F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 0

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER • FEBRUARY 2020 • STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER – THE MANDALORIAN – ASC AWARD HONOREES – AC ARCHIVE: 1930S • VOL. 101 NO. 2
 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0 V O L . 1 0 1 N O . 2
1920 — 2020

On Our Cover: Exploring a universe with the Star Wars series The Mandalorian and the feature
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. (The Mandalorian photo by François Duhamel, SMPSP courtesy of
Lucasfilm Ltd. The Rise of Skywalker photo by Jonathan Olley, courtesy of Lucasfilm.)

FEATURES
14 The Mandalorian — This Is the Way
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS and Barry “Baz” Idoine employ emerging technologies

34
to capture a hunter on the run

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — Saga’s End

Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC and director J.J. Abrams conclude the iconic

46
sci-fi series

Artistry in Balance
46

54
Frederick Elmes, ASC is honored with the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Multi-Talented
Donald A. Morgan, ASC’s Emmy-winning work is celebrated with the Career

62
Achievement in Television Award

Rhythms of Light

68
The Society lauds Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC with the International Award
54 Second to None

74
Don McCuaig, ASC earns the Presidents Award

AC: The 1930s

German cinema influences Hollywood

DEPARTMENTS
62
10
12
Editor’s Note

80
President’s Desk

82
New Products & Services

83
International Marketplace

84
Classified Ads

86
Ad Index
68
88
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Charlie Lieberman

— VISIT ASCMAG.COM —
 Web-Exclusive Centennial Coverage
We’ll celebrate American Cinematographer magazine’s
100th anniversary throughout the year by revisiting favorite
cover stories from years past.

Barry Lyndon (March 1976)

“We have a very close working
relationship, which began on
Those Funny Boys: Laurel and Hardy (October 1929) 2001,” explained John Alcott, BSC. “I had been assist-
“Sometimes I can’t do a thing for laughing as they ing Geoffrey Unsworth [BSC] on that picture and then,
start to ad lib,” confessed cinematographer Len Pow- when Geoff had to leave after the first six months, I
ers, ASC. “Their funniest gags are pulled at these was asked to carry on — so it was Stanley Kubrick
moments and no one could ever be funnier than they who gave me my break. Our working relationship is
are once they get started.” close because we think exactly alike photographically.
We really do see eye-to-eye photographically.”

Grand Prix (January 1967)

“The main challenge would be to rig some
sort of camera car that could keep up with
the racing cars going at up to 180 miles
per hour while actually running on the
circuits in Europe,” explained 2nd-unit
cinematographer John Stephens. “Also
required would be a special camera rig and pan-tilt head that could withstand the
tremendous vibration these cars develop at such high speeds.”

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Subscribe to our FREE newsletter
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updates to our websites — one
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The Fifth Element top directors of photography,
(May 1997) and the other offering an
“Luc [Besson] has a very insider’s view into the Ameri-
specific style of filming that can Society of Cinematogra-
adds a lot to the cinematog- phers. You’ll also get special
raphy,” said Thierry Arbo- offers on subscriptions to our
gast, AFC. “He’s a bit like print and digital editions, as
Spielberg or Kubrick in the well as news and deals
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camerawork. He places the Sign up now at
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effective, and the action is always clear.”

You’ll find all this and more at ascmag.com/articles/historical

 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0 V O L . 1 0 1 , N O . 2

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER

Stephen Pizzello
————————————————————————————————————
WEB DIRECTOR and ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
David E. Williams

EDITORIAL
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SENIOR EDITOR Andrew Fish

TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst, ASC
SHOT CRAFT EDITOR Jay Holben
DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY and WEB PRODUCER Mat Newman
DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR Samantha Dillard
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Rachael K. Bosley, John Calhoun, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Jim Hemphill,
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Matt Mulcahey, Jean Oppenheimer, Lauretta Prevost, Phil Rhodes, Patricia Thomson
PODCASTS
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BLOGS
Benjamin B • John Bailey, ASC • David Heuring

ART & DESIGN

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer

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SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

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CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal
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ASC SPONSORSHIP & EVENTS DIRECTOR Patricia Armacost
OPERATIONS/EVENTS MANAGER Alex Lopez
MEMBERSHIP ADMINISTRATOR Salvador Maldonado
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ACCOUNTING Thanh Lai
ACCOUNTING Kim Pallares
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American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 100th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by
ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
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 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 - 2019/2020
Kees van Oostrum
President
Stephen Lighthill
Vice President
Bill Bennett
Vice President
Paul Cameron
Vice President
Levie Isaacks
Treasurer
David Darby
Secretary
Curtis Clark
Sergeant-at-Arms

MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Bill Bennett
Stephen H. Burum
Paul Cameron
Dean Cundey
David Darby
George Spiro Dibie
Frederick Elmes
Lowell Peterson
Steven Poster
Rodney Taylor
John Toll
Kees van Oostrum
Amy Vincent
Mandy Walker

ALTERNATES
Charlie Lieberman
Christopher Chomyn
Steven Fierberg
Owen Roizman
Levie Isaacks

MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
8
 THIS MONTH’S
CONTRIBUTORS
EDITOR’S NOTE
The Star Wars saga and its spinoffs have been
Benjamin Bergery (aka Benjamin sparking imaginations since 1977, when creator
B) is the senior European corre- George Lucas first transported audiences to “a galaxy
spondent for the magazine far, far away.” The success of that original film
spawned the 1980 sequel The Empire Strikes Back,
(“Rhythms of Light,” p. 62). which was mysteriously and tantalizingly identified in
the famous opening title crawl as “Episode V.” When
Jay Holben is a filmmaker and an Star Wars was re-released in 1981, it was retroactively
associate member of the ASC labeled “Episode IV — A New Hope,” further signaling
(“This Is the Way,” p. 14). that Lucas intended to reshape his initial vision into
the kind of narrative presented in classic serials such as
Flash Gordon, which had helped inspire the franchise.
Noah Kadner is a workflow (Note for fanatics: The 2005 book The Cinema of
specialist whose clients include George Lucas maintains that “Episode IV” was first
Panasonic and Apple Inc. (“Saga’s added to the crawl for the 1978 reissue of Star Wars. However, all official Lucasfilm
End,” p. 34). sources maintain that the change was made for the 1981 re-release.)
Since those early years, the Star Wars universe has branched off into a far-rang-
ing array of movies, animated television shows, novels, comics, video games, reference
Iain Marcks is a filmmaker and a books and websites. This month, AC details two of the more recent and high-profile
New York correspondent for the additions to the canon: the Disney feature Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (shot by
magazine (“Artistry in Balance,” Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC) and the Disney Plus series The Mandalorian (shot by Greig
p. 46). Fraser, ASC, ACS and Barry “Baz” Idoine).
Our coverage has been meticulously crafted by two Jedi Knights of our industry’s
press corps: Noah Kadner, who demonstrated his ability to levitate with excitement
Luci Marzola (Ph.D., USC) is a when he accompanied me to the sets of The Force Awakens at England’s Pinewood
historian and Visiting Assistant Studios in 2014, and ASC associate Jay Holben, whose knowledge of the Force is so
Professor of Film and Media at respected that he was literally embedded during production of The Mandalorian. Their
University of California Irvine. respective reports (“Saga’s End,” page 34, and “This Is the Way,” page 15) are in-depth
(“German Cinema Comes to
and authoritative, to say the least.
This issue is also devoted to saluting a group of esteemed Society members
Hollywood,” p. 74) honored at the annual ASC Awards ceremony: Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
Frederick Elmes, whose diverse C.V. encompasses influential indie films such as Eraser-
Jon Silberg is a freelance writer head and Blue Velvet, television productions like The Night Of — for which he won an
and publicist (“Multi-Talented,” Emmy — and large-canvas spectacles including Ang Lee’s Hulk (“Artistry in Balance,”
p. 54).
page 46); Career Achievement in Television laureate Donald A. Morgan, who has
collected 10 Emmy Awards, including two in just the past few years for The Ranch
(“Multi-Talented,” page 54); International Award honoree Bruno Delbonnel, a five-time
David E. Williams is the Web Academy Award nominee whose credits include Darkest Hour, Inside Llewyn Davis,
director and associate publisher Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, A Very Long Engagement and Amélie (“Rhythms
(“Second to None,” p. 68). of Light,” page 62); and Don McCuaig, a second-unit legend whose service to the Soci-
ety (especially as its ASC Awards Chairman for the past three years) has been stellar
(“Second to None,” page 68).
Our pledge to cull monthly insights from the magazine’s archive continues with
historian Luci Marzola’s piece on German cinema’s arrival in the U.S. during the 1920s
and ’30s, which provides context via excerpts from AC’s archival coverage (“German
Cinema Comes to Hollywood,” page 74).
Photo by Chris Pizzello.

Stephen Pizzello
10 Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
 PRESIDENT’S DESK
99 Sizes

There is a perfect little black sheath dress for sale on the internet that comes in 99 different
“microsizes” to better fit each body. As we are most familiar with the common three — small,
medium and large — the CEO and founder of the company Laws of Motion believes traditional
garment sizes are due for an upgrade and “clothes that fit shouldn’t be a revolutionary idea.”
With the recent surge in the development and production of large-sensor digital cameras —
such as the Arri Alexa LF, Panavision DXL2, Red Monstro and Sony Venice — and all the format and
lens choices this adds to an already long list, we are looking at an unprecedented number of options.
While motion-picture film formats are simply 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, 65mm and 70mm — which
are based on the measurements of actual film stock — the digital era has brought us 1⁄2", 2⁄3", Full
Frame, Super 35, Micro Four Thirds, DX, APS-C, 65mm and others. Recently, I tallied up more than
30 different sensor sizes. You also need to take into account which lenses are compatible with which
formats, and which format offers the image attributes you’re looking for on a particular production.
Discussing these format and optics issues in his post on ShareGrid.com, cinematographer Mark LaFleur notes that some
elements to consider are sensor size (“the physical size of a camera’s sensor”); field of view (“or more accurately stated, ‘horizontal
angle of view,’ [which determines] just how much of the world you will see when looking through a lens”); lens’ image circle (which
“determines what sensors [a lens] can cover”); and the crop factor (“the ratio of one camera’s sensor size related to another’s
camera’s sensor of a different size”).
With all these choices in format, it might seem that we have many creative possibilities, but it also creates a lot of confusion.
With so many crop factors around — I count about 135 of them between all the different sensor sizes — we seem to have lost track
of the principle of “standardization.”
The classic formats of 16, 35 and 65mm film supporting our three traditional ratios, 1.33, 1.85 and 2.40, would concur with a
standardized size, as the film stocks had just three possible widths. That means we had three different predominant ratios multiplied
by three formats, so nine total. With the digital camera, however, every sensor has a different cropping size resulting in a different
image area. To utilize all pixels, various cameras recommend a different field — and suddenly we have created over 120 various crop
factors.
That in itself creates issues, as it cannot be guessed in postproduction what framing was intended by the cinematographer —
unless, of course, you shoot an old-fashioned framing chart. Still, it also confuses lens field and light coverage to a point where the
only proper way to describe a lens has become a technical endeavor. Just “Super 35” or “full frame,” for instance, do not suffice.
Some manufacturers have posted extensive coverage documents and have come up with pretty creative coverage charts. Still
it remains a puzzle, and you wonder — why so many sizes? I guess it was related to the frenzy of claiming 4K sensors, so we started
to depart from a more than 100-year-old standard in the film industry and created a new trend — a fashion.
This fashion currently drives peculiar lens designs like 1.5, 1.79, and 1.8 anamorphic, to mention a few. I find it hard to
compute. In your mind, you are so used to thinking in the angle and field of view of, let’s say, a standard 28mm lens on a Super 35
frame. Now, you continuously find yourself referring to tables on set, referencing a 28mm to a 42mm. With all these obscure focal
lengths that are matched to what we instinctively want to see, based on our knowledge of lenses and field of view, it is sometimes
hard to digest, especially as it can all be different on the next film shot with a different sensor size.
To create their size-inclusive range for their dress line, Laws of Motion gathered “millions of data points on women’s bodies,
[and] engineered 99 microsizes that celebrate unique shapes.” When a customer places an order for a dress, their measurements are
sent to the factory, where the fabric is cut by laser and then machine sewn. It will be interesting to see if this trend toward ever-
increasing options continues, or if people are happier going back to small, medium and large.
Photo by Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC.

But perhaps we will see the day when you can custom order your digital sensor in 99 different sizes!

“We think too much and feel too little.” — Charlie Chaplin

Kees van Oostrum

ASC President

12 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 An Expanding Galaxy

Unit photography by François Duhamel, SMPSP, and Melinda Sue Gordon, SMPSP, courtesy of Lucasfilm, Ltd.
By Noah Kadner and Andrew Fish

A tiny spacecraft is relentlessly pursued by a Taylor, Mindel, Fraser and Idoine — as well as that of Peter
massive Imperial Star Destroyer. A small group of Rebels Suschitzky, ASC (The Empire Strikes Back), Alan Hume, BSC
have stolen the plans for a weapon the size of a moon, and (Return of the Jedi), David Tattersall, BSC (all three Star
their only hope of survival and victory lies in the last of a Wars prequels) and Steve Yedlin, ASC (The Last Jedi) —
defeated order of galactic protectors, and in a farmboy who have all helped shape the weathered, lived-in look of
destined to become a hero. The Star Wars saga began more that galaxy far, far away.
than 40 years ago with the 1977 release of director George By the same token, future Star Wars artists who take
Lucas’ instant sci-fi classic (shot by Gilbert Taylor, BSC). on the ever-advancing visual-effects technologies are the
When that film graced the cover of American Cinematogra- spiritual descendants of such trailblazers as Society
pher, the issue cost just one dollar. AC has gone on to members John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, and Dennis
feature nearly every Star Wars movie since, with cover Muren, who lent their talents to the franchise’s maiden
stories and in-depth reporting — and, in recent years, voyage. It was their groundbreaking motion-control rigs
documented set visits — that now serve as a vital histori- and optical-printing techniques that paved the way for the
cal record of the evolution of science-fiction filmmaking. digital wizardry ILM has brought to decades of movies;
So it’s only fitting that The Rise of Skywalker (shot by now, Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, in collaboration with
Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC), the final chapter of the ILM’s StageCraft software, helps power photo-real back-
nine-film space saga, is on our cover once again — along- grounds on a massive LED wall with proper 3D parallax
side Lucasfilm’s first Disney Plus streaming series, The relative to the production camera on The Mandalorian.
Mandalorian (shot by Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS and Barry Star Wars is about often-reluctant heroes who must
“Baz” Idoine), a production that represents the future of turn from the life they know and face the might of a vastly
the Star Wars universe. imposing foe, and who persevere through their hope and
That future includes streaming series, theatrical faith. Please enjoy these explorations into the philoso-
features and interactive experiences both in progress and phies, aims and techniques that helped bring to life the
not yet conceived. And the new creative teams that are latest adventures in the epic saga’s evolution.
sure to assemble will, by nature, build upon the work of

14 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This
Is the
Way
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS,
Barry “Baz” Idoine and
showrunner Jon Favreau
employ new
technologies to frame
the Disney Plus
Star Wars series
The Mandalorian
By Jay Holben

A live-action Star Wars television

series was George Lucas’ dream for
many years, but the logistics of televi-
sion production made achieving the Director and executive producer Dave Filoni and cinematographers Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS (center,
in white) and Barry “Baz” Idoine (operating camera) on the set of the Disney Plus Star Wars series
necessary scope and scale seem The Mandalorian.
inconceivable. Star Wars fans would
expect exotic, picturesque locations, screen. (Industrial Light & Magic did in a “sea of blue,” and for key
but it simply wasn’t plausible to take pioneering work with the technology creatives to have input on shot
a crew to the deserts of Tunisia or the for the original Star Wars movie.) designs and composition.
salt flats of Bolivia on a short sched- However, when characters are wear- In order for The Mandalorian to
ule and limited budget. The creative ing highly reflective costumes, as is work, technology had to advance
team behind The Mandalorian has the case with Mando (Pedro Pascal), enough that the epic worlds of
solved that problem. the title character of The Mandalorian, Star Wars could be rendered on an
For decades, green- and blue- the reflection of green- and bluescreen affordable scale by a team whose
screen compositing was the go-to solu- in the wardrobe causes costly prob- actual production footprint would
tion for bringing fantastic environ- lems in postproduction. In addition, comprise a few soundstages and a
ments and actors together on the it’s challenging for actors to perform small backlot. An additional consid-

www.ascmag.com February 2020 15

 This Is the Way
u A fisheye view
looking through the
gap between the
two back walls of
the show’s LED-wall
system, known as
“the Volume.” The
dark spot on the
Volume ceiling is
due to a different
model of LED
screens used there.
The ceiling is mostly
used for lighting
purposes, and if
seen on camera is
replaced in post.
q In the
background,
appearing to float in
space, are the
motion-tracking
cameras peeking
between the
Volume’s wall and
ceiling.

The LED Volume wall was made up of

ROE Black Pearl BP2 screens with a maximum
brightness of 1,800 nits. (10.674 nits equal 1
footcandle of light.) At peak brightness, the
wall could create an intensity of about 168
footcandles, the equivalent of an f/8 3⁄4 at 800
ISO (24 fps 180-degree shutter).

eration was that the typical visual-

effects workflow runs concurrent
with production, and then extends
for a lengthy post period. Even with
all the power of contemporary digi-
tal visual-effects techniques and
billions of computations per second,
the process can take up to 12 hours ing on set. The solution was what might
or more per frame. With thousands “That was our goal,” says be described as the heir to rear
of shots and multiple iterations, Fraser. “We wanted to create an envi- projection — a dynamic, real-time,
this becomes a time-consuming ronment that was conducive not just photo-real background played back
endeavor. The Holy Grail of visual to giving a composition line-up to the on a massive LED video wall and
effects — and a necessity for The effects, but to actually capturing ceiling, which not only provided the
Mandalorian, according to co-cine- them in real time, photo-real and in- pixel-accurate representation of
matographer and co-producer Greig camera, so that the actors were in that exotic background content, but was
Fraser, ASC, ACS — was the ability environment in the right lighting — also rendered with correct camera
to do real-time, in-camera composit- all at the moment of photography.” positional data.

