American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 4

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

SEE AND HEAR MORE CINEMATOGRAPHY COVERAGE AT WWW.THEASC.COM

Left: Ip Man (Tony Leung)
readies himself for another
round of martial-arts action.
Right: Cinematographer
Philippe Le Sourd lines up
a shot.

In an exclusive podcast, Philippe Le Sourd will discuss his work on Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster, which earned ASC
and Academy Award nominations. The movie tells the story of Ip Man, the martial-arts expert who trained Bruce Lee.

THIS MONTH'S ONLINE QUESTION: Which martial-arts movies have wowed you with their cinematography?

Sridhar Reddy: "Derek Wan's camera on Gordon Chan's Fist of Legend. Beautifully lit and
Shady Grady: "Hero and Unleashed."
composed throughout. A seamless blend of
frame rates and movement, the camera and
Joshua King: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drag- lighting never once compete with the action;
on."
rather, they provide a rock-solid foundation for
Yuen Wo-Ping's insanely powerful choreograLee J. Tamer: "The first Matrix was like nothing phy."
I had ever seen."
Jeff Ryan Carlson: "Hero with Jet Li - the first
Chris Mooney: "The Raid."
time I understood completely why color is important onscreen."
David E. Williams: "There are so many great
ones, but Peter Pau's work in Crouching Tiger, Sue Lawson: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Hidden Dragon is truly great. (And you should was a work of art."
also check out his cinematography in The Bride
with White Hair.)"
Andrew Henderson: "The Protector. The cinematography of Nattawut Kittikhun has a 3Douglas Adam Ferguson: "Bichunmoo, Fear- minute-plus tracking shot as the main character
less and Ashes of Time Redux."
[played by Tony Jaa] ascends a huge staircase
fighting off goons. This scene is nothing short of
Benoit Lelievre: "Big Trouble in Little China." perfection; imagining the amount of choreography that went into its making is a marvel in
William Mank: "Hero. Christopher Doyle's cine- itself."
matography was some of the best I had ever
seen! He showed us the fantastic use of sym- Rajendra Biswas: "Hero, The Matrix, The Banmetrical and asymmetrical balance in a frame." quet, Tom yum goong."

Robert Alterman: "Iron Monkey. Nice camera
angles, fun action sequences. Groundbreaking
work."
Edward Ybarbo: "Kill Bill 1 and 2 [with cinematography by] Robert Richardson, ASC - so
poetic, relentless and brutal."
Michael Wa Re: "Arthur Wong [helped establish] a new vocabulary, along with Yuen Wo-ping
and Tsui Hark, in the Wong Fei-hung series.
Wong made the camera move and glide in endless shifting planes of motion, graceful but catching the power inherent to the style of Wushu."
Dan Lam: "I agree with Michael Wa Re. Arthur
Wong is a pioneer in the martial arts/wire-fu
genre in Hong Kong. He's done everything from
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin to the majority of
Jackie Chan's and Jet Li's filmographies. He
shoots to edit and his widescreen compositions
are exquisite. Once Upon a Time in China, Operation Condor, New Dragon Gate Inn and Miracles are great examples of his craft."

To read more replies, visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AmericanCinematographer

Frame grab and photo courtesy of The Weinstein Co.

Danny Habany: "House of Flying Daggers."

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American Cinematographer - March 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 2014