American Cinematographer - March 2008 - (Page 12)

Top two photos: Performers Weba Garretson and Ellis Williams are drenched with water on the set to symbolize the spirit’s transition between life and death. Third photo: Installation views of the actors as they appear on two of the church’s altars. Bottom: The two-camera configuration for Ocean Without a Shore, containing the HD camera and the small yellow “Grainycam” on the right. photograph ghosts, it would look just like that.” With the surveillance camera used to create the effect of a single ghostly figure emerging from darkness, a Sony HDW-F950 would capture the spirit’s transition into flesh after it pierces the proverbial veil between life and death — the veil is represented by a transparent wall of cascading water. To orient the two cameras so they could shoot the same image, Dawson sent Brian Garbellini, his longtime assistant and camera technician, to Pace HD in Burbank. Pace’s engineers devised a solution that 12 March 2008 worked in a similar fashion to the company’s 3-D camera systems, creating a custom rig that oriented the surveillance camera on top of the F-950 at a 45-degree angle. The “Grainycam,” as it came to be called, is aimed at a beam-splitter with the HD camera shooting straight through the beam-splitter’s glass mirror (where both images are aligned). The rig was mounted sideways, creating a 19x6 aspect ratio. Viola wanted each image to look as similar as possible, so both cameras were outfitted with the same HD zoom lenses, and a motioncontrol rig was employed. As the ghostly figures approached, the motion-control rig dollied back and landed in a final frame that was adjusted for each actor’s size and distance from the lens. Footage was recorded on separate decks, HDCam SR for the F-950, and DVCam for the surveillance camera. (In post, the DVCam footage was up-rezzed and cropped to match the 60i 1920x1080 resolution and 16x9 aspect ratio of the HDCam footage.) “Thanks to a great team led by [producer] Genevieve Anderson, the shooting of all 32 performers was completed in record time,” notes Viola. During the post phase, the filmmakers discovered that because the surveillance-camera image came from an analog source, it was subject to distortions; the picture would streak, stretch and condense in various places. Along with a small team of assistant editors, Pete combed through each sequence, realigning and stretching the disparate digital images into a more identical relationship with each other. The complex transitions between the cameras were created in one of LaserPacific’s linear bays, allowing Viola and Pete to work in real time. Using a Sony DME-7000 switcher between two HDCam SR decks, Pete used simple picture wipes to matte out the Grainycam footage, revealing the HD image underneath. “It was a bit like burning and dodg-

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 2008

American Cinematographer - March 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Short Takes: Bill Viola’s Ocean Without a Shore Production Slate: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days Production Slate: Chantal: A Night at the Pyramids Magical Mystery Tour Some Kind of Monster Tantalizing Television Making Sitcoms “Sexy” Post Focus: Mega Playground Helps Set Look for Sibling Post Focus: Visual Effects Society Launches White Paper New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index In Memoriam: John McPherson, ASC ASC Membership Roster Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Wayne Kennan

American Cinematographer - March 2008

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