American Cinematographer - December 2006 - 16

Above, from left:

Taylor lines up a
shot during the
hike up to

Roraima;

a

view

from the hike
shows the

edge
of the nearby
"Tepui" plateau,
Mount Kukenan;
an aerial shot

reveals

a

scenic

vista between

the crags of
Mount Roraima.

Below: Von
Puttkamer

enjoys the view
from one of
Roraima's cliffs.

Working in the
background are
Taylor and
Dittrich.

could extend up to 141. Because the
device lacks zoom and follow-focus

controls, it wasn't Taylor's first choice,
but "after much research, we realized

Roraima," says Taylor. "With the cast
waiting and the sun setting, we had
less than one hour to set up an elabo¬
rate shot." Both Taylor and von
Puttkamer are pleased with the results,
noting that the Cambo jib gave the

the Cambo had the greatest length-toweight ratio available to us at the
time." Plus, it collapsed into a single 45pound backpack.
To get dramatic shots from
2,700' sheer cliffs, Taylor and key grip
Andy "Andyconda" Dittrich loaded
battery belts and rocks into empty
rubber kayaking bags as counter¬
weights for the stripped-down Sony
730 (fitted with a Zeiss 5mm HD
DigiPrime) at the other end of the jib. "In
gusting winds, Andy had to secure both

to both illustrate the grandeur of
unique landscape and emulate the
static nature and film look of early
newsreels," says the cinematographer.
To effect the glimmer and glow of early

the

black-and-white film, the team later

crane

and

me

to the rocks

atop

show "cinematic value."

For the re-creation of

drained these sequences of color and
then treated them with Avid's Fluid
Motion and

Sapphire plug-ins.
Crystal Eyes Caves,
the DigiPrimes proved invaluable. "We
gained almost a full stop more than
In Roraima's

Canon's HD
a

famous

19th-century expedition through the
Cuyuni River jungle, Taylor used a #1
Tiffen Gold Diffusion FX filter and, to
color the sky, a Sepia 2 grad. "Our intent
was

the

zooms,

and the lenses also

much-needed sensitivity to
HDCams, which aren't known for their
low-light capability," says von
Puttkamer. Taylor supplemented these
with first-generation Canon 10mm and
35mm primes. "The Canon primes were
ideal because of their size and weight,
which is less than 2 pounds," he says.
"They're not as sharp or contrasty as
the Zeiss lenses, but they were no less
sharp than the zooms."
For three days, spelunkers Peter
Sprouse and Hazel Barton and a pareddown camera crew of five rappelled
down the caves' tight crevasses, light¬
ing massive, cathedral-like rooms and
shooting macro images of the insect
and amphibious life. "I'd send Nash
gave

down

some

of the holes with the

guidegrip; portable, cordless
quartz-halogen lights; and a little Cole¬
cavers; a

man

fluorescent unit," recalls von

Puttkamer. "That Coleman

was

ble. It's the kind you can get

incredi¬

in hardware

stores, and it's ideal for this kind of
work; it burns for 18 hours and illumi¬
nates faces like a Kino Flo."

In

lighting the

caves,

Taylor tried

to emulate the bounce of the cavers'

practical headlamps. "Cavers
14 December 2006

use
American Cinematographer - December 2006

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2006
