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PERFORMANCE WITH POWER<br />

Introducing the <strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss Master Zoom 16.5 – 110.<br />

A high performance T2.6 lens that maintains<br />

outstanding optical image quality, covering the entire<br />

ANSI Super 35 frame throughout the zoom range.<br />

This powerful zoom produces a high-contrast, high-resolution<br />

image which is comparable to that of a prime lens, while<br />

displaying virtually no breathing or ramping. Its unique optical<br />

design reduces spherical aberration and keeps the image<br />

geometry free of distortions - so straight lines stay straight,<br />

even up close.<br />

Now you can choose from more <strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss lenses than ever<br />

before. The Master Zoom further expands the <strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss lens<br />

family, providing you with a robust, comprehensive choice of<br />

matched lenses of the highest optical and mechanical quality.<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss Master Zoom 16.5 - 110mm<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss Master Primes - 14 lenses ranging from 14mm to 150mm<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss Lightweight Zoom 15.5 - 45mm<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss Ultra Primes - 16 lenses ranging from 8mm to 180mm<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss Master Diopters - 3 diopters (0.5, 1 & 2)<br />

Your creative possibilities are endless.<br />

Available<br />

worldwide from<br />

arri.com<br />

10/07 ISSUE 5<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

The Biannual International Magazine from the <strong>ARRI</strong> RENTAL & POST PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES<br />

Tin Man<br />

The <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 returns<br />

to Oz for TV miniseries<br />

The Kite Runner<br />

Interview with DoP<br />

Roberto Schaefer ASC<br />

Behind the Scenes of<br />

the Mazda2 Spot<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Commercial<br />

create dynamic advertisement<br />

for the Mazda2<br />

Eastern Promises<br />

London sets the scene for<br />

David Cronenberg’s Russian<br />

mafia movie<br />

Mongol<br />

The challenge of bringing the story<br />

of Genghis Khan to the big screen<br />

THE BOURNE<br />

ULTIMATUM<br />

DoP Oliver Wood discusses<br />

his experiences shooting the<br />

third Bourne instalment


<strong>ARRI</strong> SERVICES GROUP NETWORK<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> SUBSIDIARIES<br />

AUSTRALIA<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Australia, Sydney<br />

Cameras, Digital<br />

Christian Hilgart,<br />

Stefan Sedlmeier<br />

T +61 2 9855 4300<br />

chilgart@arri.com.au<br />

ssedlmeier@arri.com.au<br />

AUSTRIA<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Vienna<br />

Cameras, Digital<br />

Gerhard Giesser<br />

T +43 664 120 7257<br />

rental@arri.at<br />

CZECH REPUBLIC<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Prague<br />

Cameras, Digital, Lighting, Grip<br />

Robert Keil<br />

T +42 025 101 3575<br />

rkeil@arri.de<br />

GERMANY<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Berlin<br />

Cameras, Digital, Lighting, Grip<br />

Ute Baron<br />

Christoph Hoffsten<br />

T +49 30 346 800 0<br />

ubaron@arri.de<br />

choffsten@arri.de<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Cologne<br />

Cameras, Digital<br />

Stefan Martini<br />

T +49 221 170 6724<br />

smartini@arri.de<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Munich<br />

Cameras, Digital, Lighting, Grip<br />

Thomas Loher<br />

T +49 89 3809 1440<br />

tloher@arri.de<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Services, Munich<br />

Film Lab, Digital Intermediate<br />

Visual Effects, Sound, Studio,<br />

Cinema<br />

International Sales<br />

Angela Reedwisch<br />

T +49 89 3809 1574<br />

areedwisch@arri.de<br />

National Sales<br />

Walter Brus<br />

T +49 89 3809 1772<br />

wbrus@arri.de<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Schwarzfilm Berlin GmbH<br />

Film Lab, Digital Intermediate<br />

Thomas Mulack<br />

T +49 30 408 17 8534<br />

T +49 30 408 17 850<br />

thomas@schwarzfilm.de<br />

Schwarz Film GmbH<br />

Ludwigsburg<br />

Film Lab, Digital Intermediate<br />

Christine Wagner,<br />

Philipp Tschäppät<br />

T +49 7141 125 590<br />

christine@schwarzfilm.de<br />

philipp@schwarzfilm.ch<br />

LUXEMBOURG<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Luxembourg<br />

Cameras, Digital<br />

Steffen Ditter<br />

T +352 2670 1270<br />

sditter@arri.de<br />

SWITZERLAND<br />

Schwarz Film AG,<br />

Ostermundigen, Zürich<br />

Film Lab, Digital Intermediate<br />

Philipp Tschäppät<br />

T +41 31 938 11 50<br />

philipp@schwarzfilm.ch<br />

UNITED KINGDOM<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental, London<br />

Lighting<br />

Tommy Moran<br />

T +44 1895 457 200<br />

tmoran@arrirental.com<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Focus, London<br />

Short term lighting hire for<br />

commercials & promos<br />

Martin Maund, George Martin<br />

T +44 1895 810 000<br />

martin@arrifocus.com<br />

george@arrifocus.com<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong>, London<br />

Cameras, Digital, Grip<br />

Philip Cooper<br />

T +44 1895 457 100<br />

pcooper@arrimedia.com<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Crew, London<br />

Diary Service<br />

Kate Collier<br />

T +44 1895 457 180<br />

arricrew@arrimedia.com<br />

USA<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> CSC, New York<br />

Cameras, Digital, Lighting, Grip<br />

Simon Broad,<br />

Hardwrick Johnson<br />

T +1 212 757 0906<br />

sbroad@arricsc.com<br />

hjohnson@arricsc.com<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> CSC, Florida<br />

Cameras, Digital, Lighting, Grip<br />

Ed Stamm<br />

T +1 954 322 4545<br />

estamm@arricsc.com<br />

Illumination Dynamics, LA<br />

Lighting, Grip<br />

Carly Barber, Maria Carpenter<br />

T +1 818 686 6400<br />

carly@illuminationdynamics.com<br />

maria@illuminationdynamics.com<br />

Illumination Dynamics,<br />

North Carolina,<br />

Lighting, Grip<br />

Jeff Pentek<br />

T +1 704 679 9400<br />

jeff@illuminationdynamics.com<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> PARTNERS & ASSOCIATES<br />

AUSTRALIA<br />

Cameraquip, Melbourne,<br />

Brisbane<br />

Cameras<br />

Malcolm Richards<br />

T +61 3 9699 3922<br />

T +61 7 3844 9577<br />

rentals@cameraquip.com.au<br />

BULGARIA<br />

Boyana Film Studios, Sofia<br />

Cameras, Lighting, Grip<br />

Lazar Lazarov<br />

T +359 2958 2713<br />

director@boyanafilm.bg<br />

CYPRUS<br />

Seahorse Films,<br />

Nicosia, Paphos<br />

Cameras, Digital, Lighting,<br />

Grip, Studio<br />

Andros Achilleos<br />

T +357 9967 5013<br />

andros@seahorsefilms.com<br />

FRANCE<br />

Bogard, Paris<br />

Cameras, Digital, Grip<br />

Didier Bogard, Alain Gauthier<br />

T +33 1 49 33 16 35<br />

didier@bogard.fr<br />

alain.gauthier@bogard.fr<br />

GERMANY<br />

Maddel’s Cameras GmbH,<br />

Hamburg<br />

Cameras, Grip<br />

Matthias Neumann<br />

T +49 40 66 86 390<br />

info@maddels.com<br />

HUNGARY<br />

VisionTeam, Budapest<br />

Cameras, Lighting, Grip<br />

Gabor Rajna<br />

T +36 1 433 3911<br />

info@visionteam.hu<br />

ICELAND<br />

Pegasus Pictures, Reykjavik<br />

Cameras, Lighting, Grip<br />

Snorri Thorisson<br />

T +354 414 2000<br />

snorri@pegasus.is<br />

IRELAND<br />

The Production Depot,<br />

Co Wicklow<br />

Cameras, Lighting, Grip<br />

John Leahy, Dave Leahy<br />

T +353 1 276 4840<br />

john@production-depot.com<br />

dave@production-depot.com<br />

JAPAN<br />

NAC Image Technology Inc.<br />

Tokyo<br />

Cameras, Digital<br />

Tomofumi Masuda<br />

Hiromi Shindome<br />

T +81 3 5211 7960<br />

masuda@camnac.co.jp<br />

NEW ZEALAND<br />

Camera Tech, Wellington<br />

Cameras<br />

Peter Fleming<br />

T +64 4562 8814<br />

cameratech@xtra.co.nz<br />

ROMANIA<br />

Panalight Studio, Bucharest<br />

Cameras, Lighting, Grip<br />

Diana Apostol<br />

T +40 727 358 304<br />

office@panalight.ro<br />

RUSSIA<br />

ACT Film Facilities Agency,<br />

St. Petersburg<br />

Cameras, Lighting, Grip<br />

Sergei Astakhov<br />

T +7 812 710 2080<br />

act@actfilm.ru<br />

SCANDINAVIA<br />

BLIXT Camera Rental,<br />

Denmark, Norway & Sweden<br />

Cameras, Digital<br />

Björn Blixt<br />

T +45 70 20 59 50<br />

blixt@blixt.dk<br />

SOUTH AFRICA<br />

<strong>Media</strong> Film Service,<br />

Cape Town, Johannesburg,<br />

Durban, Namibia<br />

Cameras, Digital, Lighting,<br />

Grip, Studio<br />

Jannie Van Wyk<br />

T +27 21 511 3300<br />

jannie@mediafilmservice.com<br />

SPAIN<br />

Camara Rental<br />

Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga<br />

Cameras, Grip<br />

Andres Berenguer, Alvaro<br />

Berenguer, Sylvia Jacuinde<br />

T +34 91 651 3399<br />

andres@camararental.com<br />

alvaro@camararental.com<br />

sylvia@camararental.com<br />

info@camararental.com<br />

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES<br />

Filmquip <strong>Media</strong>, Dubai<br />

Cameras, Lighting, Grip<br />

Anthony Smythe, Hugo Lang<br />

T +971 4 347 4909<br />

ant@filmquipmedia.com<br />

hugo@filmquipmedia.com<br />

USA & CANADA<br />

Clairmont Camera Hollywood,<br />

LA, Toronto, Vancouver<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 Representative<br />

Irving Correa<br />

T +1 818 761 4440<br />

irvingc@clairmont.com<br />

Fletcher Chicago, Chicago<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 Representative<br />

Stan Glapa<br />

T +1 312 932 2700<br />

stan@fletch.com<br />

4 THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM<br />

DoP Oliver Wood describes his hand-held approach to the<br />

camerawork on the latest Bourne film<br />

8 A VIRTUAL SPOT FOR REAL ASSETS<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Commercial animate 3D spot for investment bank<br />

10 THE KITE RUNNER<br />

DoP Roberto Schaefer ASC discusses his latest collaboration<br />

with Director Marc Forster<br />

12 LONDON’S UNDERWORLD<br />

Co-Producer Tracey Seaward, DoP Peter Suschitzky BSC and<br />

Gaffer John Colley talk about creating David Cronenberg’s<br />

Russian mafia movie Eastern Promises<br />

16 BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE MAZDA2 SPOT<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Commercial generate powerful advert for<br />

car manufacturer Mazda<br />

22 RETURN TO OZ<br />

Fantasy world captured by the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 for TV<br />

miniseries Tin Man<br />

24 <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 BRINGS IDEAS TO REALITY<br />

An update on recent <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 projects<br />

25 SHADOWS<br />

Director Milcho Manchevski and DoP Fabio Cianchetti post feature<br />

Shadows at <strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV<br />

28 EAST OF EVERYTHING<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Australia supply television drama<br />

CONTENTS<br />

4<br />

38<br />

10<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong> would like to thank the following contributors;<br />

Susanne Bieger, Clemens Danzer, Mark Hope-Jones, Ingo Klingspon, Tracy Mair, Heike Maleschka,<br />

Dylan Michael, Tommy Moran, Sinead Moran, Andrea Oki, Judith Petty, Bastian Prützmann,<br />

Angela Reedwisch, Andrea Rosenwirth, Stefan Sedlmeier, Marc Shipman-Mueller, Iain Struthers,<br />

Michelle Smith, Andy Subratie, Ricore Text, An Tran, Sabine Welte<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

30 A THOUSAND YEARS OF<br />

GOOD PRAYERS<br />

Director Wayne Wang talks about his latest<br />

feature film<br />

33 A SYMPHONY OF SOLOISTS<br />

The <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 shoots 150 musicians for<br />

Sony commercial<br />

34 THE STORY OF A YOUNG KILLER<br />

DoP Rob Hardy reflects on using the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX<br />

416 and Master Primes for feature Boy A<br />

38 MONGOL<br />

Director Sergei Bodrov recreates the story of<br />

Genghis Khan<br />

42 COPACABANA<br />

Television drama combines traditional film<br />

techniques with digital technology at<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV<br />

44 SEVEN DAYS SUNDAY<br />

Up and coming director supported by<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV and <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental<br />

46 SIDE EFFECT<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental and <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> help<br />

budding filmmakers shoot short film<br />

48 THE POWER TO DREAM, THE VISION<br />

TO INNOVATE<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> celebrates 90 years of product innovation<br />

52 25 YEARS OF <strong>ARRI</strong> FILM & TV<br />

Managing Director Franz Kraus reflects on 25<br />

years of postproduction at <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

55 STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY AT<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> SCHWARZFILM BERLIN GMBH<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> SchwarzFilm Berlin upgrades facilities<br />

56 MOMENTS IN TIME<br />

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the hand-held<br />

affair with the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35<br />

59 PANALIGHT<br />

The <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental <strong>Group</strong>’s Romanian rental partner<br />

60 NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD<br />

63 DID YOU KNOW?<br />

63 TAKE 10<br />

64 PRODUCT UPDATE<br />

68 PRODUCTION UPDATE


THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM<br />

DoP Oliver Wood discusses frenetic camerawork,<br />

international locations and lighting by satellite.<br />

The third instalment of a hugely successful film franchise based on<br />

novels by Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Ultimatum sees Matt Damon<br />

return as amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne. Robbed of his identity<br />

and pursued across the globe, Bourne must turn the tables on the<br />

government agency that trained him but now wants him dead in<br />

order to avenge his murdered girlfriend and uncover the truth about<br />

his past. The second Bourne film directed by Paul Greengrass and the<br />

third photographed by Oliver Wood, Ultimatum has thrilled audiences<br />

worldwide since its August release and very quickly exceeded the<br />

international box office returns of both preceding films.<br />

4<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

The Bourne Ultimatum was shot on Kodak Vision2 250D<br />

(5205) and 500T (5218) with <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite and <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX<br />

235 cameras, Cooke S4 primes and Nikon mini-zooms.<br />

Camera equipment was supplied by <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> in London,<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental in Munich and <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC in New York, all<br />

working together to provide the international service available<br />

from the <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental <strong>Group</strong>.<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong>: Director Paul Greengrass was with you<br />

again on this third film; was it easy to slip back<br />

into the working relationship?<br />

Oliver Wood: Yes, we just went back into the same mode right<br />

away. It was very much an extension of what we’d done<br />

before; we had worked out a style on The Bourne Supremacy<br />

which was very successful and I just kind of updated it with<br />

different equipment. We had quite a big prep and the<br />

assistants made up these cameras to be able to work handheld;<br />

very lightweight and very fast.<br />

Paul’s style was to be completely loose and spontaneous, all<br />

the way down the line, from the script onwards. He got that<br />

from United 93, when he had complete control of the script<br />

and it became a daily thing that he wrote it himself with the<br />

actors. It wasn’t just the camerawork, it was the way he<br />

worked with the actors and everything – that’s where he<br />

wants to go; he wants to make it all like that.<br />

The editors would often come back with reshoot lists of what<br />

they were missing, but I had dailies DVDs so if we needed to<br />

go back to a scene, I could watch the DVD and see what we<br />

did that day. Also the sets were done with [specialist lighting<br />

company] Light by Numbers, so we had computer records<br />

we could punch in and everything would come up the same<br />

as before.<br />

VA: You chose <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite and <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235<br />

cameras. What made them right for the job<br />

and how did you use them to achieve what<br />

Paul envisioned?<br />

OW: They were the most reliable cameras I could find. Size<br />

of course was a top priority – size and weight, and then<br />

ergonomics. We stripped every bit of weight off the kits we<br />

could and anything we could add that was lightweight rather<br />

than heavy, we did. �<br />

5


THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

The <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lites were used pretty much whenever there<br />

was sync dialogue and we had to have a silent camera. In<br />

certain cases, where there was some dialogue but the camera<br />

had to be very mobile, then we went to the 235 – in exterior<br />

situations where you couldn’t hear it so much. And then we<br />

made it even lighter if we had to put it in a running shot or on<br />

a Pogo-Cam. The 235 functioned as the smallest possible<br />

camera; it basically went down to the tiniest, lightest, handheld<br />

configuration we could get.<br />

There were always at least two cameras, but there was no rule<br />

about how they were allocated. The ‘B’ camera was usually an<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite but was sometimes a 235 if it was on a<br />

Steadicam and we had to run with it. The ‘A’ camera could be<br />

either a Lite or a 235. I would have liked to carry two 235s<br />

actually. It was used for exteriors, for all chase sequences – of<br />

which there were many – like in Waterloo station, in Morocco<br />

and anywhere the sound could be worked out. The sound man<br />

was very forgiving with it.<br />

VA: You had Cooke S4 primes and some specially<br />

made Nikon zooms. How did you put them to use?<br />

OW: The mini-zooms were the result of collaboration between<br />

me and <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong>. I said I wanted to have two lightweight<br />

zooms and the suggestion came up that we fish around for<br />

stills zooms. We found these two Nikon digital zooms, a<br />

28-76mm and a 70-200mm; <strong>ARRI</strong> thought they could adapt<br />

them and they did it. The Nikons became the basic lenses<br />

for the whole show; they were used all the time because the<br />

constant priority was for lightweight, ergonomic kit. The other<br />

question was speed; I needed a lens that went to T2.8,<br />

because that’s where I needed to work.<br />

6<br />

� STEADICAM OPERATOR Florian Emmerich keeps pace with Matt Damon<br />

� PAUL GREENGRASS directs Matt Damon<br />

� DOP OLIVER WOOD (right) supervises the ‘C’ camera crew<br />

I’ve always been very fond of Cooke lenses; I just like the look.<br />

We used the 150mm Cooke quite a bit on the Steadicam, but<br />

we were mostly on the zooms.<br />

VA: Shooting fast action scenes with hand-held<br />

cameras and wide lens apertures must have been<br />

challenging for your crews.<br />

OW: I was very kind to the focus pullers, I said “if you make<br />

mistakes, don’t get bent out of shape, just carry on, it’s fine.<br />

If it buzzes it’s all part of the look – zooming in and missing,<br />

zooming in and not being sharp so quickly pulling the focus –<br />

make that part of the camerawork.” Saying that made<br />

them much more confident and in camerawork confidence<br />

is everything.<br />

We had extremely good operators, some of the best in the<br />

world. I went in there and almost told them to forget everything<br />

they’d been taught and start again, but because they were<br />

such good operators it came naturally to them. They loved<br />

letting go of all the restrictions of having to be smooth and in<br />

focus all the time and executing perfect zooms. It was a fertile<br />

area for them to work in and they loved it.<br />

The way we kitted out these cameras was another treat for<br />

them; no expense was spared. The producers were great<br />

about getting everything I needed; I had a kind of open door<br />

in that area.<br />

VA: You were also shooting all over the world.<br />

Did that present any particular difficulties?<br />

OW: Yeah it was challenging. First of all, the package we had<br />

was highly specialised; we had two suitcases that formed a<br />

“gizmo” package as we called it, which was all the little<br />

Photos by: Jasin Boland © 2007 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved<br />

“THE 235 FUNCTIONED<br />

AS THE SMALLEST<br />

POSSIBLE CAMERA; IT<br />

BASICALLY WENT DOWN<br />

TO THE TINIEST,<br />

LIGHTEST, HAND-HELD<br />

CONFIGURATION WE<br />

COULD GET.”<br />

cables and extra bits and pieces that were put together at<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong>. Some had been custom made, so basically those<br />

two suitcases went with us around the world. In New York for<br />

instance I took the two cases from <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> and the Nikon<br />

lenses that were made and then we rented the basic camera<br />

package from <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC in New York.<br />

Each time we had new assistants I had to instruct them in how<br />

it all went together. Basically in Europe and England we had<br />

the same crew. In Germany we had a new crew, although I<br />

took the ‘A’ and ‘B’ camera focus pullers and operators, and<br />

everyone else in Berlin had done Supremacy with me so they<br />

were pretty much up to speed. Then when we got to New York<br />

it was a whole different ball game, but they were brilliant too;<br />

they came up with their own rigs and were very creative. All<br />

the different crews contributed; it was an organic process.<br />

The camera crew list is about four pages long, and then on top<br />

of that there was a second unit. There were three cameras on<br />

the second unit; they had to put their own packages together,<br />

based on ours. When we scouted it, this was all planned out –<br />

we decided what was going to be first unit, what was going to<br />

be second unit – but once we were shooting there was no way<br />

I could be there; they were completely autonomous.<br />

VA: In Berlin you had to light a large area of the city<br />

for the film’s opening sequence. How did you go<br />

about planning that?<br />

OW: That was an enormous lighting set-up. I flew in for a<br />

weekend with my German Gaffer Ronnie Schwarz, who<br />

actually lit the second movie, so he was very aware of what<br />

I needed. We scouted the two basic locations; one was a<br />

drugstore and other was the station, but they were huge. They<br />

were supposed to be in Moscow; that’s the reason we chose<br />

East Berlin, because the communist architecture is very similar<br />

to Moscow. Then I went back to London to start shooting again<br />

at seven o’clock on the Monday morning. Ronnie put his plans<br />

down on a Google Earth document, so we got on the phone<br />

and sat with computers, bringing up Google Earth documents<br />

with little flags all over them. It was an absolutely brilliant tool;<br />

I could see his plans as he made them and suggest changes<br />

right there over the phone.<br />

VA: The film has gone through a DI. What is your<br />

approach and attitude to this process?<br />

I consider the DI a lighting tool. I’ve completely stopped<br />

using filters or any kind of unusual lab processes. I process<br />

everything absolutely normally and never filter anything; I do<br />

any kind of grad or image work in the DI. The only exception<br />

really was a streaking out-of-phase shutter effect in some<br />

flashbacks. Half of that was done digitally, but it worked a lot<br />

better in camera.<br />

The biggest achievement of the DI was taking this huge wealth<br />

of material that was shot all over the world by a million<br />

different people, putting it together and making it look like the<br />

same movie. ■<br />

Mark Hope-Jones<br />

7


A Virtual<br />

Spot for<br />

Real Assets<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Commercial pulls<br />

out all the stops for Investment<br />

Bank Cortal Consors<br />

Amid the numerous TV spots promoting<br />

financial products and services on German<br />

television there is one that stands out: an<br />

avant-garde, 3D animated commercial for<br />

investment bank Cortal Consors, the onlineaffiliate<br />

of BNP Paribas. This successful<br />

collaboration between Cortal Consors,<br />

advertising agency Serviceplan and <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Commercial has proved it possible to create<br />

visually impressive television spots for a<br />

financial institution.<br />

“In the financial sector the products themselves are<br />

very interchangeable and therefore it is extremely<br />

important to establish the product by giving it a<br />

distinct and trendy visual style,” says Daniela Bardini,<br />

Creative Director of Munich-based agency<br />

Serviceplan Zweite. “It is vital that the spot stands out<br />

and grabs people’s attention, leaving an indelible<br />

impression on their minds.”<br />

The most recent 17-second TV commercial promotes<br />

10 successful mutual funds, which Cortal Consors<br />

offer at an attractive price with the slogan: “The best<br />

mutual funds at the best prices.” Previous spots have<br />

extended different offers but all have one thing in<br />

common: they are all virtual commercials and were<br />

created entirely on 3D computers at <strong>ARRI</strong>.<br />

The first step was to find a solid, visual icon to<br />

represent the mutual fund, which is an essentially<br />

abstract product, to star in the TV spot as the<br />

story’s hero. From discussions emerged the idea<br />

of developing an award statuette character, along<br />

the lines of an Oscar, for the world of banking<br />

commercials. The task of developing this character<br />

was put in the capable hands of <strong>ARRI</strong>’s Head of 3D<br />

Animation, Christian Deister, and Character Animator<br />

Vladan Subotic. From a selection of scribbles and<br />

illustrations the production team chose a statuette that<br />

resembles a young, dynamic manager. The character<br />

was rendered entirely in 3D and plated in virtual<br />

chrome, ready for its starring role.<br />

“Initially we did not have an agreed-upon<br />

storyboard,” remembers Christian Deister. “Together<br />

with the client and the agency, we worked as a team<br />

to create the story; everyone contributed ideas.”<br />

Head of <strong>ARRI</strong> Commercial Philipp Bartel adds:<br />

“It’s very motivating when the client grants the<br />

postproduction house and the agency so much<br />

creative freedom. Often they went with our ideas<br />

and allowed us to implement them single-handedly.”<br />

While still in the fine-tuning stages of characterdevelopment,<br />

the 3D team created an animatic<br />

for previsualisation of the spot. Christian Deister<br />

explains: “I thought it would be best to approach this<br />

commercial as if it were a conventional live-action<br />

film.” Using a dummy, various camera movements<br />

were tested in an attempt to discover the best methods<br />

of filming the statuette. “Playing the appropriate music<br />

in the background, we wanted to create a powerful<br />

plot to give the statues an epic quality in this short<br />

17-second spot,” he continues.<br />

� WIDE SHOT final render<br />

� CLOSE-UP final render<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

After initial pre-rendering, the test footage was<br />

edited to music on an Avid and so within just a few<br />

days the client was able to approve the spot as a<br />

“living-and-breathing” storyboard. “Pre-rendering is<br />

a fast process,” says Philipp Bartel, “but it provides<br />

everything that is needed to properly adjust the<br />

camera in the edit. Subsequently, in the final<br />

rendering, only those frames which became part of<br />

the animatic after the picture had been locked have to<br />

be rendered. That saves time and money.” The final<br />

steps toward completing the spot involved giving the<br />

various elements a sophisticated look, matching the<br />

colour grading to that of Cortal Consors’ corporate<br />

identity, and fine-tuning the camera movements and<br />

edits before completing the final compositing.<br />

Frames from various out-takes of this production were<br />

used for the print and online campaigns in order to<br />

give the entire media campaign a consistent look.<br />

Budget Director Clemens Dreyer concludes: “Our<br />

Cortal Consors spot is now being emulated by other<br />

banks, which to me means that, together with <strong>ARRI</strong>,<br />

we did a great job.” ■<br />

8 9<br />

Ingo Klingspon<br />

Client:<br />

Cortal Consors S.A.<br />

Director of Marketing: Kai Wulff<br />

Brand Manager:<br />

Agency:<br />

Konelija Klisanic<br />

Serviceplan Zweite Werbeagentur GmbH<br />

Management: Joachim Schöpfer<br />

Budget Director: Clemens Dreyer<br />

Creative Director: Daniela Bardini<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Commercial:<br />

