American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 38

Watchmakers Nite Owl’s subterranean headquarters was the only set with a greenbed around its perimeter, allowing the filmmakers to rig 5Ks and 10Ks for backlight. Fong also used practical fixtures in the frame to lend the space an industrial feel. Fong. “When I showed our gaffer, Denis Brock, a photo of the Strangelove set, he said, ‘It was definitely rear-projection.’ I asked, ‘How do you know?’ and he said, ‘Because I was working the projector.’ I realized I’d hired the right guy!” To create the circular light that hangs above the table at the heart of the war room, the crew wired Kino Flo tubes to a different ballast. “That helped us with the off-speed shooting and helped us remain true to the look [of the Strangelove set],” notes Tiffin. McDowell’s set also incorporated forced perspective along the edges; to make the space feel bigger, 4'38 April 2009 tall actors were dressed as guards and positioned against scaleddown set pieces in the background. One of the Watchmen who continues to execute his own brand of justice after vigilantism is outlawed is Walter Kovacs, a.k.a. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), whose costume includes a trench coat, a fedora and a white mask that completely covers his head and features ever-shifting blots (emulating a Rorschach Test). “Through testing, I determined we could give Jackie eyeholes and put some tracking markers on the cloth,” says DesJardin. “Then I asked [visual-effects company] Intelligent Creatures to replace the eyeholes only, take out the tracking marks and animate the blots over that. Ultimately, they talked me into replacing his whole head — not the hat, not the scarf, but the head itself. That worked 98 percent of the time; for a couple of shots, we had to go back to my original concept.” As for the blots, he continues, “Alex McDowell and I were going to get a library of real Rorschach prints, but we found out they’re all copyrighted, so we worked with Intelligent Creatures to create our own blots, which are more or less duplicates of the ones Dave Gibbons created for the graphic novel. Using Maya and Houdini, the Intelligent Creatures team found a way to process the 2-D patterns to create noise around the edges, like a saturatedcloth look.” (Hollywood-based CIS rounded out DesJardin’s team of visual-effects companies, handling wire removals and the opening credit sequence, which spans the four-decade rise and fall of costumed heroes in a series of super-slow-motion vignettes.) In one scene, Rorschach pays a visit to Edgar Jacobi (Matt Frewer), a reformed criminal who formerly clashed with masked heroes under the stage name Moloch the Mystic. Jacobi now lives in an unassuming brownstone that is illuminated at night by a flashing neon sign that adorns the Rumrunner bar next door. “That sign followed me around everywhere we went!” Tiffin exclaims. Measuring nearly 20' high, the sign was mounted on the backlot for exteriors and onstage for interiors. “It was a bright yellow and blue, and we were able to get tons of neon light out of it,” recalls Tiffin. “They were such overpowering colors that there was really no need to [supplement the light]; the apartment interior was lit with that and a few practicals.” ¢

American Cinematographer - April 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - April 2009

American Cinematographer - April 2009
Contents
Editor's Note
Short Takes: Patiences
Production Slate
Watchmakers
Sum of All Fears
An Epic Endeavor
Sundance 2009: 5 That Thrived
Post Focus: Autodesk Updates Lastre
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Thomas Ackerman
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - American Cinematographer - April 2009
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 1
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 2
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Contents
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 4
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 5
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 6
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 7
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Editor's Note
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 9
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Short Takes: Patiences
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 11
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 12
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 13
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 14
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 15
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Production Slate
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 17
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 18
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 19
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 20
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 21
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 22
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 23
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 24
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 25
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 26
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 27
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Watchmakers
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 29
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 30
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 31
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 32
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 33
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 34
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 35
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 36
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 37
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 38
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 39
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 40
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 41
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 42
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 43
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Sum of All Fears
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 45
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 46
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 47
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 48
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 49
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 50
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 51
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 52
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 53
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - An Epic Endeavor
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 55
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 56
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 57
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 58
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 59
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 60
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 61
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Sundance 2009: 5 That Thrived
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 63
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 64
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 65
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 66
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 67
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 68
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 69
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 70
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 71
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 72
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 73
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 74
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 75
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 76
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 77
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Post Focus: Autodesk Updates Lastre
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 79
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 80
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 81
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 83
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 84
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 85
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 86
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 87
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 88
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 89
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 90
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 91
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 93
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 95
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 97
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 99
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - ASC Close-Up: Thomas Ackerman
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - April 2009 - Cover4
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