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Interview with Manfred Guthe csc H The Bishop Who Ate His Boots
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Canadian
A publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers
The Canadian Society of Cinematographers
(CSC) was founded in 1957 by a group of
Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa cameramen.
Since then over 800 cinematographers
and persons in associated occupations
have joined the organization.
The purpose of the CSC is to promote
the art and craft of cinematography
in Canada. And to provide tangible
recognition of the common bonds that
link film and video professionals, from
the aspiring student and camera
assistant to the news veteran and senior
director of photography.
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FEATURES – volume 1, No. 5 October 2009
4
A Career Interview with Manfred Guthe csc, dgc, dga By Wyndham Wise
The Bishop Who Ate His Boots: The Signature Last Work
of Richard A. Stringer csc By Don Angus
10
12
Law, Lust and Lighting: David Perrault csc Follows Rookie
Officers Fresh from the Police Academy on Copper By Don Angus
The Bridge: A Photo Essay by Joan Hutton csc
14
Columns & Departments
2 From the President
17 Deluxe Screening Series: Bill Pope asc in Toronto
18 Industry News
21 Camera Classifieds
22 CSC Members
24 Production Notes / Calendar
Cover: Missy Peregrym as Andy McNally in Copper. Photo by Steve Wilkie.
Canadian Cinematographer
October 2009 Vol. 1, No. 5
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Joan Hutton csc
CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
George Willis csc, sasc
EDITOR EMERITUS
Donald Angus
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
From
The
PRESIDENT
Susan Saranchuk
[email protected]
EDITOR
Wyndham Wise mfa
[email protected]
ART DIRECTION
Berkeley Stat House
COPY EDITOR
Paul Townend
PROOFREADER
Karen Longland
WEBSITE CONSULTANT
Nikos Evdemon csc
www.csc.ca
ADVERTISING SALES
Donald Angus
[email protected]
CSC OFFICE / MEMBERSHIP
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Tel: 416-266-0591; Fax: 416-266-3996
Email: [email protected]
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I
t’s early fall, and ‘tis the season for television awards. Full CSC members James Jeffrey csc and Milan Podsedly csc have been nominated for Gemini Awards for best
photography in a comedy, variety or performing arts program or series category,
Jeffrey for Rent-a-Goalie and Podsedly for The Young Romantic. CSC nominees for best
photography in a documentary program or series are Steve Cosens csc for “The Rawside
of Die Mannequin” and Michael Grippo csc for Running Guns: A Journey into the Small
Arms Trade.
CSC nominees for best photography in a dramatic program or series are David Greene csc
for XIII, James Jeffrey csc for Murdoch Mysteries, Ousama Rawi csc, bsc for The Tudors
and Gavin Smith csc for The Border. The lone CSC nominee for best photography in an
information program or series is Henry Less csc for Twas the Night before Dinner. The
Gemini Awards will be broadcast in November, this year from Calgary, Alberta. Yves
Bélanger csc won the Prix Gémeux for the dramatic series Les Soeurs Elliot; those awards
were handed out in Montreal in mid-September. And the Emmy Awards were presented
in September as well, and Rawi won for his excellent work on the Canada/Irish co-pro,
The Tudors ; Rawi also won a CSC Award for The Tudors earlier this year. For an update
on all the Gemini/Gémeaux winners and nominees, visit our website, www.csc.ca.
PO Box 181
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Email: [email protected]
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the accuracy of the information it publishes; however,
it cannot be held responsible for any consequences
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No. 40013776
2 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
In this issue, our editor Wyndham Wise spoke at length to veteran cinematographer
Manfred Guthe csc about his lengthy career in Canadian film and television. It spans
from the early 1970s, through the tax-shelter years on films such as Who Has Seen the
Wind, Three Card Monte and Melanie, series such as Road to Avonlea, North of Sixty
and Twice in a Lifetime, and right through to the present day, shooting HD for Disney
on Twitches and Twitches Too. Manfred, known as Fred to his friends, trained me as a
camera assistant when there were no such courses available. In those days, it was learn
as you earn and trial by fire. Thanks to him, I got a good grounding in the camera
department.
In addition, two years after his passing, the last film by Richard Stringer csc, The Bishop
Who Ate His Boots – a documentary about his famous pioneering grandfather – made its
debut at a special screening in Toronto for friends and family. Richard was such a kind
and gentle man, a technical wizard, and I was lucky enough to have known him for over
30 years. He was a long-time member of the executive board and a great supporter of
the CSC. We all miss him sadly. And finally, in this issue, we take a look a two exciting,
brand-new Canadian-produced police dramas currently being shot in Toronto – Copper
with DOP David Perrault csc and The Bridge with DOP Thom Best csc.
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A
Career
Interview
with
Manfred
Guthe csc, dgc, dga
By Wyndham Wise
V
eteran German-born cinematographer Manfred Guthe
csc won the CSC Kodak Lifetime Achievement Award in
1991 and the CSC Award for best cinematography in a
dramatic series for Road to Avonlea in 1990. He has two cinematography Gemini Award nominations, one for Road to Avonlea
and another for the television movie The Possession of Michael
D. He was also the DOP on Butterbox Babies, which won the
Gemini Award for best television movie or miniseries in 1996.
His credits include the feature Too Outrageous!
(CSC Award
nomination, best cinematography in a feature film, 1987), the
series North of Sixty (CSC Award nomination, best cinematography in a dramatic series, 1993), and the pro-life film, Two Is
a Crowd (awarded best cinematography, New York Film Festival,
1977). Guthe’s impressive home page can be found at web.mac.
com/manfredg/site_2/contacts.html; for his photography site,
visit www.manfredguthe.com. Canadian Cinematographer spoke
to him at his home in Toronto in August.
4 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
WW When and where were you born?
MG In Germany, in 1946, in a small town just outside of
Frankfurt. I left when I was 11, in 1957, consequently I
don’t remember much about my life in Germany. My parents
immigrated to Canada, and we ended up in Toronto. My father
landed a job with Bausch & Lomb, and we moved to Midland,
Ontario, where they had a plant.
WW What got you interested in film and photography?
MG When I was in high school, a friend of mine was in the
theatre department. He asked me to give him a hand one
day. He was a technical guy and into lighting. So I got into
lighting because of him, and during high school and immediately
afterwards I was doing lighting for various plays. In Ontario
there is a summer circuit for non-professional acting groups, and
we used to go around to the various theatres doing the lighting.
I had fun and found it interesting. However, when it came time
to finding a real job, there weren’t that many professional theatre
groups at time, even in Toronto. My father suggested I apply to
the CBC, so I went for an interview in Toronto, at the old headquarters on Jarvis Street. The person I met there said I would
need to take a course in electronics. On his advice, I went to
college to study electronic engineering for three years, and then
reapplied to the CBC. I took their standard test and went into
lighting for television. I wanted to work only in film, but the
department making films at the CBC was very small and very
difficult to get into. I did the lighting for This Hour Has Seven
Days, The Friendly Giant, Take Thirty and many other shows.
After doing that for three years, I was being shuffled between
the television and the film department, but I wasn’t learning
anything new. With the television shows, everything was pre-set.
All I did was check to see everything was in place, and it became
very repetitive. I ended up leaving the CBC and started to work
on documentaries for the private companies located in Toronto
such as Chetwyn Films and Don Haldane’s company.
WW Your first feature listed as a camera operator was on something
called 125 Rooms of Comfort (1974) directed by Patrick Loubert,
who was one of the founding members of Nelvana. How did that
come about?
MG Henri Fiks was the DP on that film. I had been working with Henri as his assistant because he was doing a lot of
documentaries at that point, and we became friends. And
Henri knew Patrick. Don Haig was the producer and Jackie
Burroughs was in it. I would work with her much later on Road to
Avonlea. I was also working with Richard Leiterman [csc] at that
time, doing documentaries for people like Bell Telephone and
travelling around the world. Then when Who Has Seen the Wind
came along, Richard asked me to be his assistant. That was the
first time I met Allan [King, the director]. We shot the film out
in Saskatchewan [in the town of Arcola] and we had had quite
a large budget, which was unusual for a Canadian film at that
time. We all lived in a campground, in cabins, for the length of
the shoot. It was fun, and I really got to like Allan. The producers
hired many local people for the crew, so we had a lot of young
kids coming in as assistants and trainees. I set up a kind of film
school on the weekends. Since we were all living in the same place
and not going anywhere, on Saturdays and Sundays I would run
camera assistant classes.
