\ Le aa ee Te FOR COMPUTER-ANIMATED SCI-FI DRAMA PIUS; FLORIAN BALLHAUS MAKES Eee WITH THE DEVIL Path ’ Pe aero Shots —— Newton Thomas Sigel, Or imaiccag Bryan Singer reunite on Superman Returns, firm iter@erc yom eclrica Arm M ccTENA ROK digital Genesis camera. Pasian ene nay Pee ee eee n has enthralled Or Pace Pee ee ee een AGREE character, almost a shared memory ere es eS To ears a ae) 28 July 2006Superman Returns, images that were ‘on a different visual platform, and the Genesis is great for that.” The final decision rested with the cine- matographer and director. “The years of trust I have with Tom are invaluable to me,” says Singer, who first teamed with Sigel on The Usual Suspects (1995), “I wanted just the two of us to make the call, so we sat inthe cinema watching the compar- ison tests by ourselves” Sigel decided that the Genesis camera, when used with a range of spherical Panavision Primo prime and zoom lenses, was so close to the responsiveness of film negative that no specific modifications to his ight- ing would be required. “Panavision and Sony have come up with a camera system that emulates the log curve and the eolor space of film very closely” he says. “The Genesis has about ¥4 to 1 stop less dynamic range in the highlights than film, but that is ‘well made up for by being able to-go deeper into the blacks without getting noise — you can be a little braver atthe point where you let the light fll of—” Director Bryan Singer (at leftin flying lessons to actor Stephan Bender, who plays the young Clark Kent. ‘lights from an ray of angles. American Cinematographer 33motion. “There area lot sal- and _special-effects in that sequence, but its he lighting that sells the idea he plane going down,” notes The sequence takes place the day, so the cabin had to ugh the windows, but this enplicated by the fact that the dows werent very large and were positioned down low.” Another was that the view outside the windows encompassed most of the soundstage. Sigel’ solution was to position large areas of white mustin on both sides of the set and light them from behind with Dinos, creating a very soft source that illuminated the inte- rior of the cabin and still read on camera. “There's so much action going on in that sequence that we couldn't afford to spend time lighting, every shot, he says. “Given the small Opposite: Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth and Super reignite thei romance. This age, top ‘blowers and crewmembers camouflaged in green unitards helped ereate the lusion of ur heroin flight Bottom photos: Bosworth and Routh we bathed in light and borne aloft by wires during their rootiop ld, ‘American Cinematographer 37Aight The young superhero enjoys the comforting ‘surroundings of Kent Farm. This set, consoucted near the town of “Tamworth in New South Wales, was built to accommodate both interior and exterior scones. “Tamworth has @ totally usted reputation fr "sunsets" remarks Sige. “They are some ‘ofthe most Below: Kent explores the property bare, 32 July 2006 the Genesis to Singer’ attention that the director considered digital acqui- sition a viable option for Superman Returns. The path to that final deci- sion, however, was somewhat indi- rect.“'d had this notion that because Superman is so iconic and grandiose, we should shoot in 65mm,” Sigel recalls with a smile “When we did some screen tests for Brandon Routh, I turned up with a 65mm camera as well a5 a Su 35mm camera. [remember thinking recent films done in 65mm hadn't seemed that radically diferent than 35mm, but it was still worth explor- ing. We shots tests with both cameras, and when we projected the results, Bryan and I were blown away by 65mms sense of scale, sheer dar ity and lack of grain.” Sigel began investigating the possiblity of shooting Superman Returns in 65mm, but soon realized that the difficulties outweighed the benefits. “There were many factors that made itnear impossible, but the clincher was when it occurred to me that the reason 65mm had looked so good was because we'd projected it in 70mm, and 1 knew Superman Returns would probably never be projected in 70mm — today there are more digital einemas than work: ing 70mm projectors!” says the cine ‘matographer. “Then I remembered secing atest Allen Daviau [ASC] had shot on 35mm and with the proto type Genesis. It involved interior and exterior footage, and the results were very encouraging.” Using the only «camera in existence atthe time, shot test footage that remain date, the most comprehen 35mm-Genesis comparison. “We spent several weeks shooting every- thing we could — interiors, exteri- ors, costumes, sets = all Kinds of situations and fighting conditions? says Sigel. “he. nore we. saw, the more excited Bryan and T became about shooting digitally. Tas look ing for something a bit different forHero Shots ‘crew captures ‘2 iendly exchange Timmy Olsen (Sam Huntington). 