American Cinematographer - Vol. 97 No. 11 (Nov 2016)

NOVEMBER 2016
A M E R I C A N C I N E M ATO G R A P H E R N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 6 A S H V S E V I L D E A D T H E B I RT H O F A N AT I O N T H E AC C O U N TA N T A M O N S T E R C A L L S VO L . 9 7 N O. 1 1
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6 V O L . 9 7 N O . 1 1
An International Publication of the ASC
On Our Cover: Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) continues his fight against the armies of
darkness in the series Ash vs Evil Dead, with the aid of cinematographers Dave Garbett
and John Cavill. (Photo by Matt Klitscher, courtesy of Starz Entertainment.)
FEATURES
30 Return of the King
Dave Garbett and John Cavill share cinematography duties
40
on the comedy-horror series Ash vs Evil Dead
40 Rising Up
Elliot Davis crafts a period palette for the true story of
The Birth of a Nation
50 Connecting the Pieces

Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC shoots on film for the thriller
The Accountant 50
62 A Friend in Need
scar Faura weaves fantasy into the human drama of
A Monster Calls
DEPARTMENTS
62
10 Editors Note
12 Presidents Desk
14 Short Takes: Lorne
20 Production Slate: Mr. Robot Berlin Station
72 Filmmakers Forum: On location with the Ute Mountain Youth
76 New Products & Services
80 International Marketplace
81 Classified Ads
82 Ad Index
84 In Memoriam: Frederic Goodich, ASC
86 Clubhouse News
88 ASC Close-Up: Mandy Walker
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6 V O L . 9 7 N O . 1 1
ACCESS APPROVED
New digital outreach by American Cinematographer means more in-depth coverage for you.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE FEATURE
WESTWORLD
Paul Cameron, ASC set the tone for this ambitious HBO sci-fi
series, and here discusses his work on the pilot episode, directed
by executive producer and writer Jonathan Nolan. Based on the
1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton, the new
series delves deeper into this Disneyland-with-blood-and-sex
world where the very rich can come to play.
Basically the structure of the series is very similar to the film,

Cameron asserts. Its a Western theme park and the robots, which are now called hosts, populate the town and interact with
the guests as they desire. We also get a lot more of the behind-the-scenes of the park in the diagnostic and manufacturing areas,
and we get to see the inner workings.
With the support of HBO and Nolan, the decision was made to shoot Westworld on 35mm film.
Fortunately, in my very first conversation with Jonathan, I asked him if he had any interest in
shooting film and he said they had already decided to do that, recalls Cameron. It was fabulous
to shoot film again; it was just a dream.
Get all this and much
more via theasc.com and our
The biggest challenge on a show like this is to give it a big, cinematic scale, the cinematographer social-media platforms.
says. There were day-to-day challenges, of course, but everyone rose to the occasion and worked
together to make this something special.
Youll find ACs complete story online at theasc.com.
www.theasc.com
N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 6 V o l . 9 7 , N o . 1 1
Visit us online at www.theasc.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER

Stephen Pizzello

WEB DIRECTOR and ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
David E. Williams

EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andrew Fish
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Rachael K. Bosley, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jay Holben, Noah Kadner,
Debra Kaufman, Iain Marcks, Matt Mulcahey, Jean Oppenheimer, Phil Rhodes, Patricia Thomson
PODCASTS
Jim Hemphill, Iain Stasukevich, Chase Yeremian
BLOGS
Benjamin B; John Bailey, ASC; David Heuring
WEB DEVELOPER Jon Stout

ART & DESIGN
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer
PHOTO EDITOR Kelly Brinker

ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann
323-936-3769 Fax 323-936-9188 e-mail: angiegollmann@gmail.com
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce
323-952-2114 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com
CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Peru
323-952-2124 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: diella@ascmag.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS & PRODUCTS
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina
CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez
SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal

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

American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 96th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by
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6
American Society of Cinematographers
The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but
an educational, cultural and professional
organization. Membership is by invitation
to those who are actively engaged as
directors of photography and have
demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC
membership has become one of the highest
honors that can be bestowed upon a
professional cinematographer a mark
of prestige and excellence.
OFFICERS - 2016/2017
Kees van Oostrum
President
Bill Bennett
Vice President
Lowell Peterson
Vice President
Dean Cundey
Vice President
Levie Isaacks
Treasurer
David Darby
Acting Secretary
Roberto Schaefer
Sergeant-at-Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Bill Bennett
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Fred Elmes
Michael Goi
Victor J. Kemper
Stephen Lighthill
Daryn Okada
Woody Omens
Robert Primes
Cynthia Pusheck
Owen Roizman
John Simmons
Kees van Oostrum
ALTERNATES
Roberto Schaefer
Mandy Walker
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Oliver Bokelberg
Dean Cundey
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
8
Editors Note The Evil Dead franchise was first unleashed upon audiences in
1981, delighting horror fans with its gonzo blend of gory
violence, outrageous humor and cartoon-like visual gags. The
original movies eccentric, ultra-kinetic camerawork (by cine-
matographer Tim Philo) launched the careers of director Sam
Raimi and lantern-jawed star Bruce Campbell (playing
resourceful Deadite-killer Ash, who has since evolved into a
chainsaw-wielding cult hero).
The Starz network brought Ash and his gruesome
antics to television viewers last season with Ash vs Evil Dead, a
series shot on location in Auckland, New Zealand. Cinematog-
raphers Dave Garbett and John Cavill shared the workload on
the 10 episodes of season one; for season two, Garbett shot
seven episodes with Kevin Riley serving as director of photography for three. Assessing the
shows style for ACs Australian correspondent, Simon Gray (Return of the King, page 30),
Garbett notes that he and Cavill set out to honor the look and feel of the original films. The
main idea John and I had for the camerawork was to always have some form of movement, a
background tremor or resonance that maintains a constant visual tension.
The Birth of a Nation treads more wrenching, historical terrain in its depiction of the 1831
slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. Director and star Nate Parker, who also co-wrote the movies
screenplay, had an ambitious plan to create a period drama on an indie budget. Helping him to
achieve this vision was cinematographer Elliot Davis, who reveals to Patricia Thomson (Rising
Up, page 40) that the movie is actually about the present reality of America. We never wanted
the audience to forget that. Furthering that goal, the filming technique is almost all handheld,
with Steadicam and the occasional dolly shot, he says. This was to ensure the feeling of
modern immediacy.
Also featured this month are projects that called for their respective cinematographers to
create cerebrally motivated but action-driven suspense (The Accountant, shot by Seamus McGar-
vey, ASC, BSC), and a fantastical blend of visual effects, 2D animation and live action (A Monster
Calls, shot by scar Faura). Veteran correspondents Mark Dillon (Connecting the Pieces, page
50) and Michael Goldman (A Friend in Need, page 62) have crafted thorough overviews of
each production.
***
This months In Memoriam (page 84), penned by managing editor Jon D. Witmer, honors
the memory of a true ASC stalwart: cinematographer Frederic Goodich, who passed away on
August 30 at age 76.
Freds passion for cinematography was equalled only by his devotion to film students and
the ASC. At the time of his passing he had recently been elected to a sixth consecutive term as
secretary of the Societys Board of Governors, while also serving as chairman of the International
Committee and as an enthusiastic member of the Spotlight Award Committee. His many other
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
achievements are saluted in Jons piece.

All of us here at the magazine will miss Freds boundless energy and tireless contributions
to the realm of cinematography. I also appreciated his wry humor and his eclectic taste in movies,
which led to many long and lively cineaste chats.
Stephen Pizzello
10 Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
Presidents Desk
The Great Wall
No, Im not going to talk about the proposed wall of a certain presidential hopeful. Im referring instead to the
Great Wall of China, which expanded from its earliest incarnations to span a staggering 13,000 miles. For
centuries this wall protected the Chinese dynasties from invasion and helped shape a sense of Chinese cultural
superiority.
In the upcoming American-Chinese coproduction The Great Wall, Hollywood star Matt Damon scales and
rappels that wall with Jason Bourne empowerment. With an estimated budget of $135 million the highest
ever for a movie shot completely in China The Great Wall was directed by one of Chinas finest filmmakers,
Zhang Yimou, and photographed by Stuart Dryburgh, ASC, NZCS.
Its clear from the trailer and the PR surrounding the production that nothing but the best in action-adventure
is to be expected. The film promises eye-shattering visual effects and sweeping historical landscapes never photographed before.
Dryburgh decided to shoot the film largely with Arris Alexa 65 camera, providing incredible detail and resolution.
To put it mildly, movies are popular in China. Just this year, the countrys box office has already exceeded 30 billion yuan
($4.5 billion), and the country has produced around 660 films. The explosion in film production has been so dramatic that Hollywood
production companies are constantly being courted if not simply bought lock, stock and barrel by Chinese investors.
The Great Wall among a number of announced action-adventure films is the result of a continuing evolution of
Chinese-American coproductions. But, even though our visual-effects wizardry can take us over the Great Wall at a speed unequaled
in the landmarks 3,000-year history, the question remains: What happens when we land on the other side?
Well, we land in a cultural morass made all the more complex thanks to the enigmatic human factor. After all, in addi-
tion to our wishful fantasies of superhuman abilities, films represent an expression of our shared cultural feelings, desires and ideas.
And those cultures are fundamentally different between China and America.
Our modern cultural exchange began in 1971, when the U.S. table-tennis team was invited to visit Beijing for a friendly
pingpong game. Another historical marker was reached the next year, with President Nixons visit to China. In what is likely an apoc-
ryphal tale, Nixon misinterpreted Chairman Maos gift of a bag containing 200g of Da Hong Pao tea, and asked why he received
such a seemingly small amount. The bag constituted half of that years harvest and was exceedingly valuable. In fact, in todays
market, The Great Walls budget of $135 million would buy just 108kg of Da Hong Pao tea, if available!
Indeed, pingpong is a fitting metaphor for our relationship with China.
One can only wonder what cultural issues we might encounter in the future. How will it work when we get past the block-
buster coproductions? How will we address a shared desire to produce movies together that represent the fabric of our disparate
cultures? What will happen to the onscreen depictions of popular American culture, including music, food, literature and film not
to mention our philosophies and democratic system?
We have to acknowledge that our inherited cultures are vastly different, and we have to find the model in which content
can be produced that will be of interest to both continents. At stake are American cinematic touchstones such as Kramer vs. Kramer;
The Graduate; Taxi Driver; Brokeback Mountain; Selma; Dallas Buyers Club; The Big Lebowski; Good Night, and Good Luck; Erin
Brockovich you get my drift. Our cultures are a world apart. Where the Chinese speak proudly of their long history, Americans
tend to speak proudly of the melting pot.
Zhang Yimou has made some extraordinary Chinese films, including House of Flying Daggers and Raise the Red Lantern.
He has consistently demanded our Western attention, and it is encouraging that he was chosen to head up the making of The Great
Photo by Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC.
Wall. He might very well be writing the next chapter in the history that began with pingpong diplomacy and the story of Nixons
Da Hong Pao tea incident. But it will probably be the often merciless judgment of our movie culture that ultimately decides whether
we are going to be able to produce movies together in the future up the Yin Yang.
Kees van Oostrum

ASC President
12 November 2016 American Cinematographer

Short Takes
In the short Lorne, the title character (Guy Pearce) has perhaps been alone in the wild for too long.
I Campfire Tale
By Michael Wylam
Just beyond the woods, we happened to find an old, aban-
doned Melbourne tram sitting solemnly in a large field. Inside stood
a warped upright piano, decaying but intact. The tram offered a
The eponymous lead character (played by Guy Pearce) in the symbolism that instinctively felt right, so Leaman and Pearce master-
short film Lorne has grown paranoid from his extended isolation in the fully wove this second location into the beginning of the story.
wild. After a lone traveler stumbles across his campfire, Lorne engages We shot in the tram during the day ahead of our night shoot
the visitor in a monologue, sharing musings and memories, and in the forest. My intention was to introduce a low-key look to this
slowly resolves to face his own existential fears. Solitude will do that opening daytime scene with soft washes of controlled light brushing
to a man he remarks. through the trams windows, which further softened the quality of
Director Jesse Leaman had been discussing the story with the light, thanks to their age and dust. We shaped the natural
Pearce for some time before I was hired as the cinematographer. We daylight look with an Arri M90 HMI through a 4'x4' Full Grid, 6'x6'
sought a painterly look that would translate Lornes psychology into Half Grid and a 12'x12' Half Grid stacked in the field outside the
the cinematography while still retaining a sense of dramatic realism, tram. Inside, we also rigged 2' four-bank Kino Flos with double 216
and I wanted to employ subtle cues that would suggest photograph- diffusion and an egg crate, giving us a soft, controlled light to
ically that we were being drawn into the characters world. I like to complement the M90 in specific places. We then arranged cutters
think of a scene or an act like a symphony: Light and composition are and negative fill to create subtle layers of shadow and subtraction for Photos by Matt Dunne, courtesy of the filmmakers.
constantly reacting and building to serve the story. I would apply this Pearce to move through, lending some further character and realism
philosophy to the fractured landscape of Lornes mind. to the scene.
We had a limited budget and only one day to shoot the movie, This additional location allowed us to expand Lornes physical
working in a remote forest in Victoria, Australia. The location itself was and psychological geography, and helped us give the camerawork
to be a character, and we found a clearing that gave us the right itself a story arc. The upcoming forest scene would comprise point-
scenery and background depth for the nighttime campfire scene, of-view shots from the visitors perspective, so here in the tram I
which accounts for 13 of the shorts 15-minute run time. I was espe- sought a compositional language that would guide the viewer into
cially taken with a particular plant, Xanthorrhoea johnsonii a.k.a. Lornes complex emotional world. A series of lingering frames punc-
the grass tree which was prevalent in small clusters in this clear- tuate the opening of the film, and then the camera loosens up,
ing; it had a character I felt was unique and somewhat foreboding, reflecting Lornes headspace as he starts to feel at ease and settles in
and it would help me in sculpting the space with light. Leaman near the old piano.
remarked that my British sensibilities and foreigners eye lent fresh At the sudden sound of a gunshot, Lorne flees the tram and
discovery and meaning to a familiar landscape. runs across the field. A long drone shot follows Lorne from a birds-

eye perspective, which stands in juxtaposi-
tion to the intimacy developed in the tram.
This sense of dissociation grows as he nears
the expanse of forest and the camera tilts up
to fully reveal the landscape.
This aerial shot was expertly handled
by Jack Garnett, who used a DJI Inspire 1
drone and its integrated 4K camera, record-
ing onto MiniSD cards. Our primary camera
for the movie was a Red Epic Mysterium-X,
and we were concerned about the drone
cameras ability to match the Epics footage.
Due to the time of day and weather condi-
tions, we had to boost the drone cameras
ISO out of its comfort zone to 400, but we
were able to do a de-noise pass during post-
production to help the shot match.
My approach to our nighttime forest
scene was to light as naturally as possible
while introducing subtle permutations to
mirror Lornes mental state. This was
achieved to some degree in the grade
working with colorist Edel Rafferty at
Method Studios as we shifted from a
silvery moonlight to a more cyan look that
contrasted with the golden tones of Lornes
campfire, pushing the world into a feeling of
unease. Our budget didnt allow for the use
of helium balloons, and in fact our lighting
plan was limited by the combined 12K maxi-
mum capacity of our two 6K generators.
And, as happens, much of what we planned
during preproduction evolved during the
blocking. Working with gaffer Tom Savige
Top: Lorne finds a disused piano in an abandoned tram. Middle: The crew readies the tram and his crew, we were able to react quickly,
location. Bottom: Cinematographer Michael Wylam (center) meters the light inside the tram. without prolonging our setup time.
Our key light as Pearce approached

The paranoid
Lorne confronts
a lone traveler.
the campsite was a battery-powered Kino Because the forest scene is entirely desaturated greens and golds, which would
Flo Celeb dimmed to 24 percent, with 216 from the visitors point of view, the camera ground the short in an earthy tone and place
diffusion on the barn doors and pushed had to be a character and, as I was operat- Lorne within the environment as if he had
through a 4'x4' frame of 216. We rigged 14 ing, my performance had to include become part of it. We treated the footage
Kino tubes, wrapped in double 250 diffu- subtle cues and reactions. Pearce and I very lightly in the grade, as much of the look
sion, on tree branches outside of frame to quickly found a rhythm with our 13-minute was achieved in-camera. Working with
punctuate key areas of the action and to takes. I enjoyed this dance, and I was Blackmagic Designs DaVinci Resolve,
emulate soft moonlight spilling through the constantly impressed with 1st AC Austin Rafferty delicately executed the subtle
forest canopy. A four-bank Kino Flo served Haighs ability to keep things sharp as we nuances we sought. For the campfire scene,
as a kicker on Pearce, which we diffused for jumped over bushes and other obstacles I referenced some of Laszlo Kovacs, ASCs
close-ups. We also placed one M18 HMI while reacting instinctively to Pearces perfor- work on Easy Rider, but overall the look was
deep in the background to give an edge to mance. I shot at a stop of T2, and we used inspired by a painting called The Sheepfold,
the foliage, and another to rake through the the shallow depth of field and occasional Moonlight, by Jean-Franois Millet. The
forest. Other, smaller lights reading 3-5 dips in focus to our advantage, underscoring moonlight in the painting has a glowing,
stops under key were placed deep in the the main characters loose grasp on reality. pearlescent quality to it that really resonated
background for added depth in a 360- After testing, we decided to shoot at with me.
degree move. Additionally, a Robe Fog 1500 5K resolution and 5:1 compression, record- Although our means were limited
FT smoke machine fitted with two 30m-long ing to RedMag SSDs. We set the Epics ISO as they always are on a short project our
and 400mm-wide lay-flat tubes provided an to 1,280 for the night scene and the crew in all departments were exceptional,
even spread of subtle atmosphere. cameras native 800 for the day scene. We and realizing our shared vision within our
John Sanders special-effects team were amazed at how little noise we saw in limitations was every bit as exhilarating as it
worked with the art department to dig two the night footage and found there was no was challenging. It was also a pleasure
flame bars into the set so I could control the need to apply any de-noising in post. collaborating with Leaman and Pearce; we
levels and placement of our firelight. This We chose to frame for the 2.39:1 all trusted and pushed each other to find the
was supplemented with gold stipple, which aspect ratio because we liked the way it truth in the scene. Creativity blesses a set
Savige nimbly edged into the negative side places a single character in an environment, when like-minded people come together to
during each take, helping to wrap the fire- lending emptiness and a sense of encroach- craft a story that you hope will resonate with
light around Pearces face. We shot the night ing danger room for paranoia to the an audience. I truly believe that on-set
exterior with three Zeiss Super Speed Mark frame. And we opted for spherical because atmosphere translates to magic in the frame.
III primes 18mm, 50mm and 85mm we didnt want the weight, stop limitations This project had a unique vision from the
and for each focal length, we let the entire and depth of field inherent to anamorphic. I outset, and seeing it realized on the big
13-minute scene play out in one complete also particularly like the softness and screen recently was an extremely rewarding
take. We therefore had to adjust the inten- reduced contrast the Super Speed lenses experience. It was a great honor to be a part
sity of the firelight over the course of each deliver when paired with digital formats; we of.
take, and Sanders had to rig the gas cylin- further molded character into the image
ders 15m away from the flame bars, which with a range of Tiffen Digital Diffusion/FX The trailer for Lorne can be viewed at
introduced a delay in our onscreen adjust- filters, which enhanced the painterly look I https://vimeo.com/leamanfilms/lornetrailer.
ments, requiring precise timing and fore- wanted.
thought. We sought a slightly aged palette of

