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National E-News Bulletin 1 April 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| In This Issue
From the President
NATIONAL AWARDS BOOKINGS NOW OPEN!!Our 2014 ACS National Awards for Cinematography happen on Saturday, May 24 in Brisbane at The Tivoli when the Golden Tripods and, of course, the prestigious Milli Award for our Australian Cinematographer of the Year will be announced and presented. Please put the date in your diary, phone, iPad, calendar, smart phone, etched into fresh concrete, carved on a tree - whatever it may be! Our hosts this year are the thoroughly dedicated committee members of the Queensland Branch led by Jason Hargreaves ACS and Tony O'Loughlan, so it promises to be an absolute cracker of a night - as is the Queensland tradition! GO QUEENSLANDERS! TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW, so please support your fellow cinematographers by going online and purchasing a ticket or two, or three, by clicking HERE. NATIONAL SPONSORS ARE FREE TO BOOK THEIR TICKETS AS WELL. There will be other events associated with the 2014 National Awards to be announced soon. SPECIAL REMINDER TO ALL 2013 GOLD WINNERS - Attend ACS National Awards, Saturday May 24th in Brisbane!!All those who attend the National Awards will not only share in the excitement of the evening by simply supporting the winners but will also enjoy some fabulous food and wine along with experiencing Queensland hospitality and some fantastic door prizes offered by our generous National Sponsors. SO GO ONLINE AND BOOK NOW: TICKETS A COUPLE OF OBSERVATIONS FOR US ALLMaybe, just maybe we should all go see more Australian films. Put more bums on seats so we can ensure our industry - our dedicated Producers, Directors, Writers, Editors, Composers and Cinematographers - continue to receive the support and the funding required to produce Australian films. Australian stories for us all to enjoy. We make great films here in Australia. So lets show the world how proud we are of our local industry and go see more Australian films! LETS TALK SAFETYLet us never become complacent about on set safety, and understand and listen to those Safety Officers that only have our best interests at heart. It may be a great shot but think carefully about the potential risks that could be involved. What reminded me to mention this is the recent tragic death of a young, 27 year old crew member, Sarah Elizabeth Jones, in South Georgia, USA. Click on the links but we warned - this a very sad story. LISTEN TO THE SAFETY GUYS & LET COMMON SENSE PREVAIL!!! Until next time
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JOHN SEALE ACS ASC Q&A IN PERTH
Acclaimed cinematographer John Seale ACS, ASC made the pilgrimage across the Nullabor to come and talk to a room full of WA ACS members, industry professionals and students from tertiary institutions. Despite being held on a Friday night, the Q&A event was attended by more than 40 people at the Subiaco Arts Centre. John spoke in detail for over three hours about shooting Mad Max: Fury Road, directed by George Miller, accompanied with a collection of still images from the shoot projected on to a screen via a laptop (kindly operated by John's wife, Louise). It was such a fantastic opportunity to listen to an Oscar winning cinematographer like John speak with love for the craft, great enthusiasm and candid honesty. It was also refreshing to hear that the problems he faced with Fury Road are the problems cinematographers face on most shoots like lighting continuity, camera placement, management of time and personalities. John welcomed questions to be asked while he spoke which allowed for a genuine one on one interaction with audience members and going by the audience feedback, this type of free flowing Q&A event was an incredibly valuable resource - to engage a cinematographer of John's calibre face to face and, importantly, on a first person basis. On behalf of the WA Branch of the ACS I would like to thank Louise and John for giving up their time and putting on a great night and Ron Johanson ACS for making the event possible! Jason Thomas
CALLAN GREEN ACS SHOOTS NEW SONY BRAVIA 4K TVC WITH ARRI ALURA ZOOM LENSES
One of Sydneys busiest DOPs Callan Green ACS recently chose to use ARRI Alura zoom lenses to shoot the latest Sony Bravia 4K TV commercial. Green, explained the background to his choice of lenses and more saying; Ive got a reasonable amount of ARRI equipment and have always been impressed with the quality. A while ago I needed to buy a couple of zoom lenses that would give me the full range of wide and tight shots, so I started researching my options, and chose the Alura zooms. I use the wide zoom for Steadicam and tracking vehicle work and whenever the schedule simply wont allow changing lenses frequently. The long zoom is perfect for helicopter work or any time I need a long lens size that is not covered by my primes. It has a very short minimum focus for a zoom of it's size, I can go from a close up on a person at a distance of 3'6" straight to their eyeball which is very cool. Recently Green has been shooting music videos, TVCs and short films, the most recent TVC in Sydney for the new Sony Bravia 4K TV. We shot both in studios and outdoors. The images had to be extremely sharp, and Sony had sent out a tech guy from Japan who's sole job was to magnify each shot off the data file at 10x magnification to make sure the images I was giving them was sharp enough. The Alura zooms even wide open were excellent and, combined with the service and support I get from Stefan Sedlmeier and the ARRI Australia team, makes the whole package a very attractive one.
