American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 44

◗

Desert Storm

tal grade would be absolutely vital for achieving what we wanted to achieve, and we decided to do a lot of the color composition at that end stage,” continues Newell. “John Seale then figured out how to produce a negative that would suit that.” Newell and Seale agree that the extensive DI work, carried out at Ascent 142 in London with Company 3 colorist/ASC associate member Stefan Sonnenfeld, was practical and necessary for a production that simply couldn’t dot every “i” and cross every “t” as it swept across the world on a constricted timeline. “I left particular finessing for the DI, and I’m not ashamed of that,” says Seale. “I really feel you have to honor the schedule, even on something this big and complicated, and the DI lets you

Top left: Dastan scales a castle wall, a set built onstage at Pinewood Studios. Top right: The castle set came within feet of the lighting grid, requiring bluescreen to hide the ceiling and equipment. Middle: The Pinewood sets were used to film a massive castlestorming sequence. Bottom: Space lights provide ambience as Kino Flo Image 80s illuminate the bluescreen.

leave some simple problems alone on the set, things that might take 30 minutes or longer to fix. So part of my job during the shoot was to determine what we could leave to the DI process while we maintained our schedule.” Prince of Persia was shot in 4-perf Super 35mm, and Seale took his customary approach, shooting a single, high-speed film stock (Kodak Vision2 500T 5218), using multiple cameras, and relying almost exclusively on zoom lenses — in this case, Panavision’s 11:1 24-275mm Primo, 3:1 135-420mm Primo, and new T2.8 19-90mm Compact. “Phil Radin at Panavision, our ‘camera angel,’ gave us two of the very first Compact zooms, and great little weapons they are!” says Seale. (The production also used a variety of Primo prime lenses.) “500-ASA negative does a lot for you, and it will handle midday [scenes] if you just haul it back — you put a whole lot of 85ND filters in front of the lens,” continues Seale. “As the light expires, you start pulling the NDs out to increase the ASA. And if the color temperature shifts toward the warmth of a late afternoon, you start pulling the 85 out in small quantities as well. I developed this whole filter system on The Mosquito Coast (AC Feb. ’87), and I haven’t used a slow-speed stock since then. “I shot first unit [on Persia] with four cameras, trying to get performances without having to spend five hours on it. We were using four cameras all the time,

44

June 2010

American Cinematographer



American Cinematographer - June 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2010

The International Journal of Motion Imaging - June 2010 Vol. 91 No. 6
Features
Slings and Arrows (Robin Hood)
Desert Storm (Prince of Persia)
Very French Revenge (Micmacs)
Painting Towns White (The White Stripes)
Departments
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: Land and Bread
Production Slate: Winter’s Bone • Harry Brown
Post Focus: Enhancing Frozen
Tricks of the Trade: Using Red’s False Color
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads/Ad Index
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: John Schwartzman
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - The International Journal of Motion Imaging - June 2010 Vol. 91 No. 6
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 3
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 7
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 9
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 11
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Short Takes: Land and Bread
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 13
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 14
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 15
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Production Slate: Winter’s Bone • Harry Brown
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 17
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 18
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 19
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 20
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 21
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 22
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 23
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 24
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 25
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 26
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 27
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 28
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 29
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Slings and Arrows (Robin Hood)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 31
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 32
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 33
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 34
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 35
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 36
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 37
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 38
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 39
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 40
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 41
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Desert Storm (Prince of Persia)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 43
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 44
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 45
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 46
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 47
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 48
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 49
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 50
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 51
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Very French Revenge (Micmacs)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 53
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 54
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 55
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 56
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 57
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 58
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 59
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 60
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 61
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 62
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 63
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Painting Towns White (The White Stripes)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 65
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 66
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 67
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 68
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 69
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 70
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 71
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Post Focus: Enhancing Frozen
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 73
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 74
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 75
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 76
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 77
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Tricks of the Trade: Using Red’s False Color
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 79
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 81
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 82
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 83
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 84
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 85
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 86
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 87
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 88
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 89
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 90
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 91
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 93
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Classified Ads/Ad Index
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 95
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 97
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 99
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - ASC Close-Up: John Schwartzman
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover4
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