MARCH 2019

A M E R I C A N C I N E M ATO G R A P H E R • M A RC H 2 0 1 9 • I A M T H E N I G H T – S P I R I T AWA R D N O M I N E E S – A S C C LU B H O U S E – S H OT C R A F T : 2 N D U N I T • VO L . 1 0 0 N O . 3
 M A R C H 2 0 1 9 V O L . 1 0 0 N O . 3
— ASC 100th Anniversary —

On Our Cover: Reporter Jay Singletary (Chris Pine) helps Fauna Hodel
(India Eisley) uncover the secrets of her past in the TNT miniseries I Am
the Night, shot by Matthew Jensen, ASC; Trevor Forrest; and Michael
McDonough, ASC, BSC. (Photo by Kurt Iswarienko, courtesy of TNT.)

FEATURES
28 I Am the Night – L.A. Noir
Matthew Jensen, ASC; Trevor Forrest; Michael McDonough, ASC, BSC; and

42
director-producer Patty Jenkins discuss their collaboration

Indie Honors
Ashley Connor, Diego García, Benjamin Loeb, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and

52
Zak Mulligan garner Spirit Award nominations

Cinematography’s Home
42 As the Society’s centennial celebration continues, AC traces the history

62
of the ASC Clubhouse

Shared Spaces
Documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson details her approach
to capturing locations far and wide

52 DEPARTMENTS
10
12
Editor’s Note

14
President’s Desk

22
Shot Craft: 2nd unit • Grip trucks

70
Short Takes: Black & White

72
New Products & Services

73
International Marketplace
62

74
Classified Ads

76
Ad Index

78
ASC Membership Roster

80
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Sean MacLeod Phillips

— VISIT WWW.ASCMAG.COM —
 Web-Exclusive Centennial Coverage
Join us in honoring the
100th Anniversary of the American Society of Cinematographers!

Clubhouse Conversations
The historic ASC Clubhouse in
Hollywood has long been the site
for insightful discussion about
cinematography by some of its
finest practitioners. Here we offer
a curated selection of some recent
in-depth talks, with videos fea-
turing 10 ASC members: Roger
Deakins, Bruno Delbonnel,
Adriano Goldman, Ed Lachman,
Dan Laustsen, Philippe Le
Sourd, Gregory Middleton,
Rachel Morrison, Hoyte van
Hoytema and Mandy Walker.
(The complete multi-part
programs on each subject are
available for subscribers to
Friends of the ASC.)
Watch now at bit.ly/ClubhouseConversations

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 M A R C H 2 0 1 9 V O L . 1 0 0 , N O . 3

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER

Stephen Pizzello
————————————————————————————————————
WEB DIRECTOR and ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
David E. Williams

EDITORIAL
————————————————————————————————————

MANAGING EDITOR Jon D. Witmer

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andrew Fish
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst, ASC
SHOT CRAFT EDITOR Jay Holben
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Rachael K. Bosley, John Calhoun, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Jim Hemphill,
David Heuring, Noah Kadner, Debra Kaufman, Michael Kogge, Iain Marcks,
Matt Mulcahey, Jean Oppenheimer, Lauretta Prevost, Phil Rhodes, Patricia Thomson
PODCASTS
Jim Hemphill, Iain Marcks, Chase Yeremian
BLOGS
Benjamin B • John Bailey, ASC • David Heuring
IT DIRECTOR/WEB PRODUCER Mat Newman
DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR Samantha Dillard
NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES David Alexander Willis

ART & DESIGN

————————————————————————————————————

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer

ADVERTISING
————————————————————————————————————

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann

323-936-3769 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: angiegollmann@gmail.com
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce
323-952-2114 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com
CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Peru
323-952-2124 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail: diella@ascmag.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

————————————————————————————————————

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal
————————————————————————————————————
ASC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Eric Rodli
ASC SPONSORSHIP & EVENTS DIRECTOR Patricia Armacost
OPERATIONS/EVENTS MANAGER Alex Lopez
MEMBERSHIP ADMINISTRATOR Salvador Maldonado
ASC ACCOUNTANT Shawnté Howard
————————————————————————————————————
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 99th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by
ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.
Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $).
Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood office. Copyright 2018 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA
and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.
POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.
 American Society of Cinematographers
The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but
an educational, cultural and professional
organization. Membership is by invitation
to those who are actively engaged as
directors of photography and have
demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC
membership has become one of the highest
honors that can be bestowed upon a
professional cinematographer — a mark
of prestige and excellence.

OFFICERS - 2018/2019
Kees van Oostrum
President
Bill Bennett
Vice President
Paul Cameron
Vice President
Cynthia Pusheck
Vice President
Levie Isaacks
Treasurer
David Darby
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky
Sergeant-at-Arms

MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Bill Bennett
Paul Cameron
Russell Carpenter
Curtis Clark
Dean Cundey
George Spiro Dibie
Stephen Lighthill
Karl-Walter Lindenlaub
Lowell Peterson
Cynthia Pusheck
Roberto Schaefer
John Toll
Kees van Oostrum
Amy Vincent

ALTERNATES
Stephen H. Burum
David Darby
Charlie Lieberman
Eric Steelberg
Levie Isaacks

MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
8
 EDITOR’S NOTE
THIS MONTH’S Film noir is a timeless genre that has long showcased

CONTRIBUTORS
great cinematography, as evidenced in such classics as
Raw Deal (shot by John Alton), The Third Man (Robert
Krasker, BSC), Sunset Boulevard (John Seitz, ASC), The
Night of the Hunter (Stanley Cortez, ASC), Touch of Evil
(Russell Metty, ASC), In Cold Blood (Conrad L. Hall, ASC),
Jim Hemphill
Chinatown (John Alonzo, ASC), Blade Runner (Jordan
is a filmmaker and freelance Cronenweth, ASC), L.A. Confidential (Dante Spinotti,
writer (“Indie Honors,” ASC, AIC), and many others. The Maltese Falcon may be
p. 42). “the stuff that dreams are made of,” as detective Sam
Spade memorably maintains, but noir traffics in the
dashed hopes of protagonists who inevitably find them-
Jay Holben
is a filmmaker and an
selves on misguided and tragic paths, where light and
shadow provide a distinctly melancholic ambience.
associate member of the Given this strong tradition of visual artistry, cinematographers are naturally
ASC (Shot Craft, p. 14). drawn to film-noir projects — such as the new TNT miniseries I Am the Night, shot by
Matthew Jensen, ASC; Trevor Forrest; and Michael McDonough, ASC, BSC, and execu-
tive-produced by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, who helmed the first two
Michael Kogge
is a freelance writer
episodes. All four, as well as master colorist and ASC associate Stefan Sonnenfeld, offer
their perspectives in coverage by Michael Kogge (“L.A. Noir,” page 28).
(“L.A. Noir,” p. 28). The Film Independent Spirit Awards continues to showcase the work of excellent
cinematographers who lend their aesthetic sensibilities to compelling indie projects. In
Iain Marcks our annual roundup (“Indie Honors,” page 42), Jim Hemphill and Iain Marcks profile this
is a filmmaker and a year’s Best Cinematography nominees: Ashley Connor (Madeline’s Madeline), Diego
New York correspondent for
García (Wildlife), Benjamin Loeb (Mandy), Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Suspiria) and Zak
Mulligan (We the Animals).
the magazine (“Indie As part of our celebration of the ASC’s centennial and the Society’s illustrious
Honors,” p. 42; “Shared history, this month the magazine has focused on the ASC Clubhouse, the venerated
Spaces,” p. 62). structure that has long served as the organization’s meeting place and education hub.
Our piece features a selection of photos and a finely detailed article by web director and
associate publisher David E. Williams (“Cinematography’s Home,” page 52).
David E. Williams Any seasoned cinematographer will tell you that location shooting presents both
is the web director and tangible benefits and logistical challenges. Documentarian Kirsten Johnson, who
associate publisher reflected on her career in the critically acclaimed “visual memoir” Cameraperson,
(“Cinematography’s Home,” offered us her perspective on some of the real settings in which she’s captured indelible
p. 52). images. “What’s fascinating to me about documentary work is that you enter places
where you would otherwise never get to go, and suddenly you feel differently about the
world,” Johnson tells Iain Marcks (“Shared Spaces,” page 62).
Jon D. Witmer “This is deeply physical work,” she adds. “It really matters that you are there, and
is the managing editor your experience is in-body. Maybe you’ll have to climb a rickety ladder up to a broken
(Short Takes, p. 22). roof, and if you’re open and paying attention, that will give you some insight into the
infrastructure of the place, and then you can better understand the lives of the people
who live there. You can’t walk in their shoes, but you can walk in their world — feel its
textures and light — and that is also what changes your ability to see it.”
Photo by Chris Pizzello.

Stephen Pizzello
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

10
 PRESIDENT’S DESK
A Film By…
Part 1

A few years ago, I got a phone call from a director with whom I had collaborated on an inde-
pendent feature — a project that had come, of course, with certain monetary concessions
concerning fees, crew and equipment. It was the director’s first film, but he had a substantial
résumé directing for the stage; his familiarity with drama was eminent but not necessarily
practical. Nevertheless, we had a great time making the film, and it proved to be a particu-
larly worthwhile creative endeavor.
I had enjoyed it from the start, in preproduction, where style and tone were discussed
while burning the midnight oil. Scouting locations had felt gratifying, as the director was
open to my comments on their practicality and look. We shot tests and occupied a DI suite
to create the LUTs for the film, and we decided to favor wide-angle lenses as we discussed
the immersive and dynamic feeling they brought to our shots of the actors’ faces.
After production wrapped, we put the finishing touches on the film in the DI suite —
and then I was on to the next project. So, when the director called me, I was thrilled to hear
that the film had been invited to a small but prestigious film festival. He went on to tell me that he had been asked
to come along, but, unfortunately, they could not provide travel or accommodation for the cinematographer. He
suggested, though, that it would be great if I could go anyway, especially considering our close collaboration.
So off I went a couple of weeks later, excited and brimming with anticipation that there would at last be some
recognition of our hard work.
I had tried to book a room at the director’s hotel, but the rates were prohibitive because of the festival, so
instead I found modest lodging a few miles outside of town. I took an Uber to the premiere, but of course the Honda
Accord was not allowed to drop me off at the front of the theater. As I walked from the car to the venue, I caught a
glimpse of the director arriving in a black SUV, from which he was quickly ushered into the theater, over the red
carpet. Thirty minutes later, I made it inside with the rest of the audience. I was seated in the front row and told that
there might be some questions from the audience during the pre-screening Q&A.
There was full applause when the director was invited to the stage by the moderator, a prominent film critic.
At first, they talked about what had inspired the director to take on this script. But then, when the conversation
shifted to the cinematic language — the film’s look and tone — and the director started to share his intentions, I
wondered if I was in the wrong theater. What he talked about had nothing to do with our intensive collaboration in
prep, our philosophical discussions on set, or the expression of our feelings about color and density during postpro-
duction. He referenced drama and literature we had never considered. And when it came to the look, he talked
about Basquiat and Rembrandt — an odd couple, to say the least, and two artists we had never discussed.
It was then I realized he was not referring to “we” or “our,” but just to “I” or “my.”
Out of the blue, the director pointed me out in the front row, introducing me as “my cinematographer.” After
a brief audience acknowledgment, the moderator asked if there were any questions for the cinematographer. There
was one: “What camera did you use?” I was momentarily speechless. The thought raced through my head, “How
irrelevant,” but my thought was cut short from being vocalized when the moderator jumped in to announce that,
for the sake of time, we had to start the film.
Soon a welcome and comforting darkness descended on the theater. Relieved, I slumped back in my seat. But
Photo by Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC.

then, towering over me on the screen that was just 8 feet away, the first title appeared in the dark: “A FILM BY…”

To be continued …

Kees van Oostrum

ASC President

12 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 SHOT CRAFT
On location in Iceland, Paul Atkins, ASC (left) frames a shot alongside
AC Stuart Macfarlane while filming the “creation sequence” for The Tree
of Life with an Imax MSM camera.
I The Ins and Outs of 2nd Unit
Second-unit crewmembers are among the unsung heroes
of production. Generally speaking, the 2nd unit will shoot
anything that doesn’t involve the primary talent or that takes a
considerable amount of time to complete. Establishing shots,
inserts, cutaways, aerial footage, b-roll, stunts, effects, minia-
tures — all of this and more can land within the 2nd unit’s
purview.
The 2nd unit works in conjunction with the 1st unit — aka
the main unit — sometimes in parallel with, other times ahead of
or behind it. In some circumstances, the main unit will shoot out
a scene’s principal performance aspects, and then the 2nd unit
will “clean up” the scene, capturing inserts and cutaways.
Compared to the main unit, the 2nd unit typically comprises a
reduced crew: a director; a cinematographer; and a gaffer, grip
and AC as necessary. At times it can be a one-person crew; alter-
natively, if the shooting involves complicated stunts, it can be
nearly a full unit.
For further insights into the work of 2nd-unit cinematogra-
phers, AC caught up with three masters of the craft: ASC
members Paul Atkins, Josh Bleibtreu and Paul Hughen.
American Cinematographer: What’s the biggest chal-
lenge for you on 2nd unit?
Paul Hughen, ASC: The most challenging aspect of 2nd
unit is shooting and delivering footage that is seamless in conti-
14 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
By Jay Holben
nuity and look with the main unit’s. The style has to be in keeping
with what the main-unit director and director of photography
have envisioned as a final product.
Paul Atkins, ASC: The lighting, camera angles, camera
movement, lens choice, etc. must all match the 1st unit. It’s less
about mimicking the style of the main-unit DP and director, and
more about learning to intuit their preferences for the look of
the film, so it eventually becomes second nature. At first, this can
be a difficult challenge, especially if it’s your first time working
with the DP and director. Hopefully, by the time the pace of
production accelerates and everyone has less time, you’re in
tune with the director’s vision and DP’s approach, and a level of
trust has developed.
Josh Bleibtreu, ASC: You have to think about adapting
your style to match the other DP’s. You need to think of how the
shots you are doing are going to fit into the film — what is the
previous cut, and what is the following cut? You have to adapt
your style so that it’s seamless and not out of left field.
Atkins: I’ve shot 2nd unit for [ASC member Emmanuel]
‘Chivo’ Lubezki and [director] Terrence Malick on several
features, and they developed a rather strict photographic
‘dogma,’ which demands that everything be shot in deep-focus
with wide-angle lenses, always in backlight. For them, a 24mm
was a ‘long’ lens! Camera movement was always in z-axis, and
pans were discouraged. Malick assiduously avoided the tradi-
tional ‘Burbank way’ of framing and shooting. Learning Chivo and
Terry’s stylistic approach was difficult at first, but soon I internal-
ized it, and it changed the way I see light and frame images.
How do you communicate with the 1st unit to make sure
you understand their intent?
Hughen: Once the main-unit assistant director and the
2nd-unit assistant director have finalized their schedules, then
it’s easy to break down scenes shot-by-shot so that both units
can see exactly what the two units are shooting. Second unit’s
schedule generally commences shortly after the main unit has
started their photography. This is a huge advantage to the 2nd- Second-unit photos courtesy of the cinematographers.
unit DP. I often find myself lurking around the 1st-unit set, taking
notes and speaking with key members of the crew. I try not to
get in the way of 1st-unit DPs, but if I catch their eye and they
don’t appear to be too busy, I’ll rattle off a few questions that I
might have. If the main unit is shooting on a stage that I will take
over in the coming days or weeks, then multiple set visits could
be in order. Most of the time, the main-unit DP wants to answer
questions and help the process, but timing is everything. Some
days, questions regarding lighting are best left for a half hour
before call time or at lunch.
Atkins: It’s as important to understand why a shot or
sequence is needed as it is to know how to do it. Hang out on set
with the main unit for a couple of days, especially at the begin-
 ning of production. Watch the 1st unit’s
dailies whenever possible. Listen to the
cinematographer’s and director’s
comments — which shots they like or
don’t like, and what shots they feel are
missing and are needed to complete a
sequence. Listening is key!
Bleibtreu: I watch their dailies reli-
giously. I try to visit editorial, if I can, to
see any cut footage for reference. If you
have a rough cut with slugs put in for the
missing shots, that’s great, because it
helps you think of pacing for the shot
you’re doing. Shooting options is always
good for giving the director and editor
choices, but if you educate yourself about
the work, then you can listen to your
instincts. p Josh Bleibtreu, ASC (right) and director Jack Gill tackle 2nd-unit work for the feature
Hughen: There often isn’t time to Black & White: The Dawn of Justice. q Second-unit cinematographer Paul Hughen, ASC
shoot a scene with different options, so on location for 12 Strong.
it’s best to get it right the first time you
shoot it. ‘Getting it right’ means doing
your homework and finding out exactly
what the main-unit director and DP want
from what you are shooting. If you’re
shooting moving background plates,
what are the angles of the plates? Many
times I have sat on the main-unit set with
lenses, a director’s finder, and the vehicle
that the actors will be driving in. It’s a
short walk over for the main-unit director
and DP to map out the angles for shoot-
ing the actors in front of the greenscreen.
Then, it’s a simple process with our
camera car, with cameras attached either
in an array or pointed in the direction that
1st unit has requested. At this point,
visual effects is on-board with their
requests for camera tilt, focus, focal great, but not all DPs are into them, and I focal length, camera height and angle,
length, etc. Are we creating an array, often find that the main DP is too busy to and other measurements. Study any
where two to three images are over- draw them up. Watch the way the DP previs they can provide.
lapped so that a wider, ‘panable’ shot can lights on 1st unit’s set. Stay in touch with Bleibtreu: Previs can be useful to
be achieved in post? All of these ques- the 1st-unit gaffer and ask what lamps, bridge two units together for action
tions need answers. It’s too expensive to etc. they use for key, fill and so on. sequences, but be careful to not follow
come back a second time and re-shoot If you’re on ‘cleanup’ duty and them as a ‘bible.’ They should be used
because we forgot a background-plate shooting inserts, it’s not always possible only as a guide.
angle. to see the footage you’re matching. Ask What can the 1st-unit cinematog-
Bleibtreu: I always ask the camera editorial to provide you with screen grabs rapher do to help you better execute
12 Strong photo by David James.

