 7. I worked with colorist BrentGreerforthefinalcolorcorrection,usingBlackmagicDesignsDaVinciResolve.Weprimarily focused on balancing and match-ing shots, since the footage was so texturedand vignetted to begin with. The iPhone 5cameraperformedextremelywellunderbrightdaylightconditions,butitslatitudefellofftremendouslywhenweworkedunder lower tungsten light levels. I also havetogivealotofcredittooureditor,PeggyDavis, who managed to construct a coher-entnarrativeoutofsuchunconventionalimages.Every image in And Uneasy Lies theMind wasshotwiththeiPhone5noanimationsorvisualeffectswereaddedinpost. I truly fell in love with the look of thismovie,andIthoroughlyenjoyedpushingthelimitsofthisfilmmakingtechnology,even (and especially) when it meant break-ingthingsdownandexperimenting.ThemostimportantquestionfilmmakersneedtoaskthemselveswhenshootingwithanalternativecamerasystemisntHowdoIdo this? but rather Why am I doing this?I encourage other filmmakers to use thesecameras to explore and push the ways wetell stories. I cant wait to see what they do. Ed. note: And Uneasy Lies the Mindwillbereleasedviavideo-on-demandinSeptember.TECHNICAL SPECS 1.78:1 Digital CaptureiPhone 5Nikon Nikkor AI-S The Turtleback adapter created a vignette that Fosheim could control by adjusting the iris and changing focal lengths. www.teradek.com info@teradek.comZERO DELAY WI RELESS VI DEOHDMI & 3G-SDIUp to 2000ftMulticastUncompressedUSB 3.0 GRAB engine**Patent-pendingHewasanelectrifyingperformerwhosehigh-octanevocals and explosive dance moves made him one of theiconicfiguresof20th-centurypopularmusic.Hewasaninnovatorwhoblendedgospel,rhythm-and-blues,soul and jazz into the new musical genre of funk. But beforethat,JamesBrownhadtoovercomeanalmostDickensianStephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSCcaptures the rollercoaster life ofdynamic performer James Brownin the feature Get on Up.By Jean Oppenheimer|childhood. Born into extreme poverty, abandoned as a child byboth his parents, growing up in the Jim Crow South and serv-ing prison time while still a teenager, the future Godfather ofSoulpropelledhimselftothetopthroughrawtalent,hardwork, sheer grit and determination. ChroniclingBrownstriumphsanddefeats,thebiopicGetonUp starsChadwickBosemanandmarksthesecondcollaborationbetweencinematographerStephenGoldblatt,ASC, BSC and director Tate Taylor. Like their first film, TheHelp (ACSept. 11), Get on Up was shot entirely in Mississippi,with Natchez and Jackson standing in for Boston, Harlem andParis, among other locales. We had 90 locations in 48 days,GoldblatttellsAC fromNewYork,whereheispreppinganother picture. The film is more a kaleidoscope of the life ofJamesBrownthananA-to-Bbiopic.Thestorylinejumpsback-and-forthintime,coveringsome60years,andthephotographyreflectsthechangingperiods.CitingtheFunk Soul Brother28 August 2014 American Cinematographer www.theasc.comAugust 2014 29ArriRawfilesandtheC500sCanonRaw files were recorded to ConvergentDesign Gemini 4:4:4 recorders.)Browns1971Parisconcertwasre-created inside a 2,400-seat municipalauditorium in Jackson (with the showsvisual-effectsteamaddingaParisskylineforoneshot).AndrewGiffin,whospecializesinlightingconcerttours,musicfestivalsandtheatricalproductions,wasbroughtintohelpdesignthestagelighting.GoldblattEOS-1D C DSLR and Cinema EOSC500,andthenoptedtoemploythelatter to expand his camera arsenal. Itlooked great, he enthuses. Here was acamera that by no means has the samespecsastheAlexa,butbydoinglittletricks you could make it look as if it wasan Alexa. Those little tricks includedapplyingacustomizedLUTthatTechnicolorsColorScienceteamcreatedtomatchthelooksofthedisparatecameras.(BoththeAlexasfeaturessub-$30millionbudget,headds,Achievingourcinematicambi-tions with absolutely no financial leewaymade this one of the most challenging and ultimately satisfying projectsof my career.After shooting a few commercialsdigitally, Goldblatt became a fan of theArriAlexa.Singlingouthowwellthecamerahandlesskintones,hesayshedecided to stick with the camera for Geton Up, his first digital feature. Workingas he long has with ASC associate andPanavision vice president of worldwidemarketingPhilRadin(whohassinceretired), Goldblatt selected the standardAlexawitha16x9sensorandahigh-speed license as his A, B and C cameras. Themoviesmostdazzlingsequences showcase Brown performingduringvariousconcerts,includinghislegendary1962LiveattheApolloperformanceatHarlemsApolloTheateranda1971showatOlympiaHall in Paris. Goldblatt knew he wouldneedmorethanthreecamerastocapturetheconcerts,butbudgetaryconstraints limited his options. Duringpreproduction,hetestedCanons4KUnit photography by D. Stevens, courtesy of Universal Studios. Additional photos by James Shelton, courtesy of Stephen Goldblatt.Opposite and thispage, top:ChadwickBoseman stepsinto the iconic roleof James Brown inGet on Up.Bottom: StephenGoldblatt, ASC,BSC finds a frame.30 August 2014 American Cinematographer plannedtousemodernequipment,butheinsistedthatalllightingeffectsbestylisticallyconsistentwiththe1971timeperiod.Wecouldhavedoneallsorts of rock-and-roll effects, acknowl-edges Goldblatt, but we didnt becausethey didnt exist back then.AndrewandIspentthreedayswatching Chad rehearse the numbers toget our lighting cues, the cinematogra-pher adds. Giffin proposed a scheme ofautomatedlightsthatcouldbecontrolled from various locations in thevenueviathenetworkofhisGrandMA2 consoles. Felix Lighting inLosAngelessuppliedthefixturesandsentcompanyvice-presidentMikeMcKinnontoserveasmasterelectri-cian.Atotalof24MartinMac700Washes provided backlight, 24 Mac 700Profiles lit the actors and musicians, and24Mac301swereusedtoup-lightscenicpieces,fillingtheroleofwhatwouldhavebeenoldstriplights,observesGiffin.Additionally,headds,24 Mac 2000 Washes were used as frontandsidelightsthatmightappearon-camerabecausetheirbiglenseslooklikeParsorFresnelsonscreen.Insteadof gels, Giffin utilized the color-mixingfeaturesofmodernsources,whichgranted flexibility but had to be carefullyconstrained.Funk Soul BrotherTop left andbottom: A young,impoverishedBrown (JamarionScott) overcomesthe abandonmentof his parents. Topright: The crewpositions bouncesand an overheadnet to aid thelighting forBrowns childhoodshack.www.theasc.comAugust 2014 31Giffinexplainsthathesetupfaders that he manually pushed up anddown, just like an operator would havehadtodoatthetime.Itintroducedsomeimperfections,whichaddedtheanalog, human element. This manuallyconductedlightshowwasrecordedthroughtheGrandMA2system,andforplaybackduringtakes,everythingwastriggeredviaSMPTEtimecodebecauseweneededthelightingtoberepeatable for continuity. Duringtheperformances,thecrewalternatedshootingwiththeSteadicam,operatedbyGoldblattslongtime A-camera/Steadicam operatorWillArnot,anda50'Technocrane,whiletheBandCcameraspickedoffwhatevertheycould. ThelenspackageincludedanAngenieuxOptimo28-76mm T2.6 zoom; a Panavision Primo4:1(17.5-75mm)T2.3,Primo11:1 (24-275mm)T2.8and14.5-50mmT2.2PrimoMacroZoom;andPrimoprimes. To take the edge off the sharp-ness of the digital images, all lenses werefiltered with 18 or 14 Tiffen Black Pro-Mist throughout the shoot. ThetwoC500s,fittedwithCanonCinemaprimesoranEF 17-40mmf/4LUSMzoom,werehiddenonstageasset-and-forgetcameras.IhadmorefunwiththoseTop