WW When it was released, Who Has Seen the Wind proved very
popular and did really well at the box office.
MG It’s a great film, and Richard did a great job on it. I still have
a copy of it around somewhere.
WW You worked on a couple of low-budget features after Who Has
Seen the Wind, as an assistant on Three Card Monte with Richard
Gabourie, and as an operator on Melanie with Burton Cummings.
MG Henri Fiks was the DP on Three Card Monte, so that’s
how that one came about. It was very low budget and Les Rose
directed. I don’t think much happened with that film. I quite
enjoyed doing Melanie. Richard Ciupka from Montreal was
the DP and Rex Bromfield directed. Earlier I had been the
operator on An American Christmas Carol for Richard [1979]. So
when Melanie came up in the summer of 1981, he asked for me
again. I got to know Burton Cummings while working on that
film. He took me to a number of his concerts, and I visited him
at his house while I was down in L.A. He was really nice guy,
but a wild man. I loved his piano playing, a real artist.
WW When did you become a DOP and what was your first film?
MG That’s a good question. The whole point of going into television and then film as far as I was concerned was to have control
over the lighting. Working in theatre, I was the lighting designer.
When I got into television, I was just another member of the
crew. Then when I got into film, and I became an operator, I
was much happier but it did dawn on me that I would have to
become a DP to gain control over the lighting. That was always
my goal, to become the cinematographer. In those days it took a
while. There just wasn’t that many jobs around and there were no
film schools. You just had to work your way up.
WW The IMDB lists your first feature as DOP as Deadline, and
then there was The Pit, both released in 1981 and both very low
budget.
MG Deadline was a Henry Less [csc] production, a horror film
directed by Mario Azzopardi. He was from Malta, and I think
it was his first feature in Canada. The Pit was a Bennett Fode
production, which was shot in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
WW And you also shot Too Outrageous! (1987), which was a
sequel of sorts to the original Outrageous! with Craig Russell, which
was a modest low-budget hit made back in 1977 and a seminal
Canadian gay movie.
MG I honestly don’t remember how I got that job, but I liked
working on the film. It was an interesting shoot. Kodak had just
come out with its daylight 250 ASA stock, and I was the first
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
5
Mitchell Gabourie’s Buying Time starring Dean Stockwell, 1989.
to use it. All the opening sequence for that movie was shot on
Halloween in New York, which was traditionally a big night for
gay celebration. I was the first to use the stock and shot the whole
movie with it because I quite liked the colour rendition I was
getting. It was an amazing stock. Previously tests had been made,
but no one had ever shot a whole movie with it. Kodak was
thrilled, and they had a lot of their guys hanging around the
production because this was all very new for them.
inexperienced, was really nice to work with. I loved Zimbabwe.
At the time it was still reasonably run. Mugabe had just taken
over once it had gained its independence. It was not like it is
today. It was an absolutely fantastic place, and I loved being there.
WW In 1988 you shot The Midday Sun for Lulu Keating, who is
a filmmaker from Nova Scotia. I believe it was the first Canadian
feature to be shot in Africa. What can you tell me about that one?
MG Buying Time was directed by Mitch Gabourie. [Mitchell is
the son of Richard Gabourie, who was the screenwriter and star
of Three Card Monte.] We had a super tight schedule, and it was
shot mostly in Toronto and up north of the city on a farm. Then
I became involved with Sullivan Films and shot the first three
seasons of Road to Avonlea and the miniseries By Way of the Stars,
which was directed by Allan King.
MG We shot it in Zimbabwe. I remember I was interviewed
for that film. Chris Zimmer was the producer, who is also from
Halifax. PS Production Services provided us with all the equipment. [PS founder] Doug Dales and I go way back. They loaded
all the camera gear onto a plane, and all the lighting and grip
gear was trucked up from South Africa. The operator and the
assistants came from Canada with me, and lighting and grip
people were also Canadian. Of course, we didn’t have enough
money to do it properly, all the usual stuff for a low-budget
Canadian film. But it was fun, and one of the nicest shoots I have
ever been on. The weather was good, and the crew, which was
6 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
WW The crime drama Buying Time, with Dean Stockwell, came
next, which was released in 1989, the same year as The Midday
Sun.
WW Tell me a bit about By Way of the Stars (1992), because it
had a substantial budget and some German money in it.
MG By Way of the Stars was a German co-production, and I
believe the version they showed on German television was
eight hours and the version shown over here was cut down
substantially. In the North American version a lot of the story
threads were lost. Allan had directed a number of episodes of
Avonlea, and By Way of the Stars came at the end of the third
season of that show. Kevin [Sullivan] put the deal together with
the Germans, and he used some of the actors from Avonlea in the
miniseries [Zachary Bennett and Gema Zamprogna]. We shot a
lot of it in Czechoslovakia, and if I remember correctly we spent
three-and-a-half months there. And then we came back and shot
another three-and-a-half months here. It’s the story of two kids in
the 1800s who come from Europe to Canada because they have
relatives here, and have all sorts of adventures until they arrive
safely. It was a family drama that takes you from the castles and
old world of Europe, across the Atlantic to Canada, and then
from the eastern cities of Canada through Indian territory, etc. It
was a very difficult shoot. Translators were needed for everything.
It wasn’t easy in Czechoslovakia in those days, not like it is today
with all the American films going there to shoot.
When I was initially hired on for Road to Avonlea – which was a
Sullivan-Disney co-production – it was the only job as a DP that
I had to shoot a couple of sequences for an audition. The footage
was taken down to L.A. to show the Disney people, and that’s
how I got the job. It was all shot in Toronto at the studios down
on Eastern Avenue, and the town was built north of the city in
Uxbridge. It was a hugely popular series. It won a ton of awards
and sold all over the world. Everyone loved it. I got along great
with Kevin. He was always pushing to get the best possible show
out of everyone and I loved that.
WW Butterbox Babies was based on a rather unpleasant true
story about a couple who run a shady maternity home in the 1930s
and 1940s in Nova Scotia, and The Possession of Michael D., for
which you received a second Gemini nomination, was broadcast the
same year, 1995.
MG Butterbox Babies was another Sullivan production, which
Don McBreatry directed. Don had directed the first episode of
Avonlea, which is how we met. It was a very tough script, a very
dark subject matter. Kevin had the property for quite a while,
and it took a long time to develop. I think he wanted to do something different from the Anne/Avonlea properties, and wanted
people to see that he could do something other than period,
family-oriented dramas. Susan Clark was very good in it [she was
nominated for a Gemini Award], and I think it worked out quite
well considering the subject matter. The Possession of Michael D.
was about a family with only one child who becomes possessed, a
made-for-television movie.
WW Later you became involved with Poltergeist: The Legacy
(1996–99), which was a series filmed in Vancouver starring Helen
Shaver and Martin Cummins.
MG Stuart Gillard, whom I met on Avonlea, was hired to direct
the pilot, and he asked that I shoot it. Which I did, but I didn’t
want to do the series. Actually, it wasn’t really a pilot because the
producers already had the money they needed to do the series
for four years, so basically it was a two-hour opening episode. It
was a high-budget series based on the original Poltergeist movies.
Once the script was written, Stuart and I went out to Vancouver
DOP Manfred Guthe csc, on the left, with director Stuart Gillard on
Disney’s Twitches Too, 2007.
to scout locations. But by the time I got back to Toronto, there
was a new script that they sent me via fax, which was totally
different, and the writers still didn’t have a firm idea of what this
‘poltergeist’ should be. In the end, the producers left it up to
Stuart and I to come up with something, and we did. That part
was a lot of fun and it turned out quite well.
WW You also worked on another couple of series, Legacy (1998–
99) and Twice in a Lifetime (1999–2001).