30 uly 2006 larly evident in a rooftop encounter between Lois and Superman, during which the couple is bathed in a bright, soft glow from The Daily Planets iconic revolving globe. The interior of the Daily Planet building has much in ‘common with its conceptualization in the original comic, which was inspired by the Art Deco-style Ohio Bellbuilding in Cleveland, The main floor of the Planet is an open space that features a central area for the reporters’ desks, referred to a5 the “bullpen” The overall color palette for this set comprised warm tones, and several design elements informed the lighting styl, “One of the main features ofthe Daily Planet set was the skylights, and we had amber glass placed in each one to provide a warm daylight look,” says Sigel. A total of 50 skylights were fixed 15'from the floor at an angle of approximately 30 degrees, and ran down both sides of the set. Each had 4 20K Fresnel positioned behind it In keeping with the Art-Deco scheme, the set’s main windows were fitted with Venetian blinds, which also served to control the view of the ‘TransLite beyond them. ‘These windows were also lit with 20K Fresnels, as well as 10 additional 10Ks, ‘The set's practical fixtures provided ambient light. “We used Jong, 1940s-style practical lights, as well as amber-glass lights: explains gaffer Shaun Conway. “We put incandescent bulbs in all the lights because ‘Tom wanted! fo beable, to dim them dovin to 15 percent. The longer practicals-were=essentiall large_sofiboxes (containing: space- light bulb§ aimed through Perspex bottoms to provide’ citectionlesssource over most of the set. The other lights used thousands of bulbs in the 15-to 40-watt range.” To light the actors, Conway built units that were dubbed “Lois Lights” which were 81xt' 8K lightboxes. These contained eight space-light bulbs, each of which was dimmable, ounced into a backing of Ultra Bounce and then diffused through Half Grid. “They created a beautiful quality of warm light that was great for skin tones” says Conway. The illumination in the Daily et set was designed to be flexible 3d casy to rearrange. Every lamp was abled toadimmer room, which allowed Sigel to control the key-to- fil ratio by altering the level of specific lights on either side of the set. “In preproduction, Tom asked every lamp on every set to be bled to the dimmers,” recalls He likes a lot of moving ht — not visible changes, but tle shifis to keep the mood asthe s move through a space. On 3s this size, it’s essential to give the cinematographer and director all the time they need to work with the cast and camera.” Bight 5O0KVA genera- tors were required to provide power for the Metropolis set alone. At the time of principal photography, Superman Returns was the first feature film to shoot with Panavision’s Super 35. Digital Cinematography Camera System, known as the Genesis. Singer had been investigating digital-acquisition formats for afew years, since he was invited to attend a summit organized. by George Lucas. “It was around the time Iwas preparing X-Men 2, and I was in the company of Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, Michael Mann and other directors,” says Singet. “For a whole weekend we watched all sorts of digital footage, and some of it was realy astonishing, Tad already seen the tests Texas Instruments had done with its digi tal-projection systems, so I thought the exhibition side of things was there, but at the time I concluded that shooting on. digital systems dlidnt yield results as strong as film until Sigel brought Tt wast Above: Gazing out at the city ‘of Metropolis, Daily Planet editor Perry White (Frank ‘over asta ‘meoting as a ‘rane-mmounted ‘American Cinematographer 31The vilainous Lex Luthor (erin Spacey, ‘center and his criminal cohorts plot thee Inisdoeds while “ainspatting” inminiatr, hot at magic hour, in which completely fade the lights out at the the night exteriors, Conway and his © setting sun was replicated with last minute to suggest the sun disap- crew (which included rigging gaffer 90K SofiSuns. “We used two tech- pearing behind the horizon. ain Matthieson, rigging best boy explains Sigel. “We'd set the Another, somewhat more manual Matt Clyde, and best boys Moses ww to technique was to slowly fly large Fotofii and Peni Laloa) constructed fully warm color of _ black cards in front of the lamps” _a series of “moonboxes” Conway ting sun, and then we'd To create ambient levels for ns, “Tom wanted to replicate American Cinematographer 39+ Sensor size: Super 35 (.930x.523, or twice the size of 5" sensors) + Sensor type: 