BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY | CLAUDIO MIRANDA LAUDIO MIRANDA LAUDIO C | CINEMATOGRAPHY BEST “And everybody asked me would I try again...? I never did. As a matter of fact, I have never done anything with my life after that....” “A visual triumph that advances the art of screen storytelling leaps and bounds ahead of everything that has come before.....” – Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com US $7.00 AWARDS ISSUE 2009 Display Until April 2009 2009 Special Awards Issue THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: TRANSITIONS 1 © 2009 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. PARAMOUNTGUILDS.COM WWW.SOC.ORG CAMERACAMERA OPERATOROPERATOR VOLUME 18, NUMBER 1 SPECIAL AWARDS ISSUE 2009 Filming Law & Order: Criminal Intent out east on the north shore of Long Island. Courtesy of Al Cerullo. Features: SOC Lifetime Achievement Awards Celebration Meet the people who are being honored this Cover: year for Lifetime Achievement as a Camera Operator, Camera Technician, Mobile Platform Camera Operator, and Still Photographer, for the President’s Award, for Outstanding Achievement in Technology, for Distinguished 6 Service, and for the 2nd annual Camera Operator of the Year Award. Filming a Heist Cover photo of by Dan Kneece SOC 53 Sean Penn from An Operator’s personal diary description of Milk. © 2008 Focus shooting the feature film Maiden Heist for Features. DP Ueli Steiger ASC. Departments: 2 President’s Letter 61 Transitions by Dan Kneece SOC 63 Last Take; Ad Index 4 News & Notes SOC donation to Childrens Hospital Vision 64 Roster of the SOC Center; Holiday Screening. as of 1/9/09 Camera Operator Letter from the President Special Awards Issue 2009 elcome to the 2009 Past recipients have felt that Editor . Jack Messitt SOC Film & Digital: WSpecial Awards Issue receiving the Cammy was one Associate Editor . Douglas Knapp SOC Assistant Editor . Dan Coplan SOC of Camera Operator mag- of the best moments of their Managing Editor/Art Director/ The Best of azine. I’d like to take this lives because, not only were Layout & Design . .Lynn Lanning time to thank you for sup- they recognized for their skills Post-Production . Douglas Knapp SOC Both Worlds Production . IngleDodd Publishing porting our organization in their given crafts, but many Contributors by attending our SOC of their friends were there to Will Arnot SOC Lifetime Achievement share the moment with them. Stephen Campanelli SOC Awards. At the end of the presenta- Al Cerullo David Emmerichs SOC Your ticket purchases tion, we will reveal the Camera David Frederick SOC are tax deductible and SIMON JAYES, SOC Operator of the Year. Five Bob Gorelick SOC help us with our yearly Dan Kneece soc Camera Operators nominated Bob Hall donation to the Vision for their outstanding work on Dan Kneece SOC Kim Marks SOC Michael Condon, SOC Andree Martin Center at Childrens Hospital Los feature films have received votes from Stan McClain SOC VP Digital Division VP Technical Services Angeles. The Vision Center helps chil- the SOC Active Membership by secret Jack Messitt SOC Ralph Nelson dren with eye problems see better and, ballot with the results being revealed George Paddock as I learned on a recent tour of their the night of the show. It is an exciting Larry Mole Parker facilities, also helps others through their moment not to be missed. Andy Romanoff st Martin Schaer SOC research and invention of new equip- So let’s join together February 21 , Michael Scott SOC ment used by other eye care hospitals all 2009 at the Academy of Television Arts Dave Tolsky SOC over the world. It is truly a magical place. and Sciences to celebrate the unsung Douglas Trumbull Our Lifetime Achievement Awards heroes of our industry, the recipients of Nelson Tyler presentation promises to be magical as the 2009 SOC Lifetime Achievement Photography Tracy Bennett well. It only lasts for an evening, but in Awards. Paul Babin SOC that time you will see smiles, elation and See you there! Phil Bray SMPSP admiration as we enjoy a wonderful eve- Marty Crail Dan Kneece, SOC President François Duhamel SMPSP ning together. Sam Emerson Richard Foreman Kerry Hayes Society of Camera Operators David Frederick SOC Simon Jayes SOC Officers BOG Committee Chairs Morris P Kagan President . .Dan Kneece President Emeritus/Corporate Liaison/ Douglas Kirkland SMPSP 1st Vice President . Jack Messitt Awards Event Coordinator. .David J Frederick Douglas Knapp SOC 2nd Vice President . .Ernie Reed Events . .David Mahlmann, Warren Yeager Dan Kneece SOC Some rental houses are film and others are digital. We varying temperatures, etc. Then we worked closely with Merrick Morton SMPSP 3rd Vice President . Dan Gold Membership . Michael Chambliss strive to be the best of both. manufacturers to ensure that ergonomics of their Magazine Editor . Jack Messitt Ron Phillips Treasurer . .Chris Tufty Walter Thompson products would be optimized for camera crews with a Secretary . Dan Gold Publicity . Bud Fries, Simon