February 2023 The International Publication of the American Society of Cinematographers

Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF

Shoots Babylon

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 OUTSTANDING
OPTICAL PERFORMANCE

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 Celebrating the Art of
Cinematography
Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC | ASC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Fred Murphy, ASC | ASC CAREER ACHIEVEMENT IN TELEVISION AWARD
Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC | INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Charlie Lieberman, ASC | PRESIDENTS AWARD
Sam Nicholson, ASC | CURTIS CLARK ASC TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Viola Davis | BOARD OF GOVERNORS AWARD

37th ANNUAL ASC AWARDS

SAVE THE DATE • MARCH 5, 2023
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 FEBRUARY 2023 VOL. 104 NO. 2

Contents
28
Features
14 Hollywood Babylon
Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF helps Damien Chazelle lampoon the early days
of an unruly industry. “Damien found inspiration from the absurd humor
in this tale,” Sandgren says, “and we wanted the camera to be in the
absurdity.”

28 Thirteen Lives: Divers in the Dark

Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and director Ron Howard shoot
an ambitious re-creation of the 2018 Thai cave rescue, which trapped a
dozen boys and their soccer coach in a seemingly hopeless predicament.

40 The Whale Plumbs Deep Water

Longtime collaborators Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS and Darren Aronof-
sky explore the physical and psychological struggles of a troubled man,
working with “a small crew, on one set, in a controlled environment,” says
Libatique.

48 Vintage Infamy: 18½

Cinematographer Elle Schneider helps director Dan Mirvish create a 1970s
period look under ultra-indie conditions, amid early-Covid protocols. “It
was an extremely conscious choice to make our movie look different from
the films of today,” says Schneider.

Departments
8 Letter From the President
10 Shot Craft: The Dolly Grip
56 Global Village: The Banshees of Inisherin
60 The Virtual World: Camera Tracking
64 Clubhouse News
68 New Products and Services
72 Wrap Shot: Singin’ in the Rain

56
VISIT THEASC.COM

On Our Cover:
Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF on location during
production of Babylon. (Photo by Scott Garfield,
courtesy of Paramount Pictures.)

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 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Stephen Pizzello

WEB DIRECTOR and PUBLISHER

David E. Williams

OUR FIRST
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Fish

100
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Max Weinstein
SHOT CRAFT and TECHNICAL EDITOR Jay Holben

YEARS
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EXPANDED CONTRIBUTORS

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CREATIVE DIRECTION and DESIGN

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American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 104th year of
Available now at store.ascmag.com publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr.,
Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A., (800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line
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 THE WORLD’S LEADING
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL American Society of Cinematographers

ON MOTION IMAGING The ASC is not a labor union or a guild,

but an educational, cultural and

DELIVERS THE INSIDE STORY professional organization. Membership is

by invitation to those who are actively en-

OF MODERN CINEMATOGRAPHY
gaged 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 2022/2023
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 Letter From the President
“Filmmaking history should be fair warning
that change in production is a constant and
not an exception.”

PORTRAIT BY MICHAEL M. PESSAH, ASC.

FILMMAKING LORE — AND FILMMAKERS THEMSELVES — are full of electronic-based camera “recording” or “capture.” However, this change
clichés about the work they do. One of the most common, “a film about was widely signaled in advance by the change from celluloid-film-based
the film would be a great film,” has been repeated at many wrap parties. editing to “non-linear” digital editing, which began happening a decade
In other words, a behind-the-scenes film about the bizarre, improvisa- before the wholesale movement away from Eastman and toward Sony.
tional and crisis-filled filmmaking process always makes a good movie. The Sony Betacam, in its many incarnations, ruled the TV/documentary
In fact, many films have been made about filmmaking, including Bab- field during the same decade, in our memory. Therefore, this transition
ylon, which is covered in this issue. Filmmakers’ intimacy with their own was gradual and less traumatic than silents to sound.
process has led to many authentic-feeling films. The granddaddy of all, One of the best films about the transition from film to video is Boogie
and an annual favorite at our house, is Singin’ in the Rain (see Wrap Nights (set in the pornography industry, again!), shot by the innova-
Shot on page 72), which is about the introduction of sound to motion tive and resourceful Robert Elswit, ASC. The porn director played by
pictures. Burt Reynolds decries the “cheap-looking” video of the deservedly ma-
Actually, movies were never really “silent.” Early silents were always ligned VHS format, preferring to continue making his porn productions
screened with live music, even in the most remote theaters. In big cities on 16mm film. Any cinematographer worth their salt now knows that
they had full orchestras (another reason musicians make good cinema- working together with the sound recordists on set is as important as any
tographers). The subject of Singin’ in the Rain and Babylon is dialogue other collaborative relationship in filmmaking.
sound recorded during production — a major innovation that arrived Filmmaking history should be fair warning that change in production
in 1927 with the The Jazz Singer, as audiences had never heard their is a constant and not an exception. However, we are writing this during
favorite actors speak. one of the rainy days at the closing of 2022, and we are not in produc-
Looking back, we wonder why this change from “silent” to “sound” tion. So, we are going to ignore for a moment what the future may hold,
was so traumatic and inspired so many films, including the moody and we are not going to worry about making a film of a film, and instead we
dark Inserts (1975), which stars Richard Dreyfuss as a failing director re- are going to go singing and dancing in the rain.
duced to directing “blue movies” (pornography), and who cannot direct
actors when they speak.
The traumatic moment when sound films took over Hollywood film-
making did upend many careers. The next major earthquake in the pro-
duction of features and television did not upend as many. This was, Stephen Lighthill
of course, the change from motion-picture, film-camera “shooting” to President, ASC

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 Shot Craft By Jay Holben

The Dolly Grip

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RALPH SCHERER.

On any production, the dolly grip truck for relevant equipment. for facilitating any way the camera The tool can be as simple as a “butt
provides many more services to The grip department comprises needs to move. dolly” (a seat or stool with wheels)
the cinematographer and camera the key grip, who serves as the or a doorway dolly (a platform
department than the job title sug- head of the department; the best Selecting Tools with large wheels carried on most
gests. In fact, although the position boy, the administrative manager This responsibility starts with the grip trucks), or as elaborate as a
is located within the grip depart- of the department; the grips; and management and operation of the 400-pound, wheeled platform with
ment, it is almost a department unto the dolly grip. The dolly grip is not dolly, which comes in many differ- hydraulic boom arm and multiple
itself and often requires a separate responsible for the dolly alone, but ent types, sizes and configurations. rigging and seat positions. It’s the

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 It’s the dolly grip’s responsibility to maintain a safe,
stable platform for the camera and the camera team.

dolly grip’s job to select the right tool and man- shot. This might require adding any number of
age its operation, configuration and support, be accessories such as platforms, seats, extensions,
it track or “dance floor” (smooth, finishing-grade camera offsets and risers, sliders, jib arms, or
plywood — sometimes topped with plastic — small cranes.
that is laid over an existing floor to provide a
smooth surface). Decisions must be made about Executing Shots
the kind of wheels that are attached to a dolly — During the execution of a given shot, the dolly
skateboard, air-filled, hard-rubber, track wheels grip is an extension of the camera operator and
(for square or rounded track), etc. If a crane is is responsible for getting the camera into the
brought in, the dolly grip is often responsible for right position at the right speed so the operator
its position, configuration and, with the neces- can frame the action appropriately. In some
sary training, its primary operation and safety. cases, this involves a give-and-take between the
After track is placed or dance floor is laid and two crewmembers. The dolly can move subtly
carefully aligned to ensure no bumps, seams or in each shot to compensate for actors missing
changes in elevation, the camera department will marks, especially in a move that ends in an over-
bring the head to the dolly, where it is mounted the-shoulder composition. If an actor shifts their
so the camera can be added. It’s the dolly grip’s weight from one foot to the other and blocks
responsibility to maintain a safe, stable platform another actor, a slight dolly move of an inch or
for the camera and the camera team, includ- so may be all that’s needed to save the shot. If
ing the operator and 1st AC, if need be. It has an actor sits or stands in a shot, the director and
become a popular trend to mount on the dolly a cinematographer will often request a boom or jib
stabilizer head that can be operated remotely. In move to rise or drop with the actor, as opposed
this case, the operator and camera assistant ar- to tilting the camera. It’s the dolly grip’s job to
en’t even near the dolly; they’re at monitors, and facilitate this move, and many dollies incorporate
the dolly grip is driving the dolly along its marks, a hydraulic boom arm for this purpose.
or moving according to operator instructions When a crane is called for, the dolly grip is
received via an intercom headset. typically the primary controller of that crane, pro-
vided that the crewmember has the appropriate
A Stable Base training and experience. The controls might be at
When a dolly is on track, the dolly grip will confer the back of the crane (for large sweeping moves)
with the cinematographer, camera operator or at the front of the crane (if the camera has to
and director about the position and length of start or end near talent or in a tight situation).
track needed, as well as what types of curves
might be integrated. The dolly grip then makes a Hands-On Support
stable, level base for the track. On location, this One of the less intuitive functions of the dolly
might require an extravagant rig and extensive grip is supporting the camera in handheld or
construction. If the dolly needs to move over Steadicam mode (or with other body-mounted
uneven terrain, the leveling of the track could or handheld stabilizing tools). Even if no dolly
involve constructing bridges and railroad-like is actually present, the dolly grip still bears
trestles, steel-deck platforms and so forth. For responsibility for the safety of the camera’s
the dolly to function smoothly, it should be on movement. This includes acting as a “spotter”
a level track, which requires fine-tuning each or guide for the handheld or Steadicam operator
segment of track with wedges and confirming as they move through a set or location. The
perfect evenness with a large bubble level. The dolly grip must be behind the operator, guiding
dolly grip will then configure the dolly for a given them around obstacles on set with a light touch

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 Shot Craft

Veteran dolly grip Ralph Scherer notes, “Understanding the storytelling,

the shots, and where to put the frame is a very important part of the job.
You need to understand what the camera is supposed to be doing.”

translating the creative needs of

the director, cinematographer and
operator into a mechanical process.
Attitude is important; if you’re
arrogant about your job, a lot can be
lost in communication. Many dolly
grips feel like they’re operators, but
they’re not. The job is about putting
the camera in the right spot for the
operator to get their shot and mov-
ing it appropriately along the way.
You’ve got to know your tools and
what works best for that moment.
There’s constant change, and you
need to embrace that.
“As a dolly grip, I don’t go off
and do a lot of regular grip stuff
anymore. A regular grip deals with
lighting, bouncing, cutting, and
rigging lights and sets. I deal with
the camera and moving platforms.
Of course, the grip team helps to
transport track or wedges, level
track, or lay floor, but I’m not out
flagging lights or rigging stands. I
stay at the dolly, and I stay on the
set. I’m pretty much always right at
the camera.
“Some younger guys will work
as a key grip and a dolly grip, but I
think keying from behind a dolly is
kind of verboten. You’re struggling
with too many things.
“Once you start a scene with a
certain tool, you’re basically going
on the hips. A nudge to the left bring the operator to a complete camera back to the operator over to stay with it. Even if the rest of
or right from the dolly grip can stop if necessary. their shoulder so that it gently drops the scene consists of static shots,
prevent catastrophe. There’s clear When “cut” is called, the dolly into place. There’s a definite art to it’s often easier to stay on the dolly
communication between the grip grip is there to remove the camera this process that creates the least or crane to finish off the scene.
and operator about which touch/ from the operator’s shoulder and strain on operators, who need all of You pick a crane if you have to go
gesture means “step up,” “step relieve them of the weight. This their stamina to execute the shot. over objects or do large, sweeping
down,” “duck” and so on. A hand in is more of a courtesy than an moves. I mostly use the same dolly,
the center of the back that slowly actual duty; it reduces operators’ Scherer’s Perspective a Chapman Hybrid II that I’ve had
increases pressure can indicate fatigue and allows them to join the Veteran dolly grip Ralph Scherer, for years. Sometimes you need
an upcoming wall or obstacle — cinematographer and director to whose credits include several films something smaller to move around
perhaps a cliff’s edge! The amount confer and receive notes without with director Steven Spielberg and quicker, like a butt dolly. If the emo-
of pressure conveys how close the bearing the burden of the rig. When cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, tion changes in the middle of the
operator is getting to the obstacle, the production is ready to go again, offers further insight into his role: scene — say, two people are sitting
and eventually, the dolly grip will the dolly grip will carefully hand the “The principal part of my job is at a table, one person gets ticked

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 “The principal part of my job is translating the the grips, we’ll set up our tools and of machine swinging around, you
then rehearse the shot with the have to be extremely diligent about
creative needs of the director, cinematographer actors and execute it when cameras making sure it happens safely and
and operator into a mechanical process.” finally roll. efficiently.”
“Understanding the storytelling, An interesting final note: When
the shots and where to put the a dolly grip moves on to another
off and a fight ensues — you can a set or location for the first time frame is a very important part of position, it is often camera operator
make the statement visually as well, on the morning of the shoot. We the job. You need to understand rather than key grip, underscoring
switching tools to go handheld, use will observe the floor, note major what the camera is supposed to be the synergy between the dolly
Steadicam or do something else. obstacles, and then watch a crew doing. In essence, you’re guiding grip and operator in the flow of
Then, it’s per shot. But, generally, rehearsal of the actors and their the audience through the story, filmmaking.
we stay with one tool for a given blocking. Like a camera assistant, translating whatever is in front of
scene. the dolly grip will follow the actors you into what they will see — and Jay Holben is an ASC associate
“On a typical day, the dolly grip and set marks for where the camera accentuating, visually, what the member and AC’s technical editor.
arrives to set and consults with the should be according to the director, story calls for emotionally.
key grip, operator and cinematogra- cinematographer and operator. We’ll “A huge part of our responsibility
pher. We’re generally not present on then determine the best method for is safety. This is especially true with
tech scouts, so we often encounter achieving the shots. Working with cranes. When there’s 4,500 pounds

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 Hollywood
Babylon
Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF
helps Damien Chazelle
capture an industry’s
bawdy beginnings.

