American Cinematographer - April 2008 - 35

with the camera. Fortunately, Panavision has designed it so that someone who’s used to working with film cameras can step right in. “I also had a wonderful digital-imaging technician, Doug DeGrazio, who sometimes had to talk me down out of a tree! I could get flummoxed every now and again, especially with regard to dailies. The projection system we were using was not quite state-of-the-art, and there were limitations as to the representation of color and contrast. I’d see one thing on set and then not see it in [the dailies], and Doug was great about calming my anxiety. As projectors get better, those differences will disappear, but it was great to get into the editing suite and once again see what I’d seen on the set!” Carpenter says he would make a few changes to his approach on future digital shows. “I would build in a little more protection for my shadow areas. In fact, I’d probably have the on-set monitor crushed a little bit so that it forced me to fill the shadows a bit more. That way, I’d have room to bring them up in post if necessary.” One frustrating shortcoming in the technology, he continues, is a very subtle lack of smooth gradation between midtones and shadow details on an actor’s face. “At a certain point, when light transitions into shadows, the Genesis would sometimes start to block up a bit and lose saturation in that transition — I called it ‘the charcoal effect.’ It’s something that doesn’t happen on film. It’s very subtle, and it didn’t happen all the time, but it bothered me. After all, Kodak has been working for a very long time on rendering the nuances of fleshtones and transitions to shadow. I sometimes noticed the Genesis seemed to drop the color saturation in a person’s face just as the exposure slid into the toe. I would love to see this improved in the future. “I also noticed that when I used certain warm tones, ambers and oranges, I would see the color tones block up some in the faces during the digital intermediate [DI], almost like some kind of patina. I learned I had to back off the saturation in the DI in those moments to smooth out that blockiness.” (He graded the picture with colorist Stephen Nakamura at Technicolor Digital Intermediates.) In addition to the low lighting levels, Carpenter decided to shoot 21 with mostly long lenses. “We used the Primo 11:1 zoom and even pulled out the ‘Hubble’, the Primo 3:1. I was inside, shooting at a T2.8 at 450mm with people walking right at us. It was really crazy. But one of the beautiful things about digital is you can see it full resolution right there — you know you’ve got those shots. If I were shooting film and doing that, I’d be optimo rouge Only Angenieux delivers the best zoom optics for the new generation of large format digital cinematography cameras. Introducing the Optimo DP (Digital Production) Series – Optimo quality at an affordable price. It delivers industry proven superior optics and the images functionality and ergonomics DP pros demand. Like a Visit us at NAB, booth C5323 focal length of 30-80mm, fast aperture of T:2.8, calibrated focus marks, no ramping or breathing. All in a lightweight compact PL mount lens that weighs only 4.2 lbs/1.9 kg. Plus, like all Angenieux lenses, the Optimo DP Series features our unique mechanical design for precise zoom and focus. It brings the very best of film to the new world of large format Digital Production. 973.812.3858 • angenieux@tccus.com • www.angenieux.com 35

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American Cinematographer - April 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - April 2008