THE DARK KNIGHT
DP Wally Pfister, ASC
By Bob Fisher HANCOCK
DP Tobias Schliessler
By David Geffner
GOSSIP GIRL
DP Ron Fortunato, ASC
By Pauline Rogers RECOUNT
PRESIDENTS LETTER
Steven Poster, ASC CREW VIEW
First Assistant Meggins Moore
By Bonnie Goldberg TIPS & TOOLS
New Dollies, Heads, Cranes
By Kevin H. Martin
THE MOVING CAMERA
By Pauline Rogers STEADICAM TRIBUTE
By Pauline Rogers
Even with as many changes in our industry as there will be in the next five years, the fact is true that good stories still have to be recorded on some light gathering tool with methods that will mimic the way movies have been made for over 100 years. The tools are less important than the artist’s ability to tell great stories and entertain audiences around the world.
I am at the Sundance Institute as I am writing this. This is my tenth year as an advisor at the Institute. I am amazed at how each year the work gets better. I am even more amazed that each one demonstrates some subset of traditional values of great cinematography.
Every year I come away from this experience more energized and excited about my love for movies and the work I am privileged to do. And every year I realize of how little importance is the new technologies compared to our storytelling abilities.
I’m not trying to downplay the qualities of some of the new workflows. I just finished a major movie with the Genesis camera and found it more like shooting a film camera then any other digital capture method I have used. I had the extraordinary experience of seeing the Genesis material on a screen next to another movie that I had shot on the new Kodak stock 5219. The two were nearly indistinguishable. That says a lot in relation to the very high dynamic range of the 5219 film. No longer did I have to worry about the highlights on this digital format. That’s a first.
It is important for us to be prepared for these new technological tools. We need to train every member of our camera community to use the new tools to make the movies and television shows, the commercials and documentaries and every other form of new entertainment that comes along. The learning curves are not difficult. What is difficult is separating the fact from the fiction about new and hybrid technologies.
Every camera loader, second or first assistant, camera operator, or cinematographer must be offered this training so that we all will be ready to service the productions when we are needed. This is happening with International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 members. We are offering Mega Digital training weekends around the country, not just in the major production centers. These sessions offer training on four or five different camera technologies available today as well as discussions of workflows and responsibilities of our crews to handle the digital information until it can be handed off to the editors. These weekends also offer our members the opportunity to meet their brothers and sisters from all over our country and discuss what is important to them about working in our business. The art, craft, camaraderie, and family are all offered when our members meet for these training sessions.
We are also preparing training for loaders, second camera assistants and members of our digital crafts to handle the workflows before and after the data is recorded in the camera. Who is more equipped to handle the images our members create before they go to the editors?
The ICG is preparing to train our members in the methods of recording modern 3D images. This seems to be the next speeding train coming down the tracks straight at us. We will be ready when it stops at our station.
Yes, there are many new methods of making movies. And each one of them is “better then the last.” We can all learn to use them. That’s the easy part. But what is more important is our ability to make our audiences feel the stories we put on the screen effectively enough to make us laugh or make us cry.
