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GoPro Hero12

Review: GoPro Hero12 Black Action Camera

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By Brady Betzel

The updated GoPro Hero12 Black introduces a few features that make it a must-buy for very specific professional-level users. I love it when GoPro releases updates to its cameras and software. It’s always a step forward in quality and features while keeping the familiar form factor that has made GoPro the go-to action camera for years. The GoPro Hero12 Black is no exception, with features like the new GP-Log color profile and wireless audio recording. It’s even better when you bundle it with the Max Lens Mod 2.0.

GoPro Hero12

Whether you are mounting dozens of GoPros on loaders and excavators with an eye toward syncing Avid Media Composer later, or you need to closely match color between the Hero12 and a Blackmagic RAW clip, the Hero12 Black is an upgrade you’ll want to consider if you are a pro looking to streamline your workflow. And if you haven’t already subscribed to the GoPro Premiere subscription service, grab yourself a year subscription for the sale price of $24.99.

GoPro Hero12 Black Edition Upgraded Specifications

  • Mounting – Built-in mounting with folding fingers¼-20 mount
  • Image sensor – 1/1.9″ CMOS – 27.6 MP active pixels(5599×4927)
  • Lens Aperture – F2.5
  • FOV – 156° in 8:7 aspect ratio (35mm Equivalent Focal Length)
    • Min = 12mm
    • Max = 39mm
  • Video Resolutions and Frame Rates
    • 3K (8:7) 30/25/24 fps5.3K (16:9) 60/50/30/25/24 fps4K (8:7) 60/50/30/25/24 fps4K (9:16) 60/50/30/254K (16:9) 120/100/60/50/30/25/24 fps2.7K (4:3) 120/100/60/50 fps2.7K (16:9) 240/200 fps1080 (9:16) 60/50/30/251080p (16:9) 240/200/120/100/60/50/30/25/24 fps
  • Video stabilization – HyperSmooth 6.0
  • Aspect ratio – 16:9 9:16 4:3 8:7
  • HDR video – 5.3K (16:9) 30/25/24 fps4K (8:7) 30/25/24 fps4K (16:9) 60/50/30/25/24 fps
  • Video compression standard – H.265 (HEVC)
  • Color video bit depth – 8-bit/10-bit (4K and higher)
  • Maximum video bit-rate – 120Mbps
  • Zoom (Video) – Up to 2x
  • Slo-Mo – 8x – 2.7K; 1080p4x – 4K2x – 5.3K
  • Live streaming – 1080p60 with HyperSmooth 4.0 + 1080p60 recording
  • Webcam mode – up to 1080p30
  • Timecode synchronization – Yes
  • Wireless Audio – Support for AirPods and other Bluetooth headsets
  • GP-Log encoding with LUTs

There are a lot of specs in this tiny little GoPro hardware. But as I mentioned earlier, the Hero 12 Black has a few very specific features that pros and semi-pros should really love.

Let’s dig in…

GP-Log Color Profile
First up is the highly sought after (at least by me) GP-Log color profile. I am an online editor, so I deal with video finishing and color correction. From painting out camera crews to stabilizing to noise reduction, I try to make the end product as flawless as possible before it goes to air. So cameras with low noise floors, low moiré and natural-looking stabilization go a long way in my book.

GoPros have been a staple in docuseries and unscripted television shows for years. They can be easily hidden in cars for OTF interviews or discussions between cast members or even buried in the snow to catch a wild animal walking by. If the camera breaks, it’s not the end of the world because they are reasonably priced. The hard part has always been matching the look of an action-cam like a GoPro to that of a higher-end camera system that uses full-frame sensors and multi-thousand-dollar lenses. GoPro has attempted to make that a little easier with the newly added GP-Log color profile.

A Log color profile is a way for the camera to record more steps in dynamic range (think highlights that don’t blow out or shadows that retain details). Log profiles are not meant to be used by everyday filmmakers because, at times, it can be tricky to color-correct Log profiles correctly versus recording in standard Rec. 709 color space or even in the GoPro HDR color profile. Pros use Log profiles to aid in camera color and aesthetic-matching with the hope of giving the audience a more filmic feel, with more details in shots with high contrast. This helps the audience not to notice a change from an ARRI Alexa Amira to a GoPro Hero12 Black, for example.

As I was working with the GoPro Hero12 Black footage in Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve 18.6.5, I was monitoring the footage on a large OLED monitor through a Blackmagic DeckLink 4K Extreme over HDMI. Looking at GoPro footage on a phone or a small tablet does not give the entire story. It is essential to view your footage through proper I/O hardware on a professional monitor — preferably color-calibrated. Otherwise, you might miss crucial issues, like noise in the shadows.

GoPro Hero12

In addition, on the same computer but with a separate screen, I monitored the video signal using Nobe’s OmniScope 1.10.117. OmniScope is an amazing software-based scope that can be used in conjunction with your nonlinear editor or color-correcting software like Resolve. It is giving hardware scopes a huge run for their money these days, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these types of scopes took over. My base computer system includes an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor, an Asus ProArt motherboard, 64GB RAM and an Nvidia RTX 4090 Founder’s Edition GPU.

How well does the new GoPro Hero12 Black Edition’s GP-Log color profile work? When looking at footage shot in GP-Log through color scopes, there is more detail retained in the shadows and highlights, but it really isn’t enough to warrant the extra work to get there. Instead, if you turn down the sharpness in GoPro’s HDR mode, you can get to a similar starting point as something shot in GP-Log. Aside from that, one of the benefits of using GP-Log and applying the GoPro LUT is the ability to color “behind the LUT” to expand the highlights or dial in the shadows. But again, I didn’t see as much value as I had hoped, and I tested color in both DaVinci Wide Gamut and Rec. 709 color spaces. The biggest letdown for me was that the GP-Log footage appeared less detailed than HDR or a standard color profile. And it wasn’t as simple as just increasing the sharpness to match. There is something odd about it; the colors seemed “dense,” but the footage felt soft. I just don’t think the GoPro GP-Log color profile is the panacea I was hoping it would be. Maybe future updates will prove me wrong. For now, the HDR mode with low sharpness seems to be a sweet spot for my work.

Syncing Cameras Via Timecode
Another update to the GoPro Hero12 Black that I was excited to see is the ability to sync cameras via timecode. Maybe 10 or 12 years ago, one of the banes of my existence as an assistant editor was transcoding footage from MP4 to a more edit-friendly codec, like ProRes or DNxHD. This would not only help slower editing systems work with the hundreds of hours of footage we received, but it would also insert actual timecode and tape names/IDs into the clips.

This is a crucial step when working in a traditional offline-to-online workflow process. If you skip this step, it can quickly become a mess. The GoPro Hero12 Black inserts timecode into the file to help with syncing and auto-syncing cameras in your favorite NLE, like Adobe Premiere Pro, Media Composer, Apple FCPX or Resolve. You’ll still need to force a proper tape name/camera name/tape ID to clearly distinguish clips from differing dates/times, but with faster computers, the addition of actual timecode could help eliminate a lot of transcoding.

What’s really smart about GoPro’s timecode sync is the workflow. Jump into the Quik app, find a Hero12 that you want to sync, click the three-dot drop-down menu, click “Sync Timecode” and, while turned on, it will show the QR code to the GoPro Hero12 Black. Once recognized, you will get a verification on the GoPro that it has been synced. And that’s it! While this feature is a long time coming, it is a welcome addition that will save tons of time for professional creators who run dozens of cameras simultaneously.

Other Updates
Finally, there are a couple of minor updates that also caught my eye. The addition of the ¼-20 mount between the GoPro folding finger mounts is a huge structural change. It’s something that should have been there from the beginning, and it’s nice not to have to purchase GoPro-specific mounts all the time.

Another great update is the ability to pair AirPods or other Bluetooth audio devices for wireless sound recording and voice control. Keep in mind that when using Bluetooth earbuds with built-in microphones, any noise reduction built into the headphones will be hard-coded into the recorded audio file. But hand it to GoPro to record two channels of audio when using a Bluetooth earbud mic. This way, if your wireless mic signal drops out, you won’t be out of luck. The GoPro’s built-in mic will still be recording.

On the accessory front, if you purchase the newest Max Lens Mod 2.0 with the GoPro Hero12 Black, you’ll be able to take advantage of a few new features. Besides the larger 177-degree field of view when shooting 4k at 60fps, GoPro recently released a software update that allows for using the Max Lens Mod 2.0 in Linear lens mode. This means no fish-eye look! So in addition to the HyperView and SuperView recording modes, you can get an even larger field of view than the standard GoPro Hero12 Black lens in Linear mode.

Something to keep in mind: You cannot record in the GP-Log color profile when using the Max Lens Mod 2.0. Hopefully GoPro will continue to lean into the GP-Log color profile, improve the quality and dynamic range, and add it to the recording ability with the Max Lens Mod 2.0. But for now, the Max Lens Mod 2.0 is a great accessory to put on your wish list.

If the GoPro Hero12 Black is above your price range, or you aren’t sure that you want to give it to your 6-year-old to throw around on the water slide like I did, then there are a few lower-priced options that get you pretty close. The Akaso Brave 7 is waterproof for up to 30 minutes and has up to 4K/30fps video, time lapse, hyperlapse and photo-taking abilities. The Akaso Brave 7 retails for $169.99 and not only comes packed with tons of GoPro-like accessories, but also a wireless shutter remote.

While the video recording quality isn’t at the same level as the Hero12 Black, if you’re looking for a well-rounded but not quite pro-level camera, the Brave 7 might be for you. In fact, I might actually prefer the color of the Brave 7, which feels a little more accurate as opposed to the heavily saturated GoPro. Keep in mind that with lower-priced cameras like the Brave 7, the physical quality can be a little lower, and options like frame rates can be minimal. For instance, the Brave 7 does not record in 24p, lacks 10-bit and does not have the GoPro style fingers or ¼-inch 20 connection.

Summing Up
In the end, the GoPro Hero12 Black is a great update if you have an older-model GoPro… think Hero10 or earlier. And while the battery appears to last longer when recording in cold or imperfect conditions, in my tests I found that heat is still the enemy of the Hero12. Anything above 80 degrees in direct sunlight will limit your recording time. Running it for a couple of my son’s baseball games left me guessing whether I would actually be able to record full games because of the heat.

If you have a GoPro Hero11 Black, then I suggest you skip the Hero12 and grab the Media Mod accessory for your Hero11, which will add a higher-quality mic and external inputs. You could also add some sort of shade to keep your camera cool — there are a lot of interesting 3D-printed products on Etsy. The Hero12 Black no longer has a GPS, so if the graphic overlays or metadata were helpful to you, the Hero11 might be where you should stay for now.

However, if you need the new timecode sync, grab the Hero12 Black. That’s a solid feature for those of us who need to sync multiple GoPros at once. I love the Hero12 Black’s Quik QR code syncing feature. The wireless audio recording is a welcome addition as well, but in my testing, the audio didn’t come out as clean as I had wished for. I think using the built-in or a hard-wired mic is still best.

The GoPro Hero12 Black edition currently retails for $349.99, and the Hero12 Black with Max Lens Mod 2.0 currently retails for $429.98.

Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop. He is also a member of the PGA. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.

Masters of the Air: Directors and DP Talk Shoot, VFX and Grade

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By Iain Blair

World War II drama Masters of the Air is a nine-episode Apple TV+ limited series that follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, the lack of oxygen and the sheer terror of combat at 25,000 feet in the air. Starring Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, it’s the latest project from Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, the producing team behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

Ranging in locations from the fields and villages of southeast England to the harsh deprivations of a German POW camp, Masters of the Air is enormous in both scale and scope. It took many years and an army of creatives to bring it to life — such as directors including Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and DPs including Jac Fitzgerald.