16 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 Idoine (u, left) shooting on the Volume’s display
of the ice-planet Maldo Kreis — one of many of the
production’s environment “loads” — with director
Filoni watching and Karina Silva operating B
camera. The fixtures with white, half-dome, ping-
pong-style balls on each camera are the “Sputniks”
— infrared-marker configurations that are seen by
the motion-tracking cameras to record the
production camera’s position in 3D space, and to
render proper 3D parallax on the Volume wall.

If the content was created in

advance of the shoot, then
photographing actors, props and set
pieces in front of this wall could
create final in-camera visual effects
— or “near” finals, with only techni-
cal fixes required, and with complete
creative confidence in the composi- with a partial video wall for the pilot A key to the Volume’s success in
tion and look of the shots. On The episode of The Orville. With the team creating final visual-effects shots in camera
Mandalorian, this space was dubbed we had assembled between our crew, was color-matching the wall’s LED output
“the Volume.” (Technically, a ILM, Magnopus, Epic Games, Profile with the color matrix of the Alexa LF. ILM’s
“volume” is any space defined by Studios and Lux Machina, I felt that Matthias Scharfenberg and his team tested
motion-capture technology.) we had a very good chance at a posi- the ROE Black Pearl BP2 LED capabilities
“I was very encouraged by my tive outcome.” and matched them with the color sensitiv-
experiences using similar technology “The Volume is a difficult tech- ity and reproduction of the LF. This means
on Jungle Book [AC, May ’16], and nology to understand until you any other model of camera shooting in the
using virtual cameras on The Lion stand there in front of the ‘projection’ Volume would not receive proper color, but
King [AC, Aug. ’19],” explains Jon on the LED screen, put an actor in the Alexa LF would because the system was
Favreau, series creator and executive front of it, and move the camera optimized for that color science.
producer. “I had also experimented around,” Fraser says. “It’s hard to

www.ascmag.com February 2020 17

 This Is the Way
The crew surrounds the Mandalorian’s Razor Crest.
Only the fuselage and cockpit are practical set
pieces. From this still-camera position, the
composition appears “broken,” but from the
production-camera’s perspective, the engines
appear in perfect relationship to the fuselage, and
track in parallax with the camera’s movement.

the 90 remaining degrees of open

area, essentially “behind camera,”
were two 18'-high-by-20'-wide flat
panels of 132 more LED screens.
These two panels were rigged to
traveler track and chain motors in
the stage’s perms, so the walls could
be moved into place or flown out of
the way to allow better access to the
Volume area.
“The Volume allows us to
bring many different environments
The ability to select ideal lighting conditions can enable a cinematographer to under one roof,” says visual-effects
make every shot look perfect, but Fraser studiously avoided doing so. “I won’t supervisor Richard Bluff of ILM. “We
always want a perfect backlight, because that ends up looking fake,” he notes. “In could be shooting on the lava flats of
the real world, we have to shoot at different times of day, and sometimes we have Nevarro in the morning and in the
to compromise, but we still work to make it look pleasing. So, if I build a bit of deserts of Tattooine in the afternoon.
‘roughness’ into The Mandalorian’s look, it will feel more real. The idea is to intro- Of course, there are practical consid-
duce a little analog to make the digital better. erations to switching over environ-
“Jon Favreau was keenly aware of this as well,” the cinematographer contin- ments, but we [typically did] two
ues. “He had just finished The Lion King with Caleb [Deschanel, ASC], and they had environments in one day.”
staged some scenes in direct, hard, noon sunlight to give the [virtual world] a more “A majority of the shots were
naturalistic feel. You can’t just do everything at golden hour — that feels false.” done completely in camera,” Favreau
adds. “And in cases where we didn’t
grasp. It’s not really rear projection; and Vice (AC Jan. ’19), assumed cine- get to final pixel, the post-production
it’s not a TransLite because [it is a matography duties on The Mandalo- process was shortened significantly
real-time, interactive image with 3D rian when Fraser stepped away to because we had already made
objects] and has the proper parallax; shoot Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. creative choices based on what we
and it’s photo-real, not animated, but Idoine observes, “The strong initial had seen in front of us. Postproduc-
it is generated through a gaming value is that you’re not shooting in a tion was mostly refining creative
engine.” greenscreen world and trying to choices that we were not able to
“The technology that we were emulate the light that will be finalize on the set in a way that we
able to innovate on The Mandalorian comped in later — you’re actually deemed photo-real.”
would not have been possible had shooting finished product shots. It
we not developed technologies gives the control of cinematography With traditional rear projection (and
around the challenges of Jungle Book back to the cinematographer.” front projection), in order for the
and Lion King,” offers Favreau. “We result to look believable, the camera
had used game-engine and motion- The Volume was a curved, 20'-high- must either remain stationary or
capture [technology] and real-time by-180'-circumference LED video move along a preprogrammed path
set extension that had to be rendered wall, comprising 1,326 individual to match the perspective of the
after the fact, so real-time render was LED screens of a 2.84mm pixel pitch projected image. In either case, the
a natural extension of this that created a 270-degree semicircu- camera’s center of perspective (the
approach.” lar background with a 75'-diameter entrance pupil of the lens, sometimes
Barry “Baz” Idoine, who performance space topped with an referred to — though incorrectly — as
worked with Fraser for several years LED video ceiling, which was set the nodal point) must be precisely
as a camera operator and second- directly onto the main curve of the aligned with the projection system to
unit cinematographer on features LED wall. achieve proper perspective and the
including Rogue One (AC Feb. ’17) At the rear of the Volume, in effects of parallax. The Mandalorian is

18 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This Is the Way

p The Mandalorian (aka “Mando,” played by

Pedro Pascal) treks through the desert alone.
t Idoine (far left) discusses a shot of “Baby
Yoda” (aka “The Child”) with director Rick
Famuyiwa (third from left) and series
creator/executive producer Jon Favreau (third
from right), while assistant director Kim Richards
(second from right, standing) and crewmembers
listen. Practical set design was often used in front
of the LED screen, and was designed to visually
bridge the gap between the real and virtual
space. The practical sets were frequently placed
on risers to lift the floor and better hide the seam
of the LED wall and stage floor.

specs determined by production

designer Andrew Jones and visual
consultant Doug Chiang. Then,
wherever possible, a photogramme-
try team would head to an actual
location and create a 3D photo-
graphic scan. This information was
mapped onto 3D virtual sets and
then modified or embellished as
hardly the first production to incor- world space, and extrapolate proper necessary to adhere to the Star Wars
porate an image-projection system perspective and parallax on the design aesthetic. If there wasn’t a
for in-camera compositing, but what screen as the camera moved. This real-world location to photograph,
sets its technique apart is its ability to required incorporating motion- the environments were created
facilitate a moving camera. capture technology and a videogame entirely by ILM’s “environments”
Indeed, using a stationary engine — Epic Games’ Unreal visual-effects team. The elements of
camera or one locked into a pre-set Engine — that would generate the locations were loaded into the
move for all of the work in the proper 3D parallax perspective in Unreal Engine videogame platform,
Volume was simply not acceptable real time. which provided a live, real-time, 3D
for the needs of this particular The locations depicted on the environment that could react to the
production. The team therefore had LED wall were initially modeled in camera’s position.
to find a way to track the camera’s rough form by visual-effects artists The third shot of Season 1’s
position and movement in real- creating 3D models in Maya, to the first episode demonstrates this tech-

20 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This Is the Way

p Mando goes after the Jawas who dismantled

his ship. t Mando stands in a canyon on the
planet Arvala. The rocks behind him are on the
LED wall, while some practical rocks are placed in
the mid- and foreground to blend the transition.
The floor of the stage is covered in mud and rocks
for this location. On the jib is an Arri Alexa LF
with a Panavision Ultra Vista anamorphic lens.

tion image based on the camera’s

specific field of view at that given
moment, while the rest of the screen
displayed a lower-resolution image
that was still effective for interactive
lighting and reflections on the talent,
props and physical sets. (The
simpler polygon count facilitated
faster rendering times.)
Each Volume load was put into
the Unreal Engine videogame plat-
form, which provided the live, real-
nology with extreme effectiveness. the virtual image on the LED screen, time, 3D environment that reacted to
The shot starts with a low angle of and the parallax as the camera the production camera’s position —
Mando reading a sensor on the icy boomed up matched perfectly with which was tracked by Profile
planet of Maldo Kreis; he stands on a the real set. The effect of this system Studios’ motion-capture system via
long walkway that stretches out to a is seamless. infrared (IR) cameras surrounding
series of structures on the horizon. Because of the enormous the top of the LED walls that moni-
The skies are full of dark clouds, and amount of processing power needed tored the IR markers mounted to the
a light snow swirls around. Mando to create this kind of imagery, the production camera. When the
walks along the trail toward the full 180' screen and ceiling could not system recognized the X, Y, Z posi-
structures, and the camera booms up. be rendered high-resolution, photo- tion of the camera, it then rendered
All of this was captured in the real in real time. The compromise proper 3D parallax for the camera’s
Volume, in-camera and in real time. was to enter the specific lens used on position in real time. That was fed
Part of the walkway was a real, prac- the camera into the system, so that it from Profile into ILM’s proprietary
tical set, but the rest of the world was rendered a photo-real, high-resolu- StageCraft software, which managed

22 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This Is the Way

p Mando rescues the Child. t The Razor Crest

sits on the Volume stage. Only the fuselage of the
ship is practical.

moves. In some cases, if the lens’ field

of view — and therefore the frustum
— was too wide, the system could not
render an image high-res enough in
real time; the production would then
use the image on the LED screen
simply as lighting, and composite the
image in post [with a greenscreen
added behind the actors]. In those
instances, the backgrounds were
already created, and the match was
seamless because those actual back-
grounds had been used at the time of
photography [to light the scene].
Fortunately, says Fraser,
Favreau wanted The Mandalorian to
have a visual aesthetic that would
and recorded the information and camera moved ahead of the rendered match that of the original Star Wars.
full production workflow as it, in frustum (a term defining the virtual This meant a more “grounded”
turn, fed the images into the Unreal field of view of the camera) on the camera, with slow pans and tilts, and
Engine. The images were then screen, the transition line between non-aggressive camera moves — an
output to the screens with the assis- the high-quality perspective render aesthetic that helped to hide the
tance of the Lux Machina team. window and the lower-quality main system latency. “In addition to using
Due to the 10-12 frames render would be visible. To avoid some of the original camera language
(roughly half a second) of latency this, the frustum was projected an in Star Wars, Jon is deeply inspired
from the time Profile’s system average of 40-percent larger than the by old Westerns and samurai films,
received camera-position informa- actual field of view of the so he also wanted to borrow a bit
tion to Unreal’s rendering of the new camera/lens combination, to allow from those, especially Westerns,”
position on the LED wall, if the some safety margin for camera Fraser notes. “The Mandalorian is, in

24 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This Is the Way

Steadicam operator Simon Jayes tracks Mando, Mayfeld (Bill Burr) and Ran Malk (Mark Boone Jr.) in front of the LED wall. While the 10- to 12-frame latency of
rendering the high-resolution “frustum” on the wall can be problematic, Steadicam was employed liberally in Episode 6 to great success.

essence, a gunslinger, and he’s very ogy; they would just accept it as is. reasons,” explains Fraser. “Star Wars
methodical. This gave us a set of Amazingly, we were able to do just has a long history of anamorphic
parameters that helped define the that.” photography, and that aspect ratio is
look of the show. At no point will really key. We tested spherical lenses
you see an 8mm fisheye lens in Shot on Arri’s Alexa LF, The and cropping to 2.40, but it didn’t
someone’s face. That just doesn’t Mandalorian was the maiden voyage feel right. It felt very contemporary,
work within this language. for Panavision’s full-frame Ultra not like the Star Wars we grew up
“It was also of paramount Vista 1.65x anamorphic lenses. The with. Additionally, the LF’s larger
importance to me that the result of 1.65x anamorphic squeeze allowed sensor changes the focal length of the
this technology not just be ‘suitable for full utilization of the 1.44:1 aspect lens that we use for any given shot to
for TV,’ but match that of major, ratio of the LF to create a 2.37:1 a longer lens and reduces the overall
high-end motion pictures,” Fraser native aspect ratio, which was only depth of field. The T2.3 of the Ultra
continues. “We had to push the bar to slightly cropped to 2.39:1 for exhibi- Vistas is more like a T0.8 in Super 35,
the point where no one would really tion. so with less depth of field, it was
know we were using new technol- “We chose the LF for a couple easier to put the LED screen out of

“In the typical production workflow, cinematographers come in to prep and shoot the film, and are then sent away until
the grading process, and a lot of work is done on the image in post that we’re not a part of. The workflow on The Mandalorian
keeps the cinematographer in the loop from the development of the image to the final image, which is often captured in
camera. Baz and I are there to shepherd the image through the whole process, and that is so supremely important. Cine-
matographers design imagery every day, 12 hours a day, and we can look at an image and know immediately whether it’s right
or wrong — and often what we plan and photograph [on traditional productions] doesn’t get translated all the way through
post. With this kind of workflow, we supervise every element of the shot, and we can make sure it’s what we planned and
executed on set. The result is pretty amazing.”
— Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS

26 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This Is the Way
Mando wide open, compensating for
that with ND filters, and shot people
2 ⁄ 3 stop or 1 stop closed.”

According to Idoine, the

production used 50mm, 65mm, 75mm,
100mm, 135mm, 150mm and 180mm
Ultra Vistas that range from T2 to T2.8,
and he and Fraser tended to expose at
T2.5-T3.5. “Dan Sasaki gave us two
prototype Ultra Vistas to test in June
2018,” he says, “and from that we
worked out what focal-length range to
build.
“Our desire for cinematic
imagery drove every choice,” Idoine
adds. And that included the incorpo-
ration of a LUT emulating Kodak’s
short-lived 500T 5230 color negative, a
favorite of Fraser’s. “I used that stock
on Killing Them Softly [AC Oct. ’12] and
Foxcatcher [AC Dec. ’14], and I just
loved its creamy shadows and the
slight magenta cast in the highlights,”
says Fraser. “For Rogue One, ILM was
able to develop a LUT that emulated it,
and I’ve been using that LUT ever
since.”

“When you’re dealing with a reflec-

tive subject like Mando, the world
outside the camera frame is often more
important than the world you see in
the camera’s field of view,” Fraser
says. “What’s behind the camera is
reflected in the actor’s helmet and
costume, and that’s crucial to selling
the illusion that he’s in that environ-
ment. Even if we were only shooting
pp Fraser operates an Alexa LF, shooting a close-up of the Ugnaught Kuiil (Misty Rosas in the suit, voiced by in one direction on a particular loca-
Nick Nolte). The transition between the bottom of the LED wall and the stage floor is clearly seen here. That area
was often obscured by physical production design or replaced in post. p Actor Giancarlo Esposito portrays Moff
tion, the virtual art-department
Gideon, an Imperial searching for the Child. would have to build a 360-degree set
so we could get the interactive light-
focus faster, which avoided a lot of softness,” Fraser continues. ing and reflections right. This was
issues with moiré. It allows the “Photographing the chrome helmet also true for practical sets that were
inherent problems in a 2D screen on Mando is a challenge — its super- built onstage and on the backlot —
displaying 3D images to fall off in sharp edges can quickly look video- we had to build the areas that we
focus a lot faster, so the eye can’t tell like if the lens is too sharp. Having a would never see on camera because
that those buildings that appear to be softer acutance in the lens, which they would be reflected in the suit. In
1,000 feet away are actually being [Panavision senior vice president of the Volume, it’s this world outside the
projected on a 2D screen only 20 feet optical engineering and ASC associ- camera that defines the lighting.
from the actor. ate] Dan Sasaki [modified] for us, “When you think about it,
“The Ultra Vistas were a great really helped. The lens we used for unless it’s a practical light in shot, all
choice for us because they have a Mando tended to be a little too soft of our lighting is outside the frame —
good amount of character and for human faces, so we usually shot that’s how we make movies,” Fraser

28 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This Is the Way
TECH SPECS
2.39:1 Anamorphic