Production Slate
Elliot Alderson
(Rami Malek,
left) has an
exchange with
the titular
hacktivist
(Christian Slater)
in the series
Mr. Robot.
Cinematographer
Tod Campbell
often places
characters low in
the frame,
beneath an
oppressive
amount of
headroom.
I Radical Hackers
By Iain Marcks
At that point, Id only read the script for the first episode, so the look
of the show changed as we saw the story unfold. Going into season
two I was able to read all 10 scripts [prior to production], and I could
Mr. Robot tells the story of Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), a arc the photography over the course of the season because I knew
young cyber-security engineer who suffers from social-anxiety disor- what the end of the story was. For season three, well adapt a little
der and clinical depression. In the shows first season, Elliot is more I imagine.
recruited into a group of hacktivists led by the surly anarchist known What are these rules that you mentioned?
as Mr. Robot (Christian Slater). The group aims to erase all debts Campbell: Composition is a big one. In season one we used
Mr. Robot photos by Michael Parmelee, courtesy of USA Network.

by cyber-attacking large corporations. The second season deals with a 32mm lens on Elliot in every single shot, including his close-ups. In
the fallout of their success. Both seasons were photographed by season two we decided to use a 21mm; Elliot thinks he is at his
cinematographer Tod Campbell, who, along with director and moms house when he is actually in prison, and going to a wider lens
showrunner Sam Esmail, set out to break as many rules of image allowed us to change the feeling of the background while keeping
composition as they could. Their success has yielded one of the most him the same size in the frame. We also try to be open-minded and
unique-looking shows on television. flexible thats kind of a rule in its own right.
What evolved from a technical standpoint?
American Cinematographer: Since Mr. Robot first aired, Campbell: A lot of our compositions make use of straight
one of the things people continue talking about is how strik- lines [within the frame], and that was very difficult with the wider
ing the show is visually the way you short-sight the char- Cooke 5/i lenses. Right after Robot season one I shot Stranger Things
acters and place them low in the frame, emphasizing isolation with Tim Ives, who was using Leica Summilux-C primes. When I
and oppression with massive amounts of headroom. Having came back to Robot we switched to the Leicas. I like them because
set such a specific look, how does your visual approach evolve theyre so beautiful, and its a flatter lens, which helped us make our
from season to season? compositions a bit straighter.
Tod Campbell: When we started shooting season one, Sam Did you change the lighting?
and I knew what we wanted to do compositionally, and we installed Campbell: One of my main goals was to really tell the story
some basic rules to follow because he wouldnt direct every episode. with lighting. In season two we dont use a lot of fill light with Elliot.

effects to help you tell the story?
Campbell: Sams not crazy about
visual effects, so we try to keep it minimal.
Sometimes we cant get around it for things
Campbell like gunshots and blood spurts due to the
(second from reset time [necessary for practical effects]. Any
right),
showrunner time we have a larger shot, like the scene
Sam Esmail (far where Elliot is released from prison and the
right) and crew camera tilts up from the basketball court to
plan their next
move. the sky, then back down to the prison yard, Ill
request that the supervisors come with us on
the tech scout. Theyll always be there on the
day, even for the smallest stuff.
Are they helping you design these
shots?
Sometimes you only get to see one eye. bizarre. Aaron has been the Steadicam guy Campbell: I definitely look to them for
Theres this cloudiness that surrounds him for both seasons so far, and he was also our creative input. I can tell you where the suns
because the truth of his environment is A-camera operator for season two, when going to be, how the actors will be blocked,
obscured. Brian came into the B-camera position. Both and I can shoot greenscreen all day long, but
Did your crew stay the same? of these guys quickly adapted to the uncon- I cant tell you exactly what were going to
Campbell: A-camera first assistant ventional framing, and that first episode we need to pull off a complicated visual-effects
Michael Garofalo and B-camera first Wes did together, thats where we found it. Now shot.
Hodges have been with me for both seasons. well set up a shot and Sam will either love Do you like to color grade on set?
Theyre incredible focus pullers, considering it or hate it or noodle with it a little bit until Campbell: We shoot Robot in 5K
were never above a T2. I had the same key we find that Robot shot. [Redcode] raw with Red Weapons, and when
grip, Richie Guinness [Jr.], and hes the person Does the framing affect the Im shooting I try to get the image as close as
I lean on the heaviest; he is literally my right- kinds of sets and locations you shoot I possibly can to what its going to look like
hand man. I can show up to work in the in? when people stream it or watch it on TV. I had
morning and everything is built and ready to Campbell: It definitely influences the Low-Light Optimized optical low-pass
go. Rigging key William Kerwick and his team our locations because were looking for filter installed in each camera, and our LUT
go above and beyond. Gaffer Charlie Grubbs things a more conventionally photographed starts at 10-percent desaturation, with the
and rigging gaffer John Woods also really just show might not consider. For instance, blacks slightly lifted. Theres a little warmth in
blow me away. when we do our scouts we look at the lines there. Sometimes Sam will want to change a
Whats your shooting schedule in the ceiling, which will more often than shot with subtle white-balance shifts and
like? not be in-frame. In some locations, the floor maybe some contrast tweaks, but largely we
Campbell: In season one we had is terrible, but we dont have to worry about do it all on set before it goes to colorist Laura
seven days to shoot an hour-long episode, so it because we know mostly well never even Jans Fazio at [Deluxes] Encore in Hollywood.
we had to move very quickly, shooting seven see the floor. [Ed. note: Fazio works with a FilmLight Base-
to nine pages a day. Going into season two I imagine this poses some unique light system and delivers 1920x1080 HD files.]
we had eight days an episode. We did the challenges for your locations managers It might be slightly darker on television
first four episodes in one block, went on and production designers. because of the compression, but if you dont
hiatus, then came back and shot two three- Campbell: Sam is with us on every go that far right away and everyone at the
episode blocks. Some days might touch all 10 scout, and we decide on the locations studio gets used to seeing dailies look a
episodes if youre trying to shoot out one together. He wants to make sure everyone certain way, they freak out the minute you
location in a single day. is happy with the locations we choose. change it in the grade. Our DIT, Doug Horton,
How involved are your camera Demian Resnick, the locations manager has been with us for both seasons. Hes also
operators Craig Haagensen, Aaron from season one, was very aware of it and my therapist when Im freaking out about
Medick and Brian Jackson in designing would come to us with photos of just ceil- how dark the image is.
your shots and compositions? ings. Anastasia White [took over as produc- What kind of technical support did
Campbell: When I first met with tion designer for] season two. Shed worked you receive from the camera house?
Craig, he came in with tons of stills and video with us once before as an art director. Shes Campbell: NBCUniversal has a rental
references and we went through them all. I very smart and aware of whats going to be contract with Sim Digital out of Montreal; we
told him, Look, I know youve been doing on-camera. It was a language we were all shoot on location in New York City, and we
this for almost as long as Ive been alive, so speaking. used TCS in New York City as our point of
this is going to seem very awkward and How much do you rely on visual contact. Erik Schietinger is one of the owners

there, and he comes to set every couple of
weeks just to check in on us. We started season
one with the Red Epic Dragon, then switched
to Weapons for season two. At one point we
ran into a problem, and TCS got together with
Red and had a team of techs come out to
switch our [Weapon] cameras with Epics. After
they solved the problem, they came back with
our four Weapons so we briefly had eight
camera bodies but by that time we were
already on episode seven, so I just stuck to the
Epics. Thanks to Erik and everyone at TCS, we
were able to keep going without a hiccup.
After sharing directing duties for
the first season, Sam directed every
episode of season two. Whats it like to
work with a director whos also the series
creator, showrunner and primary writer?
Campbell: Its amazing to work on set
with the guy whos in control, and who can Field agent Daniel Miller (Richard Armitage) works to unearth a mole in the CIA
in the series Berlin Station.
make last-minute creative decisions or rewrite a
scene because the light changed on us.
Because hes directing every episode, its more
like shooting a feature. From a professional
perspective, hes a perfectionist and knows
I Spy Game
By Jon D. Witmer
Plus cameras, recording 2K ProRes 4:4:4
files to SxS cards. The cameras were paired
predominantly with Arri/Zeiss Ultra Primes
exactly what he wants. He keeps a positive atti- Theres a mole in the CIA. Operating by the first unit, and Angenieux Optimo 45-
tude all day, even when things get out of our under the name Thomas Shaw, he or she 120mm (T2.8) and Optimo Style 16-40mm
control. On a personal level, now that were has been channeling highly classified and (T2.8) zooms by the second. Kaechele also
through shooting season two, I miss not hang- often damning information not to utilized Sony a7S II and GoPro Hero4
ing out with him on set every day. He makes us another clandestine organization, but to the cameras to emulate surveillance footage,
all laugh constantly. general public. Field agent Daniel Miller and Arris Alexa M for an underwater scene
It sounds like youre very close to a (Richard Armitage) has been assigned to the and Alexa Mini for car interiors. Arri Media
lot of people on the cast and crew. How agencys Berlin office to bring Shaw out of provided dailies services during production,
important is it to maintain a positive the shadows, but his net of suspicion is and when Bogdanski and Kaechele spoke
Berlin Station photos by Stephanie Kulbach, courtesy of Epix and Paramount TV.
personal bond with your collaborators? necessarily cast wide, and none of his fellow with AC, the first-unit cinematographer was
Campbell: For me, the personal rela- operatives is privy to his mission. in the midst of the final grade at Deluxes
tionships are just as important as the technical The series Berlin Station began airing Encore in Hollywood, where senior colorist
ones. A lot of people have the technical under- on television network Epix in October. Five Pankaj Bajpai was working with 2K files on
standing and the knowledge, but its important directors each took the reins of two episodes a FilmLight Baselight system for a final
to also find someone that shares a similar style for the first season, beginning with Michal 1920x1080 HD delivery.
to yours, someone you can get along with or R. Roskam who also served as an execu-
hang out with when youre not at work. My tive producer and continuing with American Cinematographer:
camera operators, my key grip and gaffer, the Christoph Schrewe, Giuseppe Capotondi, How did you define the shows style?
DIT were friends. Its really important. Thats John Coles and Joshua Marston. On for the Hagen Bogdanski: We wanted to
one of the reasons it comes out so well. We duration were cinematographer Hagen present a modern spy story in Berlin not
make a better show because everyone is happy Bogdanski and 2nd-unit director-cinematog- the typical Sixties, Cold War, Russians-
to be there. rapher Ralph Kaechele. Although they against-the-Americans story. The main goal
hadnt worked together previously, they was to show Berlin as it is now, and how it
TECHNICAL SPECS quickly developed a rapport that carried has transformed into a big, international,
throughout the Berlin-based shoot, which cosmopolitan city.
1.78:1 began in November 2015 and lasted Ralph, during production, how
Digital Capture through this past April. often would you check in with the
Red Epic Dragon, Weapon Berlin Station marks Bogdanskis first main unit?
Cooke 5/i, Leica Summilux-C foray into episodic television, and for the Ralph Kaechele: Whenever I had
project he elected to work with Arri Alexa the time I was trying to swing by the set and

the 10 episodes to mirror the differing
sensibilities of the main-unit directors?
Kaechele: The job evolved quite a
bit. I always tried to put myself in the differ-
ent directors heads. It was really interesting
to observe and to translate their work into
what I had to do and to make it seamless.
The second units goal is to be completely
invisible.
For the first two episodes it was actu-
ally fairly traditional second-unit work:
establishing shots, inserts, driving shots,
camera vehicles. The main unit had 11 to 12
shoot days, and we had four to five for
second unit. That all changed with the
beginning of the third episode. Main unit
had a few days less per episode, which were
Station chief Steven Frost (Richard Jenkins) finds himself in deep water added onto my schedule I was handed
during a nightmare sequence. entire scenes to direct and shoot.
Bogdanski: Because Ralph did such
look at what the director and Hagen were Bogdanski: Olen and Brad gave a great job, his job became more and more
doing. Even if it was on a set I was pretty sure their input, but on a very subtle note. They important. It evolved, and I dont think it
I wasnt going to shoot on, it helped to get were looking out for the dialogue, and was second unit anymore it was an addi-
deeper into the style and how the directors whenever the actors had questions about tional unit that really supported the story
would work. Id send out emails at night with their characters past, then Olen or Brad and supported every individual director. Im
specific questions for Hagen or the directors, would step in. Not what the actors had to sure it became more interesting for Ralph,
and sometimes they would swing by [the do now this is the directors job but and it definitely became more important for
second units] set. If I had a lighting question, more about the context and where they us as the first unit.
I had my gaffers Andr Poser and Axel Scholz came from. The director was really running Hagen, by the time you came
contact the main units gaffer, Janosch Voss, the set. onto the show, was production
or the rigging gaffer, Stephan Rother. Kaechele: Olen and Brad would designer Marco Bittner Rosser already
[Throughout the production] I was involved in sometimes split up, and one of them would constructing the sets?
all the head-of-department meetings, where be on the main-unit set and the other Bogdanski: He and Michal were
we went through the script and addressed all would come over to my set. They would be on board already when I came in, which is
the needs for every department that was there to advise on how things should feel typical. But the main set, the CIA headquar-
crucial. We also had a great digital cloud- and what they thought were important ters, was not built yet, so they asked me,
dailies system, where I could watch main beats, but leave all the rest up to the direc- What do you think? How do we want to
units footage and they could watch my tor and cinematographer. Michal Roskam incorporate the lighting fixtures? I was
footage. was the driving force of the style of the happy they were building it in the studio [at
Bogdanski: In modern filmmaking, show. When I talked to him, it really became Studio Babelsberg]. Ninety percent of the
the workload is so big and the actors sched- obvious that he favors the 32mm lens, and show was on location, because we wanted
ules are so limited that you cannot work with- he likes to keep the camera low, and he to show Berlin and therefore we had to go
out a full additional-photography unit likes to set everything up in long takes. out into the city.
anymore. You need a second-unit cinematog- Were the four directors who The CIA station was a completely
rapher and director to understand the visuals succeeded Roskam primarily following self-lit set. We bought industrial LEDs that
of the whole show and what the director his blueprint? we incorporated into the set on a dimmer
wants. That requires a lot of meetings, a lot of Bogdanski: Every director brought board. It was programmed for different
time, a lot of work, but without it I think it his own energy and his own view to the lighting setups, but there were no tradi-
would be impossible to shoot a show like this show, but still they were very accepting [of tional fixtures no HMIs, not even any
on schedule. what had already been established]. We traditional LED fixtures from any big brands.
How did your interaction with tried to give every director as much freedom We were not able to dim the LEDs down
showrunner Bradford Winters and as possible while still maintaining the look. properly, so we had to build in three stripes
creator Olen Steinhauer compare with We had five directors, but we didnt want it and, instead of dimming, we switched them
your interaction with the episode direc- to look like five different films. off or on individually. But we could walk in,
tors? Ralph, did your work evolve over hit the button, and off we went. The work-

Left: Main-unit cinematographer Hagen Bogdanski considers a setup on location in Berlin. Right: Second-unit director-cinematographer Ralph
Kaechele (center, wearing knit cap) orchestrates a driving scene that involved the closure of the main boulevard in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
load was so heavy in the studio we had this show. Whenever Richard Jenkins or Ralph as much as possible to bring this ship
nine to 12 pages a day, and sometimes 15 Rhys Ifans or Richard Armitage are on the safely into the harbor. It was fewer people
pages, so there was no time to relight. set, thats what I want. than the main unit, so it was a more inti-
Theres an underwater scene in Kaechele: I think my favorite scene mate workflow.
which the office of station chief Steven was shooting three CIA SUVs racing down Kaechele: Sometimes we scaled up
Frost [Richard Jenkins] is flooded. How the main boulevard in front of the Branden- to 40, 50 people, and sometimes we were
did you adapt this lighting approach for burg Gate which is right next to the real only 18 people. But the core crew did
that scene? U.S. Embassy honking and chasing away almost the entire show with me, so we
Kaechele: Its a scene where he has all of the regular traffic. It was scheduled became really tight. When Hagen came by
a nightmarish vision: The ceiling bursts for the fourth episode, with director at the end, we would both comment on
open, water comes gushing down on him, Christoph Schrewe. MCC supplied all the where the camera would be, what lens we
and as the water level rises, he gets stuck camera vehicles for us in Berlin, and they would use, how we would do the lighting.
inside the office. The office and hallway had their own version of a Russian Arm, the And while he was finessing that, I could
were built into the water tank on stage, and X2 Arm. It was a remote-controlled arm focus on performance and experiment a
we basically mimicked the lighting from the with a stabilized head mounted on a little bit more. It was a lot of fun.
regular set. It was really important to have Mercedes vehicle, and we used that to cover
the practicals in the frame in the water, so this whole scene, which I choreographed TECHNICAL SPECS
they had to be waterproofed and sealed. with the stunt drivers and extra cars. We
We had underwater specialist Jens Winkler shut down that boulevard in front of the 1.78:1
encase the same LED lights that were used Brandenburg Gate for four or five hours on Digital Capture
in the original set, and we also used some a cold, beautiful Saturday morning. We did Arri Alexa Plus, M, Mini; Sony a7S II;
underwater 1,200-watt HMIs. the approach seven or eight times, covering GoPro Hero4
The underwater scene was a lot of all the angles that we needed. Arri/Zeiss Ultra Prime; Angenieux Optimo,
fun to coordinate. That scene was prepped You both had about a week of Optimo Style
for four weeks, and then it was executed in shooting in the Canary Islands. Was
three days. Raising the water level, main- that the last thing you did during prin-
taining the chemicals, maintaining the cipal photography?
temperature, and making sure that the set Bogdanski: Nearly. We went back
wouldnt fall apart all of that had to be to Berlin for another six or seven days of
precisely planned by the unit managers. shooting, and then it was over.
Michael Herbell and, in particular, Tristan Kaechele: Second unit had a couple
Hume did a fantastic job on that. more days after that. At the very end of the Erratum
Did you have a favorite scene or show it was really nice that Hagen was able The table of contents in the September
sequence from the show? to join me for four or five shooting days issue incorrectly places the sets for Kubo
Bogdanski: My favorite scenes are we finally got to work together! and the Two Strings in Vancouver. In fact,
always about the actors. I want scenes with Bogdanski: I didnt want to destroy the stop-motion feature was shot at anima-
great dialogue, great acting. Thats what I the workflow of the second unit; I just tion studio Laikas facility in Hillsboro, Ore.
love. And we had so many good scenes on wanted to see how they did it and support