MG Legacy was a series shot in Virginia, and Stuart and I shot
the pilot. It was a post-Civil War period piece set on a horse farm
in Kentucky, and the pilot got great feedback, so I was hired to
shoot the first season and I got to direct the last episode. At that
point I didn’t want to do another series because I was kind of
getting burnt out doing series, but the producers were very
nice to me and I agreed to do it. It ended up running only one
season, and then it was cancelled, but not because it wasn’t
popular. The network [United Paramount, a U.S. cable network]
was going in another direction. The show attracted a female
audience, and the network decided it wanted the 18- to 30-yearold-guys demographic. When I got back to Toronto I was offered
Twice in a Lifetime. Again I was hesitant to do it, but they offered
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
7
Road to Avonlea: “It was the only job as DP that I had to shoot a couple of sequences for an audition.” Manfred Guthe csc
me a chance to direct, so I said, ‘okay, fine.’ It was interesting
because each episode was different, with different guest stars. I
liked the directing part of it and enjoyed that very much.
WW You mentioned working with Stuart Gillard, who has had an
interesting career. He began as an actor, and won the Canadian Film
Award for best actor for Why Rock the Boat? (1974). Then he
went south and switched careers to writing for television and ended
up as a director. You made several films with him between 2004
and 2007, including Crimes of Fashion (2004), A Friend of the
Family (2004), The Initiation of Sarah (2006), Twitches (2005)
and Twitches Too (2007).
MG Crimes of Fashion was shot on 35 mm, and the others on
HD. Stuart was making Crimes of Fashion here in Toronto, but
the producers were having trouble with the look of the film. They
were unhappy, so Stuart called me up and told me to get back
to Toronto. I was out of town at the time, and the next day I
was on set. It was the first time I had replaced another DP on
a shoot. I don’t like doing that sort of thing, but because it was
Stuart, I did it. I think they had shot about four days worth of
material and I finished it. Then after that, I shot A Friend of the
Family out in Calgary on HD and then we did the two Twitches
movies for Disney. It was the first time Disney shot with HD.
Previously they had shot tests but were not happy with the results
but they loved Twitches. It was their highest-rated show in years,
and they were extremely happy with it. We made a sequel a short
time later also in HD. In between the two Twitches, we shot The
Initiation of Sarah, again on HD, which, if I remember correctly,
8 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
was a Disney-MGM production. We shot that one in Shreveport,
Louisiana. Stuart is very creative and knows his stuff inside out
and backwards, and he’s fun to work with. It is always a pleasure
when you work with a good director.
WW When you first got into the business, did you have any
mentors, anyone you could look up to or wanted to emulate?
MG When I got into the business there wasn’t a lot
happening in Canada. Everything was low-budget, tax-shelter
films. Allan [King] was one of the only directors I admired at the
time. Who Has Seen the Wind was great, but other films he was
making, films like Warrendale, were so interesting. From the
point of view of movies, there was Nestor Almendros. He was
the guy I really liked the most. He and Gordon Willis, they
were the two cinematographers I admired most. The only
movie I ever saw that I really remember from my youth was
The Blob with Steve McQueen. I saw it in a theatre as part of
a triple bill, and it’s stuck with me ever since. But it wasn’t like
I saw it and said, ‘this is what I want to do with my life.’ Days
of Heaven [1978] was the movie that really impressed me most.
Almendros’s style of lighting was so far removed from the
standard Hollywood style of the time, which I personally don’t
like, in television or the movies. It’s gorgeous to look at. It’s
his whole technique of how to deal with natural lighting and
composition that I love.
WW What is the best piece of professional advice you ever
received?
MG I was working with a DP from L.A. when I was first starting
out. We were doing a television movie, shooting a scene and having
a lot of trouble with the lighting. He told me if you have to shoot
just two people – and you are getting a lot of shadows – even if
it’s not perfect and you want to make it look natural, forget
about all the fancy lighting. Just put a light right in line over the
lens of the camera, turn it on, and shoot. That piece of advice has
stuck with me. It works. It gives you a nice natural look, without
shadows, and it looks great.
A Selected Filmography for Manfred Guthe csc
Top right, Craig Russell as Mae West in Richard Benner’s Too Outrageous!;
centre Manfred Guthe csc circa 1978 high in the Andes of Peru on a shoot
for Bell Telephone; and at the bottom, poster for Allan King’s By Way of the
Stars, DOP Manfred Guthe csc.
125 Rooms of Comfort 1974 (camera assist.); Who Has Seen
the Wind 1977 (1st camera assist.); The New Avengers 1977
(series, OP); Two Is a Crowd 1977; Three Card Monte 1978 (1st
camera assist.); Melanie 1982 (OP); Curtains 1983 (OP, DOP
additional scenes); Children of a Lesser God 1986 (DOP, 2nd
unit); Deadline 1981; The Pit 1981; Oddballs 1984; Too Outrageous! 1987; The Midday Sun 1989; Buying Time 1989; Road
to Avonlea 1990–92 (series); By Way of the Stars 1992 (TV);
Matrix 1993 (series); North of Sixty 1993 (series); To Save the
Children 1994 (TV); Butterbox Babies 1995 (TV); Long Island
Fever 1995 (series, pilot); The Possession of Michael D. 1995 (TV);
The Awakening 1995 (TV); Poltergeist: The Legacy 1996 (series,
1st episode); Dinner along the Amazon 1996 (short); The Stupids
1996; Johnny 2.0 1998; Legacy 1998–99 (series); The Secret Path
1999 (TV); Twice in a Lifetime 1999–2001 (series, also direct);
MythQuest 2001 (series); Crimes of Fashion 2004 (TV); A Friend
of the Family 2004 (TV); Twitches 2005 (TV); The Initiation of
Sarah 2006 (TV); Twitches Too 2007 (TV); Girl’s Best Friend 2008
(TV); Jack and Jill vs. the World 2008 (TV); The Watch 2008 (TV).
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
9
The Bishop Who Ate His Boots
The Signature Last Work of Richard A. Stringer csc
By Don Angus
F
or the hundred or so people who attended the screening
of Richard Stringer’s final documentary on August 30 in
Toronto, the event was not just the premiere of a filmmaker’s dream. It was also a posthumous tribute by family and
friends to a remarkable man paying cinematic homage to his
remarkable grandfather.
father passed, would not let Richard’s carefully crafted and nearly
completed project die. They finished it with some professional
editing help and the support of friends, and when it was
unveiled on a big widescreen television on August 30, it felt like
Richard was in the house. There was the full beard, the ruddy
complexion, the functional spectacles and the ready smile.
The familiar voice
Richard Stringer,
csctold the story with confidence and insight that
came from countless hours of research. Richard lugged equip-
The Bishop Who Ate His Boots is a one-hour documentary
about the work of Bishop Isaac O. Stringer as an Anglican
1944
missionary in the frozen wastes
of the Canadian Northwest early
in the 20th century. And about
Richard’s very extraordinary grandmother, Sadie, who was the bishop’s
moral, spiritual and emotional
rock in an inhospitable climate.
Isaac Stringer served as bishop of
the Yukon from 1905 to 1930.
It’s a good story, well told, which will
probably show up on TVOntario, the
History Channel or Discovery one
day soon. It’s packed with archival
still photographs and motion picture
footage – much of which was shot in
16 mm by the bishop himself – of
his long, treacherous journey to the
Arctic and his often futile efforts to
convert the Inuit to Christianity.
Richard chose to narrate the
film and that, along with colour shots of himself at work,
provides the viewer with the personal element of his quest
to illustrate the life and legacy of his grandfather and
grandmother. The film is clearly a labour of love, and was
Richard’s unfinished symphony when he died suddenly but not
unexpectedly of cancer in July of 2007.
- 2007
ment to the Arctic, filmed interviews
(including one with Pierre Berton)
and shot rugged scenery while coping
with his cancer and treatment.
From the diary and films of the
grandfather he never met, Richard
compiled an account of a nowvanished Inuit way of life. The title
of the film came from an incident
that occurred when Bishop Stringer
and a colleague were lost in the
wilderness and boiled a pair of sealskin
boots to make a thin, protein-based
survival soup. The story spread far and
wide and made the bishop famous.
Even Ripley’s Believe It or Not picked
up the tale.
Members of the Canadian film community who attended the screening
included Lori Longstaff, Richard’s
favourite camera assistant and operator on numerous projects.
Among the displayed photos of Richard at diverse locations, Lori
posted a poignant thank you to her mentor.
Whose spirit lives on in his films.