Digital Capture

Arri Alexa LF

LF Open Gate, ArriRaw, 4.5K

Panavision Ultra Vista, 1.65x squeeze

assets. They sometimes used

photogrammetry as the basis, but
always relied upon the same visual-
effects artists who create environ-
ments for the Star Wars films to real-
ize these real-time worlds — “baking
Idoine readies the camera for a scene. in” lighting choices established
earlier in the pipeline with high-end,
continues. “But when most of your While shooting a location, the ray-traced rendering.
lighting comes from the environ- photogrammetry team shot multiple “I chose the sky domes that
ment, you have to shape that envi- stills at different times of day to worked best for all the shots we
ronment carefully. We sometimes create “sky domes.” This enabled the needed for each sequence on the
have to add a practical or a window director and cinematographer to Volume,” Fraser notes. “After they
into the design, which provides our choose the sun position and sky qual- were chosen and ILM had done their
key light even though we never see ity for each set. “We can create a work, I couldn’t raise or lower the
that [element] on camera.” perfect environment where you have sun because the lighting and shadows
There were, of course, limita- two minutes to sunset frozen in time would be baked in, but I could turn
tions. Although LEDs are bright and for an entire 10-hour day,” Idoine the whole world to adjust where the
capable of emitting a good deal of notes. “If we need to do a turn- hot spot was.”
light, they cannot re-create the inten- around, we merely rotate the sky and
sity and quality of direct, natural background, and we’re ready to The Volume could incorporate
daylight. “The sun on the LED screen shoot!” virtual lighting, too, via the “Brain
looks perfect because it’s been During prep, Fraser and Idoine Bar,” a NASA Mission Control-like
photographed, but it doesn’t look spent a lot of time in the virtual art section of the soundstage where as
good on the subjects — they look like department, whose crew created the many as a dozen artists from ILM,
they’re in a studio,” Fraser attests. virtual backgrounds for the LED Unreal and Profile sat at workstations
“It’s workable for close-ups, but not loads. They spent many hours going and made the technology of the
really for wide shots. For moments through each load to set sky-dome Volume function. Their work was
with real, direct sunlight, we headed choices and pick the perfect time of able to incorporate on-the-fly color-
out to the backlot as much as possi- day and sun position for each correction adjustments and virtual-
ble.” That “backlot” was an open moment. They could select the sky lighting tools, among other tweaks.
field near the Manhattan Beach condition they wanted, adjust the Matt Madden, president of
Studios stages, where the art depart- scale and the orientation, and finesse Profile and a member of the Brain Bar
ment built various sets. (Several all of these attributes to find the best team, worked closely with Fraser,
stages were used for creating tradi- lighting for the scene. Basic, real-time Idoine and gaffer Jeff Webster to
tional sets as well.) ray tracing helped them see the incorporate virtual-lighting tools via
Overcast skies, however, effects of their choices on the virtual an iPad that communicated back to
proved a great source in the Volume. actors in the previs scene. These the Bar. He could create shapes of
The skies for each “load” — the term choices would then be saved and sent light on the wall of any size, color and
given for each new environment off to ILM, whose artists would use intensity. If the cinematographer
loaded onto the LED walls — were these rougher assets for reference and wanted a large, soft source off-
based on real, photographed skies. build the high-resolution digital camera, Madden was able to create a

30 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 This Is the Way
“One of the benefits of this technol-
ogy is that it allows more significant collab-
oration in every phase of the filmmaking
process. It allows department heads who
are traditionally relegated to one phase of
the pipeline to participate in the others.
There’s a wonderful opportunity to let your
imagination run wild, and allow everybody
to share the vision on the set, as you look
around and see the world you were all able
to create together. You can make filmmak-
ing choices as you would on a practical set,
even though you’re surrounded by
elements created from your collective
imagination.”
— Jon Favreau

Idoine (seated at camera) in discussion with Favreau and Filoni on a practical set.
“light card” of white just outside the
frustum. The entire wall outside the producing virtual greenscreen on the meant that the cinematographer was
camera’s angle of view could be a LED wall, which could be any size, hands-on throughout the creation of
large light source of any intensity or and any hue or saturation of green. all the images.
color that the LEDs could reproduce. Among the benefits of virtual green- “I personally enjoy that
Idoine discovered that a great screen were that it required no time pipeline,” Favreau attests. “I have
additional source for Mando was a to set up or rig, and its size could be tried to learn as much as I could from
long, narrow band of white near the set to precisely outline the subject to the way animation approaches the
top of the LED wall. “This wrap- be replaced — which greatly mini- preproduction and production sched-
around source created a great back- mized and sometimes even elimi- ule. I think the earlier in the process
light look on Mando’s helmet,” nated green spill. you can solve story issues, the more
Idoine says. Alternatively, he and efficient the production process
Fraser could request a tall, narrow The Mandalorian workflow was becomes. Animation has traditionally
band of light on the wall that would somewhat inverted, because — front-loaded the story process,
reflect on Mando’s full suit, similar to unlike on typical productions — whereas live-action allows you to
the way a commercial photographer virtual backgrounds and CG kick the can down the road.”
might light a wine bottle or a car — elements had to be finished before “We all felt a little like film
using specular reflections to define principal photography commenced. students at the start of this,” Fraser
shape. Once the cinematographer approved says. “It’s all new, and we were
Additionally, virtual black the locations and lighting in the discovering the limitations and abili-
flags — meaning areas where the virtual art-department, the images ties of the system as we went along.
LED wall were set to black — could were delivered to ILM for their work, We continually pushed the system to
be added wherever needed, and at which took about six weeks to break it and see where the edges of
whatever size. The transparency of complete for each load. At the time of the envelope were — but the technol-
the black could also be adjusted to photography, some manipulation ogy continued to evolve and allow us
any percentage to create virtual nets. and alteration of the virtual elements to push that envelope further. We’d
The virtual LED environments could take place, but many decisions say, ‘Oh, man, I wish we could …’
were hugely successful, but tradi- about coverage, blocking and light- and someone at the Brain Bar would
tional greenscreen still played a ing were already locked in. Naturally, say, ‘Yeah, I think we can!’ And the
significant role in the production of this required a degree of collabora- next day we’d have that ability. It was
The Mandalorian, and it was always tion among the director, cinematog- pretty amazing.” u
on hand — especially for situations rapher, production designer and
where the frustum was too wide for visual-effects supervisor that was For expanded coverage of
the system to adequately respond. closer than that on a typical produc- The Mandalorian, visit ascmag.com in
The Volume was also capable of tion. But, as Fraser notes, it also February.

32 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 Saga’s End

Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC and

so excited to take part. Six weeks later I was in England,

director J.J. Abrams rejoin forces

looking at soundstages and scouting locations.”

on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker serves as the third film
in the Disney-produced sequel trilogy, as well as the finale

to conclude an epic tale

to the nine-film Skywalker saga that began in 1977 with
George Lucas’ Star Wars — subsequently titled A New
Hope. The new movie reconvenes our intrepid band of
By Noah Kadner heroes, including Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley),
Poe (Oscar Isaac) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), as they
face off against Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First
“I was driving along the PCH when I got this very cryptic Order. They’re joined by new characters, including the
text from J.J. Abrams: ‘Do you want to go back to a galaxy scoundrel Zorii Bliss (Keri Russell) and freedom fighter
far, far away?’” recalls Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC. “I Jannah (Naomi Ackie). Original-trilogy stars Mark
realized then and there what was happening. I wasn’t Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Ian McDiarmid also
going to miss an opportunity for round two in this arena reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian,
for anything. J.J. had an incredible story to tell, and I was and Emperor Palpatine, respectively.

“We wanted The Rise of Skywalker [to look] as weighty as it feels. We shot with that in mind. It needed to have gravitas
in the look as well as the story.”
— Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC

34 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 To capture the climactic chapter,
Abrams reteamed with Mindel, his
longtime cinematographer, once
again forming the duo that had
successfully relaunched the franchise
with The Force Awakens (AC Feb. ’16).
Unit photography by Jonathan Olley and John Wilson, courtesy

Lucasfilm producer Kathleen

Kennedy’s original plan had called
for a different director for each film in
the new trilogy, with Rian Johnson
helming The Last Jedi (AC Feb. ’18)
and Colin Trevorrow initially set for
the final film, yet the plans evolved
over the intervening years, and the
Force ultimately brought Abrams and
Mindel back to Star Wars.
Mindel swiftly reassembled his
own Rebel Alliance of longtime tp Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) face off in the wreckage of the Death Star in the
of Lucasfilm Ltd.

collaborators, many of whom were epic space adventure Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. ppp (From left) Production designer Kevin
Jenkins, producer Kathleen Kennedy and cinematographer Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC discuss a scene.
veterans of multiple Star Wars pp Director J.J. Abrams and Mindel survey the scene while shooting on location. p Having a word
productions. His crew included gaffer with Threepio (Anthony Daniels).

www.ascmag.com February 2020 35

 Saga’s End

incorporated some digital capture for

The Last Jedi, Mindel essentially
returned to an all-film approach for
The Rise of Skywalker, though without
the use of Imax this time around.
(Aerial plates were shot with Arri’s
Alexa 65 and on 35mm with spherical
Primo lenses.)
“We asked Dan Sasaki [ASC
associate member and senior vice
president of optical engineering at
Panavision] for some minor adjust-
ments, so there’s now a second set of
customized Star Wars [Retro C] lenses
in the world,” says Mindel. “The new
set has a much warmer, more satu-
rated, sympathetic feel, and it’s also a
Ridley prepares for a Jedi training scene in the forest.
bit less severe and less contrasty.
They’ve got a kind of warm diffusion
Perry Evans, key grip Gary Hymns, To help recapture the look of the built in. Dan also adjusted the focus
camera operator Colin Anderson and original trilogy, Mindel had shot The plane to achieve a very organic
1st AC Sergius Nafa. They worked in Force Awakens on 35mm film — with falloff.”
tandem with costume designer Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL To further achieve the warmth he
Michael Kaplan, production design- cameras and customized “Retro C,” T sought, Mindel created a mandate for
ers Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins, Series and Primo anamorphic prime the overall lighting approach, which
and Industrial Light & Magic visual- lenses — and sequence-specific 65mm was facilitated by Pinewood MBS
effects supervisor Roger Guyett. Imax. Although Steve Yedlin, ASC Lighting. “I didn’t want to use LEDs

36 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 Returning to the Helm

Tapped to bring the Star Wars the shots you create are often there’s something I love about the
sequel trilogy to a close, J.J. Abrams challenging but also extremely way the camera was operated or a
returned to the helm for The Rise of satisfying when they come together shot was lit. I love working with these
Skywalker, reteaming with Dan because they look so dynamic. actors; they’re so wonderful. Some of
Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC and the What’s your process for shot design? my favorite visual-effects shots are
creative team at Lucasfilm. The Abrams: The question is, what is the visual effects they’re doing with
director spoke with AC about his the intention of the scene? What is the their eyes! Though I will say, I’ve
work on the galactic adventure. mood of the moment? What is the never seen ILM do more
context? Once you know what the extraordinary work than they did on
American Cinematographer: moment is, it’s a bit like making a this movie.
You achieved a contemporary but jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece, and Can you talk about the efforts
nostalgic look on The Force then assembling it. To the best of your involved in including Leia in this
Awakens. What was your visual ability, you need to know what the final film?
approach for The Rise of Skywalker? final picture is going to be, and every Abrams: There were a bunch of
Abrams: Everything we did was day, every sequence, every shot is challenges along the way, but the
about trying to stay true to what we about creating a piece of that puzzle. biggest was emotional. Everyone
felt was right. All you can do is trust [It’s] building the thing as you go and cared deeply and wanted to do the
your instinct, whether you’re lighting standing on ground that didn’t exist best that anyone in their positions
a scene, choosing a location, naming two seconds earlier. could. It was incumbent upon me and
a character or designing a costume. Why shoot 35mm Panavision [co-screenwriter] Chris Terrio to make
Sometimes what feels like it belongs instead of one of the latest digital sure we were telling a story using the
in Star Wars and what doesn’t seems formats? tools we had — and also the existing
incredibly irrational. I don’t have a Abrams: Because 35mm footage — to bring Leia to life. Carrie
mission statement written, but I do Panavision is awesome! [Laughs.] So [Fisher] was a friend, and I adored her
have a gut. A lot of what I go for is many movies, many by necessity, are and loved working with her; nothing
what feels like it could be part of the shot digitally, and that has a look. I’m was more important than doing right
universe you’re familiar with, but is not saying we haven’t all seen utterly by her. The key was to understand the
also a corner you haven’t seen before, gorgeous digital photography or experience I wanted the audience to
a room you haven’t walked into or a utterly abysmal-looking film. At the have, and the intention of that
character you haven’t crossed paths end of the day, there’s just something moment, and then make sure
with yet. It’s not about the elements innately more organic, soulful and everything we were doing was
or the weather or the plant life. It’s beautiful about film. If you’re serving that. In addition to the
about the heart of the characters. afforded an opportunity to use the technical aspects of it, which were
How did you first decide to tools used by those filmmakers extensive, a lot of credit needs to go to
work with Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, whom you aspire to follow, it’s hard the actors who performed in those
SASC? to turn down. scenes without Carrie.
Abrams: I met Dan on Mission: Do you have a favorite shot or This movie concludes not only a
Impossible III. He was someone whose sequence in The Rise of Skywalker? trilogy, but also the entire saga.
work I admired and who came Abrams: I have quite a few, What do you want the audience to
highly recommended. I knew I maybe because of what a performer take away from it?
needed someone who was going to may have done, the way Dan lit Abrams: Our ambition was to tell
be collaborative and accepting of a something, the way Serge [Sergius a story epic in scope and incredibly
first-time director, someone who had Nafa] pulled focus, the way Colin intimate in experience. If we did our
a track record of doing the kind of [Anderson] operated the Steadicam jobs, it’s a deeply moving, funny and
stuff I hoped to be a part of, but who or the way Gary [Hymns] used the thrilling adventure that’s old-school
was also open to someone who dolly or operated the crane. Everyone in some ways and very contemporary
hadn’t done it before. Dan is the on the crew just did the most in others. That was our ambition.
perfect combination of wisdom, wit, amazing work. There’s a long dolly What people take away from it
ambition and humility, and he’s a shot where the heroes first get to remains to be seen and is up to them.
real artist. [Kijimi] that I really enjoyed — and
The camera crew revealed that also, some small moments where — Noah Kadner

www.ascmag.com February 2020 37

 Saga’s End
We wanted close-ups of char-
acters riding the speeders and
other machines in the desert to be
shot in that environment. We set
up a big greenscreen out in the
desert [in Wadi Rum, Jordan] and
oriented it so we could do the
shots to match where the sun and
light would be at the locations.
We’d spin the gimbal around and
shoot so the light was in the right
place all the time. We never could
have fully replicated, back home,
the light quality of the desert —
and this way, it was a seamless
join when the visual-effects artists
put it all together. The [wide shots
and close-ups] were both shot in
the same environment.
— Perry Evans, Gaffer

Nafa. “There were times when the T

Series 60mm and 135mm required
additional diffusion because they’re a
little more contrasty.
“We mainly shot on Kodak
[Vision3 500T] 5219,” Nafa continues.
“We also used some [Vision3 50D]
5203 for the outdoor daylight work,
mostly in Jordan. We had some
[Vision3 250D] 5207 as a contingency
for whenever the sun was fighting
through clouds and we needed more
stop, but primarily we used 5219 and
5203.”
Mindel adds, “The Kodak lab
on human beings in front of the Eye’ lights — including 20Ks and has improved its workflow, and it’s
camera,” he explains. “I wanted to 10Ks — as well as 2K Blondes. We now right here at Pinewood in the old
use high-quality color-balanced light- used Fresnels with the ability to spot Technicolor lab. We scan the negative
ing that was more sympathetic to skin and flood, along with various diffu- and watch projected digital dailies
tones. It would be fine to use LED sions, and they just looked gorgeous.” every day with a Company 3 colorist
lighting on the periphery and the “We used light [Tiffen] Black Pro- in order to color and view at the same
backgrounds, but not for key lights. Mist on every series of lens in certain time. The corrected dailies then go
Instead, we used mostly tungsten ‘Big situations, usually close-ups,” reports right into online editorial, so no one

“I think at the heart of it, what we were trying to do is make this huge visual-effects movie look as though it was
completely shot practically — and, of course, make the effects as invisible as possible and as photo-real as possible. Obviously,
by the very nature of what we were doing, that’s completely mad in some respects!”
— Roger Guyett, ILM Visual-Effects Supervisor

38 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

ever sees uncorrected material. The “We spent a lot of time on crane, and a lot of time on Steadicam. J.J. wants the
process is fast and cost-effective, and camera to really be part of the action, part of the storytelling process, to be a char-
we get to see the movie on the big acter in the game. He shows up in the morning, we do the blocking, and then it’s
screen as we’re shooting it. It’s incred- primarily between him, Dan and Colin Anderson to create a dynamic, difficult-to-
ibly fortunate that Lucasfilm has execute shot that has a lot of moving parts and requires a lot of people to hit their
allowed us to do it this way.” marks at very specific times throughout the take. J.J. was very patient and very posi-
When production commenced in tive. He knew what he was asking for was very demanding — and if one element
August 2018, one immediate chal- made an error, no problem. We’d just keep going until every single individual who
lenge was resolving the story arc of had a part in the take got it right.”
Princess — and General — Leia — Sergius Nafa, 1st AC
Organa, portrayed by Carrie Fisher,
who died suddenly in 2016. The film-
makers maintained a strong desire to Guyett many times, and I rarely do we catch up with in a forest on the
include Leia in the final chapter, and anything on set without consulting planet Ajan Kloss as she practices her
to provide a fitting closure to her him. I truly believe it’s the cinematog- lightsaber skills. The sequence was
story without recasting or digitally re- rapher’s duty to give the visual- shot in Black Park, just behind
creating the character. effects supervisor the absolute Pinewood Studios. Key grip Hymns
As fate would have it, Abrams maximum leeway. Together, we deployed a Wirecam, from The Wire
and Mindel had filmed an entire matched the lighting that was used in Rig Co., in the treetops to capture fast
subplot with Leia during The Force the original footage [of Fisher]. It was tracking shots of the actor.
Awakens that wasn’t used in the a matter of dialing it in by eye and “Outdoors, we planned and built
finished film. By rewriting the script then shooting it. We were able to take the sets around where the sun was
around that footage (along with addi- interior shots and put them outside, going to be throughout the days,”
tional material shot for The Last Jedi), and vice-versa, and match the light- says Mindel. “In England, the
and employing rotoscoping and ing. weather changes ‘every five seconds,’
motion control, the filmmakers were and we had to generate a certain
able to include Fisher in entirely new About a year has passed in the story- amount of light and shadow to resem-
scenes for The Rise of Skywalker. line since The Last Jedi, and The Rise of ble natural light. We had a pretty big
“We did some testing to see how Skywalker begins by updating viewers footprint — there’s nothing like
that was going to work,” Mindel on the heroes’ progress. Of particular seeing a full-size Millennium Falcon
recalls. “I’ve worked with Roger interest is Jedi-in-training Rey, whom and other ships just sitting there in the

www.ascmag.com February 2020 39

 Saga’s End

Rey confronts Palpatine.