12.4-megapixel CCD array arranged asa true RGB 1920x1080 sensor +Each clement is comprised of 6 pixels — 2 R, 2 G,2B —ina vertically striped pattern (not Bayer) that ensures full color sampling without introducing processing noise + Dust-fee sealed chamber in front of the sensor + Behind-the-lens provision for gel filters «Shutter: letronic huts permite any ange between .8° and 360° for additional exposure or creative effets +E.1, 500-640 with zero gain and a 180° shutter + EL 2000-2500 with I stop of gain and a 360° shutter + Panalog linear output captures 11+ stops of latitude + Color depth: 10-bit log per color 4 and + Frame rates: + Digital lateral color aberration compensation for improved visual effects + Color viewfinder with peaking and frame lines + Dual viewfinder outputs for onboard flat screen as well a operator viewfinder + Standard Panavision flange mounting allows use of every Panavision 35mm lens ~ no back focus required + Depth-of field characteristics identical to 35mm film cameras + Standard Panavision accessories integrated into the system + Weight: 145 pounds SRW-1 Recorder * Mounts on the camera top or atthe rear for handheld, * Can be detached from the camera and used. remotely + Records 50 minutes on a HDCam SR tape + Records 1-50 fps dls oF 42:2 + Built-in two-channel audio + 12-channel audio with SRPC-I adapter + VIR weight: 13.5 pounds — Provided by ASC associate member Andy, Romanoff. Panavision executive vice president of marketing and strategy and president of Panavision. Remote Systems 36 duly 2006 Hero Shots through the shoot, we noticed a faint vertical line in an aerial shot. Our visual-efiects team went back and looked at other footage and discov cred that this aberration was on most of the camera chips, but it was gener- ally invisible to the naked eye. The ddata was all there, but somehow a tiny portion was being suppressed. I believe Panavision has sinc fixed the chips, and we simply did a software fix to eliminate the problem in our footage” ‘Although using the Genesis did not alter Sigels approach to light ing, the camera did require him to reconsider his usual operating style He normally operates his own camera, throwing himself into the thick ofthe action and making many of his lighting decisions while look- ing through the lens. However, the nnon-optical viewfinder system of the Genesis prompted some adjust- ments. “The image in the viewfinder was so unrepresentative of the light- ing that it could be disconcerting” says Sigel. “The plus side was that I had an output from the camera to a 24-inch monitor with a sharp, clear image that in some ways was better than an optical viewfinder” The cinematographer decided to do about 90 percent of his operating using the remote head, with the monitoractingasa viewfinder. “That ‘gave me a great ability to see what the lighting was doing as I was shooting, but it also defined a very specific type of operating style,” he says. “Fortunately, Bryan's taste in camerawork is fairly classic and formal, 3 this style complemented Superman Returns very wel.” Sigel points out that over the course of his work with Singer — which includes Apt Pupil, X-M (AC July 00), X-Men 2 (AC April °03), and the pilot for House (AC Feb. 05) — his operating style has changed."On The Usual Suspects we evolved a certain style that combined dolly movement with imperceptible zooms so that youd always have a sense of motion in a limited space. One of the results of that approach is you're always ‘moving in, so you tend to work on the longer end of the lens. When we got to X-Men, we shot anamorphic, partly so we could dolly more. For Superman Returns, we've probably worked with wider lenses than before, just to open up the composi tions and create a bigger vista” One of the key action sequences in Superman Returns involves the Man of Steel saving/an out-of-control airline that is plum- ‘meting to earth, The aircraft Sct was mounted on a large. gimbal” that could provide up-and-down andHero Shots The crew captures addtional “aoral footage of Bender on stage, across the kitchen. To depict the light from the pod, the special-effects department flew a large flare on a Wire rig. Some time after the produc tion had relocated to Fox Studios in Sydney, however, pickup shots were required for the kitchen scene, Given Samy’s D reo aon BBC S100 eT CHAE PO EN that the scene could not be repeated indoors with the fre, Sigel had to find a way to re-create the effect with lighting. “I needed a source that was dimmable and movable and would replicate the light ofa flare, which is bright and stable in the middle and & Edit . YOU BOY Vv. DIGTAPCINEMA EC www.samysdv.com flickering at the edges’ he explains. ‘Toachieve this the crew builta mobile