assistants to please include lens info on
the 1st-unit slates so that I can get a feel
for their lens choices. Sometimes I’ll ask
for someone to make up lighting
diagrams of their setups, and I’ll get
photos of the setups if I can.
Atkins: Lighting diagrams are
of 1st unit’s dailies on an iPad for continu-
ity.
Shooting effects shots is all about a
lot of precise measurements. Story-
boards are important if you’re shooting
plates for visual effects. Communicate
with the effects supervisor regarding
your job?
Bleibtreu: Make sure that we get
the lens, filter and stop info. It’s best if
they put it on the slate so that it doesn’t
get lost and we can quickly see it in the
dailies. It’s also important to communi-
cate any potential problems or special

www.ascmag.com March 2019 15

 t Hughen employed this plate vehicle for his work on the 2015 feature Vacation.
u Bleibtreu and crew film with a real helicopter on the action-comedy Tropic Thunder.
equipment that they feel you might need.
Hughen: It’s important that both
units have access to one another’s dailies.
Now that footage is quickly posted digi-
tally online, on a Monday night 2nd unit
can view footage that main unit shot
Monday morning. The DIT from 1st unit
will share information and LUTs that the
main-unit DP has created, so that during
shooting, the images will have the same
look. It’s very important that the two DITs
and the gaffers on both units speak regu-
larly and have the ability to communicate
via phone at a moment’s notice.
Atkins: Communicate, communi-
cate, communicate. Take time to view
2nd-unit rushes at dailies, and give
honest feedback. Of course, it’s often not
Quick Tips
Shooting 2nd-Unit Action
• “Shooting low and wide with foreground sells
speed better than anything.”
• “Shoot tests, if possible.”
• “Prelight when possible.”
• “The ‘counter move’ is a great way to help speed
up a slow shot.”
• “Action always looks better coming at you, either
directly or at a 45-degree angle across frame.”
• “Low angles are usually better.”
• “Sometimes action is better when it’s ‘bumping’
and ‘pushing’ the edges of the frame lines, not
perfectly composed. You can create tension that
way.”
— Josh Bleibtreu, ASC
16 March 2019
possible because of the pace of produc-
tion and lack of sleep.
What’s your ‘saving grace’ in your
work?
Bleibtreu: A good line producer
and crew. You need a strong relationship
with the 1st-unit crew — the gaffer, key
grip, 1st AC, camera operators, video-
assist people, editors. They’re all your
allies. If you know them and they respect
you, it can go a long way toward helping
your work fit perfectly into the film. Work
with your 1st AD to properly plan out
your days to get the best light possible.
Atkins: Surrounding myself with a
talented, enthusiastic crew is key for me.
Coffee is a close second!
Hughen: I’ve been very lucky with
my camera crew. I’ve had the same focus
puller for a dozen years, which makes it
easy on me. He knows the gear that I
want prepped, and having someone
familiar with the fast-moving nature of
2nd unit is a real bonus when we add five
more cameras for a sequence. And on a
2nd unit, a camera operator who can
follow action and knows when he’s got
the shot is invaluable.
Are there any specific tools that
you regularly use?
Atkins: I often work on low- or
medium-budget productions, and usually
the main obstacle is a lack of equipment.
Sometimes we’re sharing a lens package
with the main unit, and of course they
have priority — but you’re still expected,
ASC 100th Anniversary
somehow, to get your job done! You may
need to borrow a dolly or gimbal from the
main unit to execute a move. Make
friends with the 1st AC and key grip on
main unit; they’ll know what is needed
and what can be spared on the day, and
they can be your greatest ally in getting
the gear you need.
Bleibtreu: My motto is to always
be proactive rather than reactive. Plan
three to four shots ahead so that you can
leapfrog gear and crew. Another mantra
is to always try and find the shortest path
of least resistance to get your shots.
Don’t over-engineer or overthink it. I’m
not a fan of trying unproven tools on big
jobs; I need to know that whatever I bring
to the job is going to work reliably, and
that someone on the crew is familiar with
the gear and can fix it if something starts
to go south. There are a lot of toys out
there; sometimes you need a Libra head
or a Technocrane, but sometimes a
camera on a sandbag is the best choice.
I have been using an iPhone app
called Theodolite by Hunter Research &
Technology; it’s helpful during scouts to
confirm the compass headings and height
of ridges or buildings — how many
degrees they are above my current loca-
tion. I’m also a big fan of [Chemical
Wedding’s app] Artemis Pro, which I use
constantly on scouts to confirm shots. I
also use [Chemical Wedding’s] Helios sun
tracking; that software is amazing. And I
track the weather constantly — clouds,

sun, changing seasons. My go-to is [the
website] Weather Underground, as they
have a good 10-day advance forecast with
custom settings to include cloud-cover
predictions.
Hughen: I use the Artemis app for
shooting reference stills and forward those
to the main-unit DP so that during shoot-
ing he or she is aware of what we are
photographing. Even if he or she doesn’t
look at them, at least I’m staying in touch
and sending a message that I want to
match what they’re shooting, and I’m not
shooting my own movie — which, for 2nd
unit, I refer to as the ‘kiss of death.’
Do you have any final thoughts for
current or aspiring 2nd-unit cinematogra-
phers?
Bleibtreu: The 1st unit may have
shot scenes in a different season, when
there were leaves on the trees, and when
you get there they’ve all fallen off, or vice
versa. It’s a challenge to match a scene
when it’s a completely different location.
It’s always a challenge to find organic and
not-obvious ways to hide the faces of
photo doubles. You also need to find out
exactly what is needed. You often have a
number of people telling you what they
think is needed, and you have to cut
through it all and find out what is really
18 March 2019
t Atkins swings the
Imax camera into
position in Arizona.
p One of MBS
Equipment Co.’s 10-
ton grip trucks.
needed for the cut.
Matching existing photography
can be like forensic science. You first look
at the lighting. Is it sharp or soft? Where
are the shadows? What direction is the
light coming from? Then you look at the
camera angles and the lens choice. What
was the height of the camera? How did
the camera move? You’ve got to study
background details, because small details
can make a huge difference. You’ve
always got to know where the cut point
is. How will the shot be used? Don’t
waste time trying to improve or fix parts
of the shot that aren’t needed — and
don’t let your ego get in the way.
Hughen: Anyone who doesn’t
aspire to match to the main unit
shouldn’t shoot 2nd unit. All of the infor-
mation is generally available. Story-
boards, previs, schedules — it’s attain-
able. Hopefully there is some degree of
prep; that is when most of the questions
are answered regarding lighting, perfor-
mance, VFX, etc.
Atkins: I love shooting 2nd unit.
You work with small, dedicated crews,
away from the sometimes-political
complications of the main unit. And you
get to learn from master DPs and film-
makers!
ASC 100th Anniversary
Field Guide
Anatomy of a Grip Truck
The humble grip truck may just be
one of the most crucial components of
any production. While grip trucks exist in
an array of sizes and configurations, they
all have certain similarities. Grip packages
generally come preloaded as a set assort-
ment of equipment that’s measured in its
total gross weight. This is because, based
on their size and number of axles,
commercial vehicles are limited in regard
to the physical weight of their load by
state and federal law. Standard grip pack-
ages of 1⁄4-, 1⁄2- and 3⁄4-ton packages are
typically loaded into vans; a 1-ton package
can be a loaded into a van or a small cube-
truck; 3-ton, 5-ton and 10-ton packages
all come in larger cube or trailer trucks.
AC visited MBS Equipment Co. in
Sun Valley, Calif., to take a look at their
standard truck packages. The most
commonly rented — and biggest — pack-
age is the 10-ton. While packages are
certainly customizable, there is a standard
preloaded package that MBS offers with
their 10-ton truck. After every job, the
truck is completely downloaded and
Grip-truck photo and diagram by Jay Holben.
every piece of gear is meticulously
checked for wear and tear, damage and
functionality. Then, when another
production requests the gear, the truck is
reloaded from scratch, with the certainty
that every piece of gear is present and in
good working order. While the electrical
department will carry specific fixtures
rented for the job at hand, the standard
grip package is an amalgam of various
equipment that allows grips to perform as
the everyday MacGyvers that they
are.
Though not a complete list,
what follows is a sampling of the
major items found on a 10-ton
grip truck.
Stands:
4 – two-riser steel combo stands
6 – low combo stands
24 – 40" C-stands
4 – low C-stands
4 – turtle stands
14 – combo stands
2 – Mombo Combo stands
4 – high-roller stands
4 – Hi-Hi roller stands
Reflectors: 4 or 6 each – 10"x12", 18"x24", Sandbags:
4 – 4'x4' silver reflectors 24"x36" and 48"x48" solids 20 – 20lb
4 – 4'x4' mirrors and silks 20 – 35lb
1 each – various sizes of fingers 10 – 20lb shot bags
Soft goods: and dots in single, double, silk
1 each – 6'x6', 8'x8' and 12'x12' and occasionally lavender Wood:
single net, double net, silk, solid, 12 each – full, 1⁄2, 1⁄4, pancake
black/white grifflon, Ultrabounce, Frames: (1⁄8) apple boxes
unbleached muslin, bleached 2 – 6'x6' 1 crate – 2"x4" cribbing
muslin, Silent Full Grid Cloth, Silent 2 – 8'x8' 1 crate – 1"x3" cribbing
Lite Grid Cloth 2 – 12'x12' 1 crate – wedges
1 each – 20'x20' single net, double 1 – 20'x20' 4 sheets – 4'x8' plywood
net, silk, solid, black/white grifflon, Various – 8' and 10' lengths of
Ultrabounce, unbleached muslin, Ladders: 1"x3", 2"x4"
bleached muslin 1 each – 4', 6', 8', 10', 12' and
2, 4 or 6 each – 10"x12", 18"x24", 24' extension Clamps:
24"x36" and 48"x48" nets in single, 20 – #1 grip clips
double and occasionally lavender 20 – #2 grip clips
5 – #3 grip clips
6 – Mafer clamps
4 – grip clamps
4 – furniture clamps
16-20 – various sizes of C-clamps
with and without pins
4 – Cardellini clamps
4 – grid clamps

Hand Tools:
Rake, sledgehammer, shovel,
pickax, crowbar, 48" level, putty
knife, precision screwdriver,
hammer, handsaw, hacksaw,
channel locks, vise grips, Allen
wrench (standard set), box
cutter, staple gun, flashlight,
socket set, tin snips, files, pliers,
crescent wrenches, glue gun,
broom, dust pan

Miscellany:
1 – doorway dolly
6 – road cones
1 – umbrella
6 – furniture pads

Carts:
1 – cable/sandbag cart
1 – C-stand/utility cart
1 – 9-crate grip cart
1 – large-flag cart
1 – small-flag cart
u

20 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 SHORT TAKES
Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe evades San Jose Sharks defenseman Justin Braun in an episode of
the Kings’ documentary web series Black & White.
Royal Colors
I By Jon D. Witmer
“It’s all about what we can get that no one else is getting,”
says Chris Wohlers, manager of production for the Los Angeles
Kings of the National Hockey League.
Wohlers is leading the way through downtown L.A.’s
Staples Center arena, where the Kings will soon be taking the ice
to face off against the visiting Calgary Flames. During this Satur-
day-night game in early November, Wohlers and producer-
editor Ryan Todd will be capturing footage for a planned episode
of Black & White. Named after the Kings’ team colors, the short-
form web series takes viewers behind the scenes of all facets of
the Kings organization, both on and off the ice.
The episode at hand aims to paint a portrait of forward
Ilya Kovalchuk, the team’s big offseason free-agent signing. And
though Wohlers and Todd will capture footage during more than
30 of the Kings’ games over the course of this 82-game regular
season, tonight marks a rarity, as they’ve been given approval to
put a microphone on the player. This opportunity, Wohlers
explains, represents “top-tier-level access” that comes along
only a few times each season.
Beyond the in-game action, the plan is for this episode of
Black & White to follow Kovalchuk off the ice with his family,
whom he relocated from Russia to Beverly Hills after he signed
22 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
with the Kings. As this season has been putting into stark relief,
however, when it comes to sports, the best-laid plans are
subject to change.
Case in point: After the team began the season well
below expectations, the Kings fired head coach John Stevens
just last Sunday, replacing him with interim head coach Willie
Desjardins. The production crew went into high gear, shooting
interviews with Desjardins, team president Luc Robitaille, vice
president and general manager Rob Blake, and team captain
Anze Kopitar on Monday, followed by Desjardins’ first game
behind the bench on Tuesday. The resulting episode, “Fresh
Start,” was released on Friday. “That was definitely the fastest
one we’ve ever gotten out,” Wohlers notes.
Wohlers crosses through Staples Center’s Chick Hearn
Press Room and into what’s labeled the Digital Dark Room,
where the production, marketing and social-media teams have
All images courtesy of the filmmakers.
set up headquarters for the game. Inside, freelance sound
recordist Glenn Gaines is prepping Kovalchuk’s lavalier mic,
which will soon be handed off to head equipment manager
Darren Granger and his crew to be sewn into the player’s
uniform.
Todd soon enters the room, having completed the night’s
first shot. He was in position at the base of the players’ entrance
ramp with a Red Epic-W camera to capture Kovalchuk’s arrival
and to follow him to the team’s locker room. With puck drop
scheduled for 7 p.m., Todd and Wohlers
have been at the arena since 3:45, allow-
ing them to set up and be ready to grab
such pregame moments.
The Kings’ 2018-19 season corre-
sponds with the fourth season of Black &
White, a show that first began produc-
tion just after the Kings’ hoisted the Stan-
ley Cup as NHL champions for the second
time in three years and the second time
overall in team history. Wohlers joined
the production staff during the series’
first season, while this marks Todd’s
second season behind the camera.
Following Wohlers’ arrival, the team
invested in a Canon EOS C300 — which
remains the crew’s workhorse for 4K 24-
fps in-game footage — and, more
recently, the Epic-W; the latter is used to
capture 4K footage at 120 fps, as well as
for interviews, which are shot single-
camera in 8K at 24 fps. Both cameras are
typically kept at 800 ISO; when shooting
game footage, Todd notes, “it’s so bright
on the ice, we’re usually shooting at T5
or 5.6.”
Complementing the cameras, the
production crew carries a set of lenses
that includes Canon EF 16-35mm, 24-
70mm and 70-200mm (all f/2.8) zooms, a
Sigma 18-35mm (T2) High Speed cine
zoom, and a 50mm (T1.5) Sigma FF High
Speed cine prime.
Joined by supervisor of production
Trevor Rabone and creative director
Ashley Lane, Wohlers, Todd and Gaines
set off to take their positions for the
pregame warm-ups, discussing Black &
White’s upcoming docket as they go.
They’ve already started following broad-
casters Francisco X. Rivera and Nano
Cortés, who this season are calling 10
Kings games in Spanish for radio station
ESPN Deportes. Defenseman Dion
Phaneuf will soon appear in his 1,000th
NHL game, which will happen in
Nashville; upon the team’s return to
Staples Center, he’ll be saluted on-ice in
a pregame ceremony. And in December,
Wohlers and Todd hope to travel to
Buffalo for an episode focusing on
forward Alex Iafallo and his family.
The Black & White crew works ppp From left: Kings forwards Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Alex Iafallo line up on the ice
closely with Kings’ broadcast partner Fox during pregame introductions. pp Manager of production Chris Wohlers frames a shot on
Sports West to get additional in-game location in Buffalo. p Producer-editor Ryan Todd captures a Buffalo exterior.

www.ascmag.com March 2019 23

 u Assistant
general manager
Michael Futa sits
for an interview
in the Kings’
offices at Toyota
Sports Center.
uu Defenseman
Kale Clague —
seen here in the
theater at TSC —
has been a key
contributor for
the team’s minor-
league affiliate
the Ontario
Reign.
footage as well as pre- and postgame
interviews when necessary. During the
game, Wohlers points out, “Fox is getting
everything wide, so what can we get
that’s different?”
To that end, Wohlers will take the
C300 to the broadcast camera-well
midway up the stands and overlooking
center ice; from that vantage, he’ll get
shots looking toward the Kings’ bench,
isolating Kovalchuk. Todd, meanwhile,
will be at ice level, right up against the
glass, in one of the still photographers’
photo wells, capturing high-speed game
action. Additionally, Rabone will rig three
GoPro Hero4 Black cameras on the Kings’
bench to catch Kovalchuk in between his
shifts on the ice. “It’s so precious to have
a guy mic’d up,” Wohlers stresses.
“Knowing that every second is on-
camera is very big for us.”
Kovalchuk is on tonight’s starting
line, skating alongside forwards Jeff
Carter and Tyler Toffoli, with defense-
men Drew Doughty and Derek Forbort in
front of goaltender Jack Campbell. Todd
heads out onto the ice to shoot the play-
ers’ introductions, keeping his camera
trained on Kovalchuk throughout. After
the national anthems, he hurries into
position behind the glass, near the
corner where the Zamboni enters and
exits the ice between periods. He places
the Epic-W on a tripod, facing across ice
toward the Calgary bench; the Flames’
net will be on this end for the first and
third periods, making it a prime location
to capture Kovalchuk and the Kings’
offense in action.
For the second period, AC follows
Wohlers to the upper camera well.
24 March 2019
Gaines is seated just in front of Wohlers’
position, monitoring the audio recording.
From this perch, he can stand up and
turn around to speak with Wohlers when
the referee’s or linesmen’s whistles stop
the play on the ice; when there’s some-
thing to say during the game action, the
two filmmakers communicate via text.
Heading into the third period, the
Kings are down 1-0. They get two power-
play opportunities in the second half of
the final frame, and they pull goaltender
Jack Campbell for an extra skater with 59
seconds remaining, but ultimately
they’re unable to score. Had the Kings
tied the game and sent it to overtime,
the teams would have switched ends of
the ice, and Todd would have run to the
other end of the rink and operated the
camera handheld. Then, had the Kings
managed to win, he would have gone out
onto the ice to capture the players lifting
their sticks in salute to the fans.
Instead, when the horn blows to
end the game, the team heads straight to
the locker room, and the production
crew returns to the Digital Dark Room for
a quick wrap-out. The footage they’ve
captured will remain on the CF cards and
Red Mini-Mags until the crew returns to
the team’s offices at Toyota Sports
Center in El Segundo on Monday.
As they carry their gear out of
Staples Center, Todd says to Wohlers,
“Well, we got something.”
* * * most often using the team’s theater on
Whatever it was, we’ll never
know.
Almost two months later, in early
ASC 100th Anniversary
January, Wohlers and Todd welcome AC
through double doors emblazoned with
the Kings’ crown logo, into the team’s
primary base of operations at Toyota
Sports Center. After its inauspicious start,
the difficulty of getting the Kings’ season
back on track has been compounded by a
long string of injuries to players up and
down the lineup, including Kovalchuk,
who missed 10 games with an injury that
required ankle surgery. Given that turn of
events, the decision has been made to
shelve his episode of Black & White.
“That’s something we knew could
happen,” Wohlers notes, “but it’s the
first time we’ve pulled the plug in the
middle of production.”
Thankfully, other plans have borne
fruit. The ESPN Deportes and Dion
Phaneuf episodes (“Growing the Game”
and “Phaneuf’s 1,000th,” respectively)
have both been released, and Wohlers
and Todd did travel to Buffalo for the
Iafallo-family episode, which, at the time
of AC’s visit, is currently being edited.
The two filmmakers lead AC
through the TSC complex, where the
Kings — as well as their American Hockey
League affiliate, the Ontario Reign —
have their practice facility, replete with
separate locker rooms for each team,
three sheets of ice, a full gym, a team
lounge, and more. Todd notes that
there’s no designated place to shoot
interviews for Black & White, so they
commandeer space as the need arises —
the ground level or, more recently, a
conference room on the second floor.
To light those interviews, Wohlers
says they have “a three-light Litepanels