2014 NFSA - ACS EMERGING CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD NOW OPEN
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) and the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) invite young cinematographers to apply for the 2014 NFSA-ACS John Leake OAM ACS Award. The NFSA-ACS John Leake OAM ACS Award provides a cash prize of $3,000 to an emerging cinematographer who is either currently studying cinematography at a tertiary institution or working in the film industry, and is a current member of the ACS. The prize can be used for any educational, training, or professional work which will further their skills and career. The award was first presented in 2010. According to ACS National President Ron Johanson OAM ACS: This incentive has been a total success, fostering five young cinematographers in the pursuit of their career goals. The ACS is proud to be part of this valuable program for the fifth consecutive year." NFSA CEO Michael Loebenstein explained: As Australia's living archive the NFSA not only collects and preserves works from the past; we also have a vital interest in new talents and contemporary production. The partnership with the ACS allows us to engage with Australian creators by supporting emerging professionals and advocating for the preservation of our industrys achievements - particularly in the light of the challenges the digital production environment poses for the safeguarding of film and broadcast. Dale Alexander Bremner, recipient of the NFSA-ACS John Leake OAM ACS Award in 2013, said: Winning has given me authentic confidence, the foundation that drives all aspects of your life. Swimming in this Olympic-sized pool of talented Australian cinematographers, one needs all the drive they can find. National President, Ron Johanson will lead the judging panel, which includes two NFSA representatives and two ACS executive members. The recipient will be announced at the ACS National Awards in Brisbane on 24 May 1014.
A Postcard from Peter Moss ACS, ASC in Canada!
LEND A HELPING HAND
Have you heard of the Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society? Its been providing financial and emotional support to members of the cinema industry for more than eighty years! It was founded in the years of the Great Depression by people in exhibition and distribution to help colleagues who had fallen on hard times. More recently, the MPIBS has extended its support to the production and post-production sectors. Beneficiaries are young and old, working and retired. The MPIBS is a safety net which enables our friends and colleagues to be cared for when they need it most. But the Society needs your help to continue its work. Please visit the MPIBS web page (or put MPIBS in your search engine) for information about how to donate. You could be helping one of your friends or colleagues. THE ACS PROUDLY SUPPORTS THE MPIBS AND WE ENCOURAGE MEMBERS OF THE ACS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS FANTASTIC CAUSE
.YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!
Miller Raffle! With all proceeds going to the MPIBS.
Members and friends may order the $10 Miller LP 54 Limited Edition Tripod raffle tickets by email to David Wakeley ACS @ secretaryacs@austcine.org.au giving your credit card details (including expiry & cvv), or pay by direct debit to ACS NSW clearly giving name & LP54 in the reference or description panel to: Please support this wonderful initiative by Miller Camera Support, with all raffle proceeds going to the Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society (MPIBS) who are currently supporting, nationally, 31 cinema & production recipients in need including, most recently, the ACS member, Phil Balsdon. There are only 40 of these Miller LP54 collectors items being produced for distribution worldwide in similar style. So buy your tickets now.
