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We’re back—with more, and better than ever. www.sony-asia.com/promedia CONTENTS BY DEFINITION of the Australian Cinematographers Society’s Articles of Association “a cinematographer is a person with technical expertise who manipulates light to transfer visual information by the use of a camera into aesthetic moving images on motion picture film or electronic recording systems” 29 Quarterly Journal of the 2011/2012 NATIONAL EXECUTIVE Australian Cinematographers Society PRESIDENT Ron Johanson ACS (Qld VICE-PRESIDENTS Ernie Clark ACS (SA), Alan Cole ACS (Vic) SECRETARY David Wakeley ACS (NSW) ASSISTANT features SECRETARY Robb Shaw-Velzon (ACT) TREASURER Mylene Ludgate (SA) ASSISTANT TREASURER Ernie Clark ACS (SA) HISTORIAN Ron Windon ACS NSW PRESIDENT Calvin Gardiner In the Land of Blood ACS VICTORIA PRESIDENT Alan Cole ACS QUEENSLAND 10 and Honey PRESIDENT Tim McGahan ACS SOUTH AUSTRALIA PRESIDENT DOP - Dean Semler AM ACS ASC Ernie Clark ACS WESTERN AUSTRALIA PRESIDENT 34 Jason Thomas TASMANIA PRESIDENT Peter Curtis ACS The Shadowcatchers AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY PRESIDENT Robb Shaw- 21 REVIEW BY Jonathon Dawson Velzen NORTHERN TERRITORY PRESIDENT Andrew Hyde WEBSITE Craig Pickersgill, Simon Russell The Burning Man [email protected] Australian Cinematographer is 29 DOP - Garry Phillips ACS published quarterly for members and associates of the Australian Cinematographers Society She Gives Me the Shirts EDITOR Dick Marks OAM CHAIRMAN Ted Rayment ACS 34 Malcolm and Mylene Ludgate ASSOCIATE EDITORS Heidi Tobin, Nicola Daley ART DEPARTMENT Brad Sampson 36 CONSULTANT Craig Pickersgill Crawl CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ron Johanson ACS, Ted Rayment 36 DOP - Brian Breheny ACS ACS, Dean Semler AM ACS ASC, Jonathan Dawson, Garry Phillips ACS, Malcolm Ludgate ACS, Brian Breheny ACS, Simon Duggan ACS, Mandy Walker ACS ASC, Ron Windon ACS, Ian Baseby, David The Great Gatsby Walpole, Heidi Tobin, Dick Marks OAM PRINTING Heroprint 40 DOP - Simon Duggan ACS PUBLISHERS AustCine Publishing - Level 2, 26 Ridge Street , North Sydney NSW 2060 NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA ISSN 1440-978X PRINT POST APPROVED PP255003/03506 Fujifilm Receives Scientific 41 & Engineering Award Short Films - State Short 44 44 Film Wrap Up BRANCH ADDRESSES Imago Cinematography NATIONAL & NEW SOUTH WALES ACS Headquarters, Level 2, 48 Masterclass 26 Ridge Street, North Sydney NSW 2060 BY Mandy Walker ACS ASC VICTORIA PO Box 2023, Sth Melbourne, VIC 3205 QUEENSLAND 11 Balaclava Street, Woolloongabba QLD 4006 One World FutBol Project SOUTH AUSTRALIA PO Box 705, North Adelaide, SA 5006 52 WESTERN AUSTRALIA PO Box 476, Leederville, WA 6903 TASMANIA 48 Diamond Drive, Blackmans Bay, TAS 7052 Cover: Angelina Jolie - Director AUST CAPITAL TERRITORY PO Box 1558, Woden, ACT 2602 In the Land of Blood and Honey NORTHERN TERRITORY PO Box 2111, Parap, NT 0820 PHOTO Ken Regan - Unit Photographer 04 / BY DEFINITION ISSUE #53 MARCH 2012 departments 10 06 From the Editor 06 Your Opinion 09 From the President Film Review 51 Tintin 21 52 CML 53 New Gear 56 Short Ends 40 41 48 Copyright AustCine Publishing and The Australian Cinematographers Society (2012) All expressions of opinion are published on the basis that they are not representing the offi cial opinion of the Australian Cinematographers Society, unless expressly stated. Australian Cinematographers Society accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any opinions, advice, representations or information contained in this publication. Australian Cinematographer is copyright, no part of it can be reproduced without prior written permission from the Society. All reproductions in this magazine have been done so with permission and credited accordingly. CONTENTS / 05 YOUR OPINION Dear Ron, I was thinking about what Stanley Hawes MBE, Producer in Chief of The DOI, later Film Australia, said when he was guest of honor presenting Awards at an ACS Dinner about 30 years ago,” You cinematographers are the ‘keepers of the fl ame’. It is your job to protect it and keep it burning brightly for all to see”. To my young ears it was very ‘fl owery’ language. As I get older, Stanley Hawes’ words mean a lot more to me. I realize that the light from the cinematographic fl ame is under attack and may soon be extinguished, if we don’t do something to protect it. But do we care? Do we know what that fl ame is? FROM THE EDITOR You may be aware of my passion for cinematographers to control the DI and/or the telecine transfer of their Recently, Patricia and I had friends to stay with us in Hobart, images. This control starts with the rushes and continues and as they were leaving through the front courtyard, I right through to the fi nal deliverables. Historically, the picked a few berry tomatoes off a very productive vine we have growing in a large pot, and offered them to my cinematographer supervised the colour timing or grading guests. During tomato season, it’s my favourite party trick of the fi lm prints and/or the transfer to video. I also believe and their reaction was, as it always is... amid a cacophony we should be paid an appropriate fee, to oversee this very of ohhhh my God, what is THAT?, wow, umm ummmm, valuable and artistic record of our images. what an explosion of fl avour... etc, I managed to squeak in “That’s a tomato.” Which leads me to incremental loss. Most tomatoes served around the world these days are simply red, pulpy, tasteless facsimiles. Had the wonderful, sweet “I realize that the light from the fl avour of this extraordinary fruit, yes, fruit, been taken away cinematographic fl ame is under overnight, there would most certainly have been an uprising against the perpetrators. But incremental loss is far more attack and may soon be insidious, just a little bit at a time. So after around 20 years extinguished...” or more of incremental fl avour loss, the current version of the tomato is... a tomato. Well that’s what most people think anyway. Or do we? Now, in the digital world, our involvement is even more This, number 53, is my fi rst edition of AC Magazine and I’m important... and time consuming. As you know, the digital extremely grateful to the ACS for the absolute privilege of process enables even greater manipulation of our images. being it’s editor. And thanks to Butch for handing over, with It is an extremely powerful photographic tool. I will go as great dignity and sage advice, the magazine that he guided far to say that it is the cinematographer’s most powerful to such high quality and content. I shall work very hard to single resource. We now have the power to do so much maintain his very high standard. more to enhance our original image. In the interest of saving time and money on set, the cinematographer may decide, But back to the humble tomato. The great and noble art of cinematography is suffering. It’s suffering the at the time of shooting, not to make a lighting correction same incremental loss to which I referred above. I’m not or change a fi lter, knowing it can be easily done in post suggesting that the digital revolution is the root cause of the production, thus eliminating the high cost of many cast and problem, absolutely not, (I’m currently shooting a lifestyle TV crew waiting idle for the adjustment.