Here, Boden and Fleck (Captain Marvel) talk about the challenges of shooting, editing and posting the ambitious show. In a sidebar, Fitzgerald (True Detective) talks about integrating the extensive VFX and the DI.

After doing Captain Marvel, I guess you guys could handle anything, but this was still a massive project. What were the main challenges?
Anna Boden: We did episodes 5 and 6. I’d say for us, Episode 5 was a big challenge in terms of wrapping our heads around it all. Some of the prep challenges were very big because it’s really a long air battle sequence that takes up almost the entire episode, and we had limited prep and not a ton of time to do previz and work everything out ahead of time. Also, simultaneously, we were prepping Episode 6, which was going to take us on location and to a whole bunch of new spaces that the show had never been to before. Finding those new locations and doing both of those things at once required so much planning, so it was challenging.

How did you handle the big air battle sequence and working with the volume stage?
Boden: You don’t want to show up on the day and wing it. As filmmakers, sometimes it’s really fun to get on-set and block the sequence based on what the actors want to do. But you can’t do that when you’re shooting on a volume stage, where you’re projecting a lot of imagery on the wall around you. You have to plan out so much of what’s going to be there. That was new for us. Even though we’d worked on Captain Marvel and used greenscreen, we’d never used those big-volume LED stages before. It was a really cool learning experience. We learned a lot on the fly and ultimately had fun crafting a pretty exciting sequence.

I assume director Cary Joji Fukunaga and his DP, Adam Arkapaw, set the template in the first four episodes for the look of the whole show, and then you had to carry that across your episodes.
Boden: Yeah. They’d obviously started shooting before us, and so we were studying their dailies and getting a sense of their camera movements and the color palettes and the vibe for the show. It was really helpful. And our DP, Jac Fitzgerald, knows Adam pretty well, so I think that they had a close working relationship. Also, we were able to visit the set while Cary was shooting to get a sense of the vibe. Once we incorporated that, then we were on our own to do our thing. It’s not like we suddenly changed the entire look of the show, but we had the freedom to put our personalities into it.

And one of the great things about the point where we took over is that Episode 5 is its own little capsule episode. We tried to shoot some of the stuff on the base in a similar tone to how they were shooting it. But then, once we got to that monster mission, it became its own thing, and we shot it in our own way. Then, with Episode 6, we were in completely different spaces. It’s a real break from the previous episodes because it’s the midpoint of the season, we’re away from the base, and there’s a big shift in terms of where the story is going. That gave us a little bit of freedom to very consciously shift how we were going to approach the visual language with Jac. It was an organic way to make that change without it feeling like a weird break in the season.

Give us some sense of how integrating all the post and visual effects worked.
Ryan Fleck: We were using the volume stage, so we did have images, and for the aerial battles, we had stuff for the actors to respond to, but they were not dialed in completely. A lot of that happened after the shooting. In fact, most of it did. (Jac can probably help elaborate on that because she’s still involved with the post process for the whole show.) It wasn’t like Mandalorian levels of dialed-in visual effects, where they were almost finished, and the actors could see. In this show, it was more like the actors were responding to previz, but I think that was hugely helpful.

On Captain Marvel, so often actors are just responding to tennis balls and an AD running around the set for eyelines. In this case, it was nice for the actors to see an actual airplane on fire outside their window for their performances to feel fresh.

Did you do a lot of previz?
Fleck: Yeah, we did a lot for those battle sequences in the air, and we worked closely with visual effects supervisor Stephen Rosenbaum, who was integral in pulling all that stuff together.

What did Jac bring to the mix? You hadn’t worked together before, right?
Fleck: No, and we like her energy. She has experience on big movies and small movies, which we appreciate, and so do we. We like those sensibilities. But I think she just has a nice, calm energy. She likes to have fun when she’s working, and so do we, but she’s also very focused on executing the plan. She’s an organized and creative brain that we really appreciated.

Boden: I think that we had a lot of the same reference points when we first started talking, like The Cold Blue, an amazing documentary with a lot of footage that was taken up in the planes during World War II. Filmmakers actually were shooting up there with the young men who were on missions in these bomber planes. That was a really important reference point for us in terms of determining where the cameras can be mounted inside one of these planes. We tried as much as possible to keep those very real camera positions on the missions so that it felt as reality-based and as visceral as possible and not like a Marvel movie. We used some of the color palette from that documentary as well.

It was also Jac’s working style to go to the set and think about how to block things in the shot list… not that we need to stick to that. Once we get in there and work it through with the actors, we all become very flexible, and she’s very flexible as well. Our work styles are very similar, and we got on really well. We like our sets to be very calm and happy instead of chaotic, and she has a very calm personality on-set. We immediately hired her to shoot our next feature after this show, so we’re big fans.

Was it a really tough shoot?
Boden: Yeah. We started shooting in July and finished in October. That’s pretty long for two episodes, but COVID slowed it all down.

Fleck: I’ve never shot in London or the UK before, but I loved it. I loved the crews; I loved the locations. We got to spend time in Oxford, and I fell in love with the place. I really loved exploring the locations. But yes, there were challenges. I think the most tedious stuff was the aerial sequences because we had mounted cameras, and it was just slow. We like to get momentum and move as quickly as we can when shooting.

Even though this is TV, you guys were involved in post to some degree, yes? 
Ryan Fleck: Yes, we did our director’s cuts, and then Gary kept us involved as the cuts progressed. We were able to get back into the edit room even after we delivered our cuts, and we continued to give our feedback to guide the cuts. Typically, TV directors give over their cuts, and then it’s “Adios.” But because we worked so long on it and we had a good relationship with Gary and the actors, we wanted to see this through to the end. So we stayed involved for much longer than I think is typical for episodic directing.

Typically, on our films, we’re involved in all the other post departments, visual effects and sound, every step of the way. But on this series, we were less involved, although we gave notes. Then Jac did all the grading and the rest of the show. She kind of took over and was very involved. She’ll have a lot of insights into the whole DI process. (See Sidebar)

Anna, I assume you love post, and especially editing, as you edited your first four features.
Boden: I love post because it feels like you’ve made all your compromises, and now all you can do is make it better. Now your only job is to make it the best version of itself. It’s like this puzzle, and you have all the time in the world to do the writing again. I absolutely love editing and the process of putting your writing/editing brain back on. You’re forgetting what happened as a director on-set and rethinking how to shape things.

Give us some idea of how the editing worked. Did you also cut your episodes?
Boden: No, we hired an editor named Spencer Averick, who worked on our director’s cut with us. Every director was able to work on their director’s cut with a specific editor, and then there was Mark Czyzewski, the producer’s editor, who worked on the whole series after that. We worked with him after our director’s cut period. We went back into the room, and he was really awesome. We edited in New York for a couple of weeks on the director’s cut, and then we were editing in LA after that in the Playtone offices in Santa Monica.

What were the big editing challenges for both episodes? Just walk us through it a bit.
Boden: I’d say that one of the biggest challenges, at least in terms of the director’s cut, was finding the rhythm of that Episode 5 mission. When you have a long action sequence like that, the challenge is finding the rhythm so that it has the right pace without feeling like it’s barraging you the whole time. It needs places to breathe and places for emotional and character moments, but it still has to keep moving.

Another challenge is making sure viewers know where they are in every plane and every battle throughout the series. That ends up being a big challenge in the edit. You don’t realize it as much when you’re reading a script, but you realize it a lot when you’re in the edit room.

Then, for Episode 6, it was about connecting the stories because in that episode, we have three main characters — Crosby, Rosenthal and Egan — and they’re in three different places on three very separate journeys, in a way. Egan is in a very dark place, and Rosenthal is in a dark place as well, but he finds himself in this kind of palatial place, trying to have a rest. And then Crosby’s having a much lighter kind of experience with a potential love interest. The intercutting between those stories was challenging, just making sure that the tones were connecting and not colliding with each other, or if they were colliding, colliding in a way that was interesting and intentional.

How hands on were Spielberg and Hanks, or did they let you do your own thing?
Fleck: We mostly interacted with Gary Goetzman, who is Tom Hanks’ partner at Playtone. I think those guys [Spielberg and Hanks] were involved with early days of prep and probably late days of post. But in terms of the day-to-day operations, Gary was really the one that we interacted with the most.

Boden: One of the most wonderful things about working with Gary as a producer — and he really is the producer who oversaw this series — is that he’s worked with so many directors in his career and really loves giving them the freedom and support to do what they do best. He gave us so much trust and support to really make the episodes what we wanted them to be.

Looking back now, how would you sum up the whole experience?
Fleck: All of it was challenging, but I think the biggest challenge for us was shooting during COVID. We kept losing crew members day by day, and it got down to the point where everybody had to test every day and wait for their results. We would have crew members waiting three to four hours before they could join us on-set, so that really cut the amount of shooting time we had every day from 11 hours down to six.

Boden: Some days we’d show up and suddenly find out an hour into the day that we weren’t going to get an actor that we were planning to shoot with, so we’d have to rearrange the day and try to shoot without that actor. That was a big challenge.

Fleck: The great thing for me was how much I learned. Back in history class, you get all the big plot points of World War II, but they don’t tell you about how big these B-17s were, how violent it was up in the air for these guys. You think of the D-Day invasion when you think of the great milestones of World War II, but these aerial battles were unbelievably intense, and they were up there in these tin cans; they were so tight and so cold. I just couldn’t believe that these kids were sent into these situations. It was mind-boggling.

Boden: I also learned a lot through the process of reading the material and the research about the history of these specific people in the stories. But I’d say that one of the things that really sticks with me from the experience was working with this group of actors. That felt very special.

DP Jac Fitzgerald on Shooting Masters of the Air

Jac, integrating all the VFX with visual effects supervisor Stephen Rosenbaum must have been crucial.
Yes. When I started the show, I imagined that the majority of the VFX work would be done on the volume stage. But then I realized that he had a whole World War II airfield to create on location. Obviously, we had the tower structure for the airfield, and we had two planes, one of which was being towed. And it was all so cobbled together from the outside.

Jac Fitzgerald

The planes looked like they were complete, but they weren’t moving by themselves. They didn’t have engines in them or anything. What was interesting to me was the extent of the visual effects that Stephen had to do on the exteriors. We only had two plane bodies, but at any one time when you see the airstrip, there are 12 planes there or more. So there was a huge amount of work for him to do in that exterior world, which was actually as important as the VFX in the volume.

What about the DI? Where did you do all the grading?
It was predominantly in LA at Picture Shop with colorist Steven Bodner, who did the whole show. And because of the enormous amount of VFX, it was obvious early on that things were going to need to be done out of order in the DI.

At first, they thought that my two episodes [5 and 6] would be the first ones to have the DI, as Adam Arkapaw was unavailable to do his episodes [1 through 4] because he was working on another film. At the time they thought they would go in and do my episodes and start prepping and setting the look for episodes 1 through 4 as well. Then it became clear that the DI schedule would have to adjust because of the enormity of the VFX.

Stephen Rosenbaum spent a lot of time making the footage we’d shot and all the VFX worlds collide. I think he had an extraordinary number of people from vendors around the world involved in the project, so there was certainly a lot of cleaning up to do. We all did a lot of work on the look in the DI, trying to make it as seamless as possible. And then again, because episodes 1 through 4 needed so much VFX work, we did my episodes and then we did 7, 8 and 9, and then we went back to 1 through 4. It was certainly a lot of jumping around. I wish that we could have mapped it all from beginning to end, but it wasn’t to be.

Industry insider Iain Blair has been interviewing the biggest directors in Hollywood and around the world for years. He is a regular contributor to Variety and has written for such outlets as Reuters, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe.

Life in Tandem: Making an Unexpected Documentary

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Though poignant and beautiful, this wasn’t the documentary the filmmakers originally set out to make. Here we talk with one of the directors, Mia Grimes, about how the film unfolded and the process of making it.