Return of the
King
30 November 2016
Cinematographers Dave Garbett and John Cavill
help lend stylized realism to the horror-comedy
series Ash vs Evil Dead.
American Cinematographer
By Simon Gray
|
O
nce upon a time, in a cabin in the
woods, a group of college students
awoke an ancient evil that contin-
ues to run rampant through a now
35-year-old horror franchise. Created by
Sam Raimi, the Evil Dead films The
Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II and
Army of Darkness were part scares,
part comedy and all blood-and-guts, and
they made an icon of actor Bruce
Campbell, whose performance as the
chainsaw-wielding antihero Ash
Williams left fans clamoring for more.
That wish was granted when, in 2015,
the television network Starz debuted the
series Ash vs Evil Dead, which began
airing its second season in October.
The series rejoins Ash decades
after his last encounter with demon-
possessed Deadites. Having traded his
gore-soaked chainsaw for a set of false
teeth, Ash spends his days as an incom-
petent clerk at the Value Stop, then
squeezes into a girdle before trying to
impress the female patrons of late-night
bars. In a drug-addled attempt to win
over one of those women, Ash reads
from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, a.k.a.
the Book of the Dead, thereby reawaken-
ing the ancient evil and leaving himself
no choice but to charge back into battle
against the hordes of frenzied Deadites
and their demonic masters.
Cinematographers Dave Garbett
and John Cavill shared the 10 episodes
of season one; for season two, Garbett
Unit photography by Matt Klitscher, courtesy of Starz Entertainment, LLC.
shot seven episodes with Kevin Riley

serving as director of photography for
three. The series is produced in Opposite: Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) returns to battle the Deadite hordes and their demonic masters
Auckland, New Zealand, and principal on the Starz series Ash vs Evil Dead. This page, top: Cinematographer John Cavill (right) preps the
lighting inside Ashs bedroom for a season-two episode. Bottom: Cinematographer Dave Garbett (second
photography for the first season from left, holding camera) eyes a close-up of Campbell.
commenced in spring of 2015, with the
cinematographers sharing a camera to Apple ProRes 4:4:4:4 XQ, usually on other projects when the
package that included two Arri Alexa 2048x1152. Season two continued with episodes are finished. I try to at least have
XTs and a Sony CineAlta PMW-F55; ProRes 4:4:4:4 XQ but upped the reso- a conversation with him prior. He has
all cameras were rated at 800 ISO. The lution to 3840x2160. With the excep- done a great job using his own judgment
different look of the F55 made things a tion of El Jefe, every episode has been based on original LUTs in polish-
bit tricky in the timing, Garbett notes, color-graded at Auckland-based ing the series.
but its a lot of camera in a lightweight Digipost, where Gerard Ward works On-set timing from the cameras
package, making it perfect for Movi with FilmLights Baselight Two, utiliz- Log C feed was done with Pomforts
shots and when we wanted to just throw ing the latest gen-four software, LiveGrade and Fujifilm IS-minis,
the camera around. Garbett says. Gerard Ward was the outlines digital-imaging technician
Season ones first episode titled colorist for both seasons after episode Christian Gower. The resulting LUTs
El Jefe was recorded in ArriRaw, one of season one. Gerard must often fly were passed all the way down the post
after which the workflow switched over solo through the final grade, as were pipeline, so dailies and editorial cuts
www.theasc.com November 2016 31

Return of the King
small set of Ultra Speeds 24mm,
35mm and 50mm for lightweight
work on rigs such as the Movi M15.
The camera kit was provided by
Paul Lake and his team at Panavision
[New Zealand], Garbett says. They
were hugely supportive of me and very
accommodating of my copious requests
during both seasons, and in particular
during the testing phases.
Raimi directed the first episode,
establishing many of the series stylistic
cornerstones. It was Sams idea to use
kinetic lighting to inject energy into a
shot whenever the Evil Force is present,
notes Garbett. When police detective
Amanda Fisher [ Jill Marie Jones] and
her partner investigate a reported distur-
bance in a country house, they slowly
move through the dark, foreboding house
to an upstairs room, where they
encounter a [young woman] they mistake
as a victim. There are hard shadows
throughout the room, maintaining antic-
ipation and trepidation. Then, when the
Deadite possessing the girl reveals itself
to the detectives, a wind comes from
nowhere and whips the curtains, venetian
blinds and plastic furniture-coverings
helter-skelter. One of the detectives drops
a [flashlight] that spins for much longer
than it should, throwing moving shadows
across the room as bulbs flicker and light-
ning flashes. A sequence that started as
quietly ominous is immediately energized
Top: Decades after his last encounter with the Deadites, Ash spends his days working as a clerk
at the Value Stop alongside Pablo (Ray Santiago). Bottom: After Ash unleashes an ancient evil by into something quite crazy. We used this
reading from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, a.k.a. the Book of the Dead, Pablo and Kelly (Dana technique throughout the series to great
DeLorenzo) battle alongside their chainsaw-enhanced co-worker. dramatic effect.
This lighting motif is comple-
matched exactly what Dave, John and [T2.6] and 24-290mm [T2.8] zoom mented with aggressively mobile camer-
Kevin had created on-set. lenses. awork in particular the wide-angle,
For the first season, the cine- Season twos camera and lens high-speed Evil Force point-of-view
matographers worked with a Leica package changed to comprise Arri shots that will look familiar to fans of
Summilux-C lens package, carrying Amira and Alexa Mini cameras and the Evil Dead films. On those features,
18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm Panavision Primo Primes, as well as Raimi and his collaborators achieved the
and 100mm (all T1.4) focal lengths. 17.5-75mm (T2.3), 19-90mm (T2.8) effect with several well-documented DIY
Garbett recalls, Episode one featured a and 24-275mm (T2.8) Primo Zooms. I solutions. While Cavill and Garbett had
lot of torchlight, and I had found during had been missing the Primos, Garbett more modern technology at their
testing that the Leicas had interesting acknowledges. Those lenses have an disposal, they nevertheless embraced the
flare characteristics a lovely blue tone interesting something that is hard to spirit of Raimis earlier methods. There
evident through concentric circles. intellectualize. It was also easier to was no particular rule [to how the effect
Theyre also fast, beautifully made and obtain two full kits, from a 14.5mm up was achieved], says Garbett. It just had
very compact. [We combined] these to a 150mm, with every step in to feel Evil Force POV.
with Angenieux Optimo 15-40mm between. The production also used a For a scene in which Ashs boss,

Mr. Roper (Damien Garvey), is
possessed outside the Value Stop, Garbett
used several techniques to send the
camera careening over, under and
through cars in the locations large park-
ing lot. Moving shots underneath parked
vehicles were achieved with the F55
mounted on a remote-controlled car,
while a more elaborate shot hurtling
across the lot, up and over shopping carts
and into a close-up of the screaming
Garvey was done with the F55 on the
Movi mounted via a quick-release mech-
anism to a Technocrane; the arm brought
the camera low over the ground and up
over the carts before the operator
detached and ran with the Movi to
complete the shot.
Each subsequent director brought
a slightly different approach, Garbett
explains. Rick Jacobson is a big fan of
having the camera on the shoulder. He
likes to shoot at a quick pace, with a lot of
freedom; this is particularly reflected in
action-oriented episodes that have a lot of
cuts and high visual energy. Tony Tilse
and Mark Beesley liked using the 30-foot
Technocrane in season one and the 23-
foot Scorpio throughout season two. The
one thing everyone had in common is the
desire to keep the camera moving. The
Technocrane and Scorpio were run
expertly by key grip Kayne Asher.
The main idea John and I had for
the camerawork was to always have some
form of movement, a background tremor
or resonance that maintains a constant While investigating a country home, police detective Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones, bottom)
comes face to face with Lucy (Marissa Stott), who is possessed by a Deadite.
visual tension, Garbett continues. We
also used moments of emphasis and
punctuation. For example, when some- nation of previous experience and keep- Dead franchise is about.
one runs into frame from around a corner ing my fingers crossed! We didnt over-stylize the visu-
or enters a room, theres a quick push-in Cavill notes, It was instantly als, because the subject matter is already
to a close-up. apparent if the effect had succeeded or so outrageous and insane, explains
Ash vs Evil Dead has achieved not, and we had an amazing special- Garbett. The world had to be visually
many of its imaginatively gory effects in- effects and prosthetics team that could convincing. No matter how insane
camera, but the vagaries of a television make any necessary adjustments on the things get, it should feel grounded, as if
schedule meant there was little time for spot. Its such a good way to work, for these things could possibly be happen-
testing. The special-effects and pros- crew and cast. Even if the effect itself is ing just next door.
thetics departments regularly sent completely absurd, achieving it in- Production designer Nick Bassett
through videos showing us what they camera with Bruce and the others really agrees. Designing a show with a heavy
were working on, but we often didnt see reacting to being hit with gallons of fake use of prosthetics, demonic creatures,
the final prosthetic or effect until the day blood, bits of gore and heaven knows wire work and hyper-violent action, it
it was to be shot, says Garbett. what else was always gold and very was important to keep the sets naturalis-
Laughing, he adds, I relied on a combi- funny pretty much what the Evil tic, he says. Ash vs Evil Dead is horror,

Return of the King
but it is also a comedy, so a lot of effort
was put into making the sets as believable
as possible while maintaining a slightly
whimsical comedic tone. They were
designed so that one establishing shot
told you everything you needed to know
about the space and who inhabited it.
Our scenic team did a great job of surface
texturing and aging. The attention to
detail is a credit to all departments.
The sets also had to accommodate
the shows bouts of dismemberment and
skewering. They had to come apart for
camera and stunt access, Bassett notes.
In Ashs trailer there were wire-rig points
and breakaway cabinets and windows,
while other sets had soft floors and flyable
ceiling pieces. We also had to consider the
many gallons of blood that get dumped
on the sets. Everything has to be sealed
up so the sets dont turn red over the
course of the shoot.
Cavill and Garbett worked with
Bassett and the art department to
prelight each set with domestic practicals,
including tungsten, fluorescent and LED
sources, embracing the flaws of each.
We could walk onto a set with the base
exposure pretty much in the right place,
explains Garbett. Bassett adds, The sets
were plug-and-play 90 percent lit by
practicals. We didnt overthink the color
Above: Demon temperatures, so there is a great mix of
Spawn surround light that gives a kind of 1980s look, espe-
Ruby (Lucy
Lawless) as she cially with atmosphere layered in. Prior to
clutches the Ash vs Evil Dead I had worked on a
Necronomicon succession of shows set before the advent
Ex-Mortis. Right:
The crew of electricity, so the chance to use neon
captures a shot and fluorescent lighting was really excit-
of a Demon ing, and a lot of effort was put into choos-
Spawn attacking
Ruby. ing and building our own practicals.
The cinematographers tended to
maintain a shooting stop of T2.8, and on
sets where space was at a premium, the
actors were typically keyed by either 650-
watt lamps bounced off of calico sheets,
LiteGear LiteMat 1 LED units or
most commonly China balls. For
broader soft key lights, the crew turned to
5Ks or Source Fours again bounced off
thick calico sheets; they also used this
combination as fill in situations when
20Ks were employed to create sunlight or
strong moonlight.
Return of the King
the night [footage] at 1,280 ASA. The
LEDs put out a lot of light, but it sprays
everywhere. It was an elaborate process,
eliminating all that spill with deep,
baffled snoots on the lamps; blacking out
every surface of the car that wasnt seen
[on camera]; and blacking out the studio
from the camera [and] back.
A Christie 20K projector was
mounted from above on a 45' JLG
knuckle boom and aimed straight down
into a 25'x18' screen positioned over the
car in order to create reflections on the
front windshield. We had shot plates
looking up and forward at the mercury
streetlights so that back in the studio,
shooting through the front of Ashs
Oldsmobile, we could play the reflec-
tions of the streetlights passing over the
The crew readies a car-crash scene. windscreen, details Cavill. It was a
finicky undertaking because the Delta is
Beyond Ash himself, the charac- amber/sodium traveling light from the an old car with a lot of curves. The wind-
ters 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 has passenger side, recalls Cavill. On loca- screen itself has quite a pronounced curve
become an icon of the franchise. At the tion there were no streetlights on that as it comes into the pillar; it acted as a
beginning of season ones second side. There was nothing but paddocks, convex mirror, which meant the reflec-
episode, Bait, the spacious ride plays but I occasionally needed something tion screen ended up having to be
host to a freewheeling fight scene between the streetlights on the fill side, lowered until it was virtually touching the
between Ash, Pablo (Ray Santiago) and and the amber light was a good fit. car.
the Deadite-possessed Mr. Roper, even To further help illuminate the Garbett gives due credit to our
as the car tows Ashs Airstream trailer cars interior when there were no street- fantastic second-unit cinematographer,
down a country road. For background lights, the cinematographer adds, I Andrew McGeorge, and his excellent
plates as well as the location exteriors of pushed a bit of a cold 12 CTB, ambient crew. They did an amazing job over both
the car, the production chose a length of base light into the car, using a T12 seasons supporting us, shooting many
road almost a mile long, lined on one through a heavily baffled 12-by-12 Full incredible stunts, action, Evil Force
side with 23 sodium-vapor streetlights. Silk to create a sourceless night-light; I POVs, and often shooting entire
We changed those to mercury lights ran cutters through it occasionally to sequences.
that emitted a cool white light, Cavill match the sim trav feel. I also used a In the season-one episode Fire in
notes, and we shot our backgrounds thin layer of atmosphere through fans the Hole shot by Cavill and directed
specific to the angles we were going to be across the car, which I believe helped by Michael Hurst Ash and Amanda
shooting in the car on the rear-screen make the backgrounds more credible. I fall foul of militia survivalists who believe
set: out both sides, and from the front like to use atmosphere on set. Its moody their friend Lem (Peter Feeney) is the
looking through the back window at the and it carries the light; I also like the way victim of government chemical testing
trailer. it reaches into the blacks its almost and that the duo are agents. Of course,
At the speed the car and trailer like free lighting. Lem is in fact a demonically possessed
were traveling, Cavill tested and found Testing had previously revealed Deadite, and the handcuffed Ash and
he would need to create the effect of a that the 16'x9' rear-projection screens Amanda are the survivalists best hope at
streetlight moving across the vehicles used onstage which employed 15K dispatching the demon. Not understand-
every six seconds to match the lighting and 20K Christie projectors did not ing any of this, the survivalists throw the
on the backgrounds. So, onstage, Cavill offer a high level of output, so consider- pair into their bunker.
rigged three 6' Chroma-Q Color Force able attention had to be paid to eliminat- Michael embraced the idea that
72 LED battens in a shallow U shape ing spill onto the screens. The screens the survivalists would have emergency
lengthwise over the car, with a slight bias were giving us a base of T2.0 for day lighting sodium-vapor-colored practi-
to the drivers side. Another Color Force exteriors, but for night it was more like cals set into bulkhead fixtures in the set,
72 provided an unmotivated T1.0 at 800 ASA, notes Cavill. I shot says Cavill. It gave great justification for