The production carried three full Panaflex packages, and an Arriflex 435 for
high-speed work up to 150 fps, 1st AC Sergius Nafa reports. “For optics,” he says, “in a tremendous amount of organization
addition to the Retro C set, we had E Series, T Series, G Series and Primo because the light is very harsh, and J.J.
Anamorphic Prime lenses, and as a rule, we used the older glass to photograph the didn’t want to shoot in bad light. That
Resistance and the newer for the Imperial environments. We also had the T Series immediately cut down the number of
Anamorphic Zoom [ALZ10 42-425mm T4.5] and the Panavision Primo [ALZ11] 11:1 hours per day we could work. But it’s
48-550mm [T4.5], as well as the ALZ3 3:1 270-840mm [T4.5 Primo Anamorphic] great to have a crew ready to absorb
zoom lens — nicknamed ‘the Hubble’ — with a doubler that Dan created for Tom that momentum. We also had a heli-
Stern [ASC, AFC] on American Sniper; its maximum focal length is 1,680mm.” copter unit under Roger Guyett’s
supervision capturing large-format
plates for flying shots.”
woods! We had a few sets in the featuring Jet Troopers, treadspeeders To capture the speeder and Jet
woods, which covered many acres.” and landspeeders; and a crowded Trooper chase, the crew erected a
Although most of the film was outdoor festival. motion-base gimbal — overseen by
shot in England, the production also “We first set up three large special-effects supervisor Chris
spent about a month on location in generators at the main location in Corbould — and massive, inflatable
Wadi Rum, Jordan, which stood in for Wadi,” recalls Evans. “Then we sent greenscreens on location. “It was a
the planet Pasaana. Hymns helped in our rigging gang for a week to very interesting way of working,”
oversee the massive logistical effort, cable the whole place. Within a few Mindel opines. “Greenscreen cine-
which included shipping an enor- days, the sand completely buried the matography has evolved in such a
mous amount of equipment from the cables, which worked in our favor!” way that [we no longer have to be]
U.K. to the remote desert. Sequences “The Jordanian military built the hyper-careful about the amount of
captured in Jordan include an acro- infrastructure, the roads and the light touching the screens, and it’s
batic clash between Rey and Kylo access,” Mindel adds. “Shooting a much easier for the visual-effects
Ren’s TIE Whisper fighter; a chase day-exterior movie in the desert takes companies to make it work.” Gaffer

“Dan probably uses a standby painter better than anyone in the business,” says camera operator Colin Anderson. “We’re
always doing something to the surfaces, whether we’re grinding them up, shining them up, adding texture or taking down a
wall that’s too bright instead of flagging it.” Mindel adds, “I love using the standby painter on set. It’s an old-school method
of controlling the highlights and shadows, and also aging and dulling down surfaces that are ‘annoying’ the lens.”

40 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

Evans flew two 40'x40' shades on kind of my thing to work in confined Rogue One (shot by Greig Fraser, ASC,
cranes to help control the sunlight spaces,” he says. “For the heritage ACS; AC Feb. ’17) saw LED screens
during intensely hot days; these were spacecraft — the ships that appeared employed for cockpit scenes, with
a mix of solids, diffusion and camo in the previous movies — we didn’t pre-built effects sequences for interac-
nets. really change anything; we shot and tive lighting, Mindel opted for a more
lit them like they did back in the day. traditional approach with green-
In Star Wars movies, cockpit-interior We just upgraded the technology of screens.
sequences always play an important the practical light fixtures. But the And though originally created
role. Mindel tackled these hallmark Falcon cockpit is the Falcon cockpit.” with wooden sticks, and rotoscoped
shots with his usual enthusiasm. “It’s And although the production of animation in post, the lightsabers of

Game Changing

The ASC recently stepped into we believe that the next step for our tor, and then the work gets spread out
the gaming world, as Society lighting artists is a deeper under- to various domain leads and
member Dan Mindel and Society standing of those workflows. computer-graphic artists. [These
President Kees van Oostrum visited Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC: skilled professionals] have observed
the Vancouver campus of game- EA wanted to talk about photo-real- very closely the cinematic decisions
development company Electronic ism in their arena, and how the visual and design of Dan’s work on Star
Arts to discuss techniques in cine- aesthetic that we create in our busi- Wars, and they were very interested
matography and how they may be ness can translate, and make their in his lens choices, in terms of both
applied to the design of EA’s projects. games, in design and structure, seem focal length and the character of the
For the event — hosted by Noah a bit more realistic. lens. They were fascinated by his
Klabunde, lighting director for EA The most useful time there was approach to lighting the big studio
Create, the central art team for the Q&A, where we had a room full sets — with a sense of reality and
Electronic Arts — lighters, world of game artists asking cinematogra- drama. This appeals to [the lighting
artists, FX artists and art directors phers questions about real-world and world artists], since a movie set is
were flown in from EA Studios from filmmaking, which they could then a creation from the ground up, much
around the globe to attend this one- apply to the lighting, lensing, and all like what they face in their world.
day Master Class seminar. AC spoke of the other in-computer work that Mindel: To me, bringing tradi-
with Mindel, van Oostrum and they do. I suppose the conversation tional cinematography into gaming
Klabunde about the experience. that sticks with me the most from the seems totally logical. The more CG
Q&A is the one we had about the animation that we use in cinema, the
Noah Klabunde: In the last five way light reacts on surfaces — the more it becomes accessible and
years, the visual quality of games has textures of the walls, ground, and cheaper, and the more they are going
increased exponentially, and as components of the environments that to use that in the universes that they
‘lighters’ within EA, our responsibili- the artists were putting the [games] set the games in. I also think that the
ties are [shifting] from just placing in. In my response, I noted that future of CG animation for visual
lights [to serving as] virtual cine- taking into account the refraction, effects in live-action movies is going
matographers. We are using physi- bounce and atmosphere (i.e., dust, to get better, stronger, and more
cally based materials and real-world smoke or moisture in the air), and creative. The more we — the [tradi-
absolute light values — and we’re angle of the sun (i.e., time of day, tional] filmmakers, who use cameras
shooting the games with a camera which affects the way everything and lights and people — cross into
model [that’s based on physical looks), we should then — [with the gaming world and share our
cameras], and using an HDR color- regard to] the virtual lenses being knowledge, the better the games are
grading pipeline [based on those employed — use the mapping of going to look. And the more we, as
used for modern cinema]. As artists, real-world lenses to ingest all the cinematographers, learn from the
we need to build core cinemato- aberrations, and translate them into game artists, the better the CG in
graphic, artistic and storytelling the virtual space, and bring another movies will be.
skills to visually [advance] our layer of texture to the game universe. — Andrew Fish and
games. As we approach parity with Kees van Oostrum, ASC: [EA’s Samantha Dillard
the real-world cinematic workflows, games] are designed by an art direc-

www.ascmag.com February 2020 41

 Saga’s End

“You’ll find that each character sort of bonds with a certain lens, and looks great in that close-up. Daisy looks terrific on
the 75mm or the 100mm, and Boyega looks fantastic on the 60mm and the 75mm. Basically, by the end of the first week of
shooting, we saw how the new Retro C lenses reacted to the characters and vice-versa. And that informed how we shot our
characters. There was no real go-to lens. They’re all fantastic and they all do different things [well].”
— Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC, SASC

the sequel trilogy have LED-illumi- have been shortened to make them lenses clear of snow, rain and debris
nated blades that create interactive less heavy for the actors. The last 10 by mounting Schulz Sprayoff Micros
lighting. “Fortunately, we were inches are added later by ILM. on them.
instrumental in how they were Losing that many LEDs diminished For an elaborate sequence
designed for The Force Awakens,” their output, but we could mimic the during the final space battle in The
Mindel notes. “Nothing much has sources very well. Rise of Skywalker, Finn and Jannah
changed, although the lightsabers “In this film, we used them as lead a charge of horse-like Orbaks
sources in a much more aggressive across the enormous hull of a Star
way than we did in The Force Destroyer. For this section of the
TECH SPECS Awakens,” he adds. “This movie has film, the production built an exten-
a lot more action set in darkness, sive set in a former airship hangar at
1.2.39:1 Anamorphic
and we often relied on the Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire.
4-perf 35mm lightsabers to key the actors.” “It took us about three months
As the story progresses, the to put the lighting infrastructure in
Kodak Vision3 50D 5203, 250D 5207, heroes make their way to the before the set could be built,” says
500T 5219 Thieves’ Quarter on the snow planet Mindel. “We had enough space to do
Kijimi. The exterior set on the tracking shots that involved full-
Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL;
Arriflex 435 Pinewood backlot was one of the speed cantering on tracking vehicles,
largest sets ever built for the Star motorcycles and all sorts of rigs. We
Arri Alexa 65 (some aerial plates) Wars series. “It’s very, very difficult also had a Spidercam wired into the
to make snow look like it’s not lit at set to capture tracking shots with the
Panavision Retro C Series, E Series,
night,” Mindel notes. “So we had horses, and it did that brilliantly.”
T Series, G Series,
Primo Anamorphic Primes; three giant, soft light boxes on
Primo and T Series Anamorphic Zooms cranes that we could move Principal photography lasted from
anywhere on the set.” Nafa kept the August 2018 to February 2019. In the

42 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 Saga’s End
Abrams used
footage cut from
Star Wars: The
Force Awakens to
bring General Leia
Organa back for
the conclusion of
the Skywalker
saga after the
passing of Carrie
Fisher in 2016.

midst of the final grade at Company 3, of work we did is so much bigger exhibited in many versions, includ-
where he was working with colorist than I remember,” he says. “Stefan ing laser projection and 3D. We’re
and ASC associate Stefan Sonnenfeld, and I have done this process half a taking our time, and we’re trying to
Mindel took a moment to reflect on his dozen times now, so we have a make it look as luscious as we can.
whirlwind experience. “Seeing The tremendous shorthand. We rough it Having a second go after The Force
Rise of Skywalker completed for the in, and then J.J. will come sit with us Awakens gave us a broad opportunity
first time since we shot it, the amount and finish it off. The film will be to make something rich and exciting

44
to watch. The collective responsibility
is enormous, and we’ve been fastidi-
ous about all of it. I will be pleased to
hand [Star Wars] over to the next
creative team, but I’ll also be sad to let
it go. It’s a fantastic arena to work in.
“This saga started and ended in
England, and it’s fascinating how Abrams inspects
these movies are multinational — not Klaud, a new
in the industrial sense, but in the member of the
Resistance.
crafting, which has been in the DNA
of Star Wars all along,” he adds. “The
crew, about a thousand strong, is
made up of people from all over the
world. I’m glad we could work with
the same people in England who
worked on all the other films, and we
kept it all in the right place. Whether
someone planned it that way or not,
it’s just fantastic.” u “It’s such a privilege to have worked on something like this. It’s history, and I
think we’ve done it justice — I honestly do. I think it’s an extraordinary film — excit-
For expanded coverage of ing and visually beautiful. It’s something I think we’re all very proud to have our
The Rise of Skywalker, visit ascmag.com names on.”
in February. — Colin Anderson, Camera Operator

45
 Artistry in Balance

With an instinct for collaboration, N.J., Elmes immersed himself in still photography, which

Lifetime Achievement Award

led to shooting 8mm and 16mm home movies, and then to

honoree Frederick Elmes, ASC

filming staged productions with friends and family.

aims to serve the storytelling

“I grew up with movies,” he recollects, “especially
Hollywood movies — musical comedies, Buster Keaton,
and Abbott and Costello. My brother and I saw The Day
the Earth Stood Still at a time when you could see two or
By Iain Marcks three movies for a couple of bucks, and I remember sitting
through it twice because I really dug it.”
Elmes attended the Rochester Institute of
“I have to be moved by the story, and I want to build a rela- Technology as an undergraduate; he studied photo illus-
tionship with the director that allows me to ask intimate tration, art history and photojournalism. His interests
questions about why the story moves them.” began to pivot toward filmmaking during that time, and
— Frederick Elmes, ASC after graduating from RIT, he enrolled in the newly estab-
lished graduate-film program at New York University’s
Whereas some take a circuitous route to a life Tisch School of the Arts. There he was taught by Czech
behind the camera, the path of Frederick Elmes, ASC — cinematographer Beda Batka, among others, and worked
this year’s ASC Lifetime Achievement Award honoree — as Batka’s teaching assistant and as a projectionist in the
was steady, straight and started at a young age, when his school’s screening room, called “the Bijou.” Through that
father gave him a 35mm Leica. Raised in Mountain Lakes, program, he met future collaborator Martha Coolidge and

46 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

Photos by Wilson Webb, SMPSP; Lorey Sebastian; Doane Gregory, SMPSP; David Lee; and John Clifford. Images courtesy of Frederick Elmes, ASC and the AC archives.

future ASC colleague Tom Houghton.

“Fred was in the class ahead of
mine, along with Martha,” Houghton
recalls. “My first week there, we had
a Friday night screening of Husbands.
[Director] John Cassavetes and
[actor] Ben Gazzara were there in our
small screening room; Martin
Scorsese was standing in the back;
and Fred was up in the booth.”
For Elmes, watching movies as
a projectionist was as much an educa-
tion as learning about them in a
formal classroom setting. He credits
the films of Ingmar Bergman, specifi-
cally The Seventh Seal (photographed
by Gunnar Fischer), with opening his
eyes to cinema that dealt with
“bigger issues” than the typical
t ASC Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Frederick Elmes, ASC eyes a still frame along a Russian waterway.
Hollywood fare. He notes that it was
pp Elmes (center, standing) looks on as director David Lynch checks a frame on the set of Blue Velvet. p Elmes
Bergman’s work with Sven Nykvist, works with director Christopher Reeve on the television feature In the Gloaming.
ASC on Persona that illuminated for

www.ascmag.com February 2020 47

 Artistry in Balance
responsibility.
“Working with John is where I
learned to dive in and roll with the
whole filmmaking process, to be
present and watch how a scene
unfolds,” Elmes says of the famously
freeform director. “John liked the
idea of a bunch of young people
getting together to make a movie. He
despised anything that ‘looked like’
a Hollywood movie. He also didn’t
like to give people titles. On Killing of
a Chinese Bookie, I got ‘camera opera-
tor,’ even though I did most of the
lighting as well, and Don Robinson
was our ‘gaffer’ — but it was really
all of us together doing everything.”
While working on Chinese
Bookie, Elmes began collaborating
with fellow AFI student David
Lynch on his surrealistic student
him how story and visuals could be American Film Institute’s conserva- film, titled Eraserhead, a process that
combined to create a total mood. tory program. He continued to work would last about four years.
“Bergman’s films convinced me the as a projectionist there, and soon “Eraserhead and Chinese Bookie were
photography was a part of the story- crossed paths with Cassavetes again. the first significant films for me
telling,” Elmes explains. “He tells us He was recruited as a camera assis- because they were features,” the
something about the characters and tant for A Woman Under the Influence cinematographer says, “and because
drama through the camera and light- through an arrangement with AFI of the bond that forms during the
ing. That stuck with me as a more that put students to work on the time you spend in that constant give-
interesting way to make films.” director ’s low-budget features. and-take with the director.”
Elmes graduated from NYU in Elmes later joined Cassavetes’ The Elmes has since enjoyed many
1972 and moved to Los Angeles after Killing of a Chinese Bookie as camera such collaborations — and continues
receiving a fellowship at the operator, this time with much more to do so. For 1983’s Valley Girl, a

p Elmes scopes out a shot on the set of Ang Lee’s Ride With the Devil. q Elmes confers with director Craig Johnson.

48 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 “Fred is an incredible cinematogra-
pher,” says director Ang Lee. “I first
admired his work in Blue Velvet; the way he
used low exposure and a combination of
colors for the lighting gels was truly
unusual and mesmerizing. His lighting and
framing of dramatic close-ups is exquisite
— there’s no one like him when it comes to
faces and intimacy. I was hooked. We
worked on four films together: The Ice
Storm, Ride With the Devil, Hulk and a
short project for BMW. What impressed
me was how he talked about drama, mood
and performances before even getting to
the lighting and framing. He’s a true film-
maker. More than that, he’s friendly,
caring and delicate — a great person, artist
and friend.”

The cinematographer in collaboration

with director Ang Lee on The Ice Storm (p)
and Hulk (u).