Head of Commercial: Philipp Bartel<br />

Producer: Phil Decker<br />

Head of 3D: Christian Deister<br />

Character Animators: Vladan Subotic,<br />

Gregoire Barfety<br />

Flame Artist: Rico Reitz<br />

Colour Grading: Janna Sälzer


The Kite Runner<br />

An interview with DoP Roberto Schaefer ASC<br />

Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, The Kite Runner, was first published in 2003 and has since sold more than<br />

seven million copies worldwide. Set against the political events of Afghanistan, the story is about the<br />

doomed friendship of two childhood friends; Amir, the son of a powerful Kabul businessman, and Hassan,<br />

the son of the faithful family servant.<br />

The boys are inseparable until one fateful day when Amir is determined to win a local kite-flying tournament to secure his father’s<br />

approval. On the afternoon of the contest Amir finds Hassan being brutally attacked by a local thug. He does nothing to help,<br />

shattering their relationship. Shortly after, Amir and his father leave Afghanistan, fleeing the Russian invasion to begin a new life<br />

in America. But Amir can’t forget what happened to Hassan and after 20 years of living in the US, returns to a perilous<br />

Afghanistan under the Taliban’s iron-fisted rule to face the secrets that still haunt him and to set things right.<br />

Shot by Director Marc Forster and DoP Roberto Schaefer ASC for DreamWorks Pictures, The Kite Runner is the duo’s seventh<br />

collaboration. Their partnership has spanned more than a decade, producing films such as the award winning Monster’s Ball and<br />

Finding Neverland, and has recently seen them embark on their eighth project together, the latest instalment of the James Bond franchise.<br />

Authenticity was a hugely important factor of the production. Due to the obvious dangers of the conditions in Afghanistan the<br />

production team sought alternative locations for filming, finally settling on China which was considered to be the best fit in terms of<br />

appearance. Much of the film’s dialogue is in Dari, the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan, and most of the actors involved,<br />

including the child actors, were native speakers.<br />

The film was shot in 3 perforation with an <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio and <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235 provided by <strong>ARRI</strong> Australia.<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong> spoke to Roberto Schaefer about his approach to the project and his experiences shooting in China.<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong>: Can you tell us briefly<br />

what the movie is about?<br />

Roberto Schaefer: The Kite Runner is<br />

based on the best-selling novel of the<br />

same name. It is a story about<br />

friendship, betrayal, loss and redemption<br />

set against the events occurring in<br />

Afghanistan between 1977 and 2001.<br />

VA: Which look was intended for<br />

the film and why?<br />

RS: The story is intended to be seen as an<br />

epic in the tradition of Sergio Leone and<br />

David Lean. The part of the film set in<br />

Afghanistan in the seventies has a rich<br />

10<br />

and warm feeling, like the friendship of<br />

the two boys. The parts set in the US and<br />

Afghanistan in 2001 are cooler and less<br />

saturated as the life is drawn out of the<br />

characters and they face harsher realities.<br />

VA: What was the reason for<br />

shooting this film in China?<br />

RS: We shot principally in China due to<br />

the look of the landscapes and local<br />

architecture, which closely resembles that<br />

of Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan.<br />

It would have been too dangerous to try<br />

and shoot there. Other places that were<br />

considered were Turkey and Morocco,<br />

but the Xinjiang province in far western<br />

China had all of the right ingredients.<br />

VA: What was your impression of<br />

China as a shooting location, and<br />

was it difficult working there<br />

with an International team from<br />

Asia, Australia and China?<br />

RS: China provided us with magnificent<br />

locations that were truly on the epic<br />

scale we wanted to portray. It was<br />

difficult for many reasons, extreme<br />

weather being just one of them. We had<br />

to bring in everything from Beijing or<br />

beyond. There is no film community in<br />

Kashgar where we were based, even<br />

less in Tashkurgan. There were many<br />

challenges for a largely western crew<br />

that was mixed with many Chinese and<br />

local Uygur help. Most of the department<br />

heads, and a good deal of the key crew<br />

members, came from the US, Australia<br />

and the UK. We had to have many<br />

levels of translators, from English to<br />

Chinese, Uygur, Farsi, Pashtun and<br />

Urdu, and all the permutations within.<br />

VA: What were the main<br />

challenges facing the production?<br />

RS: The main challenges in filming were<br />

the logistics of shooting in a place that<br />

was an eight hour plane ride or eight<br />

day drive from the nearest center of<br />

production supplies. On top of that we<br />

had a very hot summer and fall, and a<br />

bitter cold winter. Film had to be shipped<br />

back to Beijing for developing and then<br />

either printed there and shipped back,<br />

or sent to L.A. for telecine dailies and<br />

shipped back. That process took from<br />

four days at best, to three weeks,<br />

depending upon our location.<br />

VA: Were you satisfied with<br />

the <strong>ARRI</strong> equipment, especially<br />

on rough locations such as the<br />

Chinese mountains?<br />

RS: Yes, it all held up magnificently, as I<br />

had expected. We did bring a camera<br />

technician from the US with us, who<br />

ended up repairing everything from hair<br />

dryers to sewing machines and<br />

Technocrane circuits. With the camera<br />

gear, he mostly just cleaned everything<br />

each night and made sure that it was all<br />

in perfect condition everyday.<br />

VA: What aspect influenced your<br />

decision to take the camera and<br />

lens set-up you used?<br />

RS: I initially wanted to shoot<br />

anamorphic. I went to Germany and<br />

spent several days testing and evaluating<br />

Hawk lenses. But when I got to Kashgar<br />

and Tashkurgan and the road between<br />

the two, I realized that too many of our<br />

interiors were tiny with few windows,<br />

the exteriors were exposed to harsh<br />

elements like dust storms and extreme<br />

temperatures. I felt that it would be more<br />

than we could handle to shoot entirely in<br />

scope. I then wanted to shoot all of my<br />

big exteriors on anamorphics and the<br />

interiors and dark night exteriors with<br />

spherical lenses since we were definitely<br />

doing the DI [Digital Intermediate] right<br />

from the start. Unfortunately, due to<br />

budgetary restrictions and the schedule,<br />

I couldn’t afford to carry full sets of both<br />

types of lenses, as well as 3 perforation<br />

and 4-perforation camera bodies for<br />

the entire shoot. So we decided to use<br />

3 perforation to save some money for the<br />

DI when it was decided to go spherical.<br />

That was when I tried the Master Prime<br />

lenses and fell in love with them. I used<br />

the T1.3 –2 range often and found them<br />

to be really quite amazing.<br />

Photos by: Phil Bray<br />

VA: Why did you shoot on<br />

3 perforation/2.35:1 and<br />

how did that work for you?<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

� DIRECTOR MARC FORSTER instructs the child actors<br />

� DIRECTOR MARC FORSTER<br />

� DOP ROBERTO SCHAEFER ASC (left) and ‘A’<br />

Camera/Steadicam Operator Jim McConkey (right)<br />

RS: We chose to shoot 3 perforation to<br />

save money on stock and lab costs to<br />

put into the post needs for the DI and<br />

grading work. When we abandoned<br />

anamorphic, 3 perforation seemed only<br />

natural. The lighter weight, smaller and<br />

less cases, and faster lenses definitely<br />

made that the right decision looking<br />

back on it.<br />

VA: You were one of the first<br />

DoPs to try our new <strong>ARRI</strong>/Zeiss<br />

Lightweight Zoom, the LWZ-1<br />

15.5-45mm. What was that<br />

experience like?<br />

RS: We used the new lightweight zoom<br />

a lot. It held up beautifully to the Master<br />

Primes in quality of image. We also used<br />

it on our viewfinder as a variable prime<br />

for setting up shots, and it practically lived<br />

on the Steadicam. It also matched well<br />

with the longer Angenieux Optimo zooms.<br />

VA: How are the Master Primes<br />

compared to the Optimo Zooms?<br />

RS: The Master Primes were a perfect<br />

match to the longer Angenieux<br />

Optimo zooms.<br />

VA: Did you consider shooting this<br />

movie on HD or did you think that<br />

35mm was the only way to go?<br />

RS: Originally I toyed with the idea of<br />

looking into shooting in HD. I thought<br />

about the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20, Viper or<br />

Genesis. What worried me was how<br />

the equipment would hold up to the<br />

conditions, the distance we were from<br />

any service, and storage of data and<br />

transferring that back to the editor in L.A.<br />

I recently shot a pilot on HD and was<br />

extremely happy that I had decided to<br />

do The Kite Runner on 35mm. ■<br />

www.kiterunnermovie.com<br />

Clemens Danzer / Andrea Rosenwirth<br />

11


LONDON’S<br />

UNDERWORLD<br />

Peter Suschitzky BSC films the dark side of London for Eastern Promises<br />

The latest film from legendary Canadian Director David Cronenberg is a violent tale of the<br />

Russian mafia in London, touching on the global sex trade that exists in today’s society.<br />

Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) works for one<br />

London’s most feared organized crime<br />

families. His path crosses with Anna<br />

(Naomi Watts), a midwife at a London<br />

hospital where a 14-year-old Russian girl<br />

has recently died during childbirth. In a bid<br />

to uncover the teenager’s identity and find<br />

a home for the baby, Anna looks for clues<br />

in the dead girl’s diary, but she unwittingly<br />

holds damaging information that could<br />

lead to the unraveling of the family’s<br />

criminal network. Nikolai must make sure<br />

this doesn’t happen. Several lives hang in<br />

the balance as a chain of murder, deceit,<br />

and retribution reverberates through the<br />

darkest corners of London.<br />

The script for Eastern Promises was<br />

originally developed at the BBC but was<br />

picked up by Focus Features, a division<br />

of Universal Pictures, who sent it to<br />

Cronenberg to direct and Paul Webster<br />

to produce. “We were so pleased<br />

when David was appointed,” recollects<br />

Co-producer Tracey Seaward. “He’s a<br />

masterful director and was always in total<br />

control of the shoot. David creates an<br />

almost instinctive relationship with each<br />

and every department.”<br />

The film is Cronenberg’s first to be shot<br />

entirely outside of Canada. Although he<br />

brought most of his heads of department<br />

with him, a strong UK crew was<br />

assembled to work with them. Seaward<br />

was involved in planning how the<br />

production would best organize filming<br />

at locations around London, as well as<br />

3 Mills Studios: “About half of the<br />

location shooting took place at night,” she<br />

says, “which was quite complicated due<br />

to the fact that many of the sites were in<br />

residential areas and therefore we had to<br />

respect the local residents.”<br />

The dark, rain-slicked streets of London<br />

were photographed by Peter Suschitzky<br />

BSC, with an <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio, <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM<br />

Lite and Master Prime lenses supplied by<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong>, and lighting equipment<br />

supplied by <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental.<br />

Eastern Promises marks Suschitzky’s<br />

eighth film with director Cronenberg.<br />

Their collaboration began in 1988 with<br />

Dead Ringers, when a strong rapport was<br />

established from day one. “I think we<br />

immediately knew that we were right for<br />

each other, I never had any doubts<br />

anyway,” states Suschitzky. “Things<br />

worked very quickly between us and we<br />

were soon able to work with very little<br />

verbal communication. On our very first<br />

day of shooting I knew that this was<br />

going to be the most important working<br />

relationship of my life. And so it turned<br />

out to be.” Both have a very intuitive way<br />

of working and don’t set out with the idea<br />

of a ‘look’. “To tell the simple truth, we no<br />

longer talk about style,” he continues.<br />

“Things just happen naturally, growing, I<br />

hope, from within the material of the film<br />

and the narrative. We both work very<br />

instinctively. We never talk about making<br />

a film look this way or that way.”<br />

For Eastern Promises, Cronenberg’s<br />

requirements were simple: “The early<br />

indications that David gave me were that<br />

he was looking for a rainy London, a<br />

grey London,” says the cinematographer.<br />

“Naturally we had to shoot with the<br />

weather that we had, but we were able to<br />

afford to wet down streets and produce<br />

rain when there wasn’t any. The only<br />

thing I did was to hold the idea in my<br />

head that he wanted it to look grey. I<br />

don’t believe that you can put style on like<br />

an item of clothing - it has to flow from<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

inside the film, from inside your soul if<br />

you like. Everything has to work together;<br />

the costumes, the sets, the choice of<br />

colour of the costumes and sets, the<br />

camera work, and the direction of course.<br />

It all has to go together.<br />

“I have more or less the same approach<br />

when considering any film. I read the<br />

script, I look at the locations, sets or<br />

concepts of sets, the costumes and casting<br />

that are possible choices for the film,<br />

and of course I speak with David<br />

approximately about what we are going<br />

to do. He is somebody who does a lot of<br />

thinking about what he is going to do<br />

with the subject, but he also leaves a lot<br />

open to inspiration on the day, inspiration<br />

that comes from seeing the actors<br />

rehearse and from the set or location.<br />

He doesn’t storyboard anything. So we<br />

rehearse and then we discuss where we<br />

are going to put the camera for the scene<br />

and I spend whatever time I need, within<br />

the constraints of the production schedule,<br />

preparing, but I don’t know exactly what<br />

I’m going to do until I start doing it.” �<br />

12 13


Photos by: Peter Mountain © 2007 Focus Features. All Rights Reserved.<br />

LONDON’S UNDERWORLD<br />

However, Suschitzky did make a stylistic<br />

decision about his choice of lenses,<br />

choosing the Master Primes. “On all the<br />

films that I have worked on with David<br />

I’ve opted for Primo lenses. I decided,<br />

without any intervention from David at<br />

all, to change everything on this one.<br />

I tested all sorts of lenses and I chose the<br />

Master Primes. They looked very sharp,<br />

I felt that they had slightly less depth of<br />

field than some other lenses and I thought<br />

that they would give the story the right<br />

sort of feel.” Generally, a very small<br />

number of lenses have been used on their<br />

films together. Suschitzky remembers that<br />

A History of Violence was shot almost<br />

entirely on just a 27mm. “For Eastern<br />

Promises we shot mostly on a 27mm and<br />

25mm, but we would occasionally use a<br />

21mm or 35mm.”<br />

A notable scene in the film is a dramatic<br />

fight-to-the-death between two knifewielding<br />

assassins and the nude Nikolai<br />

in an old London bathhouse. Filmed on a<br />

set due to concerns about the difficulty of<br />

working in a confined location, it took<br />

many months of planning, weeks of<br />

rehearsals and three days to shoot. This<br />

particular scene had to be approached in<br />

a far less controlled manner than any<br />

other in the film because of its intense<br />

action. “I had to allow for the camera to<br />

be able to move around freely,” explains<br />

Suschitzky. “David felt that he wanted to<br />

have considerable freedom and little<br />

delay between shots so I had to light that<br />

scene so that it was filmable with very<br />

small adjustments in any direction,<br />

whereas with other scenes I was able to<br />

light in a more controlled manner.”<br />

John Colley, Suschitzky’s Gaffer on<br />

Eastern Promises, recalls: “There were<br />

two sets in particular where we had to<br />

allow for the possibility of a 360-degree<br />

camera angle. The first was the<br />

bathhouse and the second was the<br />

restaurant. In order to be able to look in<br />

all directions Peter and I decided that a<br />

combination of Image 80s in the grid,<br />

feeding back to a dimmer desk, was a<br />

much better alternative than any other<br />

space light or hard light scenario. With<br />

over 50, we had total control of the<br />

contrast throughout the sets. We were<br />

able to control backgrounds and set<br />

levels without affecting the colour<br />

temperature. For the restaurant alone there were over 100<br />

practical channels, which initially may have seemed like over kill<br />

but the time we saved when it came to shooting and keeping a<br />

rhythm made it all worth the expense and effort.”<br />

Another set-up that Colley recollects was a car scene that was<br />

shot without rear screen projection or bluescreen. “Both David<br />

and Peter wanted a traveling car scene to look as realistic as<br />

possible,” he says. “Initially, there were a few late nights in the<br />

studio, but the decision was made that the real world was the<br />

best way to provide the actors with an opportunity to deliver their<br />

dialogue. The location department worked overtime to provide us<br />

with a suitable backdrop and flexible working conditions. We<br />

must have looked like a space ship traveling down Upper Street<br />

on a low loader. There were about 15 or so small <strong>ARRI</strong> lamps,<br />

from 650W to 2kW, with various colours to match the<br />

surroundings of the streets. I sat next to Peter at the camera with<br />

a dimming desk on my lap while he called out where the lights<br />

should play.”<br />

Shooting at night around London had its advantages for Colley.<br />

“It’s the best time to go to work,” he claims. “You’ve got total<br />

control of lighting and contrast ratios. We used a combination<br />

of Wendy lights with an underslung <strong>ARRI</strong> T24 or T12 to focus<br />

on specific areas, which worked very well for us.” Some nights<br />

proved to be pretty hectic from a logistical point of view:<br />

“On more than a few occasions there were six or seven cherry<br />

pickers and Genie booms, as well as four or five generators.<br />

Credit to Rigging Gaffer Vince Madden and Best Boy Andy<br />

Cole for keeping things running smoothly.”<br />

Having worked with <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental on many films in the<br />

past, Colley was confident in their level of service: “I knew they<br />

would be able to deliver the service and equipment needed in<br />

order to meet the demands of the schedule,” he affirms. “By<br />

working closely with Sinead Moran we were able to maintain a<br />

balance between budget and schedule.” Seaward also has a<br />

long standing association with both <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental and<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong>. “I have a close and trusting relationship with both<br />

companies, they always provide great technical support and<br />

service. It’s important to know that someone is always there at<br />

the end of the phone to help you 24 hours a day.”<br />

All involved agree that working on the film was a truly<br />

rewarding experience. “I’m really proud to have worked on<br />

Eastern Promises,” reflects Seaward. “It was a calm environment,<br />

we were always on schedule, the crew were fantastic and there<br />

was a great camaraderie with the cast – so much so that one<br />

day Viggo Mortensen decided it might be a good idea to<br />

become my assistant, the next thing we knew he was handing<br />

out cakes to all the cast and crew!”<br />

Colley adds: “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with<br />

David and Peter. Occasionally I had to pinch myself that I was<br />

actually on set with them. It made all those heavy lamps and<br />

dirty cables in the pouring rain worthwhile. They had such a<br />

great understanding with each other and their energy was<br />

tempered and directed. Once we had captured the scene, we<br />

moved on. The crew and cast involved on this film all worked so<br />

well together.”<br />

� DIRECTOR DAVID CRONENBERG<br />

� AT THE CAMERA DoP Peter Suschitzky BSC, to the left 1st AD<br />

Walter Gasparovic<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

“I am proud of the whole film, because it’s a good one, through<br />

and through, with everything working together; writing, acting,<br />

direction and visuals. All are seamlessly interlaced - I hope that<br />

my work is integrated well into the whole and feels organic,”<br />

concludes Suschitzky.<br />

This article is dedicated to the memory of Production Manager<br />

Lisa Parker, who sadly passed away several months after<br />

completing the project. Tracey Seaward worked with Lisa Parker<br />

for many years and pays tribute to a close colleague and<br />

friend: “Lisa was an extraordinary and unique person; she had<br />

an amazing passion and energy and was devoted to her job.<br />

She was well thought of by those who had worked with her<br />

over the last 15 years. I truly believe the industry suffered a<br />

tremendous loss, and as a colleague and friend she will<br />

be irreplaceable.” ■<br />

14<br />

15<br />

�<br />

Michelle Smith<br />

Photo courtesy John Colley


16<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Behind the<br />

Scenes of the<br />

Mazda2 Spot<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Commercial<br />

and Hager Moss Film produce<br />

powerful TV advertisement.<br />

Television spots for major car<br />

manufacturers are among the most<br />

demanding of commercial productions<br />

and usually command budgets that run<br />

to six figures. Few of these extravagant<br />

commercials are made in Germany,<br />

so Munich-based production company<br />

Hager Moss was especially pleased<br />

when it was commissioned to create<br />

television spots for the Mazda2<br />

campaign. Hager Moss in turn brought<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Commercial on board<br />

and the result was an impressive<br />

television commercial that proves<br />

Germany to be capable of taking on<br />

productions of any scale.<br />

An advertising campaign focusing on<br />

the ‘sportiness’ of the product leaves no<br />

doubt about its target market. The<br />

Mazda2, which is the most recent and<br />

most compact model in the Mazda fleet,<br />

is aimed at young drivers looking to buy<br />

their first car. In order to best appeal to<br />

this demographic, the manufacturer and<br />

their advertising agency, J. Walter<br />

Thompson, agreed to steer clear of<br />

familiar campaign concepts. The<br />

approach had already been established<br />

with a print campaign featuring a surreal<br />

collage of images juxtaposing naked<br />

bodies in sporty poses and cold blue<br />

tones with a metallic-green Mazda2.�<br />

17


BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE MAZDA2 SPOT<br />

“WE NEEDED A HIGH FRAME RATE<br />

OF 100FPS, SOMETIMES EVEN<br />

250FPS, IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE<br />

THE INTENDED IMAGE QUALITY<br />

IN POSTPRODUCTION.”<br />

A similarly avant-garde concept was<br />

developed for the television spot, in<br />

which a young Mazda2 driver plays<br />

cat-and-mouse with five acrobatic, female<br />

dancers in an abstract, virtual space. The<br />

principal objective of the production was<br />

to visualize and communicate the key<br />

messages: agility, sportiness and<br />

lightness. It was immediately clear that<br />

the project would require a good deal of<br />

postproduction work. Hager Moss chose<br />

to count on the specialists at <strong>ARRI</strong> Film &<br />

TV Commercial to help meet this<br />

challenge, having collaborated<br />

successfully with them in the past.<br />

Initially, the main task was to come up<br />

with a convincing design for the virtual<br />

space in which the commercial is set.<br />

Certain similarities to the print campaign<br />

were purposefully evoked, but the spot<br />

also needed to stand alone as an<br />

original and independent piece. <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Art Director and Flame/Inferno-Artist<br />

Rico Reitz worked with Director Paula<br />

Walker to define a binding framework<br />

for the style. This then allowed specific<br />

arrangements for the shoot and the<br />

subsequent postproduction to be made.<br />

Reitz believes that meticulous planning<br />

during preproduction and the close<br />

monitoring of standards during filming<br />

are the key to a smooth workflow<br />

between production and postproduction.<br />

“The greater the demands on<br />

postproduction, the more involved we<br />

get in the production itself,” he says.<br />

“We feel responsible for our work, which<br />

includes keying, spatial design,<br />

compositing, visual effects, as well as the<br />

blending of the real and virtual elements<br />

into a convincing final image.”<br />

Implementing the concept for the spot<br />

involved filming the Mazda2 and the<br />

dancers in an entirely white space, since<br />

white had been chosen as the key<br />

background for postproduction. “Initially<br />

we wanted to build a concave space<br />

[65 feet deep and 32 feet high] to shoot<br />

in,” recalls Hager Moss Producer Jürgen<br />

Kraus. “But the problem with a concave<br />

space is that you don’t have a ceiling,<br />

which restricts the camera movement<br />

and limits the use of wide-angle lenses.<br />

At some point all the camera can capture<br />

is the studio and the lighting rigs.”<br />

“WE SHOT A LOT OF<br />

FOOTAGE AND<br />

VERY LITTLE WAS<br />

BUILT AFTERWARDS<br />

IN 3D, BUT DESPITE<br />

ALL THAT, EACH<br />

FRAME IS A<br />

COMPOSITE AND<br />

THEREFORE A<br />

STAND-ALONE<br />

WORK CREATED AT<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> DURING<br />

