American Cinematographer - December 1999 - 109

be
to

showing the entire concert. "We had
keep telling ourselves that this was a

commercial

-

not a full-blown concert

like we're used to

doing,

or even a

music

main

I like

having a zoom lens on
helps me to work
more quickly. If you want to change the
frame size, you can do it in a matter of
the

reason

camera

is that it

video," Notarile recalls. "We had to keep

seconds."

reminding ourselves what the priorities
were, what the big strokes were, what

to be more fluid in his

the fine strokes

that he considers to be

were

while visualiz¬

-

ing the editing."
Notarile used

a

Panavised Arri

435ES for its

ability to speed-ramp. "We
would start off in real time, at 24 fps, and
I would then ramp the camera down to 6
frames for very fast motion," he says.
The cinematographer employed
Panavision's Primo lenses, which he
lauds for their crispness. "I always like

working with

a

sharper image to start

with, because then I have

softening with filters

or

a

choice of

netting." His

favorite lens is Panavision's 11:1 24-

Zoom lenses also allow Notarile

work,

an ability
important part
of his style. "I rely on my spontaneity," he
says. "I control the zoom myself. When I

started out

as an

an

assistant cameraman, I

worked for Dino De Laurentiis.

My back¬
ground and training came from working
with Italian cinematographers. They
always had their left hand on the zoom
barrel and their right hand on the pan
handle
they were constantly caress¬
ing the framing."
Notarile grew up in Brooklyn and
Long Island. His mother was a sculptor,
and his father was an advertising art
-

275mm T2.8 Primo

director who

afraid it's

Avedon, among others. The family home
was always filled with art and photogra¬

zoom. "People are
going to be inferior to prime
lenses," he says. "I think that's oldschool thinking. The Primo zoom lenses
are as sharp as the prime lenses. The

worked

with

Richard

phy books, which inspired Notarile from
early age. "I knew I always wanted to

an

have my eye

behind a camera," he
photography, and the
idea of recording a moment, always fasci¬
nated me tremendously." In high school,
he worked as a photojournalist for Newsday before enrolling in film school at the
New York Institute of Technology.
His early training as a photojour¬
nalist taught him to look for shots
constantly. "I often shoot with both eyes
open," the cameraman affirms. "Even
between shots, I'm looking for shots. A
lot of directors and cinematographers are
so precise about the storyboards - as
soon as they hear the word cut, all of
asserts. "The art of

their

senses

shut down." Notarile takes

pride in staying aware. He notes that
many times, performers become more
comfortable when they think the camera
isn't running, allowing him to grab extra
moments. "If I notice that something is
going on, I click off some shots to give
the director more options."
On the Pepsi spot, Notarile didn't
use filtration to soften his images; he
wanted to maintain the sharpness of the

Rectangular Shape Ideal for Windshield.
Eggby lit effectively with just two 18
pound, 3 3K SoftSuns. One lit through
the front windshield to fill out the
interior while the 2nd positioned

103bliq

Features:
*5500° Kelvin
Dimmable 100-10% with

the side achieved good relative
light balance. Due to their soft out¬
put, no diffusion was needed.
at

Real Time Saver.
Using SoftSuns dimmer panel, Eggby
positioned himself in the towing
vehicle and adjusted intensity as the

no color temp, shift
(option)
Smooth, even color rendering (CRI96+)

shot

*

DMX controllable

turned around,

*

Digital dimming with digital readout
Rectangular shape

control unit

*
*

*

*

*

Flicker free

Stackable

progressed. "SoftSun let

reverse

new

us

vehicle directions without

a

setup. We drove in one direction,
to

reprogramed the
compensate for the

varying sun position, then shot
again with no down time."
American Cinematographer - December 1999

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