American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 22

Top: Director Ken
Kwapis (left, with
headphones)
supervises a take
with Nolte and
Redford. Bottom:
Cinematographer
John Bailey, ASC
(left) and crew set
up some onlocation lighting.

cameras were loaded with either Kodak
Vision3 50D 5203 or 250D 5207, and
Bailey framed the 3-perf Super 35mm
frame for the widescreen aspect ratio. "I
still prefer to film in anamorphic 2.40:1,
but I can't seem to get Panavision
anamorphic lenses anymore because
they're all out on these big Marvel comicbook movies," the cinematographer
notes.
For night scenes and day interiors,
Bailey used an Arri Alexa Classic, capturing ArriRaw files to a Convergent Design
Gemini 4:4:4 recorder. Although he
prefers the look of film in terms of both
latitude and resolution, he believes the
Alexa is the closest approximation, both
in aesthetics and the way camera assis22

October 2015

tants work with it. Bailey used the same
lenses for both the film and digital
capture.
A-camera/Steadicam operator
Benjamin Spek performed the demanding Steadicam work along the trail, creating smooth movement over the steep
and rough terrain, generally with a
27mm, 35mm or 50mm lens on the
camera. "The most challenging [aspects
of] this film were simple scenes of two
men walking uphill, having to engage
dramatically, and doing that over and
over again," explains Kwapis. "These are
both actors in their 70s, and the physicality of the scene could be overpowering at
times. Also, both actors insisted that their
backpacks have the proper weight of
American Cinematographer

materials. They were not easy on themselves."
Although most of A Walk in the
Woods stays grounded with the characters as they travel over unforgiving terrain,
the film contains a few stunning aerials as
well. For these moments, the production
employed HeliCam Aerial Media Services,
owned by brothers Wayne and Richard
Mann, who met up with the second unit
midway through its shoot. With their
custom-designed hexacopter, the team
captured 4K aerials with a compact Panasonic Lumix G DMC-GH4 camera.
According to Bailey, the aerials really
opened up the film. "The shots were fairly
quick and weren't terribly indulgent," he
says. "These little breaks between scenes
are the only times where you step outside
of the ground-level perspective and
achieve a brief moment of transcendence."
On the trail, Bailey and crew were
constantly battling abrupt weather
changes and inconsistent light. "The
weather is very volatile in the summer up
in the mountains," he says. "We would
start off with a nice day and by late
morning we'd be in a thunderstorm with
hail. But for us, it was always about how
we could incorporate this situation or
deal with the changing light - which, of
course, happens to every cinematographer."
For most of the daylight shooting,



American Cinematographer - October 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2015

Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Intro
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 15
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 16
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 33
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 34
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 35
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 36
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 38
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 39
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 40
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 41
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 42
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 43
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 44
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 45
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 46
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 47
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 48
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 49
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 50a
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 50b
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 51
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 52
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 53
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 54
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 55
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 56
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 57
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 58
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 59
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 60
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 61
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 62
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 63
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 64
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 65
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 66
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 67
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 68
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 69
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 70
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 71
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 72
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 73
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 74
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 75
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 76
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 77
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 78
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 79
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 80
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 81
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 82
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 83
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 84
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 85
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 86
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 87
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 88
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 89
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 90
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 91
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 92
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 93
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 94
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 95
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 96
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Cover4
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