American Cinematographer - April 2010 - 87

Queensland’s history,” recalls Milliss. For interviews, she used the P+S Technik rig with two SI-2Ks and Fujinon E-series lenses. “Mark’s interview aesthetics are wide-frame frontal compositions of the subject in their environment,” she notes. “We talked about Peter Greenaway’s early work, particularly Act of God for the boldness and humor of its interviews. An interview is not traditional 3-D fare, but the third dimension helps to create the most wonderfully intimate portrait. The audience feels they’re right in the subject’s home — that they could lean over and peer into the next room. It’s important to consider the effect of the interaxial on the subject; for instance, an IA that is pleasingly slimming for one person might be unkind to someone else’s nose.” A Block 3 sequence titled “Creatures of Love” details the toad’s breeding cycle. Nichola combined exterior location footage with intricate

macro tabletop work. Filmed on location in Mullumbimby, New South Wales, the scene was established with a crane shot revealing a male toad sunning itself on a lily pad, then swimming through the water, all the while bathed in strong sunlight provided by gold reflectors and mirrors. A female toad, meanwhile, lies in wait on a bed of water-flowers. Glittering reflections from the water provided highlights appropriate to the romance of the scene. The tadpoles, which are only 10mm long, were shot on a 4'-square tabletop “stage” in the studio, with a blue backlight cyc replicating the location’s clear blue sky. Sunlight was recreated with a Par 575, while LEDs provided the fill. “In the studio, I increased the lighting levels to keep the depth-of-field looking consistent,” notes Nichola. “On a wider shot, the depth would take care of itself, and when I went in on longer lenses, I’d build the stop up.”

Using Silicon’s DVR software, the footage from the SI-2Ks was fed into two Dell laptops — one for the right eye and one for the left — and recorded onto 1-terabyte USB drives. HDMI splitters provided monitoring back to the cameras. “We constructed our own 1280x720 OLED screens to accurately determine focus,” explains Nichola. “I also built a 3-D monitor, which we called the ‘shoebox monitor.’ It was a very simple system using two high-resolution LCD screens reflecting into mirrors placed at 45 degrees. The images became overlaid, providing a 3D effect without glasses.” The picture was graded by Adrian Hauser at Cutting Edge Post in Sydney. “Adrian did an extraordinary job, especially considering that we never tested the post path all the way through,” says Lewis. — Simon Gray ●

Innovative LED Lighting Solutions

karesslite 6006
R

kelvin TILE
R

karesslite 6012
R

See these and other cutting edge Gekko products on the PRG booth at NAB 2010.

www.gekkotechnology.com
87

http://www.gekkotechnology.com

American Cinematographer - April 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - April 2010