American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 12

As motion-imaging technology moves forward, the cinematographer's role is changing in both clear and subtle ways,
and our coverage of Alfonso Cuarón's sci-fi drama Gravity
details how the shoot's high-tech requirements impacted the
work of Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC. In an overview of this
groundbreaking production ("Facing the Void," page 36),
European correspondent Benjamin B notes, "Gravity provides
a new paradigm for the expanding role of the cinematographer on films with significant virtual components. In addition
to conceiving virtual camera moves with Cuarón, [Lubezki]
created virtual lighting with digital technicians, lit and shot live
action that matched the CG footage, fine-tuned the final
rendered image, supervised the picture's conversion from 2-D
to 3-D, and finalized the look of 2-D, 3-D and Imax versions." Lubezki reflects, "In the process,
I had to learn to use some new tools that are part of what cinematography is becoming. I found
it very exciting." Our coverage of the show's unique workflow includes a detailed sidebar that
underscores the significance of these evolving responsibilities, and the cinematographer's
importance in seeing them through to completion.
Shooting on water is notoriously tricky, but two of this month's movies managed the
feat exceptionally well. On J.C. Chandor's All Is Lost, cinematographer Frank DeMarco and
underwater cinematographer Peter Zuccarini created memorable images above and below the
surface, enhancing the nearly dialogue-free story of a lone sailor (Robert Redford) struggling to
survive on the open ocean. "It was very interesting to work on a script that was only 32 pages
long," DeMarco tells AC scribe Jay Holben ("Taking on Water," page 50). "The trick for me was
to figure out what emotion or story point we should find in each scene."
Barry Ackroyd, BSC and director Paul Greengrass faced a related set of complexities on
Captain Phillips, which dramatizes the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. cargo ship MV Maersk
Alabama by Somali pirates. As Patricia Thomson points out in her article ("Seized at Sea," page
64), only 10 of the shoot's 60 production days took place on dry land, requiring the filmmakers to spend most of their time working on the high seas or in a Malta water tank. "You can
imagine how difficult this was for Barry and his crew," Greengrass says. "There's motion
through every single plane: up and down, side to side and everything in between. You're at the
mercy of the weather and trying to create stability where there is none."
"Bigger" and "louder" were the primary mandates on Metallica Through the Never, an
eye-popping, ear-blasting concert movie that represented a new big-screen challenge for director Nimród Antal and cinematographer Gyula Pados, HSC. "The concert film cranked up to
11," is how New York correspondent Iain Stasukevich describes this ambitious 3-D production
("Heavy-Metal Apocalypse," page 78), which combines intensely kinetic performance footage
of Metallica - shot on one of the largest and most versatile stages ever constructed - with
phantasmagorical narrative passages. Antal, Pados and several key collaborators break down
their approach to the lighting and staging of the onscreen mayhem.
Rounding out our features is a tribute to this year's Emmy-nominated cinematographers
("Television Triumphs," page 92), who further enhanced the pleasures of home viewing with
their stylish work.

Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
12

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Editor's Note

American Cinematographer - November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 2013