ACS Short Ends E News - August 2012

In This Issue

- From the President
- ACS Accreditation
- The Shadowcatchers
- Sponsor Spotlight: Kodak
- ACS State & Territory Awards
- ACS Awards Entries Open Soon
- ACS HQ Report
- New PMW-200 Camcorder from Sony
- ACS Certificate of Competency
- ACS Merchandise
- Vale Dariusz Kuc
- On Location: The Dark Knight Rises
- Upcoming Short Courses at AFTRS Open
- Drinking Fine Wine Helps the Society to Grow
- Pieter de Vries ACS Weekend Workshop
- Screen Editors Guild Event: Lifting the Lid

From the President

Dear ACS members,

I've said this many times before, but I'm incredibly proud to be a member of our Society, let alone being your National President. I believe it important that in my position, along with the other senior members of the National Executive, we constantly encourage and foster those younger members of our Society, indeed our industry, to pursue their dreams and all the opportunities presented to them with great enthusiasm.

First impressions are always the best, so give off a positive attitude, never say it can't be done, never admit defeat, be always prepared, and prepared to listen and make sure your knowledge base complements your abilities. In some cases you may have only one shot at making that impression. The Society is there to help and to assist, so step up and always ask the questions that need to be asked. You'll never know the answer unless you do.

Congratulations and welcome to the new President of the Queensland Branch, Simon Russell. This will in fact be Simon's second tenure as Queensland President, as he took over from Edwin Scragg ACS in the late 80's.

My thanks to outgoing Queensland President, Tim McGahan ACS for his tireless work, both at a State and also a National level. His contribution to the growth and awareness of the Society has been tremendous, add to that his property development expertise provided valued support in the search & final purchase of the National Headquarters. Tim will stay on as one of the two Queensland Vice Presidents for the next twelve months.

A warm welcome home to Don & Jeanette McAlpine from their sojourn in the USA, while Don was shooting Enders Game. Don's latest film Mental, Directed by PJ Hogan is due to screen at the Melbourne Film Festival, and will be on our cinema screens from October 4. Please support not only Mental but every Australian film whenever possible.

Until next time,
Ron Johanson ACS
National President

ACS Accreditation

ACS Accreditation screenings will take place in Sydney at the ACS HQ on September 6 & 7. If you've been a Full member for 3 years or longer and intend to apply for Accreditation, it's time to start putting your presentation in place as submissions close on August 30.

Contact either your Branch President or myself, president@austcine.org.au, for an application form and any other advice or information you may require.

The Shadowcatchers

The Shadowcatchers; A History of Cinematography in Australia, by our very own Martha Ansara, is selling really well. This truly historic and memorable book has 388 pages of history, photographs and anecdotes. If you haven't purchased your copy, I suggest you do so soon, as all the Limited Edition copies have sold. The Standard Edition is selling quickly too, so order your copy soon, at:

www.shadowcatchers.com.au »

Sponsor Spotlight: Kodak

When The Sapphires premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in May it received a 10-minute standing ovation. It will be released in Australia on August 9th.

Warwick Thornton, 2009 Caméra d'Or winner for Samson and Delilah, is the Director of Photography for The Sapphires, a Goalpost Pictures Production.
The film was written by Keith Thompson and Tony Briggs, based on the stageplay by Tony Briggs. It was directed by Wayne Blair and produced by Rosemary Blight and Kylie Du Fresne.

The filmmakers chose the following 35mm color negative film stocks to bring their celebrational story of music and family to life: KODAK VISION3 50D, 250D & 500T.

Read more and watch the trailer. »

Kodak Winter Special

Take 40% off the list price of KODAK VISION3 Color Negative Films in 16mm and 35mm 400 ft. rolls.*

Click here for more information on the Kodak winter special. »

ACS State & Territory Awards

ACS State & Territory Awards entries will open in early August and entry will only be online via the website. It's time to start thinking about preparing your entries for the Awards presentations, which will take place during late October into November. Presentation dates are as follows:

Saturday 27 October
SA & WA Annual Awards for Cinematography
Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hindley St, Adelaide.

Saturday 10 November
QLD & NT Annual Awards for Cinematography
The Tivoli, 52 Costin Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

Saturday 17th November
NSW & ACT Annual Awards for Cinematography
The Masonic Centre, Sydney

Saturday 24 November
VIC & TAS Annual Awards for Cinematography
The ANZ Pavilion Victorian Arts Centre

2012 Awards Entries Open Soon

If you are intending on entering the 2012 State & Territory Awards for Cinematography, please read the following information carefully.

As with last year, this year's awards entries will be via an online form. Once this online form is filled, you can pay via Credit Card, EFT or Cheque, and the entrant will be sent a confirmation email with further instructions on it regarding submitting your entry media.

You will be sent a link to the online form once entries are open.

Entries will be accepted on the following formats:

HDCAM SR, Digital Betacam, Commercially produced DVDs (no self authored DVDs), Blu-Ray discs, and as data files in H.264, ProRes, and DNX formats only.

