American Cinematographer - December 2000 - 38

shoot had the feel of "an NYU student

production with a higher budget." He
a laugh, "We had a video tap
on the camera with playback, but no
script supervisor."
Sipe and Carney are currently
working to raise money for a 35mm
blowup and prints, as well as audio
adds with

work,

so

that A Million Miles can hit the

festival circuit in

style. "At first, I didn't
actually
happen," Donnelly admits, "but Bryan
had a really strong vision for a first-time
director. [He and Ben] read a lot of books,
and then they went to the Pat Donnelly
believe that the film would

film school!"

Cinematographer's
Day in Palm Springs
The third annual Cinematographers
Day program will commence on the open¬
ing weekend of the Nortel Networks Palm
Springs International Film Festival, which
will take place from January 11 -24,2001.
The cinematography forum will continue

highly focused and provocative discus¬
explores many topics, including
the cinematic language of visual
metaphors, the cinematographer as
a

sion that

collaborator/co-author of film, and

new

digital technology.
The first part

of the two-day
scheduled for January 12, is
dedicated to the exposition of three films
in competition for the Da Vinci Award,
selected by a jury of nine master direc¬
tors of photography from submissions by
cinematography societies throughout the
world. The award, a sculpture created by
Italy's Arnaldo Pomodoro, recognizes
international accomplishment in cine¬
matographic art and technology. Each
film will be presented by its cinematog¬
rapher, and then analyzed afterward with
the public by jury members who will
discuss the elements of light, shadow,
and composition that each film exempli¬
fies. The prize will be awarded at the
black-tie Awards Gala on Saturday,
January 13.
program,

Oscar-nominated cinematogra¬
pher Giuseppe Rotunno, ASC, AIC (All
ThatJazd] will preside over the interna¬
tional jury, which will also include direc¬
tors of photography Jost Vacano, ASC,
BVK (Hollow Man), Shoji Ueda (Ran),
Pierre Lhomme (Cyrano de Bergerac),
Harvey Harrison, BSC (American Gothic),
Henning Kristiansen (Hungei), John
Seale, ASC, ACS (The Perfect Storm),
Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC (Close Encounters
of the Third Kind) and John Alonzo, ASC
(Chinatown).
With the exception of Seale, who
is on location in England filming Harry
Potter, all of the jurors are expected to
attend the festival, participate in the vari¬
ous programs, and meet the public to
discuss their roles

as

filmmakers.

Following screenings of the nomi¬
nated films, Vacano will moderate a

panel discussion on the legal and moral
rights of cinematographers as creative
co-authors of films. The balance of artis¬

tic, creative and legal acknowledgement

"Working with Birns & Sawyer has been great.
Knowing that I can always depend on their
equipment and service allows me to
concetraite on the project at hand."
Billy D. Marchese, Director/DP

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36
American Cinematographer - December 2000

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