Carol Stringer and their son, Matthew, only 16 when his
“He would invent new gadgets to solve any photographic
situation,” Lori wrote. “He always took the time to show me his
new technical toys for the upcoming shoot. He was my favourite
cameraman. Every shoot day was a good day!”
“The Bishop Who Ate His Boots is a film I am making about my grandfather, Isaac Stringer, who was an adventurous missionary
in the Arctic at the turn of the century. He later became Bishop of the Yukon and moved to Dawson City with my grandmother
Sadie. In 1909, on one of his many walking tours over his vast diocese, he and a missionary worker, Charles Johnson, got lost
in an early winter storm. They could not use their canoe as planned, so they had to walk 60 miles over a mountain range to get
back to civilization. They ran out of food and had to stew their spare moccasins to stay alive. Since then, Isaac Stringer became
know as ‘The Bishop Who Ate His Boots’! My grandparents were very unique people living in controversial and adventurous
times. The film shows my quest to learn as much as possible about them. There was much material with which to work. Isaac
Stringer shot movies, took many still photos, and wrote detailed diaries.” Richard A. Stringer, reprinted from CSC News, March
boots.html.
Ate His
Who Canada
Inc.Boots, go to www.stringercam.com/bishop_
2006. For more information on The Bishop
Client: Kodak
___________________________________________________________
Docket: KOD-EI-1563-07
_________________
News
Media: CSC
__________________________________________________________
Placement: _____________
W x 5.625" H
Trim Size: 5.562"
_________________________
Safety: N/A
______________________ Bleed: No
__________________
B&W
17, 2007
Colour: __________________________
Publ. Date: 2007
___________________ Prod. Date: Aug.
______________
10 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
Tel: 416-423-9825
Fax: 416-423-7629
E-mail: [email protected]
Opposite page, Richard A. Stringer
csc. On this page, at the right
is Stringer with noted Canadian
author Pierre Berton. Below is an
entry from Ripley’s Believe It or
Not that appeared in the Winnipeg
Free Press. The man with the
camera is Bishop Isaac Stringer.
The Bishop Who At His Boots will
air on Canadian television later
this year.
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
11
Law, Lust and Lighting:
David Perrault csc Follows Rookie Officers Fresh
from the Police Academy on Copper By Don Angus
F
ive rookie cops bond together, fight together, drink
together. Now they’re on the job together – kids with guns,
learning that no amount of training prepares you for real
life in the big city.
In a nutshell, that’s Copper, a new Global/ABC television series
that started principal shooting in mid-July in Toronto with DOP
David Perrault csc behind the lens and David Wellington in the
director’s chair. The one-hour, 13-episode series debuts next year
for simultaneous HD viewing on both the Canadian and United
States networks.
“Fuji has a product called the 160T Vivid,” Perrault continues,
“which I’ve always been a big fan of. It’s a very contrasty, virtually
grainless, very colour-saturated stock. They used to have a 64
tungsten, which I really liked, but it was discontinued so when
they came out with the 160T I immediately found a lot of use
for it.”
Another big reason for choosing Fujifilm, the DOP says, “is
its 500 daylight (Reala). I like it for mixed light, commercial
interiors, or day interiors in locations where you can’t apply the
lighting resources that one might like to. Access to a 500-speed
daylight stock was a definite advantage for me.”
It is, says Perrault, a passionate story about the on- and
off-duty professional and personal relationships of a quintet
of raw policemen and women. It is shot entirely in Toronto
but it could be any city in North America. What makes
Copper (the working title) somewhat unusual for a Canadiancommissioned episodic series is the big, though undisclosed,
budget that can afford 35-mm film stock and the best camera
and lighting equipment.
The two-camera production is using a Panaflex Platinum as
A-camera and a GII for B. “I’m really comfortable with the
Panavision lenses. I find the Primos, particularly the zooms,
have a softness to them, mostly related to contrast as opposed to
resolution and there’s a look there that I’m lighting to. The way
the image appears through these lenses and on to film … that’s
very difficult to achieve in hi-def.
The three-perf, 35-mm film format was determined by
Wellington, Perrault says, because the director felt that HD just
didn’t provide the sophisticated look that 35 mm would bring
to the production. Perrault, who met Wellington during the last
season of the award-winning series The Eleventh Hour, says “the
director is very strong technically as well as visually, so he’s a very
inspiring director to work for, and we connect on a creative level,
which is satisfying.” The pair went on to do commercials and the
2008 miniseries Would Be Kings, a Gemini Award nominee for
best dramatic series.
“The reality is that when you’re lighting for film you can let things
go, you can let people walk through chunks of sunlight and
exploit those little natural irregularities in the way light plays on to
a shot. In hi-def you can’t; you have to address those things and take
control. Sometimes it’s a simple matter, but sometimes it’s time
consuming and sometimes it’s a real struggle with hi-def. It’s very
liberating to be able to shoot in cars, and go through sun, dapple,
shade and just let the natural lighting prevail, rather than being a
control freak and having to say, ‘No, we can’t use that take; the
background got too bright.’ With film that stuff all works just fine.
From the very beginning of Copper, says Perrault, Wellington “was
keen that the show have the appeal and cachet of a top-drawer
project, and we felt that one of the important ways of defining
the show was to shoot with a premium acquisition format. The
best hi-def really originates in 35 mm; 35 transferred to hi-def is
the best definition out there. There are some great [digital HD]
cameras, but nothing really compares to the deep colour gamut
of film and, with the nature of this project being so dependent on
the personalities and personal relationships of these police rookies, we thought it’s all about the faces.”
“We did a scene the other day where a predominantly white
police car was parked in the sun while our actors were backlit
and in the shade. In hi-def I would have had to say, ‘No, we can’t
do this. We’re either going to have to wait or we’re going to have
to move the scene somewhere else.’ In film, it looked interesting.
It looked beautiful.”
Although Perrault says he likes both Kodak and Fujifilm
stock, “I’m shooting with the new Fujifilm Eterna Vivid 500T.
We’re one of the first productions in the world to be using it. In
this particular case, the demands of the show require a punchy,
colourful look. We are a very location-heavy show; we’re shooting
a lot more on the road than we are at the sound stage.
12 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
Are you using minimal lighting? Perrault was asked. “I don’t
think anybody driving by our unit on the street would think
our lighting is minimal. In fact, I know there are some people
who think I light big, but it is a mainstream, full-budget production so there are production values that I am expected to
provide and I do. That’s what we do. This show will stand shoulder
to shoulder with anything on the air.
“Sometimes with day exteriors, there’s a lot of grip work, a lot
of taking light away and redirecting light, which involves a
Above: On the right, in the orange cap, is Ciaran Copelin, Focus Puller, A-Camera, and IATSE 667 president on the set of Copper. Below: From the left, David
Perrault csc, DOP, Mitch Holmes, Key Grip, and Craig Wright, Gaffer. Photos courtesy of David Perrault csc
lot of manpower and big square white surfaces. I like to use
a lot of indirect light, so there’s a lot of bounced light. I use a
lot of large reflectors, and in tight spaces I use a lot of bleached
muslin, sometimes stapled to the walls of the set. A lot of times,
my lighting will be as simple as removing light. In a day exterior
it might involve laying down hundreds of square feet of white on
the ground to prevent the green of the grass from bouncing back
onto the actors.
“I try not to get too dogmatic about any one particular approach.
I have excellent collaborators in gaffer Craig Wright and key grip
Mitch Holmes, and whenever we get into a set-up I love bouncing
ideas off people. I want my camera operators, Mark Willis and
Michael Carella, to give me a lot of input; I want this to be
collaborative – mostly because it’s the most fun and it also keeps
me fresh and from falling into a groove.”
Born in Montreal, Perrault started working in the film industry
as a soundman in 1979, but he was always interested in photography. He started taking out a small camera loaded with short
ends on the weekends, “doing little documentaries.” A job as
a film soundman brought him to Toronto, and he just sort of
evolved into cinematography. His first big break was DOP on the
1992 television movie Beethoven Lives Upstairs.
Other television credits include the series La Femme Nikita,
Degrassi: The Next Generation, Murdoch Mysteries (for which he
was nominated for a Gemini Award in 2008), Flashpoint and the
2006 miniseries The State Within (Golden Globe nominee for
best dramatic series). Copper was developed by Thump Inc. and
produced in partnership with E1 Entertainment. Commissioned
by Canwest Global, it was picked up by ABC Television Network
during development.
