Editor: Lizz Vernon
National eNews and much much more....Direct articlesMessage from the President Ari Wegner talks to the AFC about Lady Macbeth Postcard from Vancouver Sydny Film Festival 2017 - Tickets & Program Links Gregg Toland ASC - An Endureing Legacy, an ASC article AFTRS Diplomas & Short Courses SAE ATOM Awards - 35th Anniversay - entries closing 2nd June!! QLD ACS Members - Meet the El Boushi Father/Daughter DreamteamPlus loads of links:Accreditation - Just around the corner.... Better stock up for Autum at the ACS Shop Confrence time again - Check out everything you need to know about SMPTE17 Lightweight Matte Box - new from ARRI Kids TV - What you can do to help NSW ACS Branch teams up with BUS STOP FILMS hosting a workshop at the ACS HQ Study Time - Try and AFTRS Details on current courses HERE Tickets to the latest Animal Logic Event June 9th Update your membership details Venture Films chooses Sony AXS-R7 4K recorders for F55 cameras Who's hanging around the ACS HQ
Message from the President
Greetings ACS friends and colleagues, Here comes winter, here comes tax time! So much to look forward to... In my case it was the birth of our third grandchild, Annabel Rose Johanson to son Shannon and his wife Renee. I must sign her up as an ACS CineKId! As you all know the 2017 National Awards for Cinematography were held in Sydney on May 6 and it was at these Awards the new Gold tripod was unveiled for the first time. Many thanks to Lester Bishop and Robert Agannis for the design and manufacture of this superb new version of our prestigious Gold Tripod.
On Sunday May 7 the National AGM followed at 9am, which was an early start for some! This all day meeting is held to formulate what the Society will do to keep things current and running smoothly. I have included below, various items that I presented as part of my Annual Report. Enjoy the read, and if you have any questions please contact me.
The full report is hosted on ACS Website under my 'President's Blog' just CLICK The ACS AGM 17 Image to access and read it fully. I want to thank 3 young women who have been of invaluable assistance to not only me, but the Society over the last 12 months, our National Enews editor Lizz Vernon who works tirelessly putting the pieces together each month as well as pursuing her career, and in recent months the support on some special projects from Velinda Wardell ACS and Ashley Barron. I'd like to welcome as new National sponsors RED DIGITAL CINEMA as a Gold sponsor and NSW based company CAMERA HIRE as a Bronze sponsor. My thanks to you both and to our existing National sponsors for your support and your ongoing acknowledgment of the outstanding work of Australian cinematographers. Part of the AGM business is to elect for the coming 12 months the National Executive office bearers. Those elected this year were: National President - Ron Johanson OAM ACS Vice Presidents - Ernie Clark ACS & David Lewis ACS National Secretary - David Wakeley ACS Assistant Secretary - Andrew Hyde National Treasurer - Mylene Ludgate Asst Treasurer - Ernie Clark ACS The ACS Board welcomes a new esteemed member, Anna Howard ACS who joins myself, Ernie Clark ACS, David Wakeley ACS, David Lewis ACS , David Burr ACS, Peter Curtis ACS and Mylene Ludgate as the ACS Board for 2017 - 18. The role of the Board is to determine day to day decisions on behalf of the National Executive and to report any decisions to the Executive for discussion or ratification. An important topic discussed was the re-development of the ACS web site, as it is felt that we really do need to re design both the home page and in particular the back end of our web site as it is becoming outdated. A sub committee comprising Mark Morris, Hemma Kearney, James Cunningham, Heidi Tobin and Lizz Vernon as our Webmaster are making enormous in roads and we anticipate a decision regarding development commencement in the coming weeks. On October 28th in Helsinki, Finland IMAGO will be holding their very first
IMAGO INTERNATIONAL AWARDS for CINEMATOGRAPHY Helsinki, Finland. The Awards categories to be presented are:
- The IMAGO International Award for Best Cinematography in Feature Film
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The IMAGO International Award for Best Cinematography in Television Drama
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The IMAGO International Award for Best Cinematography in Documentary Films
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The IMAGO International Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cinematography
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The IMAGO International Award for Extraordinary Contribution to the art of Cinematography
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The IMAGO International Award for Extraordinary Technical Achievement
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The IMAGO International Honorary Members Awards
Each member country Society is invited to nominate 2 entries in the Feature Film category and 1 each in TV Drama and Documentary. I can now announce that our nominations will be Stefan Duscio for Backtrack" and Andrew Commis ACS for "The Daughter" in the Feature film category, Geoffrey Hall ACS for "Wolf Creek" in TV Drama and Abraham Joffe in Documentaries for his amazing work on Tales by Light - Darren Jew; Submerged. To find out more click on THIS LINK
Our No 1 ticket holder, Ron Windon ACS is now confined to hospital care, but is doing well. I cannot emphasise enough what the name Ron Windon means to the Society, and I know we all wish him well, and offer our full support to both Ron and Cathie, along with the Windon family.