POSTPRODUCTION.”<br />

DoP Rolf Kesterman found the solution<br />

to this problem at the Roman Coppola<br />

Studio in Los Angeles, where he came<br />

across the Photobubble, an inflatable<br />

device made of lightweight, synthetic<br />

material that provides a reflection-free,<br />

bubble-shaped space and a 360-degree<br />

area of view. The manufacturer of the<br />

Photobubble was able to provide a<br />

custom-made, walk-in “soft box” with<br />

white walls, which delivered the perfect<br />

chroma key for postproduction. Only the<br />

floor of the studio had to be painted white.<br />

“We were among the first European<br />

productions to use this device,” says<br />

Jürgen Kraus. “The Photobubble was<br />

ideal for creating the sort of world we<br />

had intended for this spot. It provided<br />

excellent working conditions for the<br />

Director and the DoP, allowing them to<br />

shoot at any focal length and move the<br />

camera without any restrictions. In<br />

addition, we had the advantage that<br />

our lighting conditions didn’t change.<br />

As a matter of fact, we lit the space<br />

once and then nothing had to be<br />

changed for the rest of the shoot, which<br />

saved a lot of time.”<br />

The only remaining problem was in<br />

pinpointing the precise spatial<br />

coordinates which would later be<br />

needed during 3D tracking at <strong>ARRI</strong>. The<br />

Photobubble did not provide any<br />

information about spatial relationships<br />

between individual elements because it<br />

was completely white inside. “We<br />

couldn’t simply place tracking markers<br />

on the Photobubble itself,” explains 3D<br />

Artist Christian Deister. “That wasn’t a<br />

precise enough solution because the<br />

Photobubble constantly moves, although<br />

only slightly, due to changing air<br />

pressure. Instead we had tall poles<br />

made, which we could use as yardsticks<br />

after painting black measurement<br />

markings on them. We distributed these<br />

poles throughout the Photobubble and<br />

measured the distances between them.<br />

This allowed us to exactly recreate the<br />

size of the space and the camera<br />

movements during 3D tracking.”<br />

Filming took place in June 2007 at the<br />

Barrandov film studios in Prague, with<br />

the support of the Czech film production<br />

company Etic. Though the stage was<br />

large enough to house the 164-foot<br />

Photobubble, it transpired that the<br />

Photobubble itself was too small for the<br />

stunt driver to gain sufficient speed for<br />

the choreographed skid scenes. An<br />

access driveway therefore had to be<br />

constructed that ran from outside the<br />

soundstage into the Photobubble.<br />

The spot was filmed on 35mm with an<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435. “We needed a high<br />

frame rate of 100fps, sometimes even<br />

250fps, in order to achieve the intended<br />

image quality in postproduction,”<br />

explains Jürgen Kraus. “25fps wouldn’t<br />

have been enough during keying of<br />

crucial scenes because of motion blur.”<br />

During the four days of production 12 to<br />

15 set-ups were shot daily, all of which<br />

required elements to be added in post:<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

“There isn’t a single shot in this spot<br />

that was created entirely in-camera,”<br />

explains the producer. “We shot a lot<br />

of footage and very little was built<br />

afterwards in 3D, but despite all that,<br />

each frame is a composite and therefore<br />

a stand-alone work created at <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

during postproduction.”<br />

The creative teams at Hager Moss and<br />

at <strong>ARRI</strong> knew that on this type of project,<br />

with an extensive postproduction<br />

component, the approval process can<br />

be very difficult. Jürgen Kraus explains:<br />

“The client and agency representatives<br />

sit in front of a monitor during the shoot<br />

and can watch a green car drive<br />

across a ramp or girls fly through the<br />

Photobubble suspended from wires. They<br />

can’t see a background and they can’t<br />

see a story unfold. All they see is a<br />

white floor that gets increasingly dirty,<br />

which could leave many wondering:<br />

how will this ever end up looking good?<br />

But we were very lucky, because in this<br />

case the client and their agency trusted<br />

our judgement and were able to<br />

envisage our suggestions.”<br />

During the course of production,<br />

exposed negative was processed and<br />

scanned at a film laboratory in Prague<br />

and then sent to <strong>ARRI</strong> Munich. Within<br />

10 days a 60-second spot as well as<br />

two 30-second, five 20-second and five<br />

10-second spots were offlined. Once<br />

the picture was locked, the actual<br />

postproduction at <strong>ARRI</strong> started and<br />

took six weeks to complete. �<br />

18 19


BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE MAZDA2 SPOT<br />

Later on the 60-second spot, consisting<br />

of 67 takes, was scanned again in order<br />

to get even better colour resolution and<br />

to create clean masks. This time the<br />

scanning was completed in two steps on<br />

the Spirit. The spot was scanned in HD<br />

with a 10-bit data depth in order to<br />

avoid problems with the masks and the<br />

steadiness of the images. At this stage<br />

selected takes went to Manuel Voss for<br />

keying and rotoscoping in order to avoid<br />

compromising the agreed-upon timeline.<br />

Rico Reitz explains: “To key 130<br />

individual takes, shot with a moving<br />

camera, was a challenge that kept 10<br />

people busy for 12 days. And that was<br />

a rather fast turn around.”<br />

While the raw material was delivered<br />

from Prague to Munich, the 3D team was<br />

working on two tasks. One was to<br />

evaluate the tracking information from the<br />

camera and the other was to geometrically<br />

reduce the complex 3D construction data<br />

of the Mazda2 that the manufacturer had<br />

provided. This resulted in the creation of a<br />

virtual car, which behaved exactly like the<br />

real car in the film images. “We began by<br />

establishing the camera positions for the<br />

locked camera shots, making sure that<br />

everything was correct in terms of<br />

perspective and depth of field,” explains<br />

Christian Deister. “Then we matched the<br />

real car with the computer-generated 3D<br />

model. This allowed us to generate and<br />

render the 3D shadows and 3D reflections<br />

that were needed for the composite.”<br />

The 3D team was also responsible for<br />

the look of the floor. The problem was<br />

that the floor in the Photobubble was dull<br />

in the first place and ended up getting<br />

quite dirty during the shoot. This led to<br />

20<br />

“TO KEY 130<br />

INDIVIDUAL TAKES,<br />

SHOT WITH A<br />

MOVING CAMERA,<br />

WAS A CHALLENGE<br />

THAT KEPT 10<br />

PEOPLE BUSY FOR<br />

12 DAYS. AND<br />

THAT WAS A<br />

RATHER FAST<br />

the idea of replacing it with a computergenerated<br />

virtual and reflective floor.<br />

Unfortunately there were no reflections of<br />

the real car on the floor and creating<br />

them in compositing proved too difficult,<br />

because of the many different camera<br />

angles. Instead, the reflection of the 3D<br />

model was used and takes of the real<br />

car projected onto its 3D counterpart.<br />

Together they were reflected onto a<br />

virtual surface in photorealistic quality<br />

using XSI Softimage.<br />

The soft light in the Photobubble resulted<br />

in a pleasing soft contrast, but in two or<br />

three shots it made the car’s finish appear<br />

somewhat flat. The 3D team was able to<br />

address this issue on Flame and create a<br />

glossier look. The 3D model of the car<br />

was given a shiny texture and then<br />

placed, as a layer, over the real car.<br />

“The 3D options on Flame are limited, but<br />

when it comes to gloss and finish effects<br />

the tool is perfect,” says Rico Reitz.<br />

The spatial design was also completed<br />

on Flame, with abstract photographic<br />

textures digitally placed on the<br />

Photobubble to create the surrounding<br />

environment, a space consisting of<br />

dynamic, blue structures for the<br />

composite with masks from the actual<br />

film. This was followed by fine-tuning of<br />

the lighting set-up, animation of the<br />

background with vibrant lighting effects<br />

and matching of the computer-generated<br />

and the real, filmed elements.<br />

Certain physical improvements were<br />

made to the dancers, who represented<br />

figures from Nordic myths. Masks were<br />

placed on their pupils to create a rather<br />

impressive effect, while a number of<br />

beauty enhancements were made by<br />

retouching the dancers’ eyes, mouths,<br />

lips and teeth to meet the client’s wishes.<br />

This was followed by tape-to-tape colour<br />

grading, to give the entire spot a<br />

consistent look.<br />

TURN AROUND.”<br />

�� THE PHOTOBUBBLE interior and studio floor were keyed from white to create an abstract space<br />

�<br />

The spot aired in the UK immediately after<br />

the official launch of the Mazda2 at the<br />

IAA in Frankfurt and went on to air across<br />

the rest of Europe in October. The board<br />

of directors at Mazda Motors Europe was<br />

very pleased with the final result. Everyone<br />

at Hager Moss and <strong>ARRI</strong> Commercial<br />

were proud to have completed a<br />

demanding and expensive, yet very<br />

enjoyable production. “The Mazda2 spot<br />

is different. Most car commercials look<br />

very much the same, but the Mazda2 spot<br />

looks more like a music video than a<br />

television commercial,” says <strong>ARRI</strong> Head of<br />

Commercial Postproduction Philipp Bartel.<br />

All in all, it took only three months to<br />

complete the project, starting with the<br />

request for an initial calculation and<br />

ending with delivery of the 60-second<br />

spot. Hager Moss Producer Jürgen Kraus<br />

believes there are several reasons why<br />

this complex production went so<br />

smoothly. One was the close physical<br />

proximity of the film production company<br />

and the postproduction house. Another<br />

was the trust that had been established<br />

between Hager Moss and <strong>ARRI</strong> Film &<br />

TV Commercial on previous productions.<br />

“On a project that requires such complex<br />

and extensive postproduction work, I<br />

want a partner that makes me feel I am<br />

Project:<br />

Mazda2 “Competition“<br />

Client:<br />

Mazda Motor Europe<br />

Agency:<br />

J. Walter Thompson GmbH &<br />

Co. KG Düsseldorf<br />

Head of TV JWT:<br />

Marie-Louise Seidl<br />

Creative Director JWT:<br />

Eddy Greenwood<br />

Art Director JWT:<br />

Igor Karpalov<br />

Production:<br />

Hager Moss Commercial<br />

the customer,” he says. “These projects<br />

necessitate intensive support and close<br />

collaboration at all logistical stages as<br />

well as confidence in the partner’s<br />

overall abilities. In my experience,<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> has completed all tasks brilliantly.”<br />

Philipp Bartel knows all too well that his<br />

team is the pillar of this success: “We<br />

have an exceptional crew at <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Executive Producer:<br />

Eric Moss<br />

Producer:<br />

Jürgen Kraus<br />

Postproduction Supervisor:<br />

Nilou Tabriz<br />

Director:<br />

Paula Walker<br />

DoP:<br />

Rolf Kestermann<br />

Editor:<br />

Markus Goller<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Head of Commercial:<br />

Philipp Bartel<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Commercial. Together with the team at<br />

punchin.pictures, they have a wealth of<br />

complementary qualifications, which<br />

they employ freely and generously in the<br />

service of our clients. If there are ever<br />

any problems, the team sorts them out<br />

and generates a positive outcome. This<br />

makes for a creative and productive<br />

environment.” ■<br />

Ingo Klingspon<br />

Art Director:<br />

Rico Reitz<br />

Telecine:<br />

Stefan Anderman<br />

Flame Artists:<br />

Rico Reitz Jawed Naser<br />

Michel Tischner Chris Weingart<br />

Stefan Tischner<br />

Rotoscoping:<br />

Manuel Voss & Team<br />

3D Artists:<br />

Christian Deister Gregoire Barfety<br />

Adam Dukes Lutz Pelike<br />

21


Return to Oz<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 on Tin Man<br />

22<br />

To create the fantastical world of Tin Man, an upcoming three-part, six-hour<br />

miniseries for the US SCI FI Channel, Director Nick Willing and Cinematographer<br />

Thomas Burstyn chose the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 to capture a whimsical world that<br />

reimagines Frank Baum’s classic The Wizard of Oz. The production stars<br />

Richard Dreyfuss as a wizard named Mystic Man, Zooey Deschanel as DG (the<br />

granddaughter of the original Dorothy) and Alan Cumming as Glitch, a man missing<br />

half his brain. Although Burstyn is very familiar with working in high definition video,<br />

this was his first foray shooting with the D-20. The DoP ran tests to learn the<br />

advantages and limitations of shooting with the film-style HD camera. “My most<br />

important test was to take the camera out into the darkest forest location we’d be<br />

working in on a gloomy day in the rain and see how the darkness worked in a<br />

situation that I couldn’t light or control. We shot wide open and lit a face very subtly<br />

with one bulb of a Kino Flo wrapped in diffusion and let the forest fall where it may.<br />

Initially I was concerned about the camera’s low ISO rating, but it has a lot more<br />

latitude in the shadows than a film emulsion does so that assuaged a lot of that<br />

worry of mine. Moreover, we were very pleased with the look. Great saturation,<br />

incredible accutance and resolution.”<br />

During testing the camera crew also familiarized themselves with the menu settings<br />

the camera has to offer. “We ran through all the settings on the camera, shot tests<br />

with every possible variation, and settled on the one we thought was best and that<br />

was Log F. It was the slowest setting but it gave the least amount of noise and the<br />

greatest amount of latitude. It seemed to be the most ‘film-like’ setting and the one<br />

that allowed the most flexibility in postproduction. We decided that although the<br />

camera requires a lot of lighting, the final result is quite fantastic. Lee Wilson of<br />

Anthem Visual Effects, leader of our visual effects team loved the camera. I think the<br />

look is closer to 35mm than any other camera can give. It was a worthwhile tradeoff.<br />

But while the camera output has some of the feel of 35mm, it also deviates from<br />

the modern grainy vogue of 35mm: because the image is so sharp, it feels like an<br />

old-fashioned fine grain film, maybe like Kodachrome but with better colour<br />

rendition, and long latitude range.”<br />

Burstyn interpreted the visuals to serve the<br />

story through a combination of traditional<br />

filmmaking techniques and more stylized<br />

looks. He notes, “My biggest tool around<br />

the camera was colour. We used a lot of<br />

colour, but not all at the same time. A<br />

character or a location would have a<br />

single or double colour assignation,<br />

something Nick, Production Designer<br />

Michael Joy and I worked out during<br />

prep. I would describe Tin Man as oldfashioned<br />

filmmaking with a twist. Think<br />

Orson Wells and Gregg Toland ASC.<br />

We had a lot of very classic coverage<br />

and we wanted to seduce the audience<br />

into thinking all is well, everything is<br />

normal and then we’d throw in some<br />

jarring imagery or cross the axis to throw<br />

everybody off track. There’s a lot of<br />

clever cutting in there. The Wicked Witch<br />

is transforming the world into a dark,<br />

lifeless place. The darkness is spreading<br />

from her evil factory. Around her factory<br />

and around her army there’s darkness,<br />

and it’s full of shadows and a very nasty<br />

kind of greenish daylight. Now, wherever<br />

DG goes, there’s a fairy tale, golden,<br />

beautiful light around her. In the world<br />

where DG comes from, it’s a normal,<br />

‘American, apple pie’ light. All that said,<br />

there’s an effort to keep these colours<br />

subtle and the look sincere, as real as<br />

you can expect things to be in the Land<br />

of Oz. It was a bit of a visual tightrope<br />

we had to walk, not wanting anything to<br />

become cartoon-like, but staying well<br />

away from the mundane.”<br />

An example of some edgy imagery can<br />

be seen in shots from DG’s perspective,<br />

sometimes shot with Willing’s antique<br />

Eyemo and <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35 IIC cameras<br />

or even with primitive, yet effective<br />

accessories repurposed for the D-20.<br />

“Nick wanted the film to be a<br />

psychoanalysis of our heroine DG.<br />

He wanted a story within a story, so we<br />

devised strange POVs that were altered<br />

in camera. Nick has a lot of wavy glass<br />

taken from old buildings, pieces of<br />

chandelier and pendants from his<br />

precious collection that he loved to<br />

handhold and wiggle in front of the lens.<br />

A lot of those dreams, memories and<br />

subconscious feelings were interpreted<br />

through that glassware.”<br />

The production shot for 60 days in<br />

British Columbia, Canada with three<br />

D-20 cameras provided by Clairmont<br />

Camera’s Vancouver office. The camera<br />

package included a set of standard<br />

speed Zeiss Primes, a few Super Speeds<br />

and three zooms of wide, medium and<br />

long lengths. Since the single,<br />

� ON LOCATION Director Nick Willng (right), Cinematographer Thomas Burstyn (left)<br />

6 Megapixel CMOS sensor at the heart<br />

of the D-20 has the same size as a<br />

Super 35mm film aperture the D-20 uses<br />

the same lenses as 35mm film cameras.<br />

Says Burstyn, whose credits include<br />

Marco Polo, the pilot of “The 4400”,<br />

City of Industry and The Boys and Girl<br />

from County Clare, “The great thing<br />

about the D-20 and its 35mm perspective<br />

is that you have full use of the palette of<br />

lenses. This was one of the reasons why<br />

Nick wanted the D-20, to be able to be<br />

selective with his depth of focus. We did<br />

a lot of long lens stuff, a lot of very<br />

standard lens (35, 50, 85mm) kind of<br />

coverage and lots of big, wide-angle<br />

shots swooping into close-ups. There’s a<br />

lot of out-of-focus foreground. We took<br />

full advantage of that 35mm depth of<br />

field that the D-20 camera provides.”<br />

Unlike the original adaptation, the<br />

miniseries is not a musical. “Our film is<br />

more of a road trip,” explains Burstyn.<br />

“The main characters are always<br />

moving, hiding and making their way<br />

towards the goal. A lot of the story is<br />

interpreted through the action or through<br />

the many wonderful flashbacks.” To<br />

cover all of these characters on their<br />

journey, the filmmakers incorporated<br />

frequent camera moves. “We took a lot<br />

from The Magnificent Ambersons and<br />

Citizen Kane. The camera flows through<br />

those big sets and arrives into a close-up<br />

or two-shot. The camera always moves<br />

so there’s a lot of crane and dolly work,<br />

a lot of hand-held. We used a lot of<br />

off-angles. Camera Operator Trig Singer<br />

and Dolly Grip Glen Forerider did<br />

amazing jobs, their choreography was<br />

magnificent to observe. Jim Van Dyke<br />

did one day of Steadicam for a scene of<br />

the characters running through a maze.”<br />

In a scene where DG is threatened by<br />

an angry mob, the production used<br />

in-camera and visual effects to bring a<br />

dead tree to fruitful life. “Nobody has<br />

any way of protecting DG, and the Tin<br />

Man, the Lion and Glitch turn to her to<br />

do something. She doesn’t know quite<br />

what to do and without realizing it, her<br />

magic power transforms the tree they’ve<br />

been standing beneath. As it begins to<br />

blossom, the camera rises into its<br />

branches and the light changes from a<br />

somber gloom into a golden glow. As<br />

the camera continues to rise, we fade up<br />

lights behind moving golden gels and<br />

the light seems to grow brighter as we<br />

do a subtle stop-pull. We arrive at the<br />

top of the tree already in full bloom from<br />

the art department’s bit of set dressing.<br />

Visual effects were later put in to make<br />

flowers bloom on camera. It was a<br />

carefully orchestrated effort that was in<br />

concert with the art department, lighting<br />

and visual effects.”<br />

For Burstyn, the opportunity to translate<br />

the story to screen was a creative<br />

challenge partnered with the benefits of<br />

shooting on the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20. “It’s a<br />

beautiful camera. In this age of instant<br />

gratification, cameras that surprise you<br />

with all the wonderful things that they<br />

can do, this camera requires a lot of skill<br />

and a confident hand but it was a great<br />

thrill and a privilege to use,” he says. ■<br />

Tin Man airs in December on the SCI FI<br />

Channel in the USA.<br />

An Tran<br />

Photo courtesy James Dittiger/SCI FI Channel<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

23


<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20<br />

Brings Ideas to Reality<br />

A growing number of filmmakers have entrusted their visions to the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 film-style digital<br />

camera in all areas of motion picture and television drama production. Over the last year, the camera’s<br />

versatility has been tested on feature films, TV drama series, commercials, music videos, second unit and<br />

effects shots.<br />

The first major project to use the D-20<br />

was Hogfather, an adaptation of the<br />

novel by Terry Pratchett for UK television.<br />

Directed by Vadim Jean, with<br />

cinematography by Gavin Finney BSC,<br />

the drama aired on Sky HD over<br />

Christmas 2006 in two feature-length<br />

parts. The producers were so pleased<br />

with how the production turned out that<br />

they shot with the D-20 for a second<br />

time this summer, teaming with Finney<br />

again on their next Pratchett adaptation,<br />

The Colour of Magic.<br />

For Afrika, Mon Amour, German DoP<br />

Frank Küpper was confident the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 was the right tool for this<br />

historic three-episode television period<br />

drama shot in Kenya, Germany, Austria<br />

and the UK. With many CGI effects and<br />

a tough postproduction schedule,<br />

shooting digital was the logical choice.<br />

“For a production with so many VFX<br />

shots, shooting digital has lots of<br />

advantages. No grain, instant availability<br />

of the full resolution images and the<br />

35mm look all play a vital role here,” he<br />

explained. “It was obvious that shooting<br />

HD with a camera that uses a Super<br />

35mm [sized] sensor would give the best<br />

results and speed up the workflow.”<br />

The D-20 was also used between<br />

November 2006 and April 2007 to<br />

shoot the eleventh series of the BBC<br />

drama Silent Witness, which consists of<br />

ten one-hour episodes. DoP Kevin<br />

Rowley and Producer George Ormond<br />

felt that the use of the D-20 helped to<br />

bring an even higher quality look to this<br />

popular crime series about a trio of<br />

forensic pathologists. “We felt it would<br />

give the show a very distinctive look –<br />

glossy, classy and expensive looking,<br />

with movie ambitions. It was the depth<br />

of field that made the difference for us,”<br />

commented Ormond. The twelfth series<br />

of Silent Witness is now underway and is<br />

again being shot with the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20.<br />

24<br />

Shooting recently concluded in Canada<br />

on The Andromeda Strain, directed by<br />

Mikael Salomon (DoP Jon Joffin) who last<br />

year directed The Company for Scott<br />

Free Productions with D-20 cameras; a<br />

highly prestigious US miniseries about<br />

the CIA (DoP Ben Nott ACS).<br />

Another production shot in Canada was<br />

Tin Man, a three-part miniseries directed<br />

by Nick Willing for the US SCI FI<br />

Channel (DoP Thomas Burstyn).<br />

Feature films to have shot with the D-20<br />

include The Bank Job (Director Roger<br />

Donaldson, DoP Mick Coulter BSC),<br />

RocknRolla (Director Guy Ritchie, DoP<br />

David Higgs), Prisoners of the Sun<br />

(Director Roger Christian, DoP Ed Wild)<br />

and Frequently Asked Questions About<br />

Time Travel (Director Gareth Carrivick,<br />

DoP John Pardue).<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> continues to gather invaluable<br />

feedback and respond to requests from<br />

users in order to further improve the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 to meet the needs and<br />

desires of cinematographers. The<br />

development of a new software package<br />

has recently increased the sensitivity of<br />

the camera to provide a wider range of<br />

settings for use in lower light situations;<br />

the D-20 can now be set to the<br />

approximate equivalent of 500 ISO<br />

(ASA), or even higher for certain<br />

applications. While a new Sony Fibre<br />

Interface SFI-1 facilitates high-speed<br />

shooting at up to 60fps. The unit mounts<br />

directly on the camera and is connected<br />

by a single fibre cable to a fibreequipped<br />

Sony SRW-1 HDCAM SR<br />

recorder. Bill Lovell, Head of the Digital<br />

Department at <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong>, comments:<br />

“The D-20 has always been capable of<br />

operating at 60 frames per second, but<br />

recorders have not been able to do the<br />

same. The Sony Fibre Interface<br />

configuration provides the solution,<br />

allowing high-speed shooting, in-camera<br />

speed ramps recorded directly on<br />

the SRW-1 and a cable length of up<br />

to 500m.” ■<br />

�<br />

�SILENT WITNESS<br />

�<br />

�THE COMPANY<br />

�HOGFATHER<br />

�<br />

© Jan Thijs<br />

Milcho Manchevski’s<br />

Shadows<br />

At <strong>ARRI</strong> in Munich, Vision<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

spoke with Director Milcho<br />

Manchevski and DoP Fabio<br />

Cianchetti about their latest<br />

feature Shadows, an international<br />

co-production filmed in<br />

Macedonia last year. Together<br />

they recalled their experiences<br />

making the film.<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong>: What’s the film<br />

Shadows about?<br />

Milcho Manchevski: It is about a young<br />

doctor in Macedonia who has personal<br />

problems and dies unexpectedly. He is a<br />

bit like Lady Macbeth’s son; he’s that<br />

type of character. I would describe the<br />

premise of the film as: sometimes the<br />

dead are more powerful than the living.<br />

VA: Is the film set in the world of<br />

the living or the dead?<br />

MM: The film is mostly about the living,<br />

about the journey the protagonist has to<br />

go on in order to recognize that life<br />

offers many possibilities.<br />

VA: Your film is an international<br />

co-production. How did that<br />

come about?<br />

MM: Our film is a German, Macedonian,<br />

Italian, Spanish and Bulgarian<br />

co-production. When you are making<br />

a film in Europe, it is almost always a<br />

co-production. There are two reasons<br />

why: first of all, it allows you to draw<br />

from a larger pool of talented people<br />

when you are putting together your<br />

team. Secondly, it helps get your film<br />

financed, especially if the film comes<br />

from a small and poor country. As a<br />

matter of fact, all the films I’ve made<br />

have been European co-productions<br />

involving three to five countries.<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

