American Cinematographer - September 2016 - 10

Cinematography is truly a global art form, as we acknowledge on the cover of each month's issue by declaring our
magazine to be "An International Publication of the ASC."
Here at AC, we pride ourselves on casting our editorial net
far and wide to get the inside scoop on productions shot
everywhere on Earth. Our September issue once again
offers a special focus on international production, with
reports on projects that were mounted in New Zealand,
England, Germany, Ethiopia, Mongolia, and on Tanna
Island in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu.
Set in the Pacific Northwest, the fantasy adventure
Pete's Dragon was in fact shot in New Zealand. As director
David Lowery explains to Jay Holben ("A Fierce Friendship," page 36), "New Zealand's got plenty of magic on
hand." Adds cinematographer Bojan Bazelli, ASC, "I suggested to David that since a lot of
scenes were based in the forest and could be shot on location, and in open space, that we
should utilize natural light as much as possible - being true to indie style, free of equipment,
and minimizing the imprint on the nature around us. He loved that idea."
Tulip Fever is another show that used onscreen sleight-of-hand to create its geography
("Grand Delusion," page 66). Although the period drama takes place in Amsterdam during
the 1600s, cinematographer Eigil Bryld tells Iain Marcks, "There isn't any 17th-century architecture like that in Holland anymore. Denmark has some, but it was too expensive to move
the production there, so we did it all in the U.K."
The makers of this month's other spotlighted shows had to contend with a wide variety of circumstances that tested their mettle. Raoul Germain endured a bout of giardiasis -
an illness caused by a single-cell parasite that attacks the belly - just before shooting Yegna
Movie in Ethiopia (Filmmakers' Forum, page 86); director Otto Bell and cinematographer
Simon Niblett had to earn the trust of Kazakh natives while shooting the scenic documentary
The Eagle Huntress at various sites in Mongolia, including an eagle's nest perched on a steep
cliff-side ledge in the Altai Mountains (Production Slate, page 22); and on the award-winning
feature Tanna, a core crew of two - cinematographer/co-director Bentley Dean and location
sound recordist/co-director Martin Butler - shot on an island in the Vanuatu archipelago that
has no electricity, and took three trips to the rim of an active volcano to capture an eruption
for a pivotal scene (Production Slate, page 28).
After reading about these far-flung challenges, cinematographer Frank Passingham,
director Travis Knight, and their collaborators on the stop-motion adventure Kubo and the
Two Strings ("Hero's Journey," page 52) may feel that the relative safety of the stage-bound
production more than compensated for the painstaking nature of their work.
This issue also offers an overview of the International Cinematography Summit hosted
by the ASC in June ("Global Gathering," page 78). Representatives from more than two
dozen cinematography societies visited the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood and other nearby
facilities, where they attended four days of demonstrations, screenings and communal meals.
Most importantly, attendees were given the opportunity to engage in open dialogue about
their goals and priorities, an experience that will surely bode well for the future of their shared
visual language.

10

Stephen Pizzello
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Editor's Note
American Cinematographer - September 2016

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