Digital Video - November 2007 - (Page 4) PREROLL BY DAVID E. WILLIAMS VOLUME 15 NUMBER 11 NOVEMBER 2007 DV .COM CREATIVITY COMES FIRST ne of the perks of my job is that I’m privileged to occasionally meet the filmmakers whose work I have long admired. One example is cinematographer Owen Roizman, ASC, whose naturalistic-yet-impactful visuals in such feature films as The French Connection, The Exorcist and Network strongly influenced my early appreciation for lighting, composition and storytelling. Over the past few years, I’ve interviewed Owen numerous times while writing a comprehensive book about his career, coming to know him not only as a filmmaker but as a person. One of the first cinematographers in the 1970s to employ a single-source lighting approach for motion pictures—a style adopted from still photography work in vogue at the time—Owen actively sought new ways to creatively diffuse his illumination and manipulate it to softly wrap around the subject (and thusly require little fill). His unique approach in an era of high-key, hard-light illumination led to his pioneering use of custom fluorescent fixtures—a far-out prospect at the time— among other new tools as they came along. “Things were difficult back then,” he once told me. “The sensitive stocks that are used today didn’t exist; what we had was very contrasty, so if you missed your exposure, you had nowhere to go in the timing. If something was dark, it was just gone. The lighting fixtures also improved, allowing me to use less and less light and make things appear more natural while still getting the effect I wanted.” Owen’s observations sound strangely familiar given the current state of digital videography, as the extended contrast ranges offered by today’s cameras allow for an ease of use in extreme lighting conditions that would have proved perOwen Roizman, ASC (left), with friend and ilous just a few years ago. Meanwhile, a new DV subject Haskell Wexler, ASC. breed of high-tech lighting options have appeared in the form of LED-based fixtures and other exotic illuminaires. That in mind, I asked DV contributing editor Jay Holben to pen a primer on their use for this issue (see “Lighting’s New Wave,” page 40), which I hope inspires you to possibly take a look outside your current electrics kit for interesting new options. Beyond this spiritual guidance, Owen also pitched in this issue with some hands-on heavy lifting by generously accepting my invitation to photograph his fellow cinematographer (and friend) Haskell Wexler, ASC, for regular DV contributor Daniel Frankel’s “Close-Up” feature on the influential cameraman (see page 28). An ardent user of digital video in his documentary work, including the important 2006 feature Who Needs Sleep?, Wexler has long been an early adopter of new technologies to help realize his creative vision. “That’s the way it has to work,” Wexler told me during the photo shoot as we chatted between Owen’s setups. “It’s the user’s creativity that drives the technology, not the other way around.” Absolutely. —David E. Williams, Editor dwilliams@nbmedia.com O EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF David E. Williams dwilliams@nbmedia.com MANAGING EDITOR Terence Keegan tkeegan@nbmedia.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Frank Capria, Thomas A. Crowell, Robert M. 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