American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 33
Opposite: U.S. Navy Seaman Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) blows off steam on a beach in the waning days of World War II. This page, top: Following his discharge, Quell gives troubling answers during a Rorschach test. Bottom: Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. mans a Panavision System 65 camera in the desert near Barstow, Calif.
Unit photography by Phil Bray, SMPSP; Albert Chi; and Chuck Zlotnick, courtesy of Western Film Company LLC. Additional photos courtesy of Michael Bauman.
T
he opening shot of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master fills the frame with roiling ocean waves. As the water churns in the wake of some great nautical vessel, almost every bubble is visible in the white foam. Cut to a close-up of U.S. Navy Seaman Freddie Quell ( Joaquin Phoenix). The camera is so close that only his eyes are in sharp focus; the background fades into a soft, impressionistic view of the battleship that carries him. He stares off-camera, focused on a point in the distance. It’s 1945, and World War II is over. Following his discharge, Quell spends five years meandering from job to job — portrait photographer and migrant worker among them — until he finally stows away aboard the yacht of Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the founder and leader of a self-actualization movement called The Cause. Dodd sees Quell, an angry alcoholic with a miserable past, as an ideal subject for his experimental therapies. The Master was shot by Mihai Malaimare Jr., who was introduced to Anderson by Francis Ford Coppola after Coppola worked with the cinematographer on Youth Without Youth, Tetro and Twixt. Malaimare recalls that from the outset, Anderson was intent on
shooting some of The Master on a large format, primarily as a nod to the story’s period. “Most iconic stills from the World War I-World War II years were taken with the Speed Graphic 4x5 medium-format camera,” says Malaimare. “Photographers were also shooting with Crown Graphic.” Furthermore, Anderson wanted to use large format in an unconventional way: for portraiture rather than wide shots or landscapes. The filmmakers first tested 8perf 35mm VistaVision with a nonsync Beaucam, which captures a native 1.5:1 image. “We discovered there
www.theasc.com
wasn’t much of a difference in picture quality between 8-perf 35mm and [spherical] 4-perf 35mm,” says Malaimare. “At that point, we decided to jump into 65mm.” They decided to work with both of Panavision’s 5-perf 65mm cameras, the Panaflex System 65 Studio 65SPFX and the HR Spinning Mirror Reflex 65HSSM. The 65SPFX is a larger, silent camera, whereas the 65HSSM is a smaller and lighter MOS body more appropriate for handheld and remotehead operation. Both cameras can accommodate 400' and 1,000' loads. Anderson and Malaimare then
November 2012 33
http://www.theasc.com
American Cinematographer - November 2012
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 2012
American Cinematographer - November 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: Kick Start Theft
Production Slate: Middle of Nowhere • Husbands
Promoting “The Cause”
Creative Conspiracies
Deep Shih Tzu
Bedlam’s New Address
First-Rate Fare
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Peter Deming
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - American Cinematographer - November 2012
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 1
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 2
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Contents
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 4
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 5
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 6
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 7
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 9
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 11
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Short Takes: Kick Start Theft
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 13
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 14
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 15
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 16
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 17
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 18
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 19
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Production Slate: Middle of Nowhere • Husbands
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 21
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 22
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 23
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 24
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 25
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 26
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 27
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 28
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 29
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 30
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 31
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Promoting “The Cause”
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 33
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 34
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 35
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 36
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 37
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 38
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 39
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 40
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 41
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 42
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 43
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 44
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 45
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 46
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 47
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 48
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 49
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 50
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 51
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Creative Conspiracies
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 53
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 54
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 55
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 56
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 57
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 58
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 59
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 60
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 61
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 62
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 63
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 64
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 65
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Deep Shih Tzu
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 67
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 68
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 69
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 70
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 71
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 72
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 73
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 74
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 75
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Bedlam’s New Address
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 77
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 78
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 79
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 80
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 81
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 82
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 83
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 84
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 85
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - First-Rate Fare
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 87
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 89
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 90
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 91
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 92
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 93
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 97
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 99
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - ASC Close-Up: Peter Deming
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - November 2012 - Cover4
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