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
13
14 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
The
Bridge
C
apitalizing on the success of their joint venture Flashpoint,
CTV and CBS Paramount Network Television are the
broadcasters committed to The Bridge, a new Torontoshot police drama informed by the insights of former tough-as-nails
Toronto police union chief Craig Bromell. Guest directors include
Helen Shaver and Stuart Margolin, and five-time Gemini Awardwinner Alan Di Fiore heads the writing team. The Bridge is currently
slated to premiere on CBS in the middle of the 2009-10 season.
Photos by Joan Hutton csc
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
15
ehT
egdirB
Clockwise from the top:
Thom Best csc, DOP; David Sheridan,
1st Assistant, A-Camera; J.P.
Locherer csc, OP, B-Camera; Brian
Cesar, 2nd Assistant, B-Camera;
Dean Stinchcombe, 1st Assistant,
A-Camera
16 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
Deluxe Screening Series:
Bill Pope asc in Toronto
By Lance Carlson
Bill Pope asc, having just wrapped the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the
World in Toronto, accepted an invite to appear at a screening of
The Matrix and a little Q&A moderated by Luc Montpellier csc,
at Deluxe Toronto on Sunday August 30.
If first impressions mean anything, Bill Pope is a pretty down
to earth, laid back and very knowledgeable old school kind of
guy. Which may be a tall order in most individuals, but as one
of Hollywood’s current hottest DOPs he pretty much succeeds
with flying colours. With five Matrix films over the years (three
theatrical and two direct to DVD) and two Spider-Man movies
(2 & 3 with 4 coming in 2011), plus a substantial string of others
under his belt, Pope’s cred has climbed dramatically since being
coaxed (yes coaxed) to shoot The Matrix in 1999. At the time he
had only shot under-$5M movies such as Evil Dead 3: Army of
Darkness (1992) and didn’t feel he wanted to put his neck on the
line on a $100M super-spectacular. But directors Larry and Andy
Wachowski were very persuasive, and based on their experience
shooting the sexy neo-noir crime thriller Bound (1996) with Pope
as DOP, they insisted that they were confident he was ready to
move on up. He landed the job on Bound because the original
DOP couldn’t deal with a lowly $3M budget and that seems to
characterize Pope’s modus operandi.
He is famously quoted in an earlier interview as requesting a
credit as “photographic administrator” on The Matrix, as he had
never done a film on which he did not operate, and he also had
B-camera and C-camera crews to supervise. He revealed that it
was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek remark. Actually, he pulled it
off in spectacular style, and confirmed that it was in fact not only
the largest lighting job that he had ever attempted but also the
largest lighting job ever accomplished in Australia to that time.
Despite the cyber environment, most of The Matrix effects was
shot in-camera and were so convincing that they didn’t need
further enhancement. Bill Pope prefers not to be typecast and
likes to bring a new approach to each new project. He has done
a lot of commercials and music videos, which he feels has kept
him grounded to a more flexible and efficient approach to things,
and he applies this effectively to his larger projects with obvious
excellent results.
When asked about the challenge of working for two directors,
he clarified that the Wachowski brothers are unique and seem to
think as one, with no confusion, conflict or argument – sort of
joined at the hip or, perhaps, by the brain stems. He feels this is
unlikely in most other partnered directorships.
I think the cinematography is by far the best aspect of The
Matrix, and even though he pointed out several miscues, such as
his reflection in a doorknob in one scene, there is really nothing
Bill Pope has to apologize for in the film.
Luc Montpellier csc, left, and Bill Pope asc. Photo by Lori Longstaff.
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
17
Industry News
PDW-F800
Sony PDW-F800
Now available at Videoscope
416.449.3030
Videoscope.com
The XDCAM HD, CineAlta, MPEG IMX, and DVCAM logos are the property of the Sony Corporation of Japan.
All rights reserved.
Wayne Clarkson to Step Down from
Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada executive director Wayne Clarkson has
announced he will be stepping down at the conclusion of his
five-year term in January 2010. Clarkson has enjoyed a fairly
smooth ride during his tenure. He fulfilled several objectives
he made in the early days, such as streamlining of the funding
system and the decentralization of the decision-making
regarding smaller projects. There has been no indication
what Clarkson will do next. Previously he was head of the
Canadian Film Centre, the Ontario Film Development
Corporation and the Festival of Festivals (now TIFF).
Cinematography Legends Laszlo Kovács
and Vilmos Zsigmond Are the Subjects
of a PBS Documentary This Fall
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos follows the lives
of renowned cinematographers Laszlo Kovács and Vilmos
Zsigmond from escaping the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary
to present day. An Official Selection of the 2009 Cannes Film
Festival, James Chressanthis’s documentary will air on
the PBS series Independent Lens on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 (check local listings). Chressanthis is currently a director and cinematographer on the American series
Ghost Whisperer, and No Subtitles Necessary is his feature debut.
18 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
As film students in Hungary, Laszlo Kovács
and Vilmos Zsigmondtook to the wartorn streets of Budapest to shoot footage of the Russian invasion, and subsequently volunteered to smuggle it out of
the country. Barely escaping with their lives,
the two friends fled to America and settled
in Hollywood, eventually saving enough
money to buy their own 16-mm camera.
After working on a string of low-budget horror and biker movies, both men
soon rose to prominence in the late
1960s and 1970s, shooting the films
that defined what came to be known
as the American New Wave: Easy
Rider, Five Easy Pieces, McCabe and Mrs.
Miller, Deliverance, Paper Moon, Close
Encounters of the Third Kind and more.
Working with directors including Robert
Altman, Bob Rafelson, Peter Bogdanovich,
Steven Speilberg and Martin Scorsese,
they helped create a new American film
aesthetic, and pioneered innovative ways
to tell stories.
Sept. 09); George A. Romero’s Survival
of the Dead, DOP Adam Swica csc;
Sherry White’s Crackie, DOP Stephen
Reizes csc; Rob Stefaniuk’s Suck, DOP
D. Gregor Hagey csc (see Canadian
Cinematographer, Sept. 09); A Shine of
Rainbows, director / DOP Vic Sarin csc;
Peter Stebbing’s Defendor, DOP David
Greene csc; Rubba Nada’s Cairo Time,
DOP Luc Montpellier csc; and Jacob
Tierney’s The Trotsky, DOP Guy
Dufaux csc.
At
the
Atlantic
Film
Festival,
September 17 to 26: The Trotsky, Suck,
A Shine of Rainbows, Chloe, Denis
Villeneuve’s Polytechnique, DOP Pierre Gill
csc (see Canadian Cinematographer, Summer 09), and Simon Ennis’s You Might As
Well Live, DOP/OP Jonathan Bensimon,
csc associate member. And finally, at the
Vancouver International Film Festival,
October 1 to 15: Chloe, A Shine of Rainbows, Crackie and Peter McCormack’s
Facing Ali, DOP Ian Kerr csc.
The Sony PMW-EX1
Compact and high performance Full HD
camcorder with solid state recording
Told through interviews with Kovács (who
died in 2007) and Zsigmond, as well as
directors including Rafelson, Bogdanovich,
John Boorman, Graeme Clifford, Richard
Donner, William Richert, Mark Rydell,
composer John Williams and actors such
as Jon Voight, Peter Fonda, Sandra Bullock, Karen Black, Dennis Hopper and
Sharon Stone, No Subtitles Necessary is an
intimate portrait of two giants of modern
image making and their deep bond of
brotherhood that transcended every imaginable boundary.
PMW-EX1
CSC Member Films at
MWFF, TIFF, AFF
& VIFF 2009
CSC member films screened at the 2009
Montreal World Film Festival, August 27
to September 7, were John N. Smith’s Love
& Savagery, DOP Pierre Letarte csc (see
CSC News, Jan. 09), and Srinivas Krishna’s
documentary Ganesh, Boy Wonder, DOP
Milan Podsedly csc.
