American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 14

Top: The crew prepares to shoot with an Ultimate Arm mounted atop a Mercedes SUV. Middle: The production’s Arri Alexa was mounted to car hoods for certain setups. Bottom: Gavras (left) checks on M.I.A. between takes.

hop tropes. Chemetoff admits their approach falls “a little on the obvious side of the hip-hop treatment,” but rather than directly reference other videos, the intent was “to more or less represent hip-hop culture as a whole.” The video weaves M.I.A.’s glossy performances with the kinetic Al-Tafheet. On a road on the outskirts of town, lowslung cars spin within inches of each other at high speeds; they tip up on two wheels, and stuntmen cling to open doors while surfing the tarmac on Teflon soles. “I got the idea from Maya,” says Gavras. “We’d been thinking about it since ‘Born Free.’ The challenge was to set those stunts in a pop video and make them epic, iconic and poetic.” “Those drivers put their lives in danger for a thrill, but it’s very beautiful to watch, very much like a dangerous dance,” says the cinematographer. The stunts and cars for “Bad Girls” were provided by French stunt company Cine Cascade and coordinated by Patrick Ronchin. Prior to arriving in Morocco, Chemetoff and Gavras rehearsed the stunts with the Cine Cascade team on a professional track just outside Paris. Once on location, with the extras and the B camera (operated by Debackere) positioned a safe distance from the road, Chemetoff, Veron, camera operator James Swanson, crane operator Clayton Young and driver Lutz Schleisner piled into an Ultimate Arm-equipped Mercedes ML and spent three days following, leading and overtaking the stunt cars from every possible angle. “I’ve used the Ultimate Arm before, so I was comfy with the kinds of shots I could achieve with it,” says Chemetoff. He controlled the Arri Fujinon Alura and called the shots from a monitor in the backseat. “It’s like being on a dolly that’s going crazy fast. The driver is the dolly grip, the arm operator is jibbing all around, and the camera operator is giving directions to these guys. It took a lot of teamwork.” The A-camera stop was set between T8-T11 in order to achieve a wide depth-of-field. Chemetoff explains, “With these kinds of stunts, you don’t want the shot to go soft, particularly when Maya’s
American Cinematographer

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May 2012



American Cinematographer - May 2012

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

American Cinematographer - May 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls”
Production Slate: Person of Interest • The Raven
Harsh Realms
Wild Passion
Tales of Ordinary Madness
Top of Their Class
Center Stage for Cinematographers
Post Focus: Technicolor Restores Wings
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
In Memoria: Ric Waite, ASC; Herbert S. Alpert, ASC, CSC
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Darius Khondji
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - American Cinematographer - May 2012
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 1
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 2
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 3
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 5
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 6
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 7
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 9
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 11
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Short Takes: M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls”
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 13
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 14
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 15
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 16
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 17
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Production Slate: Person of Interest • The Raven
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 19
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 20
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 21
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 22
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 23
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 24
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 25
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 26
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 27
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 28
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 29
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 30
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 31
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Harsh Realms
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 33
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 34
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 35
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 36
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 37
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 38
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 39
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 40
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 41
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Wild Passion
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 43
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 44
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 45
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 46
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 47
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 48
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 49
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 50
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 51
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Tales of Ordinary Madness
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 53
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 54
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 55
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 56
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 57
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 58
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 59
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 60
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 61
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Top of Their Class
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 63
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 64
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 65
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 66
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 67
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 68
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Center Stage for Cinematographers
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 70
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 71
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 72
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 73
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 74
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 75
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 76
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 77
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 78
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 79
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 80
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 81
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Post Focus: Technicolor Restores Wings
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 83
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 84
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 85
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 86
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 87
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 89
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 90
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 91
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - In Memoria: Ric Waite, ASC; Herbert S. Alpert, ASC, CSC
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 96
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 97
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 99
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - ASC Close-Up: Darius Khondji
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - May 2012 - Cover4
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