American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 59

Top: A view of
Canada's
northeast, the
United States
and beyond as
seen from the
ISS. Bottom, left:
Onboard the ISS,
Wilmore
prepares for a
shoot. Bottom,
right: Wilmore
enjoys zero
gravity.

That was often done via email, but I'd
sometimes get a phone call. I have to say,
it's fun to get a call when the caller ID
comes up as 'International Space
Station.'"
With the retirement of NASA's
Space Shuttle program in 2011,
transportation to and from the ISS
became extremely limited, impacting the
choice of shooting format for A Beautiful
Planet. "The Space Shuttle was a 'space
truck,'" says Neihouse. "It would ferry
things back and forth as needed, but it's
not flying anymore. Now, you can get
things up to the Station - you just can't
get stuff back [on a regular schedule].
That was one of the key reasons we went
digital.
"Digital gave us other advantages,
too," Neihouse continues. "When we
were shooting film, three minutes' worth
of [15-perf 65mm Imax] film weighed 10
pounds - that's a lot of volume to bring

back. When we went digital, we were
bringing back Codex data packs the size
of a cell phone with 30 minutes of
footage. We also increased our low-light
capture substantially; we never would
have gotten some of the shots [in A
Beautiful Planet] with film. We were able
to shoot clean audio without hearing the
roaring sound of the camera - which
sounded like a pissed-off sewing
machine on steroids permeating every
shot - so we can actually use audio from
the astronauts and get real moments.
And we were able to shoot a lot more
footage, especially inside the Station, and
capture some really wonderful, candid,
interpersonal moments that we never
could have imagined getting with film."
The cinematographer tested
several digital cameras for A Beautiful
Planet, beginning with a Red Epic
Mysterium-X,
Vision
Research
Phantom 65, Sony F65, Arri Alexa M
www.theasc.com

and Canon Cinema EOS C300. "We
shot side-by-side tests against [15-perf
65mm] Imax, then compared each
camera," Neihouse explains. "We went
away from the F65 because of the size,
power consumption and complex menu
selections. Although these astronauts are
geniuses, they can get 'space brain' and
become unable to perform relatively
simple tasks because they have so much
to focus on every day - they just get
overloaded. So we try to keep things as
simple in orbit as possible. We also want
to keep it simple so that it doesn't take
much time for them to execute the shots.
"The Phantom 65 had the same
issue - it was just too complex and
menu-intensive," Neihouse continues.
"We rejected the Alexa M because, at the
time, it was a two-piece system with a
cable from the camera down to the
recorder. Power was another issue - the
camera is power-hungry. That left us with
June 2016

59



http://www.theasc.com

American Cinematographer - June 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2016

Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - Intro
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 1
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 7
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 8
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 9
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 10
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 11
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 12
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 13
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 14
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 15
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 16
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 17
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 18
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 19
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 20
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 21
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 22
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 23
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 24
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 25
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 26
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 27
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 28
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 29
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 30
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 31
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 32
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 33
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 34
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 35
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 36
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 37
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 38
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 39
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 40
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 41
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 42
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 43
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 44
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 45
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 46
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 47
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 48
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 49
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 50
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 51
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 52
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 53
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 54
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 55
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 56
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 57
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 58
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 59
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 60
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 61
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 62
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 63
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 64
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 65
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 66
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 67
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 68
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 69
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 70
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 71
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 72
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 73
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 74
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 75
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 76
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 77
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 78
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 79
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 80
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 81
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 82
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 83
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 84
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 85
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 86
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 87
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 88
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 89
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 90
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 91
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 92
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 93
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 94
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 95
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 96
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 97
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 98
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 99
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 100
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 101
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 102
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 103
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 104
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 105
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 106
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 107
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 108
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 109
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 110
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 111
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 112
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 113
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 114
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 115
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 116
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 117
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 118
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 119
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - 120
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2016 - Cover4
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