At the Toronto International Film
Festival, September 10 to 20: Atom
Egoyan’s Chloe, DOP Paul Sarossy csc,
bsc (see Canadian Cinematographer,
Demonstrations available
In stock
Toronto
Halifax
www.pci-canada.com
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
19
CBC on
iTunes
The CBC is trying a new promotional
strategy for Being Erica, the charming
dramady about a 30-something time
traveller. In addition to heavy traditional
network promotion, the producers are
also using social media tools on the net
to extend and promote the show.
01Final
The CBC has begun offering its original Canadian television programming
in high definition on iTunes. Being
Erica and The Tudors, which generated
numerous 2009 Gemini Award nominations, are the first shows to be available
in HD from a Canadian network. Both
shows are already available in standard
definition on iTunes, along with CBC
series such as Rick Mercer Report, The
Border and The Nature of Things. The
immensely popular iTunes has offered
high definition shows in Canada since
May, but the earlier offerings were
mainly U.S. fare such as 24, Lost and
Heroes.
CFC Grows
Again
02/25/09
Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film
Centre (CFC) is launching a new school
for actors. The school’s first season
began in September, and during this
year’s TIFF, the CFC announced it
had named Canadian local hero, Keifer
Sutherland, as the school’s first chair.
Also during TIFF, the CFC befitted
from all that Infrastructure Stimulus
Fund money being passed around to
the tune of $9 million to upgrade its
existing buildings located on the old
E.P. Taylor estate just north of downtown Toronto, as well as the construction of three new ones that will expand
and provide additional space for its
programs in film, television, new media
and now an acting lab.
C a n y o n D e s i g n G ro u p :
Eleven projects were chosen to receive
$255,000 in grants and no-interest loans Seven development grants were awarded to
from the Canwest-Hot Docs Documentary Alethea Arnaquq-Baril’s Angry Inuk (Unikfunds in its third round of disbursements kaat Studios), Marike Emery’s Big Red &
in was announced this past summer. Eddie (Little Dog Productions), Julian
Four films received completion grants: Pinder’s Just Blow It Up (Six Island ProCross’s 2/25/09
Atanasoff (Eyesteelfilm),
ductions),
Clement Virgo’s Metamorphosis
1904 CSC News Daniel
2.09 01F:1
10:32 AM Page
1
(Conquering Lion Pictures), Karen
Porter’s Ton Up! (Tony Devenyi Inc),
Sebastian Lange’s Transformation (Loaded
Pictures) and Simon Trépanier’s Uprooted
(Lowik Media 2008 Inc).
CSC News — J1904
Eppo Eerkes’s Blood, Sweat and Beers
(Partners in Motion), Brett Story’s Injury
(Bunbury Ontic Films) and Lix Marshall’s
Water on the Table (Water on the Table Inc).
Deluxe
Canwest-Hot Docs
Documentary Fund
20 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
Vancouver-based 35-mm MOS camera
package: Arri 35 III 3rd generation specs.
130fps motor, N35 4 perf movement, CE
high-speed base and accessory box, PL
mount, custom Jurgens optics with color
tap and frameline generator; 2 x 400’ mags;
FF2; 5x6 matte box; two dual 12v batteries
and chargers. All gear ships in four cases.
Well maintained former Clairmont package.
Contact Adam Braverman: 604-418-0241;
[email protected].
Equipment for Sale
Sony BVW-400a Betacam SP Camcorder Camera used by professional cinematographer (one owner), never rented out. Comes
complete with Fujinon A15x8BEVM-28 lens,
Petroff matte box with 4x4 and 4x5.6 filter
holders, remote zoom and focus control
for lens, 6 Cadnica NP-1 batteries, Sony
BC-1WD battery charger, Porta-Brace fitted
cover w/ rain jacket (like new) and Sony
factory hard shipping case and manuals.
Lens and camera professionally maintained
by factory technicians. Usage hours are:
A – 1,918 hours; B – 1,489 hours; C – 4,286
hours. $10,000.00 obo. Contact: Craig
Wrobleski csc (403) 995-4202
Aaton XTR Super 16 pkg: including body,
video relay optics, extension eyepiece,
three magazines, Cooke 10.5-mm¬–60-mm
S-16 zoom lens, Zeiss 9.5 prime lens, 4x4
matte box, 4x4 filters (85,85N6, polarizer,
ND6, clear), follow focus and cases $22,000;
Nikon 50–300 -mm F4-5 E.D. lens w/support, $1,000; Kinoptik 9–8-mm 35-mm
format lens c/w sunshade $1,400. Contact
[email protected] or [email protected]
New Video Camera Rain Covers. Custom
rain covers for sale. New design that fits
and protects most Sony PMW EX3, Canon
XHHDV, Panasonic VX200 cameras with the
viewfinder extending toward the rear of the
camera. Price: $200.00. Noiseless rain cover
for the external camera microphone. Price:
$30.00. Onboard Monitor rain cover, camera
assistants can see the focus during the
shot. No more hassles in the rain! $60.00.
Custom Red One camera covers available
upon request. Also can sew various types
of heavy-duty material. Repairs and zipper
replacement on equipment and ditty bags.
Lori Longstaff: 416-452-9247; llong@rogers.
com.
Two Complete Video Villages for Sale
$2,000. At this price, these units will pay
for themselves in less than five weeks on
a normal television series. Cost to create
new would be over $5,000. Plus these very
sharp, robust AC/ DC monitors are no longer
available! Includes four x 9inch Sony AC/DC
monitors, four 12V batteries and chargers,
four A&J hard cases, remote controls and
antenna signal boosters, spare power cords,
connectors, etc. BNC cables in winder, two
stands, dolly carts and doorway boxes with
storage drawers. Contact :Robert McLachlan
: office: 604-926-5253; cell: 604-761-4041;
[email protected].
DVW700WS Digital Betacam with viewfinder and two widescreen zoom lenses.
Canon J1 5x8 B4WRS SX12 and Fujinon
5.5-47. Very low hours on new heads.
$16,000, plus taxes. Contact: Michael Ellis:
416-233-6378.
ments. Excellent working order. Best offer
accepted. Contact: Bea: [email protected].
Betacam SP D30 camera, PVV3 Recorder
Back, Fujinon 16X, 9-144 zoom lens, six
batteries, charger, power supply and case,
Sony PVM 80Q 7 1/2inch monitor and case.
$3,500. Contact: Joan Hutton: 416-6939776.
Sony DVW700 Digital Betacam camera.
Excellent condition. One Sony viewfinder,
one Sony battery case, one Sony tripod
adaptor, and one 8x160-mm Canon zoom
lens. $19,900 plus taxes. Call 613-255-3200.
Camera Classified is a free service
provided for CSC members. For all
others, there is a one-time $25 (plus
GST) insertion fee. Your ad will appear
here and on the CSC’s website, www.
csc.ca. If you have items you would like
to buy, sell or rent, please email your
information to [email protected].
Betacam SP Camera package. BVP550
Betacam SP camera with BVV5 recorder,
complete with Fuijinon 15x8 broadcast zoom
lens, “Red Eye” wide-angle adapter, 6 IDX
Li-Ion batteries, IDX quick charger with AC
adapter, flight case, soft carry case, Sony
monitor and 10 fresh Beta SP tapes ($140
value). $2,500. Call Christian: 416-459-4895.
Arri III clear rain cover with carry bag
(Like new, very little use.) $100. Anton Bauer
Lifesaver “Interactive Logic Series” dual
charger in excellent condition, minimal use
with AC power cord and two Proformer batteries (need to be re-celled) $150. Hard-shell
transport case for broadcast or 16 mm, good
condition $40. Petroff 3x3 filter tray, $30.
Photos available. Contact: John Banovich:
604-726-5646 or John@GreenEarthFilms.
net.