L-R: Chris Multop, Joe Litzinger and Mia Grimes

How did you come up with the idea for the short?
My co-director Joe Litzinger discovered a viral YouTube video of Marc Ornstein performing a canoe dancing routine to “Lady in Red” as well as a video of Stephen Colbert poking fun at it. Intrigued by the sport and the individual in the video, we did some research and reached out to Elaine Mravetz, a pivotal figure within the community. We were immediately struck by her warm and inviting demeanor.

Tragically, just days after our initial conversation, Elaine was killed in a car accident. With the blessing of both the freestyle community and Elaine’s family, we pivoted the documentary to follow her husband, Bob (also a canoeist), on his journey of recovery and grief.

The original concept was to take a Best in Show approach to a unique sport, but it evolved into a heartfelt emotional story about a community rallying around a member facing a tragic and unimaginable life change.

Did you guys fund it on your own?
My co-director funded the short through his production company, Interesting Human Media, using personal funds. While we attempted to raise additional money, the unexpected nature of the life event we were documenting meant we had to adapt and tell the story with the resources available to us while it was happening.

And we received a great many contributions of time, resources and work at reduced rates from friends and co-workers, embodying the essence of this project as a true labor of love and a community coming together for a common purpose.

What was the process of just getting it off the ground?
In early February 2022, cinematographer Jeff Smee and I made our way to film at Bob’s house in Cleveland. This initial three-day filming session with Bob was just the first of many. Over the course of the following year, we were invited to document a series of significant events marking Bob’s journey of recovery. These events offered a lens into his resilience and his gradual return to the activities that once brought him joy.

It was during a trip to Florida in February 2023 that we witnessed Bob return back to the water in his canoe for the first time since his accident — a symbolic act of reclaiming his passion and a step forward in his healing process. This experience provided a natural and powerful conclusion to our film, capturing the essence of human perseverance and the support of a community rallying around one of its own.

Can you talk script?
Because we were following an event, we did not have a script or outline of any kind, as we were not sure how Bob’s recovery would progress. We truly had no idea how the documentary would end pretty much the entire time we were filming.

Was this your first time directing? How did you work with your co-director, Joe?
I started out in logistics and scheduling, but my role quickly expanded as I found myself involved in all aspects of the production process. This transition marked the beginning of a learning experience that extended far beyond my initial responsibilities. Joe, who served not only as my boss but also as my co-director, played a pivotal role in this evolution. In an industry where the hierarchical structure is often rigid, Joe’s decision to trust me with the direction of early scenes was indicative of his inclusive leadership style.

This opportunity allowed me to learn directly from Joe and the cinematographer, Chris Multop, about not only the technical aspects of filmmaking and camera operation but the storytelling.

As the project progressed, our partnership evolved into a collaborative co-directing effort. This collaboration was not limited to just Joe and me; Chris, our co-producer, was integral as well. Together, the three of us functioned as a cohesive unit, with each of us bringing our own perspectives, expertise and visions to the table.

How did you decide on the cameras you used?
To capture the sport’s beauty, we needed high-quality, versatile cameras that were also light, portable and affordable. Most of the documentary was shot using Z cameras in 4K, with a mix of ultrawide, stylistic lenses for interviews and 800mm lenses for paddling and cinematic shots. Other cameras we used during production were Sony FX3, multiple drones and a Blackmagic camera.

Was it shot with natural lighting?
While the canoeing scenes benefited from natural lighting, we used artificial lighting for the indoor interviews to enhance the visual quality.

You had multiple DPs?
Chris Multop, our co-producer, served as the director of photography, but it was a collaborative effort, with Joe, Jeff Smee, me and others on-set contributing to the cinematography alongside archival footage from the canoeists.

You edited on Adobe Premiere. What was that process like?
We have edited a variety of projects on a variety of platforms. We decided on Premiere because we liked the ease and capability of sending the project to multiple editors to play around with.

One of the things we did early on was hire an experienced AE, Ken Ren, who organized the drive and synced the footage, so our projects started in a way that gave us a leg up throughout the editing process. With about 8TB of footage, we relied on proxies to keep the editing process smooth.

Who did the actual editing? And what about the audio and color grading?
Editing was a collective effort led by Joe and me, with contributions from Emmy award-winning editors Matt Mercer and Eric Schrader and assistant editing by Jenny Hochberg. We set out to film a feature, so we were managing a large amount of footage, which presented a significant challenge in crafting a short, concise documentary.

You can watch the doc here:

Post Production World Expands: New Conference Pass and AI Training

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Future Media Conferences and NAB Show have expanded the Post Production World (PPW) conference slated for April 12-17. This year the organizers introduced a comprehensive pass that covers an expanded suite of tracks along with AI training and certifications, field workshops and more.

In a move to cater to the broad spectrum of roles in the creative industry, PPW has broadened its scope to include additional past FMC conferences under one ticket item. Attendees can now access a diverse array of tracks with a single ticket, exploring creative AI, cinematography and directors of photography, visual storytelling, remote production and more. This expansion reflects PPW’s dedication to keeping pace with the rapid advancements in technology and creative techniques.

In addition to a dedicated Creative AI track within the PPW conference program, FMC is offering an additional pass for an AI Training & Certifications track, an initiative designed to equip professionals with the skills necessary to navigate the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence in content creation. Pass add-ons include exam vouchers available for purchase with registration or a choice between two live and in-person AI training courses:

  • AI Broadcast TV Training Workshop: Revolutionizing Broadcasting
  • AI VFX & Motion Training Workshop: Crafting Visual Wonders

Besides these new additions, PPW continues to offer field workshops and other certifications that provide hands-on learning experiences and opportunities to gain recognized credentials in various aspects of production and post production.

“By expanding our tracks and introducing AI Training & Certifications, we’re not just responding to the industry’s current trends; we’re anticipating its future directions,” says Ben Kozuch, president and co-founder of Future Media Conferences. “Our goal is to empower content professionals with the knowledge, skills and insights they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving landscape.”

Information on the new pass options, AI Training & Certifications, field workshops and registration can be found here.

Red Digital Cinema to Be Acquired by Nikon Corporation

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Camera maker Red Digital Cinema has announced it will be acquired by and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon. The agreement with Nikon was reached with Red’s founder Jim Jannard and president Jarred Land.

This strategic partnership brings together Nikon’s expertise in product development, image processing, as well as optical technology and user interface, with Red’s knowledge in cinema cameras, including its unique image compression technology and color science.

When first introduced, more than 17 years, Red hit the ground running with its NAB booth hidden behind a red curtain and industry folks handing them money for pre-orders of its very first Red One 4K camera. Since then, Red has providing digital cinema technology  spanning from that original Red One 4K to the new 8K V-Raptor X (more on that in a bit), all powered by Red’s proprietary Redcode RAW compression.

Red’s contributions to the film industry earned a Scientific and Technical Academy Award, and their cameras have been used on films, documentaries, commercials and video production.

This acquisition allows Nikon to combine its heritage in professional and consumer imaging with Red’s digitial cinema innovations in both hardware and software. Together, Nikon and Red hope to redefine the professional digital cinema camera market. They will be working together on future of product development that they say “will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in film and video production.”

Just this past January, Red introduced the new large-format V-Raptor X 8K VV and V-Raptor XL X 8K VV cameras featuring the low-light performance, dynamic range, resolutions, high frame rates and form factor of its V-Raptor predecessor. Additionally, the V-Raptor X introduced Red Global Vision, which includes a new 8K VV global shutter sensor that enables innovative functions, such as Extended Highlights and Phantom Track. Additionally, the V-Raptor X and V-Raptor XL X systems offer increased exposure times, a further optimized optical cavity and improved audio performance. More on that here.

With this acquisition, Nikon says it will look to expand the growing professional digital cinema camera market, building on both companies’ business foundations and networks. More updates are expected soon.

 

 

Getting the Right Look for Oscar-Nominated Anatomy of a Fall

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Securing the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and clinching five Oscar nominations, Anatomy of a Fall is a gripping family saga unraveling the startling collapse of an ordinary household. Under the helm of Justine Triet, her fourth directorial venture paints a dizzying portrayal of a woman accused of her husband’s murder, set amidst a suffocating ambiance. Graded at M141, colorist Magali Léonard from Chroma Shapers shares her workflow on this film, discussing both the artistic and technical details.

“Justine and director of photography Simon Beaufils reached out to me early on, even before the filming commenced, during the camera trials. I had previously collaborated on the grade for Justine’s Sibyl, a project where Simon also served as the lensman. This marked my second project with Justine and sixth with Simon,” says Léonard.

The director and DP worked closely with Léonard, who worked on Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio, throughout the entire post process, making sure the film’s feel translated to the screen.

“Justine envisioned a raw, contrasting narrative embracing imperfections and flaws, aiming to create something visceral and sensual,” explains Léonard. “This vision particularly manifested in the trial sequences, characterized by flushed skin tones, sweat and tangible fatigue.

“I translated that vision alongside Simon’s directives into the visuals, meticulously attending to facial expressions and skin tones,” she continues. “We closely collaborated in crafting a visual identity, starting with extensive camera trials during preproduction involving hair, makeup and costumes.”

During the initial phases, Beaufils conducted tests on 2-perf 35mm film, allowing Léonard to emulate the film’s appearance when calibrating the digital camera tests. “This served as the cornerstone to unearth the film’s ambiance and visual identity,” she says.

Triet and Beaufils opted for a large-format camera paired with Hawk V lite anamorphic lenses, despite the film’s aspect ratio of 1.85. “The anamorphic lenses infused a richness of colors, flares and distinct blurs, softening the digital sharpness of the sensor. Simon was a pleasure to collaborate with, crafting exquisite imagery encapsulating intricate emotions,” she adds.

“My approach to the visuals was iterative, manipulating contrast through DaVinci Resolve’s custom curves, followed by adjustments in colors, saturation, and highlights. Subsequently, I introduced grain to impart a more pronounced aesthetic, a process initiated from the rushes onwards, laying the groundwork for the film’s overarching mood,” Léonard shares.

Refinement and Collaborative Efforts
In the later stages of the digital intermediate process, Léonard revisited the nodes used to establish the visual identity for fine-tuning. “I ventured into more daring suggestions, striving to refine highlights and specular lights while infusing subtle diffusion. For instance, we enhanced the saturation in the blues while preserving the rawness inherent in the set design and costumes,” she elaborates.

For the courtroom sequences, the grade underwent an evolution mirroring the unfolding of the trial toward a denser, golden atmosphere. “It was crucial to accentuate the actors’ facial expressions while retaining the initial appearance of a slightly rugged and textured visual, a tangible and vibrant material,” says Léonard. “I embraced the notion of allowing the visuals to unfold their utmost potential as the narrative progresses.

“Throughout the grading process, we frequented the Max Linder Cinema to screen the film under theatrical conditions, gaining insights into the visuals and enabling me to make finer adjustments to the final look. For instance, through these screenings, we discerned that certain scenes would benefit from heightened saturation or contrast,” she concludes.

Poor Things‘ Oscar-Nominated Cinematographer and Editor

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By Iain Blair

Lavish, audacious and visually stunning, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things tells the fantastical story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant, daring scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). The film just won five BAFTAs and scored an impressive 11 Oscar nominations, including nods for cinematographer Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC, and editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE, who were both previously nominated for their work on Lanthimos’ The Favourite.

I spoke with Ryan and Mavropsaridis (aka “Blackfish”) about making the film and collaborating with Lanthimos, who also got an Oscar nom.

