American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 14

Short Takes
Cinematographer
Eric Koretz
showcases Hive
Lighting’s Plasma
fixtures with the
2013 Chevy Volt
in “The Volt
Plasma
Challenge.”
Below: Koretz
lines up a shot as
actress Francesca
Eaddy’s makeup
is applied.

Hive Plasmas Illuminate Chevy Volt
By Jennifer Wolfe

Directed by Mo Twine and shot by cinematographer Eric
Koretz, the latest 30-second spot for the Chevy Volt, “The Volt
Plasma Challenge,” emphasizes the hybrid electric car’s reputation
for a light ecological footprint. Conceived as a showcase for Hive
Lighting’s Plasma fixtures, the ad was lit with instruments powered
only by batteries and a single, lightweight, 60-amp generator.
Koretz, whose credits include the feature Dragonslayer and
the Webby-nominated AMC series The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur
Banks, was introduced to Hive’s energy-efficient lighting products at
last year’s NAB Show. “I think it’s important for cinematographers to
be up on the latest cameras, lighting and accessories because they
can change how we work,” he comments. “I’m always looking at
the latest equipment and working out how to integrate that into my
shoots.”
Koretz and the Hive production team were enthusiastic about
“The Volt Plasma Challenge,” which marked the first time Hive Plasmas were the sole fixtures used for an entire production. “I had used
them before, but never on this scale,” says Koretz. “We wanted to
push the lights to the limit and show what they could do. At the
same time, of course, we wanted to make a beautiful commercial
for the Chevy Volt. Mo is an incredibly visual director, and he wanted
to reframe how people perceive the car.”
During the overnight shoot in downtown Los Angeles, Koretz
and his team worked with two Red Epic cameras, an Epic-M from
Radiant Images and an Epic-X from Digital Film Studios. “We also
had a Red Scarlet on a drone,” he adds. Footage was recorded in 5K
14

June 2013

raw to Red r3d files. Both Epics were outfitted with Zeiss Ultra Prime
and Superspeed lenses, which were also provided by Digital Film
Studios. “I had an excellent camera crew, including camera assistants Adam Becker and John Jurko and Steadicam operator Xavier
Henselmann, who were adept at working with the three cameras
seamlessly,” says Koretz.
“The Epic is a perfect complement to the Hive lights,” he
continues. “Like the lights, it is versatile and can be scaled up or
stripped down in size and weight. Also, the support equipment
— tripods, jibs and camera accessories — is smaller, and that
enables you to move quickly. For example, we were able to monitor
wirelessly from all three cameras using the Paralinx Arrow, which is
the size of a USB stick and has less than 2 ms [millisecond] latency.
We could be incredibly mobile and pull focus from the monitor away
➣
from the camera.

American Cinematographer

Photos courtesy of Hive Lighting.

American Cinematographer - June 2013

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