and middle:Brown begins hiscareer singingwith an R&Bvocal group atparties andnightclubs.Bottom: Bosemanand director TateTaylor discuss ascene.little cameras, Goldblatt says. We gotadditionalanglesandsomeverydramatic footage.A sixth camera was added just forthisconcert:anIkegamiEC-35videocamera with a B-mount Canon 5:1 lens.Theactual1971concerthadbeenvideotapedwithaSonyAVC-3400PortaPac; when the production couldntfindoneinworkingcondition,DITNathanielMillersuggestedavintageIkegami, another popular model in theearly 1970s. The footage captured withthe EC-35 by Henry Cline, the onstage(andon-camera)operator,waseditedinto the movie. The signal from the Ikegami wassent to an analog DigiBeta deck on set,notes Miller. The tape was then sent toTechnicolorHollywood,wheretheycreatedDPXfilesthatwereingestedandtreatedasa digitalnegative. TheIkegami tripod and the vintage musicalinstrumentscamefromprophouseHistoryforHireandfromaprivatecollector.At several points throughout thefilm, including a shot at the start of theParisconcertscene,Brownspeaksdirectly into the camera. Taylor explains,I was playing with this idea that James32 August 2014 American Cinematographer Funk Soul BrotherBrown beginsworking withmanager Ben Bart(Dan Aykroyd,top left), whopushes thesingersreputation as atireless liveperformer.www.theasc.comAugust 2014 33Brown is narrating his own life story, asiffromthegrave.In[theParissequence],heiswatchinghimselfonstageandcommenting.Goldblattnotes that the Steadicam follows Brownas he enters the theater and walks ontothe stage from the side, with the concertalready in full swing; the musicians areplaying, Brown (played by a double) issingingintothemicrophoneandthecrowd is going crazy.Camera operator Arnot picks upthe description from there: Chad walksstraightacrossthestagefromlefttoright, but his head is turned sideways sohecantalkdirectlyintothecamera,which is [moving parallel to] him as hewalks.Thebandisarrangedwiththedrummerintheback,othermusiciansandbackupsingersinfrontofthedrummer, the [ James Brown] double atthe microphone at the front of the stagewithhisbacktothecamera,andtheaudiencebeyond.Chadpassesjustinfrontofthemusicians.IwasontheSteadicamkeepingpacewithhim,butwalking between the drummer and theothermusicians,sothemusiciansandchorusgirlsaresoftintheforegroundwhileChadisinsharpfocus.Thedouble in the background was also outof focus.Arnot explains that a twist at theendoftheshotmadetheSteadicamnecessary. WeheldBrownsdoubleatthemicrophone[withhisbacktothecamera]fortwo-thirdsoftheshot.BytheendofChadsmonologue,thecamera had moved past the double, andthen Chad suddenly sprints to the frontofthestagewherethedoublehadbeenandstartssingingintothemicrophone. I did a 10- or 15-foot jogbehindhimandendedupoverhisshoulder as he sings to the crowd.Anotherlargeproductionnumber,the1962ApolloTheaterconcert, was staged in a school audito-rium in Natchez. The proscenium hadjust enough detail similar to the Apollosthatwecouldbranchofffromthere,recountsproductiondesignerMarkRicker. Using architectural details fromtherealApollo,webuiltoutfromtheThe productionre-createdBrowns 1971Paris concertinside themunicipalauditorium inJackson, Miss.34 August 2014 American Cinematographer proscenium, enlarging the stage, addingaudience boxes, and building a faade toplaceonthefrontoftheexistingbalcony.Rickeralsore-createdtheAustrian-blue curtain at the back of thestage. Goldblatts longtime gaffer, ColinCampbell,lititfromthefloor,usingdimmed-down1,000-wattMole-Richardson Cyc Strips. Parcansand2KFresnelswerehung from overhead pipes to illuminatethemainpartofthestage.Multiplecolored gels were used, including Rosco010(MediumYellow)andLee117(SteelBlue),122(FernGreen),179(ChromeOrange)and182(PrimaryRed).GoldblattwantedtokeepBosemaninrimlight,butasinglespotlight proved insufficient. Instead, hedeployedthreeseparateXenonFollowSpots,dimmingbetweenthemtoproducetheeffectofasinglesource.Arnotexplains,InordertoswitchbetweentheFollowSpotswithoutthrowingashadow,Iworeawirelessheadset that connected me to the lampoperators and allowed me to cue them,hands-free, when I was about to changedirectionwiththeSteadicam.HollywoodRentalsandCampbellsowncompany,Pigtails,suppliedthelighting equipment. ThefrontexterioroftheApollowas reconstructed along a row of aban-donedstorefrontsindowntownJackson, and techniques that combinedFunk Soul BrotherBrowns 1962 Apollo Theater concert was staged inside a school auditorium. The exterior was partlyconstructed along a row of abandoned stores in downtown Jackson (middle) and then completed withvisual effects (bottom).Before-and-after images courtesy of Mr. X Inc.36 August 2014 American Cinematographer Funk Soul Brotherproductiondesignwithvisualeffectscompletedtheillusion.Rickerdressedthestores,thedoortothetheaterandthe sidewalk in front of it, parked a fewcarsinthestreet,andbuilttheApollomarquee,completewithneonandincandescentglobes.Visual-effectssupervisorAaronWeintraubandhisteam at Mr. X, a visual-effects studio inToronto, then extended the practical setabovethefirstfloorandcreatedalongstretch of New Yorks 125th Street. (Atpress time, Technicolor had reached anagreementtoacquireMr.X.)Weextendedthestreetoffintotheback-groundandaroundthecornerintheforeground,recallsWeintraub.Wecreated the entire street across the roadfromthetheater,adding3-Dmovingcars and digital extras to bring the streetto life. The actual street in Jackson wasin such a state of disrepair that we had todigitallyreplacethepavement.Fallingsnowwasalsoaddedtocompletetheseasonal ambience.GoldblattnotesthatassociateproducerandunitproductionmanagerRobinFisichellawasagreatallyintryingtosecuregear.Duetothetightbudget, the camera department initiallyhadtodowithoutsomeofitsdesiredequipment,includingastabilizedheadforusewiththeTechnocrane.ItsabsencebecameespeciallyapparentwhileshootingasceneofBrown,asachild, soliciting customers for a whore-house.Hestandsatabusstopinthepouring rain, approaching soldiers whoare home on leave.Rickerandhisteamhadcreatedtwo city blocks complete with dirt roadsandhorse-drawncarts. TheAlexawasona30'Technocrane,protectedbyheavyconcertinaraincovers,whichaddedalotofweighttothecrane,Arnotreports.That,combinedwiththe fact we didnt have a stabilized head,ledtoalotofunwantedcameravibra-tion, which then had to be dealt with inpost.Witnessingtheproblem,FisichellawasabletogetaScorpiostabilized head for the second half of theshoot.Themostshockingsceneinthemovierevealsthecasualracismthatmarked Southern society for so much ofits history. An 8-year-old Brown, alongwith some 15 other black youngsters, isforcedtoengageinaboxingmatchknownaslastmanstanding.Theboxingring,withstringsofbarebulbscrisscrossed above it, sits on the lawn ofaSouthernplantation.ADixielandband is positioned between the mansionand the ring. The blindfolded boys haveonearmtiedbehindtheirbacksandnumbers painted on their stomachs. Aswealthywhiteobserversinfancydressstandontheupperbalconyandlowerporchofthehouse,drinkingcocktailsand laying bets, the boys swing blindlyatoneanotheruntilonlyoneremainsupright. Thenightexteriorwascapturedfromanumberofvantagepoints,includingaTechnocranelookingstraight down into the ring. Above thecrane, a Condor supported an 8'x8' lightbox