American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 12
Short Takes
A shock trooper shatters a girl’s fragile reality at 1,000 fps in String Theory. The short earned cinematographer Steve Romano the grand prize at the International Cinematographers Guild’s 2011 Emerging Cinematographer Awards.
I
Through a Glass Brightly By Iain Stasukevich
Steve Romano’s cinematography jobs have taken him to many far-flung locales, but for String Theory, the grand-prize winner at the International Cinematographers Guild’s 2011 Emerging Cinematographer Awards, he and director Zach Gold never left Gold’s studio in Brooklyn in their quest to capture the big ideas surrounding a girl (Evelina Mambetova) who experiences rifts in her reality. String Theory is the latest in a series of fashion-focused shorts by Gold, and it uses A.F. Vandervorst’s 2010 collection as its springboard. According to Romano, Gold and producer/stylist David Dumas, who also served as art director, wanted a film that was beautiful and haunting, with serene moments interrupted by jarring images. “My job as a director of photography is to act according to the vision of the directors, including the art director,” Romano observes. “You’re enhancing what they created, and you have to make them feel welcome in the process.” Romano, who also works as a Phantom camera technician, supplied the production with a Phantom HD Gold camera, Leica
12 January 2012
prime lenses (re-housed by Van Diemen Broadcast) and most of the small lighting package, including a couple of 2x2 Kino Flos, a 10K Fresnel, a 5K Fresnel and a handful of 2K scoops. The girl is introduced in a dusty, windowless room lit by dozens of warm practical lamps. She kneels, motionless, on a pedestal, covered in what looks like a fine layer of silt; a soft toplight (a diffused 1K) separates her from the background. In the next shot, she comes to life and shakes off the silt, which cascades off her skin in slow motion. The filmmakers shot Mambetova’s movements at 1,000 fps, recording to 512 GB CineMags. “We had to match the light for the rest of the scene, but with something like 5 times more light,” says Romano. “We made sure the light was coming from the same angles as in the previous shot, but we concentrated the light on her instead of the whole set.” To boost the light level for the slow-motion shot, a Mole 10K gelled with 1⁄2 CTO, Opal and 216 was positioned above the actress. “There are no super-wide high-speed shots in the film,” notes Romano, who used tighter compositions to hide the limited amount of light available at advanced frame rates. “Having a really good gaffer helps. Christian Ern was our gaffer and lighting director,
American Cinematographer
Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Steve Romano.
American Cinematographer - January 2012
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 2012
American Cinematographer - January 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: String Theory
Production Slate: The Descendants • ASC Awards Preview • HPA Awards
Cold Case
Animal Instincts
Lord of War
Go with the Flow
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Rodrigo Prieto
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - American Cinematographer - January 2012
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 1
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 2
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Contents
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 4
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 5
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 6
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 7
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 9
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 11
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Short Takes: String Theory
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 13
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 14
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 15
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 16
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 17
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 18
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 19
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Production Slate: The Descendants • ASC Awards Preview • HPA Awards
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 21
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 22
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 23
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 24
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American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 30
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 31
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Cold Case
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 33
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American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 45
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 46
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 47
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Animal Instincts
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American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 60
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 61
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Lord of War
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American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 73
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Go with the Flow
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 75
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American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 86
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 87
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - New Products & Services
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American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 90
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American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 96
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 97
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 101
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - 103
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - ASC Close-Up: Rodrigo Prieto
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - January 2012 - Cover4
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