VA: Fabio Cianchetti, you also<br />

came to the project as a result of<br />

this co-production arrangement,<br />

is that right?<br />

Fabio Cianchetti: That’s correct. I am part<br />

of the Italian package, so to speak.<br />

I believe it was the Producer Amedeo<br />

Pagani who introduced me to Milcho<br />

Manchevski; he watched several of<br />

my previous films and after an initial<br />

meeting we both had a good feeling<br />

and so went to work. �<br />

25


VA: What was it like<br />

working together?<br />

SHADOWS<br />

FC: Milcho is an excellent director who<br />

knows what he wants. We shared the<br />

same vision for what we wanted to see<br />

on the screen. We agreed on the light,<br />

as well as the mood the film intended to<br />

communicate. He prefers the American<br />

way of working, whereas I like to<br />

experiment, but we soon found a<br />

common denominator. And in the end<br />

we both got what we wanted.<br />

VA: One of your co-producers is<br />

Blue Eyes Fiction, a new German<br />

production company. How did<br />

that relationship come about?<br />

MM: At the beginning we had contacts<br />

with various companies. When we got to<br />

the crucial point, where decisions needed<br />

to be made, Blue Eyes quickly decided to<br />

come on board. We had very little time<br />

because we wanted to shoot the film as<br />

soon as possible and having them on<br />

board allowed us to pull the trigger. If we<br />

26<br />

hadn’t shot the film last summer, I think<br />

we would never have shot it.<br />

VA: Was it the German producers<br />

who suggested <strong>ARRI</strong> for the<br />

film’s postproduction?<br />

MM: Yes, and I am very happy we<br />

decided to go with <strong>ARRI</strong>. Working with<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> was the best part of this entire<br />

process, starting at the preparation stage<br />

and all through production and<br />

postproduction. To me, what was most<br />

impressive was the competence of the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> staff. Our project was in good<br />

hands and it was a real comfort,<br />

especially after all the problems we had<br />

encountered at the outset. We felt very<br />

safe here. We were able to solve some<br />

of the problems that we were previously<br />

unable to resolve. <strong>ARRI</strong> was the icing on<br />

the cake on this project; they saved us!<br />

VA: What problems had you<br />

encountered prior to working<br />

with <strong>ARRI</strong>?<br />

MM: We experienced all kinds of<br />

problems. One was the fact that some of<br />

the visual effects made in Bulgaria did<br />

not turn out the way we had intended.<br />

We had done the work there because of<br />

the complicated co-production contract.<br />

At <strong>ARRI</strong> we were able to fix the visual<br />

effects; we worked on some of the<br />

problematic set-ups and now they work.<br />

The shoot was very difficult and<br />

complicated as well, and some of our<br />

shots did not turn out the way we had<br />

hoped. Things like that always happen,<br />

but I had never been to a place where<br />

these problems were tackled with so<br />

much competence and enthusiasm. The<br />

people I worked with at <strong>ARRI</strong>, especially<br />

the DI Colourist Rainer Schmidt of <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Film & TV, were so wholeheartedly<br />

committed. At <strong>ARRI</strong> people are not just<br />

professionals, they are committed<br />

professionals. To me, that is the only way<br />

to work. If you look at this as just another<br />

job that needs to get done, then it is so<br />

much harder to make it to the finish line.<br />

“THE DI GRANTS YOU MUCH GREATER<br />

FREEDOM AND SIMPLIFIES THE<br />

PRODUCTION. NOT ALL PROBLEMS<br />

HAVE TO GET SOLVED ON SET. THERE<br />

ARE PROBLEMS THAT CAN’T BE SOLVED<br />

ON SET, NOT EVEN WITH ALL THE TIME<br />

AND MONEY IN THE WORLD.”<br />

VA: Which camera did you use?<br />

FC: We used the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 535 and a<br />

Steadicam. We also used Cooke lenses.<br />

VA: Was this the first time you<br />

had finished a film using the<br />

DI process?<br />

MM: Yes. Before, we had just used the<br />

traditional lab process.<br />

FC: For me it was the first feature film<br />

entirely finished in a DI, though I did have<br />

some experience of it from commercials<br />

and from collaborations with Bernardo<br />

Bertolucci. The DI opened up an array of<br />

new possibilities. Rainer [Schmidt] was<br />

very important; he showed us the right<br />

way and I am very happy to have crossed<br />

paths with him. We got along splendidly<br />

and shared the same thoughts on many<br />

issues. He was at my side when things got<br />

a bit tricky and that was very reassuring.<br />

VA: You had only a week to do<br />

the colour correction. Was that all<br />

you thought you needed or were<br />

you afraid this wasn’t going to<br />

be enough time?<br />

MM: I was very much surprised how fast<br />

everything got done. At the beginning I<br />

thought that we hadn’t scheduled enough<br />

time and I was very nervous about that.<br />

But in the end we finished everything in<br />

less time then we had planned on. The<br />

most important aspect was that the<br />

biggest bulk of the work had already<br />

been completed when we arrived here.<br />

We only had to fine-tune and make some<br />

creative decisions, which were then<br />

executed promptly.<br />

VA: Would you want go through a<br />

DI again?<br />

MM: Absolutely. The DI grants you much<br />

greater freedom and simplifies the<br />

production. Not all problems have to<br />

get solved on set. There are problems<br />

that can’t be solved on set, not even<br />

with all the time and money in the world.<br />

What I enjoyed most was the possibility<br />

to shape the emotional as well as the<br />

narrative focus during postproduction.<br />

That is unique.<br />

VA: You had very little time to<br />

finish the film, since you wanted<br />

to present it at the Toronto<br />

International Film Festival.<br />

MM: That’s true. We got into the Special<br />

Presentation section and really had to<br />

get our act together and work hard.<br />

Again <strong>ARRI</strong> surprised us; everything was<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

� EDITING a car crash sequence<br />

� IN DISCUSSION DoP Fabio Cianchetti, DI Colourist Rainer<br />

Schmidt and Director Milcho Manchevski (left to right)<br />

finished when they said it was going to<br />

be finished, which wasn’t always the<br />

case on this production.<br />

VA: Could you see yourself<br />

shooting a film in Germany?<br />

MM: Sure, very much so. I would need<br />

some time to really understand the<br />

nuances, but I do believe that people are<br />

the same everywhere. I’ve shot a lot in<br />

Macedonia, France, England and Japan<br />

and I don’t think I would have problems<br />

shooting in Germany. There are many<br />

things I like about this country, for<br />

example the way work gets done here.<br />

In my experience, working with German<br />

companies has always been very<br />

straightforward, honest and transparent.<br />

I like that; it is a rare thing to find. This<br />

was also the case at <strong>ARRI</strong>. Now, it is<br />

very difficult for me to imagine working<br />

anywhere but at <strong>ARRI</strong>.<br />

FC: I would very much like to work in<br />

Germany again, but there are so many<br />

good DoPs in Germany that it is hard to<br />

find work here. Maybe it would be<br />

possible on another international<br />

co-production. ■<br />

Heike Maleschka / Ricore Text<br />

27


28<br />

EAST OF EVERYTHING<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Australia on location with Cinematographer Brendan Lavelle<br />

East of Everything is a six by one-hour television drama series, shot on location in the<br />

beautiful sub-tropical region of Byron Bay in New South Wales for Australia’s national<br />

broadcaster ABC Television.<br />

Created by highly-regarded writers Deb Cox<br />

and Roger Monk, who both live near Byron Bay,<br />

East of Everything is the story of a restless travel<br />

writer who is called to his dying mother’s bedside<br />

in a ramshackle resort on the eastern most point of<br />

Australia. While there, he is beset by local<br />

difficulties and painful reminders of his past, but<br />

comes to realise that this derelict town, which<br />

became his parents’ ‘paradise lost’, may hold the<br />

key to his own salvation.<br />

East of Everything features a stellar cast of<br />

Australian actors such as Richard Roxburgh, Tom<br />

Long, Gia Carides and Susie Porter. Produced by<br />

Fiona Eagger, whose previous television credits<br />

include The Society Murders and CrashBurn,<br />

the show was directed by Stuart McDonald and<br />

Matthew Saville. Director of Photography Brendan<br />

Lavelle, ACS had already established a working<br />

relationship with both directors on the hugely<br />

successful TV series The Secret Life of Us.<br />

Though digital video formats are becoming<br />

increasingly common on television drama<br />

productions in Australia, the team chose to shoot<br />

the series on Super 16mm film, mainly due to the<br />

isolated filming location and its distance from major<br />

centres capable of providing technical support.<br />

“Film equipment is proven to be robust and<br />

extremely portable,” says Lavelle. “It is well suited<br />

to the tight production requirements of a location<br />

shoot, within the inevitable tight deadlines. In<br />

addition, using film gave us flexibility in capturing<br />

the wide range of textures and contrasts at the<br />

various locations. The different landscapes were<br />

treated as other ‘characters’ in the story and we<br />

photographed them at all times of day and night to<br />

capture their many moods. Because of the short<br />

winter daylight hours during the shooting period,<br />

the film’s exposure latitude also gave more chances<br />

to preserve those moods at either end of the day.”<br />

Lavelle opted for Kodak Vision2 film stocks, making<br />

use of 250D (7205), 200T (7217) and 500T (7218).<br />

The production package was provided by <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Australia and consisted of two <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 16SR 3<br />

cameras equipped with Canon zoom lenses of<br />

11.5-139mm and 7-63mm, plus a set of Zeiss<br />

prime lenses ranging from 9.5mm to 50mm and a<br />

Canon Century 300mm telephoto lens with doubler.<br />

The telephoto lens was mostly used to cover surfing<br />

action at the mythical ‘Broken Head Bay’, where<br />

the series is set, as well as shots of the occasional<br />

migrating whale. Two sets of Schultz tripod legs<br />

with O’Connor and Sachtler 150mm fluid heads<br />

completed the package.<br />

“<strong>ARRI</strong> Australia representatives Christian Hilgart<br />

and Geraldine Quinn visited the location during<br />

preproduction to ensure we had a package that<br />

suited our needs,” continues Lavelle. “For a short<br />

period we also had the chance to use the new<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>LEX 416 camera and put it through its paces.<br />

“The production was keen to have the cost and<br />

time-saving benefits of 800ft film magazines, which<br />

are not typically seen on <strong>ARRI</strong> cameras in Australia,<br />

but the team arranged to have these imported for us<br />

from <strong>ARRI</strong> Germany and they were used to great<br />

effect. In fact, it was the first time these magazines<br />

had been used on a local production in Australia<br />

and they were of great benefit, with increased<br />

running time and greatly reduced wastage. In spite<br />

of the extra weight, they were also successfully used<br />

for hand-held shooting on many occasions, mounted<br />

on an Easyrig camera support and equipped with<br />

zoom lens, matte box and follow focus.<br />

“The shoot was completed successfully and on time,<br />

with no losses due to equipment or weather,”<br />

concludes Lavelle. “All involved feel that we have<br />

made a television series to be proud of and which<br />

does justice to the beautiful region of Byron Bay.” ■<br />

Tracy Mair<br />

� DIRECTOR OF EPISODES 4, 5, & 6, Matthew Saville, looking<br />

through the camera with DoP Brendan Lavelle; Cast and crew at<br />

Main Beach, Byron Bay; Susie Porter as Eve Pritchard; Director<br />

of the first 3 episodes, Stuart McDonald; The crew on location at<br />

Broken Head; The art department team work on the construction<br />

of the main set, the Far Out East resort; DoP Brendan Lavelle<br />

(from top left)<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

29


© 2007 Good Prayers, LLC Philipp Koller, Photographer<br />

A THOUSAND YEARS<br />

OF GOOD PRAYERS<br />

An Interview with Director Wayne Wang<br />

� DIRECTOR WAYNE WANG<br />

� YILAN (FAYE YU) and her father<br />

Mr. Shi (Henry O) at Yilan’s apartment<br />

30<br />

Wayne Wang’s latest film, A Thousand<br />

Years of Good Prayers, based on a<br />

short story by award-winning author<br />

Yiyun Li, marks the director’s departure<br />

from mainstream Hollywood movies and<br />

a return to his roots in independent film.<br />

A low-budget, character-driven piece,<br />

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers is set<br />

in the Chinese American community, a<br />

world in which Wang is very much at<br />

home. He himself is a Hong Kong native<br />

who immigrated to the United States and<br />

later studied film at the California<br />

College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.<br />

The film tells the story of Mr. Shi (Henry<br />

O), an elderly Chinese gentleman who<br />

comes to the U.S. to look after his<br />

recently divorced daughter Yilan (Faye<br />

Yu), though their worlds quickly collide.<br />

Mr. Shi is concerned with the loss of<br />

traditional Chinese values while his<br />

daughter, an independent woman<br />

consumed with work and her affair with<br />

a married Russian man, feels her father<br />

is encroaching upon her life. It is the<br />

unexpected friendship with an Iranian<br />

woman (Vida Ghahremani) of his own<br />

age and a trip across the U.S. that<br />

eventually helps Mr. Shi to reconcile<br />

with his estranged daughter.<br />

Wayne Wang’s earlier films include<br />

A Man, a Woman, and a Killer, Chan Is<br />

Missing, Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart<br />

and Slam Dance. His Hollywood<br />

breakthrough came with The Joy Luck<br />

Club in 1993, which he followed with<br />

films such as Smoke, Blue in the Face<br />

and Maid in Manhattan. His most recent<br />

film A Thousand Years of Good Prayers<br />

premiered at the Toronto International<br />

Film Festival in 2007, in conjunction<br />

with companion piece The Princess of<br />

Nebraska, also based on a short story<br />

by Yiyun Li.<br />

Less than a month later A Thousand<br />

Years of Good Prayers was awarded<br />

the Golden Shell for Best Film at the<br />

San Sebastian Film Festival.<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong>: Mr Wang, with your<br />

work you seem to be a master<br />

of bringing Chinese themes to a<br />

western audience.<br />

Wayne Wang: I don’t think of myself as a<br />

master. I feel that because I am Chinese<br />

and have been living in America for the<br />

last 30 years I know the community, the<br />

people and the culture of the Chinese in<br />

America. And, I always try to make films<br />

about what I know best.<br />

VA: You overcome the gap<br />

between Asian and western<br />

culture so easily. What is<br />

your secret?<br />

WW: There is no secret. There is only the<br />

on-going process of accepting the conflict<br />

and using the best of both cultures.<br />

VA: How did the fact that you live<br />

in America affect your point of<br />

view on China?<br />

WW: It gives me a more objective view<br />

of China, I think. It makes me appreciate<br />

what’s unique and positive about China<br />

and yet see the problems more clearly in<br />

the same way. I’m dealing with being<br />

both American and Chinese.<br />

VA: After 17 movies, what has<br />

changed for you personally<br />

in filmmaking?<br />

WW: I learned that being truthful to the<br />

characters in the film is the key to<br />

everything. And to find the conflict in<br />

what the characters want gives me the<br />

tension that I need to build each scene.<br />

VA: Has your style of<br />

directing changed?<br />

WW: It has changed a lot. I no longer<br />

strive to control and perfect everything.<br />

Instead I’ve learned to use what is really<br />

in front of me and make it serve my<br />

ultimate goal for the film.<br />

VA: Or has your cultural approach<br />

to China changed?<br />

WW: It has become a fusion of some<br />

kind. Some people in China recently<br />

said that I’m not Chinese. I’m proud of<br />

that; I’m more than simply a Chinese,<br />

I’m a Chinese-American and a citizen of<br />

the world – a truly contemporary, global<br />

person with a unique fusion culture.<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

“I NO LONGER STRIVE TO<br />

CONTROL AND PERFECT<br />

EVERYTHING. INSTEAD I’VE<br />

LEARNED TO USE WHAT IS<br />

REALLY IN FRONT OF ME AND<br />

MAKE IT SERVE MY ULTIMATE<br />

GOAL FOR THE FILM.”<br />

VA: You are very experienced<br />

now; what is different in your<br />

recent work compared to your<br />

early films?<br />

WW: Every film is still very different.<br />

I don’t see them as routine; I try to do<br />

different things. Big Hollywood films...<br />

small personal films... but I keep it fresh<br />

so that I learn something new every time.<br />

VA: What was most important<br />

for you in your new movie A<br />

Thousand Years of Good Prayers?<br />

WW: That there are many things which<br />

determine how your relationship to<br />

different people work, but ultimately there<br />

is something called destiny or fate which<br />

you can affect to a certain degree in<br />

how you are, how you relate to people<br />

and what you do every day – not only in<br />

this lifetime but perhaps in other ones too.<br />

VA: What did you experience<br />

during this production? What did<br />

you like or dislike? What was fun<br />

and what was difficult?<br />

WW: I enjoyed the freedom I had on<br />

every aspect of the production and<br />

because of this, I was able to work very<br />

instinctively. I worked very closely with<br />

my cinematographer, Patrick Lindenmaier<br />

and we both enjoyed trying to find the<br />

truth in every moment of each scene.<br />

Everything was fun and difficult at the<br />

same time. There are always<br />

contradictions in anything we do.<br />

VA: Concerning your crew: do you<br />

prefer working in big teams or in<br />

small teams?<br />

WW: I really like working in a small<br />

close-knit team – the smaller the better.<br />

VA: How do you choose your crew<br />

for each production? I noticed<br />

that you work a lot with different<br />

people, not with the same editors<br />

or DoPs each time. �<br />

31


© 2007 Good Prayers, LLC Philipp Koller, Photographer<br />

WW: I have worked with some people on<br />

several films; my editor has been with<br />

me for four or five films. We have very<br />

similar tastes and have worked out a<br />

shorthand way of working together. I<br />

have worked with some DoPs on several<br />

films – Amir Mokri is one of them. I do<br />

want to work with people on a more<br />

regular basis but it’s very difficult finding<br />

the right person. I enjoyed my<br />

relationship with Patrick Lindenmaier,<br />

we worked together several times, colour<br />

correcting during the transfer from digital<br />

to film and I now appreciate working<br />

with him as a DoP.<br />

VA: During your filmmaking<br />

career, from 1975 up until now,<br />

there has been a transition from<br />

analogue to digital. What do you<br />

think about the developments?<br />

WW: It has not always been easy. In the<br />

beginning I was very suspicious of every<br />

aspect of it; Patrick helped me through<br />

some of that. The technology has really<br />

changed in the last three or four years<br />

and now I believe that the future will<br />

be digital.<br />

VA: Do you shoot on film or<br />

digital? When and how do you<br />

decide which format to use?<br />

WW: I think I will use digital more now.<br />

I like the freedom I get from the cameras<br />

that are getting so good and I also like<br />

the fact that it can look so organic in the<br />

end on film. In the future I believe that<br />

film will be phased out when theatres<br />

convert to digital projections.<br />

VA: What equipment did you<br />

use for A Thousand Years of<br />

Good Prayers?<br />

A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS<br />

WW: We shot on an HDW 900R<br />

HDCAM and used zoom and fixed focus<br />

32<br />

lenses from Fujinon. The camera was<br />

one of the first models of this new type.<br />

It had the serial number 17! We used<br />

the so-called CineGamma to avoid<br />

getting excessively stark images in<br />

high-contrast situations.<br />

VA: Is there a technical aspect that<br />

was very important in this movie?<br />

WW: It was very important for the film to<br />

look natural and not “digital.”<br />

VA: Did you have to make<br />

compromises during the shoot for<br />

technical reasons?<br />

WW: We had to wait often for the sun or<br />

the light to be appropriate before we<br />

could shoot.<br />

VA: For A Thousand Years of Good<br />

Prayers you chose to work with<br />

Swiss postproduction companies.<br />

How was this experience, in<br />

particular your collaboration<br />

with Schwarz Film and<br />

Patrick Lindenmaier?<br />

WW: I have worked with Patrick before<br />

at Andromeda Film and Schwarz Film.<br />

I really like their creative capabilities<br />

combined with their expert technical<br />

experience. I have had very good<br />

experiences with them each time.<br />

VA: How is the technical<br />

equipment and working method<br />

compared to the US or China?<br />

WW: The technical and working method<br />

at Andromeda Film and Schwarz Film is<br />

more precise. And I particularly value<br />

their creative contributions besides their<br />

technical ones. This is the key difference<br />

compared with China or the US.<br />

VA: Which digital workflow did<br />

you utilise for your film?<br />

WW: The film was shot on HD 24fps<br />

progressive. The offline was completed<br />

in HD as well. Working on Avid’s,<br />

Adrenalin made it possible to create<br />

subtitles and do a preliminary colour<br />

correction during the initial visualization.<br />

The online edit and the colour correction<br />

were later completed – uncompressed –<br />

at Andromeda Film. Afterwards we<br />

rendered the film in 2K files at Schwarz Film.<br />

VA: Were you conscious of<br />

significant cultural differences<br />

throughout this workflow?<br />

WW: No, as I have mentioned before,<br />

I’m very western and global in my<br />

thinking. The only difference may be the<br />

extreme care of details and precision<br />

which I appreciate a lot!<br />

VA: Is it inspiring to work in<br />

Europe for you or is it a burden<br />

to travel so far for postproduction?<br />

WW: I love travelling to Europe and I<br />

love Switzerland. I want to work there<br />

more – maybe even shoot a film there.<br />

VA: After so many years in<br />

America, could you consider<br />

returning to China to make a film?<br />

WW: Maybe. I scouted China many<br />

times when I made The Joy Luck Club<br />

and ended up shooting there for<br />

exteriors only because it is very difficult<br />

to work there. They have the latest<br />

technology and the skills, but they don’t<br />

have the care, the organization or the<br />

mental precision to do a really great job.<br />

VA: Apart from commercial<br />

aspects, which of your movies are<br />

you most proud of having made?<br />

WW: A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. ■<br />

Andrea Oki<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

A Symphony of Soloists<br />

The <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 captures performances from 150 separate musicians<br />

for Sony’s latest WALKMAN commercial.<br />

� THE MUSICIANS form a spiral; each play a single note in turn<br />

� DIRECTOR NICK GORDON<br />

� LINING UP A SHOT: DoP Antonio Paladino, 1st AC Alex Reid<br />

and Director Nick Gordon (left to right)<br />

Once a centre-point of Victorian London’s social scene, the 2000-capacity theatre within<br />

Alexandra Palace, unseen by the public for more than 65 years, is a crumbling vestige<br />

of its past. Scheduled for restoration, the theatre is in such a magnificent state of<br />

disrepair that it resembles an elaborately designed set, which is the very reason it has<br />

been selected as the location for a new commercial advertising Sony’s next generation<br />

of WALKMAN digital media players.<br />

Standing amid the faded grandeur, DoP Antonio<br />

Paladino explains the concept of the shoot: “We have<br />

150 musicians and our assignment is to film every one<br />

of them playing one single note. They’re all individual<br />

musicians and were playing together for the first time<br />

on our first shooting day; it wasn’t at all clear<br />

whether or not they’d actually be able to play this<br />

piece of music but they’ve pulled it off really well.”<br />

Produced by production house Academy for<br />

advertising agency Fallon, the commercial was slated<br />

as an HD shoot at an early stage due to uncertainty<br />

about how much material would have to be shot in<br />

order to get adequate coverage. Paladino opted to<br />

shoot with Cooke S4 lenses on two <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20s,<br />

having used the film-style digital camera for the first<br />

time only weeks before, on another commercial.<br />

Equipment was supplied by <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> in London.<br />

Despite its dilapidation, the theatre is a listed and<br />

therefore protected building, so the crew were unable<br />

to hang a lighting grid from the ceiling, nor even put a<br />

single nail in a wall. “We’re using helium balloons,”<br />

says Paladino. “8kW tungsten tubes - three for the main<br />

hall and one for the stage; they’re on strings so we can<br />

move them around and angle them. The practical bulbs<br />

that are strung around the hall were already there. We<br />

didn’t want it to look over-lit; it’s a moody location, so<br />

we wanted the lighting to have a moody look. I didn’t<br />

want the faces or the sheet music to be too bright.”<br />

HD Technician and AC Gavin MacArthur was given<br />

the responsibility of overseeing the camera signals<br />

from the Director’s monitors, as well as remotely<br />

controlling aperture settings, which were generally<br />

T2.8 and one-half or wider. “We calibrated the<br />

monitors to all match during our test day at <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

<strong>Media</strong>,” he says. “We also have Astro monitors set<br />

up here so I can keep an eye on waveform displays<br />

no matter how the cameras are configured.”<br />

Postproduction of the commercial is taking place at<br />

The Moving Picture Company (MPC), with a tight<br />

turnaround of just seven weeks. “Unfortunately I<br />

can’t be there for the grade,” says Paladino. “But I<br />

don’t think much will change with what we’ve shot.<br />

The location is stunning and the costumes are so<br />

colourful, everything already looks amazing. All the<br />

monitors were calibrated so what we see is really<br />

what we’re getting. It’s such a great advantage of<br />

shooting on HD – I can just look at a monitor under<br />

a dark cloth and see exactly what I’m getting; it’s a<br />

very satisfying process.” ■<br />

Mark Hope-Jones<br />

33


34<br />

The Story of a Young Killer<br />

Based on Jonathan Trigell’s novel of the same name, Boy A<br />

follows the story of Jack, a child murderer released back into<br />

society as an adult. As the 24-year-old attempts to start again<br />

in a world outside of confinement and rid himself of his former<br />

life, the story moves between the present and past, taking the<br />

viewer on a journey to discover who Jack really is. The<br />

question at the core of the film is; can Jack really escape the<br />

past and start again – and is it right that he should? �<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

