American Cinematographer - March 2008 - (Page 35)

described in the script. I wanted pools of hard sunlight through the branches, and the only way to do that was through a battery of 20K fixtures that we could turn on or off as needed.” “We were pulling about 2 megawatts of power into that stage,” notes Courteau. “We decided to run 600-volt power from two 1,500-amp generators because of the sheer amount of power we needed. If we’d run the standard 208 voltage, I can’t imagine how much cable and how many generators we would have needed to power the whole stage. We brought in 600 volts and then used step-down transformers to convert that to usable voltage for the fixtures.” The production’s footage was processed by Technicolor Montreal, and the filmmakers viewed projected HDCam dailies. “HD is a pain in the ass,” says Deschanel. “You really can’t tell anything about color, and although you can see focus, there are times when things look out of focus on HD but are fine on the print. You can’t be absolutely sure of anything on HD. “In the days when you had film printed, people at the lab would sit and watch your footage and call you about any problems — they always had your back,” he continues. “Nowadays, you’re lucky if someone is even in the room when the dailies are transferred. There’s little communication, and that’s something I miss.” For several years, Deschanel has used his Nikon digital camera to shoot RAW images on set and then taken them into Photoshop at the end of the day to make sure he’s getting what he wants. “A lot of cinematographers are doing something similar, and I’ve been doing it on every movie since The Patriot [AC June ’01]. If nothing else, it gives you a solid reference later on for what you were thinking at the time.” Surveying his work on Spiderwick, Deschanel declares that despite the production’s difficulties, he is pleased with the result. “We certainly had our challenges, but at the end of the day, I think we got the sense of magic we were going for.” I TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 Super 35mm Panaflex Platinum, Millennium XL Primo lenses Kodak Vision2 200T 5217, 500T 5218 Digital Intermediate Printed on Kodak Vision 2383 35 http://www.k5600.com http://www.k5600.com

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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