JANUARY 2012 $5.95Canada $6.95 ! ® LitepanelsiL te slenap ® [email protected]@ofni moc.slena • www.litepanels.comapetil.www moc.slena A Vitec Group branddnarbpuorGcetiVA JANUARY 2012 VOL. 93 NO. 1 The International Journal of Motion Imaging On Our Cover: Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) unearths sinister secrets in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, shot by Jeff Cronenweth, ASC. (Photo by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, courtesy of Columbia Pictures.) FEATURES 32 Cold Case Jeff Cronenweth, ASC and David Fincher investigate a compelling mystery for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 48 Animal Instincts Janusz Kaminski saddles up with Steven Spielberg on the World War I drama War Horse 48 62 Lord of War Barry Ackroyd, BSC provides stalwart support for Coriolanus director and star Ralph Fiennes 74 Go with the Flow AC’s technical editor outlines the challenges posed by digital workflows 62 DEPARTMENTS 8 Editor’s Note 10 President’s Desk 12 Short Takes: String Theory 20 Production Slate: The Descendants • ASC Awards Preview • HPA Awards 88 New Products & Services 98 International Marketplace 99 Classified Ads 100 Ad Index 102 Clubhouse News 104 ASC Close-Up: Rodrigo Prieto — VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM TO ENJOY THESE WEB EXCLUSIVES — DVD Playback: Le Beau Serge/Les Cousins • The Island of Lost Souls • Little Big Man January 2012 Vol. 93, No. 1 The International Journal ofMotion Imaging Visit us online at www.theasc.com ———————————————————————————————————— PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter ———————————————————————————————————— EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Stephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard, John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer, John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich, Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson ———————————————————————————————————— ART DEPARTMENT CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore ———————————————————————————————————— ADVERTISING ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann 323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188 e-mail: [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce 323-952-2114 FAX 323-876-4973 e-mail: [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell 323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188 e-mail: [email protected] CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno 323-952-2124 FAX 323-876-4973 e-mail: [email protected] ———————————————————————————————————— CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal ———————————————————————————————————— ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost ASC PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT Delphine Figueras ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark ———————————————————————————————————— American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 92nd year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A., (800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344. Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood office. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints (or electronic reprints) should be made to Sheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail [email protected]. Copyright 2012 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA. POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078. 4 ———————————————————————————————————— “ A SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF HOW TO TURN A BELOVED WORK OF CLASSIC LITERATURE INTO A MOVIE. The wild and misty moors, thanks to the painterly eye of the cinematographer, Adriano Goldman, look beautiful, and Dario Marianelli’s music strikes all the right chords. Mia Wasikowska is a perfect Jane for this fi lm and this moment.” - A.O. SCOTT, “ SHOT BY ADRIANO GOLDMAN WITH VIRTUOSITY. TRANSFIXING. His technique is painterly in its evocation of 19th-century English artists. Beyond that, it’s distinguished by an abundance of tonal variety: interiors that seem to smell of weathered furniture; softly modeled closeups that cast Jane as a country madonna.” - JOE MORGENSTERN, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES, INCLUDING: BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY ADRIANO GOLDMAN For up-to-the-minute screening information and more on this extraordinary fi lm, go to: www.FocusAwards2011.com American Society of Cine ma togra phers The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but an educational, cultural and pro fes sion al orga ni za tion. Membership is by invitation to those who are actively en gaged as di rec tors of photography and have demon strated out stand ing ability. ASC membership has be come one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a profes sional cin e ma tog ra pher — a mark of prestige and excellence. Come visit our showroom or call for our latest Magliner product catalog We are the largest retailer specializing in Magliner customized products and accessories for the Film and Television Industry in the world OFFICERS - 2011/2012 Michael Goi President Richard Crudo Vice President Owen Roizman Vice President John C. Flinn III Vice President Victor J. Kemper Treasurer %DFNVWDJH(TXLSPHQW,QF/DQNHUVKLP%O1RUWK+ROO\ZRRG&$ )D[ EDFNVWDJHG#DROFRPZZZEDFNVWDJHZHEFRP Frederic Goodich 1HZ<RUN6KRZURRP&:,+:WK6W1HZ<RUN1< 0U&$67(5 EDFNVWDJH#FZLKFRPZZZFZLKFRP Secretary Stephen Lighthill Sergeant At Arms MEMBERS OF THE BOARD John Bailey Stephen H. Burum Richard Crudo George Spiro Dibie Richard Edlund Fred Elmes Michael Goi Victor J. Kemper Francis Kenny Isidore Mankofsky Robert Primes Owen Roizman Kees Van Oostrum Haskell Wexler Vilmos Zsigmond ALTERNATES Michael D. O’Shea Rodney Taylor Ron Garcia Sol Negrin Kenneth Zunder MUSEUM CURATOR Steve Gainer 6 BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA, F.S.F., N.S.C. THRILLING AND MOVING FROM THE FIRST FRAME TO THE INSPIRED CLOSING MONTAGE. The greys and browns that dominate the film – thanks to the sterling work from Director of Photography Hoyte Van Hoytema – perfectly capture 1970s Britain. The attention to detail is really quite extraordinary. Grade: A. —OLIVER LYTTELTON, INDIEWIRE TINKER TAIL0R S0LDIER SPY For up-to-the-minute screening information and more on this extraordinary film, go to: www.FocusAwards2011.com Editor’s Note Hollywood remakes of successful European films may vary in quality, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is more intriguing than most. Director David Fincher has already proven his affinity for crime dramas with Seven, The Game and Zodiac, and his previous collaborations with Jeff Cronenweth, ASC produced the equally compelling dramas Fight Club and The Social Network. On Dragon Tattoo, Cronenweth was a late replace- ment for the project’s original cinematographer, and he quickly found himself confronting extreme weather while shooting on location in Sweden. “Overall, the weather in Northern Europe made for the biggest challenge,” Cronenweth tells Jay Holben (“Cold Case,” page 32). “We experienced severe winter storms as well as a very hot summer in Sweden. The cold was the hardest, though.” Janusz Kaminski and Steven Spielberg also faced challenges on the World War I drama War Horse,which features battle sequences staged on an abandoned airfield in Surrey, England. Further complicating the filmmakers’ mission was the fact that the movie’s hero is a horse. As Kaminski tells Patricia Thomson (“Animal Instincts,” page 48), a big part of his job was to convey the animal’s feelings and make him seem larger than life. “Truly, when you look at a horse, there are no emotions in its eyes,” he observes. “We were glorifying Joey a little through lighting and composition. We were always trying to place the light so that his coat would reflect it, and so it would create glints in his eyes.” Barry Ackroyd, BSC lends a Shakespearean dimension to war with Coriolanus, which placed its director and star, Ralph Fiennes, squarely in the line of fire. “I like to have the confi- dence of the director, and I knew that with Ralph directing and acting in the film, he had to be able to trust that I’d give him what he wanted,” Ackroyd tells Iain Stasukevich (“Lord of War,” page 62). For those of you trying to keep pace with evolving digital workflows, AC technical editor Christopher Probst surveys some of the current systems and solutions (“Go with the Flow,” page 74). “In today’s industry, which finds digital-imaging tools introduced and supplanted with head-spinning frequency, workflows are evolving in new ways and at break- neck speeds,” Probst notes. “Each step on this path is slippery enough to cause stumbles, either through human error or through the loss of information as image data is transferred and/or translated…. For cinematographers, trying to stay abreast of current technologies requires a much broader understanding of workflows than ever before.” Stephen Pizzello Executive Editor Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC. 8 © 2011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. President’s Desk As another year kicks off, the challenges