T
By Jay Holben

he meek rise to power, the mighty fall from

grace, and everyone struggles with the seis-
mic change known as “talkies” in Babylon,
which explores the wild side of early Holly-
wood. There’s Manny Torres (Diego Calva),
a young immigrant who arrives in L.A. with
filmmaking aspirations and falls in love with
free-spirited aspiring actor Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie);
box-office star Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), whose career is on the
verge of ruin; and struggling Black musician Sidney Palmer
(Jovan Adepo), who helps usher in an era in which jazz artists
are billed as screen stars.
Babylon is the third feature collaboration between cine-
matographer Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF and director Damien
Chazelle. As they had on La La Land (AC Jan. ’17) and First Man
(AC Nov. ’18), the duo chose to shoot their latest project on
35mm film. The filmmakers also “elected to go with the ana-
morphic format,” Sandgren says, “as it felt like the right way
to tell an epic story about Hollywood. Damien really wanted
to see that whole world, and it had to be a wide ’Scope film.”

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 FEBRUARY 2023 / 15

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 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Previous spread: Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF (left) sets up a shot

of Babylon’s fictional film crew. This page, from top: Aspiring
actor Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) rages into the wee hours at
an extravagant mansion party; Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li) performs
a seductive cabaret number for partygoers.

UNIT STILLS BY SCOTT GARFIELD. ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES.

Getting the Party Started
Babylon tells “a crazy story,” the cinematographer notes. “Damien
found inspiration from the absurd humor in this tale, and we wanted
the camera to be in the absurdity, moving among the ludicrous events.
Everything I did was intended to be expressive to fit the roller coaster
of events, as well as the dramatic contrasts and turns in the characters’
lives. I aimed for a look that was contrasty and harsher, pushing the
image on the negative and with the lenses and the exposures — much
more than I would ever do on another film.”
The lunacy is on display from the beginning of the film, when Torres
is tasked with moving an elephant up a steep road so it can appear at an
extravagant soirée. The party scene was filmed in the Ace Hotel in down-
town L.A., a historic structure that includes a movie theater. “We kept
the camera curious,” Sandgren says. “We didn’t want to cut; we wanted

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

Top: Skirted overhead lighting units and other fixtures were deployed
for the party scene, shot at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, to boost the
ambience provided by smaller sources incorporated into the production
design. Bottom: Film assistant Manny Torres (Diego Calva) leads an
elephant to its debauched destination.

to see the environment, racking and panning around after blocking the
scenes in as few shots as possible. That was incredibly difficult, as every-
one had to be in precise positions as the camera passed. Most of the ex-
tras were dancers, though, which helped us to be precise with the timing.
“Damien and I loved the look of the hotel and lobby, but it was a very
tight space,” the cinematographer continues. “We had to do a bit of cre-
ative thinking to make it work. We ended up using a Spydercam to start
the sequence, pulling back through the 200-person crowd at the party,
flying up high, and then flying back into a close-up of Sidney playing
trumpet in the band, and into a whip pan. From the whip pan, we stitch
to a Steadicam shot [operated by Brian Freesh] that moves through the
party. Brian is really solid and has a great musical sensitivity — which, in
most of the scenes in Babylon, is crucial. We also made copious use of the
Chapman Miniscope 7, which we often used instead of a dolly. It’s quick,

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 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Crewmembers prep a set piece depicting a portion of

the party mansion shown early in the film.

narrow and fits through doors — a great tool. We actually used it daily
throughout the shoot.”
Sandgren operated the A camera, and Davon Slininger operated B
camera and served as splinter-unit cinematographer. Sandgren notes
that he worked with Slininger on Babylon in the same way they did on
First Man. “We pretty much shot one camera most of the time, but there
are some scenes where we’d bring in a second camera,” Sandgren says.
“When it’s just me operating, Davon is off shooting additional shots
of things like a projectionist loading film while smoking, or celluloid
being tinted — many of the inserts you see throughout the movie,” the
cinematographer says of their work on Babylon. “He did really great
things on this movie.”
Jorge Sánchez, Sandgren’s longtime 1st AC, was also onboard, as were
chief lighting technician Tony Bryan, key grip Anthony Cady and dolly
grip Michael Wahl.
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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

An army of extras grows angry on the set of a silent-film production.

Single Take at Dawn

With help from Torres, LaRoy cons her way into the private party, and
the two take a wild ride together. As dawn breaks, she leaves the party,
triumphant after her adventurous night. “She walks out into the dawn,
and we’re in a single take from that moment,” Sandgren says. “We see
Manny step out into a close-up and then move around his shoulder as
he watches her dance around at the break of dawn; we follow Manny to
a two-shot with Nellie and she leaves frame for a close-up of Manny;
and then we pan to Nellie, who gets into her car and drives off. The cam-
era pans around and pushes into Manny’s face again, and the character
Jimmy [Cutty Cuthbert] comes into the background and yells for him to
come back inside. “I was a bit reckless with my exposures,
“It felt beautiful and emotionally intimate to not cut, and to just stay but I would light as naturalistically as I
with him in that moment on a oner,” Sandgren continues. “It’s subtle,
could. I had an impressionistic mindset.”
but it was complicated to do; we had to do it off a Scorpio 45 telescopic
crane, operated by Bogdan Iofciulescu, just minutes before the sun was
rising, and we only had a few minutes of the right light. As with all low-
light scenes, I shot it at T2, and it’s a really shallow depth of field — which

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 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Top: An overhead array of diffusion softens and shapes

the sun’s natural light for a sequence in which LaRoy
approaches a set in the desert for her first day working on
a Hollywood production. Bottom: LaRoy prepares to shoot
her first sound-film project.

was a great challenge for Jorge, but lucky for us, he is a really masterful
focus puller. On La La Land, we would take a whole day to rehearse shots
like that, but on this production, we had so many shots like this, and a
tight schedule, so we had to spend most of our time shooting.”
The production filmed on practical locations in and around L.A., at
sites that included a former residence of William Randolph Hearst, Lake
Piru, outside Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, inside and outside Par-
amount stages, and on Paramount’s New York Backlot. “We didn’t real-
ly do that much onstage, apart from the scenes in the movie that took
place on stages,” recalls Sandgren. “Damien wanted to see the real Los
Angeles, using real locations. And scenes set at the silent movie studio
Kinoscope were built on location in a valley in Piru, to look more like
L.A. in the ’20s.”

Hollywood, Wide Open

“We shot in traditional Academy anamorphic, which is offset to one side
to accommodate the soundtrack that would be added later,” Sandgren
“We didn’t really do that much onstage, apart says. ”We did a 4K scan and a digital intermediate with a full variety of
from the scenes in the movie that took place theatrical release formats, including 35mm anamorphic film prints and
70mm spherical film prints, as well as digital formats in Imax, Dolby
on stages. Damien wanted to see the real Vision and 4K DCP.”
Los Angeles, using real locations.” Camtec Motion Picture Cameras in Burbank, Calif., provided Arricam
LTs for the production, and Sandgren teamed them with Atlas Orion
anamorphic lenses. “I had the Orions on Don’t Look Up, and I was re-
ally happy with them,” he says. “Technically, they’re great — they have
a really close focus and they don’t go out-of-focus at the edges — and

20 / FEBRUARY 2023

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

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FEBRUARY 2023 / 21

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 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Atlas Lens Co.’s president and lead designer, Forrest Schultz, de-polishes
the surface of the Orion anamorphics’ elements by hand.
PHOTOS BY FORREST SCHULTZ.

in fact I embraced it, and shot all night scenes at wide open. They’re Playing It Rough
all a T2, which is amazing. Wide open, they have a slight color aberra- Sandgren further “roughened up” the image by push-processing all of
tion, but it’s not excessive. We had Atlas custom-tune them because we the footage 1 stop, rating each stock an additional 1 stop over, and then
didn’t want the film to look too polished; we wanted to embrace the dirt going “really aggressive with my exposure, especially in daylight, allow-
and filth in the world of Babylon. I worked with [Atlas Co.’s president ing things to go as much as 4 stops over in exteriors to show the heat of
and lead designer,] Forrest Schultz, who tweaked the lenses to maintain L.A.” The push process was completed at FotoKem’s facility in Burbank.
their sharpness but add more blooming in the highlights. He did this by “Something fascinating happens with film in the development pro-
hand-polishing certain elements to give them a slightly scratched sur- cess,” he continues. “I find that the mids come out first, and then the
face that spread the highlights beautifully. It gave us a series that was highlights and blacks are developed. If you develop in the time that
just a bit more expressive, to match the attitude Damien and I were try- Kodak says you should, then the mids have developed and the blacks
ing to convey.” (See sidebar below.) and highlights come along. But if you keep developing, the mids stay

Bespoke Optics
To customize Orion anamorphics for Sandgren, Atlas Lens Co. presi- is why Linus preferred it over a filter on the lens. It seemed to re-
dent and lead designer Forrest Schultz says he “tried to replicate the spond dynamically, so pointing at windows of bright sun brought
messed-up surfacing that a lot of older optics get through years of out a natural-looking halation. It didn’t affect the resolution, either
cleaning, scratches, fungi, etc. I applied some micro-scratching into — there was no real softening effect.”
the coating, not entirely taking it off. I isolated a single element from Atlas also altered the barrels of the series to differentiate
the design and de-polished the surface of the element by hand, using them, polishing off the black anodizing to raw aluminum, which
cerium-oxide slurry and steel wool. Schultz then brushed on a lathe. With his wife’s help, he then
“Each Orion received the same treatment, although the amount and repainted the lens engravings by hand.
intensity of the de-polish varied so that the effect would be equally “Linus and [1st AC] Jorge [Sánchez] would frequently visit so
pronounced on each focal length,” he continues. “The effect was very we could A/B the look and dial in the exact strength of the effect
subtle — when you’d look at the element by eye, you wouldn’t really Linus wanted,” Schultz notes. “I really enjoyed the process, and it
see it. On camera, however, it was immediately apparent. The lens was fun to see Linus light up when we got the look right!”
would bloom on very strong sources and areas of high contrast, which — Jay Holben

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

Top: Sandgren’s lenses of choice brought out a natural-looking

halation in settings with highlights, such as this scene featuring
trumpet player Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) and his band.
Bottom: Sandgren and director Damien Chazelle on set.

where they are and the blacks and highlights keep developing, pushing
more contrast as they build on the negative and the highlights start to
bleed a bit into the mids. If you pull one stop, the mids develop, but the
blacks and highlights underdevelop, leading to less contrast. For me, this
has always been a great tool — in addition to lens choices and lighting,
when I am creating the looks for my projects. It is a way to further con-
nect the visuals to the emotions in the story in an impressionistic way.”
Sandgren’s strategy involved four Kodak Vision3 negatives: 50D 5203
(pushed 1 stop and rated at 25 ISO) for day exteriors, 250D 5207 (pushed
1 stop and rated at 125 ISO) for day interiors, 200T 5213 (pushed 1 stop
and rated at 100 ISO) for most night scenes, and 500T 5219 (pushed 1
stop and rated at 250 ISO) for select night sequences. “200T was my first
choice for night work because it has a bit more contrast than the 500T,”
Sandgren says. “I liked that, but there were so many really dark scenes
that I just couldn’t use it all the time.”

Silent Period
Babylon also features black-and-white sequences — ostensibly footage
shot by period cameras — that Sandgren shot on Eastman Double-X
5222 with Arriflex/Zeiss Super Speed “B-Speed” spherical lenses and a
Super 35 camera. In one example, LaRoy wows her colleagues with her
big-screen debut, dancing in a saloon scene. The “period” film footage
was shot with Arriflex 435 cameras and the B-Speeds. The camera was
connected to a remote-control unit that allowed Sandgren to mimic a
hand-cranked look by manually moving the frame rate between 18 fps
and 22 fps. “We also shot some clips in the film on the 2709 Bell & How-
ell cameras, as well as other early 1900s silent-film cameras, and I was
surprised to see how phenomenal those cameras were — pin-registered

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 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Car headlights help to illuminate a nighttime sequence set in

the desert (below), and a large overhead source was deployed
for general ambience (opposite).

and incredibly solid!” Sandgren marvels.

In another scene that incorporates black-and-white, we see Conrad
in action onscreen, arriving on a mountaintop amid a fierce battle — to
achieve his romantic goal and kiss the girl. To precisely intercut their
color production footage with the black-and-white footage, the film-
makers utilized a beamsplitter 3D rig. “Brad [Pitt] is on the mountaintop,
and there’s a huge battle with 700 extras happening below,” Sandgren
explains. “We push in to this kiss, and we wanted to shoot anamorphic
color and spherical black-and-white at the same time, from the same
perspective. So, in the 3D rig, we had the 435 on top and an LT on the
bottom. This scene was really what made us decide to use the 435 in-
stead of an old period camera for the main silent-movie footage — since
hand-cranking an old camera was destabilizing the rig, and focus pull-
ing on those old, small lenses was quite a challenge.”