Jayes Stephen Vaughan SMPSP Our roots are in film. Over the past 30 years we have Charity . Georgia Packard film background. Today, our digital inventory has Sergeant-at-Arms . Greg P Collier Aiken Weiss SOC steadily expanded our inventory to include a vast variety Publications . Jack Messitt Thomas Weston expanded to include Arri D-21, Sony F23 and F35, Merchandise & Promotions. Greg P Collier of 35mm and 16mm film cameras. These are coupled Advertising Director — Dan Dodd Iconix, Panasonic, and Red cameras. All supported with Screenings. David Tolsky with the industry’s widest selection of specialty and Board of Governors For display advertising information, Gary Baum Douglas Knapp the latest in monitoring and DIT control equipment. Tech Standards . Ron Vidor, Aldo Antonelli, Erwin Landau contact: standard lenses to give cinematographers the ability to Bonnie Blake Allan Lum Li Dan Dodd Jeffrey R Clark Tom McDonnell Staff and Consultants (310) 207-4410 x236 maximize their creativity. You want it; we probably have it. Our goal is to provide outstanding service 24/7. Feel free Dan Coplan Jens Piotrowski Office Administrator . Diana Penilla fax: (310) 207-1055 to call or drop by anytime and let us show you how we [email protected] We started our digital division in 2001, where we David Diano Philip Schwartz Webmaster . Mark R Leins can take care of you and your project. Ian Dodd George B Stephenson Event Coordinator . Karen Beck For article submissions, please contact: modified our Sony F900 cameras to be film-friendly; Al Gonzalez David Tolsky Publications Layout . Lynn Lanning SOC Attn Magazine capable of quick lens changes, consistent focus in Mike and Andree David Allan Grove Aiken Weiss Publishers . .IngleDodd Publishing PO Box 2006 Toluca Lake, CA 91610 Christopher Ivins Ben Wolf Membership Certificate Calligrapher . Carrie Imai Phone (818) 382-7070 Legal Representation . David Adelstein, Geffner & Bush [email protected] ® Copyright © 2009 by the is a registered trademark. ision, the essential ingredient that Society of Camera Operators All rights reserved. we as camera operators use in our Camera Operator is published semi- annually work, intrinsically bonds us to children by the Society of Camera Operators, plus a Special Awards Issue. with vision problems. Our organization Visit the SOC web site contributes its full support to the Vision Magazine Subscription Rates www.clairmont.com USA $20/year www.soc.org Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Outside USA $28/year (U.S. Funds Only) Hollywood Vancouver Toronto Albuquerque Montreal 818-761-4440 604-984-4563 416-467-1700 505-227-2525 514-525-6556 News & Notes What’s going on with members and in the industry AIKEN WEISS SOC Vision Center Doctors Thomas Lee, Mark Borchert and Natalia Uribe with the SOC’s Dave Frederick and Dan Kneece. SOC Delivers Donation to Vision Center t was the honor of the SOC to present their annual donation to the Vision ICenter at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Doctors Mark S Borchert, Thomas C Lee, and Natalia Uribe accepted the $7,500.00 contribution from Get your SOC information the SOC family. via email. Do we have your The SOC donation is earmarked for the Vision Center’s special contact lens current email address? program that provides necessary postoperative lenses to families in need. Over the past 20 years, SOC has provided nearly $150,000.00 toward the care and healing of children’s vision. y SOC Holiday Screening he SOC held its annual THoliday Screening and Party on December 14th, 2008 at the Motion Picture Fund’s Louis B Mayer Theater. There was a great turnout to see the animated movie Bolt and moviegoers brought in scores of donated toys to ben- efit the children at The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the SOC’s favor- ite charity. A great time was had by all! —David Tolsky DAVID TOLSKY Kids with their balloon toys are all smiles at the annual SOC Holiday Screening/Party. 4 CAMERA OPERATOR: NEWS & NOTES Special Awards Issue 2009 Camera Operator of the Year This Year’s Recipients SOC Awards Primer The Camera Operator of the Year recognizes the critical contributions of the Camera the Camera Operator to the Selecting the Nominees success of a feature fi lm. The Lifetime Achievement Awards are a way for the A Blue Ribbon Panel surveys the year’s offerings of fi lms SOC to recognize individual achievement in the allied and narrows its focus for nominations to those that have crafts of motion picture photography: The Camera a camera operator do the work of a camera operator. Operator, Camera Technician, Still Photographer and Those fi lms where the Director of Photography was the Mobile Camera Platform Operator. This process starts principal Camera Operator are not eligible. with a call for nominees from the entire membership of Voting MORRIS KAGAN MORRIS MORRIS KAGAN MORRIS the SOC. It is not a stipulation of eligibility that the KAGAN MORRIS WESTON THOMAS nominee be a member of the Society.