Elmo TransVideo TRV16 16-mm film-tovideo converter color CCD. Converts mag
or optical film frame, color, iris, focus adjust-
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
21
Classifieds
Equipment for Rent
CSC Members
CSC FULL MEMBERS
Jim Aquila csc
Eduardo Arregui csc
John Badcock csc
Michael Balfry csc
Christopher Ball csc
John Banovich csc
John Stanley Bartley csc, asc
Stan Barua csc
Yves BÈlanger csc
Peter Benison csc
Jeremy Benning csc
John Berrie csc
Thom Best csc
Michel Bisson csc
Michael Boland csc
Nicolas Bolduc csc
Raymond A. Brounstein csc
Thomas Burstyn csc, frsa, nzcs
Barry Casson csc
Eric Cayla csc
Henry Chan csc
Marc Charlebois csc
Rodney Charters csc, asc
Damir I. Chytil csc
Arthur E. Cooper csc
Walter Corbett csc
Steve Cosens csc
Bernard Couture csc
Richard P. Crudo csc, asc
Dean Cundey csc, asc
Franáois Dagenais csc
Steve Danyluk csc
David A. De Volpi csc
Kamal Derkaoui csc
Kim Derko csc
Serge Desrosiers csc
Jean-Yves Dion csc
Zoe Dirse csc
Mark Dobrescu csc
Wes Doyle csc
Guy Dufaux csc
Ray Dumas csc
Albert Dunk csc, asc
Philip Earnshaw csc
Michael Ellis csc
Carlos A. Esteves csc
Nikos Evdemon csc
David Frazee csc
Marc Gadoury csc
Antonio Galloro csc
James Gardner csc, sasc
David A Geddes csc
Ivan Gekoff csc
Laszlo George csc, hsc
Pierre Gill csc
VANCOUVER
604-291-7262
Russ Goozee csc
Steve Gordon csc
Barry R. Gravelle csc
David Greene csc
John B. Griffin csc
Michael Grippo csc
Manfred Guthe csc
D. Gregor Hagey csc
Thomas M. Harting csc
Peter Hartmann csc
Pauline R. Heaton csc
Brian Hebb csc
David Herrington csc
Karl Herrmann csc
Kenneth A. Hewlett
Robert Holmes csc
John Holosko csc
George Hosek csc
Colin Hoult csc
Donald Hunter csc
Joan Hutton csc
Mark Irwin csc, asc
James Jeffrey csc
Pierre Jodoin csc
Martin Julian csc
Norayr Kasper csc
Glen Keenan csc
Ian Kerr csc
Jan E. Kiesser csc, asc
Alar Kivilo csc, asc
Douglas Koch csc
Charles D. Konowal csc
Les Krizsan csc
Alwyn J. Kumst csc
Jean-Claude Labrecque csc
Serge Ladouceur csc
George Lajtai csc
Marc Lalibertè Else csc
Barry Lank csc
Philippe Lavalette csc
Henry Lebo csc
John Lesavage csc
Henry Less csc
Pierre Letarte csc
Antonin Lhotsky csc
Philip Linzey csc
J.P. Locherer csc
Peter C. Luxford csc
Larry Lynn csc
Dylan Macleod csc
Bernie MacNeil csc
Glen MacPherson csc, asc
Shawn Maher csc
David A. Makin csc
Adam Marsden csc
Donald M. McCuaig csc, asc
CALGARY
403-246-7267
22 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
TORONTO
416-444-7000
Robert B. McLachlan csc, asc
Ryan McMaster csc
Michael McMurray csc
Stephen F. McNutt csc, asc
Simon Mestel csc
Alastair Meux csc
Gregory D. Middleton csc
C. Kim Miles csc
Gordon Miller csc
Robin S. Miller csc
Paul Mitchnick csc
Luc Montpellier csc
George Morita csc
Rhett Morita csc
David Moxness csc
Douglas Munro csc
Kent Nason csc
Mitchell T. Ness csc
Robert C. New csc
Stefan Nitoslawski csc
Danny Nowak csc
Rene Ohashi csc, asc
Harald K. Ortenburger csc
Gerald Packer csc
Barry Parrell csc
Brian Pearson csc
David Perrault csc
Bruno Philip csc
Matthew R. Phillips csc
Andrè Pienaar csc, sasc
Zbigniew (Ed) Pietrzkiewicz csc
Randal G. Platt csc
Milan Podsedly csc
Hang Sang Poon csc
Andreas Poulsson csc
Don Purser csc
Ousama Rawi csc, bsc
William Walker Reeve csc
Stephen Reizes csc
Derek Rogers csc
Peter Rowe csc
Brad Rushing csc
Branimir Ruzic csc
Jèrùme Sabourin csc
Victor Sarin csc
Paul Sarossy csc, bsc
Michael Patrick Savoie csc
Ian Seabrook
Gavin Smith csc
Christopher Soos csc
Michael Spicer csc
John Spooner csc
Ronald Edward Stannett csc
Pieter Stathis csc
Brendan Steacy csc
Barry Ewart Stone csc
HALIFAX
902-404-3630
Michael Storey csc
Michael Sweeney csc
Adam Swica csc
Attila Szalay csc, hsc
Jason Tan csc
John P. Tarver csc
Paul Tolton csc
Bert Tougas csc
Chris Triffo csc
Sean Valentini csc
Brett Van Dyke
Roger Vernon csc
Daniel Villeneuve csc
Daniel Vincelette csc
Michael Wale csc
John Walker csc
James Wallace csc
Tony Wannamaker csc
Peter Warren csc
Andrew Watt csc
Jim Westenbrink csc
Tony Westman csc
Kit Whitmore csc, soc
Brian Whittred csc
Ron Williams csc
George A. Willis csc, sasc
Glen Winter csc
Peter Woeste csc
Bill C.P. Wong csc
Bruce Worrall csc
Craig Wrobleski csc
Yuri Yakubiw csc
Ellie Yonova csc
CSC ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Joshua Allen
Don Armstrong
John W. Bailey
Douglas Baird
Kenneth Walter Balys
David Battistella
Gregory Bennett
Jonathan Benny
AndrÈ BÈriault
Roy Biafore
Christian Bielz
Francois M. Bisson
Christophe Bonniere
Scott Brown
Richard Burman
Lance Carlson
Jon Castell
Mark Caswell
Maurice Chabot
Cèsar Charlone
Stephen Chung
David Collard
Renè Jean Collins
Jarrett B. Craig
Rod Crombie
James Crowe
Micha Dahan
Michael Jari Davidson
Nicholas de Pencier
Ricardo Diaz
John Drake
Randy Dreager
John E. Durst
Jay Ferguson
Andrew Forbes
Richard Fox
Joshua Fraiman
Tom Gatenby
Brian Gedge
Rion Gonzales
Vladimir Gosaric
Daniel Grant
Jeffrey Hanley
John Hodgson
Cliff Hokanson
James D. Holloway
Suave Hupa
George Hupka
David Johns
Jorma Kantola
Ernie Kestler
Shannon Kohli
Charles Lavack
Jim Laverdiere
Robin Lawless soc
Byung-Ho Lee
Philip Letourneau
John V. Lindsay
Dave Luxton
Robert Macdonald
Mario Anthony Madau
Jeff Maher
Roy Marques
Kelly Mason
Andris D. Matiss
Paul McCool
Patrick McLaughlin
Tony Meerakker
Gerry Mendoza
Tony Merzetti
Bill Metcalfe
Bentley Miller
Paul Mockler
Sarah Moffat
Helmfried Muller
Brian Charles Murphy
Keith Murphy
Christopher M. Oben
Eric Oh
Ted Parkes
Deborah Parks
Pavel ìPashaî Patriki
Rick Perotto
Allan Piil
Scott Plante
Ryan A. Randall
Dave Rendall
Cathy Robertson
Peter Rosenfeld
Don Roussel
Christopher Sargent
Andrew W. Scholotiuk
Ian Scott
Neil Scott
Neil Seale
Wayne Sheldon
Simon Shohet
Sarorn Ron Sim
Barry E. Springgay
Paul Steinberg
Marc Stone
Michael Strange
Joseph G. Sunday phd
Andrè Paul Therrien
George (Sandy) Thomson
Kirk Tougas
Frank Vilaca
John Walsh
Lloyd Walton
Glenn C. Warner
Douglas H. Watson
Roger Williams
Richard Wilmot
Peter Wayne Wiltshire
Kelly John Wolfert
Dave Woodside
Peter Wunstorf asc
Steven Zajaczkiwsky
CSC Affiliate MEMBERS
Christopher Alexander
Dwayne Alexander
Donald G. Angus
Derek Archibald
Garth Archibald
Robin Bain
Iain Alexander Baird
P. J. Barnes P.Eng.
Peter Battistone
Russell Bell
Jacques F. Bernier
Mark A. Biggin
Caroline Brandes
Adam Braverman
Gordon A. Burkell
Joseph Calabrese
Tim A. Campbell
Arnold Caylakyan
Bernard Chartouni
Johnny Yan Chen
Brent J. Craig
Maggie Craig
Brad Creasser
Ana Cunha
Colin Davis
Dominika Dittwald
Micah L. Edelstein
Tony Edgar
Andreas Evdemon
Zachary Finkelstein
Randy French
Richard Gira
Aizick Grimman
James D. Hardie
Bruce William Harper
John Richard Hergel BA CD
Kristy Hodgson
Perry Hoffmann
Brad Hruboska
Marcel D. Janisse
