American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 25

Left: Milo (Kit
Harrington,
right) forges an
alliance with
rival gladiator
Atticus
(Adewale
AkinnuoyeAgbaje). Below:
Milo and Cassia
(Emily
Browning) brave
the chaos that
spews forth
with the
eruption of
Mount Vesuvius.

plus a Steadicam rig. Each rig consists of a
pair of Red Epic cameras, one pointing
down and shooting off a half-silvered mirror
at 45 degrees, and the other positioned
below shooting straight through the mirror,
with the resulting two images converging
to form a 3-D picture. Convergence and
focus are pulled remotely. MacPherson
functions as stereographer, evaluating the
image using Marshall Electronic 3-D monitors.
The filmmakers chose the Epic
mainly for its compactness and wireless
capability, says MacPherson. "On Resident
Evil: Afterlife, Paul said, 'I want car chases. I
want to put the camera on a car, and I don't
want to haul 18 guys in a trailer along with
it.' That's when we first went with the
Epic."
He is capturing Pompeii in 4K 2.40:1
at 5:1 compression. The main and second
units, both usually shooting with a pair of
two-camera rigs, are using six 128GB
RedMag 1.8" SSD cards per camera. One
set of cards is in camera, another is for onset backup, and a third is usually with the
DITs for offloading. A constant rotation of
cards is required because of the large
volume of footage being shot.
For one of the day's key setups, two

rigs are positioned on cranes and one on a
dolly to capture Roman soldiers storming
the gladiators with a collective roar. The Acamera rig, 20' high on a SuperTechno 50,
moves in with the attacking soldiers,
coming to rest nearly on top of them as
they engage their opponents. MacPherson
says he likes the SuperTechno 50 because
"it gets the camera in many places a lot
faster. It's expensive, but you get a lot of
great dynamic shots, so it pays for itself."
The B-camera rig is on a SuperTechno 30.
www.theasc.com

Libra heads modified for 3-D capture have
been the workhorses on the production. "A
3-D camera rig on a crane is very top-heavy,
so you need strong motors and good stabilization," MacPherson notes. (Robert Stecko
is the A-rig operator, while Dave Sheridan
operates the B rig and Steadicam.)
On the main camera, the filmmakers
are going wide with a 16mm Zeiss Ultra
Prime to take in all the extras in the stands.
MacPherson jokes that Anderson's middle
initials stand for "Wide Shot." "Paul will
March 2014

25


http://www.theasc.com

American Cinematographer - March 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 2014

Table of Contents
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 1
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 2
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Table of Contents
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 4
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 5
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 6
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 7
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 8
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 9
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 10
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 11
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 12
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 13
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 14
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 15
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 16
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 17
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 18
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 19
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 20
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 21
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 22
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 23
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 24
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 25
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 26
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 27
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 28
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 29
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 30
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 31
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 32
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 33
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 34
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 35
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 36
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 37
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 38
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 39
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 40
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 41
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 42
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 43
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 44
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 45
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 46
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 47
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 48
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 49
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 50
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 51
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 52
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 53
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 54
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 55
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 56
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 57
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 58
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 59
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 60
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 61
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 62
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 63
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 64
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 65
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 66
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 67
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 68
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 69
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 70
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 71
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 72
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 73
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American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 76
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 77
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 78
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 79
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 80
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Cover4
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