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

Tech Specs: 2.39:1

Cameras | Arricam LT, Arriflex 435, Bell & Howell 2709
Lenses | Atlas Orion, Cooke Anamorphic/i zoom, Arriflex/Zeiss
Super Speed “B-Speed”
Film Stocks | Kodak Vision3 50D 5203, 250D 5207, 500T 5219,
200T 5213; Eastman Double-X 5222

Naturalistic Light, Rattlesnake Fight

“I was a bit reckless with my exposures, but I would light as naturalis-
tically as I could,” Sandgren says of his approach. “I had an impression-
istic mindset. I did use hard light a bit more than I might normally, but
I tried to light with windows and practicals and keep it natural; if the
window was overexposed, I let it be and didn’t add any fill. I embraced
those problems rather than correcting them. I used a lot of 20K tung-
stens or Maxi Brutes for late-afternoon sun. I augmented natural light
a bit with LEDs.”
This naturalistic approach was taken to an extreme for a night scene
in the desert. When LaRoy’s deadbeat father (played by Eric Roberts)
brags about fighting a snake, she challenges him to do it again, and the
partygoers travel to the desert at night to find a rattlesnake for him to
battle. The scene is lit primarily with the surrounding cars’ headlights,

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 HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Zhu bids farewell to an old friend.

“I don’t want to wait six months or a year to which were swapped out for brighter, spottier, 12-volt tungsten head-
lamps to provide a bit more exposure. “I added a condor holding a large,
get the final look. I want the director working soft, silk moonlight, at 3 stops under, but the main light for the scene
with it all along, I want the producers seeing was provided by the headlamps, which were more like narrow beam
it all along, and I want the test screenings headlights,” says Sandgren. “Looking at the people backlit was flare-y
and when we were looking out into the desert from the cars, everything
and the trailer to have the final look.” was frontlit, but we embraced that. I didn’t mind it feeling a little flat [be-
cause] it felt real. Out at the action, near the snake, I was reading about
a 2, which meant that everyone closer to the cars was a lot brighter, but I
let that go. It was part of the messiness!”

Tinseltown’s True Colors

Sandgren worked with Company 3 colorist Matt Wallach on the dailies
and the final grade. “For me, so much is set in the dailies — they’re so
important — that I want the same colorist working on my dailies and my
final grade,” says the cinematographer. “Since Joy [2015], I have worked
with Matt on almost all of my productions, and when we did No Time
to Die, we moved on to have him also do the DI and trailers. It makes
so much sense to me, as we’re establishing the look in the dailies and
doing most of the work there, and then just finessing in the final grade.
Matt works primarily from printer lights and primaries, and he sends me
stills I can review on my calibrated iPad on set, and then I show those
to Damien. When we’re happy, that’s the look, and we don’t change it. I
don’t want to wait six months or a year to get the final look. I want the di-
rector working with it all along, I want the producers seeing it all along,
and I want the test screenings and the trailer to have the final look. With
this approach, the DI goes a lot faster, because we’re merely polishing
and finishing. Matt starts with the ASC CDL from the dailies grade, and
we can do cosmetic adjustments from there.”

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

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FEBRUARY 2023 / 27

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 28 / FEBRUARY 2023

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 Thirteen
Lives:
Divers in
the Dark
Cinematographer
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
and Ron Howard re-create
the real-life drama of an
epic rescue.

T
By Mark Dillon

hirteen Lives impressively dramatizes the

harrowing 2018 Tham Luang incident in
Thailand, which involved a dozen boys and
their soccer coach trapped 2.5 miles deep
inside a remote cavern system when their
outward route was suddenly flooded by a
massive rainstorm. The Prime Video feature
focuses on the efforts of volunteer British cave divers Rick
Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell),
who assisted the Royal Thai Navy SEAL team during the dan-
gerous and improbable mission to extricate the group.
Although the world closely followed the three-week ordeal,
key details were not made public at the time, including the fact
that the boys had to be sedated and handcuffed — on the ad-
vice of diver and anesthetist Harry Harris (Joel Edgerton) — to
allow the divers to swim them out, one at a time, while navi-
gating the cave’s tight corners and the flood’s strong currents
for five hours per trip.

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 THIRTEEN LIVES: DIVERS IN THE DARK

UNIT STILLS BY VINCE VALITUTTI. ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURES.
Previous spread: Rescue divers John Volanthen (Colin Farrell, left) Filmmakers Embark
and Rick Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) make their way through the Veteran director Ron Howard quickly signed onto the project after read-
Tham Luang Nang Non cave in northern Thailand. This page: Stanton ing William Nicholson’s script. “I felt this was a Thai story and a big
and Volanthen are joined by Harry Harris (Joel Edgerton, rear left)
opportunity to transport audiences to that environment and culture,”
and Chris Jewell (Tom Bateman, rear right), under the supervision
of Capt. Arnont Sureewong (Thiraphat “Tui” Sajakul, far right).
Howard tells AC. “It was an exciting challenge because I knew I had to
get it right. Also, I had a desire to do whatever I could to deepen people’s
understanding of what cooperation among human beings — most of
them volunteers — could achieve.
“I also felt there was a lot of value in the scripted version of this story.
Docs had been made, and more would be made, and there were compet-
ing projects [including the documentary The Rescue, covered in AC Nov.
’21, and the six-part Netflix series Thai Cave Rescue]. But I had a set of
filmmaking experiences that could be useful in terms of trying to max-
imize the cinematic potential of this movie and [making it] engrossing,
entertaining and involving.”
Howard’s production experiences include several films that show
human ingenuity conquering unfriendly environments, including In the
Heart of the Sea (shot by Anthony Dod Mantle, ASC, BSC, DFF), Backdraft
(Mikael Salomon, ASC, DFF) and Apollo 13 (Dean Cundey, ASC).
While planning Thirteen Lives, Howard reached out to Thai director
of photography Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, whose credits range from the
Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives to the

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

romantic drama Call Me by Your Name to the horror remake Suspiria (AC After divers reach the trapped soccer team, Coach Ek
Nov. ’18). “Sayombhu was one of my first targets in building the team,” (Teeradon “James” Supapunpinyo) leads a prayer.
Howard says. “I’ve been aware of his work, and his sensibilities align
with mine. And, of course, he’s Thai. I was holding my breath while he while shooting most of the film in Queensland, Australia, which offered
was considering our script, and when I asked if he might want to do it, a good facsimile of Thailand’s natural environment — particularly the
he said, ‘Come on!’ I breathed a big sigh of relief.” rainforests — along with an attractive infrastructure and tax credits.
Mukdeeprom’s responsibilities went beyond the usual cine- The director says greenlighting Australian locations “was reinforced by
matographic duties. “In our first conversations, I was mostly Ron’s cul- making direct comparisons with photos from news and documentary
tural assistant,” the cinematographer recalls. “He asked me about Thai footage.”
things — how people would react to any particular thing. He wanted Howard and Mukdeeprom developed their plan of attack over their
to understand Thailand from a Thai person’s perspective. Then we dis- computers, since Covid-19 restrictions prevented them from spending
cussed the documentaries that had been done, so that we could gather much prep time together or scouting the actual Thai locations. Shooting
information about the actual event. began in Queensland in March 2021.
“I was in Thailand when the incident happened, and I followed the The original plan to do substantial location photography in Thailand
news very closely — and emotionally,” he adds. “But as I learned more was whittled back due to lockdowns. A “beauty unit” ended up shoot-
details, I started to build my own version of the movie in my head, and ing there for a week, capturing establishing shots in the mountains via
I knew how easily you could twist this into a superhero-movie sort of drones, with Mukdeeprom directly involved in some of that work and
thing. But when I received the script from Ron, it wasn’t like that — it supervising all of it.
was the kind of movie I had imagined.” The cinematographer also spent a handful of days shooting exterior
scenes in Thailand after the production’s Australian leg had wrapped.
Location Challenges The footage he shot included an early sequence in which the boys play
The overriding aim was to accurately replicate locations and events, all soccer and ride their bikes past paddy fields, heading toward their

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 THIRTEEN LIVES: DIVERS IN THE DARK

looming mountain destination as the skies slowly darken. opting for the wider image size to include as much of the scenes’ back-
Because of the pandemic, the filmmakers didn’t know when this ma- grounds as possible. Originally, however, Howard wanted to shoot on
terial could be shot, so Howard rehearsed the scenes in Australia; Muk- the Alexa 65.
deeprom eventually oversaw that part of the shoot while the director Before embarking for Australia, the director engaged in some State-
supervised remotely on his laptop. side prep with 2nd-unit director of photography Andrew Rowlands, with
whom he had worked on four earlier features. They realized from the
Cameras, Rigs and Optics start that the underwater part of the shoot presented the biggest chal-
The filmmakers shot with the Arri Alexa Mini LF at a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, lenge. “As good as the Alexa 65 is, it just wasn’t the camera for this movie,

Top: Worried family members await

word on their children. Bottom: Director
Ron Howard and cinematographer
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom at work on
one of the production’s cave sets.

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

as far as getting that beast into some of the spaces we had to get into,” Shooting Techniques
Rowlands says. The filmmakers set up a meeting with Arri in New York, Working with a large cast, Mukdeeprom agreed to shoot with up to three
where they compared underwater housings for the Alexa 65, LF and Mini cameras at a time, which was not his usual way of working. Jason Ellson
LF, concluding that the latter camera was the best option. served as A-camera/Steadicam operator, but Mukdeeprom also operat-
The interior cave scenes were shot on sets constructed in a couple of ed on most days.
large suburban warehouses. Production designer Molly Hughes and her “The best thing was to have a camera in Sayombhu’s hand as much
team added five water tanks that measured approximately 15' deep and as possible, but to tell him very little,” Howard says. “I would design the
98' long, adding winding tunnels with ceilings and open chambers. other two shots with him and the operators, and then say, ‘Maybe there’s
Mukdeeprom opted for Sigma Cine FF High Speed Primes for the something interesting over there.’ If he agreed, he’d take the camera over
material on land, staying mostly with mid-range focal lengths. “We pre- and always find something interesting. It’s all intuition for him, [along
dominently shot with focal lengths around 35, 40, 50 and 85,” 1st AC with] his connection to the characters and story — which was perfect,
Chris Child says. “At exterior locations, we used the 135mm Sigma and because I did not want this movie to look staged. I wanted that feeling
150mm [Panavision] Primo Classic quite regularly.” of spontaneity.”
When it was challenging to have an operator close to the actors in the Much of the movie was shot handheld or on Steadicam, which was
cramped, water-filled cave sets, they would use a 23' telescopic Scorpio another reason the lighter Mini LF proved beneficial. And since Howard
crane — operated by key grip Simon Cooke — with a remote head, “so didn’t want the movie to have a shaky, faux-documentary style, “I would
we could move the camera above the water surface,” Mukdeeprom says. put the camera on my shoulder, just to make my job as simple as I could,
This strategy came into play during a scene in which the divers first ap- and try to keep it still,” Mukdeeprom says.
proach the stranded children huddled on a ledge above the water. The Howard monitored the cameras from his video tent while gaffer Matt
camera, behind the boys, starts low on their feet and then booms up Slattery would be in Mukdeeprom’s tent, doing the same on behalf of the
to reveal the approaching rescuers. For the rig, Child notes, “We mainly cinematographer. Mukdeeprom recalls, “I was B camera, so I couldn’t see
used a Libra head, with occasional use of the HydroFlex head with an everything. Matt could send out verbal notes over the headset to every
underwater housing for heavy water work.” camera: ‘Go there with the headlamp and have it backlit,’ or something
The production also carried a Panavision Primo 70 200-400mm T4.5 like that.”
zoom, and, Child notes, “an 11:1 [Primo] zoom expanded for large format
so that it became a 40-470mm T4.5.”

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FEBRUARY 2023 / 33

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 THIRTEEN LIVES: DIVERS IN THE DARK

Illuminating Darkness digital characteristic curve]. It’s mostly dark, but you light some interest-
Lighting the cave presented an age-old challenge. “It’s a contradiction,” ing spots in the frame. It’s not so different from shooting inside a room
the cinematographer says. “You want to show the actors’ faces yet keep with practical lights. You create an ambient light and work within it.”
the darkness of the cave. You need to light [to a certain height on the He adds that he initially told Slattery he wanted to use tungsten lights

Top, from left: Cmdr. Kiet (Thira “Aum” Chutikul), Dr. Karn
(Popetorn “Two” Soonthornyanakij) and the divers prepare one
of the boys for an arduous exit from the cave. Bottom: The team
makes final preparations.

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

Diagrams illustrate
the production’s
approach to lighting
(top) and camera
movement (bottom)
in the farthest cave
chamber, where the
team is trapped.

as much as possible, “but in the end, I couldn’t do that very much, be- the ambience provided by 40'x40' or 30'x30' soft boxes with Kino Flo
cause tungstens [aren’t as flexible] — whereas with LED units, I could Celeb 850 LED soft boxes through half black silk. “We also had Fiilex Q5
control the intensity and color.” and Q8 Color LED Fresnels through silk and down the face of caves [to
The cave sets’ open tops allowed overhead lights to be rigged, with create] extra detail,” Slattery notes. “The silks serve a couple of purposes

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 THIRTEEN LIVES: DIVERS IN THE DARK

A look at the overhead lighting rigs

in two of the show’s cave sets.

— you don’t see the source of the light, and it also prevents a lot of glare
if the camera is going past it.”
Second-unit rigging gaffer Brendan Madden adds, “Over the smaller
tanks, we had telehandlers rigged with 12-foot by 12-foot soft boxes that
we could move to whichever chamber we were working in that day.”
The practical work lights used by the SEAL team provided much
of the cave illumination. At the mouth of the cave where Stanton and
Volanthen join the rescue mission, practical bulbs were strung across
the rock walls, and the art department added a balloon light and stand-
ing lights of various shapes and sizes, following specifics from the actual
operation. “We could prepare the overhead lamps, but we would wait for
the art department for the practical lighting,” Mukdeeprom says.
Adds Madden, “We modified the lights, retrofitting them with LED
bulbs so we could have more control of the color.”
For scenes in which the divers are deep in the cave with the boys, the
ambient light was dimmed down and illumination was provided mainly
by the divers’ headlamps and a flashlight held by a SEAL. Those lights
— whether controlled by the actors or by the off-camera lighting depart-
ment — could be moving in any direction, according to the action. “We
didn’t have to worry about lighting continuity, because it could change
in a brief moment,” Mukdeeprom says.