Romeo-and-Juliet story about a sweet

teenager from the San Fernando
Valley (played by Deborah Foreman)
and a punk from Hollywood (Nicolas
Cage), Elmes was reunited with
fellow NYU alum Coolidge. “The
producers had bought the title Valley
Girl after Zappa’s song became a hit,
and they just wanted to make an
exploitation film,” Elmes says. “The
story and the charm of the film really
came from Martha.”
He remembers the production
as being incredibly challenging, with
only a 20-day schedule and 60,000' of
35mm film at his disposal. “We’d
work all through the night and then
stay up to shoot the sunrise,” he says. River’s Edge (1986), directed by Blue Velvet (1986), Elmes’ second
But the myriad difficulties were Tim Hunter, was inspired by a true feature with Lynch. “Creating a
beside the point. “What was exciting story about a group of small-town world with that dichotomy was
was taking a story from the writing to teenagers coping with one friend’s wonderful,” Elmes relates. He
something you could share visually.” murder of another. “We had an amaz- describes Lynch’s creative process as
“Valley Girl was a cheap film ing cast, and Tim was working from a meticulous, noting that the film’s
done with great artistry,” says great script [by Neal Jimenez],” opening scene — a slow-motion
Coolidge. “Fred wanted to go further Elmes recalls. “It’s a gruesome story, sequence featuring white picket
with color than just controlling it. All but it happened. So, together we fences, children crossing the street,
the way through, we had a unique created the world where these events and firefighters waving from a red
color design for each location, and could unfold, and that process was fire truck passing by — was concep-
characters even had their own colors. quite satisfying.” tualized and plotted out long before
That movie is like bubblegum — very A similar underbelly lies the cameras started rolling. “David’s
pop.” beneath the small-town setting of process was holistic; the camera

www.ascmag.com February 2020 49

 Artistry in Balance
movement, the light and the mood
on the set were all integrated with the
way he directed the actors. It all
became of the piece.”
He and Lynch, who were
honored with Camerimage’s Duo
Award in 2000, continued their
exploration of light and darkness
with Wild at Heart (1990), an erotic
thriller, road movie and berserk
homage to The Wizard of Oz. Elmes’
photography sets the screen ablaze.
“The fascination with fire, the flames,
the lighting of a cigarette — all of that
was in the script,” he says. “I did
some early camera tests to see how
dramatic a close-up we could make
of a match striking and lighting a
cigarette. We made a massive
outdoor bonfire for the opening-title
sequence against the wall of flame. It
was a major undertaking, and it
reflects the enthusiasm we had for
making our vision a reality.”
Technical aspects aside, it’s the
story at the core of the film — pure
love vs. pure evil — that continues to
fascinate Elmes. He points to the
memorable scene in which Lula
(Laura Dern) and Sailor (Nicolas
Cage) are driving in rural Texas,
broke, on the run, and unable to find
anything but bad news on the radio.
Suddenly, Sailor finds a speed-metal
station. Their car screeches to a halt,
and the camera cranes up to a wide,
high angle of the couple dancing on
the side of the road as the burning
sun sets dramatically in the back-
ground. “I still find the scene moving
when I watch it now,” the cinematog-
rapher says. “The funny thing is that
it was all filmed in just a few
minutes. The sun was really setting,
and there was no time to discuss the
shots. We just went with our
instincts.”
A world away, in New Canaan,
Conn., Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (1997)
follows two dysfunctional families as
they struggle to cope with thawing
social norms in the early 1970s. Lee
ppp Elmes on a (very cold) location for Brothers in northern New Mexico, reading exposure with his
Weston meter. pp Elmes lines up a high angle with director Alexandre Aja on location for Horns in was just coming off the success of
Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. p Elmes readies a shot for Brothers. Sense and Sensibility, his first English-

50 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 Elmes adjusts the blinds on the set of Paterson.

language film, and Elmes went into Festival, and they have teamed on his films. I’ve been fortunate to work
their first meeting impressed by how several others, beginning with 1991’s with him ever since.”
different the Taiwanese director’s Night on Earth. Prior to that, Jarmusch Jarmusch characterizes Night
films were from one another. “I had a had made a number of pictures with on Earth’s production as extremely
great deal of confidence in Ang’s cinematographers Tom DiCillo and complicated and says Elmes’ inde-
ability to tackle a story about that Robby Müller, NSC, BVK. “Robby fatigable grit was instrumental
pivotal moment in this country, even wasn’t able to shoot Night on Earth, throughout the shoot. “In Helsinki,
though he had not experienced it and I was a bit freaked out by that,” Fred had a variable-speed motor built
firsthand,” Elmes says. “The human Jarmusch admits. “I wanted to meet to control the panning of our lights
drama is what he fully understood.” Fred based on what I knew about his while we were driving,” the director
Elmes’ art-history education films and the people who worked recalls. “Then we had the engine
came into play on the project. He and with him, so we met in L.A. removed from one of the cars so we
Lee drew their visual inspiration Afterwards, I heard that he told some could put Fred and the camera in the
from the Photorealist Movement of people he felt I didn’t like him, which engine cavity. It was about 20 below
the late 1960s and early ’70s, specifi- was funny because I got the feeling zero, at night, in the winter. Fred is
cally the work of Ralph Goings and he didn’t like me!” just very tough and strong. Even if I
Richard Estes. “It was a painting In fact, Elmes had been want to call it, he’s ready to get
style that grew out of abstract expres- extremely impressed by Jarmusch’s another setup. You almost have to
sionism and minimalist art. It tried to Stranger Than Paradise and was keen pull him off the set sometimes!”
simplify the detail in things and use to work with him. “Jim asked if I Jarmusch notes that Night on
architecture and light differently. wanted to do a feature film made up Earth co-star Gena Rowlands called
Ang and I really connected on that.” of five short stories in several differ- Elmes “Young Freddie,” as they had
Another filmmaker with whom ent languages, all taking place at worked together 20 years earlier on A
Elmes has enjoyed multiple collabo- night in taxicabs in five different Woman Under the Influence. The direc-
rations is Jim Jarmusch. Their latest cities during the winter,” Elmes tor also fondly recalls shopping for
feature together, The Dead Don’t Die, recalls. “I said ‘yes’ because I thought silk diffusions with Elmes in the
opened the 2019 Cannes Film it would be an adventure, and I liked lingerie boutiques of Paris. ➔
www.ascmag.com February 2020 51
 Artistry in Balance
“Fred’s aesthetic sense is
highly sophisticated, but he also has
a very technical mind, and those two
things are in perfect balance,”
Jarmusch notes. “One of my Native
American friends calls it ‘going down
the river with your feet in different
canoes.’”
Elmes has worked long enough
and widely enough that there are
regular crewmembers he can call on
just about anywhere in the United
States or Canada. He cites New York
gaffers Jonathan Lumley and John
Raugalis and L.A. gaffer Mike Katz
as particularly invaluable. “They
always know the right way to
approach me with a solution,” he
notes. “The fewer words I have to
use, the better.”
With recommendations from
Haskell Wexler, Caleb Deschanel and
Steven Poster, Elmes was invited into
The cinematographer prepares a crane shot for Ride With the Devil in Kansas City, Miss. the ASC in 1993. He has since been

52
elected to multiple terms on the
Society’s Board of Governors, and is
a current Board member.
Elmes’ cinematography has so
far garnered a Primetime Emmy
Award (for the “Ordinary Death”
episode of The Night Of) and two
Film Independent Spirit Awards (for
Night on Earth and Wild at Heart). But
as someone who sees his creative
process as inextricably linked to that
of his collaborators, recognition for
his own work takes a little getting
used to. “When I start a film,” Elmes
says, “my hope is that I don’t repeat
myself with an identifiable style, that
my process helps the director see his
or her film a little better, and that as a
team, we can get there together.” u

Flanked by director Jim Jarmusch (left) and 1st AC Carlos Guerra on Broken Flowers, Elmes keeps an
eye on the rehearsal. At far left is script supervisor Julie Oppenheimer.

53
 Multi-
Talented

Donald A. Morgan, ASC earns the living in graphic arts and moonlighting with his rock band.

Society’s Career Achievement in By his mid-20s, though, Morgan began to despair of that

Television Award for his

path and took a job in the mailroom at television studio

Emmy-winning work on
KTTV, where Norman Lear was producing many series at
the time. When he was offered a chance to work as an elec-

multi-camera television shows trician on the stages, Morgan accepted, hoping it could lead
to work in sound. “They called and said, ‘Listen, we’ve got
a lighting job for you,’” he recalls. “I told them I really want
By Jon Silberg to do audio. They said, ‘We’ve got a lighting job. Bring a
wrench and a pair of gloves.’”
Unlike many of his peers, Donald A. Morgan, ASC — this Morgan did as instructed. Upon entering the set of
year’s recipient of the Society’s Career Achievement in Maude, he noticed a lighting plan on a table. “I could read
Television Award — wasn’t a photography hobbyist in his it because of my architecture background,” he says. “I saw
youth. In fact, he expected his creative life would go in a the elevations and thought, ‘Okay, cool, this all makes
very different direction. “I thought my calling was music,” sense.’”
he says, noting that he played bass guitar and originally Lighting directors George and Tommy Schamp
planned to follow in the footsteps of his father, Al, who frequently shared duties on Lear’s shows Good Times, The
played standup bass in Cab Calloway’s band for many Jeffersons, All in the Family and Maude. Morgan vividly
years. recalls his first day of work, when George Schamp arrived
Morgan would, in fact, eventually go on to shoot to direct his crew: “The set was black, and then the first
such popular series as Home Improvement, Girlfriends and light came on. It was perfect Paramount lighting: three-
My Wife and Kids, winning 10 Emmy Awards in the process. quarter cross-key with the diamond on the other side [of
Most recently, he won a 2019 Emmy for the Netflix series the lighting director’s face]. Right then, I saw the light —
The Ranch (“Reckless”). literally! I said to myself, ‘Oh, my God! This is a creative
It was his mother’s work as a pathologist for the outlet I could become passionate about!’ At that moment, I
University of California, Los Angeles that brought the knew where my career was going.”
family from Philadelphia, Penn., to L.A. when Morgan was Morgan decided then that he was very interested in
young. After graduating from Alexander Hamilton High being a set electrician, and he vowed that senior crewmem-
School, he studied architecture and printing at Los Angeles bers would only have to tell him how to do something
Trade Technical College, with the intention of earning a once. “Tommy took me under his wing and showed me his

54 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 tt Donald A.
Morgan, ASC,
recipient of the
Career Achievement
in Television Award,
while working as
lighting designer for
the NAACP Image
Awards. They all told
me not to use green
light,” Morgan
recalls. “I said ‘Okay,
sure.’” t Setting a
light for the
religious-themed
show Insight, circa
1978.
q Transitioning
from lighting director
to director of
photography,
Morgan readies a
shot for an
independent 16mm
project, circa 1983.

concept of how to light those types of

shows,” Morgan remembers. “And he
eventually gave me an opportunity to
run the crews. Within one year, he
Images courtesy of Donald A. Morgan, ASC and the AC archives. NAACP photo by John Simmons, ASC.

gave me the pilot Another Day, and I

was off and running as a lighting
director.”
Soon, Morgan was enjoying a
staff position at the KTTV stages,
which led to opportunities as lighting
director for Good Times and The
Jeffersons, among other shows. “I was
learning what lights do,” he says of
that period. “I was responsible for the
look in terms of lighting,” but not, he
notes, elements such as camera place-
ment and lens filtration.
When Lear took his operations
to Universal in 1978, Morgan
remained on staff at KTTV, serving as
lighting director on Three’s Company. Morgan learned on the job about where to place cameras, and he
But soon, Tommy Schamp asked him enjoyed having more liberty to create texture and feeling with light. The newly
to come to Universal to work as direc- minted cinematographer gorged himself on classic black-and-white movies to
tor of photography on two established study how his professional predecessors achieved depth and contrast. “That’s
shows, Silver Spoons and Gloria, what the sitcoms at the time didn’t have,” he observes. “I felt I could adapt
concurrently (as multi-camera shows those qualities and still get full faces and be able to experiment with different
typically involve two days of cine- types of light. Then I’d get myself more familiar with where cameras were
matography work per week, so cine- placed, where I wanted the f/stops, and all the rest of the technology. I was
matographers often work on two at a thrown right into the fire!”
time). The move would also involve

www.ascmag.com February 2020 55

 Multi-Talented
joining the camera union as a director
of photography, at a higher rate than
Morgan had ever been paid.
“I said ‘yes,’” Morgan recalls,
“even though I really didn’t know
what a director of photography was!
So I quit at KTTV and moved over to
Universal. But I didn’t realize how
much more responsibility I had taken
on.” In his new position, Morgan was
not only answering questions about
lighting, but about camera placement,
lenses, focal lengths, aperture and
more.
It really was an offer he couldn’t
refuse, but he remembers feeling some
anxiety on the first day. “I met Tommy
on the Universal lot,” Morgan recalls.
“He walked me up to the back door
and said, ‘You’re ready to make this
move. Go do what you have to do, no
matter what anybody says!’ He patted
me on the back and pushed me into
the studio. Those first six months were
an incredible learning experience.”
During Morgan’s tenure at
KTTV, he had met a number of
feature-film cinematographers when
they were using the stages for various
projects. One was John A. Alonzo,
ASC, who shot the newsroom scenes
p Morgan with
for Blue Thunder there. When Morgan
actor Regina King. heard Alonzo was working on a
“I knew her from nearby soundstage at Universal, he
when she just
started out,” he
visited during lunch hour. Alonzo, he
says. “Then later, says, “really felt that diversity was
we worked on 227. important. He told me, ‘Any time and
Her career has
blown up with an
anywhere I’m shooting, come over
Oscar, and Emmys, and visit.’” Morgan took him up on
and Watchmen. the offer and got to watch the shooting
It’s been great to
follow her career.”
of a large set piece for the movie
u “For Home Scarface.
Improvement, we Another lunch break brought
shot a lot on
location. We went
Morgan to a stage where Allen
out to the desert Daviau, ASC was busy shooting an
and shot in tanks. episode of Amazing Stories. “Allen
It was always a lot
of fun.”
asked who I was, and when I said I
was a cinematographer on another
stage, he invited me to sit down and
watch,” Morgan remembers. “It was
incredible. I was seeing all these
different lighting techniques and what
he was doing with the cameras. Allen
was very supportive, and I learned a

56 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

lot from him that day — and other place in L.A. — for which Morgan
times I had a chance to visit him on served as an on-lot lighting director at
sets. I was taking notes on every the international broadcast center —
setup.” he was brought on as lighting
Morgan also experimented with designer on the pilot for Mr. Belvedere.
techniques to bring more contrast into There, he worked with director of
faces, controlling frontlight so it didn’t photography George Spiro Dibie —
hit back walls, trying different types of who would eventually become a long-
soft lights with baffles, and dividing a time leader of the International
set into multiple sections and using Cinematographers Guild, an ASC
dimmers to make sure light would fall member, and also a recipient of the
where he wanted it and not where he ASC Career Achievement in
didn’t. Some of these practices had Television Award. Dibie took a liking
been used for decades on single- to Morgan, and the two have been
camera shows, but presented unique close friends ever since.
challenges to cinematographers who Dibie would ask Morgan to
had to cover all the action with three light in ways he hadn’t previously,
or four cameras at all times. which helped Morgan expand his
When union issues created a techniques. “George wanted to use
situation where Morgan had to depart colored light,” Morgan recalls. “He
Universal, his employers there and a talked about straw gels and diffusion
number of other supporters made to help create a feeling of depth. Those pp The backlot for a scene from The Conners. “I prefer to
calls on his behalf, and he soon landed were things I hadn’t done before.” do these kinds of shoots with just two, or maybe three,
cameras if possible,” Morgan says. “If you bring four, I say,
a job as lighting director for lighting It would be impossible to talk
‘You may as well shoot on the stage.’” p Morgan and
designer Bill Klages at ABC. After the about Morgan’s career without Whoopi Goldberg on the set of Bagdad Cafe, which was
1984 Summer Olympics, which took mentioning his work on Home shot in front of an audience on the CBS Radford lot.

www.ascmag.com February 2020 57

 Multi-Talented
t Hawaiian shoot for Saved by the Bell.

Improvement. Though the show was

more of a traditional high-key
comedy, it was unusual in that it used
five cameras at all times, rather than
three or four. This approach initially
came about because Mr. Wilson (Earl
Hindman), the next-door neighbor of
Tim Taylor (Tim Allen), would inter-
act with Taylor from the other side of
the fence — with his face always
hidden — and it was necessary to
have a camera that could capture
shots from various angles, particu-
larly from overhead looking down.
Morgan placed a fifth camera

The Mr. Belvedere pilot won an

Emmy Award in 1985, and Dibie
insisted that Morgan share the
honor. “I didn’t know about Emmy
Awards, but George put me in as
lighting director, and we both won,”
Morgan recalls. Dibie, who has kept
track of Morgan’s career ever since,
observes, “Don is the best director of
photography for multi-camera shows
working today!”