A POSTCARD FROM DEAN SEMLER AM ACS ASC
Hello young Ronnie, I am in prep to shoot the sequel to 'Paul Blart - Mall Cop...another bloody comedy, but with a fine and fun to be with director who I have worked with before - Andy Fickman...nothing wrong with laughing for hours every day....we shoot the entire movie at the vast Wynn resort in Las Vegas ...I did a two day recce there a couple of weeks ago and that was quite enough for a while ...see how I go after 12 weeks? I now have two weeks timing another movie this time at Efilm; Disneys big summer film, opening end of May Maleficent" with Angelina Jolie as the evil/good witch....almost $100 million on VFX done by some of the team from "Avatar" and Alice in Wonderland". Their work is truly spectacular, but luckily my images are still very visible through all the computer imagery...thank god! I will see the answer print in early may once again at the great Deluxe lab in Hollywood... Now the very sad news ...this will probably be the very last film to come out of Deluxe, as their doors will close forever in mid-May...such a tragedy that came upon us much sooner than expected. Let me tell you a tooth story... Cheers, Dean.
ACS Movie Review...by James Cunningham
Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (in cinemas 10th April) follows Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), a concierge at the Grand Budapest in the late 1960s and Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), a lobby boy. Fiennes looks suspiciously similar here to John Barrymore in Grand Hotel (1932) - an obvious homage. Anderson re-teamed with Cinematographer Robert Yeoman ASC (Drugstore, Cowboy, Bridesmaids), whom he has worked with on every one of his films. Anderson and Yeomans relationship shines on screen, demonstrated most easily with their playful use of aspect ratios. The Grand Budapest Hotel is presented in not one but three aspect ratios. Each is utilised to evoke a different historical cinematic convention during the respective time that it depicts. 1.37:1 for the 1930s, 2.35:1 for the 1960s, and 1.85:1 for the 1980s and beyond. The choice is inspired in its simplicity, and smart without be academic. The Grand Budapest Hotel yields plenty of planimetric shooting, a method that involves the frontal depiction of the action framed against a perpendicular or flat background. It is this style that has become synonymous with Anderson/Yeoman films, and give way to rich visual and a good deal of creative production design. Their collaborations have always been known for detailed and decorated framing, and The Grand Budapest Hotel doesnt disappoint. The actual, physical hotel depicted in the film is an astonishing kaleidoscope, filled with ardently chosen characters and objects. If Anderson did not pace the film so rapidly, Yeomans cinematography might seem distracting in its cinematic virtue. The Grand Budapest Hotel is Anderson's most mature film. With colourful casting, an excellent story, irreverent sometimes absurd humour, and delicious cinematography, there is something in the film to entertain even the most critical among us.....Four Stars.
A POSTCARD FROM MARC WINDON IN BELGRADEHi guys, I'm currently Directing and photographing a movie called BAD DAY IN BELGRADE. It's a black comedy about a washed up alcoholic Australian writer who inadvertently ends up in Belgrade and redeems his tarnished image by writing a shocking autobiographical true story of his descent into - then subsequent rise from - the depths of hell he called life. Think THE BIG LEBOWSKI meets Scorsese's AFTER HOURS. I shot half the film in Sydney and the other half here in Belgrade. I'm working with an excellent Serbian camera crew I used on my first Bulgarian production - COMMAND PERFORMANCE. Our camera package is a Red One MX with Zeiss Ultra Primes. Viv Scanu supplied the equipment in Sydney. Nick De Laine was my Aussie gaffer and Drew English was my 1st AC. Everyone of course, did an amazing job. Nick and his wife Loren are also producing, along with my brother Steve, Matthew Inglis, Philip Allan, Jasmine Vandenberg, Mirjana Neskovic and Paula and Michael Mezrani. I was really lucky to cast one of the great vintage Yugoslav actors as the lead Serbian character. His name is Lazar Ristovski and he's starred in a number of Emir Kusturica's films including the Palm D'or winning UNDERGROUND and Roger Donaldson's new film NOVEMBER MAN. My visual inspiration for the movie is very much derived from Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT, Michael Haneke's FUNNY GAMES and Wong Kar-Wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. Our workflow is very simple: we are cutting native .R3D 4K in Adobe Premiere, this allows us to use the Redcine-X plugin so we can update my looks as we cut without having to export or re-render. After that, we'll be doing a 4K finish in Resolve. We are just about to release the first teaser trailer, so I'll send you a link when it's live. I hope all is well there at home.