35


� DIRECTOR JOHN CROWLEY<br />

THE STORY OF A YOUNG KILLER<br />

Originally produced by Cuba Pictures<br />

for Channel 4, the worldwide rights for<br />

Boy A were recently snapped up by<br />

The Weinstein Company following a<br />

successful screening at the Toronto<br />

International Film Festival. Directed by<br />

John Crowley and photographed by<br />

Rob Hardy, the production was shot with<br />

two <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 416 cameras and Master<br />

Prime lenses. Camera equipment was<br />

supplied by <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> and lighting<br />

equipment by <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental from<br />

their Manchester branches.<br />

Director of Photography Rob Hardy<br />

discusses how he tackled this<br />

controversial and thought-provoking<br />

subject – his subtle approach,<br />

camerawork and favourite scenes.<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong>: The production has been<br />

shot in Super 16 using <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX<br />

416 cameras. How was this<br />

decision made?<br />

Rob Hardy: I fell out of love with 16mm<br />

some time ago. We had a passionate<br />

affair but it fizzled out, mainly due to<br />

familiarity and partly because there was<br />

nothing new, it just wasn’t going<br />

anywhere for me. I preferred 35mm and<br />

dare I say it, HD started to show its face<br />

in an impressive way. But all that<br />

changed when I saw the 416. It was love<br />

at first sight. I am not a camera geek,<br />

and not particularly technical, but I<br />

36<br />

“I WAS INTERESTED IN CREATING A HAZY SOFT<br />

FLARE AND FOUND THAT BY USING A ONE-<br />

EIGHTH BLACK PRO-MIST OR ONE-QUARTER<br />

CLASSIC SOFT FILTER, COMBINED WITH A<br />

DEGREE OF CAMERA FLARE, I WAS ABLE TO<br />

ACHIEVE THE SUBTLE LOOK I WANTED.”<br />

instinctively knew that this was a good<br />

thing. The 416 stood out, a 16mm<br />

camera with 35mm capabilities. The look<br />

through is crystal clear and I could use<br />

35mm lenses without getting neck ache.<br />

When I met with John Crowley and Lynn<br />

Horsford [Producer] the first thing they<br />

told me was that we were to shoot on<br />

film, not HD. We wanted a film look and<br />

feel, but the budget couldn’t stretch to<br />

35. The 416 was the perfect choice.<br />

Also, I knew there would be a certain<br />

degree of hand-held work involved;<br />

again, this was 416 territory.<br />

VA: What visual approach did<br />

you decide on with John Crowley<br />

for the story? Did Crowley give<br />

you any visual references or<br />

were you influenced by anyone<br />

or anything?<br />

RH: Meeting John Crowley was an<br />

inspirational time for me. He trusted me<br />

implicitly, which is rare for a new<br />

collaboration such as this. I felt I was<br />

able to stamp a personal visual style<br />

onto the film without it being<br />

inappropriate or egotistical. We talked<br />

in depth about the story, about that main<br />

character’s trajectory and how this could<br />

be achieved through the cinematography.<br />

John was open to anything, which is not<br />

to say he didn’t have a clear idea about<br />

what he wanted; rather, he knew what<br />

he didn’t want. Consequently, I was<br />

able to formulate a ‘visual plan’ without<br />

any restrictions.<br />

The only film we really talked about was<br />

Alan Clarke’s Elephant, a 1980s BBC<br />

production that has rarely been seen.<br />

There was a cold observing quality to it<br />

that seemed appropriate. It is an<br />

incredibly uncompromising film, a true<br />

work of art. We took the idea and ran<br />

with it. I made sure that my Steadicam<br />

Operator, Roger Tooley, had seen the film<br />

as it is a Steadicam operators dream.<br />

I would like to say that I studied<br />

paintings or other cinematographers’<br />

work but I didn’t, my main influence<br />

comes from music. Rhythm, timing and<br />

melody are how I see images. I prefer to<br />

keep my mind free from the clutter of<br />

other peoples’ way of seeing, which is<br />

probably why I have no pictures on my<br />

walls at home.<br />

VA: Can you describe the style<br />

of camerawork?<br />

RH: One thing that John and I agreed on<br />

at a very early stage was our dislike for<br />

‘Brit Grit’. Hand-held work seems such<br />

an obvious route to ‘spray on’ emotion.<br />

That isn’t to say we didn’t use a handheld<br />

camera, we did, there is something<br />

about operating a hand-held camera that<br />

gets you close to the emotion of a<br />

character, it becomes very immediate.<br />

However, I wanted everything we did to<br />

be subtle, layered, considered. We<br />

thought very hard about how to approach<br />

a scene before we dived in. I wanted to<br />

create an elegant feel overall, and that<br />

meant combining hand-held with<br />

Steadicam, as well as formal static wide<br />

shots and slow creeping tracking shots. I<br />

think in the end these things combined<br />

very well. It is easy to be flashy, it is a<br />

lot harder to be restrained and subtle,<br />

but I think we achieved it.<br />

VA: You chose to use Master Prime<br />

lenses on Boy A, what is it you<br />

like about them? Were there<br />

particular focal lengths that were<br />

used more than others?<br />

RH: What can I say about these beautiful<br />

things without gushing embarrassingly.<br />

Probably a focus puller’s worst<br />

nightmare, but enter stage right the very<br />

talented Mr. Ritchie Donnelly; my focus<br />

puller on Boy A. He appeared suitably<br />

unfazed by the challenges that these<br />

beasts unleashed upon us during<br />

production. I chose them because<br />

initially they seemed very similar to<br />

Primos. The focal lengths make more<br />

sense to me than those of the Cookes or<br />

the Ultra Primes and of course the speed<br />

was a big part of the decision process.<br />

I shot most of the film wide open at<br />

T1.3, partly for creative reasons and<br />

partly because I was using very slow<br />

daylight stocks on low lit interiors. My<br />

refusal to use hard highlights and my<br />

liking for under-lit soft sources made it<br />

particularly hard for Ritchie. I tended to<br />

use the mid range in the set; the 21, 40<br />

and 65mm were particular favourites of<br />

mine. I was interested in creating a hazy<br />

soft flare and found that by using a oneeighth<br />

Black Pro-Mist or one-quarter<br />

Classic Soft filter, combined with a<br />

degree of camera flare, I was able to<br />

achieve the subtle look I wanted. It<br />

added another layer to an image that<br />

was sometimes too crisp. I’m completely<br />

sold on these lenses.<br />

VA: The story moves between the<br />

present and past, looking at the<br />

attempts of the main character<br />

(Jack) to readjust to a world<br />

outside of prison and at what<br />

happened to him as a youngster.<br />

Did you decide to represent<br />

the present and past<br />

differently visually?<br />

RH: John and I deliberately set out to<br />

keep that transition as seamless as<br />

� DOP ROB HARDY at the camera on location<br />

possible. Jack’s character is continually<br />

tormented by his past but it remains<br />

intrinsically part of his every being and<br />

as he discovers, almost impossible to<br />

separate. To have a different visual style<br />

for past and present would have been<br />

the obvious thing to do. Audiences are<br />

smarter than that. I wanted both past<br />

and present to look the same. The<br />

audience should feel what Jack is feeling<br />

in order to understand the complexities<br />

of the character. So I photographed<br />

them in exactly the same way, as if the<br />

story itself were linear.<br />

VA: Are there any shots that come<br />

to mind that were particularly<br />

difficult, or a particular shot that<br />

you are most proud of? Can you<br />

describe how they were achieved?<br />

RH: There are a couple of shots in the<br />

film, which demonstrate our methods in<br />

subtlety and in taking a different<br />

approach. In the story Jack saves a little<br />

girl from a car crash, an act of<br />

redemption perhaps, and whilst working<br />

at a warehouse he is called onto the floor<br />

because “somebody wants to see you”.<br />

Jack is understandably afraid. We follow<br />

him through a tunnel of blue pallets on<br />

Steadicam until we enter the open space<br />

of the warehouse floor where five people<br />

are waiting for him, one of them being a<br />

photographer who wants to take his<br />

picture for the local newspaper. Jack<br />

hesitates. At this point we were supposed<br />

to cut and then drop into singles and two<br />

shots as the scene plays out, but I<br />

suggested we continue the shot for the<br />

duration of the scene. So the camera<br />

follows him and begins to circle the five<br />

people as the scene plays out. It was all<br />

about looks and words said by the actors<br />

that enforced Jack’s paranoia. Roger<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

[Steadicam Operator] circled them twice<br />

until the scene ended. The result was<br />

amazing. What we got was the energy<br />

of the scene without any breaks in it,<br />

enabling the actors to play it out for real,<br />

thus enhancing the drama. It was a long<br />

shot and took 16 or so takes to achieve<br />

but it worked beautifully. The thing that<br />

pleases me most about it is that you are<br />

not aware of the camera, you are only<br />

aware of the story that is unfolding<br />

between the characters.<br />

The second shot is during a scene<br />

between Jack as a boy and his friend<br />

Philip, whom he commits the heinous<br />

crime with. Philip is telling Jack how his<br />

older brother has raped him. It is Philip’s<br />

only open display of genuine emotion,<br />

and a poignant moment. I wanted to<br />

reflect visually how Philip’s character<br />

could feel so small and vulnerable. One<br />

would assume that we would start wide<br />

and go in to a close-up to capture the<br />

emotion of the child. I decided to do the<br />

opposite. I suggested to John that we<br />

move away from the kids as Philip’s<br />

story progresses to deeper and darker<br />

levels. We constructed what I call an<br />

‘invisible’ crane shot. It started as a low<br />

wide shot and slowly, very slowly,<br />

moved to an overhead and then just<br />

simply kept going up and up into the<br />

heavens. It ended as Philip ended his<br />

story. Once again, because the subject<br />

matter is so engaging I didn’t want the<br />

audience to be camera aware, the shot<br />

progresses so slowly that we hardly<br />

notice the movement until all of a sudden<br />

you realise that you are way up in the<br />

sky looking down upon these two<br />

vulnerable children.<br />

Having said all of that, I think my<br />

favourite shot in the film is a simple mid<br />

shot of the character Zeb, the son of<br />

Jack’s caseworker Terry, sitting in Terry’s<br />

kitchen conversing with his dad for the<br />

first time in a long while. It’s a great<br />

scene. I cannot explain why, but this shot<br />

to me is the closest I have ever come to<br />

fulfilling my vision. Everything about it,<br />

to me, is aesthetically perfect. To anyone<br />

else, it may seem unremarkable.<br />

Rob Hardy and John Crowley are<br />

currently in preproduction on their<br />

second project together, Is There<br />

Anybody There? ■<br />

Michelle Smith<br />

37


Mongol<br />

38<br />

The Early Years of Genghis Khan<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

The Mongolian ruler Genghis Khan remains one of the most<br />

legendary and controversial figures of world history. In the early<br />

13th century he laid the foundation for one of the world’s largest<br />

empires by uniting the feuding tribes of Central Asia. In recognition<br />

of this achievement, Mongols continue to worship him as the father of<br />

the Mongol Nation. Others, however, remember him as the ruthless,<br />

warmongering conqueror who annexed China, Persia and Russia,<br />

and even had ambitions in Europe. The new film Mongol tells a lesser<br />

known side of the story – that of a little boy named Temüjin, who<br />

endured tremendous hardship before becoming the first ruler of the<br />

Mongol Empire, later to be known as Genghis Khan.<br />

Director Sergei Bodrov Sr. (Prisoner of<br />

the Caucasus, Bears Kiss) felt a strong<br />

connection to this tale of a young man<br />

fighting to fulfil his destiny: “Mongol was<br />

a very personal film for me,” he says.<br />

“I very much related to Temüjin’s plight.<br />

Many historical accounts describe<br />

Genghis Khan as a monster and mass<br />

murderer; but I wanted to show a<br />

different man, a man I admire because<br />

he overcame the most dire and hopeless<br />

circumstances to become the leader of a<br />

nation and the ruler of an empire. Let’s<br />

not forget, the Mongol Empire was a<br />

highly organized and efficient empire<br />

with an early form of an administration.<br />

That’s why, to this day, Genghis Khan is<br />

much more to the Mongols than the<br />

founder of Mongolia. They still worship<br />

him like a God.”<br />

Bringing this incredible story to the big<br />

screen was a challenge, even for a<br />

filmmaker as experienced and recognized<br />

as Bodrov. The international<br />

co-production, involving Russia, Germany<br />

and Kazakhstan was shot in China and<br />

Kazakhstan with camera equipment<br />

supplied by <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental, Munich. Behind<br />

the camera were two DoPs: Rogier<br />

Stoffers (Character, Quills) and Sergey<br />

Trofimov (The Peshawar Waltz, Day<br />

Watch), who shot the mass battle scenes.<br />

Communication and logistics were of vital<br />

importance in making this method of<br />

working a success.<br />

The majority of the film was shot in Inner<br />

Mongolia, an autonomous region in<br />

Northern China that borders Mongolia<br />

and is actually home to more Mongols<br />

than Mongolia itself. “It was a complex<br />

decision to shoot there,” recalls Bodrov.<br />

“A lot of it had to do with budgetary<br />

considerations, but first and foremost<br />

it was important to me to shoot at the<br />

original locations in Inner Mongolia,<br />

the cradle of the Mongolian culture and<br />

the heart of the old Mongolian empire.<br />

Also, we had heard a lot of good things<br />

about filming in this area, in terms of the<br />

availability of personnel.”<br />

“WE HAD TO CLEAN THE<br />

EQUIPMENT CONSTANTLY.<br />

BUT THE <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

EQUIPMENT PERFORMED<br />

EXCEPTIONALLY WELL,<br />

EVEN UNDER THESE<br />

EXTREME CONDITIONS.”<br />

The production had to hire two people<br />

for each position, one Russian and one<br />

Chinese; additionally they had crew<br />

members from Germany, Japan, Ukraine<br />

and Mongolia. Consequently, there was<br />

need for a team of about 30 translators<br />

and on occasion the melting pot of<br />

cultural mentalities did lead to some<br />

friction. “We had to pay our dues,”<br />

continues Bodrov. “But the fantastic<br />

locations and our extremely professional<br />

crew helped us make an exceptional<br />

film with breathtaking images at a<br />

reasonable price.” With a smirk on his<br />

face, he adds: “We are more or less<br />

experts now on filming in China and<br />

could teach expensive seminars.”<br />

Of course the shoot wasn’t just taxing on<br />

the crew. On location in these remote<br />

areas of Inner Mongolia the <strong>ARRI</strong>CAMs,<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435 and 235 cameras were<br />

subjected to exceptionally harsh<br />

conditions. “We had to deal with<br />

extreme temperatures and with a lot of<br />

sand and dust,” says DoP Sergey<br />

Trofimov. “We had to clean the equipment<br />

constantly. But the <strong>ARRI</strong> equipment<br />

performed exceptionally well, even under<br />

these extreme conditions. I believe these<br />

cameras speak for themselves.” �<br />

39


MONGOL<br />

“I HAVE ALWAYS WORKED WITH<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> EQUIPMENT AND IT WOULD<br />

HAVE BEEN A MISTAKE TO USE<br />

ANYTHING ELSE.”<br />

Sergei Bodrov was also aware that<br />

reliability was an absolute priority for the<br />

camera kit. “I have always worked with<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> equipment and it would have been<br />

a mistake to use anything else,” he says.<br />

“Especially in our high-risk business, it is<br />

extremely important to rely on partners<br />

who are 100% trustworthy. <strong>ARRI</strong> was<br />

definitely the right choice for such a<br />

logistically challenging shoot. We were<br />

filming in the most remote locations and<br />

the equipment had quite a journey to get<br />

40<br />

there. Everything was flown to Beijing,<br />

where the shipment had to pass customs;<br />

then, after an additional 4-hour flight to<br />

a small provincial airport, the equipment<br />

had to go on a 12-hour car ride before<br />

reaching our location in Inner Mongolia.<br />

A lot can happen on such a long journey.<br />

At one point, half of the cases arrived<br />

wet; we had to dry and test everything,<br />

but it all worked perfectly.”<br />

Another challenge was finding a way to<br />

view dailies. The exposed film had to be<br />

taken to a laboratory in Hamburg and<br />

the processed footage sent back to<br />

China. “Obviously it was an issue that<br />

we couldn’t view what we had shot,”<br />

says Trofimov. “The first dailies made it<br />

back to China three weeks into the shoot.<br />

The second set got there two weeks<br />

before we wrapped. It was very risky.<br />

The suspense was great, but when the<br />

dailies finally arrived, we didn’t have the<br />

time to properly check them; we just did<br />

a rush screening.”<br />

The look of the film was determined<br />

by the fact that it interweaves two<br />

emotionally contrasting storylines, but<br />

also by the key role played by the<br />

landscape. Sergey Trofimov explains how<br />

they decided on a visual approach:<br />

“We just went ahead and storyboarded<br />

�� Filming of the third battle<br />

everything, at least the part that I shot.<br />

That’s when we realized that several<br />

compositions didn’t fit into the story and<br />

we had to make some adjustments. The<br />

main story is quite simple; it is the story<br />

of a young man, a story about his life,<br />

his friends and his enemies. The images<br />

were therefore kept rather simple in terms<br />

of composition. But then there is also the<br />

B-story, the romance. We decided to use<br />

Cooke lenses, which are a little softer<br />

than the Ultra Primes and therefore more<br />

appropriate for the love story. The battle<br />

scenes were another issue altogether.<br />

We shot them mostly hand-held, but the<br />

rest of the film was made rather<br />

conventionally, using a lot of dolly and<br />

static shots. We wanted to show the<br />

beautiful landscape and not distract from<br />

it with attention-grabbing camera work.”<br />

During postproduction, the main tasks<br />

were to blend the various storylines<br />

which were shot at multiple locations and<br />

to create a homogenous and consistent<br />

look. Trofimov himself supervised the<br />

colour grading process of the entire film.<br />

A rough cut of Rogier Stoffers’ footage<br />

had been colour graded already but the<br />

fine-tuning was Trofimov’s responsibility.<br />

“Rogier Stoffers footage wasn’t shot<br />

differently,” he explains, “it was just a<br />

different part of the story. Working this<br />

way allowed me to analyze the role each<br />

part was to play in the film ahead of<br />

time; then I went ahead and figured out<br />

how to proceed. On one hand the<br />

landscapes, such as the steppe and the<br />

mountains, had to play an important<br />

part. On the other hand we were dealing<br />

with various intense and different<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

emotional states. This required very<br />

sophisticated colour grading because it<br />

was important to find a balance between<br />

continuity and differentiation. I hope we<br />

found the right way.<br />

In every regard – creatively, technically,<br />

politically and personally – this was a<br />

valuable experience,” concludes<br />

Trofimov. “And I believe that the end<br />

result will meet all expectations.”<br />

Mongol received its world premier at<br />

Toronto International Film Festival in<br />

September 2007 and its European<br />

premier at Cinema Rome Film Festival<br />

in October 2007. ■<br />

Bastian Prützmann / Andrea Rosenwirth<br />

41


Copacabana<br />

42<br />

The postproduction experts at <strong>ARRI</strong> in Munich have supported many<br />

prestigious national and international film and television projects,<br />

guiding them through the various stages of production. For Xaver<br />

Schwarzenberger’s most recent television drama Copacabana, their<br />

expertise was put to use combining traditional film techniques with<br />

digital technology.<br />

A native of Vienna, Xaver Schwarzenberger is among the most versatile and sought-after<br />

filmmakers in the German-speaking world. His large body of work as a DoP includes<br />

many of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s films, such as Berlin Alexanderplatz, Lola, Lili<br />

Marleen, Querelle and Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss, as well as the box-office hits<br />

Schtonk! and the Otto films. In recent years he has worked increasingly in television, on<br />

productions including Andreas Hofer – Die Freiheit des Adlers, Eine Liebe in Afrika,<br />

Annas Heimkehr and Margarete Steiff. Though he started out as a DoP,<br />

Schwarzenberger now works exclusively in the dual role of director/DoP. To him,<br />

cinematography and directing are inextricably linked; he considers his work behind the<br />

camera to be but one aspect of his responsibilities as a director.<br />

In the 1990s Schwarzenberger began his collaboration with the editor Helga Borsche,<br />

who won the Bundesfilmpreis in 1984 for her work on Ediths Tagebuch and has over<br />

several decades cut film and television productions for notable directors such as Hans<br />

W. Geißendörfer and Mika Kaurismäki.<br />

Having worked together many times, Schwarzenberger and<br />

Borsche have developed a distinctive approach, preferring to<br />

assemble the final version of their films in the traditional way,<br />

on an analogue cutting bench. The director/DoP finds this<br />

process to be much more creative than working on an AVID,<br />

even though the software tools would make it easier and faster<br />

to experiment with different approaches. He and Borsche insist<br />

that the actual physical handling of the negative and the<br />

amount of additional effort required when working on the<br />

analogue cutting bench – laying in the film, rewinding and<br />

fast-forwarding – means greater thought and discipline has to<br />

be given to defining one’s goals. This, so they argue, results in<br />

the high concentration levels they deem necessary considering<br />

their great sense of responsibility for the material. This way of<br />

working, however, most certainly benefits from the fact that<br />

Schwarzenberger already has a general editing concept in<br />

mind when he begins shooting.<br />

While Copacabana was, like Schwarzenberger’s other films,<br />

shot on 35mm and edited on an analogue editing bench, it<br />

was the first of his productions to be digitally finished in HD<br />

resolution. Produced in 2006 for German-language TV stations<br />

MDR and ORF, it aired in the fall of 2007. The story centres on<br />

�EDITOR HELGA BORSCHE<br />

at the cutting desk<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

a family coming together to celebrate a couple’s 35th wedding<br />

anniversary. During the festivities many unresolved issues and<br />

well-kept secrets from the past surface, forcing the family to pull<br />

together in order to overcome these problems. The stellar cast<br />

includes Bruno Ganz, Nicole Heesters, Christiane Paul and<br />

Friedrich von Thun.<br />

Schwarzenberger and Borsche’s traditional working methods<br />

meant that finishing Copacabana in HD required a flexible<br />

workflow that could accommodate traditional practices – such<br />

as cutting dailies on 35mm – while also taking advantage of<br />

newer digital systems. This, of course, affected the picture as<br />

well as the sound editing, but in the end an HD master was<br />

generated from the edited 35mm negative. The television<br />

audience, however, will not yet be able to enjoy the wonderful<br />

HD quality, because the film will initially be down-converted<br />

and aired in an SD (Standard Definition) version. But with<br />

more and more high-resolution television sets finding their way<br />

into the homes of viewers, nothing stands in the way of HD<br />

Copacabana reruns in the future. ■<br />

Ingo Klingspon<br />

� XAVER SCHWARZENBERGER on camera<br />

43


� THE LEADING<br />

ACTORS<br />

Ludwig Trepte and<br />

Martin Kiefer<br />

44<br />

SEVEN<br />

DAYS<br />

SUNDAY<br />

The challenge of<br />

combining HD and Super<br />

35mm in the DI Process.<br />

Niels Laupert’s feature film Seven Days Sunday premiered on June 23, 2007 at the<br />

25th Munich Film Festival, where Laupert, an HFF film school graduate, received the first<br />

annual Mentor Award. The film, which tells the true story of two juvenile murderers,<br />

was produced by fellow HFF graduates Thomas Bartl and Alex Dierbach. Another HFF<br />

student, Anne Bürger, assisted DoP Christoph Dammast for the second half of the shoot.<br />

Writer/Director Niels Laupert based the film, which is his first feature, on an idea he got in 2000 after<br />

reading an article in one of Germany’s leading newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung: “The article talked<br />

about two 16-year-old Polish boys who, on a Sunday in January 1996, made a bet to kill a man the very<br />

same day,” he recalls. “Later that night, they attempted to carry out their bet, but the first man they came<br />

across survived their attack. They went on, having learned from the first incident, to attack a second man<br />

and this time succeeded in killing him. The two adolescents were tried as adults and sentenced to 25 years<br />

of imprisonment.<br />

“The article shocked me,” Laupert continues. “But at the same time I couldn’t stop thinking about this<br />

incident. How could it have happened? Why did all natural inhibitions fail? I knew from the outset that I<br />

didn’t want to make an intellectual film about the issues raised by this tragedy. First and foremost I wanted<br />

to tell a story, utilizing all the available creative and technological possibilities. It was important to me to<br />

include the environment and surroundings of the protagonists and therefore we didn’t want to limit the story<br />

by cutting together a series of close-ups. That’s why Super 35mm was our first choice and why we decided<br />

to go with the 2.35:1 format.”<br />

Filming was split into two stages and centred around a high-rise apartment complex in a neighbourhood of<br />

Leipzig called Grünau, which looked very similar to the real crime scene in Poland. “The filming of the first<br />

stage commenced in January of 2005,” says Laupert. “<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental in Munich provided the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 535<br />

and Zeiss Ultra Prime lenses for the shoot, while lighting and stage equipment came from <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental in<br />