containing eight Mole-Richardson1Knooklights,double-diffusedthroughLightGridCloth.Dimmedway down, the soft box gave the impres-sion that the ring was lit by the practicalstring lights. Astheboysbeganthrowingpunches,ArnotcradledoneoftheC500sinhishandstogetshotsfrominside the ring, where a stunt coordina-torcarefullychoreographedthefight-ing. TheC500sarecompactandcanreallyhandlenightexteriors,Arnotenthuses. For other shots, key grip JimShelton and his crew built a 270-degreecircular track around the ring so ArnotandB-cameraoperatorMichaelApplebaum could shoot the action withThe crew prepares to shoot a last man standing boxing match at the North Augusta Country Club.38 August 2014 American Cinematographer twoAlexas,oneequippedwitha4:1zoom and the other with an 11:1.The area around the boxing ringwaslitwithtwoNine-lightMiniBrutesaimedthroughanother8'x8'Light Grid, with a control grid in frontof it to prevent spill. A second Condorwas placed in the distance to support aCinemills20Kfixture,andMole-Richardson 2Ks and 5Ks were used toilluminateothertreesintheback-ground.The Dixieland band was lit withtwo Mini Brutes, a 5K with a Chimeraand some Kino Flos, all of which werehidden behind greenery and the bandsdrums. The mansion itself was lit with4x2 Kino Flos gelled with Half Straw.Theseunitswerehiddenbehindcolumns that ringed the house, lightingthepartyguestsonthebalconyandporch. Duringthefight,Goldblattexplains, Jamesisknockedflat,virtu-allyunconscious.Hefallsinslowmotion and his head thumps down onthecanvas.TworingsideAlexascaptured the action one set at 60 fps,the other at 120 fps.Arnotputonecameradownonits side, level with young James. As theFunk Soul BrotherGoldblattexpanded hiscamera packagefor the concertsequences inorder to capturethe action froman array ofvantage points.boycomestoandsitsup,thecamerarollsupandoverhim.Jamespullsoffhis blindfold and the music catches hisattention.Weplacedablindfoldaround the matte box and then pulled itoffandthrewthefocusback,soitprovidesJamesPOV,Goldblattcontinues. We did it on a Dutch head,and the camera was angled to simulatehiseyesight. ThereisaseriesofshotsgoingtothebandandbacktoJameseyes.Suddenly,theDixielandmusicchangestoakindoffunkrhythm.Itsnotreal;itsinJameshead,butitinspireshimtogetupandcontinuefighting.Thesequenceisametaphorthatvisuallyconveyshowmusicwassuch a powerful force in his life. A complicated Technocrane shotalsocapturesthatconnectionbetweenJamesandthemusic.Thecamerastarts over James on the mat as he looksover at the band, Arnot explains. Weheld the ropes open on one side of theboxingringandthetelescopingarmwentthroughtheopening,crossingtotheothersideofthering.Thearmcouldntgoallthewaythrough[thesecond set of ] ropes, but they became akind of framing device.Another key scene finds the adultBrownandhisbandsittinginsideaVietnam-eratroopcarrierthatfliesthemtoamilitarybasetoentertainAmerican soldiers. While en route, theplane is attacked from the ground, caus-ingchaosonboard.Theproductionobtainedanactualperiodplanethattheyparkedonatarmac,butitneverleft the ground. Goldblatt explains, Intheory, the plane is in the air, and its outofcontrolasthepilottriestotakeevasiveaction.Wecouldntaffordanyhydraulics, so we had to make it seem asif the plane was bouncing around. TheAD would just yell at everyone onboardto cower and move right so it looked asif the plane was being buffeted!Thescenewascoveredthreedifferentways:handheld,onaSteadicam and from a Technocrane thatsatonthetarmacoutsidetheplanesopentailgate.Forthehandheldshots,the grips attached a pulley to the wires 39on the carriers ceiling (normally used byparatroopers, who would clip a cable topull their parachutes as they jumped outoftheplane).Arnotcouldthenhand-hold an Alexa hung from the pulley ashewalkedthelengthofthefuselage,betweenthetworowsofpassengerswhosatfacingoneanother;ashecarried the camera, he could rock it andspinitupto220degreesinanydirec-tion. ForashotofBrownstridingtothecockpittotalktothepilot,Arnot,whois6'6"tall,hadtowedgehimselfinto the planes dashboard. The operatorheld the C500, mounted with a 14mmlens, above his head and used a 7" moni-tor placed on his lap to frame the shot.IwasjustabletogetthepilotsheadandpartofhisbodyontherightandBrown standing with his arm resting onthepilotsseat,heexplains.Thecamera was maybe a foot from the pilotand three feet from Brown. Arnothalfgrimacesandhalflaughsasheacknowledges,Itwasextremely tight quarters. Thats anotherexampleofwheretheCanonisgreat.Itssocompact.Wenevercouldhaveachieved that shot with an Alexa body.Theyusedtoflythoseplaneswiththedoorsopenbecauseitwassohot,saysGoldblatt.Theyflewonlyabout 500 to 1,000 feet off the ground,whichmeantyoucouldalwaysseethelandscape. In preproduction I shot aerialplatesofmisty,Vietnam-styleland-scapesfromahelicopterinMississippi!Weintraubadds,WereplacedthebackgroundwithStephensaerialplates and CG trees. We enhanced theplatesbyaddingmatte-paintedmoun-tainsinthebackground,andhutsandencampmentsintheclearingsontheground,trackingthemintothekeyedhero foreground action. We also addedCGexplosionsandsmoke,tracerfireand interactive lighting on the plates tomatchtheCGenhancements.OtherFunk Soul BrotherCamera operator Will Arnot positions a Canon C500 for a close-quarters shot inside thecockpit of an airplane.40 workdoneatMr.Xincludedtilingtechniquestomultiplythecrowdsatseveral of the concerts. Intwoinstances,Goldblattsoughttoincludebrieftime-lapsesequences, one to suggest the passage ofseasonsandanotherthatwouldchartlight changing over the course of a day.IneededsomethingIcouldputinatree in the middle of a Mississippi forestand just leave there and that wouldhavesufficientpowertorun[unat-tended]foruptothreemonths,heobserves.HisresearchledhimtoHarbortronics,whereheliaisedwithMarkRoberts. ThecompanysuppliedtwoCanonEOS1100DRebelT3s,eachwithaCanon18-55mmf3.5-5.6zoomlens.Eachcameracameinitsown[waterproof ]fiberglasshousing,with a 5-watt solar panel that providedasortofroof,thecinematographercontinues.Thecamerastookhi-resJPEGstillsatsetintervalsforthreemonths.Goldblattofferseffusivepraiseforhiscrew,mostofwhomhaveworkedwithhimfordecades,whilenoting that he enjoyed working for thefirsttimewithDITMilleranddailiescoloristJeremyVoissem.VoissemusedFrame Logic hardware and software tointerpret Millers color decision lists andproducedailiesonlocation.Goldblattalsocollaboratedonceagainwithhislongtime digital colorist, ASC associateSteve Scott, Technicolors vice presidentoftheatricalimagingandsupervisingdigital colorist.At press time, the pairhadnotyetbegunfinalgrading,butGoldblattstressedtheimportanceoftheir ongoing partnership. Thecinematographerbelievesstrongly that dailies should be projectedon a large screen and that key membersoftheproduction,bothaboveandbelowtheline,shouldwatchthe footage together. It creates a feeling ofcamaraderie and amity between every-bodyontheshow,hemaintains.Furthermore, if I want to make some-thing darker or lighter, or to show Tatean alternate possibility, Jeremy can do itin 30 seconds, right then and there, andwe can then continue with the dailies. ItakemyhatofftoRobinFisichella,becausewhenIaskedforprojecteddailies on this rather remote Mississippilocation, she made it happen and didnttreat me as if I was deranged!TECHNICAL