American Cinematographer - November 2008 - (Page 33)

tronic shutter in the F900Rs with the other two camera models; through testing, Stump determined that a black burst signal would lock the F900Rs into sync. Additionally, Stump had to determine exactly how each camera’s sync signal related to its exposure. “When dealing with the F900, I couldn’t use a strobe gun to determine shutter sync because there is no mechanical shutter,” he details. “Instead, I pointed one of the F900Rs right down the pipe of a Dalsa camera with no lens on it. By watching the Dalsa shutter through the F900, I observed the sync relationship of black burst to various shutter angles on the F900 and was able to determine that black burst always happens at one end of the accumulation cycle of the image. That gave me a locking relationship for that signal, so I shuttered the F900 down to 1⁄1000 of a second and looked down the pipe of the Dalsas and the 435 to see how they shuttered in relationship to their various signals. Over the course of two days of prep, I was able to dial in mechanical and electronic offsets for all three types of cameras so the center shutter would be open in sync for all the cameras.” Once he understood those model-to-model relationships, Stump employed an Evertz 5600 World Clock, which takes atomically correct time via GPS from a cesium clock in Colorado; the World Clock served as the heartbeat generator for the sync signal for every camera. Utilizing a Dalsa sync hub, several Lockit sync generators and a host of amplifiers, Stump and his Digital Imaging Technician, Joe DiGennaro, sent out SMPTE time code, black burst and a TTL pulse. “For any cameraman — effects or otherwise — the prospect of working on a Bond film is a dream come true,” Stump concludes. “It’s the greatest flattery just to be hired to work on one of these films. This was my crack at it, and I had a great time!” — Jay Holben the actors, but it’s just awful for the lighting, and it’s a challenge to keep each camera out of the other’s shot. With two cameras, I’d rather shoot two different focal lengths from the same direction, but then the sound department says it can’t get a microphone in for the tight shot because you’re shooting wide as well. Of course, [sound] is the last thing you think about as a cinematographer, but I try to help them, and I have a good relationship with [production sound mixer] Chris Munro.” Since Monster’s Ball (2001), Schaefer and Forster have made a habit of setting aside several weeks during prep to draw up detailed schematics of how they intend to shoot every single scene. “On the blueprint of a location, I’ll draw in the camera position and direction, specifying the lens and the shot number,” explains the cinematographer. “Next to that will be a list describing the shot from beginning to end; if there’s a dolly, I’ll mark the tracks, or if there’s a crane, I’ll show the movement. It’s like a storyboard that uses overhead schematics instead of pictures.” These schematics become a guidebook for the entire shoot, and copies of the pages relevant to each day’s filming are circulated with the daily call sheets. “It’s a very good way of working because we communicate to the crew exactly what we want,” says Forster. “Our first assistant director can use the pages to do a lot of the logistical planning, and that gives me time to work with the actors.” Schaefer describes the preparation as “more mentally exhausting than the shoot, just because it’s such a feat of imagination and memory to sit in a room and map out every different angle and shot of every different location. But it pays off. “Of course, being in the actual space can throw up new perspectives or problems, so we do sometimes stray from our plans,” he continues. “If I see an angle or a camera move Left: Custom rigs provided by the Woodland Hills company Go Stunts (and built by chief operator and rigger Pat Daily) were used for several major sequences. In Siena, Italy, the rig shown here was used to capture an establishing shot of Bond’s Aston Martin driving up a hilly street. The rig was suspended from a crane that extended 150' in the air, and also had another contact point on the ground. The entire rig could travel parallel to the street, allowing the filmmakers to capture a traveling shot of the car from roughly a foot or so off the ground; then, to establish the surroundings, the camera ascended 110' into the air. Below: An equally inventive car rig helped the filmmakers shoot a highspeed chase. British key grip Kenny Atherfold constructed the truss rig from very light material to help the second unit capture tight shots of Bond in his Aston Martin. American Cinematographer 33

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American Cinematographer - November 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Letters Short Takes Production Slate Forging a Bond The Making of a President Thunder Down Under Habitat for Inhumanity Saluting Television’s Top Talents Post Focus New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up

American Cinematographer - November 2008

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