lighting unit consisting of a 20K and a 10K bulb removed from their housings. These two bulbs provided the central illumination, while the flickering edge ofthe prac tical flare was re-created by a series of SK bulbs positioned around the two central globes and set on a flicker pattern. The entire apparatus was then attached to a crane and flown cover the kitchen set to provide the desired movement in the shadows. “It was rather complex to use because it had to dim up and down, flicker and physically move at the same time,’ says Conway. “However, the effect matched the location footage perfectly” Synonymous the Superman legend are the Kryptonian crystals that serve asthe superstruc- ture for the Fortress of Solitude, along with the space pod Superman with Omturiee a eked Ce Meteo Oe sag Ae ee) To all D.P's, Producers, Directors, and anyone else who has always dreamed of owning a Leica~ Dreams can come true! «3 FREE teica m7 with somm summicron lens a+s,200 vaLver AL-HDX Panasonic oom) bo? New! ‘AG-HVX200 900 ‘-s0xs00 Also av New! SONY FORUM Se aiiefecnearees || gm a ee le mene sonyEIHI Caton XL H1 Fae wisetmtee | SVG evrnou on Sirti btnconstructs for the long journey to finally got to color-correct an effects Krypton, For the 1978 film film the way] wanted to” notes Sigel. Superman, cinematographer Geofirey “Once the picture was fairly locked, I Unsworth, BSC photographed the asked for that version of the cut tobe superhero's redoubt in cool, icy-blue loaded into our DI suite at tones (AC Jan. 79), but Sigel took a Technicolor Digital Intermediates. different approach: “I wanted the Then I began to work with colorist lighting to endow the crystals, which Stephan Nakamura, even though ‘were actually fiberglass, with a sense most of the effects shots were only of life, a pulsing, breathing quality” temps. Thisallowed us to givealat of ‘The space pod was a partial build, feedback tothe visual-effects team as, with large sections created digitally. to how we wanted things to look, ‘To maximize shooting time, 30 10K and also identify problems eatly on. tungsten lamps were positioned high We even made ‘mini-LUTS for indi- and low around the set to create vidual shots so the visual-effects specific raking and Y-backlight vendors could apply them to their angles, which brought out the texture work. As more effects were finished, of the scoured and beaded surfaces. we'd update the reel, and then go ‘These lamps were wired to execute aback over it again. slow dimming sequence that endowed the set with a sense that the exciting” he concludes. "I think we're crystals were “breathing” Additional about to move past the film vs. video Par cans were used to highlight debate into something more inter- certain areas of the set. esting. how will we evolve this “With Superman Returns, 1 unique language of the motion “Using the Genesis was pretty picture in the future? After all, when cour ancestors were painting on the walls of their caves, did they ever imagine the crows of Van Gogh?” . VELL ‘The 12/K DayLite Fresnel Designed o meet he needs fin, Wain and ever frotessonals wre Feslios nel. A eeginoared fons even eiganamsenun cupu, sl prowced Enclose. Hah ficient cooing, oath tmp socks and ea mouroa gab barr ease ous hang. ‘Speccaly designs 5 Tungsten Hagen lamp ended for sca operatic. Features nee Iarongoabe esos, sul and tale ol cals te cstrmns lamp postin anda on board ssh win 6 mp Stage cmos and capa! gti fanetton ‘The 1.2K Dayiite Par CComeltty redesgrod aps usng standard 12 SE HMICSR bp Fess Ino: Visual and tet cal nds “nay cee, wit tached spl gar, es) wn urestied 300" son ad spect Hntweigt costco[LUT] and dumped our dailies right into the Avid, but because I knew I ‘would be using many of the tools of the digital intermediate (DI), 1 wanted to grade the dailies so they ‘would more closely reflect the final product. Every director falls in love with his work print, and knowing Bryan would be living with this ‘material for months in the editing oom, I wanted him to be comfort- able with the final look. Also, 1 wanted to give the visual-effects team a general guide so they could ‘make sure their work didn't conflict ‘with the picture's overall look” All data was recorded to Sony SRW-I decks. “Our original camera tapes the digital ‘negative? went to “The Gatting Edge in Sydney, and an archival/security copy was immedi- ately made” says Sigel. “Then our colorist, Trish Cabill, would apply our grad= based on what wed ‘worked out in preproduction and ‘my color-corrected digital stills, ‘which I sent her every day. Then ‘zudio would be added and an Avid copy would be made, and the next day we'd look at the dailies during lunch in our screening room, where ‘they were projected with a 2K Barco