Return of the King
possessed Lem waiting for them. A fight
to the death ensues, and Lem attempts
to burn the handcuffed pair by spitting
fuel ignited by flares taken from the
survivalists stockpile. Cavill details, An
overhead industrial fluorescent supplied
by the art department, gelled with
Chrome Orange and 14 Plus Green,
gave a sodium-vapor ambience, and the
key lights were practical flares specially
made for us. Each flare was timed to
burn for 30 seconds and generated a
great magenta light we went through
more than 40 of them. It was a great
system; once we had set the ambience
and created some highlights with more
sodium bulkheads in the deep back-
Ash finds himself back at the cabin in the woods. ground, all we had to do was light a flare
and call action!
keeping [the set] dark and moody. The the lamps off the industrial-foil lining on Season one of Ash vs Evil Dead
cinematographer brought out back- the ceiling of our converted-warehouse reaches its climax when Ash finds
ground details with ambient light studio, recalls Cavill. himself back where it all began, at the
created by several 5Ks gelled with 12 Moving downward through the foreboding cabin in the remote northern
CTB and 12 Plus Green. The set did labyrinthine bunker, Ash and Amanda Michigan woods. The cabin and the
not have a complete ceiling, so I bounced reach the bottom level only to find the woods [are the setting for] the last three
38
episodes of season one, so we decided tioned T12s with Full CTS to rake dead-simple, basic tool that worked very
the best approach was to build every- through the trees. effectively.
thing, rather than go to location, says Sourceless night-light in the The infamous cabin was an
Bassett. The woods and cabin exterior woods was provided by a combination of important set to get right for the fans,
were constructed in an old equestrian 10 T12s and 20 5Ks, positioned on two Bassett stresses. It was a direct replica of
center, a large space approximately 144 gantries that ran parallel down each side the Evil Dead II set, with every prop and
feet by 260 feet, with the major advan- of the equestrian center. The lamps were furnishing lovingly re-created. Bruce
tage of having a dirt floor, which allowed skimmed across 12 20'x20' squares of Campbell got totally nostalgic walking
us to dig and shape the terrain. We built bleached-cotton bounces, six on each into the space. It was a great way to end
three and a half sides of the cabin, with a side, that were held into the pitched ceil- the first season, in the very space where
partial interior; the tool shed; and the ing by wires. Not a lot of level was it all began 30-plus years ago.
forest, which was made up of 120 trees required from this soft source,
and many, many trailer-loads of ground Blackwood continues. We often only
cover and windfall that our greens used one side of the bounces to get some
department set up in record time. The subtle direction. Having the large surface
interior of the cabin and its cellar were area of bounced light gives lovely reflec-
constructed on other stages. tions on the actors skin. TECHNICAL SPECS
Appropriately for the genre, Ash The actors were often keyed by a 1.78:1
arrives at the cabin as the daylight wanes. 10-by-10-foot sheet of calico suspended
Gaffer Tony Blackwood explains, A on a T-bar and hit with 5Ks or T12s, Digital Capture
20K with Full CTS on a boom lift depending on the level we were after,
provided our sun [source], playing over says Blackwood. The sides were flagged Arri Alexa XT, Mini, Amira;
Sony CineAlta PMW-F55
and to either side of the cabin and cast- to control [the bounce]. They were
ing a single shadow, suggesting the cabin called white sticks, with black sticks Leica Summilux-C;
itself is an ominous entity. We then posi- being the negative-fill version. Its a Panavision Primo, Ultra Speed
39
Rising Up
Cinematographer Elliot Davis Sundance Institute Feature Film lab, Parker co-produced,
directed, and starred in the film he called The Birth of a Nation.
takes on The Birth of a Nation For director of photography Elliot Davis, the film was a
with bold workflow choices and natural fit. Davis was trained as an architect, so I have all that
innovative lighting. social consciousness that architecture brings for housing
and social responsibility, says the Berkeley-based cinematog-
rapher, who has alternated between major features and inde-
By Patricia Thomson pendent films throughout his four-decade career. When I
went to UCLA grad school for film, I fell in with a group of
people mostly from out of the country Africans and people
| from the Middle East who exposed me to another world-
view; they really taught me about the social/political power of
film. I said to myself, If I ever get into the Hollywood struc-
T
he year was 1831, three decades before the Civil War. ture, I want to take what I learned and apply it to films that
Tensions were rising between abolitionists and slavehold- otherwise would never have that expertise films that are
ers. A drought furthered the stress. Both a slave and an trying to promote social consciousness. Thats really what Ive
impassioned Baptist preacher, Nat Turner witnessed built my artistic life on.
unspeakable brutality that curdled his conscience, and he rose Davis projects range from Spike Lees Get on the Bus
up to lead a 48-hour slave rebellion that left approximately 60 (AC Nov. 96), Charles Burnetts The Glass Shield and Haile
whites dead. In retribution, mobs and militias killed between Gerimas Harvest: 3,000 Years; to collaborations with Steven
100 and 200 slaves and freed blacks and Turner himself was Soderbergh (Out of Sight, King of the Hill [1993], The
tried, convicted and executed. The revolt reverberated all the Underneath [1995], Grays Anatomy) and Catherine Hardwicke
way to the Virginia legislature, where ending slavery was (Twilight, Thirteen [AC Aug. 03], Lords of Dogtown [AC June
considered and rejected. It would take many more years for this 05], Miss You Already); to prestige films like Phyllida Lloyds
peculiar institution to be abolished, but the debate had begun. The Iron Lady and mainstream fare like Jessie Nelsons Love the
Like most Americans, actor Nate Parker wasnt taught Coopers.
this piece of history in school, and when he did learn of it, the For The Birth of a Nation, Davis says, I handpicked all
story became a passion project that consumed his life for seven my head people. I really questioned them to make sure they
years. After co-writing the script and workshopping it at the were going to be there for the right reasons. The production

Opposite: After
witnessing
unspeakable brutality,
slave and Baptist
preacher Nat Turner
(director/producer/co-
writer Nate Parker)
orchestrates an
uprising in 1831, in
hopes of leading his
people to freedom in
the feature The Birth
of a Nation. This
page, left: Slave-
patrol captain
Raymond Cobb
(Jackie Earle Haley)
searches for Turners
escaped father.
Below: Parker
discusses a scene with
cinematographer
Elliot Davis.
would be low budget around $8

million for a period costume drama with
battle scenes. It had a brutal schedule: 27
days for principal photography in
Savannah, Ga., and about five weeks for
prep. There would be no overtime, no
frills, not even a rigging crew. But on the
strength of the script, Davis was able to
draft a formidable team of longtime
collaborators, including gaffer Dan
Riffel, key grip Richard Mall, and fellow
camera operator George Billinger.
They all jumped on this film, says
Unit photography by Jahi Chikwendiu, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Davis.
While crewing up, Davis insisted
upon and got one extra position: an on-
set colorist. As an artist, Davis says, the brought in a DIT from Australia, between what you were seeing then and
DI is the most important instrument I Michael Taylor, and trained a Chinese what youre seeing now.
have. Its more important to me than colorist to do on-set dailies. [We] had Basically, Davis elaborates, the
light, than lenses, than anything. Its full DI capability, including windowing overall look was cool and desaturated,
where the emotional look of the film is and secondary color control, Davis says. with high contrast and pushed whites.
made. For that reason, he strives to set Color-corrected dailies would be Ive done movies with that kind of look
the look as early as possible and get it handed over to Reeves on an iPad. Ive before, though not applied to a period
firmly planted in everyones mind at the continued that technique in all my digi- film. That look, for me, was a modern
dailies stage. Hes taken this approach tal movies since, Davis says. look, a more tech look. It was really
since 2013s Man of Tai Chi, when he Both he and Parker wanted a good to separate it from more conven-
and director Keanu Reeves went to modern look for The Birth of a Nation, tional historical pictures, which are
China with a then-new Alexa Studio underscoring the continuing relevance either very normal-looking or shift
camera package. This film made of the movies issues. As the director towards the warm side, like somebodys
history by being the first film in the says, I was not interested in a film with idea of what old is supposed to look
world to shoot full-resolution ArriRaw, contemporary themes that feels like it like. In reality, The Birth of a Nation is
with anamorphic lenses Hawks can only exist in the 19th century. I about the present reality of America. We
utilizing the cameras 4:3 sensor, Davis wanted to use temperature to describe a never wanted the audience to forget
says. There was so much data, the lack of passion or empathy, but also to that.
Chinese couldnt handle it. They wink at 2016 and show parallels The 2.39:1 aspect ratio was like-

Rising Up
allowed maximum flexibility for
Steadicam, handheld and formal shoot-
ing, says Davis.
The dailies workflow began with
DIT Nick Pasquariello creating a base
look and generating an ASC CDL. He
also managed media, backing up with a
Pomfort Silverstack to the on-set RAID
and OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual shut-
tle drives. Raw footage, sound files, CDLs
and reports were sent to the dailies suite in
the production office, where on-set colorist
Steven Sherrick had set up a Blackmagic
Design DaVinci Resolve suite outfitted
with a 24.5" Flanders Scientific CM250
OLED monitor. We had full desktop-
level color grading, Sherrick says.
Working in Resolve allowed me to do all
the really specific things that Elliot
wanted: get into secondary colors, power
windows that needed to be tracked, and
Above: The skin softening. Thats stuff you cant do in
Savannah, Ga.,
property chosen
[normal DIT apps]. Secondaries can be
for the Turner performed in a tool like Pomfort
plantation was LiveGrade to a limited extent, but not
the productions
main shooting
with the control of Resolve, and in this
location. Right: particular scenario we needed the full-
The crew preps blown toolset.
a dinner scene
inside the
Once Sherrick received the shuttle
Turner drives, he backed up data onto a 64TB
plantation Maxx Digital ThunderRAID2, which
home.
stored the entire movie through the dura-
tion, as well as a 12TB OWC Mercury
Elite Pro Dual drive for insurance. Media
was also backed up to LTO tape; once the
wise a nod to modern sensibilities. In Capture Drives, as well as a lighter- tape backup was verified, the 12TB drive
addition to accommodating more weight Red Epic Dragon, which shot was wiped clean.
people in the frame, the widescreen Redcode Raw 5120x2700 and recorded Sherrick color-graded each and
aspect ratio is the modern graphic, to RedMag 1.8" SSDs. I wanted to every take so all would be available for the
Davis states. If you go back to 1.33, you save George Billingers back! says Avid edit. After finishing that work,
could say its the oldest compositional Davis. The Epic wound up staying Resolve generated what he calls an inter-
framework we have, while 2.40 is the mounted on the Steadicam for quick mediate file in ProRes 1080p, which
newest framework. On top of that, the access, and also came out for a few high- would go into FotoKems NextLab dailies
filming technique is almost all handheld, speed shots. software, together with sound files. From
with Steadicam and the occasional dolly I distilled the lens package down there, Sherrick says, I would sync sound
shot. This was to ensure the feeling of into less is more and less is faster, and generate deliverables, which were Avid
modern immediacy. Davis says. We had a set of lenses for DNxHD 115 files for editorial, as well as
The crew deployed two cameras each camera, which included three compressed H.264 QuickTimes for online
whenever possible, mostly handheld, workhorse Angenieux Optimo zooms: viewing for the producers and director,
operated by Davis and Billinger. 15-40mm (T2.6), 28-76mm (T2.6) and who used Scenic Drives online dailies
Cineverse in Atlanta supplied two Arri 45-120mm (T2.8). Also included in the viewing system. I also used those files for
Alexa XT Plus cameras, which shot total package were a 12:1 Angenieux Nate Parkers iPad. Finally, drives
ArriRaw 2880x1620 in 4:3 sensor mode Optimo 24-290mm (T2.8), and Cooke containing Avid DNxHD 115, sound
and recorded to internal Codex XR S4/i 14mm and 27mm primes. This files, H.264s and dailies reports were

shipped to editorial in Los Angeles. Once
it got into the dailies, it was the typical
workflow, Sherrick says. It was the
preceding part that was a little unusual.
[The reason] we did the multiple
steps, and why we didnt stay in Resolve
the whole way, came down to four things,
Sherrick elaborates. First, syncing sound
is much easier in NextLab. Second, the
editor required very specific window burns,
which FotoKem tweaked for me and were
not possible to do in Resolve. Third, at the
time, Resolve was unable to export the
display name column via ALE so scene-
take would [show] up in the Avid; I
worked with Blackmagic to fix this, and as
of version 12.5.2, it does it. Fourth, LTO
support in NextLab is very robust. They
even wrote a tweak for the MLogic
MTape Thunderbolt LTO drive we were
using.
Each night, Davis would head to
the color suite to spend an hour or two
with Sherrick. My day was 15 hours long,
but it was worth it to me because I was
implementing the directors look, the
cinematographer says. And it was very
good for Nate, because he was able to cut
together his film out of the Avid to show
to investors. They probably thought the
film looked finished, and that probably
helped him raise money and instill confi-
dence.
On-set color grading not only
previewed the look, it helped Davis test
workarounds for shortfalls in time and
budget. They didnt have enough money
to own the clothes, to color and age them
the way they wanted, says Davis, who
instead used power windows to lend
costumes an aged patina. Likewise, the art
department was miniscule, he says. If
they did get lucky and were able to paint an
interior, Id be able to grad down the walls
with the DI, instead of having an on-set
painter do it.
Given the large multiracial cast, skin
tones ran the gamut, and each face
reflected light and responded to desatura-
tion differently. Here again, Sherrick and
Davis went in with power windows and
tracking, actor by actor. If you have multi- Top: The camera frames Turner working the cotton fields. Middle: Davis lines up a shot while
ple white skin tones, some will be affected Parker looks on. Bottom: Parker discusses a scene with actors Aunjanue Ellis and Tony Espinosa.
by magenta levels that react differently to

Rising Up
seen by the DI colorist, and he should be
able to build those in. If he could start right
from there, that would put the DI at about
80 to 90 percent complete. But its not like
that now. Instead, the DI colorist must re-
create that work, relying on dailies, export
stills or QuickTime references.
The challenge, says Sherrick, is
figuring out a way to streamline that in the
future, so this additional work with secon-
daries could translate down the line. The
hope is that there is continued evolution of
the ASC Color Decision List framework.
As it stands now, it supports the inter-
change of basic RGB color-correction
information, which is fine for a lot of jobs
where you are just trying to set a basic look,
Above: Samuel but when you want to do a more complex
Turner (Armie
Hammer) and Nat grade, it would be great if there were a
Turner were framework that at least supported
boyhood friends secondary corrections. The key would be
until the former
became finding a way to standardize this across a
plantation multitude of color tools. By implementing
master. Right: this, cinematographers would be able to
Davis captures an
insert of Samuel get closer to the look they are trying to
Turner receiving achieve and have the look travel along to
money. Producer other parts of the post process, such as
Kevin Turen
assists. visual effects. The colorist could also use it
as a starting point or simply as a reference
for intent. There may be some hurdles to
the desaturation process, says Sherrick. putting a flag on a condor at night, get over in the short term, but perhaps in a
Significant time was spent pulling which is difficult and time-consuming, few years this will be second nature. In the
magenta out of the skin tones, which or having to put a flag on somebodys meantime, well be using workarounds.
kept the image in the bandwidth of a clothes to make them darker, I knew I The final grade took place at
cool, desaturated look. Even a little could do that in the DI. Headquarters in Burbank, where Davis
magenta shift was noticeable and He would also define layers spent 100 hours working with senior
distracted from the look. With the through color and contrast, as in the colorist Richard Garibaldi after DI
darker skin tones, Elliot had a specific campfire scenes. I could isolate the fire conform editors Scott Bradbury and Toby
tone he was going for, Sherrick adds. and make it brighter and warmer, but Rogers had conformed the ArriRaw and
We were just trying to create that still keep the background behind it cool 5K Epic files. (Following Fox Searchlights
desaturated look without removing the and desaturated and all the while acquisition, a further touch-up was done at
life. controlling the faces precisely, Davis Technicolor, which Davis was unable to
On-set color grading also played a says. There were so many things I could attend.) Garibaldi watched four films that
big role in the numerous night exteriors, do. Parker had singled out as visual touch-
always the Achilles heel of low-budget However, theres a big hole in the stones: The Assassination of Jesse James by the
features. I didnt have time for the grip workflow right now, Davis states, and Coward Robert Ford [AC, Oct.07], Valhalla
work required, says Davis, but I knew thats the fact that none of the metadata Rising, and Davis Iron Lady and Man of
when I was lighting the scene, what I related to the secondary color work gets Tai Chi. He then watched the Avid edit in
could manipulate in post shading inscribed in the CDL and transported Rec 709 together with the director and
them with grads, knocking them down, down the line. This is something that cinematographer; after lengthy discus-
windowing them to make them brighter really needs to be fixed, the cinematog- sions, he created a custom LUT that trans-
or darker, altering contrast, color, etc. rapher stresses. If you go in there with a lated the key parameters of the raw dailies
so I would let things go in production. DaVinci mobile or equivalent, the in P3. Garibaldi graded in a 2K DPX DCI
That allowed me to be fast. Instead of corrections that Steve made should be workflow on an Autodesk Lustre platform

Rising Up
production that cinematographers must
maintain their control.
During principal photography, the
need for speed governed numerous deci-
sions. The first was the property chosen as
the Turner plantation the productions
main location. It abutted a piece of land
where the crew could build the slave quar-
ters, a corral, and the barn where Nat
Turner first preached. For us as a little
movie, it worked out really well, Davis
says. That whole area became like a
studio. Davis and production designer
Geoffrey Kirkland strategically placed
windows in the slave cabins and opened
slates in the barn walls to accommodate
outside lights. Inside the manor, they
jointly selected wall colors. On a white
skin tone, I always keep my background
two to three stops darker, and I applied the
same principle to African Americans, says
Davis. That is what I get from old master
Renaissance paintings. It allows the actors
to come forward. Otherwise, its about the
wall and not the actor.
Fast and flexible lighting was para-
mount. Literally, we were shooting a shot
every 10 or 15 minutes, Davis says.
Thats staging actors, getting the camera
there, lighting and rolling camera. So I had
to come up with the ability to light that
quickly.
A first step was controlling the sun
around the plantation. Production was in
May and June, when the light in Georgia
Top: The crew readies a nighttime discussion by a bonfire between Nat Turner and other slaves. stands up like at 12 noon pretty much all
Bottom: The crew frames Nat Turner and his army charging into action against a large militia.
the time, Davis says. Line producer Mark
Moran approved two 80' condors, one
with a calibrated NEC 2K projector. have to watch the film at speed and with straight and one articulating. He under-
The grading process was layered sound. From that screening came addi- stood the importance of controlling the
and iterative, says the DI colorist. Elliot tional shot-level notes. There were two light, because that affected how quickly we
and I started by focusing on the look of final reviews with the filmmakers, could shoot. During the day, those
significant individual shots, then Garibaldi says, one when we were ready condors became flyswatters with 20'x20'
bloomed out from there, grading the for final delivery for the Sundance Film frames of Light Grid, married on top to
surrounding shots for continuity. When Festival, and a final review at Dolbys make a 20'x40'.
we were satisfied with a sequence or a screening room after they created the At night, the condors each carried
reel, wed put it down for a while, work on DCP with the final audio for the festi- the films workhorse backlight: a Par-bar
another sequence, and then come back val. array with 36 fixtures. We could aim them
with fresh eyes. As we got closer to the The DI is the most critical part out in different directions spots and
finished look with visual effects in place, of the production process for the cine- floods and things like that, says Davis.
we screened the entire film with Nate. matographer, Davis attests. It is, in Riffel adds, The Par bars were great
This was a great opportunity to assess the reality, an extension of the shooting because we could just stack however many
overall presentation and to discover any process, and where the integrity of the we wanted in a particular spot. It didnt
continuity issues. Sometimes you just look is finalized. It is at this stage of the take the full array most of the time. The