CINEMATOGRAPHY COURSES @ AFTRS OPENAFTRS Open has a range of Cinematography and camera courses in the coming months, including Peter James' Anamorphic Lens Masterclass in early April and Advanced Lighting Skills in June. All ACS members receive the 10% Industry discount. Data Wrangling on Set: File Based Cameras
A POSTCARD FROM DICK MARKS OAM IN JERSEYSome snaps of Jersey in spring for you all to enjoy. Home soon
Miller Survey - click the banner and WIN!
PIETER DE VRIES ACS -THE CAMERA, THE STORY and THE LIGHT.
These three elements form the foundation of successful video camera craft and are the foundations of the workshop, designed for users of DSLR and conventional video cameras alike. · Workshop information and bookings for video camera users · Workshop information and bookings for DSLR users
A POSTCARD FROM HENRY PIERCE ACS
Hi Ron, I am shooting a TV series for Southern Star Australia and NDR Germany called "In Your Dreams", series 2. We have almost finished the Australian shoot, which we started in January, and head over to Germany soon for the rest of the shoot. We will be in Hanover, Germany from next month until 4th of August. I'm really looking forward to working over there again. Lots of fun and a great crew, incidentally the same crew as last time. Of course there is also the good wine and food, and weekends to explore. All the best,
WHOS SHOOTING WHAT & WHERE? (Settle in for a good read!)Greig Fraser ACS ASC is currently shooting The Gambler a Paramount produced, Mark Wahlberg film about a guy with quite a severe gambling addition. Directed by the very talented Rupert Wyatt who also did "The Escapist", and "The Planet of the Apes". Greig tells us: Weve just wrapped shooting a 40 day schedule, with most of the locations within L.A. (a complete rarity in this day and age, where it seems everything is shooting anywhere BUT L.A). Being local now has meant that Ive been able to put together a really top-notch crew, of great guys. My operator Baz Idione, is a NZ native who worked in Sydney for quite a while, before moving to L.A. We also got to day play a number of B camera operators, which included a number of Aussie guys. Here is Jason Elison and I at the Playboy mansion. We only shot there for two days, but i shot A LOT of shots of ourselves there, and also got to play with Mark Goellnicht, Andrew Rowlands, and Peter Holland, amongst others. All in all, a really nice shoot, but Ive finished now, and looking forward to getting back into the commercial world.
Ron Stannett CSC, NSW Branch, Canadian based member is into the last eight days of a Hallmark movie called "My Boyfriends Dogs" starring Erika Christensen. Two camera shoot with the Alexa's supplied by Clairmont Canada. Ron reports: "A note of interest is that my "A" camera is an all women crew, Operator, 1st, 2nd and trainee. Shannon Kohli has now operated for me on eight movies. This is a film produced by Hallmark....Rain, rain and even more rain".