Robbie Ryan

You’ve both worked with Yorgos Lanthimos before. Was this process very different, or was it pretty much the same way he always works?
Robbie Ryan: It was my second time working with Yorgos, and I felt like the approach was similar. But I was a bit more tuned in to his thinking process, which is quite loose from a filming perspective. He likes to get the things he needs in place and then elaborate or experiment, maybe search for something new. We’re not too set or stringent in our approach. It’s pretty loose.

What about you, Blackfish?
Yorgos “Blackfish” Mavropsaridis: We have been working together for almost 25 years. I know his approach, and I know that during the assembly I need to put things in order according to the script. That’s not the main work… it’s just for me to understand the material. Then, when he comes back, we start looking at the sequences and trying things.

Yorgos “Blackfish” Mavropsaridis

I’d say it was an easier process for Poor Things in the sense that I know him so well. And we had to focus on a specific character, which gave us the path to follow. Of course, having said that, films are not easy in that sense. We always try to deconstruct the script to take it off the paper and make it more interesting. We also involve the viewer in different ways than a classical Hollywood film does.

Robbie, is it true you shot this whole thing in a studio in Budapest?
Ryan: Yes, that’s correct. We shot 35mm celluloid and used a bunch of stocks. We shot some old VistaVision as well, which is a lovely format, and black-and-white and Ektachrome.

What were the main challenges of shooting a film like this, where nearly everything was constructed? I assume you were quite involved with set design and the like, which is unusual?
Ryan: Yes, we basically did 12 weeks of prep on this film. That was so we could build the sets and watch their design. The production designers, Shona Heath and James Price, built five or six big sets and used Unreal Engine to create them in 3D. Yorgos [Lanthimos] and I would look at what they were building in a 3D world. It was amazing to walk onto that set a few weeks later and see it for real. It looked exactly like those sets built in 3D. That was the world we prepared, and it was amazing.

So you were able to previz it all like that?
Ryan: Exactly, as Unreal Engine is previz in a way. It’s a 3D program that lets you look around at every angle. For instance, for the ship, you could really look at every corner, and if one corridor on the ship was a little bit too skinny, we could make it a bit bigger so we could fit a dolly on it. There was lots of that sort of preparation, and it helped a lot.

How did that affect your lighting approach?
Ryan: It took a little bit more work from a lighting perspective. I had to light it a bit more because we were indoors and in studios. We took the same approach that we did on The Favourite, which was not to use lights on the set. We lit the studio sets with a sky outside all the buildings, and that gave me confidence that I was going in the right direction because that is the way Yorgos [Lanthimos] likes to work. We just had to create something that resembled a real environment in an interior space.

Blackfish, were you on the set at all?
Blackfish: No, I was in Athens from the beginning. The only time I went on-set was for The Lobster, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience for me. I prefer to see it objectively as it comes in rather than go to the set and get influenced by the atmosphere, the actors and all these things. So I stayed home in Athens, and they sent me dailies. I’d get the negatives and black-and-white the next day, but the Ektachrome took a couple of days more since it had to go to Andec, a lab in Berlin, and then to Athens. But it was a really fast process. Yorgos and I don’t talk at all when he’s on-set, or very rarely.

Robbie, I know you’ve worked with colorist Greg Fisher at Company 3 before. How early on did you start working with him on LUTs and the look for this?
Ryan: We didn’t do that actually, and that was a bit of a mistake. We had a dailies grader in Budapest, which was driving Yorgos [Lanthimos] a bit mad. Film doesn’t need so much grading now. But Greg did a lot of work with us from the very beginning, helping us out with early tests about nine months before we shot. But then, when we went to Hungary, we used a Hungarian lab and a Berlin lab. They were doing the dailies for us there, and it wasn’t quite what Yorgos [Lanthimos] was expecting, so he got a little bit frustrated by it.

The bottom line is that we should have done a show list, but we didn’t know that’s what was meant to be done, so we kind of learned the hard way. The film still looked nice in the rushes, but it just wasn’t quite what we thought it would be. When we went into the final grade with Greg at the beginning of last year, we spent three weeks grading the film. He’s got quite a thorough process. We went through every sequence one by one and didn’t review the whole film until we got through all the sequences. We spent a week and a half going through everything, then we watched the whole film back, and then we went deeper again. Yorgos likes to go quite deep into the color grading. Just recently, we made a 35mm print of the film. That was an interesting coda to the whole grade process, and it was quite a lot of work as well.

Robbie, how long was the shoot, and what was the most difficult scene to shoot and why?
Ryan: We shot for about 50 days. The scene when Bella comes out of the hotel and walks around Lisbon was pretty difficult because it was a big lighting kind of environment. The set was great, and it was amazing to walk around, but it was difficult to photograph, so I think we struggled a bit on that.

Blackfish, walk us through the editing process when you sit down together with Yorgos.
Blackfish: Two weeks after shooting finished, I had an assembly ready, but it was so long there was no point watching it as a whole. We just went through sequences and then refined the scenes exactly as they are in the script order. We took care of the actors’ performances — which one Yorgos liked best and how the emotions were interpreted in each scene. When we have a good assembly or first cut, then we start experimenting, somehow deconstructing what we have done, discussing, “What if we start with this scene, not the other one, and then what does that give us for the next scene?”

Then there are points where the exposition takes many scenes to develop. For example, there’s a dinner scene with Max, Godwin and Bella. In the assembly, the scenes appear in linear order in the continuity of time and space, so we found ways in the edit to go to previous scenes and then cut them in, or go to later scenes to create a sequence. We developed this method of intermixing scenes and making them a sequence on Dogtooth and have been using it ever since — and very interesting ideas arise. For example, you can say the same thing in the scene — or say it even more forcefully with a thought — if it’s combined with dialogue from another scene. Of course, that’s quite difficult.

Sometimes you have to go through a lot of edits to find it, to refine it, but in the end, we get it to where we want it. We try to get around problem areas and keep the phrases or the moments that we need and then cut them with other things to pick up the pace. That editing technique also creates internal combustion. It provides momentum so the viewer doesn’t get ahead of us. We sometimes need to surprise viewers, and it has to do with how we think or how we want the viewer to feel or think at that moment. So it’s a whole procedure.

How long was the edit in the end?
Blackfish: It took about eight months.

What was the most difficult scene for you to get just right?
Blackfish: Technically, it was the dinner-and-dance scene. The actors had done a lot of movements. The camera was moving all the time, and there were also some static shots. The difficulty was to keep the eyeline correct in the 180-degree space so as not to lose the audience. It was difficult to find the best performance moments. All the other things, of course they’re difficult, but it’s different to edit a difficult scene like a dance. It’s also more fun and more satisfying.

Did you use a lot of temp sound?
Blackfish: Not at all. The music was done much earlier than the filming, and composer Jerskin Fendrix had written the theme of the film. Of course, it was not the final music, but we had the same thing played differently or with a single instrument or with a big orchestra, and we had a lot of options to try. We could cut the music if we wanted to speed it up, or at other times we could edit the film according to the music. So having the music gives you a lot of good opportunities. As for the sound design, my assistant always uses external sounds. We need to have that for me and Yorgos to see how it works, to make sure there are no gaps or anything. We cut on Avids with Nexis storage, and we had about 12 terabytes.

Robbie, I assume you had to coordinate with visual effects on-set, as there’s quite a lot of VFX.
Ryan: Yes, we had an on-set supervisor from Union Effects who did all the VFX [and picked up a BAFTA for their work], and he would let us do what we wanted. For instance, Yorgos [Lanthimos] didn’t want to use greenscreen, so when we were filming the hybrid animals, even though the VFX guy liked the idea of using greenscreen, we didn’t do it because we could just rotoscope it. We shot it twice, one animal first, second animal second, and then that was comped in together.

Yorgos was trying to do it with older cinema technology, like backdrops and moving-image backdrops, and we had LED walls as a backdrop and painted backdrops. I think that was really a nice way to do it because the actors felt like they were a little bit more immersed and didn’t have to worry about getting it right for VFX, which sometimes happens.

That was a really nice atmosphere to work in. Yorgos has such a knowledge of cinematography and what you can do VFX-wise; he was confident that he would get it in post, and they did, indeed, get it in post. They went through quite a long process of trying to perfect all that, there were quite a few incarnations, and it was a very VFX-heavy job, but they got there in the end. Union did a great job.

How would you each sum up the experience?
Ryan: It’s been a long journey, and it was never in any way boring. It’s always been fun. Yorgos likes a fun film set to work in. He doesn’t like to have any sort of tension at all, so we have a crew around us that are very relaxed, and I really enjoyed it. We worked hard, and sometimes it didn’t go right, but we always found a way, and it was a really exciting film to work on.

Blackfish: It’s new all the time and interesting working with Yorgos. We’ve almost finished editing the last film he and Robbie shot in New Orleans, and I guess he’s planning the next one in May. So I’m going to continue the experience.

Industry insider Iain Blair has been interviewing the biggest directors in Hollywood and around the world for years. He is a regular contributor to Variety and has written for such outlets as Reuters, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe.

Pierce Derks

Sundance: DP Pierce Derks on In a Violent Nature

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Writer/director Chris Nash’s horror film In a Violent Nature, which screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, tracks a ravenous zombie creature as it moves through a secluded forest. Produced by Shudder Films, it’s a twist on typical slasher movies in that the audience walks with the killer, not the victims, and therefore gets an unexpected perspective.

We spoke with cinematographer Pierce Derks about the process of making the film.

Pierce Derks

How early did you get involved on this film?
I was involved quite early in this project; before I was onboard as a DP, I was helping the team design their lookbooks when they were first pitching the film. I had also been hired to document the shoot as a behind-the-scenes documentarian. A different DP was attached at that point, but as the project evolved, scheduling conflicts emerged, and the original DP became unavailable, so they asked me to step in and take on the role.

How did you work with the director?
I’ve known Chris Nash for quite a while. We’ve worked on a lot of projects throughout the years, so we both know each other’s quirks and workflow. He can be very particular about the approach and visual language of a scene, but at the same time, he’s very open regarding lighting and individual compositions. Everyone was wearing multiple hats on-set to a certain extent, but especially Chris, as he was also doing a mix of prosthetic and practical effects. So being able to understand his intentions and goals for the scene was crucial in times when attentions were divided elsewhere leading up to a take.

What about the color and working with the colorist? What are some notes that you exchanged? Who was the colorist?
Our colorist was James Graham from Alter Ego in Toronto. He had been hearing about this project for a while from friends and was excited to work on it. In our first session, he showed us some of the scenes he had drafted on his own, and they were graded in the vein of a lot of modern horror movies. He had always heard this was a horror film, so you know, naturally he was anticipating that we would want a traditional horror look, with a lot of stylized color casts to scenes.

The scenes looked great, but ultimately that was not the movie we shot. We did not want to make the daytime woods feel artificially menacing; it was very important to us to maintain those natural tones of the forest and to have audience members make their own decisions about whether a particular shot was serene or sinister. Once we got him onboard with that idea, James was fantastic at helping enhance and balance the tones that were in the negative without outright replacing them.

What did you end up shooting on and why?
I researched a lot of different cameras in preproduction. We needed something small and lightweight enough to work with the camera stabilizer rig I had assembled, but it also couldn’t be too small or be missing critical features. Canon’s C70 emerged as the Goldilocks camera – it was just right. I loved the Super 35mm sensor, and its form factor was perfect for me as both the operator and the cinematographer. Paired with Canon FD glass, it gave us a look that felt neither too vintage nor too modern and clinical.

Pierce Derks

Can you talk lighting?
From a practical level, we didn’t want to drive a giant G&E truck on all these dirt back roads and have to hand-bomb tons of gear every day, so we figured out the bare essentials and had a smaller package of LEDs and a little 2k genny. We used that minikit for most of the remote nighttime photography.

We wanted things to fall off into darkness where appropriate and avoid the temptation to overly stylize the setups or overlight things. We also used a fair amount of harsh and grungy tungsten practicals for the artificial lighting. That lighting kind of gets sicker in every scene, culminating with the look of the wood shed sequence.