58 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 u Morgan with wife Geneva at a Netflix party
for The Ranch in 2019. This was his second
Emmy for the show. q Setting a shot for a
driving sequence for Girlfriends at Paramount.
“We’d work on location sometimes,” Morgan
notes. “Here, there was a scene where a
character steals a car. I’m checking a polarizing
filter because we’ll be shooting through glass.”

on a Jimmy Jib, on its own Elemack

Dolly, that would permit the neces-
sary coverage — and soon the episode
directors decided they wanted to
explore ever more options for cover-
age and movement using this camera.
The cinematographer recalls, “I told
everyone, ‘We’ll put this jib where we
need it and light around it.’ That
became a kind of signature for me. I
try to get that jib on all my shows.”
More recently, Morgan has been
using cinematic lighting, contrast,
color and camera moves on The Ranch,
a series that follows a young man
(Ashton Kutcher) who returns to his
Midwestern home to go into business
with his estranged father (Sam
Elliott). The show has a naturalistic
look, and Morgan uses a minimum
amount of light and makes use of the
latest LEDs to create different types of
sunsets. “We’ve had some sets where
all the walls were dark and you could
only see the people,” Morgan says.
“We might have a practical in the
background just filling in the void,
and then we light the actors. A lot of
cinematographers visit our set want-
ing to see how we’re doing what
we’re doing. Some ask me how I can
get away with it, and I say, ‘I’m not
getting away with anything — this is
just the way I see it.’ I’ve been having
a lot of fun on The Ranch, and I’m
bringing some of that [approach] to
The Conners, too.”
Morgan recalls that back when
he was at KTTV, cinematographer
Brianne Murphy, ASC told him he
would be a good candidate for Society
membership, yet it wasn’t until
several years later — when Dibie was
invited to become a member — that
he began to learn about the ASC in
earnest. Morgan was ultimately
invited to become a member in 2000,

www.ascmag.com February 2020 59

 Multi-Talented
“He had so much going on at the
time,” Morgan says of Norman Lear,
on whose shows he worked decades
ago. “I never had a chance to talk to
him and thank him, and I finally got
that chance [many years later]. He
was really fair and very interested in
diversity in the crews, and he made
sure that both the content of the
shows and the way he ran everything
reflected the way he felt. He gave a
lot of people their start. If it wasn’t for
him, we probably wouldn’t be talking
about this ASC award.”

with letters of support from members walls were dark. There were a whole there, too. I got in, and since then
Murphy, Dibie, Tony Askins and bunch of people sitting way in the we’ve been able to bring in more
Robert Liu. back row, almost in the dark — they multi-cam cinematographers.”
Morgan recalls his meeting with were the ones that made me nervous! Morgan expresses pride in
the ASC Membership Committee as a But Allen Daviau gave me a lot of belonging to an organization with
nerve-wracking experience. “There confidence. He sat next to me — and such leading lights in the field. He is
was a light over the table, and the George, Bobby [Liu] and Tony were also proud to be part of the Society’s

&OR THESE AND OTHER

!3# TH !NNIVERSARY ITEMS
VISIT OUR WEBSITE THEASCCOM
60
outreach, helping teach and mentor
aspiring cinematographers through
the ASC Education Committee,
among other activities. Morgan has
also mentored students from institu-
tions that are part of historically black
colleges and universities. “I’m
delighted to see more and more diver-
sity in crews today,” he says. “More
than ever before.”
Looking back at his illustrious
career thus far, Morgan feels lucky
that he’s been able to pursue the
passion that was awakened on that
first day at KTTV. “I have three kids in
their 30s, and they know all the studio
lots,” he notes. “My wife is a makeup Morgan’s father, Al, with Esquire’s 1944 Bass Player of the Year All American Band trophy.
artist, so we both understand the
demands of working in the industry.” says. “It took a while. Producers and you’ll see that.”
Morgan continues to work with networks used to say, ‘Brighter is Morgan also promises that
the same enthusiasm he felt when he funnier!’ And sometimes you have to upcoming episodes of The Ranch will
was starting out. “The last five years, do that because you’re hired to do feature some of his most interesting
I’ve built up a creative style that I that. But now they’re a little more work yet. “I’ve been playing with
think is starting to affect how people open to letting us bring more contrast. color, and I’m just having a ball!” u
think about multi-camera shows,” he And on this season of The Conners,

61
 Rhythms
of
Light
International Award honoree After studying philosophy at the Sorbonne and

Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC

taking some film courses, he obtained government funding

constructs lighting like a

to direct a short film. He convinced the great Henri Alekan,

“musical piece”
AFC (another ASC International Award winner) to shoot it.
Delbonnel says that his first and only film as a director was
a failure, but he did realize he wanted to learn to do what
Alekan did. He subsequently spent a dozen years working
By Benjamin B as a camera assistant in commercials and features before
becoming a director of photography. His fourth feature,
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie, led to international recognition
“I used to try to conceptualize the film,” says Bruno in 2001, including an Academy Award nomination.
Delbonnel, ASC, AFC, the Society’s honoree for the 2020 In 2005, the cinematographer won the ASC Award
International Award. “But that’s an error of interpretation. for Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement (AC Dec. ’04), for
It’s not about a concept. It’s about finding the global which he also received another Academy Award nomina-
emotion of the film, or finding a general approach that tion. He has so far garnered three other Oscar nominations
translates that emotion. Light is like music, and so is a script. — for Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour (AC Jan. ’18), the Coen
You have to find the music of the movie.” brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis (AC Jan. ’14) and David Yates’
Delbonnel was born into a working-class family in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — as well as two
Nancy, eastern France, in 1957. His father had been active in Camerimage Frogs and one César. Last year he was the
the French Resistance and joined the army following World recipient of the Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens prize, which is
War II, serving in Indochina (Vietnam). When Delbonnel presented at Cannes.
was 6, the family of five moved to a suburb outside Paris. Delbonnel’s innovative cinematography has
The young man did not speak much, and a doctor recom- enhanced numerous other memorable features with lead-
mended he take part in a team sport. He became a passion- ing directors, including Alexander Sokurov’s Faust; Tim
ate rugby player, playing from the age of 8 to 25. He has Burton’s Dark Shadows (AC June ’12), Big Eyes (AC Jan. ’15)
retained the sport’s sense of teamwork and struggle. and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children; the Coens’

62 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; and the
upcoming Joe Wright film The Woman
in the Window.
Delbonnel became an ASC
member in 2009, after being proposed
for membership by Michael Chapman,
Guillermo Navarro and Woody
Omens.
AC spoke with him in Paris.

American Cinematographer:
How do you feel about receiving the
ASC International Award?
Bruno Delbonnel ASC, AFC:
It’s formidable! I’m very, very honored. I
don’t think I’m in the same league as
Freddie Young [BSC], Freddie Francis
[BSC], Giuseppe Rotunno [AIC] or
Gabriel Figueroa. The fact that it’s an
international award from my American
colleagues, an award that reaches
across borders, also speaks to me.
You started out shooting film,
and tended to use the same equip- t International Award honoree Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC at the Cannes Film Festival.
ment and film stock. p The cinematographer readies a shot.
Delbonnel: I’m not really inter-
ested in new technologies; what I about the two films you did with Coens almost entirely with a 27mm.
want is to master a tool. So there was Jeunet, Amélie and A Very Long But with the Coen brothers,
Photos by Alison Cohen Rosa, Benjamin B, Leah Gallo, Tim Burton and Jack English. Images courtesy of

a time when I only worked with an Engagement, is the use of wide-angle the camera distance varies more,
Arricam because it was the best lenses. doesn’t it?
camera on the market, and Kodak Delbonnel: I wasn’t working Delbonnel: Yes. We would use
[Vision3 500T] 5219 because it was a alone. That was Jean-Pierre’s the 27mm for the wide shot and for
sublime film stock — at 500 ASA, I approach also, although he may not the close-up, so you end up with a
needed much less light, and I could have the same way of speaking about kind of continuity, but not continuity
Focus Features; Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC; Benjamin B; and the AC archives.

bring that down if needed with NDs it. Up to now I’ve favored wide-angle of depth of field. However, I also
— and Cooke S4 prime lenses because lenses because I can feel the actors worked the depth of field. On Buster
I thought they were magnificent. I integrated into the set. I don’t want a Scruggs, for example, when I
worked for some 10 years with this bokeh where everything is soft past measured a T11 outside on a wide
package, and I knew how to use it. the actor’s ear — although I may be shot, I would add ND filters and open
My eye was so tuned to 500 ASA that changing, vis-à-vis that. up to diminish the depth of field.
I didn’t need to take out a meter. With Jeunet, the camera is When I got to the close-up, I took out
Amélie was your first big often very close to the actor. the NDs and went to T11 to try and
success. Delbonnel: Yes, we could be 2 keep an equivalent depth of field.
Delbonnel: Amélie struck feet away. With a 21mm, 25mm or Inside Llewyn Davis is a very
people with its aesthetic, but I didn’t 27mm, if you’re not careful you can sober film with stunning imagery.
feel like the lighting was revolution- deform the face. You have to be very Delbonnel: It is about someone
ary. Amélie was my third feature film rigorous; you have to study the face of who is mourning and who can’t
as a cinematographer, and it was the actor. We did tests with each actor succeed in life. I tried to create some-
almost 20 years ago. Maybe the way I to see which focal length worked best. thing in harmony with the Coens’ very
used color was very special then; but With Audrey Tautou, it was the simple filmmaking. They move the
I do think that I’ve evolved, and I’ve 25mm. It turned out that the Coen camera very little. Their shots blend
done projects that are more interest- brothers worked in the same way. together in a fluid fashion. Even the
ing in terms of lighting. They also like short focal lengths. I découpage [shot breakdown] is very
One thing that stands out shot Inside Llewyn Davis with the simple. Each shot says what it has to

www.ascmag.com February 2020 63

 Rhythms of Light
Delbonnel: I’m not a pioneer on
anything. It just happened that the DI
was a new thing we thought could be
an interesting way to get what we
wanted and couldn’t get with a chemi-
cal process. We worked with colorists
Didier Le Fouest and Yvan Lucas, who
managed the filmout. I owe both of
them a lot. I’m not very technical, but
there are tools that interest me, and I
saw that the DI was wonderful, a tool
that would allow us to go very far.
Very far with color?
Delbonnel: I had already added
a lot of color while shooting Amélie. I
used four lens filters, including Salmon
and Antique Suede. But the DI allowed
us to add saturation, just like with
p Delbonnel takes a reading on actor Photoshop. That was fascinating. We
Oscar Isaac on the set of the Coen brothers’
Inside Llewyn Davis. t The cinematographer could selectively go further than what
poses with his 2013 Camerimage Bronze Frog we did during shooting.
for the film. You spent many months work-
ing with colorist Peter Doyle on Harry
move the camera less and less, or I Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
move it because I need to get to a Delbonnel: We had 35 weeks of
certain place. I’m against push-ins, for shooting, and then I came back for a
example, though sometimes they can month of DI work. Peter and I spent a
have a function. lot of time together. During the shoot,
How has your lighting every morning at 6 a.m., we worked
approach evolved? on the dailies, which were shown at
Delbonnel: Technically my noon. The DI suite was right next to
approach didn’t evolve much. I come the soundstages at Leavesden, so I’d
from a film background, and you have also drop in from time to time during
to be very careful about fill light, the day, when they were readying big
contrast ratio and density. I think that lighting setups. Peter understood
where I really evolved is about light in what I was looking for. Every time I
general — light as a dramatic element. asked him to explore something, he
It’s the idea that light is not only a tool would say, ‘Come back tomorrow and
to light a set, but also something which I’ll show you something.’ He under-
can change the pace of a scene or alter stood and would go further, asking,
it completely, a bit like what Stanley ‘… and what if we did this?’ Like Yvan
say; it doesn’t have several functions. Cortez [ASC] did in Night of the Hunter, Lucas, Peter is someone who has
And it’s not about showing off. If but with color. I’m probably discover- mastered his tools perfectly and can
there’s a crane move, it’s to get ing something that many cinematogra- push the image further.
another perspective. On Buster phers are aware of already. Spending months on a DI was a
Scruggs we moved the camera because I didn’t find a digital camera that unique privilege.
we had to, to show the landscape. suited me until the [Arri] Alexa. I Delbonnel: It was an incredible
Kurosawa had the same approach. prefer to have the same ‘reasoning’ in luxury, which could only happen on
Other directors move the camera as a digital as with film: keep good whites Harry Potter, and I took full advantage
stylistic element. and good blacks — blacks that are of it. Whenever I had a peculiar ques-
Like Jeunet? exposed. But I may go 3 stops under tion, Peter would call the folks at
Delbonnel: Yes. That’s part of with digital. Filmlight and say, ‘Bruno was hoping
his filmmaking — the camera is You were one of the pioneers of to do this …’
constantly moving. As time goes by, I the DI process with Amélie. Asking them to make a plug-in?

64 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 t Director Tim
Burton (right)
hands Delbonnel
a viewfinder on
the set of Miss
Peregrine’s Home
for Peculiar
Children.
q Delbonnel
reads the shadow
side of Terence
Stamp on the set
of Burton’s Big
Eyes.

Delbonnel: Yes, we made a lot of

those. On Dark Shadows, we went very
far with plug-ins.
Peter told me that the toolkit
you have developed includes remap-
ping color, and also virtual lenses.
Delbonnel: ‘Virtual lenses’ is
what you call it. I asked Peter if it was
possible to get the depth of field of a
65mm on an image shot with a 27mm
— to get an image which has a lens
characteristic which doesn’t exist,
[which means] changing the laws of
physics. And diffusion, too. With digi-
tal, we can have selective diffusion with
100 gradations instead of the five
gradations you get with an optical filter.
So you and Peter were doing DI It’s about finding the digital tools that shot Faust, a low-budget avant-garde
R&D? can extend what I’m doing when film with Alexander Sokurov. You
Delbonnel: We’ve never shooting. Right now, I’m speaking with told me you were dazzled by
stopped. I’ve graded every film since Peter about what we can do for Sokurov.
then with Peter, and every film is a Macbeth, which I’m preparing with Joel Delbonnel: I was, and by Tim
kind of experiment. I may ask, ‘I’d like Coen. Burton during Dark Shadows, and by
to do this, so how can we approach it?’ Right after Harry Potter, you the Coen brothers. We were in symbio-

I try to construct the lighting like a musical piece. What interests me are the rhythms. One scene might have more dynamic lighting
than another scene, so the latter will be more of an adagio, whereas the former will be vivace. We’re working in a musical language,
which will be in harmony or in opposition. A film is a musical piece with a beginning, middle and end. Can I construct the film like a
symphony in three or four movements, which usually have different rhythms, and then create variations within the movements? If
you compare it to painting: Can we have some scenes that are vibrating, like a Jackson Pollock, followed by scenes with the silence
of a Marc Rothko? Or, is there such a thing as ‘fast light’ and ‘slow light?’

www.ascmag.com February 2020 65

 Rhythms of Light
sis, even though they’re all very differ-
ent. I want to go towards people who
will dazzle me. Those kinds of encoun-
ters are what interest me about cinema
— those human adventures with
artists. That exchange is wonderful:
finding the lighting for the film, find-
ing the mise en scène [and] seeing what
we can do with the camerawork for the
story that we’re trying to tell.
Sokurov searches for a kind of
poetry at the heart of a shot. Lighting
for him carries meaning, whereas with
Tim Burton, for example, lighting is
more decorative. With Burton it’s an
atmosphere, whereas with Sokurov it’s
a dramatization, a narrative element.
You often use the word ‘atmos-
phere’ to describe what your cine-
matography creates.
Delbonnel: I search for the
atmosphere of the film with the direc-
tor. Atmosphere is the perfect word. I
hate the word ‘look.’ Atmosphere is as
much density, contrast and color as it is
the frame. It’s all of that. Actors carry
the psychology. I try to help them, to
make what they do visible. And I
search for an atmosphere that corre-
sponds to what they want to do — or
possibly contradicts it. In any case, it’s
a dialogue between the lighting and
the actor, using both the frame and the
light itself. And each film has its own
atmosphere. Inside Llewyn Davis is a
sad atmosphere, independent of its
wintry light. It’s a search for sadness.
What is the next step for your
cinematography?
Delbonnel: What interests me
about the new lighting tools is lighting
in movement. Changing color inside a
shot used to be difficult, but now it’s
easy to do. I have experimented with
that recently. In the stagecoach at the
end of Buster Scruggs, the lighting
changes during the entire sequence.
On Macbeth, I will try to do moving
lights and shadows that appear and
disappear inside the shot.
I can’t wait to see that.
ppp Director Alexander Sokuro (left) and Delbonnel frame a shot on the set of Faust.
pp The cinematographer and crew prep a scene on a prairie for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. For more coverage on Delbonnel,
p Examining the brightest light for Darkest Hour. visit ascmag.com/blog/the-film-book. u

66 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 "With the new
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design, this camera
is as good-looking
as the images
it takes."

— Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS

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cinematographers and filmmakers in their search for the truly exceptional visual experience.

