American Cinematographer - July 2020 - 67

tors and an intercom system) and the
"Image and Sound Control Vehicle" (aka
the "Silverfish," a converted Airstream
trailer outfitted as a mobile-editing,
remote-viewing, previs and direction
station).
Director of photography Vittorio
Storaro, ASC, AIC (see profile on page
24) rapidly adapted to a new production
methodology, which included his preshooting rehearsals with a small video
camera. This black-and-white footage
could be cut immediately and woven
into an already extensively assembled
previs package.
During the shoot, Coppola largely
directed from within his high-tech
trailer, observing the action on screens,
whose image was captured via a videotap rig aboard Storaro's Technovision
camera. Both he and Storaro had the
ability to view replays, which could,
among other benefits, help determine
whether to print a given take. The
printed 35mm takes were transferred to
video with time code, and then cut to
match the previs.
This may sound much like standard practice on some productions
today, but in the early '80s, what
Coppola described as "filmmaking's
greatest leap forward since the advent of
sound in 1927" was tantamount to
witchcraft, and not quickly adopted. But
the magazine followed up with plenty
more coverage on "electronic cinema"
- noting in a subsequent editorial,
"American Cinematographer is concerned
with any technique or process which
furthers the art of moving images. While
we have no intention of sounding the
death knell for film, we do recognize
that the time has come to embrace fully
the electronic image and all the techniques for recording and processing it.
In fact, we recognize that we have some
catching up to do."
A few years later, a notable story
featured the video-to-film process
employed on the improvisational indie
feature Heat and Sunlight (AC Nov. '87;
shot by Tomas Tucker), a production
that managed to make the leap to bigscreen theatrical distribution. But the

The modestly budgeted
sci-fi action film The
Terminator (covered in AC
April '85) became a
massive hit, launching the
careers not only of star
Arnold Schwarzenegger
and writer-director James
Cameron, but also
cinematographer Adam
Greenberg, ASC. The trio
would re-team for the
sequel, Terminator 2:
Judgment Day (covered in
AC July '91).

"film vs. tape" debate persisted in
AC's pages for almost three decades,
finally subsiding only when digital
capture replaced HD video in the
2000s.
Advances in computer graphics
during the 1980s allowed for their first
major creative use in feature films,
with AC documenting their groundbreaking - though still limited -
employment on such movies as Tron
(AC Aug. 1982; shot by Bruce Logan,
ASC), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
(AC Oct. '82; Gayne Rescher, ASC),
The Last Starfighter (AC Nov. '84; King
Baggot, ASC) and Young Sherlock
Holmes (AC Mar. '86; Stephen
Goldblatt, ASC, BSC).
Throughout the '80s, unique
projects and new talents were
featured in the magazine's pages, and
many became iconic. These films and
cinematographers included Gremlins
(AC Nov. '84; shot by John Hora,
ASC), Paris, Texas (AC Feb. '85; Robby
Müller, BVK, NSC), The Terminator
(AC April '85; Adam Greenberg, ASC)
The Natural (AC April '85; Caleb
Deschanel, ASC), Lethal Weapon (AC
April '87; Stephen Goldblatt, ASC,
www.ascmag.com

BSC), The Untouchables (AC July '87;
Stephen H. Burum, ASC), Predator (AC
Aug. '87; Donald McAlpine, ASC,
ACS), Full Metal Jacket (AC Sept. '87,
Douglas Milsome, ASC, BSC), Wall
Street (AC Dec. '87; Robert Richardson,
ASC), School Daze (AC Feb. '88; Ernest
Dickerson, ASC), Beetlejuice (AC April
'88; Tom Ackerman, ASC), Who Framed
Roger Rabbit? (AC July '88; Dean
Cundey, ASC), Coming to America (AC
Aug. '88; Woody Omens, ASC), Dead
Poets Society (AC Sept. '89; John Seale,
ASC, ACS) and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
(AC Dec. '89; Hiro Narita, ASC).
There's no doubt that the 1980s
provided new opportunities for those
willing to accept and integrate new
technologies and methods into their
creative process - but the decade also
ended with the passing of many ASC
greats, including L.B. Abbott, Lucien
Ballard, Daniel L. Fapp, George Folsey,
Milton Krasner, Ernest Laszlo, Joe
LaShelle, Harold Rosson, Robert L.
Surtees and Joe Walker.
Change is one element of filmmaking that never stops, and the pace
would become even faster in the 1990s.
u
July 2020

67
http://www.ascmag.com
American Cinematographer - July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2020