When it came to the daytime scenes, we definitely shaped the light to our advantage but tried to avoid oversoftening things. We wanted to capture the different tones from dawn to dusk as Johnny [the murderer] goes on his journey and not just stick with one soft, overcast look the whole time.

Are there some scenes that stick out as challenging? Can you talk about those?
Every scene had its own set of challenges. We rarely had traditional coverage, and there were a lot of 360-degree setups, so we could never get that comfortable or complacent in our approach.

The yoga sequence was maybe the most daunting as a whole, not necessarily from a cinematography stance but for its execution in general. The prosthetic team went above and beyond with a lot of finicky moving parts to manage. Nash and Fletcher Barret were doing most of the heavy lifting, sometimes literally, with the operation and puppeteering in that scene. I’ve filmed a lot of practical makeup effects for films and second unit over the years, and I have such respect for the craft. The effects artists truly give performances that take a while to fine-tune, but I think it’s so worth the time and effort for the visceral and tangible reaction they give an audience.

Looking back on the film, would you have done anything different?
It’s safe to say I would have done some things differently and would’ve liked to have gotten a few more takes on some shots, but I think everyone looking back on a project feels that way to a certain degree — especially when you end up watching things a hundred times in post and begin to lose context. Filmmaking is such a lighting-in-a bottle-type event, with everyone’s instincts gradually shifting day to day. If I shot the film this year, would it be different? Yes, but I don’t know if it would necessarily be better because of that. Overall, I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish.

Any tips for young cinematographers?
I cannot recommend enough spending time working in the AD department, especially as a third AD, regardless of what department you eventually want to specialize in. My experience working as a third was invaluable, as it taught me how every department operated, how long they need and, ultimately, what makes everyone’s job easier so they can perform at their best.

That time as an AD also helped me learn that you always need to keep the big picture in mind when shooting. It’s so easy to get fixated on every shot and want things to be perfect, but if you’re shooting a minor moment, sometimes it’s best to keep things moving so you can get through the day. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have 10 minutes to shoot a critical moment for the film because you wasted an hour on a minor setup earlier in the day. You can’t be precious about every shot; it’s not a luxury most productions can afford, so focus on the moments that you know in your guts are important to the story, and give those the extra attention they deserve.

Oscar-Nominated DP Rodrigo Prieto on Killers of the Flower Moon

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By Iain Blair

Martin Scorsese and DP Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC, first teamed up on The Wolf of Wall Street and followed that with Silence and The Irishman. Now they’ve collaborated on Killers of the Flower Moon, an epic Western and crime drama that tells the tragic true story of the infamous Osage murders of the 1920s. When the Osage Native Americans strike oil on their reservation in Oklahoma, a cattle baron (Robert De Niro) plots to murder tribal members and steal their wealth, even while he persuades his nephew (Leonardo DiCaprio) to marry an Osage woman (Lily Gladstone).

Rodrigo Prieto

I spoke with Prieto about shooting the film, which earned 10 Oscar nominations — including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography  — and how he collaborated with Scorsese on the look.

While this is another epic story from Marty, it’s also quite intimate. How did you collaborate on finding the right looks and tone?
You’re right in that it’s both epic in scope but also very intimate, and it took us quite a while to figure out both the looks and the focus of the story. The script was reworked quite a lot. It was the same with the look. I tested out all sorts of lenses and had different ideas about negatives and looks — even pinhole photography and infrared — all to see what felt right. We didn’t end up using many of those ideas in the movie, but they ultimately influenced other things we did do. The main idea that we ended up embracing was the visual representation of the different stories, which was most obviously manifested in the newsreel footage we shot.

Is it true you even used a vintage camera for those scenes?
Yes, we used a 1917 Bell & Howell camera that Scorsese owns. We oiled it up, got it back into mint working condition, hand-cranked that camera and shot the scenes on black-and-white negative.

Did you do a lot of research?
Yes, and a lot of the rest of the look of the film is based on the idea of how people are photographed and how they remember things. I did a lot of research on the start of color photography, and we created a LUT based on Autochrome photography, which the Lumiere brothers invented around 1903. That was one of the first techniques used to create color photography, and we emulated the feel that I had looking at what are basically black transparencies that have a very specific feel to the color.

That was the way we represented the descendants of the American immigrants, the white people and characters like Ernest (DiCaprio) and Hale (De Niro). Their part of the story has that look, but for all the Osage scenes, when they’re alone and not with white people, we photographed them on film negative. The look for that was based on 5219 stock and how that film negative looks on Vision film print. It’s a very naturalistic look. The colors are what we perceive as the colors of nature and underscore the Osage people’s connection to the land and nature.

The third look of the film is ENR-based, which we used toward the end, and it begins with the explosion of Mollie’s sister’s home. That’s when things really start unraveling and when Ernest’s guilt starts really kicking in… his confusion gets worse and worse, and she gets sicker and sicker. To illustrate all that, we transition into a much harsher look. I also used the ENR look for the last part of The Irishman. The feel of it is more desaturated in terms of color and higher contrast, and it looks a little nastier as it enhances the film grain even more. That’s the basic arc of the look of the movie.

When did you start working with colorist Yvan Lucas?
We met on Oliver Stone’s Alexander, which we color-timed in Paris at Éclair, and I fell in love with his work. We became good friends. For me it was a revelation the way he did digital color grading, which is really based on photochemical color grading in terms of his process. He basically uses printer lights, which is a very comfortable method for me. Instead of manipulating highlights and lowlights and midtones on every shot, which is essentially creating a new LUT for every shot, we just create a LUT and use printer lights. That’s why LUTs are so important to me because it’s really like your negative, even if you’re shooting digital. Since 99.9% of prints are actually digital DCPs, the LUTs become a crucial part of the feel of a movie.

How did you make all your camera and lens choices?
We shot it 35mm on ARRICAM LTs and STs, with the Sony Venice 2 for the digital scenes at dusk and night. The lenses were Panavision T Series anamorphic, and they were adapted for us by Panavision’s lens guru, Dan Sasaki. He detuned them a bit for us and also added a special coating that made the flares warmer than usual. I thought that was important because sometimes the blue flare, which is a characteristic of many anamorphics, feels too modern to me.

What were the main challenges of shooting this?
The main challenge was learning about the Osage culture, about Oklahoma at that time and the attitudes of whites to the Osage… and then finding ways to represent all that visually. Scorsese designed a lot of shots to give that sense you mentioned — a big story but also an intimate look at way the characters are living in the moment. So when we introduce Ernest and he gets out of the train, we do this big, swooping shot of the station that starts wide on a crane and then swoops in on Ernest. That’s Scorsese’s grammar, how he expresses himself, and I find that endlessly fascinating and so enjoyable to execute his ideas.

Basically, he designs the shots to give audiences all the information they need; you see the station and the town name, Fairfax, and then the character he’s introducing. Then there’s a drone shot that starts with the car  — we see Ernest driving with Henry Roan (William Belleau). It’s a red car on a green background, the same color contrast that many photographers used with Autochrome, so it’s a very conscious choice and design. Then we pull away and see the landscape with the oil. Again, it’s a way of looking at both the macro story and the intimate one.

What about dealing with all the VFX?
I’ve worked with VFX supervisor Pablo Helman before on other films, and the big challenge here was dealing with all the set extensions. We shot in Fairfax and all around the area, but the main street in Pawhuska, where we also shot, was better because it had more older buildings. We had bluescreen at the end of both streets, and Pablo extended both. That was a challenge in terms of the light and the bluescreen shadows. We also had to do extensions for the drone shots of Fairfax and the surrounding area, but most of the VFX involved clean-up and removing modern things. It helped a lot that not only were we shooting in the real locations, but that many of them hadn’t really changed. We didn’t have to do much work, and we didn’t need tons of crazy, spectacular VFX.

Tell us about the DI.
All the careful work we did with the LUTs in prep was essential, as Scorsese and his editor Thelma Schoonmaker [ACE] spent many months cutting all the material so they could get used to the look. It was crucial that the dailies they were editing with were as close as possible to what I intended. Yvan also supervised the dailies workflow.

We adjusted stuff in the DI, but it wasn’t a big departure from the dailies. We matched all the shots for continuity. The way we work is that Yvan does his pass first to match it all, and then if I want the scene to be darker, there’s an offset for everything since it already matches. That makes the DI work pretty simple. It also gives us time to do a window here, a window there.

For this film I was going for a higher level of contrast than in the others I’ve done with Scorsese. We really wanted to represent the darkness that’s happening in the story. The lighting helped us do that. The chiaroscuro was much stronger than in the other films, especially toward the end. But sometimes I did the opposite, like in the courtroom scene. The set was very light in color, and it was bright, overexposed, harsh light to underscore the inner turmoil. Sometimes you have to use ugly shots and ugly lighting to support the emotions of the story.

Industry insider Iain Blair has been interviewing the biggest directors in Hollywood and around the world for years. He is a regular contributor to Variety and has written for such outlets as Reuters, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

Marco Valerio Caminiti

DP and Colorist Talk Look of The Serial Killer’s Wife

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By Randi Altman

Paramount+’s The Serial Killer’s Wife, four-episode series, follows Beth, whose husband is arrested on suspicion of murder. Beth (Annabel Scholey) is certain it’s all a huge mistake — Tom (Jack Farthing) is the village doctor and a beloved member of the community. But as Beth and her husband’s best friend start looking into the accusations, they start questioning everything.

Marco Valerio Caminiti

L-R: Director Laura Way, DP Evan Barry (on phone) and colorist Marco Valerio Caminiti

The series, which is soon to be released in the US after premiering in the UK and Ireland, was directed by Laura Way, shot by director of photography Evan Barry and color graded by Marco Valerio Caminiti.

How early did you get involved in the series?
Marco Valerio Caminiti: I got involved soon before the shooting started through several online meetings. The DI team at Frame by Frame and I set up the dailies workflow together with director of photography Evan Barry and DIT Gianluca Sansevrino.

Did you create on-set LUTs? How did that translate to the final color?
Caminiti: At first, I developed a custom technical conversion LUT (ARRI Log-C to Rec. 709) for the first days of shooting. Later, when I started receiving the actual rushes, I made a custom LUT that helped bring us toward the desired look of the show. This LUT was derived from an LMT [Look Modification Transform], which I then used as a grading starting point in ACES.

Marco Valerio Caminiti

Evan Barry: Working with Marco and Gianluca to create these LUTs gave me great peace of mind that the intended look of the show would be implemented right from the outset. 

What did the director and DP say they wanted it to look and feel like? Did they provide a look-book?
Caminiti: Director Laura Way, Evan and I wanted to achieve a “crime/drama” look that would drive the audience through the mood of the show. At the same time, we did not want the grade to feel too stylized. Our goal was to have a nice level of contrast and color separation to avoid a bland, monochromatic result.

Generally, all the scenes in exteriors tend to go toward cold tones, but we kept a nice golden and soft tint for specific interior situations. I had received a lookbook to develop the LUT before shooting started, but Evan then brought some more references on the first day of our in-person grading sessions.

Marco Valerio Caminiti

Barry: It was important that the show’s look have a very grounded and naturalistic feel while still retaining a cinematic quality to complement our story. Through conversations with Marco and some shared references, both in preproduction and throughout the shoot, Marco did an incredible job responding to the rushes that were being sent through. And although our time in the grade was limited, I had great confidence in Marco. We’d had enough conversations that he knew instinctively what direction to go with each scene.

What was it shot on, and why was this camera package chosen?
Barry: We decided to shoot on the ARRI Alexa Mini LF paired with a set of Zeiss supreme lenses. We felt that this combination would give us the cinematic naturalistic look we wanted.

