American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 26

Top: Cinematographer Ken Seng (gesturing) discusses a setup with director Nima Nourizadeh (right). Middle: Seng holds the production’s main camera, a Sony F23, above the teeming partygoers. Bottom: Seng takes hold of a rig conceived by key grip Brady Majors (left) to capture what the cinematographer calls “a poorman’s motioncontrol shot [in which] the camera had to sprint toward a flamethrower and dramatically drop from shoulder height to the ground, landing next to the lead characters. We had to do multiple passes, and the camera needed to move on the same axis for each [take].” Behind Seng are 1st AC Peter Geraghty (holding remotefocus control) and gaffer George Maxwell. 26 March 2012 American Cinematographer

sized zoom lenses, it would have been next to impossible to walk through the crowds with the camera. There’s nothing like a small pop zoom to add that feeling of reality and discovery to a shot, and those Canon lenses work great while wide open [F2.1]. They’re very robust. “We used a 1⁄8 Schneider Black Frost on the lens just to take the digital edge off, and we used some Antique Suede filters for one scene, but apart from that, we kept the image clean,” he adds. The additional shooting was done with the Canon DSLRs, Sony PMW-EX3s, Iconix and Flip cameras, as well as various smartphones. “Coming up with creative ways to get those cameras into the action without making them visible to our other cameras was a constant challenge,” says Seng. “At one point, we dressed operator Keith Dunkerly in a police uniform and cut a small hole in his riot shield for the lens of the EX-3!” As the party begins and guests arrive, “we start introducing all these different cameras,” Nourizadeh says. “Early on during the shoot, we cut some of this material together and discovered how we could cover action in different ways. For example, we couldn’t do conventional coverage to allow for standard editing, but we could introduce quick whip pans and other operating ‘errors’ to conceal cuts we had to make.” So how was this quest for impromptu imagery at odds with shooting a big-budget studio feature on the Warner Bros. backlot? “We were basically shooting a 360-degree night movie with a thousand extras, a splinter unit and up to 16 cameras at once, and it’s tough to make that look good while maintaining control,” Seng replies with a chuckle. “It was a chaotic shoot, but, fortunately, our producers at Green Hat and Silver Pictures wanted to make something that seemed authentic, and the photography had to support that, sometimes by being what some people would consider imperfect. Our dailies made it look like the movie was being shot by all these little cameras randomly strewn about a party, so everybody had to be onboard with that approach and understand what we were doing.” To that end, one of the most vital aspects of the production was to provide dailies that represented the final look of the



American Cinematographer - March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 2012

American Cinematographer - March 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: When You Find Me
Production Slate: The Ghastly Love of Johnny X • Project X
Varied Visions
Power Trip
Blazing Trails
A Wholly “Justified” Honor
Filmmakers’ Forum: Vincent De Paula
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
In Memoriam: Torben Johnke, ASC
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Jonathan Taylor
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - American Cinematographer - March 2012
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 1
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 2
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Contents
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 4
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 5
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 6
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 7
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 9
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 11
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Short Takes: When You Find Me
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 13
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 14
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 15
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 16
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 17
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Production Slate: The Ghastly Love of Johnny X • Project X
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 19
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 20
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 21
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 22
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 23
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 24
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 25
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 26
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 27
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 28
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 29
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Varied Visions
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 31
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 32
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 33
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 34
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 35
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 36
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 37
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 38
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 39
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 40
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 41
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Power Trip
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 43
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 44
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 45
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 46
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 47
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 48
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 49
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Blazing Trails
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 51
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 52
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 53
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 54
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 55
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 56
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 57
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - A Wholly “Justified” Honor
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 59
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 60
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 61
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 62
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 63
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 64
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 65
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 66
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 67
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Filmmakers’ Forum: Vincent De Paula
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 69
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 70
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 71
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 73
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 74
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 75
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - In Memoriam: Torben Johnke, ASC
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 81
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - 83
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - ASC Close-Up: Jonathan Taylor
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - March 2012 - Cover4
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