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ACS NSW
Sunday 14th May 2023
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A Message from the NSW President
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Image courtesy of Mikayla Grosse
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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It was fantastic to see so many of you at all the different events celebrating the 53rd ACS National Awards in Sydney last weekend, sponsored by our major national sponsor Fujinon Fujifilm. Held at the iconic Luna Park, Sydney Harbour really was at its best for all our guests. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, it really was a night full of impressive imagery.
Thank you to our ever enthusiastic Master of Ceremonies, Ray Martin AM who kept us on track and helped us welcome our Guest of Honour, Russell Boyd AO ACS ASC who addressed the audience and was received with a very moving standing ovation. Our very special guest, Mandy Walker AM ACS ASC was also received by the room with great excitement and even more so when she made history by winning both the Gold Tripod for the Features over $2M category for her beautiful work on “Elvis” as well as the prestigious Milli Award as Cinematographer of the Year. Congratulations Mandy!
Congratulations also go out to NSW members Laurence McManus ACS and David Gribble ACS who were both inducted into the ACS Hall of Fame. It was fantastic to see!!
Also great to see Joanna Cameron from NSW take out the John Leake OAM ACS Emerging Cinematographer Award sponsored by our friends at Panavision.
A big thank you to all our judges, our Chair of Judges, David Burr ACS and Aleksei Vanamois who coordinated all the judging process. It's a huge task.
We had great attendance at all of our satellite events starting with an Open House for our interstate guests at ACS HQ on Friday afternoon, followed by a very enthusiastically received screening of The Gray Man followed by a great Q&A session with Steve Windon ACS ASC supported by Panavision and hosted kindly at AFTRS. A big thank you to Rosco and Leitz who hosted the after screening party at the Urban Winery, it was lovely to continue the conversations and a fantastic way to launch the awards weekend.
Saturday morning brought the popular Meet The Nominees session moderated by Kim Batterham ACS and sponsored by ARRI Australia. Thank you to Allan Butterfield for his work in the projection room and AFTRS for making their theatre available for the event. This session was followed by a really informative session on the latest Rosco RDX Lab presented by Phil Greenstreet from Rosco.
Hosting the National Awards comes around once every 5 or so years for each State or Territory. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the NSW Branch Committee who pitched in to help make the Awards night and the Satellite events such a great success. We are all working volunteers and I know how much time and effort went into the many aspects of hosting such a prestigious event.
Thank you as well to ALL our sponsors. Your ongoing support of the ACS is greatly appreciated by all our members.
Last months Drop In was a huge success, we were so lucky to have Marc Spicer ACS join us and generously share his experience on features shot all over the globe. Thank you Marc!
This months Drop In is also going to be fantastic as Danny Rulhmann ACS takes us behind the scenes on the making of the feature “True Spirit’. Join us this Thursday May 18th from 6pm at HQ in North Sydney.
We also have a Cinekids workshop coming up on Sunday May 21st from 9am -12 if anyone knows of some keen future Cines that would like to come along.
On a sadder note I would like to acknowledge the passing of cinematographers Don Scott (NZCS member) and Michael Elphick ACS as well as legendary Australian Ist AD, Chris Webb. We send our love and condolences to each of their families at this very sad time.
Until next month,
All the best,
Carolyn.
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Carolyn Constantine ACS
NSW ACS Branch President
National ACS Vice President
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ACS NSW May drop-in
Thursday 18th May 6pm
at ACS HQ
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In conversation with
Danny Ruhlmann ACS
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Join us at HQ this month with special guest cinematographer, Danny Ruhlmann ACS. Danny will be discussing both the creative and technical challenges that he faced while shooting the Netflix hit film True Spirit which tells the amazing story of Jessica Watson's solo global circumnavigation in 2009. It had to replicate the 210 days that Jessica spent alone at sea in her 10m yacht.
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Roger Ebert describes the sailing sequences as "a mix of location footage and green screen shots that are stirring, sometimes breathtaking, and occasionally storybook-poetic (as in a nighttime scene that begins with an overhead shot of Watson's boat, Ella's Pink Lady, seeming to float in a sea of stars, then tilts up to show that the stars are reflections in the water)".
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Thursday 18th May 6pm
ACS HQ : Level 2, 26 Ridge Street North Sydney
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A few more choice pics from last Saturday Night's Nationals at Luna Park.
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Mandy Walker AM ACS ASC with her Gold Tripod for Features above $2M and the Milli Award.
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John Seale AM ACS ASC with wife Louise Seale, Michelle Pizannis and Marc Spicer ACS
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Russell Boyd AO ACS ASC with wife Sandy Boyd.
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National President Erika Addis, Ron Johanson OAM ACS and NSW President Carolyn Constantine ACS
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Images courtesy of Phil Erbacher
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More pictures have been added!
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Rosco Leitz Drinks at Urban Winery
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Continuing the conversation after his "The Gray Man" screening and Q&A Steve Windon ACS ASC (centre) has a drink at The Urban Winery with Kiran Menon and Mark Brennan fro Arri (left) and Andy Taylor ACS and ACT member Robb Shaw-Velzen ACS.
