American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 10

Your humble correspondent is banging out this column from a
soundproof suite at the fabulous Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas;
the occasion is day one of the annual NAB Show, where the
AC team is in the early throes of the existential dread that
Hunter S. Thompson famously dubbed "The Fear." No jury of
our peers would convict us for feeling this way as we face long
days of full immersion at the local convention center, where the
overstimulation - and labyrinthine layout - can make attendees feel as if they are trapped inside a giant, high-tech casino.
Throbbing temples and fallen arches are just two of the very
real perils we face while watching our pedometer stats rise to
marathon tallies, but this test of fortitude brings you bleedingedge reports on our industry's latest technological advances -
a handful of which you'll discover in this month's New Products & Services section (page 102),
with more to follow in upcoming issues and at theasc.com.
This month's summer-blockbuster issue features coverage of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
2, Alien: Covenant and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, as well as the Hulu
series The Handmaid's Tale, the Amazon original movie The Wall, the indie feature Sleight, and
the emotionally devastating documentary God Knows Where I Am, which I recently selected as
the winner of the annual American Cinematographer Award for cinematography at my hometown Salem Film Fest, staged every March in Massachusetts.
Assessing their work together on Guardians, Henry Braham, BSC and director James
Gunn give correspondent Mark Dillon a full account of their collaboration ("Cosmic Avengers,"
page 34), including core details on their work with the large-format Red Weapon 8K VV camera,
which Braham cites for its "groundbreaking potential."
Braham and Gunn were working together for the first time, but ASC member Dariusz
Wolski and director Ridley Scott were already trusted familiars before embarking on Alien:
Covenant, their fifth feature together. As Scott tells interviewer Jim Hemphill ("Paradise Lost,"
page 50), "Dariusz had worked with my son [on the short Loom] and my brother [on the
features Crimson Tide and The Fan], and I liked what I'd seen him do. I just thought he was a
total artist with the camera, and I need a cameraman who's not just technically strong, but visually strong. Dariusz is top of the field; his personality, knowledge and eye are all absolutely at the
highest level."
Wolski's influence on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is acknowledged by his Society stablemate Paul Cameron, ASC, who set out to make his own mark on the fifth feature in
the series. "By nature you can't avoid certain scenes having similarities, such as night exteriors
of the ships lit by lanterns, and for that kind of thing I feel [Dariusz] and I share similar sensibilities,
lighting-wise," Cameron notes in a piece by Michael Goldman ("Shot Across the Bow," page
62). "But you will see some new, original looks in the movie - and then, because of the nature
of this story, there were certain things that we had to do differently."
ASC member Reed Morano wore her director's hat on The Handmaid's Tale ("Rules of
Engagement," page 80), and she enlisted the eye of cinematographer Colin Watkinson to help
achieve her vision: "I thought we could take the spectacle associated with Colin's work and the
emotional aspect associated with my work, and join forces to create something that is visually
striking and emotionally moving."

10

Stephen Pizzello
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Editor's Note
http://www.theasc.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2017