Please contact the ASC to order this unique Leica M10-P "ASC 100 Edition"
at www.theasc.com/leica
 Second
to None
Honored with the
Presidents Award,
Don McCuaig, ASC
exemplifies the notion of
“giving back” in volunteer
service to the Society’s
many initiatives

By David E. Williams

If you’ve been fortunate enough to attend the ASC Awards working behind the scenes, making things happen that
for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography cere- would not otherwise, and working with all the other
mony over the past three years, the sure hand of Awards volunteers. So, while I have been the chairman of the
Committee Chairman Don McCuaig, ASC was readily Awards Committee for the past three years, this is in no
apparent. Benefitting from his experience in producing, way a solo effort, and being singled out for an award is …
staging and shooting live events, the show became even well, it’s humbling and deeply appreciated, but let’s just
more polished, making cinematography’s biggest night say I’m outside my element.”
that much more special and memorable while paying trib- For decades, McCuaig has been testing the bound-
ute to the artists being honored. aries of his “element” since fulfilling his childhood dream
This year, however, it’s McCuaig’s turn to take the of becoming a director of photography.
stage, as the recipient of the ASC Presidents Award. This Growing up in Canada as an avid moviegoer
honor is bestowed upon Society members who volunteer fostered his interest in filmmaking, and it was a screening
their time and talents to help fulfill the organization’s of the Biblical epic The Robe (1953; photographed in
founding mission to educate the next generation and CinemaScope by Leon Shamroy, ASC) that made a lasting
elevate cinematographers as key collaborators in the impression. “I wasn’t supposed to see that movie,” he
motion-picture community. In recent years, it has been remembers with a wry smile, “but I put together 35 cents
presented to Nancy Schreiber, Matthew F. Leonetti and for a ticket and snuck off to watch it.” He’d seen the light,
Curtis Clark. “but Hollywood was a far-off place and not something I
That said, receiving this accolade makes McCuaig ever thought I could be a part of. My reality was to get an
slightly uncomfortable. “I’m not someone who enjoys the education; I knew that was the key to everything.”
spotlight,” he admits with trademark directness. “I like McCuaig volunteered for Canadian military service

68 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 t Don McCuaig, ASC in a portrait by Owen
Roizman, ASC. p On location in Alaska,
McCuaig oversees production on a short
documentary about the Exxon Valdez accident.
u The cinematographer sets a shot for a
marketing spot, using the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum as a backdrop.

at the age of 16, splitting time between

basic training and studies. He earned
his secondary diploma as a member of
the Royal Canadian Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers and later
shipped off to Montreal and estab-
lished himself as an optical and
instrument technician. He also took
night-school classes.
Relocating to Calgary, McCuaig
separated from the military to focus
on education. He attended the Mount
Royal College for two years, majoring
in petroleum land management.
Paying his own way for schooling, he
worked as a motorman on oil rigs in funny,” McCuaig says. “Another After a few weeks of moving
the Rocky Mountains and on the friend invited us to the Beverly Hilton scenery, McCuaig scored a second job
prairies of Alberta. Then fate stepped Hotel to watch them tape The Les on the overnight electrical crew, hang-
in. “I’d just finished a job in the Crane Show, which was ABC’s version ing lights for the next day’s produc-
Rockies and was intending to go back of The Tonight Show but with Les and tion of soap operas and other
to school when a friend asked if I was Nipsey Russell. Watching the crew do programming. “[Local 33] had us
interested in going to California with the show, I thought, ‘Well, this is going all over town as extra hands at
him,” McCuaig recalls. “I arrived in snazzy. I want to do this.’” ABC, NBC and CBS and on stage
Los Angeles, and I just never went Taking action, McCuaig and his productions, like operas. I then got a
back.” This sudden turnabout friend walked into the Local 33 staff job on The Big News program
occurred because he landed a job on Stagehands union office the next with Jerry Dunphy at KNXT, running
The Andy Williams Show working as a morning. “They laughed at us but the teleprompter and working on the
scenery pusher on Stage 4 at NBC. took our phone number. And that lighting crew.”
How did that happen? “It’s afternoon, we got a call to work.” In time, McCuaig was able to

www.ascmag.com February 2020 69

 Second to None
the fourth camera on a daytime game
show. “That’s what made me an oper-
ator and eventually led to becoming a
cinematographer.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing,
however. “I left ABC and went off to
Europe for several months with a
young woman who later became my
wife,” McCuaig explains with a grin.
“And by the time I got back, all my
connections were dead. I’d blown my
opportunities and had to start over.”
He and his wife retreated to
Vancouver for a long Labor Day week-
end. By the following Tuesday, he’d
landed a gig at BCTV as a videotape
operator. When the need arose for a
news shooter — on 16mm film —
McCuaig got the job, leading to
photographing sports for CBC, and,
later, shooting events and features for
the 1976 Olympic Games, held in
Montreal.
At that point, McCuaig moved
back to Los Angeles. “I thought I’d
learned something about photogra-
phy and also the basics of editing,” he
says. “I worked at KTLA for a while
and then for Warner Bros. as an oper-
ator on primetime three-camera
comedies, including Alice, What’s
Happening? and Flo.”
Following that, McCuaig
sought to get into the camera guild as
an assistant but was turned down.
Instead, he focused on electronic
production, and with partners Larry
pp Behind the camera and aboard a military transport, McCuaig helps document a USO tour — with
Freeman and Fred Tatashore, he
Bob Hope (right) — through the Middle East. p Shooting aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Midway,
cameras are shielded from extreme electronic interference with aluminum foil. produced a daytime television
program for Metromedia that was
demonstrate his ability to tackle aimed at a female audience. “I
One pivotal figure in McCuaig’s almost any task, a trait afforded by his directed it and was in charge of the
career was singer and host Dinah Shore, education. After discovering there production,” he remembers. “I had a
with whom he worked on the talk-vari- was an optical department at ABC, he CP-16 camera and would go to New
ety show Dinah! “I was the associate says, “I introduced myself, and after a York to shoot B-roll and interviews.
director on the show,” he says. “We shot time I was asked if I could fix a pair of We did 13 weeks, five shows a week,
two 90-minute shows a day, doing binoculars dropped off by a staff and it was a great experience.”
production for three days and post for member. After doing that, I was He was also working with the
two.” He credits Shore with giving him offered a job in the engineering firm Compact Video. “They were a
the opportunity and status to take department.” But McCuaig wanted to hardware company and specialized in
further steps in his career. “She opened be in production. He spent a year on small production units that you could
a lot of doors for me. We went to the General Hospital, “pulling cable and easily take into the field,” McCuaig
White House — we went around the moving cameras,” and then the explains. “They brought me in as a
world.” network needed someone to operate stage manager and camera operator.

70 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 pt Shooting The New Adam-12, McCuaig sets up
with his Moviecam SuperAmerica unit, as costars
Ethan Wayne and Peter Parros stand by.
t McCuaig checks his frame — shooting each
episode of The New Adam-12 in just 21⁄2 days.
p While at work on a promo for Disney, McCuaig
takes five with Dick van Dyke outside the United
Nations in New York City.

U.S. troops stationed in the Arabian

Sea and the Persian Gulf. “They were
world-traveling variety shows,” he
remembers. “We went around the
Their customers were producing a Transform, and the results were world in just eight days.” The power-
variety of programming, including pretty good for the time.” ful electronics aboard Navy vessels
political spots and crisis-management McCuaig’s production entity, and military aircraft often interfered
projects. We were involved with Bainsville Productions, was formed with the production’s cameras, essen-
Three Mile Island and Indian Point, as for the creation of commercials, TV tially jamming them. The solution? A
well as other things, with the goal of specials, episodic television and 2nd- liberal wrapping of aluminum foil to
changing public perception on politi- unit work. Its first studio contract, block the signals.
cized events by presenting the facts of with 20th Century Fox Television, Moving over to Universal in
the situation. I was producing and began in 1983. It included delivering 1989, McCuaig performed similar
shooting.” His short feature Waters of extensive 2nd-unit material for the duties on the revivals of Adam-12 and
Alaska earned Telly and Mercury ABC series The Fall Guy, which Dragnet, working on extremely tight
Awards for its depiction of the results starred Lee Majors as a top schedules and budgets. “They were
of the Exxon Valdez incident in Prince Hollywood stuntman moonlighting half-hour shows and dialogue-driven,
William Sound. as a bounty hunter. so we would do about 17 pages a day,”
With Compact Video, McCuaig One of the highlights of he says. “It was tough, but we learned
also helped shoot some of the first McCuaig’s career at the time was how to shoot economically and not
electronic features “with just 625 lines serving as a documentarian on Bob waste effort on anything that would
of resolution, PAL,” he says. “We Hope’s 1988 trip around the world end up on the editing-room floor.” His
finished tape-to-film at Image with the USO. The comedian visited secret weapon? “If we got behind,

www.ascmag.com February 2020 71

 Second to None
we’d put our leads in a tow car and
just get through all their lines.”
McCuaig gained entry into
feature-film production by shooting
additional photography on the indie
thriller Stepfather II (1989), principally
photographed by Jacek Laskus, ASC,
PSC. “I learned a lot on that, espe-
cially how the cinematographer’s
choices in terms of color, angles, light-
ing and composition serve the story
and set a mood; that’s something we
often didn’t have time for in televi-
sion at that time. Today it’s different.
And initially, I didn’t understand why
Jacek was using multiple film stocks
— Fuji for a cold and gritty look on
one location, and Agfa for a soft
warmth on another. It was a big eye-
opener. I never worked directly with
Jacek, but I learned a lot from him.”
McCuaig’s working relation-
ship with 2nd-unit director and stunt
coordinator Mickey Gilbert, whom
he’d met on The Fall Guy, would open
up the next phase of his career: shoot-
ing 2nd unit on Hollywood features.
These projects included Ghost in the
Machine, City Slickers II: The Legend of
Curly’s Gold, Forget Paris, Metro, Liar
Liar, Simon Birch, Nutty Professor II:
The Klumps, Rat Race, Dragonfly,
National Security, Bruce Almighty, Elf
and Evan Almighty. “Mickey was a
guardian angel,” McCuaig attests,
”and so many of those shows were so
much fun to work on.”
But for McCuaig, the grueling
production schedule became a 24/7
marathon. “It’s an issue every cine-
matographer faces,” he says. “You
don’t say no to work because you
don’t know when — or if — you’ll be
working again. And that phone will
stop ringing one day.”
Of the many cinematographers
he has worked with, McCuaig notes
that Dean Semler, ASC, ACS was one
of the most exceptional. “Working on
big, complex shows with Dean, like
Get Smart and 2012, gave me the
opportunity to participate in a lot of
pp McCuaig shares a moment with “The Queen” (actor Elizabeth Richard), while shooting second
unit on the 2009 global-disaster epic 2012. p On far left is McCuaig, in Jerusalem with his production the early testing, especially with
team to shoot Perry Como’s Christmas in the Holy Land (1980). cameras and film stocks,” he says,

72 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

“It’s a tremendous responsibility and also
a creative challenge,” McCuaig says of
photographing 2nd unit, “in that you’re
re-creating different visual styles to
match what’s been done by first unit. It’s
a great job, and a lot of young cinematog-
raphers don’t realize what an opportu-
nity it can be. It’s all about making pieces
and putting together the puzzle that is a
movie. That’s an eye-opener for many of
our [ASC Master Class] students.”

“but I also learned about Dean’s

process — how he approached a show,
how he worked with a crew and how
he ran a set. Also, there were always
major production issues that had to be
solved, and some of that would be
handed over to the 2nd unit, so I had
incredible opportunities to deal with
complex issues and gain experience. It
McCuaig takes the podium during the ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography,
was cheaper to have us do these
staged at the Hollywood & Highland complex near the ASC Clubhouse.
things instead of the first unit. It so
often comes down to money.”
The arcane art of shooting 2nd mentioned my work to Owen McCuaig, who was soon cutting
unit is a topic that McCuaig addresses Roizman [ASC], who was then the career-spanning tribute reels for
as an instructor in the ASC Master head of the Membership Committee. honorees, among other duties. “I love
Class program. “It’s a three-and-a- So we set up a lunch and talked, and editing, which is an essential skill for
half-hour discussion about one of the that started a process.” With a any cinematographer,” he says, cred-
most vital jobs in the production of chuckle, McCuaig remembers, “One iting longtime ASC sponsorship and
the complex features and TV shows of my biggest supporters was James events director Patty Armacost for
being made today,“ he says. Glennon [ASC], who said, ‘I know encouraging him to take on the task.
“Schedules, actor availability, location some of the [SOBs] Don has worked “Each project becomes an opportu-
availability, safety issues — these are for, and if he can survive them, then nity to study the work of my peers,
all things that factor into how we he belongs in the ASC.’ But seriously, often frame-by-frame, and under-
make motion pictures, and the 2nd getting into the ASC was and is a stand what techniques they devel-
unit can make or break a production. privilege. It’s a continuing part of my oped over time.”
McCuaig points to a sequence education, and I learn something new After being part of the awards-
in Roland Emmerich’s epic disaster every day because of the things I do show effort for more than a decade,
film 2012 in which St. Peter’s Basilica and the people I meet here.” McCuaig was tapped to chair the
in Rome is obliterated by off-the- Becoming an active participant Awards Committee. “It was a huge
charts seismic activity — a scene in the Society was a personal choice vote of confidence because the show
McCuaig handled entirely as part of for McCuaig, not an obligation to be is complex and serves multiple
the second-unit team. “That was just fulfilled. “All prospective members purposes for the Society,” he notes.
one component in a very big movie, are asked if they will be able and will- “It’s education; it’s outreach; it’s
but it’s almost like a movie within a ing to take part once they get in, and I honoring our own; and it’s also
movie. It was great fun, too.” never saw that as a burden, only an honoring our heritage — especially
In 2004, with letters of recom- opportunity — to take on responsibil- last year’s show, which honored the
mendation from Bradley Six, Lowell ity, be creative, and do things to ASC’s 100th anniversary. So, being
Peterson and Roy Wagner, McCuaig which I thought I could contribute honored at this year’s show, in part
was invited to join the ASC. “It just so something.” for doing things I love so much, is
happened that I had a lot of film being Given his background, volun- very special, and I’m grateful.” u
processed at Deluxe Laboratories at teering to help with the ASC Awards
the time, and someone there show was a natural choice for

www.ascmag.com February 2020 73

 German Cinema Comes
to Hollywood

Excerpts from the AC archives mark the arrival of a bold new style
during the 1920s and ’30s

By Luci Marzola

In the 1920s, Hollywood cinema dominated screens German Expressionism is often used as shorthand for
throughout the world, but one country’s industry came to Weimar German cinema, though only a dozen or so of the
rival it: Germany’s. The country’s defeat in World War I many hundreds of films made during the period can really
led to economic hardship and massive inflation, and, at the be labeled as Expressionist. The name came from an
same time, a blossoming of the arts that was hugely influ- art movement that began before the war and gained
ential on the rest of the world. This Weimar culture lasted mainstream popularity during the postwar period.
until the Nazis came to power in the early 1930s, which led Expressionism’s emphasis on aesthetic exaggeration and
to a mass exodus of talent to Paris, London, New York and the externalization of the psyche moved into several art
Los Angeles. German Expressionist masters such as Fritz forms, including theater and graphic art. Though films that
Lang and Karl Freund (who was later invited into ASC could definitely be categorized as Expressionist were small
membership) came to Hollywood and helped define film in number, many of them made the biggest impact and
noir — but the German influence on Hollywood began have stood the test of time, including The Cabinet of Dr.
much earlier than this, and American Cinematographer was Caligari (1920, directed by Robert Wiene and shot by Willy
covering the trend from its inception. Hameister) and Faust (1926, directed by F.W. Murnau and

74 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 tt Sets for The Cabinet of
Dr. Caligari (1920, directed
by Robert Wiene and shot
by Willy Hameister)
demonstrated German
Expressionism’s emphasis
on aesthetic exaggeration
and the externalization of
the psyche. t The titular
clay creature in The Golem
(1920) is played by Paul
Wegener, who also co-
directed the film with
Henrik Galeen. q
Cinematographer Karl
Freund, ASC frames up on
star Charles Bickford during
the production of the
newspaper drama Scandal
for Sale (1932). In his hands
is a Leica I camera fitted
with an Elmar 135mm f/4.5
lens — a tool that was
commonly employed for
exposure tests as it used the
same 35mm roll film as
motion-picture units. In
2019, Leica would honor
this heritage, and the ASC’s
centennial, with a special
edition of its M10 camera
offering unique features and
the Society’s logo.

shot by Carl Hoffmann).

In the pages of American
Cinematographer, the attitude toward
the breathless coverage of these
unique films was often skeptical. In
May 1921, the satirical “Jimmy the
Assistant” column ran with the title
“The German Invasion” and looked
upon the recent success of Madame
DuBarry (1919, released as Passion in
the U.S.) and Caligari as a threat to
American jobs. In 1922, Jimmy the
Assistant likewise went after The
Golem (1920, directed by Paul
Wegener and Henrik Galeen, with
cinematography by Karl Freund),
conceding its artistic greatness but
passing judgment for the
Expressionist film’s use of exaggera-
tion in its sets and tinting.
The earliest years of the maga-
zine are full of short jabs at the popu-

www.ascmag.com February 2020 75

 German Cinema Comes to Hollywood
larity of German films, which threat- into Hollywood’s studios. dies for which he is now remem-
ened both the dominance of Ernst Lubitsch was the first to bered. In a 1923 AC article, Lubitsch
Hollywood films and the Hollywood arrive, though his films were not in explained why he didn’t bring his
style. However, the attitude American the Expressionist style. Instead, he German crew with him to
cinematographers held toward the had made his name with historical Hollywood, extolling the superiority
German influx began to change when epics such as Madame DuBarry before of American cinematographers.
Weimar filmmakers started moving shifting into the sophisticated come- Lubitsch asserted that everyone in
Berlin knew that Hollywood cine-
matographers were “in a class by
themselves.”
By the mid-1920s, the growing
importance of the German film indus-
try could not be ignored in
Hollywood. Freund’s spectacular
photography on films such as The Last
Laugh (1924, directed by Murnau) and
Variety (1925, directed by E.A.

q Director F.W. Murnau and cinematographer Karl

Freund (with head under cloth) capture a shot of Emil
Jannings as an aging hotel doorman who falls from grace
in The Last Laugh (1924), in which city life is portrayed as
a kaleidoscope of chaos (t) that threatens to consume
the main character as he struggles to keep pace.