What were some of the biggest challenges of the shoot?
Caminiti: The biggest challenge was probably logistic in nature, considering that the editorial department (Element) were set up in Dublin, the ADR was done at Molinare in London, the VFX team from Alps Studios were in Turin, the DI and sound department from Frame by Frame were in Rome, and both Laura Way and Evan were based in Ireland.

Marco Valerio Caminiti

Even with everyone spread out, it all went quite smoothly. The collaboration between all these countries generated a unique combination of Italian influences (coming from the art, costumes and production design) mixed with British environments and landscapes.

Barry: I think these kinds of international co-productions are fantastic, as they broaden the scope of talent we can work with and bring different cultural influences together, which I think helps to raise the quality of the end result.

Was Evan Barry in the suite with you? The director? How did that help?
Caminiti: I had the pleasure to sit in the grading suite for a week with Evan to find the right direction for the show. A few days later, Laura also came to Rome to attend the grading sessions and review all four episodes. Even though we all got used to working remotely after the pandemic, I much prefer to have clients attend the grade, both for social and practical reasons.

Unfortunately, it was too complicated to have a session with Evan and Laura at the same time, but we managed to keep a good level of communication using review links to share the progress.

What system and color workflow did you use? Did you do any cleanups as well, or just color?
Caminiti: I graded the series using ACES in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, and I also had to deal with a couple of very minor cleanups. Since the TV series is a Paramount+ UK original production, we started to grade it in HDR (Rec.2020 PQ – P3 D65 limited), and later obtained the Rec.709 version using Dolby Vision analysis and trim passes.

What was your favorite part of the collaboration and look?
Caminiti: I feel lucky to have worked on this project. I studied in the UK at the NFTS (MA Digital Effects: Color) and worked at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea, so my favorite part of this collaboration is that I managed to bring my experience back to Rome with me, working on an international production from my own city and using skills from my two different backgrounds to achieve the look.

I know I can’t mention everyone, but I would like to thank post production manager Alessandro Pozzi, post producer Matteo Lepore, conformer Giorgia Petrazzini, finishing artist Paolo Viel, sound designer Sandro Rossi and producer Francesco Paglioli, who followed the whole Italy/UK/Ireland process.

Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 25 years. 

Lessons in Chemistry

Lessons in Chemistry DP Jason Oldak Talks Light, Lenses and More

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By Randi Altman

Jason Oldak is a cinematographer with almost two decades of experience across large- and small-scale feature films, episodic television, documentaries and numerous commercial projects. He recently shot episodes of Apple TV+’s Lessons in Chemistry, starring Brie Larson and Lewis Pullman.

Lessons in Chemistry

Jason Oldak

Oldak was nominated for the ASC award for Limited or Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for his work on Episode 7, titled Book of Calvin. We reached out to Oldak to talk about that particular episode and his other work on the show.

How early did you start on Lessons in Chemistry?
I was hired onto the team in early spring, but prep didn’t commence until midsummer. It’s always beneficial to join the team early and talk about the origins of the project. It was also quite helpful to discuss the process with my co-DP, Zack Galler, and our production designer, Cat Smith.

Cat had a plethora of images and colors she pulled to discuss her intentions and how the world would be built on the stages. That helped us to think about lighting and the design of the LUT. Zack and I shared our lookbooks from our respective interviews and found shared images. Moving forward, I knew we were on the same page with our visual intentions for the show.

Generally, when starting a show, there is a meeting with the studio to present a lookbook across all departments. As I mentioned, both Zack and I shared similar images in our own interview lookbooks that happened to end up in the presentation to the studio. Although many of our images had a period feel, nothing was forced or overly dialed-in. Our objective was always to find the right cinema glass to tell the story appropriately. Our lighting and our LUT would balance the palettes that our production design and costume design teams created.

What was it shot on? Why was it the right camera for the series?
We photographed the series on the ARRI Mini LF camera system along with TLS Canon K35 lenses. I love the ARRI camera. Its color science seems to react slightly better to skin tones and has a softness to the image compared to some of the other systems out there.

The camera is also small enough so that it never was an issue when mounting to cranes, remote heads or Steadicam. However, I really feel that the lens choice is your paintbrush when it comes to designing your visual language for your show. The TLS Canon K35 lenses, supported by our friends at Keslow Camera, are rehoused vintage glass that really accentuated the period we were after. We added a mix of atmosphere, and it was exactly the right recipe for the series.

 

Did you follow the look created in the pilot?
This show doesn’t necessarily have a pilot in the traditional sense. It was an eight-episode, straight-to-picture series for Apple TV+ based on the best-selling novel of the same name. Lessons in Chemistry tells the story of Elizabeth Zott’s journey. Each episode of the limited series tends to create a different emotional and physical stage in Elizabeth’s life, and that gave Zack Galler and me a jumping-off point for tone and the visual language for our particular episodes. Zack Galler photographed episodes 1, 2, 5 and 6, and I photographed episodes 3, 4, 7 and 8.

How did you make your episodes your own?
It all starts with the story you are telling. As a cinematographer, you have to be truthful to the pages you’re given. In Episode 103, we dealt with an immense amount of grief and sadness. It’s quite the departure from the first two episodes, where their love story began. Losing someone close to you creates a sensation that the world has stopped moving. It felt necessary to visually depart from the light and embrace the darkness and the stillness. There were a lot of scenes in the episode that needed the stillness to process the pain.

In Episode 104, we deal with birth and new beginnings. The episode narrates an initial discomfort, which eventually arcs to determination. Our lighting and camera work was distinctive of these emotions. We opted for some hand-held work and extreme shallowness with our focus during the scene when Elizabeth is giving birth to Mad. We used a device called the Deakinizer on the front element of the camera to create a dreamlike state, when Calvin enters her vision and guides her through the birthing process. We started that episode with a level of stillness, but by the end there was determination, and we created more camera movement to justify the change.

Episode 7, the penultimate episode, takes us back to the origin of Calvin and his side of our love story. This episode had a plethora of visual opportunities. Tara Miele, the director of episodes 7 and 8, and I created a unique look for young Calvin’s world in the 1930s. It felt appropriate to strip down the color since this is where Calvin’s life started.

Once we bridge the gap to adult Calvin and his scientific achievements, we contrast the world with warmth and color. Another opportunity that challenged our visual vocabulary was the correspondence between our man of science and our man of God. Tara and I created a cohesion of imagery that flowed back and forth, sometimes metaphorically, to the spoken word being said. We romanticized the influence each of them had on their worlds through camera movement and composition.

In Episode 8, we come full circle, finding focus and a clear path ahead. A big arc to the final episode is Elizabeth’s decision about her future at Supper at Six. We devised fluid camera moves, and our lighting felt clear and controlled. The number of shots we devised and how we introduced the show was important, as this would be the last time we step foot in the Supper at Six studio.

As we reveal Elizabeth’s new profession, we contrast this with a more simplistic approach to the set design, lighting and shot design. In one of the final scenes of the series, we are in the Zott residence, and Elizabeth is hosting a dinner party with all of the characters under one roof. She greets them as she passes through the house from room to room. We designed the camera to dance through this interaction with only one or two cuts. My intention was to have the audience feel as if they were as much a part of this POV and this journey with these folks as Elizabeth was. It felt like a perfect way to say goodbye to our show.

For Episode 7, there are different time frames and looks … young Calvin, Calvin as a chemist, Calvin in 1951. How did you differentiate those with the camera, lenses and lighting?
There is a distinction between where Calvin starts in his life and where he ends up. As a young man, he was stripped of a family and a home. But he had a drive and perseverance. As we start our story in the 1930s, we decided to strip the color away and create a cooler palette with blooming highlights.

As we transition to adult Calvin, who has become established through his scientific achievements, our world has more color and warmth to it. It felt important to give these two worlds their own characteristics. The way we moved through both time periods felt true to the style of our show. The lenses were the same throughout the series. The true distinction between the 1930s and ‘50s is the color palette of the two periods, a collaborative effort by camera, costume and set design.

You were nominated for your work on Episode 7. Can you talk us through that one?
First off, I want to say what a complete honor it has been to be recognized by my peers for the collaborative work my team and I were able to create. I strive for creativity and to have a passionate sensibility toward the work at hand. To be recognized with an award is the icing on the cake.

When thinking about what episode I should submit for the awards, Episode 7 spoke to me. I love how we go backward to tell the story from a perspective other than our main character’s. I love the unlikely friendship that Wakely and Calvin form via the written word and how their lives influence each other’s.

When I first interviewed for the job, I remember reading a scene involving Calvin at dawn, crewing on the open water. I had this immediate vision of what that would look like through the lens in my head. I really wanted to photograph it right then and there. In Episode 7, I was able to do that!

That first shot with young Calvin — was that one camera move until the classroom?
In general, our approach to camera movement in Lessons in Chemistry was striving to take, for example, three shots that you need in a scene and make them work as one. We tried to design blocking so that the camera moves from one piece to the next, acting more like a oner and telling the story in a non-cutty way. Our A camera operator, Mikael Levin, and B camera operators, Jan Ruona and Ilan Levin, were masters at this.

When Tara Miele and I discussed the opening sequence, we wanted to show off how Calvin had always been so curious about the world, and that took his attention away from his schooling. The opening shot was not one shot, but it was intended to feel like one. Because of the geography in front of the boy’s home location, we had to use a crane to tell our story. As Calvin is called out by the first nun, we telescope back, leading him to run around the corner and up the stairs. As he rounded the corner, we shifted our crane on a dolly track down the line with him, and as he ran up the stairs, the crane started to telescope forward, feeling as if we were running to class too! It was a game of measurements to see if we could achieve it, but thanks to key grip Adam Kolegas and his team, it was a success.

Once inside, we actually did the whole shot as one move on Steadicam. Alas, in the edit they needed to break it up with another shot midway through, but it still works. The intention was to tie the boy’s name, Calvin Evans, to his face at the very end of the sequence. We start on his feet as he enters the hallway and pull back, leading him.

We do a dance with the camera and wrap around the back of Calvin as he rounds the corner; we are now in follow mode as he approaches the class door. As he opens the door, we creep in behind trying to get to our seat before the nun turns around. As she says his name, we wrap around and reveal Calvin in the light, sitting in his chair. I loved the orchestration and the timing of that shot. It told the story in the most effective way possible. This was truly a collaborative effort with our operator, our director and me.

What about the crewing scene you touched on earlier?
Being on the open water and filming the actors crewing was one of the highlights of the show for me. It was such a tranquil and beautiful experience. We had a large pontoon boat that carried the crew and a 35-foot MovieBird crane with a camera on the end of it. We treated the row work like you would with a car-to-car sequence.

However, every cinematographer will tell you that their biggest fear is watching that sunset and knowing that they did not complete the work for the day. Our day on the water, shooting all of our row work for Episode 7 and Episode 8, was an extremely tight schedule. The plan was to shoot the row work on a lake in San Dimas, California, in the early part of December — a time of the year when the sun sets at 4:30pm, if you’re lucky.

We arrived way before the sun came up and had everything prerigged to get out on the water as soon as the sun was rising. Tara, our AD and I worked out a very specific timetable, so it left little room for error. In addition to our own water work, we also were tasked with shooting a portion of Episode 5’s row work that day and two scenes along the edge of the water, one being a lengthy dialogue scene in Episode 8. We had our work cut out for us. In the end, the light always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, and our team was on their A-game and knew exactly what needed to be done. The success is in the results!

What about the lighting at the lab and at Calvin’s house? It seems like the windows are the main light sources.
The term naturalistic lighting comes up a lot in contemporary cinematography, yet it doesn’t always seem successful in its final execution. I truly feel like this was one of the first shows where I got there.

