American Cinematographer - December 2003 - 106

for

^MAGUNER
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(foreground) and Schrader line up a shot on location.

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studio. The audio and

were

designed and edited

same manner as

the CGI, and

Bayard Stryker tracked and
integrated them into the project. "You
have to be aware of all the steps that
are going on," Stryker stresses. "You
really have to be aware of communica¬
tion. You can send as many files as you
want through FTP, but that's just the
technical side of it. To get the creative
side right, you have to lay out what you
want and give as much help as you can
to the person on the other end." He adds
that Schrader wrote voluminous notes
for both Kontkanen and the visual-

accepted at a
number of film festivals that required a
film print, so the filmmakers went to
Filmout Xpress in Glendale, California,
to strike a 35mm print from a DigiBeta
master. "I was very nervous that the CG
would be a problem when we went to
print, but it came out really well," notes
was

Erickson.

Gilbert Yablon, chief technical
director at Filmout

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they would if it were staying on video.
"Make it look good to your eye, with
two

cost is so much more

that it's hard to

justify going to HD."
Erickson describes A A/./. 1240as

thinking man's movie: "There's a lot for
the audience to follow. They have to be
very sharp. So much material is covered
in 12 minutes that you really have to pay
attention." He adds that making the
movie challenged everyone involved:
"Rolf and I wanted to do something that
would push the limits, rather than just a
a

normal narrative. We didn't know if we

effects artists.
The film

clip the whites. If
people have followed those rules, we
can make it look good." He adds that
DigiBeta is such a good mastering envi¬
ronment that he refers to it as the "poor
man's digital intermediate," adding, "It's
not as good as a negative print, but it's
surprisingly good. High-definition is
maybe 20 to 30 percent better, but the
blacks and don't

considerations: don't crush the

pull it off, but that's the good part
being a filmmaker. You learn so much
more when you're setting high goals for
yourself."
■
could

of
American Cinematographer - December 2003

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2003
