American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 33
One of the first puzzles to solve was how to best compose for the Imax frame. The production was advised to enlist a large-format director of photography for that work, but with Nolan’s support, Pfister decided he and his crew could adapt quickly enough to use the format effectively on their own. “We just needed to shoot and learn,” he says. “There’s a whole booklet about how to film in Imax, but our inclination was to break all those rules. In the end, we incorporated some of the ideas to a degree, but for the most part, we did what felt right to us and addressed composition shot-byshot.” Imax protocol stipulates maintaining an enormous amount of headroom because in most theaters, seeing the top third of the screen requires craning one’s neck. “The rule of putting the crosshairs on top of the head seemed a little extreme,” says Pfister. “Plus, we felt like we were wasting all this great negative. So we put the crosshairs on the eyes for close-ups. A ‘normal’ close-up is often way too big in Imax — if you hold it for a while, the audience is going to be looking at one eye or the mouth. You have to back up a bit. “Chris didn’t want any of us freaking out about makeup flaws and the like, but the reality is that you see every little detail — that piece of camera tape down the street in the frame, the one you don’t normally worry about, had to be removed. We had to condition everyone on the crew to a higher level of discipline, especially [production designer] Nathan Crowley and his team. Everyone had to be meticulous.” During the week he spent testing Imax MSM 9802 and MKIII cameras and Hasselblad lenses in Toronto, 1st AC Bob Hall found a number of limitations that had to be overcome or avoided. The cameras were incompatible with Cine Tape or Panatape, electronic focus assist devices that camera assistants have come to depend on, and the viewfinders were not up to standard quality. The stiffness of the Hasselblads’ mechanisms meant focus could only be adjusted with specially modified Preston remote motors. “When we saw the depth-offield test projected, it was pretty scary,” recalls Hall. “It was a close-up, and very little of the face was in focus. I didn’t dwell on how hard and complex [the job] was going to be, and I don’t think that hit any of us until we saw the dailies from the first day’s bank-heist sequence. It was an epiphany for everyone. We were seeing extremely wide shots with the depth of field of a telephoto shot.” ¢ Above: The Joker attempts to intimidate Gotham’s strongwilled assistant D.A., Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Left: Batman’s alterego, billionaire Bruce Wayne, finds he has a new rival for Dawes’ affections: District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), whose battle against the Joker has severe personal consequences. American Cinematographer 33
American Cinematographer - July 2008
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2008
American Cinematographer - July 2008
Contents
Editor's Note
Global Village: Torn from the Flag
Short Takes: On a Tuesday
Production Slate: Before the Rains WALL-E
Batman Looms Larger
A Not-So-Super Hero
Spy vs. Spy
Laugh Factory
Post Focus: CineSynce Streamlines Dark Knight Effects
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
In Memoriam: Burton "Bud" Stone, Honorary ASC
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Bill Taylor
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - American Cinematographer - July 2008
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 1
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 2
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Contents
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 4
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 5
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 6
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 7
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Editor's Note
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 9
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Global Village: Torn from the Flag
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 11
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 12
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 13
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Short Takes: On a Tuesday
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 15
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 16
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 17
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Production Slate: Before the Rains WALL-E
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 19
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 20
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 21
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 22
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 23
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 24
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 25
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 26
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 27
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 28
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 29
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Batman Looms Larger
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 31
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 32
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 33
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 34
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 35
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 36
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 37
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 38
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 39
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 40
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 41
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 42
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 43
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 44
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 45
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - A Not-So-Super Hero
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 47
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 48
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 49
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 50
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 51
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 52
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 53
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Spy vs. Spy
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 55
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 56
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 57
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 58
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 59
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 60
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 61
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 62
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 63
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Laugh Factory
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 65
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 66
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 67
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Post Focus: CineSynce Streamlines Dark Knight Effects
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 69
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 70
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 71
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 72
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 73
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 75
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 76
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 77
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 81
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - In Memoriam: Burton "Bud" Stone, Honorary ASC
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 83
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 85
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 86
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 87
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - ASC Close-Up: Bill Taylor
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - July 2008 - Cover4
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