Underwater Work
While specialist Simon Christidis, ACS was called in as underwater oper-
ator, Mukdeeprom supervised underwater testing and compiled a bible
of the ideal lighting levels at different points in the tanks. “Sayombhu’s

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

first instinct was to let the divers’ headlamps do all the work, but there
were too many flares and we couldn’t get enough detail,” Howard recalls.
“Then he tried lighting from above with more lights on the side for fill,
but that looked more ‘lit’ than we wanted.”
Instead, Mukdeeprom and Rowlands came up with the idea of hiding
Astera Titan Tubes in and around the underwater rock to provide am-
bience. These units were hardwired in housings and covered with black
silk; lighting programmer Andy Mutton could turn them down as the
camera went by. “I also had two lighting divers who would swim with
the camera,” adds Madden. “They held 2-foot or 4-foot Astera tubes in
underwater housings. After every take, they would surface and hold the
tubes up so we could remotely adjust the intensity or color, because once
those tubes go underwater, you’re locked in.”
Actors Farrell and Mortensen insisted on doing their own diving
under the watchful eye of dive supervisor Andrew Allen. The underwater
headlamps and flashlights they used came from various sources and sel-
dom provided the desired color or intensity, so Slattery compiled a chart
Top: Howard directs a scene in which rescue workers divert water from
with the necessary gel and filter information for each lamp. “That way,
the cave. Bottom: Thanet Natisri (left, played by Nophand “Aon” Boonyai)
we had an understanding of what we needed for every camera angle,” and a fellow volunteer fashion makeshift pipes from hollowed bamboo.
Mukdeeprom says. “We would mark something as, say, case number one
or two, where we would need a certain kind of color correction, or an ND
0.9 or ND 1.2.” signal a new career opportunity for Farrell. “He was brilliant,” says Row-
The filmmakers employed the Sigma Cine lenses for underwater lands. “He would pan off himself to the other guys. He got great footage
work as well. Farrell and Mortensen even wanted to shoot some of their using those little cameras. Then I gave them the Red Komodo camera
own close-ups as they swam, using the just-released Sony Alpha FX3 with the Tokina [Cinema ATX] 11-20mm zoom, and he got some incred-
compact cinema cameras in handheld housings. The experience may ible footage. It was just him and Viggo swimming through these spaces,

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 THIRTEEN LIVES: DIVERS IN THE DARK

Tech Specs: 2.39:1

Cameras | Arri Alexa Mini LF, Red Komodo, Sony Alpha FX3
Lenses | Sigma Cine FF High Speed Prime; Panavision Primo 70,
Primo Zoom (expanded), Primo Classic; Laowa PeriProbe;
Tokina Cinema ATX zoom

A medic thanks Jewell for his efforts.

and one had to turn around to shoot the other.” but in the end, we did it.”
Howard wanted the camera perspectives to be as intimate as possible He credits the steady hand of Howard, whom he regards as techni-
with the characters, so the team used a Laowa 24mm PeriProbe T14 lens cally savvy, confident in what he wants, and “such a good people-person
with the Komodo to get close-ups of their eyes inside their diving masks that you want to give him your all.”
— shots that were captured “out of the water in a dark tent,” Rowlands Howard, meanwhile, found that Mukdeeprom “has a great sensitivi-
notes. ty, as well as modesty as a person and as a filmmaker, and I appreciat-
The production would start each underwater day with clean tanks, ed that. He doesn’t necessarily want to impress his style onto a film; he
but after a few hours of contact with the rocky set, the water would get wants to try to discover a grammar and an approach to each and every
increasingly murky, which actually provided the desired realism. The project, and he has the discipline and follow-through to express that
particulate was amplified in post. through the story in a way that’s subtle but impactful.”

Discipline, Follow-Through
Mukdeeprom admits the movie’s many logistical factors were daunting.
“If you are experienced enough, you would know that it’s difficult to do
this work on a set and make it feel real,” he says. “I couldn’t sleep well,
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 MASTER CLASS
LEARN FROM THE BEST

The American Society of Cinematographers’ in-person Subjects and activities may include:
Master Class program is designed for cinematographers with • Multiple interactive lighting demonstrations
intermediate to advanced skill sets. This five-day immersive • Presentation on virtual production and shooting with LED walls
seminar is taught in Los Angeles by some of the finest directors • Color-grading workshop at a post facility
of photography in the world. • Analysis of cinematography from notable films of the past
• Presentations about cameras, lenses and future technologies
Enrolling in the ASC Master Class will enable you to hone your
craft while making valuable professional connections that Upcoming session:
can jumpstart your career. Prominent Society members and May 22-26, 2023
associates serve as instructors, offering invaluable experience
and insights not only on the creative and technical aspects of the Learn more and register at theasc.com/asc/
cinematographer’s profession, but on business-related topics. education/master-class

p. 28-39 Thirteen Lives V5.indd 39 1/3/23 10:33 PM

 The Whale Plumbs
Deep Water
Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS trades stylization for simplicity in
Darren Aronofsky’s poignant study of a damaged soul.

T
By Iain Marcks

he Whale is a dark — and heavy — film. open kitchen into a connected living room — revealing the back of the
The first time we meet the story’s central character, couch upon which Charlie sits, panting — then pans right against the
Charlie (played by Brendan Fraser, in ample prosthet- move as it comes around an end table and table lamp next to the couch,
ics), he’s teaching a remote class on literary composi- revealing a laptop on a stand with a gay pornographic film on its screen,
tion, represented onscreen by a black window in the and finally all 600 pounds of him hanging off the side of the couch. A
center of a matrix of glowing, windowed faces. He moment later, he nearly has a heart attack.
claims his webcam is broken. Charlie is morbidly obese and in the final stages of heart failure. He
The next scene takes place on an overcast day, in the dim front room refuses to check into a hospital, giving himself one week to live, and
of Charlie’s untidy apartment. The camera tracks left in an arc from the over the next four days, others — his estranged and very angry teenage

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 PHOTOS BY NIKO TAVERNISE, COURTESY OF A24.
Opposite: Health issues and severe depression have led English teacher Charlie (Brendan Fraser)
to hole up in his dingy apartment. This page: Cinematographer Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS
(center) and dolly grip Brendan Lowry (left) confer with director Darren Aronofsky on set.

daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink), his nurse (Hong Chau), a young missionary blocking into different angles so that it wouldn’t get static — even
(Ty Simpkins), his alcoholic ex-wife Mary (Samantha Morton), and the though Charlie is this static figure.”
briefly glimpsed Dan the Pizza Man (Sathya Sridharan) — will enter into By the second week of prep, Aronofsky was running scenes with his
orbit around his massive black hole of despair, from whose inexorable actors on a taped-out set built within Umbra Stages in Newburgh, N.Y.
gravity a ray of light is striving to break free. Libatique likens the process to that of Black Swan: “Whereas with that
film we spent a lot of time rehearsing the ballet choreography, on The
Mood and Movement Whale we were rehearsing the words from the play.”
The movie reteamed Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS with his longtime col- As they had on Mother! (AC Nov. ’17), the filmmakers made video re-
laborator, director Darren Aronofsky. Based on the stage play by Samuel cordings of all the rehearsals. Libatique explains, “In that film, the lan-
D. Hunter, who also wrote the screenplay, The Whale entered produc- guage of moving the camera needed a proof of concept, but this time we
tion just as the filmmakers themselves emerged from 2021’s Covid lock- did it more to see how the actors’ blocking worked in our space, which
downs. “It was the first film either of us had done since the pandemic informed how we would move the camera. We normally plan out ev-
started,” says Libatique. “Darren had the idea to make it with a small erything — shot lists, overhead diagrams, lighting diagrams — but this
crew, on one set, in a controlled environment. A lot about the way we did time it was more about reacting in real time to what was happening in
this project was informed by the times, and in a weird way, it freed us upfront of us.”
to not put so much pressure on ourselves.” According to the cinematographer, “the play is very spartan, and as
With just three weeks of prep time, Libatique was first tasked with cinema goes, so is the film.” In adapting The Whale for the screen, he and
finding the film’s mood. “I put together a bunch of reference stills for Aronofsky leaned into its theatrical qualities, setting up wide masters
Darren like we used to do back in the days of Requiem for a Dream (AC to cover a scene from beginning to end, while still making the imagery
Oct. ’00) and The Fountain (AC Nov. ’06), but I found it hard to commu- cinematic through the use of camera movement, light and mood.
nicate to him what I was thinking for this one. So, we pivoted to relying
on our intentions — which is what we’ve always succeeded at anyway. Framing, Gear and Grain
“From a cinematographic standpoint, I wanted to give the actors a “We concentrated more on our framing than any technical aspect of the
place that felt real. Darren wanted to let them move and push the camera camera,” says Libatique. “Shooting in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio was an early

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 THE WHALE PLUMBS DEEP WATER

Charlie’s daughter (Sadie Sink, upper left) and

Tech Specs: 1.33:1
Cameras | Sony Venice
nurse (Hong Chau, lower right) wrestle with their
Lenses | Angénieux Optimo Prime
past demons. Lower left: Libatique takes a meter
reading on set.

decision. The character of Charlie was going to spend a lot of time sitting result is a portrait-like depth of field for the close-ups, most of which
on the couch with people standing around him, so we went for vertical- were shot close to the actor at a focal length of 50mm.
ity versus a more horizontal frame.” “I also used a device from Camtec called a Color-Con, which is a filter
The Whale was photographed in full-frame 6K on the Sony Venice, that has a series of single-emitter LEDs embedded on all four sides,” he
with Angénieux Optimo Prime lenses. Libatique had worked with Ven- says. “I used it in combination with a ⅛ Tiffen Glimmerglass, which es-
ice cameras before — on commercials and then a short film for director sentially flashed the image. The color of the LEDs would change slightly
Olivia Wilde — but The Whale would be his first feature using one, and based on the base color temperature of the scene.”
Aronofsky’s first feature not shot on film. Having shot six of Aronofsky’s previous features, Libatique has a
Libatique planned to light the film at extremely low levels, which led strong sense of the director’s expectations. “One of the things Darren
him to explore working with the Venice at its High ISO setting of 2,500. loves about shooting film is film grain,” he remarks. Libatique success-
“It just seemed like the right tool for working at more realistic light lev- fully pitched the idea of using LiveGrain, a real-time texturing tool that
els,” he says. replicates the three-dimensional texture of motion-picture film by map-
“Optically, I was after soft falloff,” adds the cinematographer, who ping the complete range of a film stock’s exposures and colors to a digi-
prefers to work at “a pretty wide-open stop, between T1.8 and T2.5.” The tal image. LiveGrain was incorporated into a shooting LUT for The Whale

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

A Look Through Aronofsky’s Viewfinder

By Iain Marcks

Darren Aronofsky, director of The Whale, shares some of the cre- Aronofsky and Libatique met at the American Film Institute (AFI) in the
ative philosophies and strategies he and his crew followed while early ’90s and have since collaborated on seven features together.
making the movie.
Camera
Basics “One of the really interesting things we did was to mount our camera
“We spent about three weeks in prep and rehearsal. I’d spend those on a gimbal at the end of a jib arm, with Matty operating on wheels
mornings blocking on set with the actors, and then Matty would from the next room. Nothing replaces having an operator on the cam-
come in after lunch to see what we’d come up with. In the second era right next to the actors, because a great operator can feel what an
half of the day, Matty and I would discuss camera moves, which actor is going to do and adjust to it. But it was early in the pandemic,
walls would have to fly away, things like that. This approach allowed and I think doing it this way was a smart solution to keep everyone
us to take a smart, economical approach to making a low-budget safe, even if it meant giving up a little bit of knowing what the char-
movie with limited days, and it took our process back to the very acter was going to do. Luckily for us, our main character didn’t move
basics of filmmaking, which are: lighting, camera placement and around a lot.”
performance.”
Performances
Language “Our approach made the set a bit more intimate, because the only
“Theater is very much like taking a slice out of a cake so you can people on set besides the actors were the boom op, someone on the
look straight in and see inside, but with cinema, you can be in jib arm, someone on the dolly, and me. It made the room very quiet,
the cake. In establishing a visual language for The Whale, our big and I think that helped the performances. It also helped me get ex-
breakthrough came when production designers Mark Friedberg tremely close eyelines. The eyelines in a lot of my movies are really, re-
and Robert Pyzocha put Charlie’s couch in the middle of the room, ally tight. I think it brings you deeper into an actor’s eyes if you can see
because that put Charlie at the center of the set and allowed us to both of them at the same time. It’s almost as if they’re looking at you.”
block the other actors around him, like satellites, which provided us
with more opportunities for character development.” Collaboration
“Matty and I recently had the chance to screen an 8K remaster of Pi
Lighting together in New York. It was an amazing experience and a lot of fun
“I love the way Matty uses light to help tell the story and to support revisiting the energy and the excitement we had back then. Matty is
its themes. We spent a lot of time talking about the weather in the truly one of the great collaborators of my life, and that collaboration
film, because that would affect our light in different ways. We took has only gotten better over the years, as we both have become more
a big gamble with the concept that the film would move from a experienced filmmakers and closer friends.”
rainy, stormy look to this glorious, sunlit last day. And if you’re going
to take a risk, you’d better pull it off.”