SPECS 1.85:1Digital CaptureArri Alexa; Canon Cinema EOS C500, EOS 1100D; Ikegami EC-35Angenieux Optimo; Panavision Primo; Canon Cinema, EF 41WhenaskedwhatdirectorClintEastwoodlikedbestaboutshootingafull-lengthfeaturewithadigitalcamerasystem,thedirectorslongtimecollaborator,cinematographer Tom Stern, ASC, AFC, retorts thattheanswershouldbeobvioustoanyonefamiliarwiththeirworking methods: Eastwood grooved on the ability to shootlonger takes for sustained periods without having to stop formagazinechanges.FindingthatgrooveprovedcrucialforJersey Boys, Eastwoods first foray into both digital acquisitionand the musical genre.Adapted from the hit Broadway play of the same name,Capturing All 4 Seasons42 August 2014 American Cinematographer Tom Stern, ASC, AFC and directorClint Eastwood transition to digitalacquisition for the exuberant musicalJersey Boys.By Michael Goldman|www.theasc.comAugust 2014 43Jersey Boys charts the trials and tribula-tionsofsingingsensationsTheFourSeasons, from their early days in 1950sNewJerseytotheir1990inductionintheRockandRollHallofFame.However, instead of replicating a stageplaywithspontaneouseruptionsofsonganddance,thefilmweavesthetitlecharactersmusicalperformanceswhichwereperformedliveduringprincipal photography into an other-wisedramaticbiographythatfollowstheBroadwayshowsnarrativemorethan its form. Accordingtohiscollaborators,Eastwoodstransitiontoanall-digitalworkflowattheageof84,onhis33rddirectorialoutingin43yearswas seamless. The switch from film todigital was prompted by the increasingscarcity of film labs and the discontinu-ation of the directors preferred Fuji filmstocks.DuringpreponJerseyBoys,EastwoodaskedSternwhichdigitalsystemwouldallowthemtocontinueworkingwiththeirparticularmethod-ologywhilecapturingfilmicimagerywithrich,deepblacks.Havingtesteddigital cameras at Eastwoods behest foryears,andhavinguseddigitalsystemswithotherdirectorsinEurope,Sternwaswellpreparedforthequestion;heproposedshootingJerseyBoys withanArriAlexaXTcamera,usingthe4:3sensortoshootintheanamorphic2.40:1aspectratiowhilerecordinginArriRaw to onboard 512GB Codex XRmodules. SpeakingwithAC duringproductionofAmericanSniper,Eastwoods next film and second to beshotdigitally,SternsaysheoptedfortheAlexaafterdeterminingthatthetechnologywassufficientlyrobustforthedemandingenvironmentweworkin. We shoot fast, and if the tools arentrobust, we wont make our schedule. Itwas pretty straightforward; our goal wastogodownthelistofeverythingthatcouldscrewusup,andmakesureitdidnt.Afterall,noonewantstowalkuptotheManwithNoNameandexplainthingslikelatency,bandwidthandgigaflops!Heknowsalotmoreaboutitthanyoumightthink,buthedoesntwanttohavetothinkaboutthose things. Inparticular,thecinematogra-pher says he responded to the evolutionof the Alexa software, the integration oftheCodex[recorderinthecamerabody], plus being able to shoot anamor-phiconthefull[4:3]sensor.Thedynamic range of the Alexa is also veryfilmicalthoughIknowthatisahackneyed word these days and basi-cally responds as a film emulsion would.Takentogether,thesethingssatisfiedme that it was a sleek camera that wasgoing to drive nails. For this project, itwasthemostrobust,straightforward,simplest choice, and for the most part, itallowed us to work in our normal way except instead of flipping mags everyeight minutes, wed flip mags every 26minutes,whichforClintislikeChristmas seven days a week!Thedigitalinfrastructurerequired on set was structured to be assubtle as possible. Throughout produc-tion,digital-imagingtechnicianGlennDerrywasstationedatasmall,unas-suming cart, where he used a calibratedHP DreamColor LP2480zx monitor to Unit photography by Keith Bernstein. Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and RatPac Entertainment. Lighting diagram courtesy of Ross Dunkerley.Opposite (from left):Frankie Valli (JohnLloyd Young), BobGaudio (Erich Bergen),Tommy DeVito(Vincent Piazza) andNick Massi (MichaelLomenda) put on ashow in Jersey Boys.This page, top:Director ClintEastwood works outthe scene with Bergen and Young. Bottom:Eastwood andcinematographer TomStern, ASC, AFCdiscuss a setup.44 August 2014 American Cinematographer viewimagessentfromaCobhamMessenger2wirelesstransmittertoaCobham receiver. At his station, DerrycouldapplyabasicCDLgradetothefootage when Stern wanted to examinethe overall tones on set, but for the mostpart,DerrysaysneitherEastwoodnorStern were particularly interested in on-set color grading. The methodology onset,Derrysays,wastobelight,tightand efficient.DerryalsohandledthedatatransferfromtheCodexXRmagstoG-Raidharddrives,andhecreatedPDFs with shot names and correspond-ing thumbnail images for use in editor-ial.Theharddrivesweredeliverednightly to the Motion Picture ImagingfacilityontheWarnerBros.lotinBurbank. MPI processed the dailies anddelivered Avid media files for editorial;Stern and Eastwood generally waited toviewfootageuntiltheyvisitededitorsJoelCoxandGaryRoachintheCapturing All 4 SeasonsThe filmmakers embraced a period-accurate lighting style as they re-created The Four Seasons onstage and in-studio performances.www.theasc.comAugust 2014 45Malpasoproductioncompanyseditor-ial offices, which are also located on theWarner Bros. lot.AlthoughEastwoodhasneverbeen interested in video playback, or inusing a monitor to judge color, light orfocus, he has used a standard-definitionhandheldmonitorsinceMysticRiver(ACDec. 03) to keep an eye on framingand performances. With Jersey Boys, thecrew decided to try to send a high-defi-nition signal to a handheld HD moni-torforthedirector. Clintbelievestheplace of the director is right beside theactors, and the 7-inch monitor is in hishands simply to show him the framing,explainsLizRadley,Eastwoodsvideoand computer-graphics supervisor. Every HD system has its advan-tagesanddrawbacks,butwewerenotabletofindonethathadclosetozerolatency,withgoodandpredictablerange,thatwasalsoverylightweightandhadultra-quickrecoveryfrominterruptionofsignal,Radleycontin-ues. An ideal portable system for Clintwouldntbeaffectedwhenboththetransmitteronthecameraandthereceiver on Clints monitor are moving,orwhenwedonthaveline-of-sight[betweenthetransmitterandreceiver],asisfrequentlythecasewhenClintfollows his actors on set. Latency was asignificant issue, since Clint was alwaysnexttotheactors,andanyobservabledelayinthepicturewouldthrowtheimage out of sync with the voices, whichwas quite distracting.Stern notes that he and EastwoodsoughttoshootJerseyBoys withthesametriedandtruePanavisionCSeriesprimestheyhaveusedforyears.However,thefilmmakersdiscoveredthat the Alexa sensor is so sensitive, itcan bring out any flaws in older glass andthe[CSeries]glassisalmost50yearsoldnow!says1stACBillCoe.Therefore, those lenses had to be opti-mizedfordigitalcamerasinordertowork for us.ASCassociateDanSasaki,Eastwood (below)takes a seat nextto Lomenda for abar-interior scene.The directorprefers to bebeside his actors whilefilming, and hekeeps tabs on theframing with aportable monitor.46 August 2014 American Cinematographer Panavisionsvicepresidentofopticalengineering, handled glass optimizationfortheproduction.Duringtesting,heexplains,wesawaberrationsontheouter periphery of the frame that we hadnot seen with the same lenses when theywere used on [a film