In 2012 data files entries are preferred by the ACS.

There have been issues with members submitting entries on self authored DVDs or as data files with very high levels of compression, or in a way that is not viewable by the judges. These types of entries impede the ability of the judges to accurately review the work and this may reflect badly on your entry. It may even result in the disqualification of your entry. In this case, entry fees are non- refundable. With this in mind the ACS will accept ProRes and DNX Quicktimes for the first time, meaning that it's not be necessary for the entrant to burn the entry onto a DVD, or to transcode to another codec. Note that data DVDs will not be accepted this year.

All entries except h.264 entries must be submitted by physical media to the address specified on the entry form, by the due date and time. Physical entries may include tapes or discs, or in the case of data entries, USB drives like thumb drives and HDDs. Small USB drives are available from many retailers for under $10. All physical media must have the Awards Entry Label that comes with the confirmation email printed and attached. Physical media may be mailed, couriered or hand delivered. Thumb drives are to be placed in an envelope with the Awards Entry Label attached to that.

Entrants that wish to enter the awards via h.264 data file may do so via physical media, but may alternatively choose to FTP the entry via the state awards Dropbox. The link to this dropbox will be provided in the confirmation email. Data files which are ProRes or DNX codecs will not be accepted via FTP, and must be submitted via physical media.

H.264 entries should be over 3000bkps for standard definition, or over 5000kbps for high definition, though 7000kbps is recommended. Good information about how to encode h.264, including tutorials can be found here: https://vimeo.com/help/compression.

Data file entries must be named correctly. The file must adhere to the following convention:

Category#_yourname_projectname_entrynumber.filetype
eg: Cat12_johncitizen_birdsofsuva_89.mov

Your discreet, personal entry number and entry labels will be forward to you in your entry confirmation email. It is extremely difficult and time wasting for our volunteers to try to match poorly named data entries to the hundreds of online entry forms we receive.

All of this information will be available on the ACS website, with the form itself and on the confirmation email entrants will receive. Remember, the onus is on the entrant to adhere to the terms and conditions to ensure that their entry is judged on merit.

The terms and conditions are available here: (http://www.cinematographer.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=647)

If you have any queries, please direct your questions to your Branch Awards Co-ordinator.

Good luck with your entries.

ACS HQ Report - July 2012

Last month the HQ hosted some very different events.

Adept Turnkey a NSW sponsor showcased their new camera the Phantom Miro high speed digital camera from Vision Research.

NSW member, Sidat De Silva held a judging session for his very popular film festival "Show-Fest"

Keith Johnson (Director) held actor rehearsals for his short film "Little Lies"

The ACS met with the ADG and Cine Women in the boardroom to discuss various issues that affect us all.

The AAMPT committee (Australian Museum of Motion Picture and Television) held one of their regular meetings in the boardroom and stayed on for the NSW Thursday night Drop In.

Pieter De Vries ACS continued to hold his very popular workshops throughout the month and has more days booked for the coming months.

The very industrious book despatch department mailed out lots more orders of the very successful ACS publication Shadowcatchers.

A reminder that the NSW Branch holds their regular 3rd Thursday "Drop In" each month. For specific details, refer to the ACS Web site NSW Branch page.
Everyone is welcome to these nights, so if you are in Sydney, drop in!

Remember, the HQ is there for all members to use.

David Lewis ACS
HQ Manager
dlewis@cinematographer.net.au

Anna Howard ACS
Asst HQ Manager
ahoward@cinematographer.net.au

New Camcorder from Sony

Sony's new PMW-200 camcorder offers the most versatile handheld shooting experience. The PMW-200 produces class leading picture performance with three 1/2 -inch sensors, offers seamless HD422 workflow and includes an array of features for unlimited creative expression.

The PMW-200, the only handheld camcorder in its class equipped with three 1/2 -inch Exmor™ CMOS sensors and broadcast quality full HD 4:2:2 50Mbps recording. The new PMW-200 handheld camcorder inherits the proven versatility of the PMW-EX1R which is recognised as the industry standard within its class. The three 1/2 -inch sensors allow the camcorder to perform exceptionally well, even in challenging lighting conditions, producing stunning HD images.

Click here for more information. »

ACS Certificate of Competency

Some time ago, based on the suggestion of Mark Wareham ACS, it was decided that the ACS should put in place an ACS endorsed Certificate of Competency. Something that some younger ACS members, who undergo work experience or are an assigned attachment, could use upon completion of the project, as an endorsement of the work they've carried out. The certificate would be signed by the National President and the Cinematographer with whom the crew member worked. It is available upon request, by contacting National President, Ron Johanson ACS.

ACS Merchandise

New Stock Has Arrived!