Rising Up
condor arrays of Par lights at the end of the
road with a bit of mist, some edge light on
the actors, and a little bit of fill, and that
was it. Thats basically how I had to do the
night scenes.
For soft fill, Riffel brought four
The crew special items made by a friend Jay
prepares a
large exterior Yowler, who is a fellow gaffer and one of
set on location four partners at Quasar Science, Riffel
in Georgia. says. We nicknamed [the units]
Lumenatti: a metal box with four LED
tubes that change color very easily, with 90-
degree directional crates. That was one of
the things that helped us move along. If
you needed to add a little warmth to match
the Par backlight, which was 12 CTB on
foliage was so thick on those plantations against that, he says. Its also homoge- tungsten, you could blend it very easily
that you really had to calculate how far neous with rim light. You feel like theres without having to wait for a piece of gel to
away from it you wanted to get before all a source. I did let areas go dark or let come in. The LED world has made things
of [the light] was soaked up by the people go dark and play them very very efficient.
greenery you were fighting through. silhouettey, to the point where they The Lumenatti were particularly
Davis would use the Pars to get a almost became abstract like the slave useful when Davis lit with units close to or
rim light on dark figures at night and to hunters when they find Nats father in directly on the ground, a technique in line
backlight mist. If you light the mist, you the road; thats a very painterly, beautiful with the cinematographers interest in light
light the woods. People can silhouette shot. It was simply one of those big that appears to be reflected off of surfaces.
48
Riffel notes, You could literally line up either directed through large Grid cated, participating collaborator, the
four Lumenatti the length of a dolly frames or bounced off surfaces wherever cinematographer describes, who came
shot and walk through them. needed. They worked everywhere, armed with a detailed blueprint. Having
The units contained Quasar Science Riffel enthuses. thought about the project for years, the
LED tubes, which Riffel found to be Another innovative solution director arrived with clear ideas and
wildly versatile. The tubes work great on involved the productions onscreen hundreds of images illustrating the films
their own or in Kino fixtures as well and lanterns. In the 1830s, lanterns were DNA, which helped in the productions
not having the time or funding for a typically lit by candles rather than gas. race against time.
dimmer system, we made up some LED Here again, LEDs were the source, in As Davis concludes, I was
hand dimmers; a switch on each tube this case 2" LiteGear X6 LiteRibbons. exhausted every day, because it was like
would set it to 5,500 or 3,200 degrees. No The clincher, though, was the companys running sprints, then going to the color-
ballast needed, so they plug and play very new controller, which was small enough ing after that. Parker was duly apprecia-
quickly. to fit inside the lantern base and gener- tive. Elliot did the impossible, he says,
An example of their adaptability was ate flicker. You could take a little bit of and he did it daily.
the placement of bare tubes on the laps of LED pad, stripe it with some CTOs
actors with the tubes being obscured by and fire-color to add a little warmth, and
the people and furniture immediately in the controller and battery would fit in
front of them for shots inside the barn the bottom of these lanterns that the TECHNICAL SPECS
during the preaching scenes. And with actor was holding, says Riffel. Those 2.39:1
their relative light weight, the tubes were little flicker gags worked very, very well.
also taped behind pews and in other places Im a firm believer in the proverb, Digital Capture
where hiding lights posed a challenge. With a bad foundation, the whole
Arri Alexa XT Plus,
Additionally, when used as a broad, soft house falls down, Davis says. Thats Red Epic Dragon
source either as fill or key the tubes maybe from my architecture back-
functioned within their housings and were ground. In Parker, he found a dedi- Angenieux Optimo, Cooke S4/i
49
Connecting the Pieces
D
Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC and o you like puzzles? Treasury agent Ray King ( J.K.
Simmons) asks a colleague in the Gavin
director Gavin OConnor build OConnor-directed thriller The Accountant.
suspense on Super 35mm for the Though King is referring to the enigmatic activities
thriller The Accountant. of protagonist Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), he may as well
be talking about the movie itself, which keeps viewers guess-
ing until the end.
By Mark Dillon
To the outside world, Wolff is a CPA, but hes also an
autistic math savant and social misfit haunted by a troubled
| childhood. Wolff secretly tracks down stolen money for
dangerous international clients, including drug cartels, arms

Opposite: Math
savant Christian
Wolff (Ben Affleck)
clandestinely tracks
down money for
dangerous clients in
the feature The
Accountant. This
page, top and
middle: Wolff takes
on legitimate client
Lamar Black (John
Lithgow) and
befriends
accounting clerk
Dana Cummings
(Anna Kendrick).
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Seamus McGarvey,
ASC, BSC (looking
through finder) gets
an angle on the
action.
brokers and assassins and his services

run perhaps darker still. True to the
company Wolff keeps, he stashes away
guns, cash and gold bullion in his
tricked-out Airstream trailer.
His latest client is Lamar Black
( John Lithgow), a philanthropist who
manufactures robotic limbs for
amputees, and who wants Wolff to
investigate discrepancies in his
companys books. Along the way Wolff
befriends Dana (Anna Kendrick), a
fellow accountant in Blacks employ
who gets entangled in the shady
goings-on, while mob accountant
Unit photography by Chuck Zlotnick, courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Francis Silverberg ( Jeffrey Tambor)

cautions Wolff about the path hes
treading. Indeed, the closer Wolff gets
to cracking the numbers, the more he
finds himself in danger and soon its
not only the Feds that are on his tail.
The Accountant marks the first
collaboration between two-time ASC
and Academy Award-nominated direc-
tor of photography Seamus McGarvey,
ASC, BSC and OConnor. I got the
call from Gavin, read the script [by Bill
Dubuque] and loved it, McGarvey
recalls on the line from London after a
day of shooting the sci-fi thriller Life
with director Daniel Espinosa. I
couldnt quite grasp its complexities
because I have no idea about accoun-
tancy or math. Nonetheless, the script
makes you feel that although Wolff is

environment. I wanted the teeth,
contrast and grain I knew I could get
from the 5219 stock, which we often
pushed a stop to achieve.
Whereas OConnor has origi-
nated all his features on film, McGarvey
captured digitally on The Avengers (AC
June 12), Godzilla (AC June 14), Fifty
Shades of Grey (AC March 15) and Pan,
and is currently shooting Life on Arris
Alexa 65. The cinematographer has
rolled plenty of film, however, most
recently on the Chlo Sevigny-directed
short Kitty, and on director Tom
Fords forthcoming thriller adaptation
Nocturnal Animals. In the case of The
Accountant, capturing on film required
some convincing. The producers
wanted us to shoot digitally,
McGarvey says. That was part of their
budget and workflow. But Gavin and I
felt strongly that film was the way to go,
and we assured them we wouldnt blow
the budget on endless takes. Gavin
knows when hes got a shot and just
moves on.
The crew rolled a pair of
Panavision Millennium XL2 cameras,
with Dave Emmerichs handling A
camera and Steadicam. McGarvey had
recently worked with Emmerichs on a
Gucci commercial, and extended the
invite knowing the operators strength
with Steadicam and handheld work.
Donal Steinberg came on board as A-
camera 1st AC, and Bob Gorelick oper-
ated the B camera with Mary
Top: Wolff methodically places documents on the table in Blacks boardroom. Bottom: The crew Stankiewicz as his 1st AC. Bob would
readies the scene, which was shot on location at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
be on the zoom on a longer lens for
two-camera setups, which werent that
doing complex and difficult stuff, you Keith was great to talk to about finding frequent, McGarvey says. We did that
dont have to understand it completely locations, weaving them in and working for news-conference scenarios, [as well
or make those calculations yourself. out what we would shoot in studio and as] scenes with Ray in his office due to
The filmmakers had what the blending that with real exteriors, partic- J.K. Simmons availability. We had to
Irish cameraman characterizes as a ularly for a nighttime gun battle filmed shoot very fast with him; he was in the
short but intense five weeks of prep largely in semi-darkness. thick of Academy Award season, so he
that got underway ahead of approxi- The filmmakers were adamant was back and forth to L.A. (As it
mately 50 days of principal photogra- about shooting on Kodak Vision3 500T turned out, Simmons promotional
phy, spanning January to March 2015, 5219 stock. We knew we were going to efforts paid off with a best supporting
in and around Atlanta, Ga. We went start the movie with a matter-of-fact- actor win for Whiplash, shot by Sharone
through every aspect of the film with ness about the photography before it Meir; see AC Nov. 14.)
production designer Keith Cunning- ramps up to being basically an action McGarveys crew was otherwise
ham and had a very clear idea of what movie, McGarvey offers. And much largely local and new to him. They
we were going for, McGarvey says. of it was going to be told in a nocturnal were really solid, he notes. Gaffer

Gary Holmes and key grip Eddie
Evans came as a team off The Walking
Dead, and understood our time
constraints which were major in
terms of making our days and moving
between disparate locations. They were
great at being creative but fast.
When shooting digitally,
McGarvey enjoys huddling with the
director by a monitor, but finds looking
at the video-tap from a film camera
dispiriting. So, in this case, he
watched the action from beside the
camera.
Framing for widescreen 2.39:1
felt right, with spherical lenses and the
3-perf Super 35mm format deemed
best for the night-heavy shoot.
Anamorphic lenses do not perform
well wide-open at night on the edge of
exposure, McGarvey opines. With a
chuckle, he adds, Its just not fair to
the focus puller, either.
Though the crew made use of
Panavisions 24-275mm Primo Zoom
(T2.8), and for crane work would
throw on a 19-90mm (T2.8)
Panavision Primo Compact Zoom,
The Accountant was shot primarily on
Primo Primes. I wanted the precision,
contrast and resolution I knew they
would bring, McGarvey says. This
sense of physical order helped empha-
size Wolff s obsessive-compulsive
personality seen, for example, in
overhead shots depicting the exacting
way he stores his cutlery and prepares
and eats his meals.
Shooting Life now, Im either
extremely wide or long, McGarvey
notes. But The Accountant needed a
sobriety to it, so it was the 21mm, Cast and crew work in and around the set for Wolffs Airstream trailer.
27mm, 75mm and 100mm. It was
quite straightforward. content, but it gradually unravels. style, he says. It had to feel true.
Im not fastidious about shoot- Toward the end we went low-key and The most pronounced looks
ing with one stop, the cinematogra- underexposed dramatically by three or come in flashbacks to Wolff s child-
pher continues. I dont have to shoot a four stops. hood, when a young Chris (Seth Lee)
picture all at T4. If I want to shoot If theres one aspect of and his brother are shuffled around the
wide-open for effect, Ill do it, and the McGarveys style he sees as consistent globe with their military father (Robert
contrary for shooting deeper. The start through most of his work, its a C. Treveiler). Among these sequences
of this film is quite conservative. We penchant for naturalism, achieved in a are vignettes about Chris psychological
were going for a photographic recti- minimalistic yet highly controlled assessment, his martial-arts training in
tude to show nothing was awry; every- manner. This is a film that did not Thailand, a funeral, and his fathers
thing was in place. That matched the require bombast in terms of lighting driving him to confront bullies in

| Details in the Dark |
G iven projects often overlapping

schedules, a successful collabora-
tion is sometimes more about having
acknowledges. I had to assuage their
fears. They wanted detail, and for the
audience to see the actors. But at the
faith in your colleagues than working same time, we wanted to create a sense
with them side-by-side. Such was the of obscurity and atmosphere.
case for The Accountant cinematogra- Sowa adds, They didnt want
pher Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC the low-light areas so heavy black, so I
and ASC associate and Technicolor gave it a little lift and made sure it
digital-intermediate colorist Mike worked throughout the scene without
Sowa. Due to his commitments on hurting the storytelling. It kept the
Pan, McGarvey came in before the dark interior but relieved it a little.
official start of The Accountants DI Seamus, Gavin and the studio were
and worked alongside ASC associate happy. Theres no noise, no grain,
and Technicolor supervising finishing because were not lifting it beyond the
artist Steve Scott with whom he negatives exposure level.
had collaborated on The Avengers, The filmmakers also rode a fine
Godzilla (2014) and Fifty Shades of line between what to reveal and what
Grey to set looks for various frames to keep hidden in a scene in which
across several reels. I wanted to get in Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck)
the ballpark in some areas I was approaches an apartment building as a
concerned about, McGarvey says. Technicolor DI colorist and ASC associate Mike Sowa. familiar-looking man walks out. Wolff
Steve set the look and Mike followed then follows him. A massive light
through. unobtrusive one. We were aiming for a engulfs the front of the building, and
Sowa began the grade a week naturalistic look, but to achieve that, when the character exits hes bathed in
later. Since Seamus couldnt sit with me Mike did a lot of work, the cinematog- this light, Sowa explains. But we dont
through the entire DI, I was thankful rapher says. He really got into it and want to identify that character it was
for the roadmap, he says. Director applied many windows. a main storyline. So, in the DI, I was
Gavin OConnor was available, but he The colorist is at the mercy of the able to put a window on that and adjust
also had to spend time on the mix and footage, especially when its film-origi- the light, bringing it down to a silhou-
visual effects, and editor Rick Pearson nated and even more so when there ette. Until we got into the DI, they
was even still cutting. So I went through are bold low-light choices, as in the didnt know how it was going to
the movie by myself and pulled it all to darkened house interior for the movies appear.
the reference frames. reel-long shootout and fight scene. Sowa and OConnor pushed
When McGarvey returned to Sowa credits McGarvey for his full forward on the DI in McGarveys
Los Angeles, he came in to screen control on set. The whole interior is absence, reviewing the footage as the
Sowas first pass. He wanted to make one big shadow except where ambient editing was refined and visual effects
sure I was true to what they did on set, moonlight would come through a were incorporated.
Sowa says. Its one thing to come in window, the colorist explains. That McGarvey and Sowa agree that
and set a frame, and another to apply calls for selective windowing on my the heaviest looks applied in the DI
that look over a whole scene. So I did part, which could look sketchy if the were for Wolff s childhood flashbacks.
some tweaks and ran them by him; he footage isnt properly exposed. We created a kind of halation on the
asked for some others, and then Gavin Fortunately, Seamus gave us a fat nega- highlights a slight diffusion of the
came in and asked for a bunch. Its tive with all kinds of room. I was able to blacks and a slight amount of desatura-
collaborative. You hope to have every- set levels that were dark but still tion, the cinematographer says. For
Photo courtesy of Technicolor.
body in the room on the same day, but comfortable. some of the earlier flashbacks we also
often that cant happen so you just As it turned out, however, the added some grain, even though we
prepare for the ride. shows studio execs were not quite were shooting 5219 and sometimes
McGarvey reports that they comfortable enough, so McGarvey pushing the stock. We went a bit
played significantly with contrast and made sure to be on hand to work on the further and we had fun doing that.
color and applied a look, albeit a largely night scene. They were worried, he Mark Dillon

France. Some of these scenes were illu- tural practicals such as recessed can going with practical flashes supplied by
minated with hotter key lights, as was lights with spot bulbs, Holmes notes the special-effects department,
the case for a high wide shot of the provided additional glow. Holmes recalls. They were functioning
assessment facility, which has a warm, McGarvey explains, I created high- prop guns.
woody feel and a rainbow of colors in lights in there. I would light a wall a The scenes low-light style neces-
its production design, suggestive of stop under, but the foreground was sitated a couple of days of additional
childhood. This is juxtaposed with virtually silhouette. photography. In our handheld chaos
flashbacks of a funeral, which have a Then there was the matter of which was essential to shooting the
ghostly, desaturated look amplified by creating the muzzle flash from the scene the audience couldnt always
Tiffen Glimmerglass 1 and 2 diffusion guns. We tried a couple of different figure out what was happening,
filters. things, including strobes, but wound up McGarvey explains. Our editor, Rick
In the French flashback, Chris
dad parks their Peugeot in the rain and
Chris gets out of the car to fight his
tormentors under a bridge. The down-
beat scene has an overriding cold-blue
look, which McGarvey recalls as a
nightmare to accomplish, given it was
shot on a sunny winter day. The scene
was staged in an old train depot below
street level, and the crew reduced the
sunlight with silks that were carefully
placed relative to the rain machine. For
the dialogue exchange inside the car,
Holmes recalls, we used an 8-by-8
Light Grid frame with an 18K [aimed]
into it, and a 4K through a 4-by-4
frame of diffusion for an edge light.
For the exterior action they used
12'x12' black Duvetyn to curb the
bounce of sunlight off buildings and
create some contrast. Fortunately, the
sun eventually disappeared behind a
nearby building.
The aforementioned gun battle
transpires at Blacks home, as Wolff
pursues a mysterious adversary ( Jon
Bernthal). The latter shuts off the
house lights to keep hidden, leaving
moonlight and gunfire as the principal
lighting motivations. The exterior wide
shots for this sequence were captured in
an affluent lakefront neighborhood
outside the city, while interiors and
tighter exteriors were handled in a
warehouse studio.
The cyan moonlight, which the
crew pushed inside the house through
windows, was produced by a half-dozen
tungsten soft boxes diffused with Full
Grid and directed with egg crates. Each
soft box was rigged with a pair of Arri
T12s gelled with 12 Blue and 14 Plus
Green. A number of exterior architec-
Pearson, said that he wished he had
clearer shots of a few bits and pieces.
So we picked up some inserts that
hammered home little plot points.
Characters movements
throughout the house are tracked via
security cameras. This footage was
initially captured on iPhone cameras
with the Flir One thermal-imaging
attachment, as well as on Canon EOS
5D Mark IIIs fitted with Canon EF
16-35mm (f2.8) zooms. One of each
camera was placed side-by-side in the
corners of rooms, but as the cine-
matographer notes, In postproduction
the Flir material seemed too abstract,
so we decided to go with the footage
we shot with the Canon 5Ds. They
gave a slightly clearer image but still
one we could shoot in that low light.
The filmmakers shot other surveil-
lance footage with the XL2 with an
IR attachment mounted on the
Primos but OConnor found the
image too indistinct and grainy, so
again the Canon cameras got the nod.
On stage, the exterior front of
the house was lit by 5Ks with
Chimeras and the moonlight gel pack
12 Blue and 14 Plus Green. On
location, when the crew set up a wide
shot in which a group of armed merce-
naries arrives and surrounds the house,
McGarvey reports that they shot dusk
for night so at least the silhouette of
the house would be defined by a
lighter sky that I could pull down in
the grade. Here, moonlight was
created by gelled 12-light Maxi-Brutes
each fitted with alternating flood
and spot globes mounted on a pair
of condors down the street, with two
Maxi-Brutes per condor. It was quite
an inaccessible location, and there were
only a couple of places we could actu-
ally put lights, the cinematographer
notes. I needed maximum throw, so I
had to use harder sources. I didnt
diffuse at all.
The front of the house was
Top: McGarvey lines up a low-angle shot for an action scene with Affleck.
further illuminated by two rows of
Middle: The cinematographer and crew prep the lighting for a sequence on a stage-built recessed spots [along the walkway],
interior set of Blacks house. Bottom: The crew works on a scene in which a group of armed Holmes says, as well as 1K black Par
mercenaries surrounds the home.
cans which were patched into a