camera]. We wereable to attribute the falloff to the addi-tionalopticswithinthedigitalcamera.In order to offset the aberration effects,were-spacedsomeoftheanamorphicandsphericalelementstobalancetheperformance of the lens. The final prod-uctcreatedasystemthatworkedverywell with digital cameras and preservedthelook[thefilmmakers]wereaccus-tomedtoseeingwiththeirfamiliarCSeries lenses.PriortoJerseyBoys,Coehadworked with anamorphic lenses and anAlexa camera system on Godzilla (shotby Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC; ACJune14).Iwassurprisedhowlittledepth-of-fieldtherewas,Coerecalls.I discussed that experience with Tom,because I was concerned about the wayClintlikestowork,withonetakeormaybetwoifyourelucky,andsome-timesevenshootingrehearsals.Selfishly, as the focus puller, I felt thatincreasingtheshootingstopwouldhelp me get what Clint wanted the firsttimearound,sowewouldnthavetoslow down or change our methodology.Tomaccommodatedmyrequestandbroughtupthelightlevel,whichhelped a lot, especially because we didso much Steadicam work. As Stern points out, The natureof TheFourSeasonsmusicisup,to say the least, so it seemed quite appro-priate and obvious to us from the outsetthatwewoulduseafluidcameraSteadicam, Technocrane and so on duringvirtuallyalloftheperfor-mances.Befitting such up-tempo musicalnumbers, Jersey Boys lighting scheme isbrighterthanmostofEastwoodsrecent work, in which our mantra hasCapturing All 4 SeasonsTop: Valli andGaudio sealtheirpartnershipwith ahandshake.Bottom: Sternmeters the diner interior.www.theasc.comAugust 2014 47been,Protecttheblacksatallcosts,saysgafferRossDunkerley.Inthephotochemicalworld,thisisusuallyachieved by creating a fat negative. Dueto the fact that digital sensors arent asforgiving in the [highlights], we had tofight our decades-long habit of overex-posing by two-thirds of a stop. This isalsoClintsfirstfilminalongtimeinwhichcolorisamajorcharacter.Havingdoneanumberoffilmsinwhichweallbuteliminatedcolor,weembraced the opposite end of the spec-trum on this picture. Theproductionshotalargeswathoftheperformancematerialinvarious Los Angeles venues includ-ing the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion andtheOrpheumandBelascotheatersoverthecourseofjustafewweeks.Duringpreproduction,Dunkerleycollaborated with the art department tochoose 15 gel colors that could be usedon the lights in different combinationsduringtheperformancepiecesthroughoutthemovie.Wewouldrig[the sets] a day or two in advance, andmyrigginggaffer,JasonFitzgerald,wouldsendmephotosofhoweachstagewastakingshape,Dunkerleyexplains. Armed with this information,Id select a few gels from our palette thatseemedappropriatetotheenviron-ment. This all happened lightning-fastvia text messages or emails, as we shotin[different]venuesinrapidsucces-sion.Stern adds, It was quite a bizarrescheduleattimes,aninterestingchal-lenge.Inmanycases,theschedulerequired the crew to make their lightingdecisions before they knew exactly howtheperformanceswouldbechoreo-graphed. The solution, Stern notes, wastostrategicallysetstuffupallovereachofthevenues.Fortunately,Istartedmycheckeredcareerdoingmusicfilms[asagaffer]inthe1970s,and I had a lot of experience lighting foranumberofgroups.Itwasallfairlystraightforward back then lots of Parlights!WeturnedtheDorothyChandlerPavilionintotheRoostertailTop: A camera isrigged to thefront of a car fora robbery scene.Middle andbottom:Projections wereused for a drivingsequence filmedon a soundstage.48 August 2014 American Cinematographer in Detroit.Another old theater nearbybecamethestageforThe EdSullivanShow, and a third became a club in LasVegas, the cinematographer continues.Due to the period nature of the perfor-mances,thecrewreligiouslyavoidedmodernrock-and-rolllightingtech-niques such as moving LEDs. EchoingSternssentiments,Dunkerleynotes,In the old days, it was pretty much justParcans.Foreverydifferentcoloryouwanted, you needed a different batteryoflights.Youmightneed20lightsofonecolor,butthenifyouwantedfourcolors,youneeded80lights,whichmeantmoregeneratorsandcables.Eventhoughyoumightthinktheperiod look would be simpler, we actu-ally had to put in a lot more lights andcablesthanamoderntouringbandwould use.Thequestforperiod-accuratelightingfrequentlyrequiredSternandDunkerleytoworkagainsttheirimpulses.Asanexample,thegafferpoints to a sequence in which The FourSeasonsperformontheAmericanBandstand televisionshowforthefirsttime.Dunkerleysayshisresearchintotheshowslightingmadeitclearthatforthemostpart,theserieshadfeatured some of the most appallinglyflat,uglylighting,withsloppilyriggedcablesandlightseverywhere.Collectively,wedecidedtoembracethis look.Iencouraged[Fitzgerald]tohelp us go for it, and we found some oftheoldesttheatricallightsaroundPars, Fresnels, ellipsoidals and so on,Dunkerley continues. We had to digdeep just to find some of them. I wasproud of Jason when I came to setthedayweshotthescene,Isawtwoold chicken-coop lights hanging about20 feet above the other lights. I neverrequested those units, so I asked Jasonwhattheirpurposewasandheresponded that they were there to lightallthevintagefixturesandtheratsnest of cables. Thats when I knew wewerecompletelyonthesamepage.Iloveddoingthatscenethechal-lengeofmakingsomethinglookauthentic.AccordingtoA-camera/Steadi-camoperatorStephenCampanelli,shootingdigitallyencouragedEastwood to fully embrace his love forextended takes with the camera on theSteadicam,evenbeyondthemusicalperformances. As a particular highlightofthejob,Campanellidescribesanepic,three-takeSteadicamsceneinwhichTheFourSeasonsattendaraucousparty.Thesceneinvolvedsixpagesofdialogueandwasoriginallyslatedforanentiredayofshooting,tobegin with a 45-second Steadicam shotof the characters as they enter the roomand head to the bar. RecognizingthatthesituationwasripeforEastwoodtoexperiment,Stern and his crew lit the set with softlightallaround,usingpracticalsbuiltintothesetaswellas6Kspacelightsoverhead, to permit 360-degree cover-age.Asitturnedout,thiswastheperfectapproach,becauseEastwoodunleashedCampanelli,wearingtheSteadicam,torollwithoutstopping.They finished the entire scene in just afew hours. Clintnevercalledcut,sowejust kept shooting, Campanelli recalls.Asusual,hetrustedmetofindsomereallycoolshotsandangleswhiletheCapturing All 4 SeasonsValli sings at theRoostertailnightclub inDetroit.Opposite: Thisdiagramillustrates thelighting for theRoostertail set,which was builtinside theDorothyChandlerPavilion.www.theasc.comAugust 2014 49actors kept acting. There were about 50extrasontheset,andImaneuveredthroughthem,tellingthestorywiththeSteadicam.Weshotfornineminutesstraight,withoutcutting,whichwasthelongesttakeIcouldrecallonaClintEastwoodmovieor,asamatteroffact,inmyentirecareer. But then we did the entire thingagain, and I shot from different anglesso Clint could cut the scene. Take twolasted almost 10 minutes, and then takethreewentfor11minutesstraight.Whatsinthemovie,ofcourse,are[pieces] of the three takes cut together.The end result is incredible.The movies finale gave the film-makers the opportunity to depart fromthe dramatic narrative and step into thestageworldforamajorperformance,which they shot with a fluid camera andlit with modern stage