American Cinematographer - April 2012 - 17

— though it was difficult to monitor the takes while steering. “We had to pick and choose our moments afterwards,” says Cunningham. “Once [the sled] started weaving around trees, the image bobbled a little bit, but over powder the shots were quite smooth.” The cinematographer gives high marks to the Epics for their performance under adverse conditions. Although the extreme cold occasionally affected the cameras’ back focus, requiring some minor flange adjustments, “we didn’t have any major gear issues at all,” he says. Lenses were kept as close to the outside temperature as possible to avoid fogging. “I think our tripod suffered more abuse than any of the cameras,” he adds. Cunningham notes that 1st AC Justin Watson was “tireless. The gear was always clean, prepped and ready for the extreme conditions. And props for pulling focus on a 200mm lens with a sled coming at us at 60 mph!” Because of the locations’ remoteness, finding success meant coming

Sled rider Brian Harmon awaits the next take as Cunningham (background right) adjusts a camera.

prepared with plenty of extra recording media (eight RedMag SSD 128GB cards and dozens of 4GB CF cards), batteries (there was no generator power), and hand- and foot-warmers, not to mention a strong sense of one’s surroundings. “We gather more experience every time we do this,” Cunningham observes. “We’re learning how to ride the sleds better and getting a better sense of when and where to be. Because we were comfortable in the envi-

ronment, we were able to get the kind of shots Polaris expects.” Cunningham also expects a lot. “Every year we’ve managed to top ourselves,” he says. “There’s been some talk about what we’re going to do next year, but there are other sled companies that are closely watching what we’re doing, so you’ll just have to stay tuned!” ●

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American Cinematographer - April 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - April 2012