American Cinematographer - April 2008 - (Page 32)

Card Sharks scenes with banks of 4-by-4 Kino Flos in a softbox and skirted the light carefully off the walls. “For the Vegas portion, I did whatever I could to bring forth the unnatural and fabricated energy of the casinos, those colors you find nowhere else in the world, and record that energy as it exists.” After scouting the Vegas locations, Carpenter decided to use Panavision’s hi-def Genesis camera to shoot the project. “I wanted to be true to those large, low-light locations rather than overpower them with film lighting, and I thought the Genesis would be a great tool to accomplish that,” he says. “Also, I knew I wanted to shoot with extremely long lenses and very wide apertures, and the ability to immediately see the image on a large HD screen and know I had the focus and the shot I needed was very appealing. I’ve done some work with other digital cameras, but I have a very strong relationship with Panavision, so we were inclined to go with the Genesis.” Noting that he was a “digital virgin” before 21, Carpenter says the Genesis system integrated seamlessly with his usual methods. “It works so much like a film camera you hardly notice a difference,” he remarks. “Although using the Genesis allowed me to get some great images with very little supplemental lighting, digital is not a free ride,” he observes. “You still have to do what you do on every job as a cinematographer: shape the light and create movement and compositions that serve the story and the director’s wishes. We shot with a lot of existing light in our Vegas casino interiors, but I always had a little something there to shape the light on the actors’ faces just right. Our goal was to capture the energy of Vegas as it really is and then augment just slightly.” He notes that key grip Phil Sloan was often busy taking away ambient lighting that did not “make sense” or serve the actors. “We also used a bit of negative fill,” he adds. Above and right: Two cameras catch the action during Rosa’s riveting lecture on advanced mathematical theory. Bottom: The grips maneuver a large frame of 1⁄2 Soft Frost as Benjamin walks to class. Carpenter explains, “It looks like direct sunlight, but [the Soft Frost] diffuses the light enough to blend the shadows. It gives the scene a very pleasing look, but it’s still realistic.” 32 April 2008

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

American Cinematographer - April 2008 Contents Editor's Note Global Village: The Counterfeiters Short Takes: Milia Production Slate: Paranoid Park Production Slate: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Card Sharks Temple of Doom 3-D Cinematography Sundance 2008: Mining for Movies Post Focus: Digital Film Tree Gets into Peyote Post Focus: FotoKem’s 3-D Workflow Post Focus: Technicolor Digs in at Pinewood Filmmakers’ Forum: Steven Fierberg, ASC on Searchers 2.0 New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Rodney Taylor

American Cinematographer - April 2008

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