Forward Jeff Carter, defenseman Drew Doughty and fellow Kings come together in celebration
following a Los Angeles goal.
kit and a standard Arri kit,” the latter of
which features two 300- and two 650-
watt Fresnels. “We usually use [a Litepan-
els 1x1] through 216 diffusion for the key
light, and sometimes we’ll put a bounce
for fill. Then we’ll use the Fresnels for a
backlight or to accent the walls in the
background. We try to do pretty high
contrast to make it a little moodier.”
Wohlers and Todd handle sound
duties themselves for those on-site inter-
views, and they also wore that extra hat
on their trip to Buffalo, which was a
particularly bare-bones affair. “We didn’t
bring any lights,” Todd explains. “We just
used available lighting and worked with
what we had.”
One piece of special equipment
they did take was the production team’s
DJI Phantom 3 drone, which made its
Black & White debut with “Sutter Farm,”
a 2016 episode that spotlighted then
Kings coach Darryl Sutter at his offseason
home in Viking, Alberta, Canada. “It adds
a ton [of production value],” Wohlers
says. “Ryan is a good drone pilot, so he
flies it now.”
The production team’s offices are
on the 2nd floor of the practice facility,
with social media and marketing sharing
the same space. The departments’
combined creative efforts have resulted
in an ever-expanding portfolio of projects
for Wohlers and Todd to tackle, including
promo videos for social media, as well as
26 March 2019
other series including “Inside the Play,” in
which Kings players break down specific
moments from recent games, and “In the
Pipeline,” which spotlights the team’s up-
and-coming players. “I’d say Black &
White is about 20 percent of what we
shoot, if that,” Wohlers says.
A door in the back corner of the
creative department leads to the office of
senior editor Phillip Radke. Adobe
Premiere Pro CC is open on the two large
Dell monitors on his standing desk; on
one, the Buffalo episode assembly sits on
a 1080 timeline, and on the other, Radke
is scrubbing through footage of the Ohio
State University’s women’s hockey team,
on which Iafallo’s sister Julianna served
as a captain before turning pro.
The Buffalo trip involved shooting
two hockey games — Alex’s with the
Kings and Julianna’s with the Buffalo
Beauts of the National Women’s Hockey
League — as well as multiple days off-ice
with the family. “This is probably the
most we’ve ever shot for one Black &
White,” Wohlers notes. “We know what
the idea is for the story, but how does it
actually become digestible? That’s what
Phil has to figure out. Phil makes it come
alive in the edit.” In the end, Radke’s
solution will be to cut the footage into
multiple episodes, the first two of which
had just been released as this story went
to press.
“There are two dynamics an
ASC 100th Anniversary
episode can play into,” Wohlers contin-
ues. “There’s critical stuff that’s happen-
ing, like if a guy has a 1,000th game or a
coach is fired. That’s the simple aspect;
we just follow what happens. And the
other — which I think is more fun but
harder [to execute] — is stuff like this
Iafallo episode, and the Deportes one,
too, which Ryan edited. What are the
stories ‘outside’ of the season? These
stories are topical, but [in a certain
regard] they also have nothing to do with
hockey.”
Color correction for Black & White
happens as part of the editorial work-
flow. “We’re all about speed, so we don’t
do anything fancy,” Radke offers. “Ryan’s
experimented a little with Resolve, but
that plays into our turnaround time and
budget. That’s the next way we can
upgrade what we’re doing.”
Radke’s responsibilities also
extend to managing the server and over-
seeing the department’s archiving
efforts, backing up all content — raw
footage as well as finished projects —
from each season to LTO 6 tape, with one
copy to keep at TSC and one for storage
off-site. “By the end of the year, there’s
just so much stuff,” Wohlers notes, “so
organizing is a huge part of it.”
Not too long ago, when the Kings
were winning their two Stanley Cups, the
NHL game was viewed as “heavy” and
defensively oriented. Since then, it’s
been evolving into a game of speed and
skill that increasingly emphasizes offense
first. That the Kings as an organization
allow their own evolution to be examined
in close-up by Black & White’s cameras
isn’t taken for granted by the filmmakers.
“The fact they let us do stuff like
this can’t be overstated,” Wohlers says.
“They believe this is something people
will want to see and that can help build
the fan base. They’ve believed all along
that it could be something big.”
For an expanded version of this
story, visit bit.ly/KingsACMag.
u
 L.A.
Noir
Matthew Jensen, ASC; Trevor Forrest; It’s 1965 and high schooler Patty Lee lives an innocent

and Michael McDonough, ASC, BSC

and ordinary life just outside Reno. She has a devoted

shoot on film for Patty Jenkins’

mother, close friends, and a job at the local Catholic hospi-

TNT miniseries I Am the Night

By Michael Kogge
tal. When she finds her birth certificate hidden among her
mother’s possessions and discovers her name is actually
Fauna Hodel, her life begins to unravel. She soon learns
that nothing is what it seems, and that her background,
family, heritage — her very identity — are secrets that
have been withheld from her. Despite what it may cost her,
she is determined to learn the answers, and travels alone
to Los Angeles, where her real grandfather lives.
Hodel (India Eisley) is aided by reporter Jay

28 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 tt Searching for
answers about her
mysterious past, Fauna
Singletary (Chris Pine, who also exec- Hodel (India Eisley)
utive produced), who helps her ventures to Los Angeles
Unit photography by Clay Enos. All images

in the six-part
uncover the secrets of her past in the miniseries I Am the
TNT six-episode miniseries I Am the Night. pp Matthew
Night. The tale — which is based on a Jensen, ASC.
p Cinematographer
true story — takes Fauna from the Trevor Forrest.
Nevada desert to the seedy corners of t Michael McDonough,
Los Angeles, and even to Hawaii, ASC, BSC.
revealing a sordid world where
courtesy of TNT.

everyone has something to hide and

no one tells the whole truth. I Am the
Night uses these classic trappings of

www.ascmag.com March 2019 29

 L.A. Noir
“I wanted to take
the approach that this film
was actually shot in the
1960s — and unearthed
in pristine condition —
using the best equipment
they had available to them
at the time, so we shot
[on film negative] with
Panavision [Panaflex
Millennium] XL2 cameras
with PVintage lenses.
Those lenses brought
back that time for me.
Shooting period in Los
Angeles these days is not
as easy as it might have
been 15 years ago,
because so much has
been modernized and
gentrified. Having lenses
that aren’t razor sharp by modern standards helped
round the corners on the world, so to speak.
“Patty and I both favor wide-angle lenses for
their drama and [for the fact] that they would be in
step with period movies.The 29mm and 40mm were
our workhorses, and we tried not to go above
75mm. Having fewer choices in the lenses leads to
strong choices in camera position and movement.
Shooting wider lenses closer to the subject gives a
sense of intimacy and a feeling that the viewer is
actually in the room with the characters. It also tends
to open up the set so you can see all that amazing
production design by Julie Berghoff and her team.”

— Matthew Jensen, ASC

film noir to shine a light on a heinous
murder from decades past that pulls
Fauna into the mystery’s dark corners
— and into the web of her grandfa-
ther, George Hodel (Jefferson Mays).
Exploring the creative process
behind this noir for television, AC
spoke with executive producer Patty
Jenkins, who directed Episodes 1 and
2, as well as the show’s cinematogra-
phers — Matthew Jensen, ASC
(Episodes 1 and 2); Trevor Forrest
(Episodes 3 and 4); and Michael
McDonough, ASC, BSC (Episodes 5
and 6) — and with Company 3
colorist and ASC associate Stefan
Sonnenfeld.
American Cinematographer:
Patty — how did the series origi-
nate?
Patty Jenkins: I’d heard that
there was a woman whose story I
must hear, so about 12 years ago I had
coffee with Fauna Hodel — but noth-
ing had prepared me for how mind-
blowing her story was. I was drawn
to the incredible details of how the
mystery of her life unfolded, and the
deep and powerful themes of identity
that ran through it. That’s the brass
ring: a story that has a riveting narra-
tive but is also rich in deep themes.
Ever since then, I’ve tried to find a
way to tell it, but before the success of
True Detective, people weren’t so into
limited series, and it didn’t fit into a
feature or ongoing series. Finally, the
moment came with TNT.

30 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 How did the cinematogra-
phers get involved in this project?
Matthew Jensen, ASC: Patty
first mentioned the project to me
t Chris Pine
when we were doing the DI for
steps into a
Wonder Woman [AC July ’17]. It didn’t scene as
take much persuasion on her part. It reporter Jay
Singletary,
was noir, ’60s Los Angeles — and
who becomes
that’s all I needed. And it was another entangled in
opportunity to continue our creative Hodel’s
search for the
relationship in a completely different
truth.
setting and style than Wonder Woman. q The crew
Trevor Forrest: Patty Jenkins is paces Eisley
for a
the reason I was invited to the project.
Steadicam
We are always looking for ways to shot.
work together after we enjoyed the
experience of shooting the pilot
Exposed for Universal in 2015. Patty
and her partner-in-life-and-work,
Sam Sheridan, apply a rigorous level
of effort to every project before they
even consider making it, so I knew I
was walking into something special.
It was a gift that an English cinephile
like myself was being asked to bring
something unique to the genre of film
noir. Noir allows for stylized visual
storytelling perhaps more than any
other genre, so the photography was
going to take an equal share in the
storytelling.
Michael McDonough, ASC,
BSC: Patty was a fan of Winter’s Bone
and Starred Up, [the latter of which
was] a prison drama I’d done with
David Mackenzie. Given her own
history making the independent film
Monster, I think she connected with colorist, Stefan Sonnenfeld. When for me, years ago. He’d been shooting
my work on a similar level. I went you are that thorough, it allows you some incredibly beautiful documen-
over to Warner Bros. and had a really to lay a pretty solid path for another tary and ambient-style films, and I
warm and creative meeting with her. person to then come in and yet still be noticed that he has this truly great
Obviously, you’re drawn to work creative. eye. I’d never met Michael, but I was
with directors of that quality. I hired Trevor to shoot a pilot a big fan of the work he and Debra
Jenkins: I would hire Matt to
shoot anything for me, so asking him
to do this was automatic. He’s unbe-
“We shot 3-perf Super 35mm, mostly on Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 and
lievably gifted, detailed, subtle, and
250D 5207. I usually shot clean, with the lenses doing most of the work. For
so skilled at what he does; we have a
the day exteriors in Sparks, Nev. — which we shot in San Dimas [Calif.] — I
wonderful dynamic at work, and we
overexposed by two stops and pulled one stop. That in combination with the
share a lot of personal taste in what
lenses put a patina on the desert that helped distinguish it from
we like. Matt is extremely specific
Los Angeles.”
and thorough with the look and tone
— Matthew Jensen, ASC
he establishes, and he sees it through
to the last steps with our amazing

www.ascmag.com March 2019 31

 L.A. Noir
Granik have done over the years and
knew he was a great narrative cine-
matographer. It was exciting to see
how the different DPs all brought
their different skills to the piece, yet
all aspired to stay true to Matt’s
vision.
Noir is a genre about shadows
and secrets. How did you want the
cinematography to exhibit and
represent the characters, their inner
struggles and external conflicts?
Jensen: For my first meeting
32 March 2019
with Patty about the project, we both
brought books from the same photog-
raphers: William Eggleston, Gordon
Parks and Stephen Shore. We had a
laugh about it, saying, ‘I guess we’re
on the same page, then.’ Patty also
mentioned that she wanted tension to
permeate every shot and interaction,
so she brought up Hitchcock. We had
a look at Vertigo and Notorious for the
artful way that Hitchcock builds
tension through blocking and camera
movement. So many of our episodes
ASC 100th Anniversary
p Singletary finds himself in hot water with
LAPD Sgt. Billis (Yul Vazquez). t Billis has a
talk with LAPD Detective Ohls
(Jay Paulson).
in I Am the Night are about subtext
and hinting at the menace to come, so
Hitchcock is the perfect place to start
for that kind of work. We also looked
at The Last Picture Show and The
Grapes of Wrath for their high-
contrast, deep-focus look. We tried to
emulate that in our wide-angle
approach and let shots play out in
multiple layers of action — fore-
ground, middle ground, background.
We wanted to try to create tension by
not cutting away all the time, which
can be tricky.
Jenkins: Matt and I got excited
about trying to bring the feeling of a
Technicolor pop fairytale while evok-
ing some great photographers. We
tried to paint a very manicured and
controlled portrait of loneliness and
isolation to create this tension.
Ultimately, we leaned on the real
 The camera is framed on Connie Nielsen (as Corinna Hodel) and Eisley.
world and the characters to tell their
own stories, not unlike Eggleston and
other photographers who were ‘real-
ity based’ yet also curators of what
they capture. I’d describe our
approach to the overall look as
William Eggleston meets Larry Sultan
and Philip-Lorca diCorcia, mixed
with the framing and blocking of a
classic fairytale meets Hitchcock. That
sounds like a lot of different things,
but it all nicely synced together, leav-
ing room to play.
Trevor and Michael — how did
you work with your respective direc-
tors, Victoria Mahoney and Carl
Franklin, to keep a visual continuity
with Matthew’s work, but also create
something new?
Forrest: When we were hired,
Vic and I had met briefly only a few
days before at a Q&A of Wonder
Woman. Victoria’s a photographer,
loves art, and is a prolific director.
Since we didn’t have a shorthand, I had raised Fauna, to contrast against
offered up a bunch of photographs the cold reality that Fauna stumbles
and ideas, while she created a visual into as she discovers her biological
toolbox for us to add to and work family. The way the story is written,
from. Her key interests were to bring it’s almost like three feature films,
a warmth to the African-American each containing stories in their own
neighborhoods and the family who right — with transitional elements
Colorist and ASC associate Stefan Sonnenfeld, president of Company 3,
worked with Patty Jenkins and Matthew Jensen on the final grade. Input from
Trevor Forrest and Michael McDonough, as well as other department heads, was
primarily filtered through those two. Sonnenfeld performed the grade at
Company 3 in Santa Monica, Calif., with Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve.
Stefan Sonnenfeld: The overarching concept for the series was that it’s a
period piece, and most of what we did in post was in service to that. The cine-
matographers shot with that in mind, and the production and costume design
reflected that idea.
[Shooting on film] made perfect sense for a show that is supposed to have
a very beautiful and classically cinematic look. Of course, we made adjustments in
color and contrast, as we’d normally do, but if you’re going for a filmic look, it
certainly makes a lot of sense to build the feel into the imagery from the start by
actually shooting film negative.
www.ascmag.com March 2019 33
 L.A. Noir
from Episodes 2 to 3 and 4 to 5.
Victoria approached her episodes like
she was making a movie, being
cognizant of those linking elements
that are important for six episodes.
McDonough: Carl [expressed
that he] wanted it to feel like you were
always moving through this world. At
the beginning, the series was more
traditional in the way it was covered,
but Carl was pushing [for] a moving
camera, which was a big challenge in
itself. We were going to be lighting
360 degrees on location and in the set,
all of it with real ceilings. I was lucky
that the gaffer from the two previous
episodes, Justin Dickson, stayed on.
He’s a young guy with a really artful
eye, and he helped me prelight the
spaces. Of course, on the day, we have
some big stars to show and it’s impor-
tant to tweak the lighting and get it
just right.
One thing that goes back to my
original days shooting film is that I
was taught to create a healthy nega-
tive. I overexposed 2⁄3 [of a stop] on
both stocks so there would be range
and density in the negative. Even if
the series is being done with a digital
finish, it’s still important to me to
have good grain structure in the shad-
ows. It was also nice to use fill lights
and to fill in the shadows so they
weren’t murky and noisy.
In the pilot, there’s a gorgeous
establishing shot of L.A. at night in
the rain, with Jay running into a bar
called King Eddy’s. How did you go
about capturing this quintessential
noir image?
Jensen: Jay’s arrival at King
Eddy’s at night was shot in down-
town Los Angeles. Much of my photo-
graphic research of 1960s L.A. pointed
to the streetlights being mercury
vapor, and they produced a metallic,
blue-green-cyan look; I wanted to re-

pp The mystery’s cast of characters also

includes the twisted, struggling artist Sepp
(Dylan Smith). p Fading socialite Corinna
Hodel guards her family’s secrets. t Fauna
Hodel’s adoptive mother, Jimmy Lee
(Golden Brooks).

