American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 10

A numbers of cinematographers have made the leap to
the director's chair, but ASC member Wally Pfister was
particularly well prepped to make his feature debut with
the sci-fi thriller Transcendence. His resume as a director
of photography includes a long string of complex
productions (including the Dark Knight trilogy and
Inception), but also lower-key dramas that demonstrate
his versatility (Laurel Canyon, Moneyball). On Transcendence, Pfister recruited Jess Hall, BSC to help him make
the transition. "I saw that Jess could be a collaborator
thematically and conceptually as well as visually," he
tells David Heuring ("Second Life," page 30), adding, "I
will always think about what the camera is doing - it's
instinctual by now. But certainly, having Jess lead this terrific crew enabled me to spend
more time focused on the actors and all the other concerns of a director."
Daniel Landin, BSC employed some very unique strategies while collaborating
with director Jonathan Glazer on another sci-fi project, Under the Skin ("Alien Ways,"
page 44). In her role as an extraterrestrial who preys on Scottish men, actress Scarlett
Johansson was required to drive around Glasgow in a van rigged with hidden cameras
that recorded her attempts to lure unsuspecting non-actors into the passenger seat. To
facilitate this approach, Landin employed new camera technology, as he explains in a
detailed Q&A with Iain Stasukevich: "We shot about 60 percent of the movie with an
Alexa Plus, but the decision to go digital was really driven by the development of the
One-Cam, a small digital camera specifically invented for our film by Tom Debenham,
Louis Mustill and Arron Smith [at One of Us in London]. We used One-Cams to shoot
the driving scenes with Scarlett in such a way that we could hide the cameras whilst
shooting simultaneous reverses."
Connoisseurs of black-and-white imagery should certainly seek out Ida, the
Polish drama that won the inaugural Spotlight Award at this year's ASC Awards ceremony. The honor is intended to call attention to great cinematography in non-mainstream movies - a description that aptly summarizes the stunning compositions and
artful lighting achieved by Lukasz Zal, PSC and Ryszard Lenczewski, PSC. (Zal, who
began the project as Lenczewski's camera operator, stepped up and shot most of the
picture when the cinematographer fell ill after one day of shooting.) In Benjamin
Bergery's coverage ("Divine Purpose," page 54), Zal and director Pawel Pawlikowski
explain their aesthetic choices, with Zal noting, "We wanted to build essential frames
that would have strong impact and speak about the space beyond the frame."
Other ASC Award winners and nominees appear in our annual pictorial on the
Society's awards-season events ("A Festive Focus," page 71), while our coverage of the
Academy's Scientific and Technical Awards ("ASC Shines at Sci-Tech Awards," page 64)
spotlights several members and associates who were honored for their industry impact:
Peter Anderson, ASC, who received the prestigious Gordon E. Sawyer Award, and the
team that spearheaded the ASC Color Decision List: Curtis Clark, ASC; associate
members Lou Levinson, Joshua Pines and David Reisner; and David Register. Needless
to say, everyone at the ASC is extremely proud of their influential achievements.

10

Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Editor's Note
American Cinematographer - May 2014

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