American Cinematographer - November 2008 - (Page 41)

ized to check that they’re not headed in the wrong direction,” says Schaefer. “Just the other day, we did some additional debris, flames and smoke in the big explosion sequences where we couldn’t get the fire too close to Daniel. While we were shooting, we shot plates with a separate camera that was 4 stops underexposed so they had every detail in all the flames. We were delivered some effects that were too burned out, but we were able to bring [the look] back to where we wanted it. A lot of communication really helps you cut down on the surprises.” On set, Schaefer used a specially calibrated digital-stills camera to make exposures at the same T-stop he was using on the film cameras. “Every night, I would spend a couple of hours grading some representative stills, and I’d e-mail those to the dailies colorist and also post them to an FTP site,” he recalls. “The monitor in the grading suite was calibrated to match my monitor, and as soon as they timed the dailies, they would pull some stills and post them to the FTP so I could see the results. The dailies arrived on HDCam, and I had a calibrated 20" Sony CRT monitor that traveled with me almost everywhere. When I didn’t have that, I had a calibrated Sony SXRD projector, so I always saw dailies in the best possible quality. In a sense, they were even better than film dailies because the grade was closer to where my DI was going to end up than photochemical film dailies would have been.” Schaefer did most of the final grade at Company 3 in Santa Monica with colorist Stephen Nakamura, and he worked with Rob Pizzey at Soho Images in London on the preview grade. “Stephen came over to London with an engineer to make sure everything was set up properly,” notes Schaefer. “They calibrated the system at Soho Images to work in exactly the same way as the one at Company 3, so we got a very well-matched output for the preview screening.” I TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 Super 35mm (3-perf and 4-perf) Arricam Studio, Lite; Arri 235, 435 Advanced; Eyemo Arri and Angenieux lenses Kodak Vision2 200T 5217, Vision3 500T 5219 Digital Intermediate Printed on Kodak Vision Premier 2393 and Vision 2383 Samy’s DV & Edit WE ACCEPT MASTERCARD, VISA, AMERICAN EXPRESS & DISCOVER. SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY & CORPORATE P.O.’S WELCOME BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR DIGITAL CINEMA EQUIPMENT, TALK TO US! A Division of Samy’s Camera WE’VE MOVED - NEW ADDRESS! 12636 Beatrice St. Los Angeles, CA 90066 www.samysdv.com (310) 450-4365 FAX (310) 450-3079 PMW-EX3 XDCAMEX SEMI SHOULDER CAMCORDER • 1⁄2-inch interchangeable lens system •1/2” imagers with 1920x1080 pixels • Genlock in • Time Code in/out • 8-pin remote control for studio operation New! Three 2/3”CCD P2 HD Camcorder • Utilizes interchangeable lenses • Can shoot everything from 1080i to 720p variable frame rates •Features four XLR inputs, a chromaticaberration compensation function, and eight gamma modes AG-HPX500 AJ-HDX900 • Adds on support for 1080i and 720p • Three 2/3" 1 million pixels Progressive CCD imagers • 24P/30P/60i recording capability • Captures film-like 24-frame images using CineGamma Affordable Professional Hi-Definition Camera PMW-EX1 Flash Memory Capabilities 1/2” HD Camera • Record to ExpressCard high-speed flash media • Switchable between 1080/60i and 720/60P • Capable of recording 1080/50i/30P/25P/24P and 720/50P • MPEG-2 compression technology with three, 1/2” imagers Interchangeable Lens Professional HDV Camera New! Sony HVR-Z7U AJ-SDX900 Also Available PRODUCTION PACKAGE PROMOTIONS! Please call for our • Switch between 1080p, 1080i in the HDV format, DVCAM™, and DV recording • Down-convert material from HD to SD New! Sony Interchangeable Lens Pro Shoulder Mount HDV Camera • Native progressive recording • Increased sensitivity for low-light • Hybrid solid-state recording • 3 ClearVid CMOS Sensor system SONY IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK Sony HVR-S270U Digital Camcorder Sony XDCAM HD PDW-F355 PDW-700 2/3” XDCAM HD Camcorder • Three 2/3-inch progressive CCD sensors, each with full 1920 x 1080 resolution • HD recording at a data rate of up to 50 Mb/s using the MPEG-2 4:2:2P@HL compression technology,“MPEG HD422” AG-HVX200A Longer record times are available by supporting the new dual-layer 50GB Professional Disc. XDCAM HD PDW-F335 ALSO AVAILABLE 1/3" 3-CCD 16:9 HD/DVCPRO/DV The next generation of P2 cameras • Solid-state handheld camcorder enables high definition and standard definition recording • Widest zoom lens in its class • HD-SDI interface • Lightweight 4.2-pound body AG-HPX170 New! • Cinema P2 Camera with CineSwitch™ • Technology, CineGamma™ Software and IEEE 1394 Interface PDW-F355 & PDW-F330 ALSO AVAILABLE AJ-SD93 Also Available NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. 41 http://www.samysdv.com

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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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