34 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

create that as best I could. Originally,
I wanted to rig the entire street with
smaller HMIs, snooted and gelled
with Cyan 60 on existing light poles.
But that proved to be too big of a
rigging job in terms of time and
manpower, so we opted for fewer
streetlights, and used the Bebee
[Night Light with 15 6K lights] gelled
with the Cyan 60. That basically lit the
entire street, and I had a little fill on
Chris Pine — a 4K HMI, with the
same gel package, through an 8-by of
Full Grid. My gaffer, Jon Bradley, did
an excellent job getting that street
rigged and lit in very little time.
Trevor — the scene in which
Jay and Fauna have a piece of pie at
Chili John’s in Episode 2 contains a
wonderful blend of shadows and
color. How did you give this scene
its noir edge?
Forrest: A diner at night is clas-
sic noir and [that scene] was a treat.
We used the painting Nighthawks, by
Edward Hopper, as our scouting
reference to find a similar warm,

Reference-Image Innovation

Michael McDonough, ASC, BSC: In prep on I Am the Night, I realized I had the opportunity — due to shooting 35mm negative —
to test out an idea I’d had for a while. I wanted to be able to give the dailies colorist a better representation of my intention for
each lighting setup than the standard practice of sending in some digital DSLR stills as an approximation.
I began on two fronts. I put a camera rig together with the help of Bob Foertsch from Panavision and their engineers, creat-
ing some parts to mount a Convergent Design Odyssey7Q monitor and recorder above my Sony a7S II. We added some feet to rest
it easily, and an Anton Bauer gold plate to run both the camera and monitor-recorder from one Slimline battery.
The next phase was to work with Pankaj Bajpai at Encore, whom I’d worked with several times — including on Fear the
Walking Dead, where we created a film-emulation LUT for my Sony a7S II.
Pankaj Bajpai: In the creation of this film emulation, first we took the Sony S-Log3 tone map and altered it to have a more
generic film response, particularly in the shadows to mid-tone area of the curve, and to make the highlights gentler. Secondly, we
took the S-Log3 S-Gamut3.Cine color matrix [that is] implemented in the a7s, and re-mapped it to be more filmic. This, for example,
made greens, reds, cyans and yellows be more in line with what film would typically render, thus creating a more organic photo-
chemical quality.
McDonough: It’s a two-step process. The camera sends a log [flat] image to the monitor, and the monitor overlays the LUT
we created on top of that log image.
I shot my usual film-negative tests at Panavision, and shot — side-by-side — a7S II clips recorded to the Odyssey. These clips
helped us dial-in the a7S film-emulation LUT.
[During the actual production] I’d shoot clips once I knew — by eye and meter — that a scene was close to being lit. Those
clips could be downloaded each day at wrap to accompany the negative to the lab — FotoKem, in this case — and then on to dailies
colorist Dan Boothe at Encore with the developed negative.
It required some tweaking when going from test shots to real-life production, but after about a week, we were pretty close
— and we certainly achieved a better rendition than we would have with straight DSLR stills alone. It proved very helpful in stream-
lining the process.
 L.A. Noir
Singletary makes his way toward the King Eddy Saloon.
glowing interior at midnight, which
production designer Julie Berghoff
found at the restaurant Chili John’s in
Burbank. This scene had to be inti-
mate, as Jay hopes to put Fauna at
ease — and what I love about a diner
at night is the silence and the loneli-
ness of the interior, while they sit and
eat pie at midnight. It’s the witching
hour.
The scene was lit very simply,
because the location was tough to
work in with the camera movement
we wanted. All of the lighting comes
from two vintage practicals over the
v TECH SPECS
1.78:1
3-perf Super 35mm
Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, 250D 5207
Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2,
Alexa Mini (limited use)
Panavision PVintage
Digital color grade
36 March 2019
service area and a row of Quasar
[Science] tubes laying on the floor
and uplighting the walls [from] out of
view. We used another uplight on
their faces as they look down to eat
and talk quietly. This allowed us to
shoot really quickly and give the
actors some privacy for their perfor-
mance.
My favorite shot is from
outside looking in through the diner
windows with the passing car reflec-
tions. These two characters are in a
‘bubble’ in this shot. The quiet inti-
macy also lulls the audience into
thinking Jay will get what he needs,
only to be denied it when Fauna slips
away into the night.
With the warm interior, the
continued use of Cyan 60 gel for the
nightlights in that part of the city
helped render a dreamlike quality to
the scene. The picture window
behind their conversation appears
almost surreal, further adding to this
strange time of day.
Michael — you shot Episode 5,
which turns the series in an unex-
pected direction, from the shadows
ASC 100th Anniversary
of Los Angeles to the blues and
greens of Hawaii. What were the
challenges in showing this new
world, yet also conforming to the
series’ tone and mood?
McDonough: I used the 5219
500 tungsten film stock for the L.A.
section of the story and saved the
5207 250 daylight stock for Hawaii, so
there would be a difference in texture
between those two places. [The 5207
stock] is a little crisper and has more
contrast, which would add a bit more
‘zing’ in the Hawaii sequences. We
[shot there] with a minimal crew and
minimal intervention. We arrived at
the time of year when there was a lot
of overcast for us to fight, and even
some rain, and we had to embrace
that. You also don’t want to step away
too far from the language of the over-
all series, so there’s a certain amount
of help in post to smooth over scenes
that often ranged from direct sunlight
to overcast.
I definitely enjoyed those inti-
mate scenes between Chris and India.
Their performances were excellent. In
those cases, it was [a question of]
 Forrest says the
scene in Chili
John’s diner was
inspired by
Edward
Hopper’s
painting
Nighthawks.
“What I love
about a diner at
night is the
silence and the
loneliness of the
interior,” he
notes. “It’s the
witching hour.”

trying to light them naturally and

simply, so that they could just interact
back and forth without too many
changes, instead of lighting it shot by
shot. That’s always my kind of
approach — light a space and let the
actors move within it. Only if there’s
a troublesome close-up do I come in
and finesse that. With Chris and
India, there aren’t too many, because
they just look so great in almost any
direction of the light.
The iconic John Sowden
House serves as George Hodel’s
home in the series, as it did in real
life from 1945 to 1950, and conjures a
similar feeling to that of Norma
Desmond’s creepy mansion in
Sunset Boulevard. Matt and Trevor,
how did you approach shooting
your scenes at this location?
Jensen: For the party scene at
Sowden, Patty wanted to introduce
the series’ antagonist in one shot,
starting on one side of the house
where Fauna’s phone call is
answered, and traveling through the
partygoers, over a swimming pool, to
end in a close-up of George Hodel.
The house was long, and narrow-
capped at both ends by larger living
spaces, and it didn’t leave us any
room to [use] a crane or a wire-cam.

www.ascmag.com March 2019 37

 L.A. Noir

u One of Forrest’s
lighting diagrams, this
one for a night scene at
Los Angeles’ historic
John Sowden House.
q & qq The Sowden
House serves as home
to Fauna’s grandfather
George Hodel
(Jefferson Mays, bottom
photo, center).

On our tech scout, key grip Anthony

Vietro and I decided [we would] have
two grips walk on either side of the
pool with two long pieces of speed
rail and a lightweight camera on a
stabilized head between them. We’d
wanted to stay on film for that shot
and we considered doing it with an
Arriflex 235, which from a weight
standpoint would have worked, but
since this was our only coverage of
the scene, I opted to shoot it with an
[Arri] Alexa Mini. If I’d had longer to
test it, I would have done it on film,
but I wanted to walk away from that
night knowing we had it all, espe-
cially when it comes to the stabiliza-
tion and focus. It worked out well.
Forrest: It’s an impenetrable
fortress where you walk up these
stairs, pass through an iron gate, and
enter into another world. [The loca-
tion’s] atmosphere inspired [the way
we would] shoot it, such as through
glass, or down corridors, or having a
staircase that disappears into dark-
ness. Like in any Hitchcock movie,
the darkness is your friend and forces
your audience and your characters to

38 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 L.A. Noir
The camera, rigged on a Steadicam, angles in on Eisley.
question where they are.
We were scouting Sowden
when 1st AD Rod Smith stood at one
end of the building and turned
toward the other. Each end of the
40
building looks across a courtyard
with a swimming pool, which all
together make the house look almost
like an Aztec temple. The 1st AD’s
head lined up with a shadow, and it
created these two ‘horns’ above him
like a symbol of power. This inspired a
reveal at the end of Episode 4, when
the headdress George Hodel wears
joins the shape of the building and
reflects the horn shape, presenting him
as if he was a sun god. It created an
ideal image to show the extent of his
power. I think using architectural
elements to suggest meaning is one of
the most creative aspects of the noir
genre.
Photographically speaking,
what scenes are you most proud of in
the series?
Jensen: I loved shooting the
phone call that Fauna makes at the end
of Episode 1. There’s something about
seeing her on the street corner, lost and
alone in Los Angeles, in her red coat,
backlit by that mercury-vapor cyan
light, that is evocative of lost innocence
and another era. It’s a scene where
camera, production design, costume,
lighting and story all mix together to
form one powerful image.
Forrest: One of my favorite
scenes was George Hodel’s flashback
where a group of women entertains
the artisans as they talk around the
fire. The flashback opened the curtain Jensen and
to the darker side of Hodel’s soirées, Jenkins plan a
which were more for his pleasure car interior with
a disheveled
than a party for friends. It was a show Pine.
of power as he courted individuals
for his darker plans when the party
finished. The scene gave me the
opportunity to explore the themes of
power and darkness that all great
thrillers rely on, revealing the ulti-
mate danger beneath it all. shot the riot. On the third night we Jenkins: The image of Fauna in
McDonough: For Episode 6, turned it into a completely different her red-and-robin’s-egg-blue jacket,
we had a three-night stint in San place — a different scene — with walking around this lonely but real
Pedro, where we were shooting [a re- minimal condor movement between world, is one I’m particularly proud
creation of] the Watts riots, so we had different positions. It was a challenge of. I think Matt did an incredible job
a lot of energy, people, and fire on the to turn it around during the daytime, pulling off his exquisite level of work,
streets. We lit up three or four city but we were doing car-pursuit work every day in difficult circumstances,
blocks and came up with a lighting with police cars and other period and Trevor and Michael did a great
plan and condor placement that vehicles, and that was really exciting job of following him. u
could cover the two nights that we and fun.

41
 Indie Honors
The Film Independent Spirit Awards
honor exceptional directors of
photography
By Jim Hemphill and Iain Marcks
Honoring feature projects that are off the beaten trail
and often supported by limited resources, Film
Independent’s Spirit Awards ensure that productions veer-
ing from the mainstream have a chance to take center stage.
AC spoke with the five cinematographers nominated for
Best Cinematography at this year’s event: Ashley Connor
for Madeline’s Madeline, Diego García for Wildlife, Benjamin
Loeb for Mandy, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom for Suspiria, and
Zak Mulligan for We the Animals.
42 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
Madeline’s Madeline
Cinematographer: Ashley Connor
Director: Josephine Decker
Director of photography Ashley Connor met
Madeline’s Madeline writer-director Josephine Decker eight
years ago, and in the time since, they’ve worked together to
create a unique cinematic language based on a fluid sense of
discovery. “All of Josephine’s movies involve heavy impro-
visation, so I developed a camera style that could help facili-
tate that feeling of the unknown,” Connor reflects.
Connor’s dreamy, enigmatic style is an ideal visual
corollary for the inner state of the movie’s title character — a
troubled teenage girl whose sense of reality starts to frag-
ment when she becomes involved with a theater group
whose leader is all too willing to capitalize on her new
protégé’s raw emotional nerves. “Josephine wanted to push
the style from our first two films and really embrace abstrac-
tion,” Connor says. “She sent me a lot of pictures of outer
 This year’s Independent Spirit Award nominations
recognized the outstanding cinematography in the
features Madeline’s Madeline, Wildlife, Mandy, We the
Animals and Suspiria.

space, and a few portraits of masked wanted the times when we tell the “Because most of the film involves
IFC Films, Mandy images courtesy of RLJE Films, Suspiria images courtesy of Amazon Studios,

subjects by Diane Arbus. Then I sent story from her direct point of view to intense handheld where we don’t set
Madeline’s Madeline images courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories, Wildlife images courtesy of

her [the 1962 experimental short film]
Cosmic Ray by Bruce Conner and some
other pieces featuring fun in-camera
effects.”
For Connor, giving the actors
freedom of movement was essential,
given the improvisatory nature of the
project. “My gaffer, Danny April, and I
designed setups that gave the perform-
ers the most amount of freedom to
explore the space,” she explains. “We
We the Animals images courtesy of The Orchard.
really capture her energy. It was
emotionally and physically exhausting,
but so fun to play in her world.”
The biggest challenge for Connor
and her crew was simply making the
most of their limited budget. “We had
many locations and not enough time,
so we had to be quick to make sure we
made our days,” she remembers. “I
made a little rig for the front of the
camera to do in-camera effects, like
marks or do proper blocking, I like to
have the option to pull my own focus,
and the Canon K-35s allowed me that
flexibility. We wanted the image to melt
and bend, and the K-35 set came with a
lot of inherent characteristics that we
responded to — chromatic aberrations
and things of that nature.”
In terms of filtration, in lieu of
softening-filters, Connor would paint
different substances onto the surface of

didn’t have any large HMIs, so we’d
use mirror boards outside and practi-
cals in the space; our lighting package
was very minimal, so we had to get
creative.”
In terms of camera movement, it
wasn’t enough to see Madeline’s world
— Connor wanted the audience to feel
it as well. “It became a pas de deux
between [lead actor] Helena Howard
and me,” Connor says. “Her perfor-
mance was so raw and powerful that I
abnormal focus shifts. Hopefully, our
experiments will encourage someone
else to play around and find their own
magic.”
Connor’s choice of camera was
influenced by the budget as well. “I
always prefer to shoot digital on Arri
cameras,” she says, and the production
ultimately employed Arri’s Amira.
Connor’s 1st AC, Will Castellucci,
researched old vintage primes to help
the cinematographer find the right set.
www.ascmag.com
a clear filter — “lube, Vaseline, other
viscous fluids,” she elaborates. She also
used glass to distort the focal plane,
“basically layering different types of
magnifiers,” she says. Regarding her
selection of a softening or distortion
technique in a given circumstance,
Connor notes, “I usually chose one or
the other, [as] it was too difficult to
have everything working at once,
because I was rotating the x, y and z
axes of the filters.” ➔
March 2019 43
 Indie Honors
The final grade for Madeline’s
Madeline was performed at Goldcrest
in New York with Blackmagic Design
DaVinci Resolve, where Connor
worked closely with colorist Nat
Jencks. “He’s done about 93 percent of
the projects I’ve shot,” she says. “I tend
to build the look when we’re shooting,
so coloring sessions are more about
sweetening the image and matching,
rather than making huge changes. Nat
really knows my style, so he knows
how to bring out the best in the
footage.”
Madeline’s Madeline, Connor
attests, was an experience — and a set
— unlike any other. “We started every
morning with five minutes of silence,
followed by some sort of primal
scream or improvised chant,” she
remembers. “I think when a director
asks their collaborators to bring a lot of
their own experiences into a project,
there needs to be safety and trust. It
44 March 2019
p The
eponymous
Madeline (Helena
Howard) in a
frame from the
feature.
t Director of
photography
Ashley Connor.
was a unique experience to interact
with so many true artists, from the
actors [to the] crew. It made the work
deeply personal.”
Connor was profiled as one of
AC’s Rising Stars of Cinematography in
the Feb. ’19 issue.
Wildlife
Cinematographer: Diego García
Director: Paul Dano
As an actor, Paul Dano has
worked with such directors as Paul
Thomas Anderson and Denis
Villeneuve, and with a list of esteemed
cinematographers that includes ASC
members Roger Deakins, Darius
Khondji and Matthew Libatique — so
it comes as no surprise that Dano’s
directorial debut is a confident,
controlled production with a precise
visual style. Adapted by Dano and Zoe
Kazan from Richard Ford’s novel of the
ASC 100th Anniversary
same name, Wildlife tells the story of a
small-town family in the 1950s, and
adopts the point of view of a teenage
boy whose parents’ marriage is disinte-
grating before his eyes.
Cinematographer Diego García
felt a kinship with Dano as soon as they
were introduced. “I was very inspired
by the way he wanted to approach the
film,” García recalls. “It was a combina-
tion of both modern and classical
language, and from the beginning I
understood that Paul wanted a true
collaborator with whom he could share
his vision, and find the film in the
process of doing it.” Together, García
and Dano looked at numerous movies
and photographs for inspiration, start-
ing with such 1950s-era American
photographers as Stephen Shore and
William Eggleston. “The way that they
captured the essence and beauty of
everyday life in the ’50s influenced us
as we created the visual world and
mood of the film,” García explains.
“Paul also brought a lot of Asian
cinema into the conversation. We both
admire Hirokazu Kore-eda’s work [in]
composing his frames, especially Still
Walking. The same goes for Edward
Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day.”
García considered capturing the
era to be one of his greatest challenges,
 t Wildlife director Paul Dano leans in to check the frame as cinematographer Diego García operates the camera. u Carey Mulligan and Jake
and looked to period films like The Ice
Storm and The Master for inspiration.
John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the
Influence, a film that shares in common
with Wildlife a searing portrait of
dissatisfaction with family life, was
another key influence.
García adopted a less-is-more
approach to his lighting, not wanting
to distract from the emotional core of
Dano and Kazan’s script. “This was my
way to approach not only the lighting
setups, but the mise-en-scène, in
general,” he says. “We were looking for
a simple and natural aesthetic to make
the film connected and consequent
with the storytelling. Light in this film
is not over the characters, but is part of
them. It is just there. That’s why I
decided to use available light as much
as possible, choosing the right moment
of the day for each scene.”
This was a method that allowed
García and Dano to discover the visual
language of the production as they
went. “We had a plan, but it was
always open to modification by new
things that we found on location, or
that we observed while blocking the
scenes,” he says. “We were discovering
the language of the film every day
Gyllenhaal as Jeanette and Jerry Brinson.
through a very fluid and pleasant
creative process.”
Wildlife was shot on Arri’s Alexa
XT with Panavision’s spherical Primo
Prime lenses. “After some research
about glass, Paul and I determined that
those lenses had the clean and correct
performance [as well as] the personal-
ity and texture we were looking for,”
García says.
The final grade was performed
at Harbor Picture Company in New
York, where García credits colorist Joe
Gawler with adding a new dimension
to the movie. “In essence, the film was
already there because of its natural
spirit, but Joe pushed the material to a
higher level,” the cinematographer
says. “He understood the simplicity of
it, and found the right path to follow
with color and contrast, using the
proper blacks.”
When talking with García, the
word “simplicity” comes up often. He
notes, “The idea was to achieve
complexity through simplicity —
doing everything in a very straightfor-
ward manner that helped us find the
right way to tell the story based on
emotions.”
www.ascmag.com
Mandy
Cinematographer:
Benjamin Loeb
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Photographed by cinematogra-
pher Benjamin Loeb and directed by
Panos Cosmatos, Mandy tells the story
of a warm-hearted lumberjack named
Red (Nicolas Cage) who has the love of
his life, Mandy (Andrea Riseborough),
stolen from him by a gang of demonic
bikers. He does not take it well. Due in
part to scheduling issues arising from
Cage’s breaking his ankle on another
production, Loeb — a Kenyan-born,
Vancouver-based Norwegian cine-
matographer — joined Mandy’s
Belgium-based crew a mere two weeks
prior to the start of principal photogra-
phy. Other than Loeb, Cosmatos and
producer Josh Waller, nearly everyone
on the crew was a local to the
Wallonian region in Southern Belgium,
including gaffer Dirk van
Rampelbergh and key grip
Témoudjine Janssens.
When Loeb asked the director
for a list of visual references, Cosmatos
returned with The Hitcher (1986), Days
of Thunder, Revenge (1990), Psycho III,
March 2019 45
 Indie Honors

p Red (Nicolas Cage) forges his battle ax

and plots his revenge in Mandy.
t Cinematographer Benjamin Loeb (second
from right) and crew prepare a setup.
q Loeb operates the camera for a
dolly shot.

the animated Fist of the North Star, and

Cobra. “He was pretty specific about
which films would be references for
night exteriors, which would be for
lenses, [and which for] day interiors,”
says Loeb. One detail in particular was
the way an ND grad filter intrudes into
the frame — a reference from Black
Rain, photographed by Jan De Bont,
ASC (AC, Sept. ’89) — and sometimes
even over the actors’ faces.
Though the original plan had
been to shoot on 16mm film, the feature
was ultimately captured digitally, with
the filmmakers employing Arri’s Alexa
Mini and XT from Panavision in Paris.
When it came to moving the cameras,
Loeb and Cosmatos agreed early on
that they would always be on either
sticks or a dolly, and never handheld.
“We wanted the camera to be present,
but not in a way where it felt subjec-
tive,” says Loeb. The production
employed Panavision Primo
Anamorphic Prime lenses — along
with such additions to the package as
Panavision’s AWZ2 40-80mm (T2.8)
and Angénieux’s 50-500mm HR
Anamorphic (T5.2) zooms, the latter of
which was converted to anamorphic

