American Cinematographer - August 2008 - (Page 60) An Eye-Popping Adventure Right: Director of photography Chuck Schuman directs the lighting of a terrain set. Below: For the magical world that lies deep beneath the Earth’s surface, the filmmakers created a variety of “natural” light. collaboration with director James Cameron, created the Reality Camera System, a stereoscopic rig used on Cameron’s large-format projects Ghosts of the Abyss (AC July ’03) and Aliens of the Deep (AC March ’05). “Pace’s equipment was the most advanced at the time for what we wanted to do,” explains Schuman. “The system was compact, and they had worked out the electronics for remote operation of the camera assets, as well as the workflow. It was a very mature system.” Brevig and Schuman also had a history with Pace: they had worked together on Cameron’s The Abyss (AC May ’90). The Pace rig had been used for segments of the 2003 feature Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, but it had not been used throughout a featurelength shoot, and certain adaptations needed to be made. “We insisted that none of the high-tech equipment hinder normal production techniques on the set,” says Brevig. That meant, among other things, that the camera system would have to be small enough to work on cranes and Steadicam rigs. The Pace rig can accommodate film and digital cameras, and the team behind Journey opted to shoot in 24p high-definition (HD) video, in part to take advantage of the greater stability of the digital image. “Film is very fragile for movies that have to be perfect twice,” notes Marsh. “On the projected film image, there’s weave, and in a 3-D presentation, both eyes have to track weave independently. 60 August 2008
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