American Cinematographer - April 2015 - 98

The crew shoots a scene with a Nikon D810 on a
Cinedrive motion-control system and two Red Epics.

and the fact that post is handled on the
other side of the country, it's been essential
to set the various looks on set with my DIT,
Daniel Quesnel. He'll load stills of each shot
to an iPad that I can check and adjust
throughout the day. Our colorist, Arlene
Moelker, is doing a beautiful job maintaining the look we achieve on set.
We have a fairly standard lighting
package for a show of this type, but the LED
lighting we're using has revolutionized my
approach. The Kino Flo Celebs - 200, 400
and 400Q - have become my primary
fixtures of choice. I was introduced to them
on the series Played and have come to fully
embrace them as an essential part of my
98

April 2015

lighting. Their ability to go from tungsten to
daylight and any temperature in between,
while also being dimmable without losing
color temp, makes them incredibly versatile
- and a big time saver. The guys now
know that every setup will include the
Celebs; they are the first units off the truck
and the first to set up.
We also use small LED lighting units
from LiteGear. The LiteRibbon can be
battery-operated and is especially useful for
amplifying the light from the practical
lanterns. We have placed them in woodburning stoves for firelight, and we have
several custom-built lanterns that can be
handheld by the actors.
American Cinematographer

Working in Winnipeg has presented
its own challenges. It's not that remote, but
you have to plan if you require something
special gear-wise. Our grip and lighting
supplier, William F. White, is a national
inventory and can supply whatever we need
- with notice. It has also been incredibly
windy on the prairies this year, so much so
that putting up overheads or negative fill
has been impossible at times; we've used a
perforated fabric called White Windbounce
from The Rag Place that works well in
moderate winds. There is no LRX or equivalent in the province, so big night-lighting
sources have to be assembled. And the cold
brings additional challenges. The cameras
work fine since they are little "heaters"
themselves, but for the actors, when we're
shooting in -40° temperatures, their eyes
won't stop watering and their breath
begins to show on interiors.
In the end, shooting The Pinkertons
has been both memorable and meaningful,
as it's brought me back to where it all
began. I've spent most of my career shooting film and I will always have a love for it,
but the march of progress and the new
technologies it brings are a reality. I think
the film-versus-digital argument is finally
over, and people understand the strengths
and weaknesses of both. There is no magic
to either medium other than what filmmakers make of them. As much as I fought to
continue shooting film on Queer as Folk's
fifth and final season, I am thankful I was
"urged" to shoot digital, as it was a great
opportunity to embrace the "new wave"
on a show that already had an established
look. And I like that producers now understand the digital workflow and things have
become streamlined in post.
I will say, though, that shooting digital can be a double-edged sword. For all the
creative freedoms it offers, it also democratizes the process, and one needs to guard
against cinematography by committee. The
raw image can now be manipulated to such
a degree that its authorship can be in question. That said, good lighting will always be
the cinematographer's principal contribution and art.
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American Cinematographer - April 2015

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