fixtures, includingChroma-QColorForceLEDlightstrips,PhilipsVari-LitemovinglightsandBriteBoxXenonFollowSpots.50 August 2014 American Cinematographer Capturing All 4 SeasonsThe full cast comes together on a New York City street set to sing December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) for the films grand finale.Eastwoodconceivedtheupbeatfinaleafter production was already underway,and decided to close the onscreen festiv-itieswitheverycastmembergatheredon a New York City street, where theysinganddancetothetuneofDecember, 1963 (Oh, What a Night). ShotontheWarnerBros.backlot, the sequence called for some crane-to-Steadicam-to-cranegymnasticsthatwereexecutedinonelongtake.Campanellienthusesthattheresultwhich took six takes to perfect is oneof my favorite shots I have ever done inmy career. ItwasakindofBollywoodnumberthatClintcameupwith,theoperatorcontinues. Itstartedwithmeona Titancranelookingdownonthefourboys,whoweresingingunderastreetlamp.Asthecranedroppedmeonto the street, I stepped off and contin-ued with the Steadicam around and infrontofthem.ThenIstarteddriftingbackwardsupthestreet.Astheboysbroke into a great musical number theywere joined by every cast member in themovie dancing, singing and laughingalongthreeblocks.Attheendofthestreet,IsteppedbackontotheTitancrane,whichhadbeendrivenaroundthe set so I could climb back onto it, andIrosebackintotheairtoframetheentiregroupinabig,wideshot.Thesongcomestoagreatgrandfinale,ending as everyone freezes in place. ThefilmmakerskeptJerseyBoysin-houseat WarnerBros.MPIforthefinaldigitalgrade,duringwhichtheyworkedwithcoloristMaxineGervais,whohadalsosupervisedtheproduc-tions dailies. Gervais used a FlimLightBaselight Eight system, working in thenativeArrianamorphic(2880x2160)formatforafinal2Kfinish.TheDICapturing All 4 SeasonsValli leaves his home and family for another show on the road.52 was done in a week-and-a-half or twoweeks,Gervaisreports.Havingseenall the dailies, I knew what was coming;Tom and I were in sync and we workedreallyfast.HeandClintarelovelypeople,easytoworkwith.Theygivenotes,theyknowwhattheywant,butthey also trust one another. Although itwas my first time working with them, itfelt like they included me in that samemanner very rapidly.DespitethefactthatJerseyBoyswasEastwoodsfirstdigitalfeature,Stern says the grade followed the sameprocess we have grown accustomed tosinceEastwoodfirstusedtheDIforFlagsofOurFathers (AC Nov.06).GiventhepaceatwhichEastwoodshoots,Sternsayshehascometoroutinely evaluate, during the shootingday,wherehecanrelyontoolswithintheDIsuitetoaddressspecificissuesandsavetimeonset.Thereareanumber of heavy-lifting things I used todophysically,butmanyofthemIcannowdodigitally,whichisquickerandmoreeconomical,Sternsays.Forinstance, if were shooting and theres ahouseacrosstheway,inthepastwemight have put up a big flyswatter, like a20-by-20silkonaCondor,toshadowthe house. Now, we can do that digitallyinabout10seconds.Imfortunateinthat I always go for the entire DI, and IworkinanenvironmentwhereClinttrustsme.Wehavebecomequitecomfortable using the DI in this way.Its the same with visual effects,the cinematographer continues. In thefirstshotofJerseyBoys,whenTommyDeVito [Vincent Piazza] walks across astreet in New Jersey in the 1950s, I likedhowtheshotfallsoff,withtheManhattanskylineinthebackgroundNewJerseyisintheshadowofthegolden city of New York. Of course, youcantusetodaysManhattan[torepre-sent]the1950s.Sotheskyline[inthefinalshot]isapasticheofsyntheticelements created for us by [visual-effectssupervisorMichaelOwens].Usingthese digital tools economically for littlethingsthathelpsustainthestoryissomething we now do routinely. 53TECHNICAL SPECS2.40:1Digital Anamorphic Arri Alexa XT Panavision C Series 54 August 2014 American Cinematographer Four cinematographers lend theirtalents to The Strain, an eerie seriesabout a vampire virus run rampantin New York.By Mark Dillon|Based on the trilogy of vampire novels co-written by BenHogananddirectorGuillermoDelToro,theFXNetwork series The Strain begins with a viral outbreak inNew York. Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), Dr.NoraMartinez(MaMaestro)andtheCenterforDiseaseControls Canary Team attempt to combat the spreading sick-ness,whichisrevealedtobeaparasiticformofancientvampirism.Uninfectedcitizensbandtogethertofighttheinfected, waging a battle for mankinds future.Behindthescenes,fourcinematographersCheccoVarese,ASC;MiroslawBaszak;GabrielBeristain,ASC,BadBloodwww.theasc.comAugust 2014 55Unit photography by Michael Gibson, courtesy of FX Networks. Visual-effects sequences courtesy of Mr. X Inc. Lighting diagram courtesy of Checco Varese, ASC.BSC; and Colin Hoult joined execu-tive producer Del Toro to help infuse thefirstseasons13episodeswitheerie,cinematic flair. My hope is that if yourescanning your TV and you see this show,youll say, Oh my God what is this?says Varese, who, sitting alongside chieflighting technician Scotti Phillips, spokewith AC in a Toronto restaurant the dayafterwrappingprincipalphotography.Itsverydarkanddifferentfromwhatyou see every day. Varese was initially set to alternateepisodeswithToronto-basedcine-matographerBaszak,butafterhefinishedworkonthepilot,Varesewascalled away to shoot the feature The 33for a director he couldnt refuse: his wife,Patricia Riggen. Baszak then logged fiveepisodes,andBeristainhandledfour.Hoult, who frequently tackled 2nd-unitcinematographydutieswhenanepisodes1st-unitdirectorofphotogra-phywasunabletoshootthatmaterialhimself, also photographed one episodebeforeVaresereturnedtoTorontotoshoot episodes 11 and 13.VaresewhosecreditsalsoincludepilotsfortheseriesTheUnit,Life,TrueBlood,MelrosePlace (2009)and Reign notes that he got the job inpart because Del Toro liked his work inthe American crime drama Night at theGolden Eagle and the Argentine thrillerThe Aura. Hailing from Lima, Peru, thecinematographer launched his career intheearly80sasacameraassistantonNationalGeographicdocumentariesbeforeworkingasaCNNcameramanandwarcorrespondentforvariousbroadcastersinsomeoftheworldsdeadliest locales. After transitioning intoSteadicamoperating,hiscollaboratorsincludedDelTorosfrequentcine-matographer Guillermo Navarro, ASC.Varese provided additional photographyfor Navarro and Del Toro on Pacific Rim(AC Aug.13),whichalsoshotinToronto, and he jumped at the chance towork on The Strain with Del Toro andshowrunner Carlton Cuse. Varese began prepping the pilot inmid-August2013.Principalphotogra-phyforthefirstepisodebeganinlateOpposite: Dr.Nora Martinez(Ma Maestro,left) combats aparasitic form ofvampirism in The Strain. Thispage, from top:CinematographersChecco Varese,ASC (left, withgaffer ScottiPhillips); GabrielBeristain, ASC,BSC (second fromleft); MiroslawBaszak (right);and Colin Hoult(far left).56 August 2014 American Cinematographer Septemberandrequired22shootingdays,plusfiveadditionaldaysofreshootsthatlastedintoearlyNovember.