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 THE WHALE PLUMBS DEEP WATER

Top: The set for Charlie’s apartment was built at Umbra based on the look developed by DIT Jeff Flohr for Money Monster (shot by
Stages in Newburgh, N.Y. Bottom: Libatique’s shooting Libatique on an Arri Alexa XT) and was also employed for dailies.
strategy included operating the camera remotely — to keep
the crew and performers safer during the pandemic and
The Stage Is the Set
“to get the actors’ eyelines closer to the camera … without
another body on the set to distract them.”
As Libatique observed the actors rehearsing with Aronofsky, he realized
that “the key to moving the camera was how Darren moved the actors.”
The way the characters enter a scene, interact with Charlie or each other,
move about the set, engage in “business” and exit has the constant
rhythm of a stage play. Libatique’s camera floats through these scenes
using point-of-view shots and motivated camera moves to establish
new eyelines and triangulate the actors’ positions in three-dimensional
space.
Libatique operated remotely, shooting the entire film with the cam-
era mounted on a Ronin 2 gimbal at the end of an Aero Jib, sometimes
from a Fisher 10 dolly. “We did it that way so we could get the actors’
eyelines closer to the camera,” he says. “Also, there wouldn’t be another
body on the set to distract them.
“Originally, the idea of the jib and gimbal was another Covid-related
precaution,” he adds. “Our thinking was that there would be fewer peo-
ple surrounding the unmasked actors in this small space. However, we
soon realized the added value of being able to achieve tighter eyelines,
which is always an obsession for Darren. Without me right there oper-
ating the camera, the actors could look at each other and achieve the
desired eyeline.”

Going Light on Light

Hewing to his intention of creating a space that felt real for the actors,
Libatique wanted his lighting to blend in with the work of production
designers Mark Friedberg and Robert Pyzocha. Even though the set’s
walls and ceilings were designed to be removed, he decided to light al-
most entirely from the floor, leaving pockets of darkness between the
sources.
“It’s been a philosophy of mine to give actors the space to give an
amazing performance, which means not being too precious with light,”
he says. “I learned that a long time ago, on Requiem for a Dream. We had
Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly on this jetty out in Coney Island, we

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

were losing light, and I was trying to use a 4'x8' beadboard to get some Top: Libatique takes a reference photo of stand-ins on the apartment
light into Jared’s eyes. He turned to me and said, ‘Is there any way we can set. Bottom: Unobtrusive floor units were employed to help the set
go without that?’ I asked why. He said, ‘I just don’t want to see it.’ Then feel more real for the actors. “It’s been a philosophy of mine to give
actors the space to give an amazing performance, which means not
he motioned toward the ocean and said, ‘I’d rather look at all that.’ So, I
being too precious with light,” the cinematographer says.
took it away. I’ve always remembered that.”
The high sensitivity of the Venice allowed Libatique and gaffer John
Velez to effectively employ household units, Astera tubes and small,
well-placed bounces instead of more traditional lighting tools. “The set
windows didn’t really accommodate much daylight, so I relied on inte-
rior practicals and small covered wagons of Astera NYX bulbs diffused
with Magic Cloth, light grid or opal,” he says. “Sometimes we used As-
tera tubes in the ceiling, wrapped in Magic Cloth or 250 diffusion, and a
smattering of LiteMat Spectrums. Our biggest interior light was a Hud-
son Spider.”
The production also employed an array of Astera Helios and Titan
tubes rigged into the set’s ceiling with a teabag of Magic Cloth. Libatique
explains, “This was less to light faces and more to ensure background
separation as actors move into the spaces in between light. From the
floor, we augmented the two hero practicals that bookended Charlie’s
couch with ‘covered wagons,’ small baton-style rigs with a frame to allow
for a change in diffusion. We place these on the floor near the practicals
to create warm edges, and on occasion they served as the key light. This
was the foundation of our light strategy, but we would augment our sin-
gles with Lite Gear Spectrum 4s or a Hudson Mozzie. Exterior lighting
was mainly provided by Arri SkyPanel S60s and 360s, with Fiilex Quads
and Q8s to backlight the ‘rain’ we created.”

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 THE WHALE PLUMBS DEEP WATER

This page: A lighting plot provided by gaffer John Velez

provides an overview of stage units. Opposite: Prior to
production, Aronofsky does a read-through of the script
with Fraser and actor Ty Simpkins (standing at rear).

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

Darker and Brighter Days and Noah, and one of the things I really like about his work is the way
Production on The Whale lasted 25 days in Newburgh, with one exterior he puts color into prosthetic skin,” says Libatique. “We were in constant
day in New Paltz. The story is marked by days of the week, starting with communication about the way the color of the light shifts from cool to
a dark and rainy Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday are overcast, Thurs- warm from Monday to Friday, and on that front, I didn’t feel restricted
day sees rain again, and the final day, Friday, is sunny. Libatique says in any way by the prosthetics. The language we created for the light was
that the production intended to shoot in chronological order, “but by the something that all of our keys were aware of, so Adrien and his team
second day, we realized that wasn’t going to happen. Almost every movie worked hard to prep the prosthetics in anticipation of the next day’s
deals with those kinds of realities. work. Adrien’s constant attention to detail made lighting a non-issue in
“It can take a while, even after you’ve started shooting, to really find terms of needing any added techniques.”
the look of the movie,” he offers. “I don’t think I’ve ever nailed the look of Nevertheless, a certain amount of attention to Fraser was required
any movie on day one. Not until all of the different factors fall into place for camera resets, “because as he moved, sometimes the wardrobe or
does it really come together.” the prosthetic would fall out of place,” says Libatique. He and Aronofsky
He points to the film’s first scene, which was also the first to be filmed: were already used to rolling through takes on film without cutting (“for
“Typically, I think I tend to make the first scene too bright, but in this momentum”), and found this approach even easier with digital, “so we
case I think I played it too dark. And it wasn’t an easy shot. In the middle would just keep rolling while Adrien’s people jumped in and worked on
of doing it we had to wild a wall, and we had to wild a table. We also had Brendan.”
to wild a piece of the carpet, which we cut out and pulled back for our
dolly grip, Brendan Lowry, as the camera started to wrap around.” Eyes on the Prize
The grim, heavy mood of this scene stands in powerful contrast to The Whale was graded by Tim Stipan at Company 3, continuing a re-
the movie’s final sequence, which shows Charlie, bathed in sunlight, lationship with Libatique and Aronofsky that began on Black Swan (AC
floating away. “The language of the light within the film was designed Dec. ’10). Once again, much of the work done in post was in service to the
with the end of the film in mind,” Libatique notes. “In this last moment actors’ performances. For the cinematographer, “Eyes are critical. We’ll
of Charlie’s life, there’s a reprise of an early scene, but this time Charlie often draw windows around them to lift them up.”
is successful in standing up and walking to Ely, who is standing at the Libatique recently wrapped an 8K re-grading of his and Aronofsky’s
front door backlit by the bright sun. As Charlie approaches Ely, he cou- first film together, Pi (AC April ’98), also performed by Stipan at Compa-
rageously faces the sunlight.” Two 24K Arri Fresnels provided the “sun” ny 3. “We were sitting in one of the best grading facilities in the business,
on Charlie’s angle, with one spotted to Charlie and the other providing and it really dawned on me that we made this movie for nothing,” Liba-
additional light in the room. For Charlie’s very last breath and the white- tique muses. “Later, Darren and I were watching it together in New York,
out transition, “we used a combo of Solar Highbeams and Arri Orbiters just reliving that time in our lives and feeling the energy of making an
bounced into the ceiling.” independent film.”
Even now, he adds, that feeling remains with him, regardless of a pro-
Rolling With It duction’s scale. “I didn’t come up through the studio system — I came
By the third day of production, everything was falling into place, includ- up through independent cinema, so doing something small isn’t a big
ing a key element: Charlie’s voluminous prosthetic makeup, designed stretch. Rather than lament what we don’t have, we just celebrate what
by Adrien Morot. “Adrien worked with us on The Fountain, Black Swan we do.”

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 Vintage Infamy: 18½

Cinematographer Elle Schneider helps

indie filmmaker Dan Mirvish create a 1970s
ambience for a political-conspiracy caper.
By Matt Mulcahey

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 W
riter-director Dan Mirvish accomplished a remarkable feat with his
latest film, 18½, shot over just 15 days on a modest budget. Drawing
on his experience in making independent movies for nearly 30 years,
Mirvish devised a project that is basically a blueprint for shooting a
low-budget feature with a small cast, a skeleton crew and a story that
unfolds over a single day amid a handful of practical locations.
However, he made one deviation from conventional thrifty wisdom:

The film is a period piece, a work of speculative fiction centered on the infamous 18½ minutes of
missing audio from former U.S. President Richard Nixon’s White House tapes.
To pull off a period setting on a frugal budget — and a tight shooting schedule — Mirvish
leaned on existing locations whose décor had been practically preserved in amber for the last
half-century. He also turned to Elle Schneider, a cinematographer with a boundless affection for
vintage lenses, split diopters, hand-pulled zooms and 1970s cinema. “It was an extremely con-
scious choice to make our movie look different than the films of today,” says Schneider. “Every-
thing — from the camera and lenses that we chose, to the framing and the way we moved the
camera — was designed so that we would feel more immersed in the time period. Dan gave me
a great opportunity to play in a way that I don’t usually get to play, and to show some of my own
artistic influences.”

Chasing History
The mystery of the missing minutes began in 1973, when the infamous stretch of silence on one
of Nixon’s tapes was revealed in court. The following year, facing impeachment, the president
resigned. Since then, 3,000 hours of Nixon’s surreptitious recordings, which had been amassed
via a voice-activated system installed in the White House, have been made public. But those 18½

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 VINTAGE INFAMY: 18½

PHOTOS BY GREG STARR AND DAN MIRVISH. ALL IMAGES AND

FRAME PULLS COURTESY OF WATERBUG EATER FILMS, LLC.
minutes — recorded three days after the Watergate break-in, and whose
erasure was blamed on Nixon’s secretary — were never recovered. To
this day, no one knows what was on that tape.
In Mirvish’s fictitious conflation of screwball farce and paranoid con-
spiracy thriller, Willa Fitzgerald stars as Connie, a transcriptionist who
inadvertently comes into possession of the original 18½ minutes of
audio. She turns to a reporter named Paul (John Magaro) to get the tape
out to the world, and the pair spend the rest of the film searching a tiny
East Coast resort town for a reel-to-reel player.

Key Locations and Props

The inspiration for 18½ came to Mirvish the day after he’d finished
shooting his previous feature, Bernard and Huey. With that film wrapped,
he made the journey out to the tip of Long Island to share footage with
its screenwriter, renowned satirical cartoonist Jules Feiffer. The date was
November 9, 2016 — one day after Donald Trump was elected president.
Mirvish spent the night at the Silver Sands Motel, owned by his friend
Opening spread: Connie (Willa Fitzgerald) and Paul (John Magaro)
and producer Terry Keefe. The Greenport, N.Y., lodging was built in 1957,
listen to an infamous and long-lost historic recording. This page,
but its furnishings had remained essentially unchanged since the 1970s.
top: The Silver Sands Motel, owned by producer Terry Keefe,
became one of the production’s primary locations. Bottom: That time capsule of a location — closed in the winter, and therefore
Cinematographer Elle Schneider is assisted with a shot of the perfect to house a crew — mixed with the unfolding political upheaval in
Dodge Swinger by dolly grip Greg Antonopoulos. Mirvish’s mind, sending him down a rabbit hole that led to 18½.
As it turned out, Daniel Moya, the film’s eventual screenwriter and
producer, had an aunt whose partner owned a nearby diner whose

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

interior could also pass for the early 1970s, giving Mirvish two practically
pre-dressed locations where nearly 90 percent of his story could unfold.
Production designer Monica Dabrowski further embellished the loca-
tions by foraging for existing props that were already on site. Costume
designer Sarah Cogan, a collector of vintage patterns, assembled the
characters’ attire, hand-sewing some of the pieces herself. Reel-to-reel
tape players and typewriters were acquired on eBay. “Then, Terry put the
word out to a Greenport Facebook group and asked, ‘Hey, does anyone
have a vintage car? I’ll give you a free night in the motel,’” Mirvish recalls.
The next day, production had Fitzgerald’s hero car — a Dodge Dart
Swinger.
Top: Director Dan Mirvish (standing at left) works through
It then fell to Schneider to turn those elements into a picture that
a dinner scene with actors Fitzgerald, Vondie Curtis-Hall,
would recall paranoid 1970s thrillers such as Klute, The Parallax View
Magaro and Catherine Curtin, while Schneider (at back wall)
and The Conversation. interacts with other members of the crew. Bottom: Connie
and Paul make nice with Lena (Curtin) and Samuel (Curtis-
Visual Instruments Hall) in the hope of borrowing their reel-to-reel player.
For Schneider, that creative process started with the lenses. Though she
used a 135mm Arri Ultra Prime for a handful of close-ups, the rest of
the film was shot on 1970s glass — specifically, a set of Kowa Promi-
nar anamorphics (a 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm) and an original
“One of the benefits of working on a low
Cooke Varotal 20-100mm zoom. “The Kowas have an interesting visual
compression on the edges,” explains Schneider. “They’re not clean and budget is that you can take risks, and
precise across the entire image circle, a quality that was very much of the Dan was very invested in experimenting.”
time period.”

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 VINTAGE INFAMY: 18½

Connie and Paul discuss

their quest over lunch.