Berlin. We shot on Fuji 250D and 500T film stocks. The second part of the filming started in May 2006<br />

and for that we used an <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM LITE. Additional footage, documentary footage and taped interviews<br />

with the convicts needed to be shot as well. It took several attempts to establish contacts in Poland; we had<br />

to make numerous requests before the convicted felons agreed to be interviewed and the Polish authorities<br />

granted us filming permits.”<br />

Interviews with the culprits, who were sent to different prisons,<br />

were conducted in October 2005 and October 2006. “For<br />

practical and budgetary reasons we shot the Polish part of the<br />

production on a Sony HDCam,” says Laupert. “We weren’t<br />

sure how the two convicted criminals, who at that point had<br />

already served 10 years of their sentence, would react to us<br />

being there. I didn’t want to interrupt the concentration of an<br />

interview by changing reels. Plus the Polish authorities had<br />

stipulated that the crew entering the prison could consist of no<br />

more than 4 people.”<br />

The entire postproduction for the film was completed at <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Film & TV Services in Munich, where Alex Klippe was<br />

responsible for the DI workflow. Super 35mm footage was<br />

scanned on an <strong>ARRI</strong>SCAN in 2K and combined with digitized<br />

HD footage in the online edit. The challenge during<br />

postproduction was to integrate the HD footage with the 35mm.<br />

This was necessary because in several scenes the documentary<br />

footage had to blend seamlessly into the fictional material: “I<br />

decided not to attempt to distinguish the two types of footage in<br />

order to avoid taking the viewer out of the story,” says Laupert.<br />

“I didn’t want to create a sort of docu-fiction format.”<br />

Experienced DI Colourist Manfred Turek was in charge of<br />

the digital colour grading. The primary colour grade was<br />

completed in a Lustre Suite and the final grade, involving<br />

several shapes and masks, was subsequently completed in the<br />

Lustre Master Suite, after a large-screen 2K digital projection.<br />

A further difficulty during the digital colour correction was<br />

caused by the fact that part of the shoot had taken place<br />

during winter and another part during spring, and some<br />

scenes required shots from both parts. This had been a<br />

challenge for makeup and continuity during filming and later,<br />

during postproduction, for Turek, who had to match the<br />

various lighting conditions.<br />

“In the last few weeks before the premiere we worked in all<br />

areas of postproduction at the same time,” recalls Laupert.<br />

“We took advantage of the fact that we could complete the<br />

entire finish and mix in one physical location. It was a very<br />

demanding time: we had to match the various materials, such as<br />

35mm and HD, complete the VFX work and finish retouching, all<br />

at the same time. Simultaneously we had to complete the sound<br />

editing and the sound mix. <strong>ARRI</strong> supported us during this difficult<br />

time with their know-how and their passion.”<br />

The film was initially conceived as a 30-minute graduation<br />

project for the HFF in Munich and had received funding from<br />

the FFF-Bayern to the tune of 50,000 Euros. “But the longer I<br />

worked on the story,” continues the director, “the more I came<br />

to realize that I couldn’t possibly tell it in 30 minutes.”<br />

Additional funding was therefore raised, from public as well<br />

as private sources, to transform the short into a feature. After<br />

Angela Reedwisch at <strong>ARRI</strong> Munich, a staunch proponent of the<br />

controversial project, committed her support, several other<br />

companies followed her lead. “Even though this was just a<br />

small film by an unknown director, we received the full<br />

attention and support of the <strong>ARRI</strong> team,” concludes Laupert.<br />

“I really appreciated their professionalism and enjoyed the<br />

friendly environment. I am very happy to have completed my<br />

film at <strong>ARRI</strong>.” ■<br />

Sabine Welte<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

SUPER 35MM FOOTAGE WAS<br />

SCANNED ON AN <strong>ARRI</strong>SCAN<br />

IN 2K AND COMBINED WITH<br />

DIGITIZED HD FOOTAGE IN<br />

THE ONLINE EDIT. THE<br />

CHALLENGE DURING<br />

POSTPRODUCTION WAS TO<br />

INTEGRATE THE HD FOOTAGE<br />

WITH THE 35MM.<br />

� CHECKING A SHOT: Director Niels Laupert, DoP Christop Dammast,<br />

Theresa Luther, Gaffer Oliver Menebröcker, 1st AC Korkut Akir (left to right)<br />

� 1ST AC KORKUT AKIR<br />

� DIRECTOR NIELS LAUPERT and team on set<br />

� �<br />

�<br />

45


Side Effect<br />

46<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> and <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental<br />

support budding filmmakers from<br />

within their own ranks.<br />

Set amidst the sordid underworld of drugs in London, Side Effect is a ten-minute short film written and directed<br />

by Mark Fortune. Entirely self-financed, the low-budget project was sponsored by <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental, where<br />

Fortune trained as a Lighting Technician, and <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong>, where cinematographer Stephen J. Nelson works as<br />

Camera Technician Trainer.<br />

“I suppose the initial impetus to make it came from Steve,” says Fortune. “We bumped into each other and got<br />

talking. He knew I’d made a film a few years ago and suggested I make another, explaining that with all the<br />

new media packages like Final Cut Pro and also the new generation of cameras, you can affordably achieve<br />

quite a high level of autonomy.”<br />

Having been convinced that the advance of prosumer technologies could maximise directorial control even<br />

with a minimal budget, Fortune revived Side Effect, a script he had already tried to film once before. “Steve<br />

and I talked about the visual approach,” he says. “I like for things to be natural; for any light that is used to<br />

have a reason for being there. I went to drama college myself so am very keen to serve the actors. One of the<br />

high points of Side Effect is the acting; Nick Tennant as the lead gives a superb performance and the whole<br />

cast are very strong. I like to let the camera roll, though I’m not a big fan of improvisation, so prefer the actors<br />

to find the freshness within a structure.”<br />

��WRITER AND DIRECTOR, MARK FORTUNE (top)<br />

�DOP STEPHEN J. NELSON (middle)<br />

�DIRECTOR AND DOP discussing a shot (bottom)<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Though they had originally talked about shooting on a Sony<br />

PD-150 to keep costs down, when <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> offered its help<br />

to the tune of a camera package, Nelson pushed for HD. The<br />

film was shot on a Sony HDW-750 with a film-style Canon<br />

zoom and down-converted to DigiBeta. “It was quite a<br />

compact kit,” says Nelson, “because the schedule was pretty<br />

tight and we wanted to travel light.”<br />

For some shots of the principal character, a skittish, twitchy<br />

drug dealer, Nelson suggested the use of higher shutter<br />

speeds, a technique lifted from his background in film. “It<br />

helped contrast that character with the young kid who’s more<br />

slow and dopey,” he explains. “The dealer is almost frenzied<br />

in a way, so the idea was to make him look almost staccato in<br />

his movements and accentuate his nervous energy.” When it<br />

came to a scene in which the dealer takes heroin, Nelson<br />

experimented with hand-held dioptres and shift-and-tilt lenses,<br />

creating unusual focus effects in camera to reflect the<br />

character’s state of mind.<br />

With a tight schedule and budget, the small crew carefully<br />

planned when to shoot each scene in order to minimise<br />

equipment requirements. “It was guerrilla filmmaking really,”<br />

says Nelson. “Getting the best you can as quick as you can.<br />

Some things we spent more time on than others, like the<br />

lighting for the end scene in the lounge, which was difficult<br />

because Mark wanted a really wide, high master shot, which<br />

of course revealed all the positions where I wanted to put<br />

lights. Balancing that with all the other shots when we went in<br />

closer was a challenge. It’s just the restrictions of working on<br />

location rather than a sound stage – trying to fit yourself into<br />

someone’s living room. We had some good people who<br />

offered up their houses for an evening and were even gracious<br />

when we told them to be quiet in their own home.”<br />

Nelson’s lighting kit, provided by <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental,<br />

included Dados, an <strong>ARRI</strong>LUX 400, 1.2K HMIs, a 2.5K<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>SUN and Chimera soft boxes; for outdoor scenes he used<br />

poly boards to flag and bounce the available light. Fortune<br />

was able to discuss lighting solutions with Nelson on a<br />

technical level, drawing on the training that got him started in<br />

the industry.<br />

“I did a four year apprenticeship at <strong>ARRI</strong> Lighting Rental,” says<br />

Fortune. “I did my City and Guilds Electrics Parts One and<br />

Two, and got my HGV license – it was a full apprenticeship.<br />

If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be making films again now.<br />

They gave me an opportunity to get into the industry on a<br />

professional level; I’ll always be grateful to them for giving<br />

me that start.<br />

“Once we’d wrapped I did the offline on an Apple G4 at<br />

home,” continues Fortune, “and then it went to Steve who did<br />

some grading on his system. All the postproduction was done<br />

on our own Apple Macs.”<br />

The film had its first public screening at the Final Cut<br />

competition in Brighton and has since been featured at the<br />

Bacup Film Festival, Lancashire and the Sefton Short Film<br />

Festival, and will go on to be entered in about 60-80 festivals<br />

around the world. ■<br />

Mark Hope-Jones<br />

47


�ROBERT RICHTER and AUGUST ARNOLD (1918)<br />

The Power to Dream,<br />

the Vision to Innovate<br />

90 YEARS OF <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

The story of <strong>ARRI</strong> began in 1917, when school friends<br />

August Arnold and Robert Richter formed a small<br />

company in Munich as an outlet for their passion for<br />

all things technical and enthusiasm for the emerging<br />

discipline of motion picture engineering. Having<br />

successfully assembled their first film printing machine<br />

from sprockets and old parts sourced from a flea<br />

market, it did not take the pair long to generate some<br />

capital through the sale of several more printers.<br />

They also immersed themselves in film production<br />

with the help of cameraman friend Martin Kopp,<br />

catering for the post-war boom in demand for<br />

westerns with features such as Texas Fred’s<br />

Honeymoon and Deadly Cowboys.<br />

With the money they made from the printers and their<br />

prolific filmmaking, Arnold and Richter began<br />

investing in new camera and lighting technologies. In<br />

1924 they commenced production of the first mirror<br />

facet reflectors with electric bulbs and also designed a<br />

mobile generator to power them. That same year they<br />

developed <strong>ARRI</strong>’s first camera, the KIN<strong>ARRI</strong> 35, which<br />

was rented to other cameramen when they weren’t<br />

shooting, thus sowing the seeds for the worldwide<br />

rental group that exists today.<br />

ROBERT RICHTER on camera with Karl Dittmann<br />

shooting The Train Robbers (1920)<br />

A landmark year came in 1937 with the<br />

design and development of the reflex<br />

mirror shutter camera, the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35.<br />

This design, incorporating a reflex<br />

viewfinder that allowed precise<br />

composition and critical focusing, placed<br />

the company at the very forefront of<br />

motion picture engineering worldwide.<br />

Its position was fortified in 1938 by the<br />

introduction of the first <strong>ARRI</strong> Fresnel<br />

lampheads, which would remain<br />

standard lighting units for decades to<br />

come. The <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35 was produced<br />

and utilised throughout the Second World<br />

War, though bombing raids on Munich<br />

necessitated temporary relocation of the<br />

company, and in 1946 its follow-up, the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35II, went into production.<br />

As film industries across the world<br />

picked up again after the devastation of<br />

the war, filmmakers immediately realised<br />

how important and revolutionary a tool<br />

this camera was. In 1947 it was used<br />

for the first time in Hollywood by Delmer<br />

Daves for the Humphrey Bogart and<br />

Lauren Bacall movie Dark Passage,<br />

which opened with an extraordinary<br />

30-minute POV (point of view) sequence,<br />

made possible by the camera’s precision<br />

framing and extreme portability. The<br />

following year legendary documentarian<br />

Robert J. Flaherty used <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35IIs<br />

for Louisiana Story, which put the<br />

camera through its paces in the<br />

unforgiving terrain of the Louisiana<br />

bayous. Flaherty was so impressed by<br />

the immediacy and accuracy of the<br />

reflex viewfinder that he often operated<br />

a camera himself.<br />

On the other side of the world Indian<br />

Director Satyajit Ray used an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX<br />

35II to film Pather Panchali, the first part<br />

of his lauded Apu Trilogy, between<br />

1952 and 1955. Ray was a complete<br />

novice, as were his collaborators, but the<br />

simplicity and portability of their camera<br />

kit permitted versatile location filming<br />

with a minimum of crew throughout the<br />

protracted low-budget shoot. Mitra<br />

developed a system of bounce lighting<br />

whereby lamps were aimed at cheap<br />

white sheets angled at the performers in<br />

order to create a soft, natural light. By<br />

this method, which would go on to be<br />

utilised by cinematographers worldwide,<br />

Mitra could simulate daylight with<br />

extraordinary ease and effectiveness.<br />

The resulting black and white<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

cinematography was stunning and played<br />

a big part in the success of the film.<br />

The 1950s also brought the dawn of the<br />

age of television and the sheer volume of<br />

professional image acquisition increased<br />

exponentially. The cost benefits of 16mm<br />

film made the format appealing to news<br />

gatherers and sports broadcasters, so<br />

in 1952 <strong>ARRI</strong> introduced the first<br />

professional 16mm camera incorporating<br />

a reflex viewfinder, the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 16ST.<br />

This model became perhaps the most<br />

ubiquitous 16mm camera ever produced<br />

and aside from its applications in<br />

television, provided an introduction to<br />

shooting on film for many aspiring young<br />

directors. Martin Scorsese used one to<br />

shoot his short films and Robert<br />

Rodriguez launched his career in 1992<br />

with El Mariachi, a $7,000 feature shot<br />

entirely on an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 16ST.<br />

The early 1960s saw a spate of updates<br />

to the design of the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35mm reflex<br />

camera. These refinements resulted in a<br />

range of models offering variable shutter,<br />

high speed filming, a bayonet mount<br />

and with the ARRFILEX 35IIC in 1964,<br />

a much-improved viewing system.�<br />

48 49


THE POWER TO DREAM, THE VISION TO INNOVATE<br />

50<br />

50<br />

That same year, Director Richard Lester<br />

made use of <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX IIB cameras for<br />

A Hard Day’s Night, his mad-cap<br />

mock-documentary that follows the<br />

Beatles as they prepare for a television<br />

appearance. The lightweight cameras<br />

allowed Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor<br />

BSC to keep up with John, Paul, George<br />

and Ringo as they dashed from<br />

screaming fans, while the reflex<br />

viewfinder permitted hand-held zoom<br />

and telephoto shots. The sheer freedom<br />

and energy of this filming style resulted<br />

in ground-breaking images and the film<br />

is credited with inventing a plethora of<br />

music video techniques.<br />

In the mid 1960s <strong>ARRI</strong> brought out the<br />

ARRFILEX 35IICT/B, which was fitted<br />

with a two perforation movement, due to<br />

the growing popularity at that time of<br />

Techniscope. This widescreen process<br />

had been developed by Technicolor<br />

Italia and combined a two perforation<br />

pull-down with a 2.35:1 gate, resulting<br />

in two images being exposed on top of<br />

each other within the four perforation<br />

Academy area. Sergio Leone was one<br />

director who took advantage of this costsaving<br />

system, putting it to use for his<br />

low-budget western A Fistful of Dollars in<br />

1964. After the massive success of this<br />

film, Leone again used Techniscope<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX cameras for the sequels<br />

For a Few Dollars More (1965) and<br />

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly<br />

(1966), as well as the seminal<br />

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).<br />

1972 saw <strong>ARRI</strong> introduce the first ever<br />

self-blimped 35mm camera, the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35BL. Weighing a fraction of<br />

a blimped camera, the compact 35BL<br />

could be used hand-held and made<br />

mobile, sync-sound 35mm filming a<br />

reality. The first film to capitalise on its<br />

possibilities was Across 110th Street,<br />

which was shot that same year on<br />

location in Harlem, New York. Soon<br />

the 35BL was a firm favourite of<br />

cinematographers and was used on a<br />

vast number of films over the next few<br />

decades. Haskell Wexler ASC used one<br />

for his Oscar-winning work on Bound for<br />

Glory (1976), while Vittorio Storaro shot<br />

with 35BLs for all three films that won<br />

him the Best Cinematography Academy<br />

Award: Apocalypse Now (1979), Reds<br />

(1981) and The Last Emperor (1987).<br />

Stanley Kubrick, a lifelong camera<br />

enthusiast with an extraordinary<br />

�DOP JOST VACANO in the submarine set on Das Boot with a purpose built gyro-rig and prototype IIIC.<br />

First Assistant Peter Maiwald holds the remote focus unit (1981)<br />

�GRAHAM HILL films a training lap with an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 16ST mounted on the car (1952)<br />

�<strong>ARRI</strong> DEVELOPED its largest lamphead so far, the <strong>ARRI</strong> GIGANT 20kW (1952)<br />

knowledge of motion picture technology,<br />

used <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX cameras on every film he<br />

possibly could after discovering the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35IIA while directing and<br />

photographing his second feature Killer’s<br />

Kiss in 1955. He shot A Clockwork<br />

Orange on his own <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 35IICs in<br />

1971 and bought 35BLs when they were<br />

released, using them for Barry Lyndon<br />

(1975), The Shining (1980) and Full<br />

Metal Jacket (1987). For his final film<br />

Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Kubrick shot<br />

with an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 535B, having made<br />

use of the developing <strong>ARRI</strong> product line<br />

for almost half a century.<br />

In 1981 <strong>ARRI</strong> unveiled the final<br />

incarnation of the 35mm body design<br />

that began life in 1937. The <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX<br />

35IIIC was developed at the request of<br />

German Cinematographer Jost Vacano<br />

BVK,ASC who had been hired to shoot<br />

Wolfgang Peterson’s World War II<br />

U-boat drama Das Boot. The IIIC<br />

featured a single lens mount and a<br />

pivoting viewfinder that allowed Vacano<br />

to capture running low-angle shots within<br />

the cramped submarine interior.<br />

In 1982 the subsidiary <strong>ARRI</strong> Video, now<br />

known as <strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV was set up<br />

and made a name for itself in<br />

postproduction for commercials, dramas,<br />

domestic and international feature films.<br />

Today it offers a complete postproduction<br />

workflow, providing<br />

everything from lab services<br />

to state-of-the-art image and audio<br />

post services.<br />

The 35BL’s replacement came in 1990<br />

with the release of the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 535, a<br />

silent studio camera boasting a wealth of<br />

electronic functions. Cinematographer<br />

Michael Ballhaus ASC made use of the<br />

camera’s ability to perform exposurecompensated<br />

speed ramps on Francis<br />

Ford Coppola’s Dracula in 1992.<br />

Janusz Kaminski ASC chose the 535 for<br />

Spielberg’s visually stunning Schindler’s<br />

List while Vittorio Storaro combined the<br />

535 with an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 765, the 65mm<br />

camera released in 1989, on<br />

Bertolucci’s Little Buddha (1992).<br />

The 1990s brought a number of other<br />

important developments, most notably<br />

the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX SR 3 16mm camera in<br />

1992, which quickly made its mark on<br />

the television drama industry, and the<br />

versatile <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435 in 1994, which<br />

became a staple on promo and feature<br />

sets. <strong>ARRI</strong> moved in a new direction in<br />

1998 with the launch of the <strong>ARRI</strong>LASER,<br />

which was complemented by the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>SCAN in 2004, placing <strong>ARRI</strong> at<br />

the head of the field in the rapidly<br />

expanding world of DI transfers and<br />

opening up new possibilities for<br />

postproduction workflows.<br />

The turn of the twenty-first century has<br />

seen <strong>ARRI</strong> step up the pace further still,<br />

on its release of cutting edge products.<br />

The innovative <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio and<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite cameras debuted in 2000<br />

and have since been used on many<br />

major features including Chicago<br />

(2002), King Kong (2005) and<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

The Departed (2006). In 2003 came the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235, a compact 35mm MOS<br />

camera that was used to great effect in<br />

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), as well as<br />

the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20, a film-style digital<br />

camera that represents the next stage in<br />

the company’s, as well as the industry’s<br />

history. Most recently, the release and<br />

extraordinary success of the <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX<br />

416 16mm camera in 2006 has proved<br />

that traditional markets remain buoyant<br />

and that the wealth of formats now<br />

available has simply widened the<br />

range of tools available to the<br />

modern cinematographer.<br />

In order to use cameras, filmmakers have<br />

always needed light for exposure and<br />

over the last ninety years the <strong>ARRI</strong> brand<br />

has become well known for its robust,<br />

well made lighting products. Since<br />

developing the first mirror facet reflector<br />

in 1924, to the <strong>ARRI</strong> GIGANT in 1952,<br />

the <strong>ARRI</strong>SONNE 2000W in 1972 and<br />

the <strong>ARRI</strong> Studio range in 1988, <strong>ARRI</strong> has<br />

strived to produce the lighting equipment<br />

to meet the varied demands of the<br />

technicians who apply the technology. The<br />

newest and brightest fixture, the <strong>ARRI</strong>MAX<br />

18/12, launched in 2005 has taken<br />

lighting to new levels using a unique<br />

concept for beam control, eliminating the<br />

need for spread lenses. The <strong>ARRI</strong>MAX’s<br />

work can be seen on Indiana Jones 4,<br />

Batman: The Dark Knight and The<br />

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.<br />

In the very beginning innovation,<br />

reliability and durability were Arnold<br />

and Richter’s business principles and<br />

that same mind-set remains today.<br />

In order to best serve creative<br />

professionals <strong>ARRI</strong> has always adapted<br />

to the latest trends and has developed<br />

the appropriate technology accordingly.<br />

In a rapidly evolving industry <strong>ARRI</strong> not<br />

only provides state-of-the-art technology,<br />

but equally as important, worldwide<br />

service and technical support.<br />

Despite the awards and accolades in<br />

recognition of technical achievements,<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> believes that it is all about<br />

empowering creative professionals to<br />

realize their imagination and vision.<br />

That philosophy still stands today and<br />

will continue for the next ninety years<br />

and beyond. ■<br />

Mark Hope-Jones<br />

51


25 Years of<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV<br />

In November 1982 <strong>ARRI</strong> gained a new subsidiary with the creation of <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Video GmbH, the postproduction department of the <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Group</strong>, which now<br />

operates under the name of <strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV Services GmbH. Managing Director<br />

Franz Kraus recalls the company's first steps, its development and prospects.<br />

Vision<strong>ARRI</strong>: In 1982 the partners of <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Cinetechnik, Robert Arnold and Dr Walter<br />

Stahl, decided to start up a new <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Cinetechnik affiliate. The new entity was<br />

first called <strong>ARRI</strong> Video and later <strong>ARRI</strong> TV.<br />

Today it is known as <strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV. Why<br />

did they decide to enter the video sector?<br />

Franz Kraus: Back then <strong>ARRI</strong> Cinetechnik consisted<br />

of camera and lighting rental departments, a film<br />

laboratory and a sound department providing<br />

postproduction-related services. When the 1” format<br />

was introduced, the timing just seemed right for an<br />

expansion into the video sector, especially since it<br />

had always been the intention of the partners to<br />

develop additional <strong>ARRI</strong> products for the newly<br />

founded postproduction division.<br />

VA: When did you join <strong>ARRI</strong> and what was<br />

your background?<br />

FK: After working as a research associate and<br />

project supervisor at the Heinrich Hertz Institute in<br />

Berlin for ten years, I joined the one-year-old <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

affiliate <strong>ARRI</strong> Video GmbH as a technical director in<br />

November 1983. Soon the company was renamed<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> TV Production Services GmbH. Rolf Müller<br />

was the general manager at that time. In<br />

1986/1987 he was succeeded by two general<br />

managers: Roman Kuhn, who was responsible for<br />

the creative side of the business and Josef Brauner,<br />

who was responsible for business affairs. In 1987<br />

I was promoted to become the third general<br />

manager, responsible for all technology-related<br />

matters. Later, when Josef Brauner left the company<br />

and Roman Kuhn went on to start his own<br />

production company, I remained as the sole general<br />

manager. In June of 2001, I was appointed to the<br />

board of directors of <strong>ARRI</strong> AG. I am responsible for<br />

research & development as well as the service arm<br />

of the <strong>ARRI</strong> <strong>Group</strong>.<br />

VA: What were the objectives and goals of<br />

the newly-created video endeavour?<br />

FK: The goal was to make the company the market<br />

leader in terms of technology and quality. Even<br />

back then, we had been forerunners in the German<br />

52<br />

video industry. <strong>ARRI</strong> TV was the first company on<br />

the continent with a Quantel Paintbox FGS 4000<br />

from Bosch, a Quantel Harry and a Kodak Cineon<br />

System. In the beginning we were mostly active in<br />

the areas of studio rental, film scanning, video<br />

postproduction for commercials, and transfers.<br />

But because we were always willing to tackle<br />

extraordinary challenges we were able to attract<br />

people with extraordinary abilities and ambitions –<br />

people like Roman Kuhn, with his creative and<br />

innovative ideas in the area of design and effects<br />

work, and Andreas Kern, who, long before the<br />

advent of Flame, worked with engineers at LENZ to<br />

develop incredible software for stabilizing image<br />

frames, which was later used at <strong>ARRI</strong> TV.<br />

Also Peter Doyle, whose work in high-resolution<br />

image manipulation contributed greatly to the<br />

inception of <strong>ARRI</strong> Digital Film in 1994, and let’s<br />

not forget Dr. Johannes Steurer, who was initially<br />

the head of Digital Film and later became the<br />

project manager responsible for the development<br />

of the <strong>ARRI</strong>LASER.<br />

The company credo has, and will always be, to remain<br />

one step ahead of the competition. I distinctly recall the<br />

heated debate surrounding the tape formats Digital<br />

Betacam and D1. Initially I was pretty much the only<br />

person proclaiming Betacam as the superior format<br />

in terms of user-friendliness, but that soon changed<br />

and everyone stopped working on the expensive,<br />

yet vulnerable and much less flexible D1 format.<br />

�<strong>ARRI</strong> FILM & TV have<br />

completed the postproduction<br />

of many successful national<br />

and international feature films<br />

�FRANZ KRAUS,<br />

General Manager<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV<br />

�POSTPRODUCTION<br />

with GVG 300-Mixer,<br />

1986<br />

�1984<br />

We have been very successful in the past with our studio<br />

facilities. We had guests such as the bands Queen and Die<br />

Ärzte. Numerous times the Bambi awards, one of Germany’s<br />

leading film and television award shows, has been broadcast<br />

directly from our studio here in Munich. In addition, a great<br />

number of very successful game shows such as Ruck-Zuck, Herz<br />

ist Trumpf, Die Bullyparade and Hopp oder Top have been<br />

recorded at the <strong>ARRI</strong> Studios. Initially we recorded on 1”C, later<br />

on Betacam SP and finally on Digital Betacam. Another popular<br />

live broadcast from the <strong>ARRI</strong> Studios was the show Bitte melde<br />