76 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

Dupont) was the talk of the trades.
While the earliest Expressionist films
had relied more heavily on stylized
sets, costumes, and film tinting, these
films were undeniably masterworks
of the camera. As American
Cinematographer editor Foster Goss
put it in October 1926, “Whatever
may be the excellencies or the crudi-
ties of the German-made motion
pictures, they at least are centering
attention on one long-neglected fact
— that the cinema is an art distinct
and complete in itself.”
The Last Laugh, which is consid-
ered the most important of the
Kammerspielfilm chamber dramas, saw
Freund and director F. W. Murnau
popularize the “unchained camera.”
At the time, camera movement had
gone out of fashion, in favor of elabo-
rate lighting and carefully chosen
angles. Freund’s roving camera,
which opens the film by descending
in an elevator and gliding across a
hotel lobby, was perhaps the single
most talked-about camera technique
in the history of motion pictures to
that point.
While many in Hollywood
scoffed at the showiness of cameras
positioned on cranes, spinning plates,
and zip lines, the unchained camera
suddenly became a staple of nearly
every major Hollywood film of the
late 1920s — especially when Murnau
decamped to Fox to make his master-
piece Sunrise (1927). While Murnau
brought writer Carl Mayer and set
designer Rochus Gliese with him An overhead view of a setup from M (1931), a haunting manhunt drama directed by Fritz Lang with
from Germany, Freund stayed behind. atmospheric cinematography by Fritz Arno Wagner.
Murnau instead employed ASC cine-
matographers Charles Rosher and exchange, telling AC he “expects to Hollywood money. When inflation
Karl Struss, who adopted many of the learn as much from the methods there was stabilized in 1924, the cost of
flourishes of the German style while as his fellow workers may gather production rose and it became afford-
melding them with Hollywood glam- from American production methods, able to import American films. The
our. as practiced by himself while he is in rising costs, and particularly the
Rosher, at the time known as Germany.” The trail of influence massive overruns on Murnau’s Faust
Mary Pickford’s cinematographer, between Berlin and Hollywood went and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) led
actually met Murnau in Germany both ways, and American to UFA going bankrupt. MGM and
while making a film at UFA, the coun- Cinematographer was quick to point Paramount subsequently gave UFA
try’s biggest production company. this out. loans in exchange for guaranteed
Rosher saw working with the German By then, the German film placement of their films in UFA’s
crews as a mutually beneficial industry had been infused with theaters. This led American films to

www.ascmag.com February 2020 77

 German Cinema Comes to Hollywood

A man (George O’Brien) finds himself straying from his wife (Janet Gaynor) in Sunrise (1927), a daring film bursting with bold examples of
cinematic innovation spearheaded by Murnau and ASC cinematographers Karl Struss and Charles Rosher.

gain favor in German cinemas, as they Hoffmann are mentioned as being moving camera and complex editing
already had throughout the rest of exceptional among foreign cine- that had defined German cinema
Europe and in most of the world. matographers, while the average toward the end of the 1920s. Fritz
Despite the general acceptance Hollywood cinematographer is Lang’s first sound film, M (1931, shot
of German directors and techniques in described as being equally adept. by Fritz Arno Wagner), is a shining
Hollywood, the ASC continued to Yet even as the January 1927 example. In April 1930, American
advocate for the use of its own release of Metropolis (viewed as the Cinematographer ran a detailed
members over bringing German cine- last true Expressionist film) heralded account of the inner workings of the
matographers to Hollywood. In June the end of the boom time, the German German studios, from the lights used
1928, American Cinematographer industry continued to produce impor- to the laboratory processes, conclud-
reprinted a lengthy article from tant films into the early 1930s. Sound ing that the primary difference from
Motion Picture Classic arguing “They came to Germany about a year after Hollywood was the skill the German
are Better in U.S.A.” The author the U.S., and despite the fact that crews demonstrated in working with
explains that while the studios could many key filmmakers had already left less money and equipment.
not get enough of importing directors the country, this technical break- Hollywood’s interest in
and stars from all over Europe — from through led to a last creative burst in German films faded as the prospect of
Emil Jannings to Greta Garbo to German cinema before the Nazi American audiences watching
Alexander Korda to Victor Sjöström regime took control. foreign-language talkies fizzled
— they were not bringing over cine- Both new and veteran directors (though there was always interest in
matographers because “Our own... found creative uses of sound, while German-made filmmaking tools). The
are good enough.” Freund and maintaining the flexibility of the slowdown in production that came

78 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 Murnau on the set of Sunrise with Rosher.

with sound was accompanied by these filmmakers to the concepts of

Germany’s changing political roving cameras and Expressionist
climate. The situation led many film- lighting is to miss the larger impact of
makers working in the industry to Weimar German filmmakers on
head to Hollywood even without big Hollywood and world cinema. For
contracts, including Freund and Fred example, once Freund came to
Zinnemann, both of whom left America, he not only shot noir classics
Germany in 1929. such as Key Largo (1948), but also
By April 1933, as Hitler and developed the dominant sitcom
propaganda minister Joseph shooting style — deploying three
Goebbels strove to remake the cameras and flat lighting — on the
German film industry to reflect Nazi iconic television series I Love Lucy
ideology, Jews were forbidden to (1951-1956).
work on German productions. Those Throughout its history, one of
who hadn’t already fled the country the great characteristics of the
left, including Billy Wilder and American industry has been its ability
Robert Siodmak, along with many to adopt and absorb the filmmaking
sympathetic non-Jews. Goebbels techniques — and filmmakers — that
offered Lang a high position in the make waves around the world. There
Nazi film industry, but Lang refused is perhaps no greater example of this
and relocated to Hollywood. than the German influence of the 1920s
It’s notable that the word and ’30s. The work of Weimar German
“Expressionism” is difficult to find in filmmakers in Hollywood (as well as
the pages of American Cinema- in Paris and London) is so central to
tographer, but the impact of the the development of world cinema that
German film industry on Hollywood it’s impossible to imagine the history
is much broader than one artistic of the movies without it. u
movement. To reduce the impact of

79
 NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES
• SUBMISSION INFORMATION - Please email New Products/Services releases to [email protected] and include full contact information and product images.
Photos must be TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.

Matthews Unveils
Panel Stand
Matthews Studio Equip-
ment has introduced the Panel
Stand to support panel and
balloon-style lighting fixtures,
LED monitors, screens, overhead
frames and backdrops. Wheels
add on-set mobility, and low-
profile legs maximize leeway and
maneuverability, even with low-
hanging equipment.
The Panel Stand offers a
maximum height of 11' and a
minimum of 55". With a load also alters the bitrate and video quality of the outgoing signal
capacity of 70/80 pounds, it is an in order to maximize connection and frame rate, ensuring
ideal mate for popular panel people on set can always monitor what is happening.
lights, as well as 45"-85" moni- The CineEye weighs .4 pounds and features a built-in
tors, which can be supported 3,500-mAh battery that offers up to four hours of power.
horizontally or vertically. Built When the battery gets low, users can plug in power via the
for low clearance, the Panel built-in USB-C port and continue shooting.
Stand’s main column can be Offering features such as focus peaking, zebras, false
adjusted and lowered at the leg color for exposure, and LUT overlay, the CineEye offers options
base, and its shallow wheelbase typically seen on higher-end monitors.
facilitates rolling underneath The CineEye lists for $249.
furniture, vehicles or other For additional information, visit accsoonusa.com.
obstacles.
Rugged and compact, the LockCircle Announces
Panel Stand comes equipped MetalJacket 2
with Tente caster wheels, pins to LockCircle has introduced the
hang a door rack for truck stor- MetalJacket 2, a cage for the Leica
age, a 11⁄8" Junior receiver, a 5⁄8" SL2 camera that is designed to
Baby pin, and a built-in, facilitate motion-picture produc-
ergonomically balanced handle tion. Weighing 8.6 ounces, the
for transport. MetalJacket 2 integrates (with
For additional informa- the CineBlock interface mount)
tion, visit www.msegrip.com. the original Leitz Cine/Leica SL-PL
Mount, creating a sturdy produc-
Accsoons’ CineEye Sends Video to Mobile tion camera. The NovoBlock inte-
Accsoon has released CineEye, a wireless video-trans- grates the Novoflex and P+S Technik
mission system that allows users to send a 1080p video signal mounts for using still-photography lenses.
from the CineEye device attached to the camera to as many as Due to its ultra-compact design, the
four mobile devices. This allows the director, other crew and MetalJacket 2 does not have to be
clients to use their existing mobile devices to monitor what’s removed when the user wants to
being shot. shoot stills.
With an average latency of around 100ms, the CineEye The MetalJacket 2 offers 150 threads 1⁄4"-20 and seven
has minimal lag while maintaining a high-quality image via its threads 3⁄8"-16 for multi-accessory mounting such as viewfind-
wireless signal; the CineEye automatically modifies and selects ers, 4K HDMI recorders, monitors and heavy-duty camera
channels that have the least resistance; and the transmitter rigging. The cage integrates multi-port HDMI/USB 3.0/audio

80 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 Band Pro Releases Orca Bags Rigalto
Band Pro Film & Digital announces Orca Bags Rigalto, a support system for Sony
Venice cameras utilizing the Sony Rialto Extension System. Rigalto gives a single camera
operator maximum freedom of movement while using Sony’s 6K tethered extension
system. The Rigalto streamlines shooting in tight quarters where a camera assistant may
not be able to move around the operator, with the Venice attached to the Rialto. With
the Rigalto, operators can move freely through the scene while depending on the camera
assistant to adjust camera settings between takes, or adjust ND filters as the exposure
changes.
Orca Bags Rigalto lists for $1,300. With the optional Easyrig Minimax Support Bar
attachment, operators can further lighten the Rialto rig.
For additional information, visit bandpro.com.

connector port savers for camera

protection. The LockPort offers a 90-
degree, rear-output, full-size HDMI
adapter for port protection when
using monitors or 4K outboard
recorders.
The camera baseplate offers
secure mounting with 1⁄4"-20 and 3⁄8"-16
threads and has front and rear 1⁄4"-20
threads useful for other mounting appli-
cations. The MetalJacket 2 is available in
Classic Black and hard-anodized Dura-T
(Tactical Grey). A lightweight
MicroMega-M baseplate for 15mm rods
and an Arri BP-8 Baseplate Adapter for
Arri 19mm rods are available.
For additional information, visit
www.lockcircle.com.

For additional New Products

& Services coverage, visit
ascmag.com/articles/new-product. u
 INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE

82 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 CLASSIFIEDS
CLASSIFIED AD RATES EQUIPMENT FOR SALE EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words 2 x Powerpod Classics, 4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion,
set in bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per
word. First word of ad and advertiser’s name 1 x Preston FIZ2 and Polas etc. A Good Box Rental
can be set in capitals without extra charge. No 2 x Preston FIZ1 818-763-8547
agency commission or discounts on classified
advertising.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER. Good Condition. [email protected]
World’s SUPERMARKET of USED
VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are for complete list. $19,900.00 OBO
accepted. Send ad to Classified Advertising, MOTION PICTURE EQUIPMENT!
Will sell separately.
American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Buy, Sell, Trade. CAMERAS, LENSES,
Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973.
Deadline for payment and copy must be in the Technicolor 35mm 3 Strip Camera SUPPORT, AKS & MORE!
office by 15th of second month preceding publi- package (s/n: DF11) Visual Products, Inc.
cation. Subject matter is limited to items and
services pertaining to filmmaking and video pro- Including Magazines, Lenses, Motor. www.visualproducts.com
duction. Words used are subject to magazine Used to film Gone With The Wind. Call 440.647.4999
style abbreviation. Minimum amount per ad:
$45
Museum display condition.
Minimum bid $250,000
[email protected]

www.ascmag.com February 2020 83

 ADVERTISERS’
INDEX
Alan Gordon Enterprises Canon 29 Mole-Richardson 82
82 Cavision Enterprises 82 NAB 87
Arri 13 Chapman/Leonard NBC/Universal 21
ASC/Leica Camera 67 Studio Equip. 27 Netflix 3, 5, 7
ASC Master Class 83 CineGear 85
ASC Photo Gallery 81 Cinematography Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
Electronics 8 Gmbh 82
B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio Pro8mm 82
43 CMB Film Services, Inc. 44
Backstage Equipment, Inc. 8 Cooke Optics 11 Rip Tie Company 82
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 9 Creative Handbook 52 Rotolight Group Ltd. 33
CRP/MB Studios 61
Selected Tables 84
Eastman Kodak C4
Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Gmbh C3 Teradek, LLC C2-1, 19
Tiffen 23
Filmtools 31
Fujifilm/Fujinon 25 www.ascmag.com 79, 82
wwwtheasc.com 8, 60
J.L. Fisher 53
Kino Flo 45

84
 CLUBHOUSE
NEWS
ASC Master Class Scholarship Program
and the ASC Vision Mentorship Program.
Other honorees at the brunch
included director/production designer
Catherine Hardwicke, composer Kathryn
Bostic and production sound mixer
Shawn Holden.

Society, Leica Host Camera

Release and Gallery
The ASC Clubhouse showcased a
presentation of still photography by Soci-
ety members in celebration of the Leica
M10-P “ASC 100 Edition” camera, a
limited-edition professional tool that
honors the Society’s centennial and was
designed with working cinematographers
in mind. On display were photographs by
ASC members James Chressanthis,
Richard Crudo, David Darby, Robert
Elswit, Dana Gonzales, Jacek Laskus, Dan
Laustsen, Charlie Lieberman, Suki
Medencevic, Dan Mindel, Steven Poster,
John Simmons and Mandy Walker. The
exhibition was curated by Leica Gallery
Los Angeles manager and curator Paris
Chong — along with Lieberman, who

Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.

pt Cynthia Pusheck, ASC was honored by Women in Media. pu ASC associate Jill Bogdanowicz has
been named creative head at Company 3. p The Society and Leica hosted a camera release and gallery serves as ASC Photo Gallery Committee
event at the Clubhouse in Hollywood.
chair. All of the photographs on view
Cinematographers Take Stage Pusheck Accepts Honor were taken with Leica cameras.
A roster of creative talents took Cynthia Pusheck, ASC is one of
time with moderator Jim Hemphill — a four women who were honored at the Bogdanowicz Takes New Post
filmmaker and AC contributing writer — annual Women in Media Holiday Brunch Company 3, a subsidiary of Deluxe,
at a series of recent Clubhouse Conver- L.A. In a statement before the event, has announced that senior colorist and
sations at the ASC’s home in Hollywood. WIM noted, “We will be recognizing ASC associate Jill Bogdanowicz will now
Participating in respective sessions to women who are making a mark in the share the title of creative head, feature
discuss their recent projects, and to entertainment industry and paving the post with senior colorist Stephen Naka-
share their insights and experiences, way for greater female participation mura. In this new role, she will collabo-
were Rachel Morrison, ASC (Seberg); above and below the line.” rate with Nakamura, working to foster
Steve Yedlin, ASC, writer-director Rian Pusheck, along with John communication among artists, opera-
ASC Event photos by Alex Lopez.

Johnson and colorist Aidan Stanford Simmons, ASC, established the ASC tions and management in designing and
(Knives Out); Caleb Deschanel, ASC and Vision Committee in 2016 to support the implementing workflows to meet the
Robert Legato, ASC (The Lion King); advancement of underrepresented cine- constantly changing needs of feature
Edward Lachman, ASC (Dark Waters); matographers and other filmmakers in post clients.
Lawrence Sher, ASC (Joker); Phedon order to make the entertainment indus- Bogdanowicz has been a leading
Papamichael, ASC, GSC (Ford v Ferrari); try more inclusive. The Committee offers feature colorist since the early 2000s. Her
and Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC (The Irish- educational events and networking recent work includes Joker, Spider-Man:
man). opportunities, and recently launched the Far From Home and Doctor Sleep. u

86 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years

 CLOSE-UP
Charlie Lieberman, ASC
When you were a child, what film made What has been your most satisfying
the strongest impression on you? moment on a project?
King Kong [1933]. I couldn’t have been Seeing it all come together at the end —
older than 6. I believed every minute of with the performances, editing, sound
it, except that I thought Kong moved a and music — and seeing how my contri-
little funny. bution works with all of those storytelling
[elements]. Also, getting hired to shoot
Which cinematographers, past or Heroes was the apex of my career.
present, do you most admire?
The ones who affected me the most Have you made any memorable blun-
when I was starting out were [ASC ders?
members] Owen Roizman, Conrad Hall I once complimented Malcolm McDowell
and Gordon Willis; I began to search for their names in the ads for his performance in a picture that he actually wasn’t in. He
for movies so I could see more of their work. Later, I started pointed out that it was another British actor, and then he smiled
looking back and discovered [ASC members] Stanley Cortez, and said, ‘But I’ll take it.’
Russell Metty, Phil Lathrop, Gregg Toland and so many others.
What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received?
What sparked your interest in photography? Very early on, shooting a documentary, I was nervous about
When I was in my 20s, I got the idea that I wanted to learn how everything, and I kept checking my light meter over and over
to take a good photograph. I dedicated all my spare time to again. The director noticed and quietly said to me, ‘That’s not a
shooting what I later learned was ‘street photography,’ and I good look. You can be nervous, but you can’t act nervous.’
gave myself a year to take one good picture. I finally got what I
thought was a good one, but now I think it’s pretty lame! What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
I’m currently reading Moby Dick for the fifth time. Also, Edward
Where did you train and/or study? Abbey’s Desert Solitaire [1968] — I was in Utah this past fall,
I learned on the job. I started in still photography and was shooting stills, and I really saw the desert differently after study-
fortunate to work for companies that started to branch out and ing his work.
shoot films. My goals were to pay attention, do what I did well,
and teach myself anything I could to advance — and keep food Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to try?
on the table. I would love to shoot a film noir or a Western.

Who were your early teachers or mentors? If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing
Starting out, I didn’t know other cinematographers. My sister instead?
was a major supporter; she was an artist, and when I took up I would have stayed in still photography. But if I couldn’t make
photography, she encouraged me. Many years later, I met images, I’d be a forest ranger.
Owen Roizman, who was instrumental in supporting my ASC
nomination. To have one of my idols offer that was hugely grat- Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for member-
ifying. ship?
Adam Kane, Dennis L. Smith and Steven B. Poster.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
All the great novels I’ve read, all the great art I’ve seen, all the How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
great stills I’ve studied, and all the great cinematography I’ve My favorite thing about being in the ASC has been the opportuni-
watched. ties I’ve had to give back to young people just starting their
careers. They crave guidance and inspiration, and they look to the
How did you get your first break in the business? ASC for that. I love participating in the ASC Master Class; I conduct
A documentary filmmaker saw some stills of mine hanging in a a discussion group where members explain exactly what this
bar in Chicago, and then hired me to shoot production stills on career entails. Also, overseeing the Photo Gallery Committee has
Photo by Jay Yowler.

an anti-drug documentary starring Olympic athletes. He ended been gratifying, because I’ve worked closely with other ASC
up incorporating them into the film. members to present their still photography. That led to the publi-
cation of Our First 100 Years, the tribute book we created for the
ASC centennial. u

88 February 2020 American Cinematographer — 100 Years