A longtime Panasonic user dating back to the DVX series, Schneider Haldeman and Ted Raimi as Alexander Haig. A series of long dolly shots
opted for the VariCam LT for the single-cam shoot, recording in AVC-In- covers the scene as Connie and Paul finally listen to the tape — and are
tra 4K422 and favoring 800 ISO from the cam’s dual native ISO options. interrupted by a succession of characters as the film reaches its climax.
“I find that the Panasonic cameras are more chameleon-like,” she says. “Technically speaking, that was the most difficult sequence to shoot,”
“They don’t have as much of a built-in look of their own like a Red or an Schneider asserts. “It was night. We were looking in through the win-
Arri, which can look very contemporary. If you were using one of those dows, which were very large and very reflective. The cottage was a prac-
cameras to try to sell the movie’s period, you’d really have to beat up the tical location with very low ceilings, so it was very hard to hide lights,
images.” Tiffen Warm Diffusion was used throughout to keep contrast, and we were shooting two- to three-minute takes with dolly moves and
“while warming the image for a period vibe and decreasing fine detail.” zooms.” Schneider and dolly grip Greg Antonopoulos dressed in black
When using the Cooke Varotal, Schneider paid homage to the peri- to cut their reflections, and Schneider hid the camera and tripod under
od by hand-pulling many of the zooms rather than utilizing a motor- a sheet of duvetyn when needed. To light the scene, lamps were used
ized zoom control. A particularly difficult pull was needed for a scene practically in the set, augmented by fixtures tucked away at angles the
in which Fitzgerald and Magaro exit the motel office to initiate a nearly camera wouldn’t see.
two-minute oner. “That shot was one of the few times we went all the
way to the 100mm end of the Varotal, and you can really see the fuzz Indie Resourcefulness
and distortion that the lens has when it’s zoomed in all the way,” says Of course, there weren’t many lights on the truck to worry about hid-
Schneider. “There were so many potential points of failure in that shot. ing. The production had the equivalent of a 1-ton grip package equipped
You have an incredibly fast dolly move out of the gate that stops abrupt- with a single Arri M18, one Source Four, two LiteGear LiteMats, a tung-
ly, then a slow zoom-in before the actors very quickly walk back toward sten Chimera Triolet kit and Schneider’s personal Rotolight Neo 2 kit,
the camera — and they have to nail a mark while I nail the zoom.” which gaffer Yaniv Glaser taped to low ceilings when necessary. Anoth-
Another favorite shot of Schneider’s occurs when Fitzgerald and er crew member secured the loan of two Luxli Taiko 2x1 panels, which
Magaro’s characters are dining at the cottage of their amorous neigh- Schneider used for a nighttime flicker gag on Connie and Paul’s cottage,
bors (played by Catherine Curtin and Vondie Curtis-Hall) in the hope which is being subtly illuminated by a fire lit earlier in the film by a
of borrowing their reel-to-reel player. “At the end of the dinner, John group of late-stage hippies (played by Sullivan Jones and twins Alanna
is looking at the tape player, and as Catherine comes over to him, I’m and Claire Saunders).
shooting up from the hip,” Schneider recalls. “The scene has very ‘Mrs. To move the camera, Schneider chose a Dana Dolly and doorway dolly,
Robinson’ vibes, echoing scenes in The Graduate where Anne Bancroft both for budgetary and practical reasons. “Many of the locations we shot
looms over Benjamin, taking power from him in the frame. In our shot, in were extremely narrow; there’s no way a Fisher would have fit,” she
Catherine is very much taking the power from John.” says. To accomplish booms, Schneider utilized a counter-weighted Mat-
Mirvish had a pair of ironclad rules for 18½: One, the camera couldn’t thews Elevator, which could be attached to either the Dana or doorway
move in any way that wouldn’t have been possible in 1974 (meaning no dollies in a small space. “There was one shot in Lena and Samuel’s cot-
Steadicam or gimbals), and two, there could be no cuts while the Nixon tage where, in order to shoot a side shot of all four main characters, we
recording was playing. Both of those dictums come into play when Fitz- had to clear out a closet and put the tripod as far back as it would go,”
gerald and Magaro finally get a chance to listen to the tape, which fea- Schneider recalls. “This was an incredibly scrappy film.”
tures voice performances by Bruce Campbell as Nixon, Jon Cryer as H.R. That scrappiness extended to the show’s small but dedicated crew.

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

Top: Connie peers out into the night.

Bottom: Mirvish and Schneider angle in
on another night-exterior shot framed
through a picture window.

The camera department consisted of just 1st AC Kerri McConnell, who Cures for Covid
also operated a handful of shots. Schneider’s grip and electric team 18½ began shooting in March of 2020, but 11 days into the 15-day
was three strong: gaffer Glaser, key grip Antonopoulos and swing Paul schedule, Mirvish made the difficult decision to shut down production
Wallace. “For the most part, the 1st AD would slate, but it would kind of as the Covid-19 pandemic emerged. Filming resumed six months later,
be whoever was nearby with free hands,” says Mirvish. “Sometimes it in September. Nearly a third of the crew took Silver Sands owner Keefe
would even be the actors.” up on his offer to stay at the motel during the initial shutdown.

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 VINTAGE INFAMY: 18½

Tech Specs: 2.39:1

Camera | Panasonic VariCam LT
Lenses | Kowa Prominar anamorphic, Cooke Varotal,
Arri/Zeiss Ultra Prime

The mounting tension of the characters’

situation is captured in close-ups.

The final day of production — a flashback scene in which Connie dis- has to have at least 7,000 square feet of uninterrupted stage space.’”
covers the missing recording in her D.C. office — was always intended The production began searching for a spot in Greenport that would
to be a stage day. That decision was prompted by the requirement that meet those requirements, scouring everywhere from warehouses to
productions shoot at least one stage day to be eligible for New York’s equestrian centers. Finally, they found an American Legion hall that
tax-credit program. Mirvish had planned to use a stage in Brooklyn or doubled as a roller-skating rink. It measured 8,000 square feet. As an
Queens, but after Covid arrived, it didn’t feel safe to transport the entire added benefit, it was less than a mile from the Silver Sands.
crew back and forth to the city. “I called the film office and asked, ‘Are “We used one of their existing walls and put up three flats to create
there any approved stages on the eastern part of Long Island?’ And they the office,” says Mirvish. “If Willa moved her head back six inches, you
were like, ‘No, there aren’t,’” he recalls. “Then I asked, ‘What does it take could see a sign that said, ‘Please return your skates.’”
to become an approved stage?’ And they said, ‘Actually, not much: It just On the day of the shoot, the results of the crew’s final round of Covid

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

tests weren’t ready at call. Schneider recalls, “Dan and I were cleared
early, and we popped off some stolen shots of Willa going into the diner.
Then we were just waiting to see who else was going to get cleared so we
could start loading in.”
Call time was 1 p.m., but the full unit didn’t begin shooting until after
8. “That was our hardest day,” says Mirvish. “Our costume designer had
to double as the set dresser. Elle was out buying extra costume pieces
from thrift stores. It was all hands on deck.” But in the end, the last shot
made on the last day was Schneider’s favorite shot of the film.
Schneider found that communal spirit — and Mirvish’s willingness
to take creative leaps — invigorating. “One of the benefits of working
Top: Gaffer Yaniv Glaser, 1st AC Kerri McConnell, Schneider
on a low budget is that you can take risks, and Dan was very invested in
and Mirvish consider their next shot. Bottom: Connie and
experimenting,” she says. “We all had to say, ‘We don’t have this, and we
John approach hippies Barry (Sullivan Jones), Daffodil (Claire
don’t have that, but how do we still make it awesome?’ And that’s very Saunders) and Daisy (Alanna Saunders) at the waterfront.
indicative of who Dan is as a filmmaker.”

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 Global Village By Terry McCarthy

Irish Drama The Banshees of Inisherin

Explores a Fractured Friendship

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS.

UNIT PHOTOGRAPHY BY JONATHAN HESSION.
Martin McDonagh, the writ- location, Davis was forced to dig Marvel and Eternals) had previ- Inisherin is unorthodox. Pádraic,
er-director of The Banshees of deep: “I went right back to my or- ously shot Seven Psychopaths a dairy farmer (Colin Farrell) and
Inisherin, decided early on that igins,” he says. The result is some and Three Billboards Outside Colm, a musician (Brendan Glee-
he wanted to shoot the film on a spectacular cinematography — Ebbing, Missouri with McDonagh, son), have been lifelong friends
storm-swept island off the west and a film that elevates a story so he was very familiar with the until Colm tells Pádraic that he
coast of Ireland. At the same time, about the falling-out between two director’s trademark sense of doesn’t want to speak to him ever
says cinematographer Ben Davis, old friends into an emotionally en- black comedy. Davis further notes again — and threatens to cut off
BSC, “Martin kept saying, ‘I don’t gaging work of art, in which there that “Martin is quite a reclusive one of his own fingers if Pádraic
want the film to look dreary; I is no clear line between the char- guy — he only recently got a makes any future attempt at
want it to be beautiful.’” Given the acters’ faces and the landscapes mobile phone. You don’t hear a conversation. It only gets worse
multiple challenges of change- through which they move. lot from him, and then one day he from there.
able weather, and limitations on The London-born Davis will send over a script, and that is
the size of the crew and the gear (whose credits include the Marvel a good day.” Going Western
list due to the remoteness of the movies Doctor Strange, Captain The script for The Banshees of The more McDonagh and Davis

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 Opposite: Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) abruptly turns his back on lifelong
friend Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell). This page, from top: The wall of a pub
separates the former friends; Pádraic takes a walk with his pet donkey, Jenny;
Ben Davis, BSC (left) and director-writer Martin McDonagh on location in Ireland.

discussed the script, the more

they were pulled toward the
genre of the Western. “I had al-
ways wanted to shoot a Western
— two men in a standoff,” the
cinematographer says, adding
that the duo watched a number
of Westerns for inspiration: “Some
of the influence for me was Roger
Deakins [ASC, BSC]’s work on The
Assassination of Jesse James
by the Coward Robert Ford — a
very ‘Western’ visual language
that feels like The Searchers
and Shane.” They also watched
Stagecoach (shot by Bert Glen-
non, ASC) and The Night of the
Hunter (shot by Stanley Cortez,
ASC). Of the latter, Davis notes,
“Martin loves that film — it has all
the animals, the silhouettes …”
The backdrop of Banshees
may not be a desert landscape in
Arizona, but the main tropes of a raining — but even then, there
Western remain, with a few twists: was an incredible beauty. I spent
The saloon has become a tra- a lot of time during the scout and
ditional Irish pub, horses are re- prep period photographing it with
placed by a miniature donkey, and both film and digital cameras,
the final showdown takes place and trying to capture it, trying to
not on a dusty main street but on understand what I felt about it.
a sandy beach looking out at the There is a melancholic beauty to
Atlantic. “The film is about men the space, yet a claustrophobic
and conflict and their inability to feeling that gets to your soul.”
resolve conflict,” says Davis. “And, Before they started shooting,
no surprise, the voice of reason is the filmmakers went through the
a woman: Pádraic’s sister Siobhán script and pondered the kind of
[played by Kerry Condon]. There weather they wanted for each
is a message there! I didn’t expect scene. “So, according to the
the film to be quite so sad; it is weather on the day, we would
funny, but at its heart it is quite shoot specific scenes. For exam-
sad. I loved that about the film — ple, we wanted a glorious morning
there is room for that in our lives.” when Siobhán leaves the island —
and in the opening scenes, before
A Scenic Location Colm announces he won’t talk to
Most of the film is shot on Inish- Pádraic again. Then, as the story
more, the largest of the three progresses, the storm clouds
Aran Islands off the west coast begin to gather.”
of Ireland. Davis recalls, “When The crew size was about 75
we arrived on a scout it was in total, and because the roads

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 Global Village Tech Specs: 2.39:1
Camera | Arri Alexa Mini LF
Lenses | Arri Signature Prime

The effect of the cross-shaped light on the priest

(David Pearse, bottom) in the confessional was
created with various gobos.

on the island are so narrow, with involved a lot of “threshold work” out.” In addition, McDonagh had “There were no old houses with
stone walls on either side, “we — shots through doors and a very specific vision of where the right view of a bay, so we had
had to move our gear around windows. “It became pretty clear Pádraic’s house would be: on a hill to build both Pádraic’s house and
in small vans. We couldn’t fit to me that the usual studio-lo- overlooking a bay. “We wanted the pub.” The pub set was con-
trucks on the roads. It was very cation exterior build wouldn’t dramatic coastal locations so the structed on Achill Island, about 60
stripped-down moviemaking.” work. We would need something viewer is always aware of the miles up the coast to the north,
that worked for interiors and characters’ disconnect from the and had to be a proper building
On the Threshold exteriors, where you could shoot rest of the world.” with stone walls and thatched
Davis says the production people coming in and going The cinematographer adds, roofing.

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 “When we cut from landscape to faces, I
didn’t want a big aesthetic jump. I wanted to
Top: Colm drinks a pint in solitude. Bottom: The crew
see the weather on their faces.” sets up a scene at dawn with actor Kerry Condon.

