American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 43

changed Karnak [from the graphic novel] probably more than most of the sets,” says McDowell. “Zack wanted to minimize the amount of greenery in the movie, so we didn’t do the vivarium, and we went even more literally in the Egyptian vein. We imagined Veidt had taken a contemporary architect out to the Antarctic, given him the brief of an Egyptian building, and then flew in a lot of big sculptures from a museum in Cairo.” The Karnak set stretched some 35' toward the stage ceiling, which was just over 40' high. “We had a catwalk system, but we only had 5 or 6 feet of room to work in,” recalls Tiffin. “We ended up dismantling Image 80s, pulling out the yokes and creating a custom bracket that held them all flat. We created one giant softbox with 234 Image 80s, and the grips developed a way to slide diffusion in and out on aircraft cables. We used ¼ grid most of the time, but if we wanted to thicken it up, we could pull the string and bring in a whole new piece of diffusion.” When Fong spoke to AC, he was working on Watchmen’s digital intermediate at Company 3, where he was collaborating with colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld. Of the Karnak scenes, Fong says, “Zack and I wanted it to feel dusky, like the sun is going down, but still in icy Antarctica. It should be cool and moody. When shooting, we found the best color of light, and tweaked it to achieve just the right feel while in the DI suite. “We’re doing the DI painstakingly, but there are already so many visual elements in the movie that we haven’t been using one overall extreme look,” he adds. “Each scene warranted its own requirements, which I discussed with Zack way back in prep. Seeing it come together in the DI so many months later is very exciting, to say the least.” I TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 Super 35mm Panaflex Millennium XL, Platinum; PanArri 435 Primo lenses Kodak Vision2 100T 5212, 500T 5218 Digital Intermediate Printed on Kodak Vision Premier 2393 www.panther.tv www.panther.tv r TRIXY Remote He Y Remote Head ead Freedom of Movement Freedom of Movement The TRIXY remote system is completely digital, lightweight The TRIXY remote system is completely digital, lightweight and economical. With up to three axes, cameras can be moand economical. With up to three axes, cameras can be moved in ever y conceivable direction. ved in every conceivable direction. The outstanding benefits are: The outstanding benefits are: - slip rings for all three axes slip rings for all three axes - one single supply cable one single supply cable - manufacturer independant lens control manufacturer independant lens control Visi t us at the Visit us a t th e NAB Show NAB Show Able Ci neTech A ble CineTech B o o t h : C 8 53 7 Booth: C8537 2 -axis version 2-axis versi o n Re mo te Head Remote H ead s t a r t i n g f ro m starting from € 12.490,– 1 2 . 49 0 , – The TRIXY is designed for the mounting of video cameras and The TRIXY is designed for the mounting of video cameras and lightweight film cameras such as the ARRI SR III, ARRI 416 (16 lightweight film cameras such as the ARRI SR III, ARRI 416 (16 mm) or the ARRI 235 & 435 (35 mm) up to 15 kg/33lbs mm) or the ARRI 235 435 (35 mm) up to 15 kg/33lbs payload. pay l oad . The Panther Trixy Remote Head can be used The Panther Trixy Remote Head can be used with any standard camera crane. with any standard camera crane. PANTHER GmbH PANT HER G mbH Raiffeisenallee 3 | 82041 Oberhaching–Munich | Germany R a i f f e is e na ll e e 82041 Oberhaching–Munich Germany T +49.89.61 39 00 01 | F +49.89.61 31 00 0 +49.89.61 39 00 01 +49.89.61 31 00 contact@panther.tv | www.panther tv contact@panther.tv www.panther.tv r. PAN TH E R Doll ies Cranes , L LC PANTHER Dollies & Cranes, LLC 7358 Radford Ave. North Hollywood, CA 91605 USA 7358 Radford Ave. | Nor th Hollywood, CA 91605 | USA T +1.818.764.1234 | F +1.818.764.1144 +1.818.764.1234 +1.818.764.1144 contact@panther.us www.panther.us contact@panther.us | www.panther.us 43

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American Cinematographer - April 2009

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