We really strived to make it feel like the light was coming from our window sources or from a fixture that you can see on-camera in the interior sets. We augmented these frames with our own lighting, but just enough exposure to feel as if that practical was creating the luminance on the subject’s face. At times, it was about finding a source that was more of a ¾ back angle to the subject, and we would wrap that light subtly with atmospheric smoke and grip attire so that the lighting never felt heavy on the face. If we did bring units inside to help enhance the source of light, they were always used very subtly.

In the lab, we used a heavy number of lights outside of the set to sell daylight, and they also worked as the sun, pushing their way through the blinds to find the point we were lighting. However, we also rigged par cans above each window almost directly downward onto the blinds. The heat from those units would hit the blinds and carry into the room to really sell the hot California sunlight. It helped us light minimally in the room and be able to move throughout.

I can go on and on….

What was it about Episode 7 that you think resonated with your peers?
I am truly happy with all the work we did on Lessons in Chemistry. Each of my episodes was so unique, with various challenges and success stories. I really felt that my creative gears were constantly moving, and for me, that’s a dream job.

In regard to the selection of Episode 7, with most award shows, you select an episode to submit. I felt that Episode 7 showcased the most range in regards to my cinematography on the show. The episode allowed us to create a look unique to the 1930s, there was a range of new locations, we showcased a lot of physical activity in Calvin’s running and rowing, and we saw the perspective of the accident in a different light. Episode 7 felt the most diverse with my range of work.

What about the other episodes you shot? What was most fun or challenging about those?
In Episode 4, as Elizabeth gets more clarity, she decides to convert her kitchen to an industrial lab. The directors, Bert and Bertie [Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Katie Ellwood], and I created an elaborate number of shots, all designed to feel like one fluid movement of the camera to create the feeling of time passing.

The camera moves in and around the kitchen, with stitched edits in a few places, as the viewer watches the transformation unfold. Different characters come and go, building the passage of time. In the end, we land on Elizabeth and a vision of Calvin reminiscing about their past and their love for one another. The way they are both lit in this moment is one of my favorite scenes in the show.

They are gazing into each other’s eyes. As the viewer, you know this is in her head, but in this moment, I wanted it to feel real. We enhanced this feeling through dreamlike lighting on their faces. We do a slow dolly push into each of their faces as they talk about their pasts.

I truly love how we orchestrated that sequence. The scene had to be shot over several days because the art department had to change over the kitchen while we moved from sequence to sequence, so you can feel the kitchen changing and time passing. It was quite the undertaking but such a success in the end.

What about working with the show’s colorist? Were there on-set LUTs?
Ian Vertovec at Light Iron was our colorist for the series. He oversaw the dailies and was involved in each of our episodes for final color. This was my first time working with Ian, and he was wonderful, a true artist and talent. I consider us lucky to have had him on the show.

Zack Galler had a working relationship with Ian prior to Lessons in Chemistry, and since Zack went first out the gate, he sent some images to Ian in regards to building a show LUT. Ian looked at the images and immediately thought of the old AGFA film stock from the 1950s. It had a warmish quality, but with room for cool tones to pop through. He gave us a show LUT to work off of with those qualities in mind. It was a subtle LUT that complemented that soft 1950s color palette beautifully. Our DIT, Scott Resnick, was able to monitor the LUT based on our lighting and sets and make it work for the changing locations.

I was able to work with Ian in the final color for all of my episodes and had a great rapport with him. That stage of the process is always one of my favorites.

What haven’t I asked that’s important?
I truly had the best of both worlds on this show. I worked with three talented and artistically driven directors, who worked alongside me and prepped the heck out of these shows, pushing me to make great work for the screen.

As closely as I worked with our directors in prep, I was in full communication with my camera, grip and lighting teams to make images that we were all so proud of. Half the battle is hiring a talented team behind you that you can communicate your vision with, and it’s executed with ease. This team was a sensational bunch that understood the story and knew how to tell it in a compelling way.

Finally, I was in awe of our cast’s performances throughout the series. They brought their all on-set each and every day. They were so powerful and brought such talent to the frame. I am truly honored to be a part of the Lessons in Chemistry team.

Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 25 years. 

Sugarcane

Sundance: Sugarcane DP Christopher LaMarca

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The Sundance documentary Sugarcane follows the investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school, which ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve. It was directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie and focuses on the intergenerational legacy of trauma from the residential school system — including forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of Native culture and language.

Sugarcane

Christopher LaMarca

The film’s director of photography was Christopher LaMarca, who took the time to walk us through his process on the film.

How early did you get involved on this film?
I was involved with Sugarcane from day one of production. The film was shot over the course of two years.

How did you work with directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie?
Emily was also a cinematographer on the film, and we shot side by side throughout production. Direction on a verité film is very tough because things are happening in real time. It’s important that the directors’ and the DP’s instincts are aligned visually, tonally and energetically. You need to be able to communicate in high-pressure situations without words. Without this depth of connection, this immersive style of filmmaking falls apart quickly.

Are there some bits that stick out as more challenging than others?
The most difficult thing about shooting verité is maintaining the visual voice of the film while simultaneously running sound and having the stamina to stay present when the world around you is in constant flux. The locations, lighting and characters’ movements are always unpredictable.

Christopher LaMarca

Director/cinematographer Emily Kassie and I worked closely with our colorist Marcy Robinson to dial in the look we had established in-camera during production.

What was it like working with Marcy?
Marcy is amazing. We had established a look during production that she was able to accentuate and strengthen throughout the grade. A lot of our time together was spent finding the depths of our blacks and pushing the digital image toward the feel of film.

Can you talk lighting?
When shooting a verité film, one must embrace the available light of each scene, whether it’s the sun or an overhead fluorescent light. We were often shooting way before sunrise and after sunset, capturing every ounce of blue- and golden-hour light each day. We used artificial light very sparingly and only to accentuate the available light when needed.

Sugarcane

Sugarcane

What did you shoot on and why?
Our A camera was a Canon C500 Mark II. (B camera was a Canon C300 Mark II). We selected the C500 Mark II for its full-frame sensor, low-light performance, modularity and ability to run four channels of audio. We chose not to have a dedicated sound person, so we ran audio in-camera throughout production, which wouldn’t have been possible without this camera. The majority of the film was shot on 35mm f1.4 and 50mm f1.2 Canon L-series prime lenses.

Looking back on the film, would you have done anything different?
Films like this are a rite of passage. We never sacrificed our vision or broke down as a team, even in the most unrelenting moments. I wouldn’t change anything.

Finally, any tips for young cinematographers?
Find your voice by pushing through your perceived comfort boundaries. It is only through your own self exploration and discipline that you will find the skills to embrace the resistance that’s coming your way.

Red’s New Large-Format Global Shutter Raptor Cinema Cameras

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Red Digital Cinema has released the new V-Raptor X 8K VV and V-Raptor XL X 8K VV cameras. Featuring the low-light performance, dynamic range, resolutions, high frame rates and form factor of its V-Raptor predecessor, the V-Raptor X introduces Red Global Vision, which includes a new 8K VV global shutter sensor that enables innovative functions, such as Extended Highlights and Phantom Track. Additionally, the V-Raptor X and V-Raptor XL X systems offer increased exposure times, a further optimized optical cavity and improved audio performance.

Both cameras are available now. The standard V-Raptor X costs $29,995. The XL version is $44,995.

Red Global Vision uses the global shutter sensor in V-Raptor X and V-Raptor XL X to bring about new capabilities. Global Vision’s Extended Highlights mode allows the camera to see color and detail into extreme highlights better than before, providing even softer and more subtle highlight roll-off when in uncontrollable environments and an overall dynamic range of over 20 stops. Phantom Track dual-capture streamlines any virtual production environment employing GhostFrame or frame-remapping, capturing distinct R3D clips per LED wall view and making it possible to monitor either view live on-set over each SDI.

The V-Raptor X compact body is built with the keystone features found in the original V-Raptor platform, now bolstered by newly engineered in-camera audio preamps and an optimized sensor cavity for improved contrast. The V-Raptor X has two 12G-SDIs capable of unique monitoring views; a locking Canon RF-style lens mount for rigid and flexible lens selection; and CFexpress Type B media for up to 800MB/s formats, such as 8K at 120fps.

The V-Raptor XL X is designed to support high-end television and motion picture productions as well as storytellers requiring an elite all-in-one solution. It features dual-voltage battery support compatible with a wide range of common batteries found on-set today, including both 14V batteries and high-voltage 26V V-Lock or Gold Mount options. A premier feature remains the built-in electronic ND, which allows cinematographers to precisely select their density in 1/4, 1/3 and full-stop increments, providing control of exposure and depth of field.

The X sensor capabilities reach the frame-rate performance levels of the V-Raptor line, even with its global shutter readout. It captures 8K full sensor at up to 120 frames per second (150fps at 2.4×1), 6K up to 160fps (200fps at 2.4×1), and 2K (2.4×1) at an incredible 600 frames per second. As with the other cameras in Red’s ecosystem, the V-Raptor XL X harnesses Red’s proprietary Redcode RAW codec, allowing users to capture 16-bit RAW and leveraging Red’s latest IPP2 workflow and color management tools.

“Ever since our sensor team cracked the code for a no-compromise global shutter sensor design in the original Komodo, customers have been pushing us hard to bring our global shutter technology to our large-format sensors, and today we are happy to deliver beyond our wildest expectations” says Red Digital Cinema president Jarred Land.

Red offers upgrade programs for current V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL owners to advance into the X systems featuring Red Global Vision. Current V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL owners can upgrade directly via Red. The upgrade program costs $12,500 for both V-Raptor 8K VV and V-Raptor XL 8K VV owners.

 

Cinematography: ASC’s 38th Annual Award Nominees

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The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has announced its 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award nominees in the feature film, documentary, television and music video categories. Winners will be announced during the 38th Annual ASC Awards ceremony on March 3. The event will be live-streamed worldwide.

Below is a complete list of this year’s nominees by category:

THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM NOMINEES 

Edward Lachman, ASC for El Conde (Netflix)

Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS for Maestro (Netflix)

Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC for Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+)

Robbie Ryan, ISC for Poor Things (Searchlight)

Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC for Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures)

SPOTLIGHT AWARD 

Eric Branco for Story Ave. (Kino Lorber)

Krum Rodriguez for Citizen Saint

Warwick Thornton for The New Boy

EPISODE OF A ONE-HOUR REGULAR SERIES 

Ricardo Diaz for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, “The Second Coming” (Max)

Rob C. Givens for Gotham Knights, “Daddy Issues” (CW)

M. David Mullen, ASC for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Four Minutes” (Prime Video)

Cathal Watters, ASC, ISC for Foundation, “In Seldon’s Shadow” (Apple TV+)

Glen Keenan for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Hegemony” (Paramount+)

LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV 

Dan Atherton for Great Expectations, “The Three Keys” (FX)

Sam Chiplin for The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, “Part 1: Black Fire Orchid” (Prime Video)

Ben Kutchins, ASC for Boston Strangler (Hulu)

Igor Martinovic for George and Tammy, “Stand by Your Man” (Showtime)

Jason Oldak for Lessons in Chemistry, “Book of Calvin” (Apple TV+)

Tobias Schliessler, ASC for All the Light We Cannot See, “Episode 2” (Netflix)

EPISODE OF A HALF-HOUR SERIES 

Julian Court, BSC for The Diplomat, “The James Bond Clause” (Netflix)

Carl Herse for Barry, “Tricky Legacies” (Max)

Jon Joffin, ASC for Schmigadoon, “Something Real” (Apple TV+)

Blake McClure, ASC for Minx, “I Thought the Bed was Gonna Fly” (Starz)

Andrew Wehde for The Bear, “The Bear” (Hulu)

DOCUMENTARY AWARD (Category sponsored by RED Digital Cinema)

Jeff Hutchens for Murder in Big Horn, “Episode 1” (Showtime)

Curren Sheldon for King Coal

D. Smith for Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)

MUSIC VIDEO AWARD 

Scott Cunningham, ASC for Gorilla (Performed by Little Simz)

Jon Joffin, ASC for At Home (Performed by Jon Bryant)

Andrey Nikoleav for Tanto (Performed Cassie Marin)

 

Loki

DP Isaac Bauman on Going Old-School for Loki Season 2

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By Randi Altman

The Disney+ series Loki, based on the Marvel character, is back with six new episodes. In this season, Loki and the Time Variance Authority are searching for Sylvie, Ravonna Renslayer and Miss Minutes. It once again stars Tom Hiddleston as the god of mischief.