dimmer system lighting the trees.
The gaffer calls this setup as low-tech
as it gets.
Another key location was the
Georgia Institute of Technology, where
the crew set up for a week toward the
end of the shoot, and which provided
the exterior pedestrian walkways and
interior lab settings for Blacks robotics
facility. Its one of those locations you
just have to get into and adapt for your
own purposes, McGarvey says.
Theyre tricky when youre on a
timescale and have to shoot day and
night in one spot, and either control
ambient daylight or create daylight
when [the sun disappears].
A montage sequence shot at
Georgia Tech shows Wolff in a mono-
chromatic boardroom, methodically
laying out boxes of documents on a
long black table, poring over the
companys accounts, and writing out his
calculations on a glass wall. OConnor
wanted quick cuts as Wolff puts the
pieces together. Lighting options were
limited, as the space had only 9' ceil-
ings. There were pin spots in the ceil-
ing, but no actor would want to see
themselves lit with those, so Keith
Cunningham designed soft boxes that
felt like real practical lights, McGarvey
recalls, adding that they were designed
for on-screen use and can be seen
clearly in many shots.
The three soft boxes employed in
the sequence were each approximately
8'x4', and contained rows of LiteGear
Hybrid LED VHO Pro LiteRibbon
that were spaced 4" apart and situated
above a milk Plexiglas bottom. That
created this fantastic ambient soft key
over the table, the cinematographer
adds. Those lights are controllable and
dimmable, so we could intensify them
when we had to fight the daylight or
dim them down when it was a lower-
key scenario.
Whiteboards at opposite ends of
Top: Director Gavin OConnor (kneeling at table) discusses a scene with Affleck and actor Jeffrey
the room were lit from behind with 4'
Tambor (portraying Francis Silverberg). Middle: Affleck, Tambor and crew film another scene set Kino Flo tubes to provide definition
in a correctional facility. Bottom: McGarvey studies the scene as OConnor discusses the action between the boards and white walls. A
with actors J.K. Simmons (second from left, portraying Ray King) and Cynthia Addai-Robinson
(seated at right, portraying Marybeth Medina).
foyer outside the boardroom had a huge
window, and the light penetrating it

for close-ups in this sequence, they
turned to 500-watt Lowel Rifa fixtures
diffused with Soft Grid. The filmmak-
ers captured the scene from numerous
angles, including a wide shot of the
McGarvey, glassed-in room from the large robotics
Kendrick,
Affleck and lab it overlooks. For that shot the crew
OConnor flew an HMI balloon containing four
discuss a scene 4K bulbs, providing further ambient
as the crew
prepares for light in the boardroom. The lab below
action. had six Mole-Richardson 5K Par
fixtures rigged in the ceiling, forming
pools of light.
Back in the boardroom, the crew
made use of a jib arm, with the camera
suspended on a Libra stabilized remote
head. In one shot the camera moves in
reached through one of the board- outside with an 18K for consistent across the table over a row of docu-
rooms glass walls. To be able to ambient daylight. So for this big scene ments, ending with the visual button of
continue shooting after sunset we could just decide, This shots day, Wolff blowing on his fingers his
which comes early in an Atlanta winter that shots night, and light appropri- signature OCD move. Gavin wanted a
the art department blacked out the ately, McGarvey says. That saved a lot symphonic feel, McGarvey says. He
top of the window and applied frosted of time, gave us flexibility and saved the wanted to build up the movement. We
diffuser panels on the rest. The crew production a lot of money. start with static frames, and then with
then blew out the window from the If the crew needed additional fill the realization that Christians getting
60
close to discovering whats going on, processed all digital dailies deliverables with an Arrilaser recorder.
Gavin wanted the camera to suddenly and archival copies. Shots requested for As much as McGarvey has
soar a bit and float. visual effects were re-scanned on an wholeheartedly embraced digital
The camera also floats toward Arri unit to ensure proper pin registra- shooting, he enjoyed returning to the
Christian in a scene in his trailer. He tion. Dailies colorist Eric Haase used photochemical realm on The
sits meditatively on his bed, Colorfront On-Set Dailies and Accountant. Were in a period where
surrounded by his valuable art collec- Technicolor Dailies software, guided by cinematographers have the choice, he
tion, and lost in thoughts of his task at reference stills. Avid DNxHD 36 files says. Its a great position to be in to
hand and whether he can embark on a were generated for editorial and H.264 have different media and tools and
romantic relationship with Dana. The QuickTime files for dailies viewing via entirely different ways of telling
trailer interior was constructed on the Pix. McGarvey evaluated dailies on his stories.
soundstage, and was a tight squeeze for computer.
this dolly shot. We made the track Digital-intermediate colorist and
narrow-gauge and skinnied up the ASC associate Mike Sowa spent three
dolly, McGarvey says. Steadicam is weeks working on the film at
often good for tracking at speed and Technicolors Seward facility in TECHNICAL SPECS
going forward or back, but when you Hollywood, grading with Autodesk
2.39:1
need precision and have a lot of verti- Lustre (see sidebar, page 54).
cals or horizontals, youre worried McGarvey came in to set up some 3-perf Super 35mm
about the step, the roll or the tilt. We looks before leaving for London to
wanted an absolutely precise, symmet- shoot additional photography on Pan, Panavision Millennium XL2,
rical push-in. and participated in the DI when he Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Camera negative was processed returned to Los Angeles to prep Panavision Primo, Canon
at FotoKem. Technicolor scanned the Nocturnal Animals. The filmout was
footage at 2K on a Spirit4K system, and performed at 2048x1168 resolution Digital Intermediate
61
A Friend in Need
scar Faura teams with director Although Faura and Bayona began their professional
careers side by side, the cinematographer reports that he still
J.A. Bayona to shoot a finds himself challenged and driven to face something that
coming-of-age drama in a fantastical you havent experienced before every time they work together.
framework for A Monster Calls. The two were classmates at ESCAC Escola Superior de
Cinematografia i Audiovisuals de Catalunya in Barcelona,
and shot short films, music videos and commercials together
By Michael Goldman for years. Faura went on to shoot Bayonas first two features
The Orphanage and The Impossible before tackling this latest
| project.
The production of A Monster Calls required stylized 2D
animated sequences and numerous visual-effects shots to be
S
truggling to come to grips with his mothers illness, a lonely, woven into a delicately choreographed live-action drama.
bullied British boy named Conor (Lewis MacDougall) Under the watchful eye of visual-effects supervisor Flix
inadvertently summons a fantastical guardian an ancient Bergs, several facilities contributed elements to the CG crea-
yew tree come to life (performed via motion capture and ture. Fauras first feature-length foray into digital acquisition,
voiced by Liam Neeson). Depending on ones interpretation of the production employed Alexa XT Studio cameras outfitted
A Monster Calls, Conor is either tormented or assisted by his primarily with Vantage Film Hawk V-Lite Vintage 74
nightmarish companion, whose very existence is up for debate. anamorphic prime lenses to capture imagery in 2.39:1 anamor-
Adapted by Patrick Ness from his novel, which was based on phic. (See sidebar, page 66.)
an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, A Monster Calls represents Digital-imaging technician Pablo Lago notes that image
the third feature collaboration between director J.A. Bayona data was captured to onboard Codex XR Capture Drives, and
and cinematographer scar Faura. then ported to two Mac Pro DIT stations that he managed on

Opposite: Conor
(Lewis MacDougall)
inadvertently
summons a
fantastical guardian
(voiced by Liam
Neeson) in the
coming-of-age
drama A Monster
Calls. This page, top:
Conor shares a
moment with his ill
mother (Felicity
Jones). Bottom:
Cinematographer
scar Faura (right)
finds a frame.
set. Once the cameras were reloaded HDLink Pro and Pomfort LiveGrade scar Faura: The first thing he
with new [drives], he elaborates, we Pro software. Dailies were graded and said was that he wanted to be free to
used the two DIT stations to offload the transcoded in a number of different shoot any angle with two cameras at any
footage and create production copies in formats and uploaded to the produc- time. He was concerned about having a
two different kinds of drives: 21TB tions private cloud system for viewing young actor restricted by technical
RAID 5 drives for the production by the filmmakers and producers in a requirements. We got to [have that lati-
company, and JBOD transfer drives to variety of viewing platforms. tude] at certain moments, but all the
Unit photography by Quim Vives, courtesy of Focus Features.
deliver the footage to Deluxe Barcelona, Despite the movies menacing scenes involving the Monster were
where an additional LTO-6 copy of the elements, A Monster Calls is a poignant absolutely previsualized [by The Third
whole footage was created. The purpose coming-of-age drama about a boy expe- Floor in London], and we ended up
of having two DIT stations was to riencing profound emotions. As such, following a strict breakdown for those
manage A and B cameras separately, Bayona had strict creative and technical sequences.
which most of the time ran simultane- demands for the project, and routinely We started to see the challenges
ously, particularly during the [portions of tossed complex challenges Fauras way. of the movie progressively, because the
the shoot captured in] Manchester The cinematographer recently chatted film had a long preparation. I spent
[England]. Also, in the event of having with AC to discuss the production in almost six months involved in the
additional units, we could split the tasks depth. project before we started shooting. The
and be more effective. previs was the working base for all
These stations were also used by American Cinematographer: departments, and as it advanced, we
Lagos data team to produce on-set When you first sat down with Bayona, were able to see what areas were going
dailies with Assimilate Scratch. The what was the overall mission state- to be the hot spots of each Monster
dailies LUT was applied during shoot- ment he gave you for the movies visu- scene. In my case, I saw clearly that
ing with the aid of Blackmagic Design als? shooting a dark wooden monster facing

A Friend in Need
was reserved to emphasize dynamism.
An example would be the [climactic]
nightmare scene at the cemetery. After
an intense dramatic scene with his
mother [Felicity Jones] at the hospital
room, Conor runs away to the cemetery,
where the yew tree waits for him. The
dialogue scene was shot static, and then
the frantic runaway was shot using
different camera supports: an electric
tracking vehicle, a Steadicam, a
[Supertechno 30], and sometimes
handheld, which helped us to travel the
camera and increase the tempo in the
scene. Once the boy is in front of the
Monster, the camera narrative slows
down while they are arguing. Here, we
again combined several camera
supports, this time due to location,
because we shot part of the scene in an
actual cemetery full of real tombstones
that we had to overfly to be able to move
the camera. During their argument, the
camera moves in a fluid way, and then
when Conor sees his mother, the
camera starts to shake violently.
Tell us your reasoning behind
shooting A Monster Calls with Arri
Alexa XT Studio cameras.
Faura: [Shooting digitally] was a
difficult decision, and the conclusion
came after doing several comparison
tests and a lot of research. Our original
preference was to shoot film, but we had
to consider very seriously all the visual-
effects departments demands. One of
our main characters was a digital crea-
ture, and we got his performance on a
Top: Conor looks for a distraction from the mounting pressures at home and at school. Bottom: Faura motion-capture stage. One of the main
checks the on-camera monitor as the crew lines up a shot with MacDougall.
reasons to consider the digital-camera
option was that we wanted to have a
the sky at night was going to be tricky. to link the camera to his mood. real-time [SolidTrack] tracking system
You have suggested that Bayona [Operator] Albert Carreras has collabo- to allow us to see Liam Neesons perfor-
wanted a fluid, moving camera, and rated with [Bayona] on all his movies, so mance interacting with the kid on the
that camera movement was crucial in they have a fluent relationship on set. monitor while we were shooting.
telling the story. Can you elaborate on There were scenes where the camera- During the first test, we used film
that? work was absolutely defined in advance, and digital cameras in parallel in order
Faura: We wanted to show and some others where we had an orig- to find an alternative aesthetic to film.
Conors state of mind with the camera. inal plan but we changed it after seeing We shot in a simplified version of
The story is entirely based on Conors a rehearsal. Its kind of an organic Conors room with a bunch of cameras
experience, but Conor is a passive hero construction. and lenses of all classes and manufactur-
he doesnt take the lead. There is a lot Dolly and handheld were the ers. After watching the tests, we selected
going on around him, but he is just a kid most [prominent] methods of camera our favorite options, and then did a
trying to manage the storm, so we tried movement. I would say that handheld second test. This time, we shot a

From left: Jones, MacDougall and director J.A. Bayona discuss Conors nightmare scene
on a greenscreen-lined cemetery set.
complicated Monster scene at night in scene during two more weeks while
the backyard of a house. We realized avoiding the direct sun. The exteriors
that the integrated video of the film were shot using primarily natural light.
camera wasnt bright enough to deliver a We had more work subtracting light
good-quality image suitable to be using big, black frames as negative fill
processed by the tracking-system soft- than adding [any direct lighting].
ware. A black monster in front of the For day-interior scenes, we
dark night sky is an extreme condition, followed the [mandate] of soft, dim
and that was going to be a very common light coming from windows. All the day
situation for us because in this story the scenes were lit this way. Sometimes it is
Monster [typically] appears at night. tempting to use a bright beam of
Considering all the input we got from sunlight coming from a window to
the tests, we decided to shoot with the shoot a day scene, as you see in many
Alexa XT Studio. movies, but I preferred to create a
What was your general lighting believable atmosphere by connecting
approach? interiors and exteriors. There are just
Faura: The lighting style has a two exceptions in this movie. One is the
naturalistic motivation, and always tries [cafeteria] scene at the school. There,
to respect the atmosphere of the north- the director and the previs department
ern England weather. During prepara- had the idea of making the Monster
tion, I dreamed about getting overcast appear at the [cafeteria] using his grow-
skies and a gray ambience, and when we ing shadow. That broke my orthodox
spent three weeks in Manchester in plan of gloomy days, but the idea was so
October 2014, we got what we wanted good that I accepted it. The other sunny
clouds. I have to say we were lucky, scene is the last one. I thought that it
especially shooting the nightmare scene was appropriate, ending the story with a
at the cemetery near the church, where bright and shiny scene as a relief after all
we had three continuous cloudy shoot- that suffering the beginning of a new
ing days with almost no rain. The chal- stage.
lenge came when we moved to Spain, We also followed the rule of never
and we had to continue shooting the having practical lights on in houses
most technically difficult part of the during day scenes. That was a way to
65
| Shooting for Realism |
W e didnt want a fairy-tale

atmosphere, says cinematog-
rapher scar Faura. Despite its fantasti-
shooting with two cameras at the same
time when we needed to go tighter than
110mm, he continues. The V-Plus
Rodriguez further offers that the
four separate stages at Parc Audiovisual
de Catalunya in Terrassa, Barcelona
cal elements, a realistic look was Zooms [are] similar to the V-Lites, but where the production built exterior
paramount for director J.A. Bayonas A due to their minimum T-stop, we used sets, were each ruled by a networked
Monster Calls. Central to achieving this them mostly in daylight conditions. We lighting system designed by board tech-
goal were lighting and lens-package also had a reduced set of spherical lenses nician Ral Pea. Ral created a wire-
choices made in collaboration with [16mm-25mm] Arri/Zeiss Master less network in each studio,
gaffer Jos Luis Rodrguez and 1st AC Primes which were used mainly for programmed [to be controlled by an
Guillem Huertas, respectively. complex visual-effects shots, and some- iPad], so I could manipulate all sets, the
Huertas explains that Vantage times to guarantee the definition of the gaffer explains. I could be in the video
Films Hawk V-Lite Vintage 74 widest night shots if we needed to go village with scar and manipulate the
anamorphic primes comprising wider than T2.8. lights instantly per his requests, adjust-
45mm-110mm focal lengths were The camera assistant adds, We ing the light effects more precisely.
selected as the main lens set because of used Vantage Slide Diopters in many A significant challenge involved
their unique visual properties, which scenes for inserts, but also for handheld determining ways to match lighting
Faura felt would add texture to digitally shots following the boy. We even used from the Manchester locations in the
acquired imagery. This particular lens them in a Steadicam shot. The restricted U.K. to the stages in Spain. Rodriguez
set has a special coating [that re-creates focus depth that the diopters provided explains, The weather we had in
that of 1970s lenses], Huertas notes. made some shots extremely difficult for Manchester was extremely volatile
The director and scar loved the aber- me. I had to learn how to follow focus by rain, wind, sun when it was not desired.
rations and imperfections that they using a monitor without any mark, We had to use large diffusers to [soften]
provided. moving the knob by feeling. But we the sun on many occasions and on
The movie [also] had a lot of didnt use the diopters just to get a closer others we had to use several Arrimax
visual effects that we needed to comple- minimum focus it was a matter of the 18K units to [simulate] sun in order to
ment with a set of lenses with fewer camera style that [Bayona] loved for the keep continuity. But once we got to the
artifacts, Huertas continues. That is boy. studios [in Spain], scar chose the
why we combined [the Vintage] lenses Meanwhile, Rodriguez reports orientation of the outdoor sets very well,
with regular Hawk V-Lite anamorphic that one of his primary missions was to and then we could re-create the light of
lenses. Then we also had the [45-90mm achieve a British atmosphere, an Manchester without much difficulty.
(T2.8) and 80-180mm (T2.8) V-Plus absence of direct sunlight, and to have Rodriguez adds that LED lights
Front Anamorphic] Zooms for our B very soft light. For interiors, to achieve were important tools on the show. His
camera and cranes. During our tests, we lighting streaming in through windows, team frequently relied on DMX-
learned how we could minimize the the gaffer notes that his team used vari- controlled Kino Flo Celeb panels, and
difference between the sets by using the ous Maxi-Brute fixtures filtered with for close-ups and in small sets, they
Tiffen Glimmerglass 2 filter. Full Grid Cloth and 12 CTB which utilized thin, custom-built 4'x4' screens
Huertas adds that the filmmakers were running on batteries, and were with 300-watt LED hybrids, also DMX
mainly used Vintage 74 lenses for configured in a line on motorized trusses controlled.
daylight scenes, except when we went in order to vary height and offer control He suggests that perhaps the
wider than a 45mm, and when we were of individual lamps. This allowed us to most complicated setup on the movie
facing directly toward a character with a manipulate light intensity without was a scene near the end, in which
very bright background, like the sky. affecting color temperature, he says, Conor and his grandmother (Sigourney
Then we felt we got too much flare in because we were able to individually Weaver) sit in the latters idle car.
faces. For night scenes, we used the turn on and off [individual bulbs] with- There, he explains, we had to place a
regular V-Lite set [comprising 28mm- out having to go down in intensity for all 45-meter crane, out of frame, [to lift] a
140mm focal lengths] to prioritize the of them together. soft box with four 12-light Maxi-Brutes
definition [while] shooting at wider T- He adds that, thanks to the bounced back from white
stops. At night, we also used the movable walls and folding roofs built [Ultrabounce] and exiting through Full
Glimmerglass filter less, and depending into the sets, We could [often] project Grid Cloth to create overhead light
on particular conditions, we used fill light from the same direction and directly on the car.
[higher or lower strengths of the diffu- almost the same angle as the main light, Michael Goldman
sion filter]. creating a more realistic sensation with-
We also combined the Vintage out disturbing the set in which the
74 with the V-Plus Zooms while action was taking place.