Andy Taylor ACS - 60 Minutes....Has been busy shooting the Daniel Morcombe story in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, A story on Scientology in the USA, another on "Slacklining" in Moab Utah, plus a few other shoots that are yet to go to air. Callan Green ACS in the UK shooting a perfume commercial for the band "One Direction", at Pinewood Studios. Matt Windon is1st. AC, and are shooting on Panavision C series anamorphics. Aron Leong ACS shooting a Suntory Tea TVC in Vietnam for The Sweet Shop and Director Dylan Pharazyn. Prior to that shot a Coke commercial in Malaysia for The Sweet Shop. Dion Beebe ACS ASC completing the digital color timing at Technicolor London for Edge Of Tomorrow, the new Tom Cruise sci-fi pic. Adam Arkapaw shooting in Ely Cathedral north of London, having almost completed the film 'Macbeth' Robb ShawVelzen has just finished shooting a Feature call Capital L which is a part of Anthology Feature called Locks of Love comprised of 10 shorts. Also going into Pre production on "Past Imperfect written by Georgina Jenkins and Starring Alexandria Davis. Shooting starts in early May. Ben Nott ACS has wrapped the Bangkok leg of SKIN TRADE (Ron Perlman, Peter Weller, Dolph Lundgren) and in prep for Vancouver leg that will shoot for 2 weeks. Mark Lapwood now based in Auckland but is currently shooting a commercial for the new 'Suzuki WagonR' compact city car in Islamabad and Lahore, Pakistan of all places. Shooting with an Alexa with Cooke S4's and a couple of GoPro's. Katie Milwright in Melbourne shooting the feature film "Sucker" with Director Ben Chessell. Anna Howard ACS has completed the US leg of the Feature Documentary Women Hes Undressed, based on the story of Australian Costume designer Orry - Kelly who left Australia for the US in 1922.
Anna tell us: Weve interviewed some great people, from Australian costume designer Michael Wilkinson, nominated for an Academy award this year for American Hustle, to Jane Fonda and the beautiful Barbara Warner Howard , daughter of Jack and Anne Warner. I have had the pleasure to travel to LA and New York with a great crew, Director Gillian Armstrong , 1st.AC Paul Shakeshaft and Leo Sullivan on sound. Danny Ruhlmann ACS has just wrapped shooting a US feature called "Survivor" with Pierce Brosnan and Milla Jovovich in London and studio work at Nu Boyana studios in Bulgaria. Mark Bliss has just recently returned from LA after shooting a spot with a fellow Aussie, Director Mat Humphrey. Steve Munro in Sydney working on ABC shows such as 'The Checkout','Good Game' and a recent interview with Kylie M for a 'Countdown 40th' special. Also spent a week on 'The Voice' shooting the family and friends segments, and got very close to a 3000 year old mummy for a Catalyst special.
Peter Levy ACS, ASC in Montreal scouting a film about Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin Olympics that will shoot in Montreal and Berlin this June through August. Peter observes: The Director is my dear friend and collaborator for the last 30 years - Stephen Hopkins. This will be our tenth feature film together." Mandy Walker ACS, ASC in Vancouver shooting an untitled TV pilot for CBS. Dan Freene ACS has been at One Steel in Newcastle, shooting and setting up a long term Timelapse of corrosion effects on Steel Products, as well as shooting "Hanging With" for Disney Australia at Calmsley Hill City Farm, in Western Sydney. Damian Wyvill ACS scouting locations along the Great Ocean Rd in Victoria for a film called ODDBALL, with shooting beginning in May. Denson Baker ACS currently shooting a feature that is being referred to as Untitled Jim Loach Project 2014. This is Densons 3rd collaboration with UK director Jim Loach, which includes their previous film Oranges & Sunshine. Judd Overton is the set of 'That Sugar Film', feature Documentary shoot for Madman Entertainment in Melbourne. The director is Damon Gameau. The still below is from the 3 day, VFX filled Music Video shoot directed by 2012 Tropfest winner Alethea Jones.