Michael Jasen
Christine Jeoffroy
Rick Kearney
Matthew Casey Kennedy
Guido Kondruss
Boris Kurtzman
Ryan Lalonde
Tony Lippa
John Lipsz
Matthew J. Lloyd
Christopher G. Logan
Lori P. Longstaff
Robert H. Lynn
Megan MacDonald
Jill MacLauchlan Parks
Yoann Malnati
Julie McDowell
Justin McIntosh
Ian McLaren
Andrew Medicky
Alejandro MuÒoz
Kar Wai Ng
Brent OíHagan
Peter Osborne
Ted Overton
Andrew Oxley
Gino Papineau
Graeme Parcher
Kalpesh Patel
Greg Petrigo
Douglas B. Pruss
Elise Queneau
Lem Ristsoo
Susan Saranchuk
Chirayouth Jim Saysana
James Scott
Brad Smith
Kyryll Sobolev
Michael Soos
Gillian Stokvis-Hauer
Steven Tsushima
Paula Tymchuk
Anton van Rooyen
Trevor J. Wiens
Irene Sweeney Willis
CSC FULL LIFE MEMBERS
Herbert Alpert csc, asc
Robert Bocking csc
David Carr csc
Marc Champion csc
Christopher Chapman csc, cfe
Robert C. Crone csc, cfc, dg
Kenneth R. Davey csc
Kelly Duncan csc, dgc
John C. Foster csc
Leonard Gilday csc
John Goldi csc
Kenneth W. Gregg csc
Edward Higginson csc
Brian Holmes csc
Douglas Kiefer csc
Rudolf Kovanic csc
Ken Krawczyk csc
Naohiko Kurita csc
Harry Lake csc
Duncan MacFarlane csc
Harry Makin csc
Douglas A. McKay csc
Donald James McMillan csc
Jim Mercer csc
Roger Moride csc
Ron Orieux csc
Dean Peterson csc
Roger Racine csc
Robert Rouveroy csc
Robert G. Saad csc
Josef Sekeresh csc
John Stoneman csc
Derek VanLint csc
Walter Wasik csc
Ron Wegoda csc
CSC HONOURARY MEMBERS
Roberta Bondar
Vi Crone
Graeme Ferguson
Wilson Markle
indicates demo reel online, www.csc.ca
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009 •
23
Location, Location
Production Notes
Barney’s Version (feature); DOP Guy Dufaux csc; to November 6, Montreal
Being Erica II (series); DOP Luc Montpellier csc; OP Sean Jensen; to October 16, Toronto
The Border III (series); DOP Gavin Smith csc; OP Kaelin McCowan; to October 15, Toronto
Caprica (series); DOP Stephen McNutt csc; OP Tim Spencer; to February 2010, Vancouver
Copper (series); DOP David Perrault csc; OP Mark Willis; to December 1, Toronto
Coin Flip (television movie); DOP David Makin csc; OP Andris Matiss; to October 16, Toronto
Covert Affairs (pilot); DOP Jamie Barber; OP Michael Soos; 1st Assistant Gottreid Pflugbeil; B-Cam
OP Colin Hoult csc; to October 9, Toronto
Crash and Burn (series); DOP Milan Podsedly csc; OP Rod Crombie; to December 10,
Mississauga, ON
Dan for Mayor (series); DOP François Dagenais csc; to November 20, Toronto
Dino Dan II (series); DOP/OP George Lajtai csc; to October 9, Toronto
Degrassi: The Next Generation IX (series); DOP Jim Westenbrink csc; OP David Towers; to October
21, Toronto
Double Wedding (television movie); DOP John Berrie csc; OP Paula Tymchuk; to October 6, Toronto
Filière 13 (feature); DOP Bernard Couture csc; to October 23, Montreal
Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (television movie); OP David Gribble asc; OP Andy Chmura; B-Cam OP
Christopher Ball csc; to October 9, Dartmouth, NS
Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town (special); DOP Paul Sarossy csc, bsc; OP J.P. Locherer csc; to
October 9, Toronto
Technicolor Toronto
Your downtown
laboratory and
post facility
Living in Your Car (series); DOP Stephen Reizes csc; OP Tony Guerin; to November 27, Toronto
Murdoch Mysteries III (series); DOP James Jeffrey csc; OP Mark Hroch; to November 17, Toronto
Pillars of the Earth (miniseries); DOP Attila Szalay csc; to November 21, Montreal
Psych IV (series); DOP Michael McMurray; OP Marco Ciccone; to October 29, North Vancouver
Resident Evil: Afterlife (feature); DOP Glen MacPherson csc, asc; to December 10, Toronto
Republic of Doyle (series); DOP Michael Storey csc; OP Brian Gedge; to December 4, St. John’s, NL
Smallville IX (series); DOP Glen Winter csc (odd); Barry Donlevy (even); OP Brian Whittred csc (odd);
Neil Seale (even); to April 2010, Burnaby, BC
Supernatural V (series); DOP Serge Ladouceur csc; OP Brad Creasser; to March 2010, Burnaby, BC
Trauma (series); DOP Jérôme Sabourin csc; to October 16, Montreal
Grace Carnale-Davis
Director of Sales
[email protected]
Vacation with Derek (feature); DOP Gerald Packer csc; to October 5, Toronto
Yamaska (series); DOP Daniel Vincelette csc; to December 10, Montreal
Calendar of Events
October
7–18, Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montreal, nouveaucinema.ca
5–9, MIPCOM, Cannes, France, mipcom.com
20–24, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, St. John’s, NL, womensfilmfestival.com
14–18, ImagineNative Film Festival, Toronto, imaginenative.org
21–25, Planet in Focus: International Environmental Film & Video Festival, Toronto, planetinfocus.org
31–Nov. 8, Banff Mountain Film Festival, Banff, AB, banffcentre.ca/mountainculture
November
Vancouver
604-689-1090
Toronto
416-585-9995
Montreal
514-939-5060
5–8, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Vancouver, vaff.org
11–15, Reel Asian International Film Festival, Toronto, reelasian.com
11–21, Reneontres internationales du documentaire du Montréal, Montreal, ridm.qc.ca
18–22, Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival, Winnipeg, aboriginalfilmfest.org
www.technicolor.com
24 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2009
ONFILM
STEVE ASSELIN
“In any artistic endeavor, you have to have a
foundation in order to explore. Film gives me
the confidence to work more freely. I can look
at the set with my eye and see what’s going to
be on the film. Each story requires its own visual
approach and design.… I try to shoot from the hip,
to let my work come more from my feelings.
My goal is always to create a movie that speaks
for itself. When I can watch the film and go along
with the story, then I feel that I have had a
successful collaboration with my colleagues,
and that I am making a connection with my work.”
Steve Asselin was born and raised in Québec City,
Québec, Canada. He studied cinema and literature
and began his filmmaking career as a gofer at
age 18. He shot many music videos and short films,
and eventually photographed his first feature,
Une jeune fille à la fenêtre (A Girl at the Window)
at age 26 for director Francis Leclerc. Since then,
his credits include dozens of television commercials,
the short film Elisabeth Heywood, as well as the
feature films Délivrez-moi, Borderline, and Un été sans
point ni coup sûr (A No-Hit No-Run Summer).
His work on the film Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnés
was nominated for the Best Cinematography prize at
the 2006 Jutra Awards, which honors achievements
in Québecois filmmaking.
For an extended interview with Steve Asselin,
visit www.kodak.com/go/onfilm.
To order Kodak motion picture film,
call (800) 621 - FILM (3456).
www.kodak.ca
© Kodak Canada Inc., 2009.