46 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

from a spherical 25-250mm HR (T3.5) Loeb says he was “pushed to the original. American dancer Susie
via a rear adapter. edge of sanity by the pure nature of the Bannion (Dakota Johnson) travels to
The production made significant project, both conceptually and logisti- Germany to study under Madame
use of primary colors as a vehicle to cally.” When he finally saw the movie, Blanc (Tilda Swinton) at the prestigious
rotate through emotions, contrasting however, any questions and reserva- and exclusive Helena Markos Dance
mostly blues and reds against the warm, tions he’d had during the production Company, only to discover that this
natural tones of the movie’s early were finally resolved. “Even if I’d been tanztheater fronts for a coven of
scenes, and later against the similarly given two months to prep, I’d still murderous witches.
pleasant hues associated with an apoca- believe the approach we actually took The filmmakers behind Suspiria
lyptic cult called Children of the New was the right one,” the cinematogra- ’18 all agree that Argento’s film is a
Dawn. Loeb accomplished much of this pher muses. “A lot of things went masterpiece, “so if we couldn’t make it
through a combination of lens filters — according to plan, and — as it usually more interesting, we should do some-
Tiffen’s Corals, Chocolates, Tobaccos, goes — quite a bit didn’t, but we were thing different,” says Sayombhu
Reds — with sometimes four or five of put in a place where we had to Mukdeeprom, a Thai cinematographer
them in front of the lens at a time. embrace our faults and mistakes, and who had previously collaborated with
Seeking vengeance, Red funnels those helped set the tone of the film Guadagnino on Call Me by Your Name
his molten rage into a blazing forge, and make it what it is.” (AC, March ’18). It was during the
from which he fashions a gleaming For the full article on this produc- production of that film that the director
battle-ax in a fiery montage shot at a tion, see AC ’Oct. 18 or visit and cinematographer first began
blacksmith museum in Ittre. “We bit.ly/MandyACMag. discussing the Suspiria remake.
installed some fluorescent tubes in the Suspicion and subterfuge perme-
background and blacked out the rest of Suspiria ate every aspect of the film — which
the space with negative fill,” Loeb says. Cinematographer: this time around takes place in 1977
“We placed a few Arri SkyPanels in the Sayombhu Mukdeeprom Berlin. The filmmakers heightened and
ceiling to give some texture to Nic’s face, Director: Luca Guadagnino harnessed this oppressive atmosphere
and to get a reflection off of the ax. with a color palette that suggested
Otherwise, we wanted the flames of The premise of Luca myriad shades of brown, green and
molten metal to do some of the work, Guadagnino’s reimagining of Dario blue. Mukdeeprom wanted Berlin to
and for Nic’s coverage we installed a Argento’s 1977 giallo landmark, look “very somber, very sad” — an
little flame bar along the mold that Suspiria, closely resembles that of the arguably easy ask for the German capi-
reflects off the lenses of his aviator
sunglasses.” Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom moves through the hotel in Northern Italy that
served as Suspiria’s dance theater.
For one of the movie’s two climac-
tic boss battles, the flames from a burn-
ing car provided Loeb with a key
backlight source, with two 12K Dino
lights illuminating some of the loca-
tion’s rock walls. “On top of this,” Loeb
says, “we had rigged a 12-by-12 frame
equipped with [a silver reflector and]
200 100-watt bulbs [powered through a
dimmer pack controlled by a three-
channel LFXHub flicker box] onto one
of our vehicles that would act as a
moving stand for this unit. It would
help wrap the light from the flames
around a bit. We also had a small 4K
balloon light that would be rigged to a
stand for some gentle fill when needed.”
The final grade was performed at
DameBlanche in Belgium with colorist
Peter Bernaers, who worked in 2K reso-
lution on a FilmLight Baselight plat-
form.

www.ascmag.com March 2019 47

 Indie Honors
Dance student Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) studies at the dance company — which in fact is a front for a coven of murderous witches.
tal in the cold season.
Mukdeeprom shot Suspiria
entirely on Kodak Vision3 500T 5219
color-negative film — including day
exteriors — without correction filters,
and pushed it one stop to 1,000 ISO
when needed. The camera package
included an Arriflex 535A and two
Arricam LTs, all configured for 3-perf
Super 35 operation, as well as one 4-
perf Super 35 Arriflex 435ES for visual-
effects shots.
“This is my standing point: I
always shoot movies on film,” the cine-
matographer says. “Film cameras talk
to me more than digital cameras.”
In addition to the project’s
Cooke Speed Panchro S2 and S3 prime
package, the production also carried
Cooke’s Varotal 18-100mm (T3) zoom
and Angenieux’s Optimo 24-290mm
(T2.8) zoom, as well as vintage
Arri/Zeiss Super Speed (T1.3) glass.
When it came to moving the camera,
Mukdeeprom strove to limit his
options to what the cinematographers
of the German New Wave would have
used in 1977 — which meant no big
cranes and no Steadicam.
48 March 2019
Mukdeeprom notes that for
Suspiria, he eschewed creating a look
for the film, per se, and instead sought
“to create the world of the film, and
approach it as if we just brought the
camera there to photograph it.” The
way in which Mukdeeprom engaged
with this world was primarily influ-
enced by Guadagnino’s direction and
the work of production designer Inbal
Weinberg, as well as the movement of
the actors. “I like to create a stage for
Luca and the actors, so they have the
freedom to move anywhere,”
Mukdeeprom says. “Luca watches the
frame, and if he chooses to go in for a
close-up, it will be driven by the charac-
ter.” The cinematographer adds that he
generally lit “the whole set at once, like
a stage,” and only on occasions when
there was limited space would he light
one angle at a time.
The film’s climactic dance perfor-
mance takes place in the tanztheater’s
immense Mutterhaus chamber. “We are
at the very heart of the [witches’] world
— a secret place, and I wanted to create
a different kind of stage for them,”
Mukdeeprom notes. The cinematogra-
ASC 100th Anniversary
pher wanted the ability to capture the
set all the way up to the ceiling, so he,
Italy gaffer Francesco Galli and crew lit
the ritual stage from across the room
with 750-watt ETC Source Fours, using
a combination of 10-, 19-, 26-, 36-, and
50-degree lenses, all through
Hampshire Frost, as well as 1,000-watt
PAR 64 lamps with spot and flood
bulbs.
The Mutterhaus ultimately
plunges into darkness, save only for a
soft, red light — created during the
color-correction process — just barely
bright enough to make out the grisly,
incendiary fate of the coven’s unbeliev-
ers. “I check everything with my light
meter,” Mukdeeprom says. “Even if I’m
at the deepest, darkest point of the
curve, it’s there, and because I shot on
film, I can do a digital intermediate and
have the best of both worlds.”
Augustus Color in Rome devel-
oped the negative and delivered dailies.
Colorist Alessandro Pelliccia performed
both dailies and final color correction
with Blackmagic Design DaVinci
Resolve.
“I was just very honest with the
script,” Mukdeeprom concludes. He
suggests that the success of any collab-
orative art form — be it film, music,
dance or witchcraft — ultimately
depends on the successful interaction
of a team. As he says, “You have to let
everyone show off.”
For the full article on this produc-
tion, see AC Dec. ’18, or visit bit.ly
/SuspiriaAC18.
We the Animals
Cinematographer: Zak Mulligan
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
We the Animals follows a group of
young brothers whose unstable home
life leads to both liberating freedoms
and abrupt introductions to life’s hard-
ships and disappointments. For cine-
matographer Zak Mulligan, telling that
story was a years-long process that
began when he heard that director
Jeremiah Zagar, a frequent collaborator
on documentary and commercial
projects, was adapting Justin Torres’
novel of the same name with co-writer
Daniel Kitrosser. “We first started talk-
ing about We the Animals roughly two
years before filming,” Mulligan says. “I
purposely avoided reading the book so
I could help Jeremiah create what was
in his version of the script without
knowledge of any other text.”
pp Isaiah Kristian, Evan Rosado and Josiah Gabriel as brothers Manny, Jonah and Joel,
respectively, in a frame from We the Animals. p Jonah shines a light.
The cinematographer found
inspiration for his visuals in a variety
of sources and media, from the
photographs of Eugene Richards, Nan
Goldin and Mary Ellen Mark to films
like Streetwise and Ratcatcher. “One of
the amazing things we got to do was
explore the visual look at the Sundance
Directors Lab,” Mulligan recalls. “That
gave Jeremiah and me an unusually
rare gift: the time to explore what We
the Animals should look and feel like
long before preproduction had begun.
We shot sketches of three or four criti-
cal scenes while at the labs. What we
learned there was indispensable.”
Mulligan and Zagar determined
that they wanted to create images that
captured the freedom of childhood.
“The boys weren’t trained actors,
www.ascmag.com
which was by design,” Mulligan says.
“They had to be real. Jeremiah didn’t
want them hitting marks, worrying
about timing or eyelines, or any of the
other technical aspects of acting.
Collaborating with gaffer Brant
Beland, we lit most spaces for maxi-
mum flexibility in blocking and move-
ment. Most of the time, the camera
could look in nearly any direction
without seeing a movie light.”
Mulligan relied heavily on practical
light, and placed larger units outside
windows. The production primarily
employed a handheld camera.
Early on, the decision was made
to shoot on film. The production was
captured in Super 16mm format with
Arri’s Arriflex 416 camera, using
Kodak Vision3 500T 7219 and 250D
March 2019 49
 Indie Honors
Jonah and his
mother (Sheila
Vand).
7207 stocks. “We used Cooke S4 and
Cooke SK4 lenses, mostly sticking to
wide-angle primes,” Mulligan says.
“The Cookes gave us a beautiful,
round, almost 3-dimensional look on
the boys, when in close-up. We were
shooting wide and close, so it was
important that the wider end of the
lens set had that particular feeling.
50
There’s an immediacy to the image
when you’re physically close to the
subject.”
One challenge the filmmakers
encountered was wedging old technol-
ogy into current on-set practices. “Even
though it’s relatively modern for a film
camera, the Arri 416 body still has an
SD video tap,” Mulligan explains.
“Getting an image around set in an HD
world meant converter boxes and more
cables. The trend in digital has been
smaller and lighter, and fewer cables.
We went ‘maximalist’ with We the
Animals.”
Mulligan was forced into further
inventiveness when he and Zagar
agreed that for some of their sequences,
they wanted the type of movement that
a gimbal allows. “At the time, the Movi
M15 was the most advanced gimbal
available, but it was too small to
support an Arri 416,” the cinematogra-
pher recalls. “Its floating and racing
energy, when matched up with a wide Cinematographer
Zak Mulligan
lens, was perfect for We the Animals, so shoulders the
we modified a Movi M15 and stripped camera.
down an Arri 416 to its lightest build
possible, and got the old tech to work
with the new tech. It allowed us to
create some really exciting shots.”
Seth Ricart at RCO in New York
served as colorist on the film —
employing Blackmagic Design DaVinci
Resolve — and Dorian West served as the two most notable elements that three boys became extremely close, like
visual-effects supervisor. “We used a separate the two formats. We spent a actual brothers,” he explains. “Their
Red Helium camera for a few VFX lot of time developing our approach, reckless freedom always led us in a
shots and low-light sequences,” which involved shooting grain passes fresh direction. The approach with the
Mulligan reports. “In preproduction, of the film stocks we used, then scan- camera was one of discovery, of being
we shot several tests to make sure we ning those for use in DaVinci Resolve.” present and ready for anything that
could match the Red camera back to Ultimately, Mulligan notes that may happen in a particular moment.
the look of 16mm film. Highlight reten- the biggest pleasure of the film was That came from the boys.” u
tion and grain structure are probably working with the young cast. “The

51
 Cinematography’s
Home
The headquarters of the American
Society of Cinematographers since
1936 has a long and distinct history —
and a bright future

By David E. Williams

At once a time capsule and a forward-thinking incubator
for the future, the ASC Clubhouse, located in the heart of
Hollywood, has been described as the “Sistine Chapel of
Cinematography” — a physical place where artistry,
history and aspiration can be tangibly experienced.
“That’s how it was introduced to me on my first
visit,” remembers ASC President Kees van Oostrum. “I
was a student at the American Film Institute in 1979 and
my teacher, George Folsey, a very respected ASC member
and former president, invited me to the Clubhouse one
day.” As the Clubhouse was more “members-only” at the
time, Folsey ran interference as van Oostrum “snooped
around,” while keeping an eye out for Stanley Cortez,
ASC — whom Folsey had warned was not enthusiastic
about unaccompanied interlopers. “George warned me,
‘Look out for the fellow with a cane. He’s going to be
upset if he finds you, and hit you with it.’ Fortunately for
me, Stanley was not around that day — but, more than 20

52 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 tt ASC members, associates, staff and distinguished guests gathered in front of the
Clubhouse to celebrate the Society’s centennial on Jan. 8. t The Clubhouse as it
appeared circa 1950. q Hollywood has grown up around the venerable building
since this photo was taken circa 1905. qq The arrow points to the ASC’s home,
seen here in the late ’50s.

years later, when I was visiting the

Clubhouse for the first time as a
Society member, I was standing in the
doorway, taking it all in when all of a
sudden I got riffed on my ass with a
cane! It was Stanley, and I’d somehow
gotten in his way. That took me back
to my first visit, which had left such
an impression on me as an aspiring
cinematographer.”
“There were always incredible
people there,” describes Roy Wagner,
ASC, who first visited the Clubhouse
as a teen in the 1960s after befriending
member Harry Stradling. “They were
playing cards and shooting pool. I
was met at the front door by [ASC
members] James Wong Howe and
William Daniels as they were walking
ASC 100th Anniversary photos by Hector Sandoval. All images courtesy of the ASC archive.

out. [ASC members] Hal Mohr and

Arthur Miller were also there; they
were going to lunch at Tiny Naylor’s
and asked if I wanted to join them —
obviously I did.” With a chuckle,
Wagner adds, “All of them were
gentlemen, but when they got
together, they were scalawags! They
all started in the silent era and loved
to tell stories, and I was fresh meat.”
“The Clubhouse is one reason
why the Society has remained
together for all these years,” says Don
McCuaig, ASC, who currently chairs
the ASC Awards Committee.
McCuaig first visited as a guest in the
1970s. “It’s the focal point, the heart,
and that will never change.”
“There’s nothing quite like it in
the world,” Richard Crudo, ASC says
of the Clubhouse. A former Society
president and the chair of the 100th
Anniversary Committee, he adds,

www.ascmag.com March 2019 53

 Cinematography’s Home

p Film star Conway Tearle and his wife Adele Rowland made the house at 1782 N.
Orange Dr. their home in the 1920s, installing a fountain in the central room.
u The central room as it appeared soon after the ASC moved into the home — and
after the fountain had been removed. q The same space was filled to capacity for the
100th-anniversary celebration this past January.

“Anyone who’s had the good fortune
to visit will tell you what a wonderful
place it is. Instead of a common, ster-
ile, office-type environment, its
warmth and expansiveness are
perfectly reflective of the organization
it serves. On the surface, it harks back
to the glory days of old Hollywood,
which for anyone with an interest in
motion pictures is incredibly seduc-
tive. But what happens within those
walls, among the staff and member-
ship, is invariably forward-looking,
and that’s what keeps it from turning
into a mere museum. Some of our
overseas friends have come to iden-
tify us by that gorgeous structure;
surely there’s a bit of envy involved.
But you can’t deny that the founders
were incredibly prescient in choosing
to settle there when they did, 83 years
ago — and we’re grateful to them for
having done so!”
Elbow Room
After the ASC was founded in
1919, meetings took place in
members’ homes. As the roster grew,
however, this became impractical, so
the Society took up offices within the

54 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

Markham Building on Hollywood
Blvd., at Cosmo Street — less than a
mile from what would become the
Clubhouse. When they struggled to
make rent, a hat was passed during
board meetings.
In 1924, the ASC moved to
occupy four adjoining offices on the
12th floor of the Guaranty Building at
the corner of Hollywood Boulevard
and Ivar Avenue. It was adequate, but
still cramped as membership contin-
ued to grow. Then, in 1936, the ASC
was offered $20,000 (more than
$350,000 today) to immediately
vacate the premises to allow the prop-
erty owner to control the entire build-
ing. The Society took the deal and,
suddenly flush with cash, quickly p ASC members
began looking for a new home. “They (from left) Don
McCuaig, David
wanted a hangout, a place to talk and Klein, Cynthia
socialize — not another office,” Pusheck, George
Wagner describes. Spiro Dibie, Lisa
Wiegand, Bill
They soon found an interesting Bennett, John
prospect: A unique fixer-upper Simmons and
located just a short walk west at 1782 Christopher Chomyn
speak with a
N. Orange Dr., tucked in just behind gathering of
Sid Grauman’s famed Chinese students.
Theatre that had opened some 9 years t Owen Roizman,
ASC (seated)
earlier. But of course, the history of catches up with Dick
this property that would become the Pope, BSC (right)
ASC’s home goes back much further. and Roger Deakins,
ASC, BSC.

