American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I5

Sun, Sand and Serenity on
The advantage of working
on Reef Doctors is getting
to be in the sun, sand and
serenity of Australian tropical
paradises like the Gold Coast,
Port Douglas and the Great
Barrier Reef. So what’s the
catch? Sand, sun and serenity
aren’t always all they’re
cracked up to be.
Reef Doctors is produced
by Jonathan M. Shiff and
co-produced by Lisa McCune,
who also stars in the drama
series. The show is about the
remote Hope Island Clinic on
the Great Barrier Reef, run
by Sam Stewart (McCune),
an accomplished doctor who
along with her team looks
after the residents of all the
neighboring islands, as well as
the holidaymakers and thrill
seekers who visit the area.
Sam is also a single mother
with a free spirit, and a
determination for an unusual
hobby: venom.
“Hope Island, where the
show takes place, is not a
real island but a carefully
selected showcase of tropical
Queensland locations,”
explains Colin Budds, the
director of the fi rst seven
episodes. “We were in the
rainforests in the southeast,
palm-lined beaches of the far
north and the brilliance of the
Great Barrier Reef. What a gig,
eh? But it was bloody hot and
we had stingers (jellyfi sh) in
the water and leeches in the
trees. One day when we laid
down track, there was a giant
Python within one meter of us.
Seemingly unperturbed with
its feed, it remained unmoved
whilst slowly digesting.”
Reef Doctors will premiere
on Australia’s TEN Network
in 2013 and has been
shooting on KODAK Film
since the beginning.
“KODAK VISION3 500T
Color Negative Film 7219
has given us excellent
results when shooting in
the rainforest under a dense
canopy,” says cinematographer
Zenon ‘Butch’ Sawko,
who worked his way up to
director of photography
from a grip at the Australian
Broadcasting Commission. “It
has superior performance in
low-light situations — handling
extremes in contrast well.
We managed to use minimal
lighting whilst maintaining
detail in densely shadowed
situations.”
Sawko found that KODAK
VISION3 50D Color Negative
Film 7203 was ideal for
exterior shots, producing rich
color saturation with a clean
image and great tonal range.
And for interiors he uses
KODAK VISION3 200T Color
Negative Film 7213.
“As with the other
KODAK Films selected for
Reef Doctors, the 200T Film
produces a more natural
balance in skin tones and
texture with a fi ne grain and
richer blacks,” adds Sawko.
Filming in the hot, humid
tropics is no easy task.
Whether working in the
sand, scrambling through the
tropical jungle, or fi ghting
the tide, there aren’t many
easy shots to set up. Sawko
and Budds knew they’d need
ample support from local
experts and in the end felt
they were well provided for
from ground to air, beach to
reef.
Sawko shot on AATON
XTR prod 16mm cameras with
10.5mm-180mm CANON
lenses, framing for 4:3 and
protecting 16:9.
“We’d use two cameras
wherever possible to
maximize coverage,” says
Sawko, who has won three
Australian Cinematographers
Society Awards, one for a
dramatized documentary Just
Another Climb and two for
corporate fi lms. “My directors
(Budds and Grant Brown, who
directed episodes 14 through
26) would block a scene for
the A-camera and when able
to, without compromising the
shot, add a second camera.”
“As usual,” adds Budds, “I
(politely) demand and the
crew facilitates, with most
of the onus falling on the
camera department, or more
specifi cally Butch. But we have
worked together for over 20
years so there’s shorthand
and a trust. His results
under the conditions are just
outstanding. From burning
skies, blinding refl ections
off the water, black beneath
ancient canopies and the
unpredictable fronts of the
wet season, his was not an
easy task.”
Photos: Top: Andy Conder, Steven
McGrath and Zenon ‘Butch’ Sawko on
Reef Doctors (photo by Jasin Boland).
Left: Susan Hoecke as Freya and Richard
Brancatisano as Dr. Rick D’Alessandro,
(photo by Jasin Boland). Bottom:
Underwater filming on Reef Doctors (photo
Jasin Boland). (All photos © Jonathan M
Shiff Productions.)
American Cinematographer - June 2013

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