(NewYorkexteriorswereshot by a New York-based unit on theweekends.)DelToroco-wroteanddirected the pilot, then kept tabs on therest of the season as executive producerwhiledirectingthehorrorfeatureCrimsonPeak.VaresestressesthatDelTorosinfluencewasfeltinalldepart-mentsthroughoutproduction.Hedesigns everything down to perfection,the cinematographer says. Describing the series visual style,Vareseoffers,Thisisaworldthatsabouttoend. Thevampiresaretakingover, so nothing is pretty; everything is abitgritty,sordidanddisturbing.Theseries is dark, but each scene has a signa-ture color or two: The Master, a merci-lesscreaturewithgrandlysinisterambitions, brings cyan into his environ-ments;thebasementofthepawnshopownedbyvampirehunterAbrahamSetrakian(DavidBradley)isheavyongreen and warm tones; and the office ofGoodweathersmarriagecounselorisamber. WorkingwithproductiondesignerTamaraDeverell,Varesesayshe and Del Toro gave each set a specificlookbasedonthestoryandwhatwewantedtheaudiencetofeel.Onceweestablished our bases, the shorthand wassimple.Forskintones,[non-vampires]are usually lit with regular light so youcanrecognizethattheyrehuman.Buteverything else has a twist.Varese gathered his lighting notesinalookbookthatprovidedeasyaestheticreferencefortheothercine-matographersandthecrew.Forexam-ple,scenesinvolvingTheMasterrequired Rosco Storaro VS Amber andVSCyanlightinggels.Indeed,VareseandPhillipsspentalotoftimetestinggels,whichwereusedthroughouttheseries. We used many different satura-tionsofcyan,Phillipsnotes.Ifyoustartgettingintosaturationthatstooheavyonthefaces,youlosetheskintone and facial structure.Earlyon,thedecisionwasmadetoshootwithRedEpicMXcameras,recordingRedcodeRawin4Kwitha5:1compressionratioto128GBor256GB Redmag SSD cards; the EpicsASAsettingwaskeptat800.Vareseexplains, This project lent itself to theEpic.GuillermowasverycomfortableusingthatcameraonPacificRim,andthe Epic is well suited to the saturatedcolors we employ in the series.The pilot was shot predominantlywiththecameramountedonaSteadicamoperatedbyGillesCorbeil,another veteran of Pacific Rim. (Later inthe series, when Corbeil left to work onCrimson Peak, he was succeeded by RudyKatkic.) Guillermo wanted to establish averyfluidcamera,saysVarese.Itsmovingconstantly.AndtheCDCguysare always on the move. Whether theyrechasingsomethingmysteriousorrunning from it, theyre never static.SimDigitalprovidedtheshowscameraandlenspackage,whichalsoconsistedoffourAngenieuxOptimozooms24-290mmT2.8,15-40mmT2.6,17-80mmT2.2and28-76mmT2.6 and two sets of Arri/Zeiss UltraPrimes. Thecrewworkedmostlyinthe20-50mm range. For Guillermo, a close-up is 50mm, Varese notes. Thats howhe sees the world. In his coverage, noth-ing is too close or too tight. Per Vareseslookbook,close-upsofthevampireswould also incorporate a Chocolate 1 orfilterto enhancetheleatheryqualityof their skin, and to produce a more vivideffect on the decay of their skin tones andthe violet of their veins.Truetothetraditionofvampirelore,thecreaturesaresusceptibletosunlight.Tohelpsettheappropriatetone,theentire72-minutepilottakesplaceatnight.TheactionbeginsasaBoeing767preparestolandatJohnF.Bad BloodLRX photo by Doug Black, courtesy of Scotti Phillips.Left: The pilot episodes airport tarmac set was staged at the Toronto Pearson International Airport.Right: One of the LRX Mobile Robotic Lighting Systems used on the tarmac. Opposite: This lightingdiagram illustrates how Varese and Phillips approached the airport set.www.theasc.comAugust 2014 5758 August 2014 American Cinematographer KennedyInternationalAirportinQueens.Apairofflightattendantsdetectsomethingmovinginthecargohold,andTheMastersoonburststhroughthehatch.Airtrafficcontrollosescontactwiththeplane,whichsomehowlands,cold,withoutpowerandwithnoimmediatesignsoflifeamongits210passengers.PerplexedairportauthoritiescallintheCDCsresponse team, headed by Goodweather. Increatingthesequence,theproduction had access to a seldom-usedsectionoftheTorontoPearsonInternationalAirport.Theydidtwonightsofexteriorworkonthetarmac,wheretheypositionedtheauthoritiesvehicles and the CDCs biohazard tents,and one night inside the terminal, for ascene in which passengers anxious fami-lies and friends are restrained by police.Vareseestimatesthatthetarmacrequiredlightingfor1.5millionsquarefeet;hisresearchinvolvedaskingaDepartmentofHomelandSecurityrescue team how it would respond to apotentially hostile plane on the ground.Hewastoldthatduringaterroristthreat,theteamwouldsurroundtheplane with blinding lights so the peopleon board couldnt see what was happen-ing outside. Del Toro likes to be able to shootscenes in a range of at least 270 degrees,andVaresewantedtobeabletoturnaround in no more than 20 minutes. Tomeetthesedemands,Phillips,rigginggafferNikkiHolmesandtheelectricalteamspentfivedayspre-riggingtheairport and brought in a couple of LRXMobileRoboticLightingSystems,which can rotate lights 360 degrees. Theplanewaspositionedatthetarmacseastend,facingwest.Forthemainshootingangle,oneLRXcranewasplacedatthenorthendwithfour12KHMIheads(gelledwithPlusGreen and CTS) deployed to create amoonlightsource;two12Ktungstenunits gelled with Rosco Industrial Vaporwereusedtomatchtheairportlights.Meanwhile,acraneatthesouthendcarriedsix12KHMIsgelledwithPlusGreen.ThecrewwasrestrictedBad BloodThis visual-effects sequence charts the creation of the Boeing 767s descent into New York, from the photographed plate (top) to the finished frame (bottom).www.theasc.comAugust 2014 59from raising the cranes any higher than65'forfearofblindingthefacilitysactual air-traffic controllers. Tore-createtherotatinglightofanairporttower,thecrewplacedtwoMartin Mac III Profile moving lights ona Condor to the side of the plane. One[light]sweptthroughthescenewhiletheotherwasresetting,saysPhillips.Oncedimmer-boardoperatorDesireeLidon programmed the movements, shecould let it run all night.Meanwhile,aCondorcarryingtwoNine-lightMaxi-Brutes,eachgelled with Industrial Vapor, was placedinfrontoftheplanesnose,andfourconstruction cranes with four 1K metal-halide lamps were scattered around thetarmac to provide backlight and to playin the frame. They looked like tarmaclights,Varesesays.Theybelonged.The crew also set up a 600' row of L&EMR-16Mini-Strips,gelledwithVSYellow, on the north side of the plane torepresentrunwaylightsthatLidonprogrammedtoprovideasenseofmovement.To suggest the menacing presenceaboardthedormantaircraft,DelTorowanted the planes underbelly to be illu-minated with a pulsing heartbeat light.Theeffectwasachievedwith201KTop left: Pilot director and series executive producer Guillermo Del Toro steps in front of the camera to assist with an autopsy. Right, top to bottom: Through visual effects, the victims heart is permeated with parasitic worms as another doctor examines it.60 August 2014 American Cinematographer tungstenArriMini-CycsgelledwithIndustrial VaporandOpalFrost,alongwitheightChroma-QColorForce12LEDunitsthatLidonprogrammedtopulse and change color. Thepilotepisodealonerequiredsome200visual-effectsshots,whichwerehandledbytheToronto-basedcompanyMr.X.