Foundations
The area that later became
world famous as “Hollywood” was
originally part of a vast Mexican land
grant known as Rancho La Brea,
established in 1828. In the late 19th
century, E. C. Hurd, a wealthy miner
from Colorado, bought 480 acres
along what today is Hollywood
Boulevard (formerly Prospect
Boulevard).
Developer H. J. Whitley bought
the Hurd acreage at the turn of the
20th century and laid out what was
known as the Hollywood Ocean View
Tract, extending north of today’s
Hollywood Boulevard toward the tip
of Highland Ave. Soon after,
Whitley’s Los Angeles–Pacific
Boulevard and Development Co. built
a house on Lot 7, Block 2 of the
Hollywood Ocean View Tract #2 in
the architectural style described as
“Modern Mission.” The structure was
largely surrounded by agricultural
property and just a few other houses.
The floor plan was like that of a
Spanish hacienda, with all of the
rooms opening off a central patio.
This “patio,” however, was com-
pletely enclosed, creating a great
central room featuring four imposing
pillars. From above, 32 colored-glass
windows built into a raised cupola
allowed in plenty of daylight.
A series of people owned this
home in the early 1900s. Archival
photographs reveal that the center
section of the home was once filled
with tropical plants. The front porch,
which had originally spanned the
www.ascmag.com
front of the house, was enclosed on
the south side to form a keeping room
or a summer sleeping porch. There
were four bedrooms, a parlor, and a
study up in the cupola. The house had
an ample dining room, butler’s
pantry and large kitchen. Fireplaces
provided a cheery warmth on cold
days, and servants’ quarters were
provided in the basement.
During the 1920s, the home was
sold to actor Conway Tearle, a promi-
nent leading man of the silent era. He
and his wife, actor and singer Adele
Rowland, entertained the Hollywood
elite with lavish receptions. During
those years, Tearle remodeled the
house and installed a fountain in the
patio area, making it a focal point for
their extravagant parties. ➔
March 2019 55
 Cinematography’s Home
“What makes the Clubhouse unique is
that it is a home. It’s warm and inviting,
as a home should be.”
the main reception room
there were the remains of a
fountain that had seen
happier days. This was
taken out and a wall
removed, thus creating a
large room for our
membership meetings. The
members helped make the
transition with labor and
money.”
In the January 1937
issue of American
Cinematographer, the
Society announced the
establishment of these new
quarters:
We have moved into our
new home. Still in the heart of
Hollywood, but tucked in
beneath the mountains with
spacious grounds and a fine
Laszlo Kovacs, ASC takes a light reading on Stanley Cortez, ASC rambling house to accommo-
while shooting an interview with the esteemed member.
date all of the American
Society of Cinematographers’
Tearle and his estate retained activities. ... The new home [is] directly
ownership of the property until it was [in] back of the famous Grauman’s
acquired at a foreclosure sale in 1935. Chinese theatre. It occupies the corner of
While the house was in poor repair, North Orange Drive and Franklin
the ASC leadership believed that this Boulevard. The structure is a one-story
distinctive Spanish-style home on a building with a penthouse.
large lot — measuring 150'x228' — That same year, the April issue
was exactly what they needed as their of AC chronicled the festivities that
new headquarters. took place at the Clubhouse on Feb.
“What makes the Clubhouse 28, 1937, during the official grand
unique is that it is a home,” notes opening:
Wagner. “It’s warm and inviting, as a From 5 o’clock on that Sunday
home should be.” afternoon in the mansion at 1782 North
Orange Drive, informality reigned. There
New Neighbors were no speeches — that is, not the kind
In 1936, the Society bought and the average man mulls over for a week
converted Tearle’s former mansion and of which in his memory as he stands
into their iconic ASC Clubhouse, on his feet at the zero second not a trace
where members would be able to remains. But there was much speech in
gather to socialize or for formal meet- the form of conversation, of greetings to
ings. “The building was in sad old friends and associates, or renewal of
repair,” noted one ASC historian. “In friendships and of repledging the bond
56 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
that for nearly twenty years has held
under one banner these masters of the
camera. The only stipulation the board
had made was as to the starting hour. The
closing hour was represented by three
dots. And of course there were to be cock-
tails and a buffet supper.
Revelry can, however, some-
times go too far, even at the ASC
Clubhouse, as Crudo discovered
while researching a collection of the
ASC’s papers that are now part of the
Academy Library. The evidence was
in the form of a bill from the 1930s
made out to one Mr. Gregg Toland,
ASC. “It itemized broken chairs,
broken china and a broken front door
— to the tune of about $600, as I
recall,” Crudo relates with a smile.
“The records were not clear if Toland
ended up paying, but things certainly
got out of hand one night.”
A Second Home
With a full bar, pool table,
kitchen, and plenty of space for both
formal meetings and casual discus-
sions, the Clubhouse became a home
away from home for many members.
“Over the years, more than a few
members have also ended up staying
the night there after being thrown out
of their home during a fight with their
spouse,” van Oostrum notes with a
smile. “There was probably a cot
stored away somewhere for just that
purpose.”
“It was a place to stop after the
end of the workday,” explains
Wagner. “During the studio-system
era, most members were shooting
almost entirely in town. If they
worked at the Warner Bros. lot and
were driving home to Beverly Hills, or
worked in Culver City and were
driving home to Los Feliz, the
Clubhouse was the perfect place to
 t The Clubhouse is
home to the ASC
Museum collection,
a small portion of
which is seen here.
q Among the
collection’s
treasures is the
Mitchell BNC
camera that Gregg
Toland, ASC used
to shoot Citizen
Kane and other
classic films.

socialize for an hour. Of course, that

often became several hours.” By the
1960s, however, as production began
to decentralize, this informal practice
faded. “The ‘clubhouse’ feel was still
tangible,” says Wagner, “while today
we largely only have the memories of
that era, in part because we all so
often work out of town, which is an
unfortunate product of our time.”
In December 1949, the mort-
gage on the ramshackle-yet-charming
ASC Clubhouse was paid off, and the
membership celebrated with a “burn-
ing of the mortgage” party, during
which one guest, comedian Red
Skelton, quipped, “You should have
burned the building and saved the
papers!” That same year, a profes-
sional projection booth was added to
the building to allow for 16mm and by Arthur C. Miller, ASC to include a — which was purchased new in 1935
35mm screenings in the main room. unique library of books, photos, and by the Samuel Goldwyn Co. for use
Early on, the Clubhouse other historical documentation and by Toland, who photographed
became home to what would evolve memorabilia. Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK numerous classic films with it,
into the ASC Museum collection. now curates the collection, which including 1941’s Citizen Kane and
“When members died, their loved displays items on a rotating basis. 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives.
ones would often contact the Society Recent notable additions to the Later, the camera was purchased by J.
to ask if they wanted all their camera Museum have included generous Burgi Contner, ASC, and it was
gear,” explains Wagner. “And, of donations from Jim Mitchell, whose donated to the ASC collection in 2008
course, they did! So the ASC ended father, George, had been an ASC asso- by his son, cinematographer-director
up with a huge collection of cameras, ciate member; ASC associate member James A. Contner, at the suggestion of
lenses and other artifacts of early and Red Digital Cinema founder Jim Wagner and Gainer. As it had been
motion-picture history.” Jannard; Caleb Deschanel, ASC; and heavily modified over the decades,
In the 1950s, Charles G. Clarke, Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC. the camera was then restored as
ASC organized the initial core of One of the ASC’s most cher- factory-new — an expensive process
what would become the current ished additions to the collection is a that took 10 years. It was unveiled to
collection, which was then built upon Mitchell BNC camera — Serial No. 2 the public on Feb. 10, 2018. ➔
www.ascmag.com March 2019 57
 Cinematography’s Home
More recent technology is also
represented, with the collection now
including early digital cinema
cameras, including a prototype Red
One, a Panavision Genesis and a
Thomson Viper FilmStream unit.
Preserved for posterity, all of
these artifacts are available for study
and research.
Renovation Reality
By the late 1990s, after decades
of hard use, the Clubhouse was
beginning to show its age, and yet
another “facelift” retrofit was not
58 March 2019
going to suffice. Plans were gradually
made for a complete overhaul.
On May 7, 2008, the ASC
hosted a groundbreaking ceremony
before launching a major renovation
of the aging structure. “This project is
a continuation of our historic
commitment to fellowship and
progress in the art of filmmaking,”
announced Daryn Okada, who was
ASC president at the time. “It will
enable us to accommodate larger
meetings and seminars for our
members, collaborators and students,
who are the future generation of film-
ASC 100th Anniversary
From left: ASC members Roizman,
Isidore Mankofsky, Victor J. Kemper,
Richard Edlund, Dibie, William A. Fraker,
Michael Goi, Richard Crudo, John C. Flinn III
and Robert Primes at the groundbreaking
for the Clubhouse’s renovation.
makers, while preserving the legacy
of the original building, which is a
treasure trove of early film history.”
“Every ASC member has been
inspired by our heritage,” said Owen
Roizman, ASC, who was chairman of
the ASC Building Committee. “We all
share an obligation to preserve and
enhance that legacy for the next
generation. Our plans call for making
a number of improvements to the
building, but everyone should know
that, first and foremost, we are stead-
fastly committed to preserving the
character and charm of this place we
love so much. There is a lot of history
within these walls, and we will be
very careful to not disturb the ghosts.
... I think our founding fathers would
be proud that we are preserving and
continuing their original vision.”
“It’s exciting that after 70 years
of owning this historic house, the
ASC is expanding and improving it,”
said Los Angeles city council member
Eric Garcetti, whose district included
Hollywood. “I can only imagine the
creativity and innovation that has
resulted from conversations here,
and I’m proud that the oldest operat-
ing motion-picture society calls
Hollywood its home.” Today, Garcetti
is the mayor of Los Angeles.
The renovation, which added
1,500 square feet to the original
Clubhouse, was completed in 2010,
with a reopening ceremony held on
June 3 of that year. Upgrades
included a restructured foundation,
new digital-projection system,
improved lighting and wiring, and
new climate control. But while the
infrastructure was new, great effort
was made to retain the timeless flavor
of classic Hollywood, with colors and
décor reminiscent of the days gone
by. “The Clubhouse today is not what
it was when I first visited in the
1960s,” says Wagner. “It has changed
with the times.”

Open House
The Clubhouse was soon
back in use, and has since continued
to serve as host for a multitude of
events and activities. Today, these
include the ASC Student Heritage
Awards, dinner meetings and
presentations, ASC Master Class
sessions, and organized discussions
between student groups and ASC
members — as well as such ambitious
events as the bi-annual International
Cinematography Summit, which sees
representatives from cinematography
Since the renovation (top), the Clubhouse’s main room has been used for an array of events,
societies worldwide convening in
including this conversation with Deakins (above).
Hollywood to address creative issues,
technological advances and other matography organizations around that bring members and associates
concerns. the world, but none of them are as together with leading technology
When visiting the Clubhouse, fortunate as we are. We will always companies seeking to improve — and
international guests often have a benefit from what our members did sometimes redefine — the process of
unique experience, because “all so many decades ago. And it’s not creating, manipulating and exhibit-
of them have seen photos of just the building, of course — it’s the ing motion pictures.
the Clubhouse in American influence that ASC members have Recently, the Clubhouse has
Cinematographer magazine for so had on this art form, and the cama- also become home to a series of ASC
many years,” says van Oostrum, “so raderie that exists between our Photo Gallery exhibitions, bringing
they know the history — but to step members.” members and the public together to
through the doors and become a part One of the most essential roles examine the still photography of cine-
of this place, if only briefly, is very for the Clubhouse is hosting meetings matographers who participate in the
meaningful. There is this aura, and of the Motion Imaging Technology program. “Having these events at the
they consider this to be almost like a Council, chaired by Curtis Clark, Clubhouse is everything,” says Photo
church. I’ve visited many other cine- ASC, which holds frequent confabs Gallery Committee chair Charlie

www.ascmag.com March 2019 59

 Cinematography’s Home
u Attendees
study the work
on display at an
ASC Photo
Gallery
exhibition.
q Former
astronaut Terry
W. Virts and ASC
President Kees
van Oostrum
stand over the
bronze 100th-
anniversary
plaque newly
installed in the
Clubhouse’s
cobblestone
square.

through hiring talent that reflects constant reminder of the Society’s

Lieberman, ASC. “This is ours. The
photography we showcase in our
member exhibitions is all very
personal work that has nothing to do
with their careers, so to share it with
their peers and the public at the
Clubhouse is an experience unto
itself. There’s a lot of love there.”
The ASC Vision Committee, co-
chaired by members John Simmons
and Cynthia Pusheck, has helped
open the Clubhouse up like never
before. The mission of the Vision
Committee is “to encourage and
support the advancement of under-
represented cinematographers, their
crews and other filmmakers, and to
inspire us all to enact positive changes
society at large.” In that effort, the
Vision Committee organizes inspira-
tional events and networking oppor-
tunities that it hosts at the Clubhouse.
On Jan. 8 of this year, the 100th
anniversary of the founding of the
ASC was celebrated at the
Clubhouse, bringing together
members, friends, employees and
supporters for an evening of sharing
fond memories — often reflecting on
what the ASC founders, and the
members who joined after, accom-
plished by establishing and then
maintaining the Society over 10
decades. Much was also said about
the vital importance of having a
welcoming, family-like peer group
while working in an often-turbulent
profession.
One attendee noted that in the
1980s, the ASC was offered the hefty
sum of $20 million to sell the
Clubhouse and its accompanying
land to developers. The overture was
quickly declined. History and tradi-
tion was valued over money.
Today, the ASC Clubhouse is
considered a building of historic
significance and will be forever
protected as such.
The Next Century
As the decades have passed
since 1936, the ASC has grown in
membership and stature, and the
Clubhouse has remained not only a
past, but a key to its future.
In 1973, the ASC purchased a
small lot adjacent to the Clubhouse,
and constructed a modern building to
house the growing American
Cinematographer staff. It was named
for former ASC President Charles G.
Clarke, a noted member and educator.
The magazine, long the ASC’s
primary education tool, continued to
flourish in its new headquarters. But
after 45 years of service, the structure
was demolished, and, on Aug. 28,
2018, ground was broken on the
construction of what will become the
ASC Arri Educational Center. The
expanded contemporary structure
will house the AC staff and serve as a
hub for the organization’s ongoing
efforts to educate the next generation
of filmmakers on the art and craft of
cinematography. It is planned to open
later this year.
“We have to remember that up
into the 1950s, the Clubhouse was not
[regarded] the same way that it is
today,” van Oostrum says. “It’s the
members who came before us, with
their artistry and reputation, that
elevated it and continued to trans-
form this place. Today, by continuing
to invest in education and help to
shape the future of cinematography,
we’ll ensure that the Clubhouse, this
sanctuary of ours, remains great and
relevant to the next generation.” u