Dich. A highlight of our studio days was the show Wahre<br />

Wunder, which was hosted by Sabrina Fox and Christopher Lee,<br />

and later Dietmar Schönherr. In October of 1999 we had the<br />

honour of welcoming Bill Gates and Edmund Stoiber, who were<br />

guests on Sabine Christiansen’s talk show. That day remains one<br />

of the most talked-about days in <strong>ARRI</strong> history because Bill Gates<br />

got stuck in our glass elevator and had to wait there to be<br />

rescued. Luckily help came quickly. Today, the studio no longer<br />

plays a prominent role in our day-to-day business. The smaller<br />

studio was recently turned into a state-of-the-art sound mixing<br />

stage called Stage I. The larger studio is now rented out<br />

exclusively to the ZDF television network for the taping of their<br />

highly successful political comedy show Neues aus der Anstalt.<br />

In the past we have co-produced a number of projects,<br />

including Edgar Reitz’s series Heimat and the 1988 feature<br />

film Burning Secret, with Klaus Maria Brandauer and Faye<br />

Dunaway. Today all of our co-productions are handled by<br />

our affiliate B.A. Productions.<br />

VA: Did the new video venture face a lot of<br />

competition back then?<br />

FK: The benchmark for us as a young company was London. In<br />

those early days we focused on commercial production, studio<br />

rental and postproduction; our competitors were companies<br />

such as Molinare, VTR and Rushes in London. There was local<br />

competition here in Munich as well; TV-One (Mark Mender)<br />

had a great reputation when it came to 3D animation and the<br />

AV-Hartwig Company had made a name for themselves in the<br />

realm of telecine for commercials, with the help of their star<br />

colour grader Bertl Grabmayr (whom we subsequently brought<br />

over to <strong>ARRI</strong> TV). Bavaria’s telecine division was mostly<br />

focusing on feature film production and wasn’t a real<br />

competitor, but the Gürtler Company was, when it came to<br />

video transfers. Much later, Germany’s Neuer Markt brought<br />

some new competitors such as Das Werk. �<br />

�1985 �1988 �1993<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

�HOMO FABER: Sam Shepard stars in Volker Schlöndorff’s acclaimed film<br />

�BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ: Faßbinder’s tremendous work was digitally<br />

restored in 2006<br />

�ROSSINI: At the helm was Helmut Dietl. <strong>ARRI</strong> was in charge of the entire<br />

postproduction (picture and sound)<br />

��<br />

�<br />

53


25 YEARS OF <strong>ARRI</strong> FILM & TV<br />

�1993 �1995 �1997 �1997<br />

VA: What was the corporate structure of <strong>ARRI</strong> Video<br />

and later of <strong>ARRI</strong> TV?<br />

FK: In actuality, it was a give-and-take arrangement and only a<br />

few rather superficial hierarchies existed. As a matter of fact,<br />

no-one worked a 40-hour week and no-one worked solely to<br />

earn money. Everyone really loved their jobs here at <strong>ARRI</strong> and<br />

to this day I consider that to be the secret of our success. Sure,<br />

a lot has changed since the inception of the company, but still<br />

today the people who work here love their jobs.<br />

VA: The film laboratory had been around for many<br />

years before <strong>ARRI</strong> TV was founded and had been<br />

part of <strong>ARRI</strong> Cinetechnik. Why did it later become<br />

a part of <strong>ARRI</strong> TV?<br />

FK: Cinetechnik was never the appropriate home for the sound<br />

department and the film laboratory. Both divisions had, and<br />

have, a very different clientele compared to Cinetechnik, so in<br />

1992 it was decided to integrate the sound department at book<br />

value into <strong>ARRI</strong> TV. To this day, the sound department remains<br />

an integral part of the company. In 2002 the film laboratory<br />

was also amalgamated into <strong>ARRI</strong> TV, after which the new entity<br />

was named <strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV. We always intended to combine<br />

digital and analogue technologies. The <strong>ARRI</strong>SCAN and<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>LASER were to become integral parts of the film laboratory.<br />

In addition, this was a fantastic opportunity to continue the<br />

training of our competent film laboratory staff. They were<br />

already very familiar with the analogue technologies and were<br />

eager to learn more about the new digital technologies.<br />

VA: Have the clients changed over the years?<br />

And which areas have been the main focus –<br />

commercial, TV or feature films?<br />

FK: Like I said, initially the main business of <strong>ARRI</strong> TV came<br />

from the commercial sector, while the film laboratory and<br />

sound department tended to work on feature films. These days,<br />

however, the majority of our clients are feature film productions,<br />

followed by television and then commercial productions.<br />

VA: How has the affiliate changed over the last<br />

25 years, in terms of personnel and technology?<br />

�FOCUS: Since 1995, <strong>ARRI</strong> has regularly been entrusted with the<br />

postproduction of the Hager Moss produced spot<br />

�EXPO 2000: Elaborate postproduction for Producer/Director Josef Kluger’s<br />

film for the German Pavilion<br />

�ZDF MONDAY CINEMA: Has been an eye catcher for many years<br />

�<br />

54<br />

�2001 �2003 �2006 �2007<br />

FK: <strong>ARRI</strong> Video started 25 years ago as a small company with<br />

only a handful of employees. Some of them, such as Günther<br />

Bornkessel, Oswald Schacht and Erich Harant, are still with the<br />

company. Today, <strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV has 200 employees. The film<br />

laboratory and the sound department have been integrated.<br />

We have recruited colour graders from the film laboratory and<br />

trained them in new digital technologies, so they are now<br />

competent analogue as well as digital colour graders. We<br />

have integrated these new digital technologies with traditional<br />

film laboratory processes. In addition, building the new sound<br />

studio in 2002 has been a milestone for us. Also, with the<br />

introduction of the <strong>ARRI</strong>SCAN, we have successfully taken the<br />

step from HD postproduction of feature films to high-resolution<br />

file-based 2K/4K postproduction and are today the market<br />

leader in Germany when it comes to Digital<br />

Intermediate/Grading.<br />

VA: In retrospect, are you content with the results of<br />

the last 25 years and where will the journey lead<br />

to over the coming years?<br />

FK: To be content only means to be complacent; we still have a<br />

lot to accomplish in the future. We want to position ourselves<br />

STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY AT<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> SCHWARZFILM BERLIN GMBH<br />

In late 2006, <strong>ARRI</strong> Film & TV<br />

Services acquired Schwarz Film<br />

Berlin Postproduction GmbH.<br />

The new entity, now called <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

Schwarzfilm Berlin GmbH, greatly<br />

benefits from the vast experience<br />

and extensive know-how of its<br />

general managers, Philipp<br />

Tschäppät and Josef Reidinger, and<br />

has proved a tremendous success.<br />

Now boasting one of the largest grading<br />

cinemas in Europe, <strong>ARRI</strong> Schwarzfilm<br />

Berlin has successfully completed its<br />

transition from a film laboratory focused<br />

predominantly on television productions to<br />

a full-service postproduction house<br />

equipped with the latest technology.<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>’s leading position in the world of<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

better for the years to come and have already begun this<br />

process by acquiring Schwarz Film AG in Switzerland.<br />

As a result we now have additional film laboratories and<br />

postproduction facilities in Berlin and Bern, as well as smaller<br />

facilities in Zurich and Ludwigsburg. This has been a major<br />

step towards becoming even more flexible when it comes to<br />

servicing productions. This will also be an opportunity to reach<br />

past the borders of Germany and attract additional<br />

international productions.<br />

The tasks for the future will include quickly and entirely<br />

switching the TV and commercial divisions to HD and<br />

replacing the photochemical film laboratory with a creatively<br />

and technologically superior digital high-resolution<br />

postproduction process (DI). Also, in the future, the delivery<br />

format for TV will be HD and for feature films, 4K.<br />

An additional challenge will be to further interface the rental<br />

and the postproduction services to accommodate the<br />

increasing number of digitally-shot productions, which will also<br />

be finished digitally. The shift to digital production will pose<br />

new challenges that the service providers have to meet.<br />

We want to be prepared for this change. ■<br />

SCHWARZFILM<br />

film and television postproduction, with<br />

regards to film processing and the Digital<br />

Intermediate process, has been invaluable<br />

during the reorganisation of the company.<br />

In Germany, both national and<br />

international high-end films are for the<br />

most part shot in Berlin and its surrounding<br />

areas. <strong>ARRI</strong> Schwarzfilm Berlin can now<br />

offer optimal conditions for the completion<br />

of these highly ambitious projects, not only<br />

because of its convenient location but also<br />

because of its expanded service portfolio<br />

and considerably enlarged facilities. The<br />

highly qualified workforce is well-versed<br />

in analogue as well as digital<br />

postproduction and works with state-ofthe-art<br />

technology to provide an allencompassing<br />

support structure. ■<br />

55


MOMENTS<br />

IN TIME<br />

56<br />

THE MAN<br />

FROM U.N.C.L.E.<br />

The <strong>ARRI</strong> 35 Camera Affair<br />

Of the many espionage shows to hit television screens during<br />

the 1960s, few are as well remembered and highly regarded<br />

as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. At the height of the Cold War the<br />

world of the secret agent captured the public imagination and<br />

none characterized the genre more famously than Ian Fleming’s<br />

dashing James Bond. Cinema screens became inundated by<br />

the fictional exploits of secret agents and television Producer<br />

Norman Felton was keen to seize the moment. In 1962, just<br />

prior to the release of the Bond film Dr No, he drew<br />

inspiration from Ian Fleming’s travelogue book Thrilling Cities<br />

to create the character of a sophisticated crime fighter whose<br />

assignments would take him all over the globe. At a lunch<br />

meeting in New York Felton presented his concept to Fleming,<br />

who suggested a name for the protagonist: Napoleon Solo.<br />

Though he would subsequently collaborate with Felton on<br />

developing the character, Fleming’s involvement was curtailed<br />

after a threat of legal action from producers Albert Broccoli<br />

and Harry Saltzman, who felt his connection to the Solo<br />

project might prove detrimental to the success of their Bond<br />

films. Thereafter Felton’s collaborator on the development of<br />

what would become The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was Sam Rolfe,<br />

best known for co-creating and producing the classic western<br />

series Have Gun Will Travel.<br />

� SIDE BY SIDE, an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX and Mitchell being used on set simultaneously<br />

Under Rolfe’s guidance the show moved<br />

away from Felton and Fleming’s original<br />

vision of Solo as a lone, globe-trotting<br />

crime fighter. Instead Solo would work<br />

for an international organization known<br />

as U.N.C.L.E. (United Network<br />

Command for Law and Enforcement),<br />

which would combat the minions of the<br />

nefarious T.H.R.U.S.H. crime syndicate<br />

around the world. Interestingly the series<br />

would feature no overt mention of the<br />

cold war or communism; indeed Solo’s<br />

sidekick, Illya Kuryakin, would be<br />

Russian – a controversial idea only a<br />

year on from the Cuban Missile Crisis.<br />

After considering several actors including<br />

Robert Culp and Harry Guardino,<br />

Robert Vaughn, the star of Felton’s series<br />

The Lieutenant, was cast as the suave<br />

Napoleon Solo. Vaughn was an<br />

acclaimed stage actor whose<br />

performance alongside Paul Newman in<br />

The Young Philadelphians had earned<br />

him an Academy Award nomination and<br />

led to a role in The Magnificent Seven.<br />

Illya Kuryakin would be played by<br />

Scottish actor David McCallum, whose<br />

popularity with female fans soon assured<br />

him a co-starring role. In direct reference<br />

to another of Felton’s early influences,<br />

Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, Leo G.<br />

Carroll was cast as Alexander Waverly,<br />

head of U.N.C.L.E.<br />

Felton recruited another veteran of<br />

The Lieutenant to serve as DoP, Fred<br />

Koenekamp ASC, who recalls: “Norman<br />

asked if I would come over and do the<br />

show and of course I was delighted<br />

because I’d only been a Director of<br />

Photography for a year at that time. I<br />

was very excited about it.” Koenekamp<br />

sought out the highly respected Camera<br />

Operator Til Gabbani: “I contacted him<br />

as I wanted somebody that could do<br />

hand-held work, particularly because on<br />

an action-type show like that you can<br />

use it as a second camera. Til could<br />

handhold an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX just beautifully.”<br />

Gabbani had been instrumental in<br />

bringing the immense versatility and<br />

financial benefits of the lightweight <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

35 to the attention of Hollywood studios.<br />

After purchasing one whilst working on<br />

location in Munich, he presented the<br />

head of 20th Century Fox with a series<br />

of tests which left no doubt that the image<br />

quality of the <strong>ARRI</strong> was no different to<br />

that of the Mitchell they were using.<br />

Given that the studio was spending some<br />

sixteen thousand dollars an hour shooting<br />

the feature Adventures in Paradise and<br />

that the <strong>ARRI</strong> could save an hour a day,<br />

they were duly convinced and bought the<br />

camera. David McCallum later recalled:<br />

“The crew was like family and the big<br />

daddy was Fred Koenekamp. Also Til<br />

Gabbani, with his cigar in his mouth and<br />

his camera strapped to his hand with a<br />

band. Til used to teach me how to work<br />

one; I did a hand-held shot one day and<br />

dropped the camera down before I<br />

clicked it off. He gave me such a row; he<br />

said ‘when they look at the dailies, they<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

� TOGETHER ON SET DoP Fred Koenekamp<br />

ASC and Operator Til Gabbani (left to right)<br />

shouldn’t know if the shot has been done<br />

on a crane, on a dolly, or hand-held.’<br />

Til could even walk with the hand-held<br />

camera rock-steady.”<br />

Use of the <strong>ARRI</strong> 35 became an intrinsic<br />

element of the action-packed show,<br />

allowing the crew to swiftly achieve<br />

exciting, kinetic shots: “We particularly<br />

used it whenever we had any kind of a<br />

fight scene because you could get in<br />

there and move around with it, and not<br />

worry about a dolly and all the special<br />

equipment,” says Koenekamp, who still<br />

remembers the grueling schedule: “From<br />

the very beginning they had a producer<br />

at MGM studios who said to me ‘now it’s<br />

up to you to make sure this is done on<br />

schedule’ and that was a big challenge,<br />

because in those days we shot an hourlong<br />

show in six days and had as many<br />

as 20 to 30 sets per episode.”<br />

The principal camera was a Mitchell<br />

BNC which, thanks to the MGM<br />

machine shop, was fitted with the same<br />

mount as the <strong>ARRI</strong>, meaning lenses were<br />

interchangeable. “We had a reputation<br />

on the MGM lot for the way we were<br />

shooting the show,” says Koenekamp,<br />

“particularly for the use of the hand-held<br />

camera. It got to a point where we were<br />

using two cameras most of the time,<br />

which was kind of unheard of in those<br />

days, especially on a tight-budget show.<br />

But with Til using the hand-held <strong>ARRI</strong> and<br />

another operator on the Mitchell, we<br />

were getting two shots for one.”�<br />

57


MOMENTS IN TIME<br />

The mobility of the <strong>ARRI</strong> also allowed the<br />

crew to avoid costly process shots for<br />

driving sequences, as Koenekamp<br />

recalls: “They were still using process<br />

photography to get shots in the car and<br />

things like that, which is slow and<br />

expensive. Til and I got together one day<br />

and we were chit-chatting about the<br />

hand-held camera when he said maybe<br />

we could figure out a way to be on the<br />

car and shoot it live. One of the first<br />

things we did – I can remember the shot<br />

– was Til and I lying on a piece of foam<br />

rubber on the hood of a convertible car;<br />

we put the rubber on there so we<br />

wouldn’t slide off. I had a hand-held<br />

light which ran off a battery in the trunk<br />

of the car and Til had the <strong>ARRI</strong>. Instead<br />

of process photography we were out<br />

running around the streets shooting for<br />

real. Of course as the show went on the<br />

grips did a wonderful job of making<br />

better mounts, so that we could mount<br />

the camera on the hood and not have<br />

somebody lying on the car. It was a<br />

giant step forward and we went on for<br />

the next four years doing all our work<br />

live like that.”<br />

Koenekamp also arrived at a novel<br />

solution to ease the pressure during<br />

autumn when the number of hours<br />

available for shooting exteriors became<br />

58<br />

limited. Though few had ever<br />

experimented with the technique before,<br />

he would shoot later into the evening and<br />

get the lab to force process the negative.<br />

Doing so allowed him not only to<br />

lengthen the shooting day, but also to use<br />

fewer lights. The slightly increased<br />

development costs were more than offset<br />

by electricity savings alone: “We gained<br />

a full stop on the lens,” he explains, “and<br />

that meant you were cutting your light<br />

down in half, so it worked out very well.”<br />

Fortunately, given the hectic pace of<br />

production, traveling to locations was<br />

largely unnecessary, due to the resources<br />

at the studio. “In those days MGM<br />

probably had the greatest facilities in<br />

Hollywood,” enthuses Koenekamp.<br />

“Besides the main lot they had two<br />

backlots: on Lot 3 there was a jungle,<br />

a western street, a train station and a<br />

small lake. Then on Lot 2 there was a<br />

New York street, a French street and a<br />

mansion with a swimming pool that you<br />

could use. Over the years I’ve actually<br />

had people ask me ‘where did you shoot<br />

so-and-so, what city did you have to go<br />

to?’ And I say we didn’t go anyplace, it<br />

was all shot right there on the backlots.”<br />

By the close of the first season<br />

U.N.C.L.E. had become a worldwide<br />

� THE ‘POOR MAN’S PROCESS’, Koenekamp<br />

and his operator would lie on the hood of a car<br />

with a hand-held <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX, using just a piece of<br />

foam rubber to keep them from sliding off<br />

craze and its renewal was assured.<br />

With an increased budget for the second<br />

season, the producers elected to start<br />

shooting in colour. “It was a wonderful<br />

transition,” says Koenekamp. “I can<br />

remember Norman Felton coming down<br />

to the set and saying ‘well I’ve got good<br />

news for you: we’re not only getting<br />

picked up for next season, but we’re<br />

going on in colour.’ I was just thrilled,<br />

because I badly wanted to shoot colour.”<br />

A total of 105 episodes of The Man<br />

from U.N.C.L.E. were shot over four<br />

seasons between 1964 and 1967. Fred<br />

Koenekamp, who received two Emmy<br />

Award nominations for his work on the<br />

show, remained until midway through<br />

the final season, when MGM offered<br />

him the opportunity to shoot an Elvis<br />

Presley feature. He was replaced for the<br />

last few episodes by Ray Flin and Robert<br />

Hauser. Til Gabbani stayed on until the<br />

end, becoming so expert with the <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

35 that he took to training other<br />

operators in how best to use it. Without<br />

the tireless efforts of the crew and the<br />

ingenuity of those who photographed<br />

U.N.C.L.E., such an ambitious show<br />

would have been logistically impossible.<br />

That it remains popular to this day is a<br />

testament to the quality of their work. ■<br />

Dylan Michael<br />

� A PRESENTATION<br />

of the Technocrane<br />

� From left to right:<br />

Diana Apostol<br />

General Manager<br />

Ana Maria Nagy<br />

Rental Manager<br />

Oana Gheorghe<br />

Assistant General<br />

Manager<br />

Ion Ticu (Nini)<br />

Generator Operator<br />

Dumitru Marian<br />

(Gabi)<br />

Light & Grip<br />

Technician<br />

Oana Apostol<br />

IT Technician<br />

Andrei Zikeli<br />

Camera Technician<br />

�<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

The owners of Panalight Italy had considered setting up a rental facility<br />

in Romania ever since supplying equipment for Cold Mountain, which shot<br />

there in 2003. Since that time, the country has become increasingly popular<br />

with international filmmakers, prompting Panalight to build contacts with<br />

local technicians and pave the way for the opening of a new outlet.<br />

December 2005 brought the first<br />

official opening and by February<br />

2006 Panalight Romania was fully<br />

up and running. Diana Apostol, General Manager,<br />

explains: “From the beginning the company’s<br />

inventory was comprehensive enough to supply<br />

both movies and commercials with cameras, lenses,<br />

accessories, lights, grips and generators, as well<br />

as any consumables that technicians may need<br />

during productions.”<br />

Another important selling point of the fledgling<br />

Panalight Romania, in terms of raising interest from<br />

production companies, is the fact that it houses a<br />

Technocrane 30. The versatile crane arrived at the<br />

company in June 2006 as a result of collaboration<br />

with Orion Telescopic.<br />

After its first year of trading, Panalight Romania’s<br />

dedicated and enthusiastic team of technicians and<br />

administrators has already elevated the company to<br />

a strong position. The various markets that it set its<br />

sights on have been very effectively targeted and<br />

Panalight is now among the most successful<br />

independent rental houses in the country. The team<br />

is determined to consolidate this position over the<br />

coming year and strengthen the company’s market<br />

share still further.<br />

A crucial step toward developing a truly regional<br />

base in Bucharest, capable of servicing productions<br />

both in Romania and abroad, was the partnership<br />

formed in June 2007 between Panalight and<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Germany. A promising relationship had<br />

developed throughout 2006 and this agreement has<br />

officially sealed the partnership. The first production<br />

to benefit from the collaboration was Adam<br />

Resurrected, a European project that was shot in<br />

Bucharest this year with lights and grip equipment<br />

supplied by Panalight, and cameras supplied by<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental.<br />

Panalight<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Partner in Romania<br />

Clearly indicating their confidence in the Romanian<br />

operation, Panalight Italy has invested around one<br />

million Euros in creating a new building in<br />

Bucharest that is scheduled for completion by the<br />

end of 2007. This purpose-built facility will both<br />

house the company and provide a meeting place<br />

where DoPs, technicians and other production team<br />

members can interact. The state-of-the-art building<br />

will also contain all the technical resources and<br />

space necessary for top-level productions.<br />

Substantial investments have additionally been<br />

made in the equipment and tools that technicians<br />

will use to test and maintain the company’s<br />

inventory. These are of the highest precision<br />

possible, allowing rigorous evaluation of every<br />

component of a shooting kit, including electronic<br />

lens testing, all of which are necessary to ensure a<br />

properly serviced and fully functional rental fleet.<br />

With the combined resources of the Panalight<br />

network and those made available by the<br />

partnership with <strong>ARRI</strong>, Panalight Romania is now in<br />

a position to supply and support productions with<br />

whatever equipment they may need, whether it be a<br />

16mm, 35mm, digital or high speed shoot. The<br />

company is committed to maintaining an inventory<br />

of the latest motion picture technologies and is<br />

providing development opportunities for technicians<br />

through collaborations with local film schools. ■<br />

59


�<br />

<strong>News</strong> from around the world<br />

60<br />

All in One<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Australia provides seven different professional services from one facility to a<br />

supply area populated by fewer than 30 million people, but who are spread over<br />

literally an entire continent and beyond. Based in Sydney, the company represents<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> throughout the whole of Australia, as well as New Zealand.<br />

General Manager Stefan Sedlmeier, who comes from a<br />

background of supplying film scanning technology, sees<br />

his task as maintaining a powerful and far-reaching facility<br />

with a small but multi-skilled team of employees. Crucially,<br />

the company is able to support the digital intermediate<br />

products it sells with top-level servicing back-up,<br />

coordinated by Tom Altenried, who was formerly DIS<br />

Service Manager at <strong>ARRI</strong> Munich.<br />

One of the first <strong>ARRI</strong>MAX 18K lamps to be sold anywhere<br />

in the world went to Australia in 2006. Lighting Sales<br />

Manager Richard Curtis spent years working as a gaffer in<br />

Australia and has a wealth of knowledge not only about<br />

the different lighting units available but also how they can<br />

be used on set.<br />

� (from front clockwise) Stefan Sedlmeier, General Manager; Geraldine Quinn,<br />

Client Relationship Manager; Rey Adia, Senior Service Engineer;<br />

Richard Curtis, Sales Manager Lighting; Allyn Laing, Preparation Technician;<br />

Aaron George, Camera Floor Manager; Tom Altenried, Service Engineer<br />

Digital Intermediate Systems; Seamus Maher, Accountant; Rich Lock, Client<br />

Contact; Jasmine Lord, AFTRS Intern; Christian Hilgart, Rental Manager<br />

A total of 10 employees and one trainee make up<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Australia’s full-time staff, with different<br />

departments working together to pool knowledge<br />

and maximise flexibility. The service department,<br />

which supports the in-house rental fleet and services<br />

customers’ equipment, is made up of three<br />

technicians. Camera Floor Manager Aaron George<br />

is highly experienced in the camera rental business,<br />

Rey Adia has serviced lighting and camera kit in<br />

countries all over the world, while Allyn Laing brings<br />

his film school education and experiences as a<br />

cinematographer to bear for the benefit of clients.<br />

In Australia, the vast distances between populated<br />

areas mean high transport costs and shooting<br />

locations that are often many miles from any form of<br />

infrastructure; dispatch and logistics are therefore<br />

complex and vital tasks for the rental office.<br />

�<br />

� <strong>ARRI</strong> AUSTRALIA’S facility at Macquarie Park,<br />

Sydney<br />

� AROUND 8,000 visitors attended SMPTE 2007 in Sydney<br />

� GENERAL MANAGER STEFAN SEDLMEIER, demonstrates the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435 Xtreme at <strong>ARRI</strong> Australia’s booth<br />