projector. The projection quality was amazing” Sigel made all of his lighting decisions with his own high-defini- tion (HD) monitor, a process he likens to learning a new film stock. “The Genesis exists in log space, but ‘because you're watching the footage on 2 CRT monitor that is video space, you're not seeing the full Gynamic range. I was looking at a slightly compressed image that was a Title flat, certainly not as ctisp and ssubtiy beautiful as it would be in its nal form. So I had to learn how to ‘translate what [saw on a monitor to ‘what I knew would be projected on HD and seen in the release prints” ‘Conway describes Sigel as a “very {gutsy cinematographer. On set, he'll let areas of the frame drop off to black, but you know there's going to be plenty of detail in the dailies. We dln’ really use any fill on ths films Tom just let the soft light wrap around to create contrast” Conway also found the process of lighting from the moni- tor to be beneficial. The monitor ‘was set up next to the remote-head controls in a black, lightproof tent fon the soundstage. “Gaffers don't get alot oftime looking through the Jens says Conway. “On this movie, ‘once I knew Tom was happy with ‘the lighting, I was able to sit behind the monitor and carry out any ‘tweaks he wanted. It was like look- ing through the viewfinder all day, and it was a great learning experi- ence. I began to wonder how I ‘With the help of modem experiences the riracle of ight. ‘would go back to film!” “When we made the decision to go with Genesis, all that existed was a. prototype,” says Sigel. “Panavision assured me we would have seven cameras by the time we began, and I took them at their ‘word. In hindsight, I think I must've been out of my mind. There were still alot of things we had to work out, like power ports, accessory handles and viewfinders. For the fist few weeks, it felt like we were stil building the camera, but it was fin to have that kind of input and see" Panavision try to respond. “We did run into one strange technical problem)” continues the cinematographer. “About halfiway ‘American Cinematographer 35Hero Shots Superman, confronts his destiny — and his archnomes's spectacular ‘setings. 40 duly 2006 the quality of light you get from a helium balloon, while avoiding the cost of the helium and potential ‘weather problems” Each moonbox was a six-sided half-sphere contain- ing 30K panels of Par cans. Each panel was diffused with Hard Grideloth, and the whole structure was hard-mounted to the end of a construction crane. “These lights could withstand 25- to 30-knot winds and provided an am of T2 to T2.8? says Conway. “To give the light some shape, we could turn any combination of the sicpanels on or off” The boxes were originally intended as an ambient source, but Sigel was so impressed with them he also used them as backlight sources for night exteriors. The Kent farm is also the scene of Superman's spectacular return — his space pod tears a scorched trench in the ground as Martha Kent watches from her kitchen. The sequence was originally filmed on the Tamworth location. As the pod hurtls over the house, hard, rapidly moving shadows flicker rt evelHero Shots Amore han ‘The large volume of visual eae effects required for Superman rigwas used to Returns was another reason the flm- ‘whisk young makers chose a digital format. In cance fact, much of Sigel’s prep time was devoted to working out the details of the effects sequences, an aspect of filmmaking that he b continually expanding the cine- matographers role. “In effect, youre shooting your film several times over now? he observes. “l like to be very involved in how scenes are blocked and how the camerawork is choreo- graphed. The aesthetics and techni- cal restrictions of visual effects havea hhuge influence over how the final film is going to look, and the more preconceived notions there are about a scene or sequence, the less exciting it can be for a cinematographer to shoot. But whether you like itor not, its the way these type of movies are made?” Digital previsualization was used extensively during the prep phase, and not just for complex action sequences. Sigel explains, “Bryan's use of previz is certainly extensive and elaborate, but it doesn’t dictate the way we shoot. Instead, he uses its an extension of the writing process. Many ofthe guys ‘who work in the previz department are comic-book and computer-game aficionados, and they'll often. give Bryan suggestions” For Sige, previz is best used with discretion, “There were times when I respected the previz, such as the flying scenes, which take place ina virtual environ- ‘ment. But for scenes involving the actors interacting in a physical envi- ronment, I tended to use the previz as a