On behalf of us all and on his standing down as Victorian Branch President, I want to acknowledge the enormous contribution from Warwick Field ACS as both Victorian President and ACS Board member, a position he has agreed to remain part of. But sadly we will lose his expertise as Branch President. But much more than that Warwick helped to re vitalise and re-invent the Victorian Branch. During his tenure on the National Executive and the ACS Board he consistently offered a valued and clear opinion on how we can consider to continue the growth of the Society. I also want to recognise the support we have received over many years from Brett Dwyer at Lemac who is taking up a new position with another organisation and our good mate at Fujifilm, Simon Murphy who after 11 years at Fujifilm is moving onto newer pastures. Many thanks to you both. In January I had the good fortune to attend the IMAGO Board meeting in London, which included attending the BSC Expo, which was outstanding. Being one of 49 countries as part of IMAGO is a real bonus for us as a Society, as its inclusiveness really opens doors to many new ways of thinking. This was evident in the broad areas of discussion that took place, which included:
- Establishing an IMAGO AWARDS committee to organize the very first Awards to be held in Helsinki in 2017. It was my great honour to be appointed Awards Committee Co -Chair with Tony Costa from Portugal.
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Confirmation of a re-vitalized Authorship Committee including Chair - Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC, Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC, Jost Vaccano, Nigel Walters BSC, Simon Plum DFF and from Estonia, Arko Okk ESC. I have been asked to provide information regarding the situation here in Australia, in order for the Committee to determine procedures for countries outside Europe, which I am doing incorrect with Brenton Hill, who is currently having first hand dealings with Authorship and Copyright.
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A GENDER & DIVERSITY COMMITTEE was established with Nina Kellgren BSC and Elen Lotman ESC as co Chairs with events already planned for Camerimage 2017. Velinda Wardell ACS is also a member of this IMAGO Committee.
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The IMAGO EDUCATION CONFERENCE was held in Munich in early April and was attended on our behalf by London based, Marc Swadel from the NZCS along with Erika Addis representing primarily Griffith Film School, but I am certain both she and Marc collaborated on any findings relevant to the Society. Their report is available on the ACS web site.
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Our membership of IMAGO has already reaped great rewards and afforded us the opportunity to voice an opinion from the Southern hemisphere. Its important we continue to be part of, and support this great organization.
The ACS will attend LA CINE EXPO at Paramount Studios this year with a small booth selling merchandise and providing information about the Society. NT Branch President, Andrew Hyde will be in LA at the time and has generously offered to lead the ACS assault on the CINEGEAR LA crowds. Jason Hargreaves ACS, Barry Wilson ACS and Toby Oliver ACS will ably assist him! The CANON INITIATIVE has in my opinion not enjoyed the success it deserves but nevertheless thanks to the guidance and support of Helen Barrow along with the generosity of Paul Stewart at Canon we have seen a project commissioned and annother coming up in the near future with NSW accredited member, Susan Stitt ACS.
I cannot emphasise enough the importance of the role played by Helen Barrow in driving this initiative forward. Thank you Helen, and if any ACS members are interested in benefitting from this initiative, email me for details -
MEMBER CATEGORY CHANGES & REVISED ARTICLES - Membership renewal invoices will be sent out soon and are payable by June 30. There have been a couple of changes in the membership categories to clarify some confusion regarding Full and Active membership. Full Membership will now be known as CINEMATOGRAPHER. Active Membership will now be known as CAMERA CREW. ** Please note that if you have been working as a professional cinematographer for a period of at least 3 years, then you should upgrade your Camera Crew (previous Active) membership to CINEMATOGRAPHER. Please advise your Branch Treasurer or Member Manager if you need to upgrade your membership status. ** **Students If you have completed your studies, please advise and upgrade your membership to Camera Crew.** It is important to keep us informed if you need to upgrade your membership status especially if you intend applying for Accreditation in the future. The link below will take you to the Categories page so you can check your membership level.
