American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 8

Editor’s Note atchmen is one of the most hotly anticipated films of 2009, but its journey to the screen has not been easy. Fans of the groundbreaking graphic novel have been awaiting a movie version for years, and several high-profile directors passed on the project after deeming the source material “unfilmable.” Finally, flush with confidence after the success of his action epic 300, Zach Snyder valiantly agreed to take on the challenge, despite daunting odds that might make even a Spartan warrior cringe. Snyder asked 300 cinematographer Larry Fong to rejoin him on the creative battlefield, along with production designer Alex McDowell and visual-effects supervisor John “D.J.” DesJardin. Fong was given just over two months to prep for the massive show, which eventually required roughly 100 shooting days on about 150 sets. “Before anything was built, my crew and I would study the conceptual drawings, paintings and blueprints, and Alex was really thoughtful about getting my input on any lighting that would be built into the sets,” says Fong. He and his key collaborators lay out the behind-the-scenes saga for associate editor Jon Witmer, a selfconfessed “graphic-novel übergeek,” who pursued the Watchmen principals with an intensity that might impress even Rorschach, the tale’s most relentless vigilante (“Watchmakers,” page 28). AC readers have been clamoring for more coverage of the Red One camera, and we continue to oblige with this month’s feature on the thriller Knowing, shot by Simon Duggan, ACS, one of the first cinematographers to employ the One on a highprofile feature. The impetus, he tells Australian correspondent Simon Gray (“Sum of All Fears,” page 44), came from director Alex Proyas: “Alex is an avid photographer and uses a digital stills camera with the same type of chip as the Red, a CMOS,” says Duggan. “He is very impressed with the quality of the images, and consequently, he suggested we test the Red as an acquisition format.” Five of the best-shot entries from this year’s Sundance Film Festival are spotlighted in our annual roundup: Sin Nombre (shot by Adriano Goldman); An Education (John de Borman, BSC); The September Issue (Bob Richman); Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire (Andrew Dunn, BSC); and Big River Man (John Maringouin). Witmer, New York correspondent Pat Thomson and I braved Utah’s freezing temperatures to see them all on big screens (“Sundance 2009: 5 That Thrived,” page 62). Students of film history will appreciate David Heuring’s piece detailing the digital restoration of The Robe, the first motion picture released in the ultra-wide CinemaScope format (“An Epic Endeavor,” page 54). 20th Century Fox and the Academy Film Archive partnered with The Film Foundation to preserve this landmark film, which has left a lasting impression on everyone who saw the original theatrical presentation. “I’ll never forget going to see The Robe on its initial release,” recalls director Martin Scorsese, who aided the restoration by providing an original dye-transfer print from his personal collection. “I sat there, and the curtains kept opening wider and wider and wider. None of us, not me or anyone else in the audience, was prepared for the experience, and it changed the movies forever.” W Stephen Pizzello Executive Editor 8 Photo by Douglas Kirkland.
American Cinematographer - April 2009

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