American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 42

Smoke

on the Water

Enrique Chediak, ASC and
his collaborators create a
convincing conflagration for the
ripped-from-the-headlines drama
of Deepwater Horizon.
By Patricia Thomson
*|*

I

n 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig went down in
flames in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven lives were lost and oil
gushed for 87 days, destroying marine habitats and entire
coastal economies. Eight months after the rig exploded,
The New York Times published "Deepwater Horizon's Final
Hours," an 8,500-word exposé that tracked the cascade of
safety failures that followed the initial oil and methane

42

October 2016

blowout. Despite the fact that the rig was state of the art and
had one of the best-trained crews in the industry, "every one of
the Horizon's defenses failed," the article states. "In the end," it
notes, "many lives were saved by simple acts of bravery."
This human element is at the heart of Deepwater
Horizon, a feature based on that New York Times story. "It was
important to feel what these people went through - the heat,
the mud and the sense of hell," says director of photography
Enrique Chediak, ASC, who worked with his team to devise a
system of large LED walls in order to simulate an infernal
blaze large enough to consume a 32,588-ton structure.
First, though, there were other pressing matters.
Chediak joined the New Orleans-based production a couple of
weeks after director Peter Berg, who came on to replace the
original director. Set construction had already been underway
for several months in the parking lot of an abandoned Six Flags
amusement park. The initial plan had been to build a full-scale
rig whose lowest platform would tower 40' above the ground.
"When I arrived and saw I'd have to be working up there, I
thought I'd require three very big construction cranes for my

American Cinematographer



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2016

Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - Intro
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 1
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 2
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 4
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 5
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 6
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 7
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 8
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 9
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 10
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 11
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 12
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 13
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 14
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 15
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 16
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 17
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 18
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 19
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 20
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 21
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 22
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 23
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 24
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 25
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 26
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 27
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 28
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 29
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 30
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 31
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 32
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 33
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 34
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 35
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 36
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 37
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 38
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 39
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 40
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 41
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 42
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 43
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 44
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 45
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 46
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 47
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 48
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 49
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 50
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 51
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 52
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 53
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 54
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 55
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 56
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 57
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 58
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 59
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 60
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 61
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 62
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 63
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 64
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 65
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 66
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 67
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 68
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 69
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 70
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 71
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 72
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 73
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 74
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 75
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 76
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 77
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 78
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 79
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 80
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 81
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 82
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 83
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 84
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 85
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 86
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 87
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - 88
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - October 2016 - Cover4
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