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Osamu Tsukada and Laura Kaufmann from Leitz Cine
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Meet the Nominees
plus Rosco RDX Lab Presentation
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(L to R) Joel Egan, Susan Stitt ACS, Julian Panetta, Mandy Walker AM ACS ASC, Kim Batterham ACS, Sissy Reyes, Scott McCracken, Aaron Smith ACS, Simon Manzie, Jim Frater ACS and Jake Frazer.
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A very well attended event with many interstate ACS members among the crowd.
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Many thanks to AFTRS for supporting both events and Kiran Menon for these photos.
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Photos from our April
Drop-in at ACS HQ
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Thanks again to to Marc Spicer ACS for sharing so many insights into his work as well as being a great raconteur and hugely entertaining.
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Mar Spicer ACS with NSW President Carolyn Constantine ACS
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Images courtesy of Vitali Lisau
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BABE
(dir: Chris Noonan, 1995)
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Shot with great inventiveness and heart by the dearly missed Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC. Come and re-live the sunshine infused aesthetic of the third highest grossing film at the Australian box office.
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7pm Tuesday 30th May
AFTRS Main Theatre
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JUNE 21ST - $22.49 SUNSTUDIOS MELB. 95 Buckhurst Street Melbourne Vic 3205
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JUNE 22ND - 22.49 SUNSTUDIOS SYDNEY 42 Maddox St Alexandria NSW 2015
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Returning for its third year running, Sony presents the Catchlight Film Festival to once again celebrate the best short-form filmmaking shot on Sony cameras across Australia and New Zealand.
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In 2023, the Catchlight Film Festival includes four categories; Fiction (scripted), Non-Fiction (documentary), Student Fiction and Music Video.
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Competition Dates
Entries are now open and close for submissions at 11:59PM AEST on Sunday, 25 June 2023.
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Prizes
In partnership with our sister companies Sony Pictures Releasing and Sony Music, each category-winning film will be awarded with a unique experience specific to that category as well as a prize package of Sony digital imaging products. In addition, thanks to the support of our partners at Atomos, Lemac, VA Hire and Videocraft, we are launching a set of special laurel awards that highlight exceptional cinematography, as well as the skillful use of Sony's native lens range, each with a valuable prize attached.
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We sadly mark the passing this month of two inspiring cinematographers and one much loved 1st AD.
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Michael Elphick ACS
1942 - 2023
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Don Scott
(Member of the NZCS)
1933 - 2023
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Television pioneer and cameraman Don Scott, passed away this week on the NSW Central Coast. Don helped establish News, Sport and Current Affairs coverage in the early days of television in Australia and New Zealand, at the NZBC, TVNZ and around the Asia Pacific. The days when equipment was less than portable, and the film was black and white, he was able to oversea the transition to colour and eventually the merge to electronic video production.
As Director of Photography of countless Commercials, his body of work also includes historic News events, Documentary and now some of the archive vision we see today. The Beatles tour of Australia and NZ, many Royal Visits, the Air New Zealand Mt Erebus Disaster, the Rainbow Warrior Bombing, to list a few, seen through Don’s lenses. Numerous stories made with the collaboration of television legends and personalities of the time were also shot and produced by Don.
He was a champion of encouraging and teaching many students from all backgrounds to get behind the camera and have key roles behind the scenes, paving the way for many people to get a start in film and television.
Don was a foundation member of the New Zealand Society of Cinematographers that formed the groundwork which eventually became the NZCS today. Their goal to uphold the same values as the ACS to promote and maintain excellence and quality in Cinematography.
Having just celebrated his 90th Birthday and 60th wedding anniversary. He is survived by his wife Brenda and two sons, Ashley and Aaron who are both Cinematographers.
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In the words of director Kriv Stenders:
Devastated to hear of the passing of an Australian film industry legend, Chris Webb. Chris was one of the most beautiful men I ever had the honour of knowing and working with. As a First Assistant Director he guided so many of us with his gentle charm, calm wisdom and graceful care. Even though I only was able to work with him once (on RED DOG) he taught me so much about the importance of always maintaining a steady, sane, safe and joyous approach to every day and every aspect of a shoot no matter what the challenge or problem was. He taught me the importance of balance and maintaining an equilibrium on set.
Chris was of a generation of Australian filmmakers who laid the bedrock on top of which our local industry now stands. His respect for his crew was matched equally by everyone who worked with him. So Chris ... goodbye and rest assured that all of us who had the pleasure of collaborating with you will strive to "keep the craft alive" on your behalf and in honour of your memory.
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As you think about all the people on your projects...
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we ask you to be mindful
& think about who is in your crew...
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To check out the
ACS National & NSW INSTAGRAM accounts click the respective icons below:
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New South Wales Major Sponsor
New South Wales Diamond Sponsor
New South Wales Gold Sponsors
New South Wales Silver Sponsors
National Major Sponsor
National Diamond Sponsor
National Platinum Sponsors
National Gold Sponsors
National ACS CineKids Sponsor
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