American Cinematographer - May 2012 - 63

Here is a rundown of the evening’s honorees: Technical Achievement Award (Academy certificate presented for accomplishments that contribute to the progress of the industry.) Andrew Clinton and Mark Elendt for the invention and integration of micro-voxels in Mantra software. This work allowed, for the first time, unified and efficient rendering of volumetric effects such as smoke and clouds, together with other CG objects, in a micro-polygon imaging pipeline. Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy plaques presented for achievements that exhibit a high level of engineering and are important to the progress of the industry.) Radu Corlan, Andy Jantzen, Petru Pop and Richard Toftness for the design and engineering of the Phantom family of high-speed digital cameras. The Phantom line, including the Phantom Flex and HD Gold, provide imagery at speeds and efficacy surpassing photochemical technology, while seamlessly intercutting with film material. Dr. Jürgen Noffke for the optical design and Uwe Weber for the mechanical design of the Arri/Zeiss Master Prime Lenses, which comprise 16 prime lenses from 12mm to 150mm, including 100mm macro. Each features a unique, high-performance optical design with dual floating elements that can deliver excellent close-focus optical performance with virtually no breathing. The Master Primes have achieved a full stop advance in speed over existing lenses while maintaining state-of-the-art optical quality. This lens family was also the first to eliminate the magnification change that accompanied extreme focus shifts.

Left to right: Kraus, Riedel and Steurer accept the Academy Award of Merit for the design and development of the Arrilaser Film Recorder.

Photos by Todd Wawrychuk, Bryan Crowe and Greg Harbaugh, courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Michael Lewis, Greg Marsden, Raigo Alas and Michael Vellekoop for the concept, design and implementation of the Pictorvision Eclipse, an electronically stabilized aerial camera platform. The Eclipse uses an inertial navigation system and active servos in a five-axis configuration. So that the axes are used for steering, pan and tilt, the other three are mounted within the steering cradle to stabilize the camera. The system allows cinematographers to capture aerial footage at faster flying speeds with aggressive platform maneuvering. ASC Associate E.F. “Bob” Nettmann for the concept and system archi-tecture, Michael Sayovitz for the electronic packaging and integration, Brad Fritzel for the electronic engineering, and Fred Miller for the mechanical engineering of the Stab-C Classic, Super-G and Stab-C Compact stabilizing heads. This family of fiveaxis camera and lens stabilizers allows any standard motion-picture camera to be fitted into the open architecture of the structure. The system can be quickly balanced and made ready for shooting platforms such as helicopters, boats, camera cars or cranes.

John D. Lowry, Ian Cavén, Ian Godin, Kimball Thurston and Tim Connolly for the development of a unique and efficient system for the reduction of noise and other image artifacts. The Lowry Process uses advanced, GPU-accelerated, motion estimationbased image-processing tools to enhance image quality. Fujifilm Corp., Hideyuki Shirai, Katsuhisa Oozeki and Hiroshi Hirano for the design and development of Fujifilm black-and-white recording film Eterna-RDS 4791 for use in the archival preservation of film and digital images. Academy Award of Merit (Oscar statuette, signifying achievements that demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.) Franz Kraus, Johannes Steurer and Wolfgang Riedel for the design and development of the Arrilaser Film Recorder, a compact, user-friendly, low-maintenance device that also maintains outstanding speed, exposure ratings and image quality.

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American Cinematographer - May 2012

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