(RecentlyacquiredbyTechnicolor,theeffectsfacilityhadpreviouslyworkedonthehorrorfilmMama,whichDelToroexecutive-produced, and on designs and previs forPacificRim.) Twoorthreemembersofthe Mr. X crew were always present onthe set of The Strain to assist with shotsthat would require digital elements, suchasthe5'-longstingertonguethevampiresusetodraintheirvictimsblood.Vareserecalls,Wehadtogive[the Mr. X crew] camera lens and heightinformation,andtominimizethepostwork,wewouldputtrackingmarksonthecharacterswhentheeffectsweremore complex.Mr. X animated the pilots open-ingshot,inwhichanimageofwhatappearstobeabloodstreamdissolvesintoanurbanlandscape,withtheBoeing767flyinginfromthetopofframe.Thecompanysmostblood-curdlingwork,however,revealsTheMaster in all his malevolent horror. Onset,thecharacterwasplayedby6'10"actorRobertMaillet,whoworeadarkhoodandcloakfashionedbycostumedesignerLuisSequeira,andprostheticscreatedbycreatureandmakeup-effectssupervisorSeanSansom.However,asMr.XpresidentDennisBerardiexplains,GuillermowantedTheMaster to have a spider-like walk, withtentaclesreachingoutofhim.Wecreatedadigitaldoubleandusedahybridapproach,wheretheclose-upsare practical and the wide shots in whichhe moves are digital.We did a physical 3-D cyberscanof TheMasterinfullwardrobe, Berardicontinues.Thiscapturedthereal-worldformanddimensionofthecharacterandwasthebasisofour3-Dmodel and textures, allowing us to createa very accurate digital double.Bad BloodThis visual-effects sequence illustrates how visual-effects company Mr. X helped realize a close-up shot of a medical examiner extracting a parasite from his wrist. 62 August 2014 American Cinematographer Thedigitalversionof TheMasterwasmodeledandanimatedinAutodesks Maya. Mr. X also developedaproceduralclothsimulationtocreatemovementinthecharacterscowlthatmatched his particular walk; this systemwasbuiltusingSideEffectsSoftwaresHoudini,withrenderingaccomplishedin Chaos Groups V-Ray and composit-ingdoneinTheFoundrysNuke.Guillermohadtheforesighttosay,Letsbuildthissystem,becauseweregoingtoneeditinlaterepisodes,Berardi recalls. Now, The Master existsas a digital asset and Guillermos givenus a bible on how he moves, how hes litand how hes to be rendered. Its startingtobeplug-and-play.Mr.XalsoanimatedtheparasiticwormsTheMasterdeploystoturnpeopleintovampires,aswellasCSI-styleatomic-levelshotsofvictimsbloodbeinginfected. WhenVaresehadtostepawayfromtheproduction,hetappedBeristainashisreplacement.ThispleasedDelToro,sincethetwohadpreviouslycollaboratedonthefeatureBlade II. However, prepping the secondepisode proved a daunting task. It wasonly eight or nine days of shooting, andit was a Guillermo project, so the ambi-tionbehinditwashuge,Beristainreflects. The pilot takes place entirely atnight,butmyfirstscripttookplaceinthe daytime. I had to follow the style ofthe pilot, but it was difficult to introducecolor in all this daylight, and I also hadto think of how to make daylight lookominous, interesting and satisfactory toGuillermos vision.Ididntwanttodesaturatetheimage or go too far with a digital look,but rather work with shadow and lightand the elements I had, he continues. Iusedverylittlefill.Interiorswereverysilhouetted,andthecharacterswouldwalk through shadow areas. I was tryingtoexposeforthehighlightssomyshadow areas would go down, but not sodark that I would lose detail. Episodesfiveandsixfeatureasolareclipse,aphenomenonBeristainoncewitnessedinBajaCalifornia,Bad BloodTop: Actor Robert Maillet donned a dark hood and cloak to portray The Master on set. Middle and Bottom: Mr. X added visual effects to show the vampire draining a victims blood with a 5'-long stinger tongue.www.theasc.comAugust 2014 63Mexico.Duringtherealeclipse,herecalls,thelightwasverysharpandconcentrated,andthenitwentintoduskwitha360-degreesunset.Itsanextraordinary look. OnesequencethattranspiresbeneaththeduskyskyfindsGoodweather stuck in traffic as massesof people head to Times Square to viewtheeclipse.Meanwhile,episodeonesairplanepilot,nowavampire,hasescaped the authorities and with thesun blocked, hes ready to binge.ThesequencewasshotinHamilton,aone-hourdrivefromToronto, during the coldest winter in 20years. The crew shot during the day, soBeristains approach was to underexposebytwostopsandhavetheskyfurtherdarkened in post. In an effort to avoidcontrastfromdirectsunlight,theproduction chose a street with buildingstall enough to block out light from theroad.However,whensunlighthitthebuildingsonthefarsideofthestreet,Beristainhadtofilltheshadows.Icouldnt have gigantic lights because Idget specular reflections on the cars, thecinematographer explains. Scotti and Idecidedtogowithmorecompact,punchy fixtures. In this case, the mainlightwasanArriM40,butthecrewalsoemployedafewM18sandaCinemills Par-Nel. Baszak(whosecreditsincludethefeatureLandoftheDead andtheseriesTheFirm)steppedinbeginningwithepisodefour,aftershooting2nd-unit material alongside Del Toro for thepilotsohecouldgetafeelforTheStrainsvisuallanguage.HesenthusedtoreportthatDelToroaffordedcreative freedoms to each of the seriesdirectors. They each had their choicesand preferences, and the nature of eachepisodeisdifferent,hesays.Intheend, theres what was required to main-tainthelookoftheshow,andthereswhateachdirectorbrought.Thatwasexciting; I worked with very good direc-torswhoweresodifferent[fromoneanother], including Peter Weller, KeithGordon,CharlotteSielingandJohnDahl. A digital version of The Master was created to match Del Toros vision of the malevolent character, who, Mr. X President Dennis Berardi explains, moves with a spider-like walk, with tentacles reaching out of him.LikeBeristain,Baszakwastaskedwithimbuingdayexteriorsandbrightinteriorswithtensionandatmosphere.Inepisodeseven,RogerLuss(AaronDouglas)hurriedlyentershis house after fending off a number ofvampires, only to discover that his wife,Joan(LeslieHope)oneoftheairplanepassengersfromthepilothas also become one. The night interiorwas shot on location in a predominantlywhite,modern,multi-levelhousewithlargewindows,notyourtypicalscaryhousewherevampiresdwell,Baszaknotes. I relied on graphic compositionswithwide-anglelenses,negativespace,silhouettes and reflections of the charac-ters in mirrors and glass to create a senseofentrapmentandpanic.HelitDouglaswitha5KtungstenFresnelbacklight,gelledwithIndustrialVaporand shining through a transparent door,and a Kino Celeb LED, similarly gelledandpositionedthroughawindowtolight the actors face. Hope, meanwhile,beginsthesceneinshadowbeforeentering the colored light.Thenextmorning,anannybringsthecoupleschildrentothehouse, thinking it safe, and hides themin the wine cellar. Given vampires aver-sion to the sun, Baszak closed the blindsmost of the way for the day interior, onlyBad BloodDr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll, right) and the Center for Disease Controls Canary Teaminvestigate the quarantined airplane.64 allowinglighttocreepinfromthebottomofthewindows.Thecrewplaced 6K HMI Pars and an 18K HMIoutsidethehouse,andalsousedaSource Four to simulate hits of sunlightinside. For additional accents, they posi-tionedfourKinoCeleb200DMXLEDsandahalf-dozen150-wattand300-watt tungsten Fresnel fixtures. Throughout the seasons produc-tion,thecinematographersmonitoredtheirimagesonsetwithoutapplyinganyspecialLUTs.Asdigital-imagingtechnician Chris Dover explains, Theyfelt that using Reds version of Rec. 709wasagoodenoughstartingpoint.Iwould then work from the raw data to[adjust]thepicturetotheirdesiredtastes. Dover worked with BlackmagicDesigns DaVinci Resolve 9 and a SonyPVM-2541OLEDmonitor,andthecinematographersprovidedtheirfeed-back throughout the shooting day.Attheendofeachday,DoversenthisworktoTechnicolorToronto,whereRobEvanstimedthedailies,whichwerethendistributedonharddrives.Evansalsohandledthefinalcolorc