American Cinematographer - November, 2010 - 10

President’s Desk
As things continue to progress and evolve in the ever-changing production world, I find that one element is starting to erode from the lexicon of communication. In a word, trust. Trust saves timeand money and creates a better product. Trust takes many forms. When watching a 17"or smaller monitor on set, one cannot make an informed judgment about the merits of a shot as well as the camera operator, who is “living” the shot as it happens, moving in unison with the flow of the actors and the dolly. When my operator, Michael Stumpf, tells me the shot was great, I don’t need to rewind a tape to check it. I move on. And when he says it wasn’t good and we should go again, I usually understand why without having to ask, because I usually plant myself near the camera as the shot is happening so I can see the lighting on the actors’ faces. Peripherally, I can sense the motion of the camera and its timing to their moves. As digital intermediates grew in popularity, the color-timing processsuddenly morphed from the cinematographer and lab timer working in a small room with a Hazeltine into a dozen people crowding a color-correction theater,complete with leather seats and cappuccinos. Sometimes the cinematographer was even locked out of the process. Cinematographers retaliated by embracing technologies that enabled them to establish the proper color and contrast balance on set and ensure that the information would follow the workflow to the end product. This put pressure on the DIT to become the colorist, and minimized the job of the dailies colorist, an artist who was reduced to applying the data from a memory stick onto the transfer. I don’t have any desire to determine the final color of my work on set in the midst of tight shooting schedules and rapidly changing location conditions in which my eyes don’t havethe proper time to adjust to the light level in the DIT tent. I like to discuss the look I’m going for with the DIT and have them balance it accordingly for the on-set monitors so that the director doesn’t h ave to look at a raw, flat image. Then I like to have Dennis Mackelburg, who is one of the best dailies colorists I’ve worked with, take that footage at night and, within the controlled environment of his suite,away from the chaos of the set, bring the look of tho se dailies to where it should be for distribution to everyone. For most of the past 20years I’ve worked with two gaffers, John Magallon and Terry Meadows, and three key grips, JeanPierre Marangakis, Kenny King and Porfirio Dominguez (who passed away from cancer two years ago). Though I started out as a gaffer myself, I don’t feel compelled to dictate every single instrument that will be used on set. In our initial conversations, they pick up on what I’m intending to do stylistically and plug into the concept. Based on their experience, they suggest instruments to achieve certain effects that I may be unaware of, or offer alternate solutions to a plan that I propose. And they’re usually right. I love to edit, and I’ve edited quite a few projects. I feel that editing teaches you more about directing and shot structure han t just about anything else, because it forces you to acknowledge what you actually needed to get on set,as opposed to what you think you needed. However, as much as I love to edit, I like having the perspective that a great editor like Marc Leif brings t o the project. Marc has edited eight films that I’ve shot, and I never have to worry if the visual intention of a scene is going to g et lost in the process, because he can look at a shot and understand conceptually why we took the time to get it. Finally, trust builds your future. I’ve shot every one of director Charlie Carner’s films for the past 15years. We’ve known each other (and Marc Leif) since college. When Charlie and I are on the set, people remark that we never seem to talk to each other. We don’t need to. Prior to the start of production, we do our prep by spending nights watching movies, eating Italian beef sandwic hes and chatting about ideas. By the time the cameras roll, we can complete each other’s thoughts. I love working with people who are better at their jobs than I am at their jobs. I trust my team to approach each project with the same passion and commitment that I do. And they trust me to trust them.

Michael Goi, ASC President

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

American Cinematographer - November, 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November, 2010