A Friend in Need
more evidently differentiate day scenes
from night scenes, especially when we
didnt have any window in frame.
Related to your need for unre-
strained camera movement, how
would you characterize your collabo-
ration with production designer
Eugenio Caballero, who designed sets
and portions of sets with folding or
swinging walls that could instantly
move out of the camera operators way?
Faura: Working with Eugenio
and his team was great. They designed
sets in a way that everything was move-
able, detachable or foldable. Walls were
mounted over guides, and ceilings were
prepared to swing over hinges to get
opened. It was even possible to move a
huge staircase by simply pushing it.
I had some previous experience
with this kind of construction design,
but the difference this time was that it
was designed to be ready for very fast
maneuvers. Most of the story happens
inside two typical English homes,
which were [shot on sets] built on stage
at PAC Parc Audiovisual de
Catalunya in Terrassa, Barcelona.
We needed that kind of set
construction to be able to have a rich
camera display. In fact, during the scene
of the first encounter with the Monster
in Conors room, we had to move every
single wall of the set at some point.
Normally one or two walls might be
movable, but not all of them. Even the
floor was removable, to set the camera
beneath the ground level.
One factor that determined a lot
of the set construction was the presence
of the Monster inside them. We used a
giant puppet of the Monster for some
shots, and [Bayona] had the idea of
combining digital and real shots of the
Monster to give more physicality to it.
Fitting an 11-meter-tall [36'] puppet in
a regular-size room requires special
preparation. It also affected the sched-
ule, because we had to split scenes into
two parts: We first shot the part of the
scene without the Monster, and then we
left the set so the special-effects and art
departments could build the Monster
in. That could take several days of work,
A Friend in Need
The Monster sticks close to Conors side.
while the main unit was off shooting a and the boy created a very powerful charge of the previs for this scene, and
different scene. color jump in the edit. The combination the previs was the basis of a very detailed
For the animated stories that of close-ups of the boy with a green- breakdown about how to shoot the
play a part in the narrative, what was grass background with close-ups of the whole piece. We combined three essen-
your role, if any, in their design and monster with the red sky behind him tial elements to complete the scene: a
execution? was a challenge for the color grading. real location in Manchester, a piece of
Faura: I had active participation For this particular scene, we did the cemetery built on set, and a 110-
in the second tale, because at some point the color grading partially on a scale miniature of the church. [The
Conor becomes one of the characters in [Foundry] Nuke station due to the large cemetery set and miniature were built
that tale. The challenge there was how amount of layer compositing. After the outdoors, adjacent to the stages.] The
to integrate the boy into such a fantastic render, [colorist Quique Caadas] director wanted to shoot the destruction
environment. We defined the scene as a finished the color in [Autodesk] Lustre of the church by using a miniature to get
sunset moment, and shot it entirely at Deluxe Barcelona. Taking advantage more realistic behavior of the collapsing
greenscreen. The key light was a 20K of the sunset scene, I asked the building, so we shot it as an action scene
Fresnel playing the sun in a very low Glassworks visual-effects guys to add a with different camera angles capturing
position. The visual-effects crew in flare to the shots where the sun was in the moment. The idea was that the
charge of the animation at Glassworks frame, mimicking the particular hori- collapse was also going to appear in
in Barcelona then followed the reference zontal flare of the Vintage 74 lenses. I several other moments of the film [as
of the light [position] to set their digital thought it would be a nice connection snippets from Conors nightmares].
sun on top of it. It worked very well, between the tale and the following We did a breakdown, and we
because the light affecting Conor always scene, where we find Conor surrounded ended up placing [a combination of
matched the animated light source, and by naked, flaring bulbs lying on the floor Alexa XT Studio and Alexa XT Plus
that was a way to integrate the boy into of the destroyed sitting room. [Caadas units, eight cameras in all] around the
the tale. performed the final grade on the movie miniature model to cover all the camera
The other element was color. We as a whole, as well, employing Autodesk positions needed. The Alexas were
applied the warmth of the tale to Conor, Lustre at Deluxe Barcelona for a 16-bit placed in positions matching the multi-
who for the first time appears wrapped 2K DPX final deliverable.] ple-angle shot we had previously
by a colorful mantle in the movie. The Regarding visual effects captured in Manchester. The plan was
sunset-sky color spectrum of the scene beyond the Monster himself the to insert the model over the real one. We
varied from a light salmon at the bottom climactic church/cemetery scene used approximately the same [focal
to a dark red at the highest part so we involved a huge mix of live, digital and lengths] that we had in Manchester, but
had to equalize the boy with the envi- miniature elements. Please explain at some moments we had to approxi-
ronment, applying an averaged color on how that was put together. mate them to avoid having one camera
him. The dialogue between the monster Faura: The Third Floor was in blocking the other. Both the miniature

A Friend in Need
and the location shots were captured

with [Arri/Zeiss] Master Prime spheri-
cal lenses. All the shots were completed
by shooting the actors in front of a blue-
screen and inserting them in the
composition. We also duplicated all the
model camera angles on the on-stage
cemetery set, as well, so the visual-
effects department would be able to
blend all the layers Manchester,
model and set to get the final shot.
To ensure we werent going to be
affected by the direct sun, we placed the
Above: The model in the shade of a big building
Monster tells
Conor a story in nearby, on one of the main stages. We
this piece of had two technical requirements: Both
concept art. the depth of field and the frame rate had
Right: Faura
measures the to be enough to make the model look
light on set as realistic. We had to shoot at noon to
the Monster reach the desired 75 fps at T11 in the
keeps silent
watch. shade with no artificial light.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.39:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa XT Studio, Plus
Vantage Film Hawk V-Lite,

V-Lite Vintage 74,
V-Plus Front Anamorphic Zoom;
Arri/Zeiss Master Prime

Filmmakers Forum
Drug dealer Shot-Z (Wambli Mills) realizes the monster hes become in the student film Destiny, written and shot by participants of the
Films by Youth Inside (FYI) Ute Mountain immersive cinema workshop.
I Stories From the Ute Mountain Youth

By Steve J. Roberts
Muoz contacted me based on a request from Waylon Plenty
Holes, a Ute Mountain tribal member Id worked with on the
PSAs. After learning about Muozs Los Angeles-based nonprofit,
Having grown up in the gray doldrums of Detroit, I have a Films by Youth Inside (FYI), I didnt hesitate to get on board. FYI
great appreciation for the bright desert Southwest, home to some conducts immersive cinema workshops for groups of troubled
of the most breathtaking vistas and majestic skyscapes on Earth. and incarcerated youth. The program aims to help participants
My first desert adventure was in 2002, filming commercials for find their voices and develop skills that can be applied to all areas
Marlboro around Moab, Utah. The air was blast-furnace hot, the of life. Program participants learn the basics of screenwriting and
sun was unforgiving, the sand fleas were formidable, and fine filmmaking from industry professionals, and create short films
dust got into absolutely everything. Over the past few years I have that express themes from their own lives.
filmed on multiple Indian reservations, and happily some of these
projects have taken me back to the Southwest. Drawing From the Oral Storytelling Tradition
In spring 2015, I was cinematographer on a series of PSAs I asked Muoz, whose father is indigenous, if he thought
for the Native American Rights Fund in partnership with these young participants who share a strong oral tradition might
Comcast/NBCUniversal and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The Ute inherently relate to filmmaking as a modern way of telling stories.
Mountain Ute Reservation spans more than 1,000 square miles of Its in their DNA to tell stories, Muoz says. They just
rugged, mountainous lands in southwestern Colorado. Its near need to become comfortable with the cameras and the lighting
the picturesque Four Corners region and bordered by iconic land- and the editing. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe really understands
marks Shiprock to the south, the sacred Ute Mountain to the the power of film as a platform where many people can experi-
west and Mesa Verde National Park to the east. Filming for the ence the story. They understand the opportunity this technology
PSAs took place in and around the reservation capital town of offers to tell their stories and guarantee their perspective and
Towaoc. voice.
The PSA production would lead to another Towaoc-based During two two-week workshops, one last summer and
project, and one that has been among the most rewarding Ive one this summer, we worked with program participants who used
been part of. A month after the PSAs wrapped, I received a call motion pictures to explore the things that trouble them mentally,
from director Alex Muoz asking if I would serve as director of spiritually, economically and socially. Last year, participants took
photography for a new project called FYI Ute Mountain Youth. on teen suicide, homophobia and bullying through their short

From left: Director Alex Muoz and cinematographer Steve J. Roberts shoot a
scene featuring Wendell Mills Jr. and Terrencio Dutchie.
movie Escape. It was written, acted and ing a group of 12-19 year-olds who have
shot by the Ute Mountain youth. The never handled professional film equip-
project was a great success, playing to full ment takes that challenge to another level
theaters in the region, screening at festi- entirely. We worked with the kids to teach
vals around the world, and winning three them how a film set is organized, the roles
significant awards, including Best Student of the crew and the general process of
Film at the LA Skins Fest. Many of the filmmaking. Participants spent a lot of
participants boarded a plane for the first hands-on time with the equipment. At
time to travel to the ceremony. When they first they were intimidated by the expen-
learned theyd won, they were in a state sive gear, but after we reviewed proper
of disbelief. handling, their fear disappeared and
During this years workshop, partic- creativity took over.
ipants wrote an intense script centered on The kids ran the set, both in front of
drug addiction and loss. Their story, and behind the camera. Along with their
Destiny, follows the life of a drug dealer dedicated FYI instructors, they were
haunted by the ghost of his younger supported by a crew that included Kyle
brother, who died from an overdose. As Dagenhart, who managed sound record-
Unit photography by Scott DW Smith, courtesy of Steve J. Roberts.
the dealers life spirals downward, he falls ing, and Craig Evans, who handled grip
victim to the addiction that destroyed his and lighting.
brother and family. The young filmmakers The light in the high desert provides
dedicated their movie to a 2015 FYI its own set of challenges. At any given lati-
program participant who was murdered tude, the suns intensity increases by 6
by a family member under the influence of percent per 1,000' above sea level. In
methamphetamine. Postproduction on Towaoc, elevation 5,900', the suns rays
Destiny will be completed by December, are about 36 percent stronger than at sea
after which the movie will be screened level. Because of this, I opted for Red
publicly in southwestern Colorado and Weapon and Epic Dragon camera pack-
entered into festivals around the world. ages. Reds Dragon sensor has one of the
widest dynamic ranges available; the
Gearing up and Learning on cameras do a great job holding highlights
the Set while still being able to capture detail in
Selecting gear for a project and the shadow areas of high-contrast
working to fulfill the directors vision is my outdoor scenes. The cameras performed
favorite challenge. Doing that while teach- flawlessly, even in the extremely hot, dusty
73
conditions and during long improvised
takes. As for the crew, well, it seemed
almost impossible to drink enough water
to stay hydrated under the sizzling sun.
We outfitted the cameras with a set
of Xeen cinema lenses, Canon L-series
zooms, and Red Pro Primes. I rated the
cameras for 800 ISO; with the intense
sunlight, we often added up to five stops
of neutral-density filtration to help control
the exposure. We chose a cinema-vrit
style to complement the grittiness of the
script, and the cameras were set to record
the full frame of the 6K sensor while we
framed for a 2.39:1 widescreen ratio. This
allowed the director to reframe and stabi-
lize the image if necessary in post.
Additional lighting was provided by
a pair of variable-color-temperature LED
light panels from Socanland and Arri
1,200-watt HMIs. When working outside,
strong wind gusts were always a possibil-
ity, so flexible reflectors were not a good
choice. Instead, we opted for foam-
backed shiny boards to light our actors.
Because we were a minimal, fast-
moving crew, we were not able to safely
set up large overhead scrims or silks for
light control. Activating the HDRx feature
on the Weapon helped us by extending
the cameras range so that it could capture
the brightness level of our entire scene.
Weather also was a major factor in our
outdoor setups. Because we were filming
at the beginning of the monsoon season,
high winds and fast-approaching after-
noon thunderstorms always posed a
concern.
With time running short during
production, we decided to break away a
second camera unit with program instruc-
tor Andrew Vasquez. To simplify things,
we reconfigured the B camera into a run-
and-gun setup with a set of Canon L-
series zooms and Light Craft Workshops
variable ND filters. Having the ability to
change the Red cameras lens mount from
PL to Canon in the field was a big advan-
tage.
Expanding Our Idea of

What Is Possible
Top: Roberts helps Markus Cook change the lens mount on a Red Epic. Middle: Roberts helps For me, the most rewarding part of
Mills line up a shot. Bottom, from left: Andrew Cuch Jr., Deandra Eaglefeather and Trinadie the production was having one-on-one
Lopez roll camera.
discussions about filmmaking with the

participants. When I was a young adult,
working in a Detroit factory was the only
reality I knew. It was a narrow view shared
by my parents, neighbors and friends. Our
cultural glue was ingenuity, self-deprecat-
ing humor and a strong blue-collar work
ethic. Creativity and self-expression
through the arts were not part of the
collective consciousness.
Working with the youth of Ute
Mountain Ute Tribe, I saw so much
honesty, bravery and grit in the partici-
pants. And I witnessed a familiar unfold-
ing of hope as the workshop expanded
their views into a different world.
When asked what is meaningful
about the work for him, Muoz expresses
how proud he is of the participants for
their courage to address issues that are
affecting them in negative ways. The
most enriching thing is to see how the
youth are transformed by the experience,
Muoz says. They feel that they do have
something to say, that their voice is impor-
tant, that their existence is significant and
that they do have a future. This medium
gives them an opportunity to tell their
stories, and when they see hundreds of
people watching, it means a lot to them.
Their self esteem shoots through the
roof.
What a privilege to play a small part
in that transformation. I hope that one day
I will be working on a professional set
alongside some of the participants.
To learn more about FYI, visit

FilmsByYouthInside.org.
New Products & Services
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to
newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact
information and product images. Photos must be
TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.
Cooke Goes Classic Cinefade Controls Depth of Field

Responding to the ongoing high In partnership with
demand for the companys vintage Cmotion GmbH of Vienna,
Speed Panchro lenses from the 1920s- Austria, London-based
60s, Cooke Optics has announced the filmmaker Oliver Janesh
Panchro Classic line, which uses the origi- Christiansen has developed
nal lens design but with PL mounts for the Cinefade system,
modern cameras. which enables cinematog-
Designed by Horace W. Lee in the 1920s, the original Cooke raphers to vary the sharp-
Speed Panchro was a cine prime lens that chromatically enhanced ness of the background in
an image when filming under restricted illumination. Cooke Speed a motion-picture shot
Panchros combined a relative aperture as wide as f2.0 with defini- while maintaining constant
tion and an angular field of view previously impossible with smaller exposure and keeping the
apertures. They quickly gained a worldwide reputation for quality foreground subject in focus.
cinema production and were widely used throughout the 20th Cinefade enables an in-camera effect that can immerse view-
century. ers in a story or make a clients product stand out in a commercial.
People still love the look they get from the old Speed The system gives cinematographers the opportunity to explore the
Panchros, but they are hard to find and if you can find them, you creative potential of a variable depth of field. As Christopher Ross,
have to remount them for todays cameras, says ASC associate Les BSC says, Cinefade is a really useful and subtle tool to use in
Zellan, chairman and owner of Cooke Optics. In response to this, moments of extreme drama.
we have taken the original design and created a new housing to fit Cinefade uses a custom Cmotion lens-control system to vary
a PL mount. The new Panchro Classic lenses will have the same look iris diameter, changing the depth of field. The iris motor is slaved to
and feel that people love about the originals. a filter motor that controls a custom-built variable neutral-density
Cooke Optics has also introduced multiple mounts for its filter, which sits inside a matte box and keeps exposure constant. The
miniS4/i lenses. The new mounts include Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E system works with any digital or film camera and cine lens, is quick
and micro 43, enabling productions working with mirrorless cameras and easy to set up, is simple to operate, and allows for a range of up
to take advantage of the Cooke Look. to 5 T-stops
A single mount will fit every focal-length lens in the miniS4/i Cinefade is currently being used on TV dramas, feature films,
series; for existing miniS4/i lenses, users can simply unbolt the PL commercials and music videos. The system is available to rent via
mount that comes as standard, bolt on the replacement mount, and Clairmont Camera in Los Angeles and directly through Cinefade.
shim as required. The mounts can be used on any miniS4/i lens, For additional information and to watch a video demonstra-
regardless of delivery date. For new miniS4/i deliveries, the lenses are tion, visit www.cinefade.com.
available with the mount of choice from the factory.
The miniS4/i lenses are steadily gaining popularity for many TheLight Expands Velvet Mini Range
genres of production, since they have all the coveted attributes of Following the successful launch of the companys Velvet Mini
Cooke prime lenses in a smaller, lighter and more affordable form, 2 half-panel LED fixture, Barcelona-based TheLight has introduced
says Zellan. With the introduction of these interchangeable the Velvet Mini 3. The panoramic LED panel shares the same features
mounts, we can now bring the Cooke Look to many more cameras as the full-sized Velvet line, including a rainproof, 100-percent
and productions, giving even more choice to directors of photogra- aluminum body; silent, fanless operation; and an intuitive
phy. control panel.
For additional information, visit www.cookeoptics.com. Measuring 34" long, 7.5"
wide and 3.5" deep, the Velvet
Mini 3 draws 150 watts, outputs
42 footcandles at 10' and
weighs only 9.5 pounds. This
lightweight panel can be
quickly rigged in tight locations
or low-ceiling studios, and it

includes two handles so it can be easily
hand-held.
The new model comes with a choice
of V-Mount or Gold Mount battery mounts.
Telecine &
An XLR3 connection will accept 12 to 35 Color Grading
volts DC, and a Smart AC power supply will
power the lights anywhere in the world.
Jod is a true artist with
The Velvet Minis are rated at a high
a great passion for his craft.
John W. Simmons, ASC
TLCI 95 and CRI 95. Color temperature can
be adjusted in 100K increments from Contact Jod @ 310-713-8388
2,700K to 6,500K; a dedicated button Jod@apt-4.com
allows for quick switching between 3,200K
and 5,600K. The fixtures controls are digital
and can be operated remotely by DMX-
RDM through a standard XLR5 connector.
The settings are easily visible on a digital
display, and the control panel is shockproof
and rainproof. There are no knobs or
toggles that can be broken or inadvertently
knocked out of adjustment.
Like the Velvet line, the soft and
natural light from the Velvet Minis can be
shaped with DoPchoice SnapGrids and
SnapBags.
For additional information, visit
www.thelight.com.es.
P+S Technic Adds