The diligence from David Wakeley ACS with input from Ernie Clark ACS, Warwick Field ACS, Ted Rayment ACS and the Board has seen our Articles of Association and our Membership categories revised and brought up to date to reflect the new technologies and the changes in crew positions relating to the Society. This was a huge task and our thanks go to all those who contributed to this vitally important work. CAMERA ASSISTANTS NATIONAL RATE CARD - support was requested by Camera Assistant, Scott Wood for this personal initiative which has a campaign run by the MEAA in tandem, so it seems like now may be as good a time as ever to try to unify the camera department in Australia. We offered unqualified support via our ACS e news network, based on the following important points:
The main issue at hand is the future of our industry if the minimum wage and working conditions do not meet a fair minimum, and also the need for a standard and acceptable practice for charging that keeps productions and practitioners accountable and protects the penalties that ensure a safe and ongoing industry. Based on discussions it seems that a standard 10hr commercial day needs to be implemented to fight the 28% discount currently being asked of technicians in the commercial world of Sydney. This is not necessarily the case in all states but again this is an opportunity to band together for the future. As well as this, a standard rate card would be created for commercials and a standard minimum rate card would be created for Feature films, TV series / low budget features/ documentaries.
These rate cards would be made available to booking agents, production companies and producers ahead of time to allow for a smooth transition. They would also become a readily available resource for new camera crew members as well as for new and old producers to know what to expect to be charged across the board. In order for these new rates and standards to work, camera assistants will need the support of not just each other but also the entire camera department community and the MEAA. As I indicated the ACS supports this initiative, but is not driving it.
Eirini Alligiannis with Mentor Dion Beebe ACS ASC |
The ACS MENTOR - ATTACHMENT SCHEME has slowed down, but received a number of potential applicants again over the past 12 months and continues to be a valuable initiative for those who participate on both sides of the lens. NSW member, Eirini Alligiannis recently spent time as a Camera Department attachment with Dion Beebe ACS ASC on "Mary Poppins" in London. The ACS supported Eirini with insurances and other logistical assistance. Thus far, since its beginnings in 2012 we have had 28 applications and 23 placements. Should you like more information please contact me at president@austcine.org.au
SMPTE 2017 - Unfortunately the Society will not be directly hosting any ACS Sessions @ SMPTE this year but we will have an ACS booth thanks to the support from Expertise Events along with providing support for our ACS sponsors who have requested ACS members to be present at their own booths or Sponsor Sessions. So far John Seale ACS ASC will participate on the Videocraft Television Studio booth being interviewed about his distinguished career by AC Magazine editor, James Cunningham and of course Ben Allan ACS will be presenting his own paper dealing with his remarkable work on theTaronga Zoo film. As more information comes to hand we will let you know. The ACS encourages all our members who are in Sydney during SMPTE to attend and reap the benefits that the event will bring to all industry practitioners. Finally, as we begin another ACS year, I thank you all once again for the honour you have afforded me, by allowing me to be your National President over the past 9 years. I am very proud to be part of such an important Society and its role within our industry, along with the generosity of our members and the optimism we all share for the future. Until next time
Ron Johanson OAM ACS National President
Ari Wegner - talks with the French Association of Directors of Photography about her cinematography on "Lady Macbeth"
Ari Wegner is an Australian cinematographer who worked on a number of short films before moving on to feature-length productions in 2011. She presents, in the Directors Debuts competition, Lady Macbeth, a film by British director William Oldroyd. A feminine tale set in the Victorian period that is as sombre and tragic as it is rigorous in its form. A look at this project that is at the crossroads between painting and cinematographic imagery.
Postcard from Canada
Sydney Film Festival 2017
The #SydFilmFest 2017 program has just arrived and its stacked: dig in and discover 288 films from 59 countries playing across nearly 400 screenings. You can check out the program and buy tickets right now:
Gregg Toland, ASC An Enduring Legacy. Chronicling the brief life and career of one of cinemas finest artists. By George E. Turner
Reprinted article first published as an American Cinematographer Web Exclusive in theasc.com The first thought that struck anyone who met Gregg Toland was that he appeared frail, even ill. He had a sallow complexion, was underweight and walked with a stoop that made him appear older than he was. He seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. When he spoke of the thing that dominated his life cinematography the melancholy look vanished.
Shooting the classic Citizen Kane (1940), Gregg Toland, ASC can be seen crouching directly below the camera, while Orson Wells directs from a wheelchair at right, recovering from a leg injury. |
No one could speak more eloquently or knowledgeably or with more enthusiasm. When he was at work, an even greater change took place: He was a dynamo of energy to whom long hours and difficult working conditions meant nothing.
AFTRS COURSES
DIPLOMAS HURRY ...Applications for Diploma Courses close 5 June DIPLOMA in COLOUR GRADING. DIPLOMA in CAMERA. SHORT COURSES Mobile Content Creation. ~ 3-4 June Three Week Film School ~ 5-23 June
The 2017 SAE ATOM Awards HURRY Last days for Applications...
Gamal & Nour El Boushi keeping Cinematography in the family - From CineKid through to Accrediation
CLICK ON THE LINKS TO SEE
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