John Brawley has just wrapped Offspring Series 5 and now in pre-production for a new Network 10 series called "Party Tricks". Bruce Young is set to shoot the first 3eps of Season 2 of LOVE CHILD which goes into pre late April, (Nick Owens is shooting the rest), then onto THE SECRET RIVER, which starts late June. Viv Madigan, after assisting on The Water Diviner for Andrew Lesnie and Ernie Clark has been doing location recces around the place for Wastelander Panda Jason Hargreaves ACS shooting 'The Fear of Darkness', a supernatural thriller at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. David Le May tells us: "Its been a very busy month which has been great. I know LA has a Pilot season but Perth seams to be somewhat following suit, on a small scale! This last month I have shot several small pilot episodes or teasers for potential shows; "Post Wives Club" a Taylor Media initiative, comedy series based around four somewhat disillusioned ex husbands. "The Pact" with Spearpoint productions about an off the rails indigenous ex AFL footy player framed for a murder, with WA Actor Kelton Pell in the lead, and a 3 part web series funded by Screenwest called "Zac and Me".
Mark Zagar ACS has been busy shooting aerials and 2nd unit on Drift - mining/ oil and gas company corporate videos - along with TVCs for Chicken Treat with Frasier lens an a Music Video Letting Go in Broome, and on Cable Beach.
Ross Emery ACS has just signed up for "The Woman in Gold" - film telling the story of Maria Altmann, the last surviving member of her family, and her attempts to reclaim the famous Gustav Klimt painting The Woman in Gold". The painting is her Aunt Adele Bauer-Bloch from the Austrian Government who had claimed it after the Second World War, having previously been taken from the family by the Nazis in 1936. Malcolm Ludgate ACS along with Mylene Ludgate recording sound, is currently shooting August Watershed which is what we are calling an Historical Opera. The film is about the goings on in the war rooms during the very first month of World War One. With most of the script sung rather than spoken, the film is to be produced as 10 minute episodes to be uploaded to the internet over six weeks, with episode one released on August 1st, the centenary of the outbreak of hostilities in 1914. Each episode will be made public on the exact day, a century after the event it dramatizes. The final episode will be uploaded on September 5th, one hundred years after the commencement of the Battle of the Marne, a watershed in world history. For the series the Producers organised historically accurate costumes to be handmade for the more than 54 actors that played a part in the filming. Locations around Adelaide were selected to portray Europe and when set-dressed for the period and with costumed actors on set, the locations look remarkably accurate.
THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL THOSE ACS MEMBERS ABOVE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE WHO SHOT WHAT & WHERE COLUMN. LET US KNOW WHERE YOURE WORKING SO WE CAN PUBLISH IN THE NATIONAL E NEWS.
WOW FILM FESTIVAL 2014 Winners ListWORLD OF WOMENS CINEMA - WOW FILM FESTIVAL 2014 announced the winners of its annual screen awards at the WOW Film Festival Awards Night held on 14th March at Dendy Newtown. The night kicked off at 7pm with the Sydney Premiere screening of the Australian Documentary, A Womans Journey Into Sex, directed by Sally McKenzie. The Awards Presentation followed immediately, then guests celebrated from 9pm until late at the after party at Dendy Newtown. For all the winners please click here
The LEGO Movie Q&A with Animal Logic filmmakers!
Exclusive to AFI | AACTA members - a preview screening event, panel discussion and Q&A with the talented filmmakers from Australia's own Animation & VFX Studio Animal Logic (THE MATRIX, HAPPY FEET, THE GREAT GATSBY, IRON MAN 3, WALKING WITH DINOSAURS THE MOVIE): Zareh Nalbandian - Executive Producer & CEO Then please join in the AACTA Bar for complimentary canapés and 25% off all beverages. Wednesday 2 April at 6.30pm Book your seat HERE
The LATEST Production Book iPad app now out and available as a free download!This year the app has undergone significant improvement to best address the needs of an ever-growing and evolving industry in Australasia. New features include: Download the app today!
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