DP Isaac Bauman joined the Loki team in Season 2, following up on the work of Season 1 director Kate Herron and DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC. The cinematographer, who has television, film and commercials to his credit, shot five of the six episodes.

Loki

Isaac Bauman

We reached out to him to find out more…

What was it like coming onto a successful series in its second season? Did you follow the look of the first or develop your own? A bit of both?
We reinvented the look of Loki for its second season. Fortunately, we had Season 1 production designer Kasra Farahani and costume designer Christine Wada returning to continue their incredible work, which established a much-needed degree of aesthetic continuity for us to shake things up around.

Season 1 director Kate Herron and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw knocked it out of the park, so we knew we had a lot to live up to. The thing is, we realized what made their work on the first season so special was how much of their own voices they brought to it.

For long-time admirers of Autumn’s work (such as myself), it was immediately visible in the cinematography that this was her voice — no one else’s. And that’s what made the cinematography feel so fresh and exciting. Autumn did her thing, and we were all the better for it. But to continue with the rightfully acclaimed approach from the first season would have done a disservice to the show.

I’m not Autumn, and in fact, I’d say our individual bodies of work display remarkably little stylistic overlap. We are very, very different artists with entirely different interests and preferences.

Same deal with Justin Benson’s and Aaron Moorhead’s philosophy as directors. They’ve developed their own voice, their own approach to the craft. It’s theirs, and it has very little overlap with any other filmmakers I’m aware of.

To step into Loki and imitate the work of our predecessors felt like it would be a mistake. When we decided that certain things had to change, we realized that everything had to change. We had to develop an entirely new approach from the ground up.

At every step of the process, we had the support and feedback of our open-minded, brilliant executive producer Kevin Wright, as well as the whole gang at Marvel HQ. We felt 100% supported, and we are so deeply grateful for that.

How would you describe the look of this season, and how did the showrunners tell you what they wanted?
Tasteful, mature, elegant, organic and immersive. I developed the look alongside lead directors and executive producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. They’ve made half a dozen indie films and have developed a very refined style together. They came in knowing a lot of what they wanted to do this season —specifically in regard to camera movement and framing — and I brought a lot of the lighting ideas into play. It was a true collaboration.

We switched from “studio mode” filmmaking (dolly, crane, remote head, Steadicam, etc.) to doc-style hand-held photography. I’ve traditionally been a studio-mode guy myself, but Justin and Aaron love hand-held and wanted the sense of immediacy, naturalism and immersiveness that you can only ever get from hand-held. They were 100% right, and I love what the raw, energetic, hand-held approach brings to the often polished world of the MCU. We also did a lot of zooms for a ’60s/’70s thriller aesthetic and to break up the hand-held work.

Loki

We changed the aspect ratio from 2.39 to 2.20. In my mind, 2.39 is not wide — it’s actually narrow — and those thick black bars on the top and bottom of the screen feel like wasted canvas. 2.20 maintains that feeling of “wide” cinematic scope while allowing for 10% more vertical compositional space.

Another thing we changed was eliminating the use of colorful lighting. You’ll notice in the first season that there are many sequences — usually at least one in each episode — that are light, with saturated and colorful sources. In our season, there are none. The idea was to homogenize the palette — really limit the scope of the range of looks as well as tools used — to create more of a feeling of aesthetic cohesion and discipline.

Did you shoot using the same kit as Season 1?
We switched from Sony Venice to the ARRI Alexa Mini LF. I like the Venice a lot, but the Alexa is still the champ, in my opinion. There is something about how it renders movement and motion blur.

We switched from anamorphic to spherical lenses. This is a personal preference. I find that anamorphics look stunningly gorgeous but less immersive and immediate than the more matter-of-fact spherical optics.

We switched from top-of-the-line Panavision lenses to what are essentially prosumer-oriented budget lenses: the Tokina Cinema Vistas. We tested just about every set of large-format spherical lenses Panavision and ARRI Rental London possessed, and the Tokinas best fit the look we were after, even after a lot of incredulous double-checking. The proof is in the pudding.

We switched from the longer focal lengths that are inherent to anamorphic cinematography to using (very) wide lenses almost exclusively. These cameras got right up in our actors’ faces all day, every day. Cheers to the cast for using matte box/tape eyelines and never complaining about it.

Did you have a DIT? If so, how did that help?
Jay Patel was our DIT, and he was an enormous help. Because of the complicated VFX pipeline, it was necessary to limit ourselves to a single LUT. That would’ve been tricky without Jay. Using CDLs, we made little tweaks to scenes and individual shots all the time. It’s important to go into editorial with the most final-looking image possible, and Jay and I worked as best we could to deliver that.

Loki

Matt Watson

Did you work with the colorist on the look? What is an example of a note you gave to the colorist?
We worked with Matt Watson, who works full-time as a colorist at Marvel Finishing. He played a huge role in developing the look of the season. First, working together, he and I developed a film emulation LUT. In the first season, they embraced a fresh, cutting-edge aesthetic, whereas we were more interested in a vintage, throwback look — as if Loki was shot on the same film stock as 2001: A Space Odyssey.

We also added pretty heavy in-camera and digital/post-filtration (in addition to the heavy level of haze present on the sets) to make the image feel as soft and smoked-out as we could. Matt contributed to these efforts as well, developing a proprietary diffusion filter for us in Resolve, and it really made the images sing. And we added a hell of a lot of 16mm grain, which Matt massaged into the image, often on a shot-by-shot basis.

You touched on this a bit earlier, but you chose to go hand-held when Loki goes through timeslips. Why was that the way to go? What view does that give the audience?
The idea behind the hand-held, in general, was to put the audience into the scene. We wanted the photography to be as immersive as possible, and hand-held felt like the best way to achieve that.

What about the lighting? You went old school with tungsten rather than the newer LEDs. Why was that?
In the first season, nearly everything was LED. For example, the iconic Chronomonitor Wing set (the main area where they watch the timeline monitor) was lit with SkyPanels. In Season 2, we switched to ARRI Arrilite 2000s. Again, this was to achieve a more convincing vintage aesthetic.

There are a lot of reasons — and I could talk about how much I love tungsten all day — but the main reason was the production design. If Kasra’s sets so lovingly evoke a late ‘60s/early ‘70s aesthetic, then why shouldn’t the lighting?

All these older films we love the look of (like 2001) used tungsten, so we did too. You can see the difference in how much warmer the TVA feels this season; it’s very rich and golden.

Can you walk us through the challenging World’s Fair scene?
The World’s Fair was a massive build that took many weeks and a huge construction crew. Due to the size of the set, the scope of the lighting became quite large as well. On shooting days, we had over 100 set lighting technicians with us.

The idea was to key the scene with light motivated by the Ferris wheel. Where the Ferris wheel would be added later on in post, we had an array of Wendy Lights — an old school, very powerful, multi-headed tungsten unit. You can think of a Wendy as the big, industrial-sized brother of a Maxi Brute. We had a large array of those — large enough to accurately emulate a source as large as a 130-foot-tall Ferris wheel. It was suspended from a large construction crane, with the bottom side roughly 60 feet in the air. That provided the key and a feel of directionality that carried down the entire depth of the approximately 180-foot-long set.

For fill light, we had three 40-foot by 40-foot overhead softboxes equipped with Vortex8 LED units suspended from construction cranes out over and along the center of the set. There were 20- to 30-foot gaps between the softboxes, but on camera they feel very much like a continuous source.

Around the outside of the set, we had 12 by 20 “letterbox” softboxes on Manitou telehandlers pointed down into the set at about 45 degrees. We used these for edges or to dig fill in at a lower angle where necessary.

There were also more than a thousand practical bare tungsten bulbs built into the set, which provided some fill. And there was the need for an insane amount of distro.

Loki features a number of visual effects. How did that affect your shooting, if at all?
Generally, VFX sequences are fairly easy from a DP perspective. You frame the shot you want, you light it the way you want, you add interactive lighting effects as instructed by the VFX supervisor, and you never let the characters drift off the bluescreen. That’s about it.

The most involved part is planning the lighting. If you’re shooting a bluescreen sequence and only have a very rough understanding of what the VFX world will look like eventually, it is essentially on the DP to determine what the lighting should be. Often in VFX sequences, the DP will be indecisive or want to allow VFX the most flexibility to determine lighting, so that’s why you get a lot of these CGI set pieces looking so flat, gray and wishy-washy.

The trick is to really plant your flag and make strong, decisive choices about the direction, intensity and color of the light in your VFX sequence. Fortunately, I had the full support and, more than that, the encouragement of VFX supervisor Chris Townsend in that approach.

What was the most challenging part of the series for you?
The biggest challenge on a production this size is maintaining consistency in the look. Shooting dozens of sets on a half dozen stages, working with a large ensemble cast and a crew of hundreds over the course of 18 weeks. Trying to unify the look of the show so footage shot on day 1 cuts seamlessly with something shot on day 90 and has a strong, unique sense of style… that’s the challenge.

Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 25 years. 

Loki 2.0: Automatically Enhances and Corrects Archived Content

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Filmworkz, owners and developers of DVO software, have released Loki 2.0, a new, automated moving-image enhancement and correction platform.

Loki 2.0 will help content owners monetize their vast libraries with Emmy award-winning DVO tools that can make their content look its best while reducing upfront costs.

With high-quality upscaling algorithms and motion-estimated standards-conversion tools, any archived content can now be easily enhanced to make it available for generations to come. With easy-to-select presets, a preview window, automated batch processing and industry-standard deliverable exports, Loki optimizes archive content for fast distribution in a viable package.

Archive professionals are dealing with an ever-increasing amount of content that must be easily prepared and processed in an automated, cost-efficient, scalable solution that meets current and future industry standards.

They want to be able to monetize their assets without the frustration of high cost and manual labor and with the ability to monitor operations securely from anywhere in the world. Whole libraries can be reinvigorated using tools that will help make content look clean and sharp.

Loki can process large amounts of data automatically. Users can add as many nodes as necessary for urgent projects, or they can use fewer nodes and let the processing run over a longer time frame, reducing costs and helping to prioritize based on deadlines.

Depending on the type of media being added, pros can use easy-to-select presets with options for several types of tape-based media, like D1, HDCAM, Digibeta and others. They can create and link watch folders to specific presets, making it easy to render files based on the type of media.

The power of DVO is ready to deploy in Loki, including DVO Dry Clean, Clarity, Velvet, Deinterlace and many other automated enhancement solutions previously unavailable outside of Phoenix and Nucoda.

Filmworkz product manager Gustavo Mendes says, “Loki can change the way broadcasters and archive holders monetize their content, helping to minimize risks and widening their selection of titles by reducing laborious processing costs. Being overwhelmed by your library selection without a way to enhance it won’t be a problem anymore.

“We can’t wait to see new shows brought to life using our tools being streamed to new audiences all over the world. Current enhancement solutions can be very labor-intensive, with the need to use many operators to work on a single show for several weeks doing extensive checks on the media available. With Loki, you can easily select your files and use presets based on the origin of the media (tape-based, film, etc.), use our preview window to compare before-and-after results and select the server available to render.”