60 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

 Shared Spaces
Documentary cinematographer
Kirsten Johnson discusses entering
and framing real-world locations,
and revealing their hidden truths
By Iain Marcks
Kirsten Johnson is a cameraperson, as the title of her 2016
documentary — comprised of clips sourced from her
decades behind the camera — will tell. One possible reading
of that label may conjure the image of a skilled worker who
is accomplished with her tools and knowledgeable in her
craft. Another is a portrait of an experienced artist naturally
talented in her chosen medium, which in this case happens to
be cinematography. Both readings are accurate but still fall
short of capturing the key attribute that qualifies her for such
a title — that she is a synthesis of camera and person.
A passage from Susan Sontag’s On Photography — a
collection of essays in which the writer outlines humanity’s
earliest, most primordial relationship to the camera —
provides useful context: “The photographer was thought to
62 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
be an acute but non-interfering observer — a scribe, not a
poet. But as people quickly discovered that nobody takes the
same picture of the same thing, the supposition that cameras
furnish an impersonal, objective image yielded to the fact
that photographs are evidence not only of what’s there but of
what an individual sees, not just a record but an evaluation
of the world.”
Through the recording and evaluation of war zones
and hospitals, boxing matches and churches, courtrooms and
classrooms — as well as moments of her own life great and
small — Johnson’s body of work epitomizes this way of
seeing. Like the figurative searching “kino-eye” of Dziga
Vertov’s 1929 experiment in cinematic communication, Man
With a Movie Camera — minus the plastic, avant-garde quali-
ties of his technique — Johnson’s camera is capable of going
anywhere she can go. In turn, the audience goes with her.
American Cinematographer: As a documentarian,
whether you’re directing or shooting for other directors,
what do you look for in a location?
Johnson: My primary concern is to tap into how a
place makes me feel. What’s fascinating to me about docu-
mentary work is that you enter places where you would
otherwise never get to go, and suddenly you feel differently
 about the world.
That could be as simple as some-
one’s apartment. Once I filmed in the
beautiful home of a middle-class family
where the father was an alcoholic, and
it felt as terrifying to me as any war
zone. There are places where the light is
gorgeous and hot and sunny, and asso-
ciated with positive things, but then
suddenly you realize this is a place
where intense and terrible things have
happened or are happening. What is it
about these places, besides the people,
that make them feel that way? That’s
what I started looking for in my work.
This speaks to how one’s rela-
tionship to a place affects the way one
sees it.
Johnson: I’m deeply interested
All images courtesy of Kirsten Johnson.
in the contradictions between the visual
information I receive and the meaning-
ful information I want to communicate.
I remember being in Rwanda and film-
ing people imprisoned for participating
in the Tutsi genocide — whether or not
they were guilty was totally unclear to
me — working in the fields while wear-
ing these pink prison uniforms. There
t Lightning strikes a Midwest landscape in a frame from Cameraperson, which weaves together
footage that documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson shot over 25 years and around the
world. pp The cinematographer trains her camera on a camel in Morocco. p Johnson shares
her perspective while shooting in Darfur, Sudan.
was something about the light and the something interesting’?
color of the place that was aesthetically Johnson: I think of cinematogra-
wonderful in a way that said nothing phy as a practice in which you learn
about its actual meaning. how to see by the act of seeing. So you
At moments like these I have to might think you know something
stop and ask myself, what’s the about the world, but when you’re actu-
context? How can I see the world in an ally confronted with it, what you’re
extra-dimensional way? How do I see looking at teaches you how to under-
into history? What’s behind the facade stand things differently.
that a person or a place presents to the For example, yesterday I went to
camera? Where is the contradictory film what was, in my mind, a crush of
information? I find myself often search- holiday shoppers at Rockefeller Center.
ing for the invisible. I wanted the scene to be about disorien-
Is that what you mean in tation, but when I got there I realized
Cameraperson when you talk about that these people were all rushing
‘moving through the banal to find around and hurrying to get something
www.ascmag.com March 2019 63
 Shared Spaces
Johnson’s camera is studied — and accepted
— by a group of young girls in Myanmar.
to give. I expected crass commercialism
and misery, but I was moved because I
happened to witness a loving interac-
tion between a parent and their child.
Then I started to notice similar interac-
tions between other people in that
space, and it totally flipped the scene.
I love it when a place shows me
how to see in a new way, and that
usually has to do with the amount of
time I spend there. I was in a courtroom
in Illinois, shooting death-row
clemency hearings for Deadline. We
were in the same room for hours and
hours, one hearing after another, film-
ing shots of the judge and cutaways of
the family.
I started with this stock set of
shots — wide shot, tight, close-up —
and then the emotion of the proceed-
ings sent my thoughts drifting onto
different paths. I ended up doing a
series of shots of people about to touch
something — an object or another
person — but then they didn’t touch it.
I started to learn about people’s hesi-
64 March 2019
tancy in that space, because I saw this
thing happen again and again. When I
started searching for those kinds of
shots, I began to realize the relationship
to time and place after seeing the reflec-
tion of the courtroom’s wall clock on all
of these different surfaces. These shots
would make no sense on their own, but
when I built up a visual vocabulary for
them in the scene, they were able to
express the extreme difficulty of being
in that space.
When you first go into a space,
you do what is known; you’re quoting
what’s been filmed before. I particu-
larly believe that the racism and clas-
sism of imagery repeats itself, because
when you’re filming on the spot, you
sometimes only have the time to repeat
what you already know. Hale County
ASC 100th Anniversary
This Morning, This Evening by RaMell
Ross, for instance, is a documentary
about the search for a new way to see
the South, the search to reinvent and to
see in a different way, to break through
the banality of racism and all of its old
imagery to a freshness of images.
It sounds like you’re also talk-
ing about a set way of thinking — a
preconceived notion is oftentimes
based on limited understanding. But
when you open yourself up to the
potential of a new place, you’re able to
create new images because you’ve
tapped into something unique.
Johnson: Yeah, and sometimes
you just have to start in the banal place
of getting coverage — you need those
wide shots, a medium, a close-up, and
overs — and as you move through the
 Johnson and crew arrange themselves and their equipment in a Seattle, Wash., church.
space, it reveals new things. That has to
do with your proximity to your subject,
and how much you move behind
things or in front of them.
This is deeply physical work. It
really matters that you are there and
your experience is in-body. Maybe
you’ll have to climb a rickety ladder up
to a broken roof, and if you’re open and
paying attention, that will give you
some insight into the infrastructure of
the place, and then you can better
understand the lives of the people who
live there. You can’t walk in their shoes,
but you can walk in their world — feel
its textures and light — and that is also
what changes your ability to see it.
It’s a positive feedback loop.
Johnson: It’s a body in a location
receiving all the feedback that a body
receives: sight, sound, smell, touch,
taste. Like in the home of the alcoholic
father — it was such a terrifying place
because he controlled it and everyone
was constricted within it. That feeling
of constriction provided me with a way
to frame the scene.
Most people, when they think
about cinematography — filmmaking
in general — think with their eyes,
what they can see in front of them.
Johnson: We don’t always
encourage ourselves to think with our
bodies either — to enter a space and
‘see’ with our ears, or sense of smell, or
our hands, or to make ourselves small,
or jump up on top of something. I love
that I’m allowed to move in ways that I
would not be allowed to move if I
wasn’t holding a camera.
What ways are those?
Johnson: I can sit on the floor in
an extremely formal situation, next to a
very important person, and see from
there how that person is moving their
foot — and from that one detail I can
www.ascmag.com
understand things about their character
that were previously hidden to the
world.
I filmed with a general in
Afghanistan, and because of where I
was positioned, closer to him than
almost anyone is allowed to be, I was
able to see him rattling around in his
pocket for something, which turned out
to be one of those red-hot jawbreakers.
Then I realized he had a whole pocket
full of them, and what he would do is
put one in his mouth and try to not
chew it, but inevitably he just cracked
down on them. That action tells a story
about him and the kind of pressure he’s
under, and what his life is like inter-
nally.
Arthur Miller says that the role of
the artist is to reveal what is hidden,
and I believe if you spend enough time
in any one place — no matter how
banal it may seem on the surface — pay
March 2019 65
 Shared Spaces
The
cinematographer
finds a shot in
Kabul, Afghanistan.
“I love that I’m
allowed to move in
ways that I would
not be allowed to
move if I wasn’t
holding a camera,”
she says.
attention, and open yourself up to its
potential, then something hidden will
reveal itself. Openness comes through
moving and being close to things and
people. It comes from being unafraid
and unashamed. Two of the biggest
barriers to seeing are shame and fear.
How so?
Johnson: A lot of times, we’re
trying to do ‘beautiful,’ right? We’re
trying to make an image that proves to
the world that not only are we compe-
tent, we’re visionary. So much of what
we’re taught about cinematography has
to do with achieving mastery and mask-
ing our incompetencies. It’s why so
much of the craft is conceptually
hermetic.
But if we were unashamed, what
we would show to the world through
our images is that we’re searching, and
that we are humbled and delighted and
turned on by the complexity of things.
You have to be unashamed to do that,
because that involves mistake-making,
being out of focus, being unsteady,
having incorrect exposure or a disori-
enting, unconventional frame that
doesn’t immediately read as ‘beautiful.’
66 March 2019
I want to bring up a sequence
from Cameraperson — the montage of
footage from Bosnia, Texas, Wounded
Knee, Tahrir Square, the church in
Rwanda, Ground Zero, and Liberia.
It’s as if the sheer ordinariness of these
places is what’s visually interesting
because of the unseen but knowable
atrocities connected to them.
Johnson: All of those places were
deeply disturbing places to be. That’s
another source of fear and shame: You
feel the horror of reality and want to
leave, but you also feel shame because
you’re there to gather evidence, to
recognize what happened, and part of
you is incapacitated because you know
human beings suffered or died in that
place.
How do you convey the truth of
that church in Rwanda, where people
were killed with machetes; or the
chain that was used to drag James
Byrd to his death; or the torture and
rape in Bosnia, in what’s now a center
where schoolchildren play ping pong?
All the blood is washed away, there is
no physical evidence — it’s just a
church, a chain, an office block.
ASC 100th Anniversary
Johnson: That goes back to what
Arthur Miller said. Places hide things as
much as people do.
How important are beauty and
aesthetics in the face of such truths?
Johnson: I believe aesthetics are
everything. It is the material of our work
and the way we convey feeling to the
audience. But when it comes to beauty
or even truth, I’m inquisitive, suspicious,
wanting to recontextualize, because a
large part of our culture has collectively
settled for these monolithic concepts.
There’s a deep, personal subjectiv-
ity to how people see. One of my goals is
to aid people in looking at things they
don’t want to see or wouldn’t ordinarily
consider beautiful, and to do it for their
own pleasure. I’m a great believer in
pleasure.
Aren’t we all?
Johnson: That gets forgotten in
certain contexts, especially in the docu-
mentary world, where we’re often grap-
pling with really difficult problems and
the subject matter is often one of great
loss, or trauma, or sorrow. We get so
intently focused on pain and suffering
that we forget about pleasure and
humor, when sometimes the only way
to emotionally understand poverty or
pain is through pleasure.
Like in the scene with the
elderly Bosnian woman, where you
changed the subject from the war to
her personal style. Suddenly her
whole demeanor shifted, and she
opened up.
Johnson: Right? And instead of
her being ‘random victim of Bosnian
war,’ she’s unforgettable. She not only
helped me see her differently, she
changed me, too. I dress in this much
more over-the-top way because of her.
That’s true communication.
As you said before, you’re in
other people’s homes and you can’t
tell someone to leave, or you’re in a
field and you can’t control the
weather, but there’s a shot early on in
Cameraperson where you’re in a field
with the camera low to the ground,
and we can see your hand picking
pieces of grass out of the frame as a
shepherd herds his sheep toward you.
It’s a reminder how, as filmmakers, we
sometimes exert our agency through
the smallest actions.
Johnson: Based on that evidence
Two frames from Cameraperson, both captured in Darfur.
you see how much I care, that I engage
in an active way with my environment.
We haven’t really touched on
duration. I’m reminded of the shot
toward the beginning of
Cameraperson where the camera’s set
up next to an open road, somewhere in
the Midwest, just locked off on these
dark clouds in the distance, and then
suddenly this perfectly framed light-
ning strike happens. It seems to
suggest that if you point a camera at
something long enough, something
interesting will happen.
Johnson: You learn over the
years of filming how to wait for a mean-
ingful moment, to not stay in one place
for nine hours, but to arrive two
www.ascmag.com
minutes before the thing happens. It’s
an intuition, like the way an animal
knows the weather’s going to change.
You develop it over time as a documen-
tary cinematographer, where all of the
hours you spend filming will sensitize
you to the world — even the most unex-
pected things like lightning striking.
What triggers this sense?
Johnson: It absolutely comes
from the time you put in. You develop
this intense focus on the present while
being able to think a few moments into
the future. There are sensory indications
that a shift is about to happen. Often I’ll
be filming someone, and I’ll know
when to stand up right before they do
— and what’s interesting is that just as
March 2019 67
 Shared Spaces
Johnson angles
her camera
toward
renowned
advertising and
documentary
photographer —
and Magnum
Photos member
— Elliott Erwitt.
often the sound person working with
me will stand up before I do.
You can reasonably expect that
when most audiences watch a docu-
mentary, they’re taking it at face value,
that what they’re seeing actually
happened. They don’t realize that
maybe you made the establishing shot
of a Midwestern highway on Monday,
and the close-up of a farmer in a park-
ing lot on Friday. To them, it’s all the
same place. But the frame you choose,
where you cut — you’re in control of
68 March 2019
the ‘truth,’ of ‘reality’ itself. Does this
mean objectivity is an illusion?
Johnson: I would not use the
word control, but you are correct that
we have the capacity to mask or to hide
our relationship to the visual, and what
I’m interested in are ways of filming
that reveal those relationships. I believe
in the sophistication of audiences, that
people are incredibly visually literate
already, so instead of me trying to
control what people think or feel when
they see something, what I want to do is
ASC 100th Anniversary
create work that leaves the space for the
viewer to see it and feel it in their own
way.
To draw their own conclusions.
Johnson: Sometimes you’re
telling other people’s histories or their
trauma and suffering, so are you
perpetuating the systemic damage
that’s been done, or are you encourag-
ing people to think about and see the
world differently? You don’t approach
your work as a documentarian with
authority and try to control — you
respond and search. And when I share
what I’ve found, it explicitly comes
from me. I’m not leaving my work open
to interpretation. There is a point of
view to everything I do, and I’ll provide
you with the clues to find your way to
that point.
But you’re choosing to not
directly inflect.
Johnson: That’s the challenge. It’s
in the way we film that an audience is
able to share the experience of ‘being
there,’ but we’re often too used to
making the kinds of images that don’t
allow for that — and that’s what I’m
interested in disrupting. u
 NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES
• SUBMISSION INFORMATION - Please email New Products/Services releases to newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact information and product images.
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DJI Launches Smart Controller
DJI has introduced the Smart Controller,
which features an ultra-bright built-
in display screen, with controls opti-
mized for DJI drones. The Smart
Controller expands the ecosystem
of accessories built around DJI’s
drone technology.
Using an ultra-bright 5.5" display
screen optimized for use in direct sunlight
and built into the controller itself, the
compact, highly portable Smart Controller allows pilots to
quickly get their drone in the air without the need to connect a
mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. It can be paired
with DJI’s newest drones, including Mavic 2 Zoom and Mavic 2
Pro, which use DJI’s OcuSync 2.0 video-transmission system,
displaying images in Full HD resolution. Additionally, the DJI
Smart Controller delivers 2.5 hours of battery life and the ability
to operate in adverse temperatures as cold as -4° Fahrenheit
and as hot as 104° Fahrenheit.
A customizable Android dashboard supports DJI Go 4 and
DJI Pilot, along with various third-party apps such as editing
programs. The DJI GO 4 app also touts several new features,
including SkyTalk, which allows pilots to live-stream the drone’s
camera feed to social channels including Facebook, Instagram
and WeChat. Another new feature is DJI Go-Share, which easily
transfers imagery from the Controller to your mobile device.
The Smart Controller is available for a retail price of $649
USD. Combination packages of the Smart Controller with Mavic
2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom are also available.
For additional information, visit dji.com/smart-controller.
Teradek Offers AC Interface for Red Cameras
Teradek is now shipping its line of Assistant Camera Inter-
face (ACI) modules for Red Digital Cinema’s DSMC2 ecosystem.
The Teradek RT ACI makes configuring camera settings on Red
cameras a breeze with a familiar, easy-to-use interface that is
navigated by tactile push-button and jog-wheel controls. ACI is
available as a standalone module, a remote control unit (RF.ACI),
and an integrated system with a three-channel Teradek RT wire-
less lens-control receiver (MDR.ACI).
The ACI streamlines camera control on Red DSMC2
cameras by offering familiar, tactile button-control functionality
with a simple, intuitive interface displayed on the module’s LED
screen. The module attaches seamlessly to the side of DSMC2
cameras so ACs and operators can make quick adjustments to
camera parameters without disrupting the flow on set.
Designed for ACs and operators who only need on-
70 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
camera functionality, the base ACI
module provides menu screen,
jog wheel and button
interface, and attaches
to the assistant side of
DSMC2 cameras. The
RF.ACI can be used as a
wireless remote for
changing camera settings
at a distance of up to 5,000' with Teradek
RT’s “interference-busting” FHSS wireless
radio; this requires pairing the remote to either another RF.ACI
or MDR.ACI mounted to the camera or any other Teradek RT
receiver. Well-suited for camera control on car-to-car, crane and
aerial setups, this combination gives ACs and DITs full control
over the camera regardless of their location on set. The MDR.ACI
includes every feature of the RF.ACI in addition to a three-chan-
nel Teradek RT lens-control receiver. The RF.ACI can be
combined with a Teradek RT controller and motors for an all-in-
one premium lens- and camera-control solution.
For additional information, visit teradek.com.
Chimera Expands
Pop Bank Family
Chimera has announced the newest addition to its Pop
Bank range, the Pop Bank Small for Litepanels’ Astra and other
1'x1' fixtures.
The Pop Bank Small simply slides over the front of the
fixture, without the need for mounting hardware or a frame,
allowing for ease of portability and use. With an increased front-
aperture size and the ability to be used vertically or horizontally,
the versatile Pop Bank Small is lightweight, collapsible, and
handmade in Colorado to Chimera’s high quality standards.
The Pop Bank Small uses Chimera standard small-size
front screens, increasing the aperture of a 1'x1' LED panel-style
fixture to 24"x32" (607x83mm). The Pop Bank Small is sold as a
kit, with gridless front screens in Full and Half, packed in a
messenger-style kit bag.
For additional information, visit chimeralighting.com.

GoPro Upgrades Fusion Firmware
GoPro has announced a public
beta for Firmware v2.0 for the company’s
spherical camera, Fusion. The firmware
update introduces new experiences
across Fusion, Fusion Studio and Fusion
Adobe plug-ins.
The public beta Firmware v2.0
enables a 5.8K capture resolution that,
when stitched, produces 5.6K spherical
footage. The new resolution is now
supported at 24 fps, marking a Fusion
first. Firmware v2.0 also introduces a 5.6K
24-fps time-lapse mode as well as raw
photo support for night and time-lapse
modes, with intervals of 5 seconds or
longer.
Beyond firmware, this public beta
improves the full GoPro spherical
content-creation ecosystem with updates
to Fusion Studio and 2019-compatible
Adobe Premiere and After Effects plug-
ins.
Specifically, Fusion Studio v1.4 —
also in beta — adds: 5.6K exports for the
new higher-resolution 24-fps mode,
support for importing time-lapse photos
from sub-folders when using Adobe
Lightroom-rendered GPR raw night or
time-lapse sequences, a preference
control to import long videos in separate
chapters for faster imports, support for
importing Fusion clips without .LRV files,
improved stabilization quality for all
modes (particularly for 24 fps), improved
stitch quality for videos with large expo-
sure differences between front and back
lenses, and enhanced image processing
to improve outputs for all modes.
For more information, including
downloading and installation instruc-
tions, visit gopro.com/news/fusion-2-0-
public-beta-firmware-update.
Filmic Pro Adds Log V2
Filmic Inc. has launched Log V2 for
Filmic Pro, which delivers up to 2.5 stops
of additional dynamic range for mobile
devices. Log V2 enables the newest
iPhone XR, XS and XS Max models to
exceed 12 stops of total dynamic range at
base ISO, further rendering the smart-
phones a viable option for making motion
pictures.
To further compliment the new
Log V2 curve, Filmic has also increased
the maximum target bitrate for 4K
recording to 130Mbps on the latest-
generation smartphones, delivering an
even higher-quality recording experience
for mobile filmmakers.
Additionally, Filmic is releasing a
new Pro LUT Pack for its Cinematogra-
phers Kit, which gives filmmakers the lati-
tude they need to color-grade data-rich
content for cinematic results. Filmic now
offers deFlat and deLog LUTs free of
charge and available for download at
filmicpro.com/luts. The new Filmic Pro
LUTs use the .cube format, which ensures
the LUTs’ compatibility with Adobe
Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro X and Black-
magic Design DaVinci Resolve, and other
industry-standard editing solutions for
the desktop. The deFlat and deLog LUTs
are also pre-bundled with LumaFusion
and VideoLUT apps for iOS, simplifying
advanced color-grading on mobile
devices. A single click will conform the Log
footage to Rec 709 color space while still
taking advantage of Log V2’s additional
dynamic range.
Along with the release of Filmic Pro
LOG V2 and its new Pro LUT Pack, Filmic
has released a series of new tutorials and
test-shot clips. All resources for mobile
filmmakers are available through Filmic’s
website.
For additional information, visit
filmicpro.com. u
71
 INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE

72 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

CLASSIFIEDS
CLASSIFIED AD RATES EQUIPMENT FOR SALE SERVICES AVAILABLE
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in 4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion, Polas etc. Greg Kendrick, DoP
bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First
word of ad and advertiser’s name can be set in capi- A Good Box Rental 818-763-8547 Alexa Mini with Zeiss Compact Zooms
tals without extra charge. No agency commission or 5-Ton G&E Truck with Skypanel,
discounts on classified advertising.PAYMENT MUST World’s SUPERMARKET of USED Kino L80’s, and Quasar LED’s.
ACCOMPANY ORDER. VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and
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Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) AKS & MORE! Visual Products, Inc. waywest.tv
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 ADVERTISERS’
INDEX
AFI/American Film InstituteCanon USA 21 Osram Sylvania 50
69 Cavision Enterprises 72 P+S Technik Feinmechanik
Alan Gordon Enterprises 72 Chapman/Leonard Gmbh 72
Arri 5, 25 Studio Equip. 11 Panther Gmbh 40
ASC Master Class 73 CineGear 75 Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
ASC Photo Gallery 74 Cinekinetic 72 Gmbh 72
B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio Cinematography Pro8mm 72
61 Electronics 8
Cooke Optics 7 Rip Tie Company 72
Backstage Equipment, Inc. RPM Lighting, Inc. 71
8 Duclos Lenses 72
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 39 Samy’s DV & Edit 27
Filmotechnic 13 Schneider Optics 3
Fujifilm Optical Devices
USA, Inc. C3 Teradek, LLC C2-1, 17
Image Control 71 www.ascmag.com 74
K5600 51
Kino Flo 41
Lindsey Optics, LLC 8, 72
Mels 19
NAB 79
NBC/Universal 9
Netflix C4