Client Contact Rich Lock utilises his project management<br />

background to combine such tasks with supporting clients<br />

through shoots and running the office, while also putting his<br />

degree in marketing to use by designing marketing<br />

communications strategies.<br />

Geraldine Quinn joined the <strong>ARRI</strong> Australia team at the<br />

beginning of 2007. She has experience as a production<br />

manager and knows both the industry and her client base<br />

very well. As Client Relationship Manager she develops<br />

and maintains contacts not only in production but also with<br />

production service providers who might be of benefit to<br />

international features shooting in Australia.<br />

Christian Hilgart, who set up <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental Cologne in 2000,<br />

brings a comprehensive knowledge of motion picture<br />

technology to his role as Rental Manager. Accountant<br />

Seamus Maher efficiently manages the control of the different<br />

departments and facilitates <strong>ARRI</strong> Australia’s responsibilities<br />

as a company in its own right rather than just an agency<br />

with his knowledge of Australian and New Zealand<br />

government regulations.<br />

In order to best service productions that base themselves in<br />

other key centres of the customer area such as Queensland,<br />

Victoria, New South Wales, Wellington and Auckland,<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Australia has established a network of rental partners<br />

and so can offer local support to its clients, wherever they<br />

decide to shoot.<br />

�<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

61


�<br />

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD<br />

<strong>News</strong> from around the world<br />

62<br />

BLIXT Extends Reach of <strong>ARRI</strong>’s Rental Partner Network<br />

In March 2007 BLIXT Camera Rental in Copenhagen became the <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental<br />

Partner for Scandinavia. With a total population of 19 million, Scandinavia<br />

produces 85 feature films a year, which, per capita, makes it one of the most<br />

productive filmmaking regions in the world.<br />

BLIXT was founded in 1995 by swedish DoP Björn<br />

Blixt, starting out with only two Super 16 cameras<br />

and a few accessories. Over the years it has grown<br />

substantially and is now one of the largest camera<br />

rental companies in that part of the world, servicing<br />

feature films, commercials and promos in Denmark,<br />

Norway, Sweden and beyond.<br />

The company’s inventory has expanded to include<br />

state-of-the-art cameras such as the <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite<br />

and Studio, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 535B, 435 Xtreme, 235, 416<br />

and SR 3 Advanced, accompanied by Master Prime,<br />

Ultra Prime, Cooke S4 and Angenieux Optimo lenses.<br />

One of the more unusual services that BLIXT provides<br />

to clientele is their library, which has a selection of<br />

more than two hundred books on camera techniques,<br />

lighting techniques, gripping, directing, storyboarding<br />

and many more topics. Titles range from Vittorio<br />

Storaro´s highly artistic three-volume Writing with Light,<br />

to small books on tricks of the trade. BLIXT also<br />

subscribe to Scandinavian, as well as international,<br />

film magazines and hold every issue of American<br />

Cinematographer from the last 25 years. Customers<br />

find great joy in browsing through the company’s<br />

wide selection of film literature for inspiration or to<br />

find answers to technical questions.<br />

In the summer of 2000, A Song For Martin, directed<br />

by two-time Golden Palm winner Bille August and<br />

shot by Swedish DoP Jörgen Persson, became the first<br />

Scandinavian movie filmed in 3 perforation Super<br />

35. BLIXT provided the 535B camera. Since this film,<br />

the 3 perforation process, with its reduced stock and<br />

development costs, has become the format of choice<br />

for commercials and feature films made in the region.<br />

This shift has been made possible by the influx of<br />

technologically advanced postproduction equipment<br />

such as the <strong>ARRI</strong>SCANNER and <strong>ARRI</strong>LASER, facilitating<br />

a wealth of new digital intermediate workflows.<br />

�<br />

��<br />

� CEO BJÖRN BLIXT<br />

� RENTAL TECHNICIAN Reza Farsangi, Booking Manager<br />

Martin Samsoe and Chief Technician Dan Friis (left to right)<br />

�<br />

�CHIEF TECHNICIAN Dan Friis checking an <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235<br />

Did you<br />

?<br />

Know<br />

The Good, the Bad and<br />

the Ugly 1966<br />

Like the two preceding films in the Dollars Trilogy, The Good,<br />

the Bad and the Ugly was shot using Techniscope, a 2 perforation<br />

widescreen format that offered a cheaper alternative to the<br />

considerable cost of anamorphic production of the time.<br />

Some actors spoke in English during filming while the rest spoke<br />

in their native language, mostly Italian and Spanish, which was<br />

later dubbed into English.<br />

Full Metal Jacket 1987<br />

Easy Rider 1969<br />

Shot at various locations in the UK, the films<br />

most impressive set was an abandoned<br />

1930s gasworks in Beckton. Scheduled for<br />

demolition, British Gas allowed the site to<br />

be transformed into the bombed-out city of<br />

Hue. Charges were laid by a demolition<br />

team and then one Sunday British Gas<br />

executives brought their families down to<br />

see the place blown up. The ruins were then<br />

dressed to complete the effect, including<br />

palm trees brought in from Spain and one<br />

hundred thousand plastic tropical plants<br />

from Hong Kong.<br />

The Lord of the Rings 2001<br />

Some of the weird lighting effects in<br />

the LSD scene supposedly came about<br />

after a can of film was accidentally<br />

opened before it was developed.<br />

More than 1800 Hobbit feet were produced. Each pair would<br />

take over an hour to apply and could only be used once as<br />

there was no way of removing the feet at the end of the day<br />

without damaging them. They were all shredded after use in<br />

order to prevent a black market in stolen Hobbit feet.<br />

It is common practice to have two units shooting at any one<br />

time, but during filming of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy there<br />

were occasions when there were up to nine units operating at<br />

any given time. This meant there would often be between three<br />

to five hours of dailies to review.<br />

Flags of Our Fathers 2006<br />

The Battle of Iwo Jima was recreated on location in Iceland,<br />

which has black sand beaches identical to those found on the<br />

volcanic island of Iwo Jima. The fierce combat scenes were<br />

captured with <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235s, chosen to allow the crew to<br />

get in close with the actors during the action to create a<br />

documentary-like feel. All the cameras had to be encased in<br />

HydroFlex bags during filming due to the large amount of<br />

explosions which caused the black sand to fly everywhere.<br />

Take<br />

10<br />

Iain Struthers<br />

First Assistant Camera<br />

Iain is currently getting wet on Gurinder Chadha’s latest<br />

feature film Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging with<br />

DoP Dick Pope BSC. Based on the teenage novel by Louise<br />

Rennison. Angus is a cat by the way.<br />

His other most recent credits include Wild Child with DoP<br />

Chris Seager BSC, with DoP Gavin Finney BSC, and before<br />

that with Alan Stewart Second Unit DoP on Inkheart Fred<br />

Claus and The Golden Age.<br />

1 What film first inspired you to work in this industry?<br />

Pete and the Dragon, is an early film memory.I remember<br />

queing up for ages, usually with an older sister on a Saturday<br />

afternoon waiting to get into see films at a local Odeon.<br />

2 What’s your cure for the “morning after the wrap<br />

party” feeling?<br />

Being left alone, this could take some time. Or not going.<br />

3 Name three things that make you smile?<br />

Ava Lee Struthers – my daughter.<br />

Getting home.<br />

Nice Food.<br />

4 What was the first car you ever owned?<br />

Ford Escort 1.3L. Bright Orange. £500. One lady owner.<br />

5 What’s the one thing you can’t live without?<br />

Food.<br />

6 If your life was a film, what would it be and why?<br />

I’m not quite sure… but what a strange film that would be! I<br />

hope it would be full of wonderful emotions.<br />

7 What’s your most embarrassing moment?<br />

It could develop into becoming this, when it’s been printed!<br />

8 Who inspires you?<br />

To do anything – my dearest and nearest.<br />

9 Name three people (living or dead)<br />

you’d most like to dine with?<br />

My Partner.<br />

The Person who photographed the Fake First<br />

Man on the Moon picture’s.<br />

Don McCullen.<br />

10 What was the last film you saw?<br />

The Goonies.<br />

63


PRODUCT<br />

UPDATE<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> Extends Range of Camera<br />

Crew Accessories<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>’s increasingly popular range of<br />

fabric accessories for camera crew,<br />

first introduced in November 2006,<br />

has recently been extended to include<br />

16 bespoke bags and pouches. The<br />

design process involved contributions<br />

from camera technicians to ensure that<br />

the accessories specifically cater to<br />

their practical and technical<br />

requirements. The range includes a unit<br />

bag, loaders pouch, filter pouches and<br />

various other accessory pouches, all of<br />

which are highly water resistant,<br />

uniformly hard-wearing and offer a<br />

quality equivalent to that of leading<br />

manufacturers at highly competitive<br />

prices. The <strong>ARRI</strong> branded bags and<br />

pouches, many of which affix to a<br />

purpose-designed utility belt, are now<br />

available worldwide through the <strong>ARRI</strong><br />

global network.<br />

Lightweight Matte Box LMB-15<br />

The <strong>ARRI</strong> LMB-15 is the newest addition to the <strong>ARRI</strong> clip-on matte box line, superseding<br />

the LMB-5. Designed around the horizontal use of standard 4” x 5.65” filters the LMB-15<br />

also comes with a new clamping back, allowing use of the clamp-on adapter rings from<br />

the MB-20 system. This clamping back is also compatible with the LMB-5.<br />

64<br />

Lightweight Matte Box<br />

LMB-15 Facts<br />

- Compatibility with LMB-5 filter trays,<br />

adapter backs and light shields<br />

- Extended coverage for wide-angle<br />

film and digital lenses<br />

- Removable sunshade<br />

- Switchable filter guide sets for both<br />

2-stage and 3-stage operation<br />

- Light shields can be attached both<br />

above and below for additional<br />

flare protection<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite Gains Speed<br />

Following requests from cinematographers for the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite to run faster, the motor, movement and<br />

magazine have been analyzed closely. By optimizing all<br />

the operational parameters, and after months of<br />

rigorous testing, it has been possible to increase the<br />

maximum forward speed to 48fps.<br />

All <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite cameras available through the <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental <strong>Group</strong><br />

have been upgraded and now come with the 48fps speed increase.<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 Gains Sensitivity<br />

and High-Speed Interface<br />

Higher Sensitivity Settings<br />

A new software package has increased the sensitivity of the<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 to provide a wider range of settings for use in<br />

lower light situations. It is now possible to set the camera to<br />

the approximate equivalent of 500 ISO (ASA), or even higher<br />

for certain applications.<br />

Sony Fibre Interface SFI-1 Facilitates<br />

High-Speed Shooting<br />

The Sony Fibre Interface SFI-1 mounts directly on the camera<br />

and is connected by a single fibre cable, available in lengths<br />

up to 500m, to a fibre-equipped Sony SRW-1 HDCAM SR<br />

recorder. This configuration allows high-speed shooting at up<br />

to 60fps, including in-camera speed ramps when used in<br />

conjunction with an <strong>ARRI</strong> Remote Control Unit RCU-1.<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite Facts<br />

VISION<strong>ARRI</strong><br />

- Small & lightweight Super 35 sync<br />

sound camera<br />

- Easy to operate<br />

ergonomic design<br />

user-friendly controls<br />

- Brilliant viewfinder<br />

- High quality video assist<br />

- Camera speed: 1-48fps<br />

- Electronic shutter: 0-180°<br />

- 4, 3 or 2 perforation movement<br />

- Modular concept<br />

four viewfinders<br />

two 100% video-only tops<br />

two video assist units<br />

four magazine types<br />

- Extensive range of accessories<br />

wired & wireless remote control of camera<br />

& lens<br />

external synchronization<br />

ramping (speed, depth of field, timing shift)<br />

- Built-in Lens Data System<br />

65


PRODUCTION UPDATE<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> RENTAL<br />

Title Production Company Director DoP Equipment<br />

Anonyma Constantin Film Produktion Max Färberböck Benedict Neuenfels <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435, 235,<br />

15-40mm, 17-80mm & 24-290mm Angenieux<br />

Optimo, 3 perforation, Lighting, Grip<br />

Body of Lies Warner Bros. Pictures Ridley Scott Alexander Witt <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435, 235,<br />

Ultra Primes, 15-40mm, 17-80mm &<br />

24-290mm Angenieux Optimo<br />

Captain Abu Raed Gigapix Studios Armin Matalqa Reinhart Peschke <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20<br />

Der Baader Constantin Film Produktion Uli Edel Rainer Klausmann <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, Ultra Primes,<br />

Meinhof Komplex 3 perforation, Lighting, Grip<br />

Die wilden Kerle 5 SamFilm Joachim Masannek Benjamin Dernbecher <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435,<br />

- Der Schattensucher 24-290mm Angenieux Optimo, 3 perforation<br />

Hexe Lilli blue eyes Fiction / Trixter Stefan Ruzowitzky Peter von Haller <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235, Ultra<br />

Primes,17-80mm & 24-290mm Angenieux<br />

Optimo, 3 perforation, Lighting, Grip<br />

Inhabited Island Art Pictures & Fedor Bondarchuk Maxim Osadchiy <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435, 235,<br />

Non-Stop Productions Ultra Primes, 15-40mm, 17-80mm &<br />

24-290mm Angenieux Optimo<br />

Mord mit Aussicht Pro GmbH Arne Feldhusen Johannes Imdahl <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 16SR 3, Lighting, Grip<br />

Rubicon United Artists / Sony Bryan Singer Newton Thomas Sigel <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435, 235,<br />

Cooke S4,17-80mm & 24-290mm<br />

Angenieux Optimo, Grip<br />

Speed Racer Warner Bros. Pictures Andy Wachowski David Tattersall Lighting, Grip<br />

Larry Wachowski<br />

The Chronicles of Narnia: Walden <strong>Media</strong> Andrew Adamson Karl Walter Lindenlaub <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435, 235,<br />

Prince Caspian Master Primes, Master Zoom, Lighting, Grip<br />

The International Babelsberg / Sony-Columbia Tom Tykwer Frank Griebe <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435, 235,<br />

765, Master Primes, Master Zoom, 15-40 &<br />

24-290mm Angenieux Optimo, LWZ-1<br />

15,5-45mm, 3 perforation, Lighting, Grip<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> AUSTRALIA<br />

Title Production Company Director DoP Equipment<br />

McLeod’s Daughters<br />

- Series 8<br />

Millennium Television Various John Stokes,<br />

Kim Batterham<br />

3 x <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX SR 3, Zeiss Highspeed<br />

Lenses, Zeiss Zooms<br />

East of Everything<br />

- Series 1<br />

Twenty Twenty Pty Stuart MacDonald<br />

Matthew Saville<br />

Brendan Lavelle 2 x <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX SR 3, Zeiss Highspeed<br />

Lenses, Canon Zooms<br />

Virgin Blue Good Oil Films Hamish Rothwell Jac Fitzgerald <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 435, LDS Ultra Primes<br />

The Pacific First Division Pty Tim Van Patten<br />

Carl Franklin<br />

Remi Adefarasin 2 x <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235, 3 x <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite, LDS<br />

Ultra Primes, Optimo Set<br />

Westfield Brilliant Films Lee Rogers Tristan Milani SR 3, 416, Zeiss Highspeed Lenses<br />

Visa BoPo Brilliant Films Simon Bookallil Tristan Milani <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 416, Zeiss Highspeed Lenses<br />

Hutchinson 3 Plaza Films Nicholas Reynolds Tristan Milani <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 416, Zeiss Highspeed Lenses<br />

Shot Open AFTRS Scott Pickett Greg de Marigny <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio, Cooke S4’s<br />

Landcruiser Good Oil Films Matt Murphy Nigel Bluck <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235, <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio, Anamorphic<br />

Foxtel Good Oil Films Hamish Rothwell Jac Fitzgerald <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio, Anamorphic<br />

The Ball Panckhurst Productions Alex Holmes Geoffrey Simpson <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 416, SR 3, Zeiss Highspeed<br />

Lenses, Canon Zoom, Angenieux<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> LIGHTING RENTAL<br />

Title Production Company Director DoP Gaffer Rigging Gaffer Best Boy<br />

The Young VictoriaYoung Victoria Productions Jean Marc Vallee Hagen Bogdanski Jimmy Wilson Ian Franklin Mark Funnell<br />

The Duchess The Duchess Movie Saul Dibb Gyula Pados John Colley Vince Madden Andy Cole<br />

RocknRolla Toff Guy (RNR) Films Guy Ritchie David Higgs Dan Fontaine John Walker Andy Bell<br />

Untitled 06 Untitled 06 Mike Leigh Dick Pope BSC Matthew Moffatt Kevin<br />

Fitzpatrick<br />

Primeval 2 Impossible Pictures Jamie Paine Adam Suchitzky Stewart King Steve Anthony<br />

Andrew Gunn Graham Frake<br />

Nick Murphy Chris Hartley<br />

The Colour The Mob Film Company Vadim Jean Gavin Finny BSC Terry Hunt Steve Cortie Terry Robb<br />

of Magic<br />

Ashes To Ashes Ashes Johnny Campbell Julian Court Dan Fontaine, Mike Parsons,<br />

Billie Eltringham Nick Laws John Walker Andy Bell<br />

Simon Archer<br />

Echo Beach Echo Beach (Echo Beach) Jennifer Perrott John Daly BSC Tom Gates Toby Flesher<br />

Beryl Richards<br />

Moving Moving Wallpaper (MW) Andrew Gillman Ian Leggitt Jo Allen Carolina<br />

Wallpaper Schmidtholstein<br />

MI High MI High (MI High) Simon Hook Stephan Pehrsson Haydn Boniface Gavin Ogden<br />

Miss Austen BBC Jeremy Lovering David Katznelson Otto Stenov Wayne Mansell<br />

Regrets<br />

Holby Blue 2 Red Planet (Holby) Sarah O’Gorman Ian Leggitt Jo Allen Carolina<br />

Toby Haynes Schmidtholstein<br />

The Fixer Fixer Alrick Riley Vojek Sheper Mark Clayton Benny Harper<br />

John Strickland<br />

Silent Witness XII BBC Diarmuid Lawrence Kevin Rowley Micky Brown John Attwood/<br />

Dave Owen<br />

Published by the <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental <strong>Group</strong> Marketing Department. 3 Highbridge, Oxford Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 1LX United Kingdom<br />

The opinions expressed by individuals quoted in articles in Vision<strong>ARRI</strong> do not necessarily represent those of the <strong>ARRI</strong> Rental <strong>Group</strong> or the Editors. Due to our constant endeavour to improve<br />

quality and design, modifications may be made to products from time to time. Details of availability and specifications given in this publication are subject to change without notice.<br />

66<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> CSC<br />

Title Production Company DoP Gaffer Equipment Serviced by<br />

A Date With Murder Mineral Point Prods. Mark Melville 2 x <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC FL<br />

Are You Smarter Mark Burnett Productions Various Oscar Dominguez Automated Lighting Illumination Dynamics<br />

Than a Fifth Grader?<br />

Burn After Reading Gramecy Prods. LLC Emmanuel Lubezki ASC Bill O’Leary 2 x <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

Lighting & Grip<br />

Canterbury’s Law Topanga Prods. Tom Houghton 3 x <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 416 <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

Kid Nation Mountain Air Films Daryl Studebaker Oscar Dominguez Lighting Illumination Dynamics<br />

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam Prods. Michael Slovis 2 x <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 416 <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

Righteous Kill Righteous Prods. LLC Denis Lenoir ASC Elan Yaari <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

Lighting & Grip<br />

She Lived Huntington Prep LLC Sharone Meir Iggy Scarpitti Lighting Illumination Dynamics<br />

Six Wives of Six Wives LLC Nancy Schreiber ASC <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

Henry Laffey Lighting & Grip<br />

The Sophomore Sophomore Dist. LLC M. David Mullen ASC Kevin Janicelli <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

Welcome to Pelican State Prods. David Dunlap 2 x <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

Academia<br />

What Happens 20th Century Fox Matthew Leonetti ASC Andrew Day <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite <strong>ARRI</strong> CSC NY<br />

In Vegas Lighting & Grip<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> FILM & TV - POST PRODUCTION SERVICES - FEATURES<br />

Title Production Company Director DoP Services<br />

Anonyma Constantin Film Produktion Max Färberböck Benedict Neuenfels Lab, DI, TV-Mastering<br />

Clara Integral Film Helma Sanders-Brahms Jürgen Jürges Lab, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex Constantin Film Produktion Uli Edel Rainer Klausmann Lab, DI, VFX, TV-Mastering<br />

Alle Anderen Komplizen Film Maren Ade Bernhard Keller Lab, TV-Mastering<br />

Die Frauen des Anarchisten P’ARTISAN Filmproduktion Marie Noëlle, Peter Sehr Jean Francois Robin Lab, DI, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

Die Welle Rat Pack Filmproduktion Dennis Gansel Torsten Breuer Lab, DI, VFX, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

Die wilden Kerle 5 SamFilm Joachim Masannek Benjamin Dernbecher Lab, DI, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

– Der Schattensucher<br />

Effi Briest Constantin Film Produktion Hermine Huntgeburth Martin Langer Lab, DI, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

Feuerherz TV60Film Luigi Falorni Judith Kaufmann Lab, DI, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

Freche Mädchen collina filmproduktion Ute Wieland Peter Przybylski Lab, DI, VFX, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

Hexe Lilli blue eyes Fiction / Trixter Stefan Ruzowitzky Peter von Haller Lab, DI, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

John Rabe Hofmann & Voges Florian Gallenberger Jürgen Jürges Lab, DI, Sound, TV-Mastering<br />

Palermo Shooting Wenders Images Wim Wenders Franz Lustig Lab, TV-Mastering<br />

Rubicon Babelsberg / United Artists Bryan Singer Newton Thomas Sigel Lab<br />

The International Babelsberg / Sony-Columbia Tom Tykwer Frank Griebe Lab, DI, TV-Mastering<br />

The Reader Babelsberg / The Weinstein Stephen Daldry Roger Deakins Lab<br />

Company<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> FILM & TV - POST PRODUCTION SERVICES - COMMERCIALS<br />

Client Title Production Company Agency Director DoP<br />

Cortal Consors Stier Serviceplan Zweite WA<br />

Mazda Motors Europe Mazda2 Competition Hager Moss Commercial JWT Düsseldorf Paula Walker Rolf Kestermann<br />

McDonald´s Brand 2007 Hager Moss Commercial Heye & Partner Martin Haerlin Sven Lützenkirchen<br />

Unterhaltung mit Heidi<br />

McDonald´s Brand 2007 Mundvoll, Hager Moss Commercial Heye & Partner Martin Haerlin Sven Lützenkirchen<br />

Pommes, Freundinnen,<br />

Langeweile, Münze<br />

PLAYMOBIL Herbst 2007 e+p commercial Reiner Holzemer Peter Aichholzer<br />

Williams Formula 1 Branding R.TV Film & Fernsehen Tobias Heppermann Thomas Stokowski<br />

Wagner Pizza Durchreiche Laszlo Kadar Heye & Partner Laszlo Kadar Laszlo Kadar<br />

Ferrero Kinder HP Albrecht<br />

ING DiBa Markenfilm Helliventures Wüschner Rower Baier Joachim Hellinger Dieter Deventer<br />

Caotina Lippenbekenntnis GAP Advico Young & Ivo Mostertman Jean Paul Seresin<br />

Rubicam Zürich<br />

WIN WIN winwin.de Rapid Eye Movement Basis <strong>Media</strong> GmbH Lili Clemens<br />

Calgonit Tab-Regen e+p commercial Euro RSCG Gerhard Hirsch Gerhard Hirsch<br />

Zweifel Chips Cractiv GAP Advico Young & Rubicam Nic & Sune Richard Mott<br />

Saturn LED Berlin redblue Marketing<br />

Müller Milch Verkostung Made in Munich Springer & Jacoby Plot: Vivian Naefe Plot: Michael<br />

- Food: David Hornung - Food:<br />

Wynn-Jones David Wynn-Jones<br />

<strong>ARRI</strong> MEDIA<br />

Title Production Company Director DoP Equipment<br />

The Young Victoria Young Victoria Prods Jean Marc Vallee Hagen Bogdanski <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite<br />

Baggy Trousers Bwark Productions Rob Kitzmann Sony 750P HD & Zooms<br />

Silent Witness XII BBC Television Various Kevin Rowley <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 & Zeiss Primes<br />

ART In Las Vegas ART In LV Mary McGuckian Mark Wolf <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 & Ultra Primes<br />

Eden Samson Films Declan Rechs Owen McPolin <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 535<br />

Nutcracker HCC <strong>Media</strong> Andrei Konchalovsky Mike Southon BSC <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235, 435, 416<br />

RocknRolla Toff Guy Films Guy Ritchie David Higgs <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20, Ultras & Master Primes<br />

Telstar Aspiration Films Nick Moran Peter Wignall <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Lite & Cooke S4 Primes<br />

The Colour of Magic The Mob Film Company Vadim Jean Gavin Finney BSC <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX D-20 & Cooke S4 Primes<br />

Wild Child Lacrosse Films Nick Moore Chris Seager BSC <strong>ARRI</strong>CAM Studio & Lite, <strong>ARRI</strong>FLEX 235<br />

67

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