ACS merchandise is available from David Lewis ACS: dlewis@cinematographer.net.au or 0408 273 702

ACS Hoodies - $35.00
ACS Spray Jackets - $60.00
ACS T-Shirt - $20.00
ACS Cap - $20.00
ACS Beanie - $15.00
ACS Pen - $6.00

Vale Dariusz Kuc

From the Polish Society of Cinematographers:

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is with the deepest sadness and sorrow that we announce the death of our friend Dariusz Kuc, the President of the Polish Society of Cinematographers, who passed away in the morning, July 29th 2012, at the young age of 56.

Dariusz was a most talented cinematographer and a very kind person, full of life and joy, with plenty of ideas and great plans for the future of the Polish Society of Cinematographers. Dariusz will be deeply missed by us and all people who ever knew him.

On Location: The Dark Knight Rises

Some readers may be interested in the following article from The Location Guide:

"The final chapter of Christopher Nolan's grittily realistic Batman trilogy filmed around the world in an epic shoot that lasted nearly a year. TLG explores the marathon scouting trips, finding Wayne Manor in Nottingham and turning Pittsburgh into Gotham City.

Christopher Nolan has a reputation for favouring massive location shoots with minimal CGI and after the staggering success of The Dark Knight - and the mind-bending spectacle of Inception - he has the power to film where he wants. He's signed off his Batman trilogy with a shoot that took in locations in places including India, the UK and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania."

Read the full article at The Location Guide's website »

Upcoming Short Courses at AFTRS Open

AFTRS Open has a wide range of short courses for experienced cinematographers, as well as anyone keen to join a camera department. Discounts of 10% apply to all ACS members.

Data Wrangling on Set: File Based Cameras
Mark Stewart-Pearson leads an introduction to managing data from file-based cameras in an on-set environment.
11 Aug - http://www.open.aftrs.edu.au/course/C540

Camera and Sound Basics
Learn techniques and practical to produce high quality images and sound for documentary and drama - with an eye to great storytelling.
1 - 2 Sept - http://www.open.aftrs.edu.au/course/C543

Colour Grading with DaVinci Resolve
Explore the basics of colour correcting and grading with DaVinci Resolve. Ideal if you are interested in doing your own Colour Grading.
1 - 2 Sept - http://www.open.aftrs.edu.au/course/E554

Camera Assistant Workshop
An intensely practical course introducing duties and professional requirements in both film and video.
24 - 28 Sept - http://www.open.aftrs.edu.au/course/C504

Lighting Fundamentals
Learn basic lighting skills in cinematography and how they apply to the visualization of a story or concept.
12 - 16 Nov - http://www.open.aftrs.edu.au/course/C541

Underwater Cinematography
Dive underwater with the professional cameras that are commonly used on underwater projects whilst receiving expert tuition on the unique challenges the underwater camera operator faces.
18 - 21 Oct - http://www.open.aftrs.edu.au/course/C542

For full course details visit http://www.open.aftrs.edu.au
Any questions contact us: 1300 065 281 / open@aftrs.edu.au

Drinking Fine Wine Helps the Society to Grow

GUNDOG ESTATE, the boutique wine producer from the Hunter Valley and Canberra regions, owned and run by Geoff Burton ACS and his family, has introduced an online purchasing scheme for ACS members that ensures a regular supply of their award-winning wines whilst diverting part of the purchase price back to the Society to help support the newly acquired Clubhouse, and other Society activities.

To participate in this scheme the process is simple. Visit the GUNDOG ESTATE website: www.gundogestate.com.au and follow the links to join the Gundog Estate Cellar Club, ensuring that somewhere within your address bar the words "austcine" appears. This will ensure that 10% of all wine purchases you make as an ACS Gundog Cellar Club Member will be diverted to the Society Treasurer.

As you will see from the website, Cellar Club membership has many advantages including an automatic 20% discount on the cellar door prices of all our wines. As a Member you will be sent a mixed six-pack of our most recent releases every three months. These packs are priced at even greater discount. The current premium pack, containing only Gold Medal Award winning wines, for instance, is only $100. Your wine order is freighted to your address via Australia Post and delivery is free of charge.

Many ACS members and friends have already experienced the three quality wines that Geoff and his family produce. If you would like to sample these wines before committing to Cellar Club Membership please drop an e-mail, including your delivery address, to geoff@gundogestate.com.au, or call him on 0412 371666, and we will ship you a sample pack.

Pieter de Vries ACS Weekend Workshop

Two discounted places have been set aside for ACS associate and student members at the August weekend workshop at the National headquarters of the ACS in North Sydney on the weekend of August 18th and 19th.

The workshop is perfect for HD DSLR users as well as users of conventional video cameras - anyone who wants to go beyond buttons, dials and menus.

CAMERA. The tools of cinematography - lenses, exposure, color, selective focus with large sensors, audio

STORY. Getting the knack of coverage and how to get the mix of shots that will make your edit a pleasure

LIGHT. How to use the available light to enhance your story

For all details please call Pieter de Vries on 0418 169 955 or visit:

http://www.pieterdevries.com.au/index.php/training-courses/video-camera »

Screen Editors Guild Event: Lifting the Lid






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