Painting the Picture

Color was carefully thought out.
Davis says, “There were some
very strong color references —
for example, ‘Van Gogh yellow’ in
Colm’s house. And there was a lot
of color in the costumes, because
the landscape has a limited pal-
ette.” The purpose-built pub had
a black ceiling with dark-green
walls “so we could lift the char-
acters off them. Our reference
was 17th-century Dutch painters,
like Rembrandt and Terbruggh-
en.” Hidden up in the rafters was
an array of 150-watt tungsten
Dedolights. “You can shape them
and move them as you want. We
had about 30 lamps to light the
music scene in the pub,” where
Pádraic and Colm have a fateful
confrontation. Davis adds that
these Dedos were used for both
the actors and for architectural Face Value
lighting, “specifically to create Davis shot the picture with an
pockets of light around the practi- Arri Alexa Mini LF and Signature
cal sources.” Primes, but while this larger-sen-
sor camera is often employed to
A Friend’s Confession accentuate a shallow-depth look
In another key scene, Colm finally while shooting wide open, he em-
reveals in a church confessional ployed the combination in a dif-
why he has turned away from ferent way. “That look people are
his friend. “When he talks of his embracing now, with very shallow
despair, at that point I wanted depth of field, when everything
the audience to feel him,” says falls away — I didn’t want that,”
Davis. “I needed a sharp eyelight he says. “I wanted background
so you could see right into his and depth. I knew the close-ups
eyes. It was a source right behind would be important, because the
the camera — I used a 150-watt dialogue is so important.” Seeking
Dedolight for that.” He also fash- to hold focus in close-ups —
ioned a cross-shaped light behind “from eyes to ears as much as
Colm that looks like sunlight possible” — Davis aimed to shoot
coming through a window. For the them at a T5.6. “I let the focus fall
reverse shot of the priest, “vari- off when required, but I wanted
ous gobos were made to project to feel the texture of the faces.
this image of the cross onto the When we cut from landscape to
priest’s face — to give control of faces, I didn’t want a big aesthetic
size with a Source Four pushed jump. I wanted to see the weather
through it — but in a softer way.” on their faces.”

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 The Virtual World By Noah Kadner

Camera Tracking for Virtual Production

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF INDIGO FILM AND RAI CINEMA.

Comandante actors and
crewmembers prepare for
another take aboard the
production’s submarine set.

Virtual production with real-time production camera to be accu- virtual production. These meth- oldest form of camera tracking for
visual effects, whether captured rately recorded and reproduced. ods include mechanical, optical, virtual production. It harkens back
in an LED volume or elsewhere, This month’s Virtual World ex- inertial and machine learning. to the original motion-control
typically involves tight synchro- plores different camera-tracking Each approach offers a combi- camera rigs created in the 1960s,
nization between the physical methods, some of the challenges nation of workflow efficiency and which revolutionized the world
camera and a game engine like and limitations of this technology, cost-effectiveness, which can be of cinematography and visual
Unreal Engine to render the back- and potential future applications. tailored to suit a given production. effects with the advent of reliably
ground imagery with the correct Mechanical tracking — accom- repeatable camera movements.
perspective. One key aspect is Methodology plished by deploying servos and Best suited to camera move-
camera tracking, which allows Several different camera-tracking sensors with special electronic ment systems like cranes and
the movement and position of the methods are currently used for encoders to track activity — is the dollies, mechanical tracking was

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 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM

From top: This “slap comp,” displayed on the director’s monitor, is

a straightforward comp created live in QTake — here, a simple mix
between the camera’s SDI and the real-time anamorphic-squeezed
output from the game engine; selected takes received another pass in
Nuke, using CopyCat to comp the same elements as the slap comp; the
raw image output from the camera; a “dailies” composite created from
the raw files, with an ocean generated in Houdini.

used to notable effect to capture shoots that lack a readily available

camera movement for the 2019 ceiling or floor where markers can
remake of The Lion King, shot be placed.
by Caleb Deschanel, ASC, who Outside-in tracking mounts
worked alongside visual-ef- the observing camera module
fects supervisor Robert Legato, or modules in a static position
ASC (AC Aug. ’19). Mechanical looking toward the production
tracking is the least complex and camera. This method requires
often the most cost-effective multiple tracking cameras in
camera-tracking solution, but it different locations to triangulate
is limited primarily to objects on the production camera’s position
fixed rails, track or tripod wheels. as it moves around and past
It cannot reliably track handheld obstacles. Two popular solutions
cameras or Steadicam rigs, be- are Vicon and OptiTrack; the
cause they move freely. latter was used extensively on the
Optical tracking involves using Disney Plus Star Wars series The
a system of cameras and markers Mandalorian, The Book of Boba
to track the movement of the Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
physical camera in relation to the Inertial tracking involves using
virtual environment. The markers, an inertial measurement unit
typically placed on the camera (IMU) to track the orientation
and other objects in the scene, and movement of the camera.
are tracked by special infrared The IMU is a small device that
witness cameras, allowing the may include accelerometers,
production camera’s movement gyroscopes and magnetometers
to be accurately matched in the that can measure the camera’s
virtual world. orientation and movement in
Optical tracking can be space. Some examples of inertial
“inside-out” or “outside-in.” In- trackers include OARO EZTrack,
side-out optical tracking involves HTC’s Vive Mars CamTrack and
a camera or sensor module OptiTrack’s CinePuck (which
mounted on the taking camera combines IMU and outside-inside
and looking for reflective markers, tracking for redundancy). IMU
which are generally placed on trackers are typically less expen-
the ceiling or floor of a studio. sive and more straightforward
Examples of this method include than optical methods, making
the Mo-Sys StarTracker system them great for experimentation
and Stype’s RedSpy. and more modest budgets.
Another inside-out technique Machine-learning/artificial-in-
leverages machine learning and telligence (AI) camera tracking is
pattern recognition to identify similar to optical because it visu-
static features within a frame ally analyzes the scene to infer
and track those instead of preset camera motion. The main differ-
markers. Ncam is one of the ence between purely optical ap-
better-known “feature-tracking” proaches and machine learning is
inside-out solutions. Feature that the analysis can be done on
tracking is often used on location footage from a single perspective,

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 The Virtual World

Top: An overhead lighting rig illuminates the sub.

Bottom: A remote head angles in on the action.

instead of requiring triangulation workflow in collaboration with

from multiple witness cameras. visual-effects designer Kevin
Visual-effects providers Weta FX Tod Haug on sequences for the
leveraged cutting-edge machine film that are set on the deck of
learning and neural networks to a submarine in the middle of the
derive a machine-learning track- Atlantic Ocean. Stump sought a
ing and compositing solution for solution that would reliably deliver
Avatar: The Way of Water. (See high-quality composites without
AC Jan. ’23 for more details on requiring a greenscreen or an LED
Weta’s solution.) volume in the background. And
because the veteran cinematog-
Tracking in Real Time rapher/visual-effects supervisor
Another recent project that lev- loves an extra challenge, he also
eraged AI and machine-learning helped facilitate shooting the
techniques is the Italian World project with Cooke full-frame
War II feature Comandante. anamorphic lenses — which, due
David Stump, ASC oversaw this to their deliberately designed

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 optical distortions, would have volume.” (The background, in
been a challenging choice for any these situations, comprises any
shots involving visual effects, let elements behind the actors that
alone shots that had to be tracked the filmmakers want to remove or
and composited in real-time. comp out, based on distance to
“We’re taking the feed from the camera rather than the key color
camera and comping it with the of a screen.)
output of the game-engine, which “CopyCat uses visual analysis
has been squeezed and distorted and frequency sensing,” explains
to precisely match the camera Stump. “It also uses a lot of clues
output in real-time — that’s un- about depth sensing that it learns
heard of with anamorphic,” says as it teaches itself about the shot.

OPTICS
Stump. “With LED-wall compos- Instead of spending three to six
iting and game-engine technol- months in post trying to get close
ogy, you get into postproduction to what the director wants to see,

UNDERSTOOD
and the director and the editors we can show a test comp on set
often start picking it apart. With with everything needed to do a
this new approach, we can do a final comp. This technique offers

The Cine Lens

temporary composite in real-time, an enormous value proposition.”
then generate a final composite
within the same day using all the Next Steps
motion-capture data. We’re still
preserving all of the original foot-
Every virtual-production cam-
era-tracking method has advan- Manual
age for later recompositing and tages and disadvantages, and
tweaking in post versus baking it the choice depends on each pro- Co-authored by Jay Holben and Christopher Probst,
into an LED “final pixels” shot or duction’s specific requirements. ASC, The Cine Lens Manual is a journey through the
comping from an element with For example, optical tracking is world of cinema lenses, investigating every possible
greenscreen spill.” generally more accurate than in- aspect — from the formation of glass to today’s top
Stump and Haug deployed ertial tracking, but the technique cinematographic optical tools.
OARO’s EZTrack and Foundry’s requires markers, which can be
Nuke compositing software for challenging in some scenarios. • Details 300 lens families
a near-real-time compositing Inertial tracking does not need • 836 pages cover 140 years of cinema-lens history
workflow, shooting without a markers, but it can be less ac-
• 1,500 full-color illustrations including photo-
traditional greenscreen or LED curate and more susceptible to
graphs, diagrams and graphics
volume. “We’re using CopyCat, drift over time. Machine learning
• Covering optical design, optomechanical design,
Nuke’s AI rotoscoping tool,” says requires a degree of technical
evolution of motion-picture formats, the history and
Haug. “CopyCat uses machine proficiency and training to set up
learning to determine what is the analysis, but it can achieve
genealogy of purpose-built cinema lenses, modifying
foreground and what is back- results that would be impossible
lenses, testing, and maintenance
ground. We train it by showing with other methods. In many
“It’s an essential text for all filmmakers.”
it what the final result we want cases, productions are using a
— Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS
looks like, and it interpolates the combination of these techniques
rest. The processing takes any- to get the desired results. “The Cine Lens Manual is truly invaluable.”
where from five to 30 minutes per Camera tracking connects the — Russell Carpenter, ASC
shot, if it is familiar with what it is physical and virtual worlds. When
“The Cine Lens Manual is my new bible... engrossing and immensely
given. Completely new situations properly configured, the tech-
graspable for all filmmakers.”
need more training, but it’s still nology “disappears,” giving the — Reed Morano, ASC
a major improvement over the cinematographer a fluid, complete
more traditional visual-effects frame where physical items and “I can’t put the book down. It’s brilliant what Holben and Probst have
pipeline. We can use real daylight visual effects blend seamlessly. created. This is a must for every cinematographer.”
— Markus Förderer, ASC, BVK
or night along with cinema lights, The challenge is determining
because nothing that’s in the the balance of creative needs,
background matters — as it would workflow and cost for each virtual Available now at store.ascmag.com
with a greenscreen or an LED production.

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 Clubhouse News
Society Welcomes New Members

Born in Hungary, Marcell Rév, — the latter of which was directed

ASC, HCA studied cinematog- by Barry Levinson.
raphy at the Academy of Drama Rév’s camerawork in the
Jonathan Sela, ASC was born in collaborations with director John and Film in Budapest, and in acclaimed HBO series Euphoria
Paris, France. At the age of 10, his Moore. In 2008, he shot the Clive a master class led by Vilmos has earned him honors at the
Polish grandfather took him to the Barker adaptation The Midnight Zsigmond, ASC, HSC. He later Camerimage Film Festival, as well
set of Schindler’s List in Kraków, Meat Train and the neo-noir action photographed a number of as a 2021 Emmy Award nomination
an experience that inspired him to film Max Payne. Hungarian features, including for the Season 1 episode “Trouble
pursue a career in filmmaking. Four Sela’s other feature projects White God, which was directed Don’t Last Always” in the category
years later, Sela began working in include director F. Gary Gray’s crime by Kornél Mundruczó and won of Outstanding Cinematography for
Israel on numerous television films drama Law Abiding Citizen; the fifth the Un Certain Regard award a Single-Camera Series (One Hour).
and shows, first as lighting techni- entry of the Die Hard film series, at Cannes, and Land of Storms, He won the Emmy in that same
cian, then as a gaffer. He emigrated A Good Day to Die Hard; and the Most of the Souls That Live Here category in 2022 for the Season
to the United States at 19, enrolling hit action thriller John Wick. He and Jupiter’s Moon (also directed 2 episode “The Theater and Its
in the American Film Institute in Los was also director of photography by Mundruczó). Double.”
Angeles. He served as assistant on Transformers: The Last Knight, After arriving in the U.S., Rév Rév’s other recent work includes
to Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, HSC on Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, The shot the American action-come- the features Malcolm & Marie,
two films before making his debut Lost City and, most recently, Bullet dy Assassination Nation and the directed by Sam Levinson (his col-
as director of photography with the Train. HBO biographical drama Paterno laborator on Assassination Nation
music video for Cypress Hill’s track Sela has also worked on com- and Euphoria), and The Story of My
“Lowrider.” mercials for Verizon Wireless, KFC, Wife, directed by Ildikó Enyedi.
After shooting several shorts, Gillette and Mary Kay, and has shot
Sela made his feature debut with music videos for such artists as
the 2004 comedy Soul Plane. Rihanna, Green Day, Beyoncé and
In 2006, he shot the remake of Miley Cyrus.
The Omen, the first of several

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 Clubhouse Hosts 2022 ASC
MITC Showcase
On Oct. 25, committees of the ASC
Motion Imaging Technology Council
(MITC) held a show-and-tell session
at the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood
to coincide with the SMPTE Media
Technology Summit (Oct. 23-27),
which took place at the nearby
Loews Hotel.
Organized by ASC associate
member Gary Mandle, the event
featured presentations from the
Professional Monitor, UHD, Lighting,
Next Generation Cinema Display
and Motion Imaging Workflow
Committees.
Events included in-depth
discussions on the ASC Framing
Decision List (FDL) technology, the
“Filmmaker Mode” option for con-
sumer televisions developed by the
UHDTV Alliance and the ASC MITC
UHDTV Committee, and the ASC
MITC StEM2 (Standard Evaluation
Material 2.0) project.
Participants could examine an
array of 18 professional monitors
from nearly every company in the
industry, side-by-side and playing
the same evaluation material — in-
cluding test charts and representa-
tive footage from the StEM2 project brought in advanced pixel-map-
and other sources. Manufacturers pable LED fixtures to demonstrate
were on site to answer questions how this lighting technology can
from attendees. play a part in virtual production.
Nearby, Samsung presented “Our goal with this event was