reference only if something wasn’t working” Given the heavy visual-efects load for Superman Returns Sigel sav no reason to change’ the Genesis! intemal menu settings. “I did as ite electronic manipulation. as possible in camera to allows us the greatest range in post” he says, “We could've created one overall look-up table 34 July 2006Hero Shots Right The crew captures the landing of Superman's space pod, ‘which transports him to Earth from his home planet of Krypton. This pat of fi pickups of Martha Kent watching from her kitchen ‘were captured lator at Fox Studios in ‘Sydney. Below: ‘the Fox facility 38 July 2006 aperture of the windows, the soft light provided plenty of contrast.” To create the illusion of the plane spin- ning out of control, Conway and his crew positioned rows of 20Ks just above the windows and programmed them for a chase sequence. Conway explains, “The 20Ks gave us a hard-sunlight effet coming through the windows, and by chasing the light in prearranged windows, w plane spinning, Every one of the practical lamps inside the cabin was cabled to the dimmer because at one point, the power had to flicker and then go out altogether. That changed the ambience inside, and it changes yet again when the plane begins to leave Earth’s atmosphere.” No film about Superman FF would be complete without Kent Farm, the site of his original arrival on Earth. For Superman Returns, this setting, complete with a house, a barn and a specially grown field of corn, was constructed near the town of Tamworth, which is located in northern New South Wales. In an unusual step, the Kent house was constructed to facilitate the shooting of both exterior and interior scenes Featuring working power outlets, the house was raised off the ground to accommodate the mass of light: ing cables that ran to the dimmer room, which was disguised as the Kents’ woodshed, Tamworth proved to be an ideal location not only for normal day exteriors, but also for sunset shots. “Tamworth has a totally just fied reputation for its sunsets — they are some of the most beautiful Pe ever seen,” says Sigel. At the beginning of the Superman Returns schedule, the filmmakers capitalized con this by shooting a series: of sunrises and sunsets, capturing the last rays of sunlight as they disap- peared over the horizon. These shots were later intercut with exteriorey of Warner Superman Returns.“There have been many permutations, some good and ‘some perhaps corny, but the mythol- ogy has endured” Directed by Bryan Singer, Superman Returns presents a faitly introspective superhero. Searching for his place in the universe, Superman (Brandon Routh) travels back to his home planet of Krypton, now a barren, lifeless husk. When ‘our hero finally returns to Earth, several years have passed, and Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint) is thinking of selling the family farm. Meanwhile back in Metropolis, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) appears to have moved on with her life. “I approached this film the same as T would any other character piece” says Sigel. "This particular story just happens to feature a protagonist who wears his underwear on the outside and can fy” In formulating his approach to the project, Sigel strove to combine the script’s thematic concerns with aesthetic flourishes from comicbooks.“The general look ‘was determined by the themes and. characters, as it would be on any film. However, a large part of the look also came from the translation of comic-book art into three-dimen- sional space and movement. Consequently, the picture features very graphic, elegant compositions, and there's a vibrancy to the colors that pushes the envelope of what is real. I wanted to create a look that ‘would be naturalistic but also have a painterly illustrative quality that pays respect tothe paint-and-ink drawing of the original comics. The color scheme is not asstrongas the hues in some other films adapted from ‘comics, such as Dick Tracy [see AC May’91], but our overall use of color does provide a different type of image quality. Superman Returns creates a sense of nostalgia through the use of golds yellows and bronzes in both the production design and lighting. I also bent this scheme a little in the grading to create aslightly more pastel, less photo-realistic look” Singer also wanted the filn’s visuals to pay homage to comic books of the 1940s, “They had a distinctly romantic quality, and that ‘was a definite visual motif Tom and I discussed for te film,’ says the direc tor This sense of romance is partcu- Opposite: turing to Earth atter an extended absonce, (Brandon Routh) safeguards “uth, justice and the platform, andthe Genesis is great for that" he says ‘American Cinematographer 2