American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 8

Editor’s Note
Our annual focus on international production takes us all over the world, chronicling projects that passed through more than two dozen countries. On The Bourne Legacy, Robert Elswit, ASC led his crew through Canada, South Korea, the Philippines and the United States. To coordinate the complex logistics, he hired separate gaffers for the three main locations: Andy Day in New York, Burton Kuchera in Alberta and Cory Geryak in Manila. “We had to have a lot of equipment in Manila for both the first and second units,” Elswit tells Michael Goldman (“Natural Bourne Killer,” page 32). “I did the location scout and preliminary scouting in Manila with Cory, and then I left to start the shoot in New York. Cory returned to Manila and got everything ready. By the time I got to Canada, we were ready to pre-light and go right to work in Manila.” Shooting in four countries probably seems like a cakewalk to director/cinematographer Ron Fricke and his crew, who traveled to 25 nations over five years for the 65mm documentary Samsara, which combines sweeping imagery with philosophical insights. Fricke feels his movie belongs in a genre he calls “impossible films — non-verbal films that sustain themselves only on images and music.” He adds, “Because there are no actors, the image becomes the main character. We wanted to capture the essence of the people and places we were photographing, and a 65mm camera is the best tool to do that.” Our coverage, penned by Iain Stasukevich (“Around the World in 65mm,” page 46), offers a definitive overview. This month’s Production Slate presents articles on two more projects that required international passports: the documentary Side by Side, which elicits prominent filmmakers’ thoughts on the industry’s seismic transition to digital technology, and World Without End, a sweeping historical drama shot mainly in Hungary by Denis Crossan, BSC. While shooting the 3-D stop-motion feature ParaNorman, cinematographer Tristan Oliver probably would have relished some travel to escape the confines of the Laika animation studio in Portland, Ore., where he and his crew holed up for nearly two years while meticulously crafting their whimsical movie. The art of stop motion, he muses, is “the same the world over, really: a very large shed full of tired-looking people and lots of small things.” Senior editor Rachael Bosley flew north to observe Oliver in his supernatural habitat (“Hair-Raising Heroics,” page 62). Jay Holben’s article “Optimizing Digital-Camera Workflows” (page 78) reports on the Image Control Assessment Series, a remarkable collaboration between the ASC and the Producers Guild of America that also involved members of IATSE, SAG, the DGA and the Teamsters, as well as various camera manufacturers, production and post facilities. A follow-up to the 2009 Camera Assessment Series, ICAS assesses the workflows of top digital cameras in an attempt to establish industry-wide standards for image control. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all world anymore,” says ASC member David Stump, who helped Society President Stephen Lighthill supervise the project’s cinematography team. “You can mix and match cameras, and each production has the right to expect that they can all be plugged into one timeline for post. Until every post facility can do that — and provide meaningful digital archiving — we are still facing a significant deficit in the post world.” Adds Lighthill, “As the production world is pushed and pulled by various technologies, this community will face more challenges and should be prepared to act together to achieve our common goals.”

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Stephen Pizzello Executive Editor

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
American Cinematographer - September 2012

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