PHOTOS BY JAY HOLBEN.

their latest QD-OLED (quantum-dot to showcase the many incredible
organic LED) display technology, contributions that the MITC has
while cinematographer and ASC as- made to the industry, and how the
sociate member Tim Kang — prin- committee is helping to further
cipal engineer of color and imaging technology that improves filmmak-
for Quasar Science and chair of the ing,” said Mandle. “Since these
ASC MITC Lighting Committee — projects are not often publicized,
presented the latest in image-based it’s important to show the industry over 200 ASC active members, version of this report can be
lighting (IBL) technology. An ICVFX that the MITC is leading the way on associate members and SMPTE found online at theasc.com/
LED wall was constructed in the these essential topics.” members. news/2022-asc-mitc-showcase.
Clubhouse by ROE Visual, and Kang The event was attended by well A more comprehensive — Jay Holben

FEBRUARY 2023 / 65

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 Clubhouse News

“It was an amazing honor coming

from Amnon, Band Pro’s legendary
owner.”
Nemenz, who received a ca-
reer-achievement award, has been
an industry icon for decades as the
founder and CEO of Otto Nemenz
International, Inc. He earned a de-
gree in engineering from the Vienna
Technical Institute in Austria and
has played a key role in advancing
motion-picture technology since
1964. In 1982, he designed and built
the company’s former facility in Hol-
lywood, and in 2020 he led its move
to a new 38,000-square-foot facility
in Culver City, Calif.
“Otto Nemenz is a true living
legend in our industry,” Band said.
“He’s set a high bar like nobody
else. He’s a teacher, a mentor and
a friend, which is what’s engraved
on Band Pro’s Lifetime Achievement
Award. I consider myself privileged
to have had such a positive influ-
ence in my life. Otto was the one
PHOTOS BY GILBERT AGUILAR (TOP), MICHAEL GIBSON (BOTTOM LEFT) AND BEN KOPETZKY (BOTTOM RIGHT).

who encouraged me to go into

business for myself. We’ve known
each other since 1982. Presenting
Otto with this award was an honor
and long overdue.”
Nemenz said he was “surprised
and honored to receive the Band
Pro award,” adding, “I appreciate
our longstanding professional and
personal relationship.”
Robustly attended after a two-
year pandemic hiatus, the Band Pro
event hosted more than a thousand
guests throughout the day. Several
ASC member Checco Varese Varese, Nemenz Saluted artist who infuses his work with an dozen companies exhibited gear, in-
(left) and associate Otto by Band Pro immediacy, beauty and humanity cluding 16×9, Angénieux, Atlas Lens
Nemenz (right) were honored ASC member Checco Varese and that is truly remarkable.” Varese’s Co., Anton/Bauer, Canon, Fujinon,
on Dec. 8 by Band Pro President
Society associate Otto Nemenz recent feature credits include It Kino Flo, Litepanels, Matthews Stu-
and CEO Amnon Band (standing
were singled out for tributes during Chapter Two, the television pro- dio Equipment, OConnor, Sachtler,
behind Nemenz).
Band Pro’s annual One World Open ductions Them and Dopesick (the Sigma, SmallHD, Teradek, Tiffen and
House, held on Dec. 8 at the com- latter of which earned him an Emmy Zeiss.
pany’s headquarters in Burbank. Award), and the upcoming Amazon
Varese was named the event’s limited series Daisy Jones & the Six.
Guest of Honor by Band Pro Presi- Due to a work commitment,
dent and CEO Amnon Band, an ASC Varese was unable to attend in
associate member, who described person and greeted the event’s at-
the veteran cinematographer as “an tendees remotely. He later told AC,

66 / FEBRUARY 2023

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 STORARO REMEMBERS
BERTOLUCCI

Presented in Italian and English, the 300-page book Vittorio Storaro on Bernardo Bertolucci
Movies offers a candid look at one of modern cinema’s most celebrated cinematographer-
director working relationships.

In it, the ASC great recounts his personal experiences while making their nine feature films
together: Before the Revolution (1964, on which Storaro served as camera assistant for Aldo
Scavarda), The Spider’s Stratagem (1970), The Conformist (1970), Last Tango in Paris (1972),
1900 (1976), Luna (1979), The Last Emperor (1987), The Sheltering Sky (1990)
and Little Buddha (1993).

A limited number of copies signed by Storaro are available from the ASC Store.

Go to store.ascmag.com
FEBRUARY 2023 / 67

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Storaro Clubhouse News4 V4.indd 67
- Ad.indd 1/3/23
7/1/22 11:15
5:30 PM
 New Products and Services
.

For more of our latest tech reports, visit

ascmag.com/articles/new-products.

Benro Unveils GH2N Gimbal Head,

Accessories
Benro has released the GH2N gimbal head and accessories that
include a Fluid Pan Base Adapter and an Adjustable Multi-Angle
Column. The GH2N gimbal head supports up to 55 pounds and
features a reinforced rib and hollow structure designed to optimize
weight and strength. It has a built-in drag adjustment for stability
and operating control, separate adjustments for pans and tilts, and
Hudson Spider Releases a pan scale and bubble level for added precision.
Benro’s Fluid Pan Base Adapter (FPB71) gives a tripod head
Compounding Slider variable tension and panning abilities. The fluid pan base fits on
either ¼-20 or 3/8-16 mounts. The Adjustable Multi-Angle Column
Hudson Spider has released a compounding slider designed for (GPAC502) allows the center column to be adjusted to almost any
full-size camera packages of up to 100 pounds. The mechanism angle. One end of the center column has a 3/8-16 mount for use
utilized to achieve a compounding move in the Hudson Spider with most tripod heads, and the other end features a sandbag or
Slider has the upper and lower stages on independent rails ballast slot.
connected by a belt-and-pulley system, giving the slider the For more information, visit benrousa.com.
footprint of a 2' but the travel of a 4'. This eliminates slider flex and
end-support requirements, freeing the dolly arm and wheels to
move during a take.
For more information, visit hudsonspider.com.
Nanlite Releases
FS-150B/200B
Nanlite has expanded its FS series with
the bi-color FS-150B/200B. Featuring
Maximum and Constant output modes,
the solutions offer creators a wider range
of CCT, more customized effects and
increased efficiency.
For more information,
visit nanliteus.com.

68 / FEBRUARY 2023

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 Your Super 8 and 16mm
Film Lab for 50 years

CAMERAS.
FILM.
Megapixel VR Upgrades Helios LED
PROCESSING.
Processing Platform
Megapixel VR has announced Helios LED Processing Platform v22.11. With this upgrade, SCANNING.
Helios will support SMPTE ST 2110, a professional suite of standards including video, sync
and metadata streams over IP for real-time production, playout and other professional media
applications. Helios supports up to four simultaneous ST 2110 inputs for large canvases
beyond 8K. Stitching capability allows for 2x2, 1x4 or 4x1 applications.
For more information, visit megapixelvr.com.
818.848.5522 • pro8mm.com

Hasselblad Announces CPL, ND8, UV Filters

Hasselblad has released Circular Polarizer/Linear filters, Neutral Density 8 filters and
Ultraviolet filters. All are available in 62mm, 67mm, 72mm and 77mm and are made with
Schott B 270 glass. Nanocoating is used on every CPL, ND8 and UV filter, making them
resistant to water, oil, scratching and static. Each filter comes with a shockproof case.
For more information, visit hasselblad.com.

FEBRUARY 2023 / 69

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 NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Elation Shipping Magma

Fog 1500 IP
Elation Lighting is shipping Magmatic’s Magma
Fog 1500 IP fogger. A thermally protected
1500-watt heat exchanger produces an
output of 60,000 CFM. When operating at 100
percent, the unit can shoot a 40-second burst
of dense, enveloping fog. An onboard LCD
touchscreen control panel offers manual and
timer control options, intuitive DMX-512 and
RDM control, and optional wired and wireless
remote-control options. The Magma Fog 1500
IP comes with IP65 locking power in and IP65
locking 5pin XLR connectors (DMX In/Out) for
safe, reliable operation outdoors.
For more information, visit magmaticfx.com
and elationlighting.com.

Tiffen Introduces Lowel

Tota LED XL
Tiffen has introduced the Lowel Tota LED
XL daylight-balanced panel floodlight.
Featuring a foldable design, the Tota LED XL
emits 11,200 lux of flicker-free, continuous
light. With 216 individual LEDs, the 8"x8"
panel produces a bright 60-degree beam at

Ad Index
5600K ±200K. The fixture has a TLCI rating
of 98 and a CRI of 96. When a hard source
is needed, the included rigid diffusers can
quickly be removed.
16x9 Inc. 11 For more information, visit tiffen.com.
AC Manual 71 Aputure Unveils LS 1200
AC Subscription 6
Aputure has released the LS 1200 4-Light
Arri Inc. 3
Bracket, which can mount up to four high-
ASC Awards 1 output fixtures to a durable, reinforced,
ASC First 100 Years 4 aluminum frame for a package capable of
ASC Master Class 39 outputting 4,800 watts of light. Key features
ASC Store 33 include independent tilt adjustment for each
Chimera Lighting 70 lamp, a heavy-duty yoke with dual locking
Cine Lens Book 63 rosettes and compatibility with Junior
Cooke Optics Ltd. C3 mounting pins.
CreateLED 19 For more information, visit aputure.com.
Eastman Kodak C4
Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH C2
Filmotechnic USA 9
J.L. Fisher Inc. 13
NAB Show 27
Pro8mm 69
Rip-Tie Inc. 69
Rosco Laboratories Inc. 7
Sony Electronics Inc. 5
Storaro Book 67
The Studio - B&H 21

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 AMERICAN
CINEMATOGRAPHER
MANUAL
NEW EDITION! 4
The revised 11th edition of this
essential technical
reference is now exclusively
available for pre-order
from the American Society of
Cinematographers.

Containing entirely new chap-

ters and substantial
rewrites of entries from the
DoPChoice Releases Fat-Rabbit, previous edition, this
hardback book designed for
Larger Snapbags on-set use is a must-have
for cinematographers and
DoPChoice has announced the Fat-Rabbit along with 8' and 6'x5' other motion-imaging
Snapbags. The Fat-Rabbit mounts a choice of 8' Double-Hex and professionals.
6'x5' Snapbags to large and multiple-fixture arrays for Arri SkyPanel
Edited by M. David Mullen,
360, Triple/Double DMG/Rosco Maxi Mix, Prolight XL Panels and the
ASC and ASC associate
like. member Rob Hummel,
Corner Adapters can be moved to three different positions, contributors to this edition
avoiding conflict with the yoke and the Fat-Rabbit frame. Crafted of include Society members
aluminum and stainless steel, the solution will accept new lights by Bill Bennett, Christopher
simply adding mounting adapters. The new 8' Double-Hex Snapbag Chomyn, Richard Crudo,
and 6'x5' Snapbag offer easy setup, a compact form factor and a Richard Edlund, John C.
highly reflective interior. Hora, Levie Isaacks, Dennis
For more information, visit dopchoice.com. Muren, James Neihouse,
Sam Nicholson, Steven GET YOUR
Arcturus Updates HoloSuite
Poster, Christopher Probst,
Pete Romano, Roberto COPY NOW!
Schaefer and David Stump.

Arcturus has released updates for its HoloSuite platform that include Topics covered in this new
a beta feature that connects and blends volumetric video clips. With edition of our
Blend, HoloSuite users can connect a volumetric video clip featuring “filmmaker’s bible” include:
a live-action performance to related clips. Game-engine users with
• Evaluating digital cameras
the HoloSuite plugin can now take a blended volumetric video clip
• Taking ownership of your sensor
and insert it into a digital environment to populate a virtual scene
• The color science behind modern
with live-action 3D performances. The Blend feature also enables lighting instruments
users to build live-action branching narratives with no perceptible • Virtual production/emissive screens
change between video tracks. • Digital versions of day-for-night and infrared
For more information, visit arcturus.studio. cinematography
• Imax/large-format cinematography
• Specialty lenses
• Variable frame rates
• ASC Color-Decision List (ASC CDL)
• Academy Color Encoding System (ACES)

Order today — for yourself or as a gift —

at store.ascmag.com

FEBRUARY 2023 / 71

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 Wrap Shot
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Gene Kelly croons directly into the lens of a Technicolor three-strip camera while
performing in the classic musical comedy Singin’ in the Rain, co-directed by Kelly
and Stanley Donen and photographed by Harold Rosson, ASC. The picture depicts
Hollywood’s rocky transition from the Silent Era to “talkies,” with silver-screen stars
— played by Kelly, Jean Hagen and Debbie Reynolds — struggling through the
making of their first sound picture.
Behind the three-strip camera is operator John M. Nickolaus Jr., who would
later become a cinematographer himself, primarily working in television on shows
that included Perry Mason, The Waltons and Room 222. Nickolaus was invited to
join the ASC in 1966.
Rosson’s other Technicolor credits include The Wizard of Oz (1939); Duel in the
Sun (1946); and On the Town (1949), another musical directed by Kelly and Donen.
In 1989, the United States Library of Congress selected Singin’ in the Rain for
preservation in the National Film Registry. The picture has been described as “the
pinnacle of the Technicolor musical and the finest example of Hollywood cinema
as pure showmanship.”
— David E. Williams

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Cover 3_IBC.indd 3 1/3/23 10:24 PM
 Awards Season recognizes excellence. So do we.
Congratulations to the most celebrated productions of 2022, brought to life with KODAK film.

#SHOOTFILM
Learn more at Kodak.com/go/motion
© 2023 Kodak. Kodak and the Kodak logo are trademarks.

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