CinemaScope Zoom
Munich-based P+S Technik has
announced its second PL-mount Cinema-
Scope Zoom: the 70-200mm (T3.5). Like
the companys 35-70mm (T3.5) CS anamor-
phic zoom, the 70-200mm is based on a
front-anamorphic lens design and a 1.5x
anamorphic squeeze factor.
The 70-200mm CS is designed for
Super 35 and larger-size sensors. When
using the P+S Technic CS zooms on a 1.5:1
full-frame sensor (36x24mm), the 35mm
focal length produces an image corre-
sponding to a 22mm lens on a Super 35-
size sensor.
In addition to manufacturing original
lenses, P+S Technik offers an array of lens
services, including complete
rehousing for lenses from
Angenieux, Bausch
77
& Lomb (Super Baltar), Canon (K-35 and The HS2 Wave and HSX are the first
FD), Cooke (Panchro and Telepanchro), Cineo Lighting products to utilize Lumen-
Kinoptik, Kowa, Leica, Lomo (spherical and Radios award-winning technology, and
anamorphic), Meyer-Optik-Grlitz, and Cineo promises that additional products
Schneider (Cinegon and Cine Xenon). include calibrated scales, consistent imag- both new and existing will integrate the
For additional information, visit ing quality across the entire image field, no technology in the near future.
www.pstechnik.de. vignetting, and the efficient reduction of For additional information, visit
reflections thanks to the Zeiss T* anti-reflec- www.cineolighting.com.
MAT Launches Cosmo Dolly tive coating.
Founded by Peter Braun in Hamburg, For additional information, visit Gates Houses ME20
Germany, in 1976 and celebrating 40 years www.zeiss.com. Gates Underwater Products has
of contributions to the film, television and introduced the ME20 underwater housing
music industries, Mad About Technology Cineo Tunes HSX, Partners system for use with Canons ME20F-SH
(MAT) continues to innovate with the intro- With LumenRadio multi-purpose camera, which is capable of
duction of the Cosmo Dolly. Cineo Lighting has unveiled the HSX incredible low-light performance at up to 4
Color-Tunable Soft Source. million ISO.
The HSX features flicker-free opera- The Gates ME20 Housing is
tion and a color-tuning range of 2,700K- designed to take advantage of the cameras
6,000K while measuring in at capabilities in order to capture natural biolu-
12"x21"x8.5". Boasting an output control minescence, moonlit reefs, dark caves and
range of 0-100 percent with local control, other light-challenged scenes without the
DMX and RDM support, and a straightfor- aid of artificial lighting. The Gates ME20
ward, intuitive control interface, adjust- system is integrated with the Starlite ST5, a
ments can be made quickly and efficiently. small and highly capable external monitor
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CW Sonderoptic Gmbh C3
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NBC/Universal 55
Nila, Inc. 8
82
In Memoriam
Frederic Goodich, ASC, 1939-2016
Frederic Goodich, ASC was equal parts lessly blended his work with our main unit.
cinematographer and director, student and In conversation, Goodich often refer-
educator, and an ever-engaged advocate for enced a metaphysical sense of the interplay of
directors of photography all around the world. light and shadow in the natural world. Why I
His enthusiasm for the art and craft of motion- became a cinematographer has much to do
picture making and his devotion to his family, with my relationship to Light and Dark, Good-
friends and the ASC were equally boundless. ich told AC. Its a spiritual thing, the ghost that
Goodich died on Aug. 30 at age 76. surrounds and reveals. Light and its absence
Goodich was born on Sept. 10, 1939, define objects and people and initiate feelings.
in the Bronx, New York. Growing up, he The dramas of Light and Shadow have
demonstrated an early affinity for the arts, comforted, frightened, thrilled, challenged and
particularly drawing and painting, and in elated me.
elementary school he took first prize in an all- He looked at things a little bit differ-
Bronx competition for a Keep Your Subway ently than other people did, says Peter Ander-
Clean poster campaign. He developed an son, ASC. The conversations with Fred, in
interest in still photography after borrowing a person or on the phone, were often long, and
friends Leica camera in junior high school, but were often graciously convoluted. But you
at his familys encouragement, he turned his could always feel it was building to an under-
academic focus toward engineering. He gradu- standing of the art that he loved. And his ques-
Portrait by Owen Roizman, ASC. Bucharest photo by Tudor Lucaciu, RSC. All photos courtesy of the ASC archives.
ated from Bronx High School of Science and tions were incredibly insightful.
went on to attend City College of New York. Anderson met Goodich in 1983, after
At CCNY, his passion for the visual arts clopdia Britannica Films in Hollywood, where sitting next to Goodichs son, Nikolai, on a
resurfaced, and he came to realize that film- future ASC member Isidore Mankofsky was cross-country flight. A day or two later,
making and specifically cinematography the on-staff cinematographer, shooting educa- Anderson says, Fred called me up and we got
combined that love with his interests in science tional pieces. He was hired as my assistant, to talking. Fred specialized in commercials, and
and technology. Cinematography is part of Mankofsky recalls. Plus, since there were only he loved technology. Over the decades, we
my personal journey to understand the world, four of us on the staff, he did all sorts of stayed in touch, and oftentimes he would call
Goodich told AC for the magazines erstwhile things. I left in 1969 and he left around 1973, me up about, How do I shoot a bluescreen?
Member Portrait series (May 12). Movies and we maintained our friendship through the How do I shoot a greenscreen? He usually
crystalized my childhood experience and years. knew the answer, but he was doing a double-
taught me the ways of the human heart; As a staff director-cinematographer for check and he was just keeping a friendship
theyve influenced my creative vision and Britannica, Goodich hired future ASC member going.
heightened my sensibility to wonderfully inven- John Bailey as an assistant. Although I had Goodichs commercial career both as
tive ways of telling stories that resonate within very few credits to justify his hiring me, Fred a cinematographer and a director flour-
our lives. talked to me, understood our common love of ished, and he ultimately notched more than
Complementing his time in the class- cinema, and quickly offered me work, Bailey 900 credits. In addition, he photographed
room, Goodich took a part-time job as a film recalls. It was the best jumpstart to a career numerous narrative projects, including the
handler at New Yorks Museum of Modern Art, any young film student could ever hope for. Oscar-winning short film Board and Care; the
where he nurtured an appreciation for avant- Freds ongoing commitment to camp horror movie Fear No Evil; and two early
garde and documentary films that would mentoring young cinematographers was entrants in the then-nascent 24p HD field, The
inform his work and his tastes throughout the evident through his entire career, Bailey Affair and Surviving Eden. His feature credits
years to come. continues. Eventually, I was lucky to get into also included The Lay of the Land and G.I.
After graduating from CCNY, Goodich the union and move up through the ranks. Jesus.
was recommended for a camera job in Wash- Along the way, Fred and I often crossed paths; When he wasnt shooting, Goodich
ington, D.C., for a magazine-style show, after we always talked, not about lenses and film regularly participated in film festivals and other
which he shot travelogues aboard a four-mast stocks, but about cinema, especially foreign events where he could promote the impor-
windjammer. Then, in the mid-60s, a chance movies. Many years later I was able to ask Fred tance of his fellow directors of photography.
meeting in Los Angeles opened the door for to do some second-unit cinematography for He became closely associated with Cinematog-
Goodich to join the tight-knit team at Ency- me on For Love of the Game, where he seam- raphers Day, an event that was conceived by

Left: Frederic Goodich, ASC with his wife, Donna, at the Wine Country Film Festival. Right: Goodich leads a master class in Bucharest, Romania.
Luciano Tovoli, ASC, AIC and established by Dr. commitment to the ASC, Bailey agrees. Once Northern California; about the event, Goodich
David B. Kaminsky. Soon after it began in Goodich had become a member, Mankofsky told AC (Clubhouse News, Dec. 13), The
1999, Goodich joined Kaminsky as the events adds, He was always very active at the ASC lecture demonstrated how great cinematogra-
associate chair, helping to stage the day at and very, very helpful. He was the secretary [on phy is not about capturing, but rather about
venues around the world. the Board], which is a tough job. He was a very creating and constructing meaningful
Goodich was also a tireless educator good member. images. Cinematographers dont just take
and taught at the American Film Institute; Just this past June, Goodich was re- pictures; they make pictures.
ArtCenter College of Design; California Insti- elected to serve a sixth consecutive term as Most recently, as chair of the Societys
tute of the Arts; Valencia College; and Seoul, secretary of the Board. He was also chair of the International Committee, Goodich spear-
South Koreas Chung-Ang University, among Societys International Committee and an headed the organization and presentation of
other institutions. active participant on the Spotlight Award the International Cinematography Summit (AC
From the time I met him through the Committee. As he told AC in his ASC Close- Sept. 16). Freds ongoing love of foreign
rest of his life, what most distinguished Fred Up (June 16), Membership authenticated movies continued with his chairmanship of the
Goodich was his absolute passion for cinema and reinvigorated my lifes passion the tech- ASCs International Committee and his work
and the culture of cinematography, shares nical and artistic sides. It led to teaching and on behalf of the [ICS], says Bailey. Talking
Robert Primes, ASC. No one loved movies shooting gigs. And new friendships! I look about international cinema with Fred was a
more than Fred. He completely immersed forward to participating in Society activities, bright beacon, cutting through the some-
himself. He traveled the world going to film hanging out with colleagues of different back- times-murky air of Hollywood movies. Fred
festivals and gatherings of cinematographers. grounds, sharing issues and tales of our expe- and his love for great filmmaking will be so
He invited John Bailey and me to the Bangkok riences, engaging with students. I value the missed.
Film Festival [AC June 04], where he seemed to responsibility of being an ASC officer and the Primes adds, His passion so perme-
be practically running the show. Id find him chair of the ASC International Committee, ated the Clubhouse that his sudden death has
catching double bills at the Directors Guild. He grateful for the privilege and the trust created a great vacuum. ASC President Kees
brought colleagues to AFI to teach lighting and bestowed. van Oostrum reflects, He was a wonderful,
blocking. He kept up relations with cinematog- Goodich continued to tackle a variety kind spirit with an unending loyalty to the
raphers around the world. He was every- of projects. In 2012, he wrote and directed the ASC.
where. short Kickstart Theft, which was shot by the He was always so passionately inter-
Primes, Bailey, Mankofsky and Ander- late Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, HSC (AC Nov. ested, says Anderson. That continued up to
son each wrote letters of recommendation for 12), and he participated in the ASC-PGA basically his final moments. Getting the [news
Goodich to become an active member of the Image Control Assessment Series (AC Sept. of his passing] was a total shock I expected
ASC, and on Feb. 12, 2007, he was officially 12). him to always be there. His contributions were
invited into the Society. Anderson reflects that He also continued to travel, represent- very special. He was a very unique and
Goodich brought his love of the industry, and ing the ASC and carrying high the torch for talented cinematographer, teacher and good
the work hed done at festivals and teaching cinematographers everywhere. In 2013, for friend. We were so glad to have him part of
students, to our Society. He was heavily example, he attended the Imago/FNF Oslo us.
involved in participating on the Board [of Digital Cinema Conference to discuss the Goodich is survived by his wife, Donna,
Governors], putting together meetings, ICAS, and journeyed to the Caragiale Acad- and son, Nikolai.
outreaching to groups, and just generally emy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography in Jon D. Witmer
making everybody feel welcome and proud to Bucharest, Romania, where he presented two
be a cinematographer. master classes. That same year, he presented a
Fred served with amazing love for and session at the Wine Country Film Festival in

Clubhouse News
Gonzales photo by Phil McCarten, courtesy of Invision for the Television Academy and AP Images. Simmons photo courtesy of the cinematographer.
From left: Antonio Riestra, ASC, ACK, AMC; Dana Gonzales, ASC and John Simmons, ASC with their Emmy Awards.
Society Welcomes Riestra Gonzales, Simmons Win Emmys University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
New active member Antonio Ries- The Television Academy recently Due to an increase in submissions of
tra, ASC, ACK, AMC is a native of Mexico presented the 68th annual Emmy Awards. outstanding movies shot on film, an honor-
and now resides in Los Angeles and Prague. Dana Gonzales, ASC won in the able-mention category was added this year
His love for cinematography began at a Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited to the Kodak Vision Award category. The
young age, when he would watch popular Series or Movie category for his work on first-place Student Cinematography Schol-
television shows and take still photos with a Fargo, Waiting for Dutch. In the arship Award was presented to Sonja Tsypin
Kodak Brownie camera. His first job as a still Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi- from New Yorks Bard College, for her cine-
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.

photographer was with the National Camera Series category, John Simmons, matography on Powder Room. The Kodak
Indigenous Institute in Mexico, after which ASC won for Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, Vision Award was presented to Jomo Fray
he got his start as a camera assistant with Go Hollywood. Also nominated were from the New York University Tisch School
French director-cinematographer Pierre ASC members George Mooradian and of the Arts, for his cinematography on Get
Beccu on a documentary about Steven V. Silver, for Outstanding Cine- Out Fast. The Kodak Vision Award honor-
Guatemalan refugees returning home after matography for a Multi-Camera Series; and able mention was presented to Thomas
years of living in Mexico. He served as a John S. Bartley, David Klein and Doran from the National Film and Television
loader for Don McAlpine, ASC, ACS on the Crescenzo Notarile, for Outstanding Cine- School in the U.K., for his cinematography
feature Clear and Present Danger; was a matography for a Single-Camera Series. on The Sea, the God and the Man.
focus puller on numerous commercials,
including several shot by Emmanuel Bailey Judges Kodak Primes Exhibits Discoveries
Lubezki, ASC, AMC; and worked as 2nd- Scholarships Robert Primes, ASC recently
unit cinematographer on Frida alongside John Bailey, ASC recently led a unveiled his photographic exhibit Discov-
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC. panel of judges chosen to select the recipi- eries at the Perfect Exposure Gallery in Los
Riestra has continued to work on ents of the 2016 Kodak Student Scholarship Angeles. Discoveries is an exhibit of
several international commercial campaigns Awards and the Kodak Student Cinematog- shapes and rhythms, people and places,
for such companies as Dodge, Beats by Dre, raphy Scholarship Awards. This was Baileys anything that I thought might make a
Fiat, Disney and Kodak. His recent feature fifth consecutive year as a judge. The surprising photograph, Primes said of the
credits include Mama, The Face of Love, announcement of the 25th annual Kodak exhibit. My hope is that these discoveries
Eloise and Stephanie. Student Scholarship program winners took will cause the viewer to pause a moment to
place at the 70th annual University Film and contemplate the visual richness of the
Video Association conference held at the world around us.

Close-up Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS
When you were a child, what film made the strongest What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?
impression on you? If I have succeeded in visually supporting the story and the directors
The transition from black-and-white to color in The Wizard of Oz vision of a film, then that is always satisfying.
[1939] struck me as cinematic magic at an early age.
Have you made any memorable
Which cinematographers, past or blunders?
present, do you most admire? It would have to be on my first film-
Robby Mller [BVK, NSC], Owen Roiz- loading job on a 16mm [Arriflex] BL,
man [ASC] and Gordon Willis [ASC] where I loaded a roll of film twice. In
were big influences on my early work, dailies we watched a double-exposed
and now it would have to be Roger scene of a kid being berated by his
Deakins [ASC, BSC] and Emmanuel teacher at school while, upside down,
Lubezki [ASC, AMC]. his parents were having a dinner party.
What sparked your interest in What is the best professional

photography? advice youve ever received?
I have visited art galleries ever since I When I was starting out there were
was in a stroller with my mother. My only a small percentage of women in
father also made me a darkroom at home where I could do my own the camera department, and I am constantly reassured that while it
black-and-white processing and printing. I was inspired by our may still appear to be male-dominated, theres no reason why it
familys regular ventures to the cinema, including [screenings of] should be.
foreign-language films.
What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
Where did you train and/or study? The still photography of Bill Henson and the paintings of William
I knew I wanted to be a cinematographer from the age of 14. Turner are very evocative and moving.
However, I never went to a film school. At 18, my first job was as a
production runner on a feature film. Then, after working my way up Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to
through the camera department starting as a loader I shot my try?
first feature film at 25 years old. I like shooting all different genres. Something I have not done but
would really love to shoot is an action movie, such as a James Bond
Who were your early teachers or mentors? or Jason Bourne film.
My film-criticism teacher at high school, Brian Simpson and later
Ray Argall [ACS], a cinematographer I was working with in If you werent a cinematographer, what might you be doing
Australia. I started as his assistant on documentaries, and then instead?
dramas, before operating for him and moving on to shooting his I would be a still photographer. Storytelling through images is what
films when he became a director. I enjoy the most.
What are some of your key artistic influences? Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for
Every time Im in preparation for a movie I seek out references such membership?
as paintings, photographs and other movies that I feel evoke the Kees van Oostrum, Bill Bennett and David Darby.
style and emotion of the story.
Photo by Matt Nettheim, SMPSP.
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?

How did you get your first break in the business? What I enjoy the most about the ASC is the camaraderie, the gener-
A teacher and actor, John Flaus, gave me the contact of a producer. ous exchange of ideas and advice, and getting to socialize and talk
I followed it up and was employed as a runner on a movie. I persis- to some of the cinematography legends Ive admired throughout my
tently asked the camera department for contacts, told them I life.
wanted to be an assistant and showed I was keen.

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NOVEMBER 2016

An International Publication of the ASC

50 Connecting the Pieces

An International Publication of the ASC

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE FEATURE

Basically the structure of the series is very similar to the film,

Youll find ACs complete story online at theasc.com.

Visit us online at www.theasc.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER

achievements are saluted in Jons piece.

Kees van Oostrum

12 November 2016 American Cinematographer

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16 November 2016 American Cinematographer

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Mr. Robot photos by Michael Parmelee, courtesy of USA Network.

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shot seven episodes with Kevin Riley

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www.theasc.com November 2016 33

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would be low budget around $8

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brokers and assassins and his services

Francis Silverberg ( Jeffrey Tambor)

www.theasc.com November 2016 51

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www.theasc.com November 2016 53

G iven projects often overlapping

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www.theasc.com November 2016 63

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W e didnt want a fairy-tale

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The Monster sticks close to Conors side.

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and the location shots were captured

Arri Alexa XT Studio, Plus

Vantage Film Hawk V-Lite,

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I Stories From the Ute Mountain Youth

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Expanding Our Idea of

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