74
 MEMBERSHIP ROSTER
OFFICERS – 2018-’19 ACTIVE MEMBERS Peter L. Collister Victor Goss Peter Levy Yuri Neyman
Kees van Oostrum Thomas Ackerman Jack Cooperman Jack Green Matthew Libatique Sam Nicholson
President Lance Acord Jack Couffer Adam Greenberg Charlie Lieberman Vern Nobles Jr.
Marshall Adams Nelson Cragg Robbie Greenberg Stephen Lighthill Crescenzo Notarile
Bill Bennett Javier Aguirresarobe Jeff Cronenweth David Greene Karl Walter Lindenlaub David B. Nowell
1st Vice President Lloyd Ahern II Richard Crudo Xavier Grobet John Lindley Rene Ohashi
Paul Cameron Russ Alsobrook Dean R. Cundey Alexander Gruszynski Jimmy Lindsey Daryn Okada
2nd Vice President Howard A. Anderson III Stefan Czapsky Rob Hahn Robert F. Liu Jules O’Loughlin
James Anderson David Darby Gregg Heschong Walt Lloyd Thomas Olgeirsson
Cynthia Pusheck Peter Anderson Allen Daviau Henner Hofmann Bruce Logan Woody Omens
3rd Vice President Fernando Arguelles Roger Deakins Adam Holender Gordon Lonsdale Michael D. O’Shea
Levie Isaacks Paul Atkins Jan de Bont Ernie Holzman Emmanuel Lubezki Vince Pace
Treasurer Christopher Baffa Bruno Delbonnel John C. Hora Julio G. Macat Anthony Palmieri
James Bagdonas Thomas Del Ruth Tom Houghton Glen MacPherson Phedon Papamichael
David Darby
King Baggot Frank DeMarco Gil Hubbs Paul Maibaum Andrij Parekh
Secretary
John Bailey Peter Deming Paul Hughen Constantine Makris Daniel Pearl
Isidore Mankofsky Florian Ballhaus Jim Denault Shane Hurlbut Denis Maloney Brian Pearson
Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Barrett Caleb Deschanel Tom Hurwitz Isidore Mankofsky Edward J. Pei
Andrzej Bartkowiak Ron Dexter Judy Irola Christopher Manley James Pergola
MEMBERS John Bartley Craig DiBona Mark Irwin Michael D. Margulies Dave Perkal
OF THE BOARD Gary Baum George Spiro Dibie Levie Isaacks Barry Markowitz Lowell Peterson
John Bailey Bojan Bazelli Ernest Dickerson Tim Ives Steve Mason Wally Pfister
Bill Bennett Affonso Beato Billy Dickson Peter James Clark Mathis Sean MacLeod Phillips
Mat Beck Bill Dill Johnny E. Jensen Don McAlpine Bill Pope
Paul Cameron
Dion Beebe Anthony Dod Mantle Matthew Jensen Don McCuaig Steven Poster
Russell Carpenter Mark Doering-Powell Jon Joffin Michael McDonough Jaron Presant
Bill Bennett
Curtis Clark Andres Berenguer Todd A. Dos Reis Frank Johnson Seamus McGarvey Michael A. Price
Dean Cundey Carl Berger Stuart Dryburgh Shelly Johnson Kevin McKnight Tom Priestley Jr.
George Spiro Dibie Gabriel Beristain Bert Dunk Jeffrey Jur Robert McLachlan Rodrigo Prieto
Stephen Lighthill Steven Bernstein Lex duPont Adam Kane Geary McLeod Robert Primes
Karl-Walter Lindenlaub Ross Berryman John Dykstra Stephen M. Katz Greg McMurry Frank Prinzi
Peterson Josh Bleibtreu Richard Edlund Ken Kelsch Steve McNutt Christopher Probst
Oliver Bokelberg Eagle Egilsson Victor J. Kemper Terry K. Meade Cynthia Pusheck
Lowell Peterson
Michael Bonvillain Frederick Elmes Wayne Kennan Suki Medencevic Richard Quinlan
Cynthia Pusheck Richard Bowen Robert Elswit Francis Kenny Chris Menges Declan Quinn
Roberto Schaefer David Boyd Scott Farrar Glenn Kershaw Rexford Metz Earl Rath
John Toll Russell Boyd Jon Fauer Darius Khondji Anastas Michos Richard Rawlings Jr.
Kees van Oostrum Natasha Braier Don E. FauntLeRoy Gary Kibbe Gregory Middleton Frank Raymond
Amy Vincent Uta Briesewitz Gerald Feil Neville Kidd David Miller Tami Reiker
Jonathan Brown Cort Fey Jan Kiesser Douglas Milsome Robert Richardson
ALTERNATES Don Burgess Steven Fierberg Jeffrey L. Kimball Dan Mindel Anthony B. Richmond
Stephen H. Burum Mauro Fiore Adam Kimmel Charles Minsky Tom Richmond
Stephen H. Burum Bill Butler John C. Flinn III Alar Kivilo Claudio Miranda Antonio Riestra
David Darby Frank B. Byers Anna Foerster David Klein George Mooradian Bill Roe
Charlie Lieberman Patrick Cady Larry Fong George Koblasa Reed Morano Owen Roizman
Eric Steelberg Sharon Calahan Ron Fortunato Lajos Koltai Donald A. Morgan Pete Romano
Levie Isaacks Antonio Calvache Greig Fraser Pete Kozachik Donald M. Morgan Giuseppe Rotunno
Paul Cameron Jonathan Freeman Neil Krepela Polly Morgan Philippe Rousselot
Gary Capo Tak Fujimoto Willy Kurant Kramer Morgenthau Martin Ruhe
Russell P. Carpenter Alex Funke Ellen M. Kuras Rachel Morrison Juan Ruiz-Anchia
James L. Carter Steve Gainer Christian La Fountaine Peter Moss Marvin Rush
Lula Carvalho Robert Gantz George La Fountaine David Moxness Paul Ryan
Alan Caso Ron Garcia Joe Labisi M. David Mullen Eric Saarinen
Vanja Černjul David Geddes Edward Lachman Dennis Muren Alik Sakharov
Michael Chapman Darren Genet Jacek Laskus Fred Murphy Mikael Salomon
Rodney Charters Dejan Georgevich Dan Laustsen Hiro Narita Linus Sandgren
Enrique Chediak Michael Goi Patti Lee Guillermo Navarro Paul Sarossy
Christopher Chomyn Stephen Goldblatt Rob Legato Michael B. Negrin Roberto Schaefer
James A. Chressanthis Adriano Goldman Denis Lenoir James Neihouse Tobias Schliessler
T.C. Christensen Paul Goldsmith John R. Leonetti Bill Neil Aaron Schneider
Joan Churchill Dana Gonzales Matthew Leonetti Alex Nepomniaschy Nancy Schreiber
Curtis Clark Nathaniel Goodman Philippe LeSourd John Newby Fred Schuler

76 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary

M A R C H 2 0 1 9

John Schwartzman Michael Watkins Michael Condon Frank Kay Eliott Peck Marc Weigert
John Seale Colin Watkinson Grover Crisp Dan Keaton Kristin Petrovich Steve Weiss
Christian Sebaldt Michael Weaver Peter Crithary Michael Keegan Ed Phillips Alex Wengert
Joaquin Sedillo William “Billy” Webb Daniel Curry David Keighley Nick Phillips Evans Wetmore
Dean Semler Mark Weingartner Scott Dale Patricia Keighley Tyler Phillips Franz Wieser
Ben Seresin Jonathan West Marc Dando Debbie Kennard Joshua Pines Beverly Wood
Eduardo Serra Jack Whitman Ross Danielson Glenn Kennel Jorg Pohlman Jan Yarbrough
Steven Shaw Lisa Wiegand Carlos D. DeMattos Robert Keslow Carl Porcello Hoyt Yeatman
Lawrence Sher Jo Willems Albert DeMayo Lori Killam Sherri Potter Irwin M. Young
Richard Shore Stephen F. Windon Gary Demos Douglas Kirkland Howard Preston Michael Zacharia
Sidney Sidell Alexander Witt Mato Der Avanessian Mark Kirkland Sarah Priestnall Bob Zahn
Newton Thomas Sigel Dariusz Wolski Kevin Dillon Scott Klein David Pringle Nazir Zaidi
Steven V. Silver Peter Wunstorf David Dodson Timothy J. Knapp Doug Pruss Michael Zakula
John Simmons Tom Yatsko Judith Doherty Franz Kraus David Reisner Joachim Zell
Sandi Sissel Steve Yedlin Peter Doyle Karl Kresser Christopher Reyna Les Zellan
Santosh Sivan Robert Yeoman Cyril Drabinsky Ross La Manna Colin Ritchie
Michael Slovis Bradford Young Matthew Duclos Jarred Land Eric G. Rodli HONORARY MEMBERS
Dennis L. Smith Richard Yuricich Jesse Dylan Chuck Lee Robert Rodriguez Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.
Roland “Ozzie” Smith Peter Zeitlinger Kavon Elhami Doug Leighton Domenic Rom Col. Michael Collins
Reed Smoot Jerzy Zielinski Seth Emmons Lou Levinson Andy Romanoff Bob Fisher
Bing Sokolsky Kenneth Zunder Jonathan Erland Suzanne Lezotte Frederic Rose David MacDonald
Peter Sova Per D. Fasmer Joe Lomba Daniel Rosen Larry Mole Parker
Glynn Speeckaert ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Ray Feeney Grant Loucks Dana Ross D. Brian Spruill
Dante Spinotti Pete Abel William Feightner Howard Lukk Jim Roudebush Marek Zydowicz
Buddy Squires Rich Abel Chris Fetner Andy Maltz Bill Russell
Terry Stacey Alan Albert Jimmy Fisher Gary Mandle Barry Russo
Eric Steelberg Richard Aschman Thomas Fletcher Steven E. Manios Jr. Chris Russo
Ueli Steiger Gerhard Baier Claude Gagnon Steven E. Manios Sr. Kish Sadhvani
Peter Stein Kay Baker Benjamin Gervais Chris Mankofsky Dan Sasaki
Tom Stern Joseph J. Ball Salvatore Giarratano Michael Mansouri Steve Schklair
Robert M. Stevens Amnon Band John A. Gresch Gray Marshall Peter K. Schnitzler
David Stockton Carly M. Barber Dan Hammond James Martin Walter Schonfeld
Rogier Stoffers Craig Barron Jim Hannafin Peter Martin Wayne Schulman
Vittorio Storaro Thomas M. Barron Bill Hansard Jr. Robert Mastronardi Alexander Schwarz
Gavin Struthers Larry Barton Lisa Harp Mel Mathis Steven Scott
David Stump Wolfgang Baumler Richard Hart Joe Matza Yang Shao
Tim Suhrstedt Bob Beitcher Robert Harvey Albert Mayer Jr. Alec Shapiro
Peter Suschitzky Mark Bender Michael Hatzer Bill McDonald Don Shapiro
Attila Szalay Bruce Berke Josh Haynie Dennis McDonald Milton R. Shefter
Masanobu Takayanagi Steven A. Blakely Fritz Heinzle Karen McHugh Ryan Sheridan
Jonathan Taylor Joseph Bogacz Charles Herzfeld Andy McIntyre Marc Shipman-Mueller
Rodney Taylor Jill Bogdanowicz Larry Hezzelwood Stan Miller Leon Silverman
William Taylor Mitchell Bogdanowicz Sean Hise Walter H. Mills Rob Sim
Romeo Tirone Jens Bogehegn Frieder Hochheim George Milton Garrett Smith
John Toll Michael Bravin Bob Hoffman Mike Mimaki Timothy E. Smith
Mario Tosi Simon Broad Vinny Hogan Michael Morelli Kimberly Snyder
Salvatore Totino Michael Brodersen Jay Holben Dash Morrison Stefan Sonnenfeld
Luciano Tovoli William Brodersen Cliff Hsui Nolan Murdock Michael Sowa
Jost Vacano Garrett Brown Christine Huenergardt Nancy Murray John L. Sprung
Stijn van der Veken Terry Brown Nichole Huenergardt Dan Muscarella Joseph N. Tawil
Theo van de Sande Reid Burns Robert C. Hummel Iain A. Neil Ira Tiffen
Eric van Haren Noman Vincent Carabello Zoë Iltsopoulos-Borys Otto Nemenz Steve Tiffen
Hoyte van Hoytema Jim Carter Alan Ipakchian Ernst Nettmann Matthew Tomlinson
Kees van Oostrum Elisabetta Cartoni Jim Jannard Tony Ngai Arthur Tostado
Checco Varese Martin Cayzer George Joblove Jeff Okun Jeffrey Treanor
Ron Vargas Leonard Chapman Tor Johansen Marty Oppenheimer Bill Turner
Mark Vargo Mark Chiolis Joel Johnson Walt Ordway Stephan Ukas-Bradley
Amelia Vincent Michael Cioni Eric Johnston Ahmad Ouri JD Vandenberg
William Wages Denny Clairmont John Johnston Michael Parker Arthur Van Dover
Fabian Wagner Adam Clark Mike Kanfer Dhanendra Patel Mark van Horne
Roy H. Wagner Cary Clayton Andreas Kaufmann Snehal Patel Jannie van Wyk
Mandy Walker Dave Cole Marker Karahadian Gary Paz Dedo Weigert

www.ascmag.com March 2019 77

 CLUBHOUSE
NEWS
Patti Lee, ASC and Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF.
Lee, Sandgren Welcomed
Into Society
New active member Patti Lee, ASC
joined the drama department in high
school, where she was drawn to directing
and running the light board — interests
that led her to the UCLA School of Theater,
Film and Television. Following graduation,
she worked on lighting crews for cine-
matographers including ASC members Russ
Alsobrook, Guillermo Navarro, Newton
Thomas Sigel and Kees van Oostrum.
Lee’s break came when she was
hired as a gaffer on season three of The
Bernie Mac Show; she went on to finish
seasons four and five as the director of
photography. After the show wrapped, star
Bernie Mac asked Lee to photograph his
next project, a multi-camera pilot. In the
decade since, Lee has served as director of
photography on television series, pilots and
features. In 2018, Lee made history as the
first woman ever nominated for a Prime-
time Emmy Award for Outstanding Cine-
matography for a Multi-Camera Series, for
her work on Superior Donuts.
In 2010, Lee collaborated with her
wife, director Jennifer Arnold, to photo-
graph and produce the documentary A
Small Act, which premiered at the
78 March 2019
Sundance Film Festival. Following its run on
HBO, more than $2 million was raised to
support the education foundation featured
in the documentary. A Small Act received a
News & Documentary Emmy nomination
for Best Documentary.
Lee’s recent projects include the
series Living Biblically and the television
movies Mean Jean and Pandas in New York.
Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF grew up in
Stockholm, Sweden, where he studied
graphic design and illustration at the Berghs
School of Communication, and film at the
Stockholm Film School. He started his
career as a camera assistant before moving
into the role of cinematographer in 1999.
Sandgren’s debut feature was the
Swedish fantasy drama Storm, which was
critically acclaimed and earned the cine-
matographer a Swedish Film Institute Guld-
bagge Award for Best Cinematography.
After relocating to Los Angeles,
Sandgren served as director of photogra-
phy on commercials with directors includ-
ing John Hillcoat, Adam Berg, Rupert
Sanders, Tom Hooper, Dougal Wilson and
Fredrik Bond. The cinematographer was
hired by director Gus Van Sant to photo-
graph the 2012 feature Promised Land (AC
Jan. ’13). Since then, he has worked with
ASC 100th Anniversary
directors David O. Russell on American
Hustle (AC Jan. ’14) and Joy; Lasse Hallström
on The Hundred-Foot Journey and The
Nutcracker and the Four Realms; Jonathan
Dayton and Valerie Faris on Battle of the
Sexes; and Damien Chazelle on La La Land
(AC Jan. ’17) and First Man (AC Nov. ’18).
For his work on La La Land, Sandgren
received both the Academy Award and
BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography, as
well as an ASC Award nomination.
Sandgren has been a member of the
Swedish Society of Cinematographers (FSF)
since 2000. At press time, he was in prepro-
duction for the untitled 25th film in the
James Bond franchise, directed by Cary Joji
Fukunaga.
Vandenberg Becomes Associate
New associate member JD Vanden-
berg says he fell in love with moviemaking
“probably while watching The Goonies”
when he was 10 years old. Hailing from
Belgium, he earned a master’s degree in
electrical engineering and then co-founded
DVD-authoring service Escape Lab in Brus-
sels. After selling the company, he joined
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.
Arri in 2010 as an Alexa technical-support
engineer. In 2014, Vandenberg joined Tech-
nicolor as the product manager of the DP
Lights on-set color-correction system.
While working full time, he completed a
master’s program in 2017, in applied math-
ematics, at California State University,
Northridge.
In 2018, Vandenberg moved into his Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF photo by Jack Mealing.
current role as an imaging and color-
science engineer at the Walt Disney
Studios. In this position, he supports cross-
studio productions and investigates next-
generation cameras, displays and workflow
technologies.
For further coverage and additional
news, visit theasc.com/asc/news. u
 CLOSE-UP
Sean MacLeod Phillips, ASC
When you were a child, what film made the
strongest impression on you?
2001: A Space Odyssey. It was showing in
70mm at the Warner Cinerama Theater on
Hollywood Boulevard. I was amazed that
artists could create an entire world like that
on film, but I also struggled to understand it
all. I went to see it again four times, and
started reading science-fiction novels and
listening to avant-garde music. 2001 flipped
some kind of switch in my brain and I knew I
wanted to be a filmmaker someday.
Which cinematographers, past or present,
do you most admire?
[ASC member] Gregg Toland’s genius with deep focus and story-
telling was an inspiration. Citizen Kane is one of the first modern
films, in the sense of its self-awareness of the film medium.
What sparked your interest in photography?
I grew up around cameras, as my father used photography to
capture reference images for his paintings. What excited me
about photography was how it could be used to tell stories.
Where did you train and/or study?
I got into USC on a debate scholarship and was hoping to go to
their law school after graduating, but after taking a course in
production in the cinema department, I was hooked — and
changed my major to cinema production.
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
Dave Johnson and Gene Coe were terrific teachers — very
supportive — and the faculty in general was very honest about
what you needed to know to begin working in the business.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
Most of Kubrick’s films, and the photography of the Magnum
Photo collective.
How did you get your first break in the business?
Les Novros was an artist, animator and producer who taught a
class in filmic expression at USC. It was an amazing course,
which applied the techniques of the visual arts to film. On the
strength of one of the class projects I did, he hired me to work
at his production company, Graphic Films. I soon found myself
on a stage, shooting model spacecraft in 70mm Imax.
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?
An entire auditorium of schoolchildren completely captivated
watching a film I’d done.
80 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary
Have you made any memorable blun-
ders?
When I was in film school, I was a teaching
assistant in the animation department. On
the last day of the semester, I accidentally
opened the magazine containing all the
students’ final projects. Fortunately, we
were shooting on Ektachrome Commer-
cial Original in those days, with an ASA of
25. The last student’s project got a little
fogged but they actually liked the effect!
Of course, technical mistakes are humiliat-
ing and hopefully happen earlier rather
than later, but creative mistakes are how
you learn — and when you stop making mistakes, you stop
growing. As difficult as it is sometimes, you want to be working
a little outside your comfort zone.
What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received?
The best professional advice: Always show up early, make your
day, under-promise and over-deliver. The best creative advice:
Always push the envelope!
What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
Blade Runner 2049 created a visually and emotionally dystopian
world that could become our future if we don’t examine our
own lives in the present. We are living in unprecedented times,
and what we do really matters.
Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to
try?
I’m a science-fiction fan, but a horror film would be a great chal-
lenge, especially something of a psychological thriller.
If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing
instead?
No idea!
Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for member-
ship?
I am very grateful to Reed Smoot, Richard Edlund and Rodney
Taylor for their recommendation and support.
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
I think that anybody who loves cinematography is an ASC
member in spirit. When you become an active member, you
realize how much its members have contributed to the business
in the past 100 years, and it makes you want to return the
favor. u