Get PDF - Canadian Society of Cinematographers
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Get PDF - Canadian Society of Cinematographers
A PUBLICATION OF THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 478423 April 2004 Volume 23, No. 8 Michael Boland csc Focuses on Hope In… ALSO CSC Awards Winners and Nominees EXPOSURE: Reala 500D Making Friends IN WHAT’S NEW? The Vision2 Family Grows THIS EDUCATION: The CSC Class of 2004 NEWS CLIPS: Greg Middleton csc Up for Genie ISSUE PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Click on View Reel A Team for Peace volume 23, No. 8 April 2004 The Canadian Society of Cinematographers 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. Our members now represent the film and video community in all ten provinces. Our aim continues to be to promote and foster the cause of cinematography and the interests of the Canadian film and video community. We facilitate the dissemination and exchange of technical information, and endeavor to advance the knowledge and status of our members within the industry. As an organization dedicated to furthering technical assistance, we maintain contact with nonpartisan groups in our industry, but have no political or union affiliation. CSC EXECUTIVE President: Joan Hutton csc Vice-President: Richard Stringer csc Treasurer: Joseph Sunday phd Secretary: Antonin Lhotsky Membership: Philip Earnshaw csc Publicity: Robert Brooks csc Education: Ernie Kestler Membership inquiries: 416-266-0591 CORPORATE SPONSORS alphacine/Toybox Applied Electronics Arri Canada Ltd. CinequipWhite Inc. Clairmont Camera David J. Woods Deluxe Toronto Eyes Post Group Four Seasons Aviation Fuji Photo Film Canada Inc. Kingsway Motion Picture Ltd. Kino Flo Kodak Canada Inc. The Lab in Toronto Lee Filters Lenhoff and Lenhoff Lorne Lapham Sales & Rentals Maxell Canada Mole-Richardson Osram Sylvania Ltd./Ltée Otto Nemenz International PS Production Services Panasonic Canada Panavision Canada Precision Camera Rosco Canada Sim Video Sony of Canada Ltd. Videoscope Ltd. Wescam William F. White International Inc. ZGC Inc. CSC OFFICE Canadian Society of Cinematographers Administrator: Susan Saranchuk 3007 Kingston Road Suite 131 Toronto, Ontario M1M 1P1 Tel 416-266-0591 Fax 416-266-3996 email: [email protected] Editor: Donald Angus (416) 699-9149 email: [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Joan Hutton csc CSC NEWS is a publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers. CSC NEWS is printed in Toronto and is published ten times a year. Subscriptions are available for $75.00 per year in Canada and $95.00 per year outside the country. Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 478423. Contents 2 - President’s Report - The VIEW REEL Link 14- Cover Story A Team for Peace 10 - Cover Sidebar - Panasonic to the Rescue 4 12 - Awards - CSC Winners & Nominees 14 - Exposure - Fuji Reala 500D 16 - What’s New? - Kodak Family Grows 14 18 - Education - Class of 2004 20 - News Clips - Genie Nominations 24 - Action Production Notes - CSC Calendar Visit: www.csc.ca 16 COVER: A young soccer player in the strife-torn Middle East proudly wears his Right to Play jersey and practises for A Team for Peace. president’s report Joan Hutton csc The New VIEW REEL Link A few months ago, Toronto cin- Mullins, who in 12 years as a grow internationally. It is a user ematographer Craig Mullins director of photography has shot friendly search engine for anybody csc came to the CSC execu- over 300 commercials and compiled in the industry who’s looking for tive with a proposal to “hot link” his impressive drama and documentary anything, whether it’s a government Internet demo reel service to the credits, launched the Demo Reel liaison office or a DOP who special- CSC’s web site, www.csc.ca. We Network on the Internet as an inter- izes in underwater or helicopter.” thought it was a great idea. Mullins’ national venue for screening show Now, Mullins is making CSC Demo Reel Network seemed like a fine reels and a search engine for match- members a special subscription offer opportunity to add an on-line service ing the right people with the right of US$4.95 for the first three months to members, and that’s what we’ve job. He is working with a couple of and US$18 per month after that, done. computer-trained partners to design with no contracts to sign. You can The CSC web site has upgraded its on-line features that will make the cancel anytime. The Demo Reel popular Find a Member feature to network a unique service in the film Network provides subscribers with include a tool by which members can world. up to eight minutes of high quality add demo reels to their membership “The web site gives anybody listings. This new application is a with a show reel, whether it’s a If you are interested in joining, go to direct link — VIEW REEL — to each DOP, a camera operator, a producer, www.demoreelnetwork.com/group member’s personal choice for a reel- director or makeup artist, an oppor- and enter lenscap beside organization hosting service; we’ll hook up with tunity to show their reel online,” password. For more information, e- other services as demand requires. Mullins mail: [email protected] Meanwhile, several CSC members September/2003). “The Demo Reel already subscribe to the Demo Reel Network streams a reel on to the As usual, the official CSC Awards Network, and to see how it works go web site and creates a web page for issue of the CSC News will be May to Craig Mullins csc at Find a each subscriber, with his own bio because this month’s issue went to Member and click on the VIEW REEL listing. There’s a search engine press before the April 3 gala. However, icon. which enables somebody who’s we are pleased to list the 2004 CSC For information on the Demo Reel coming to Toronto and needs a Awards winners and nominees in this Network, go to www.demoreelnet- camera operator to key in ‘Toronto month’s magazine, and we extend our work.com. If you subscribe to anoth- camera operators’ and the names, congratulations not only to those tal- er reel-hosting service and wish to credits and reels of every operator in ented cinematographers who took have it linked with www.csc.ca via the city who’s on the web site will home an “Eyeball” statuette or earned VIEW REEL, please advise the CSC at come up. a nomination, but also to everyone [email protected]. 2 • CSC News / April 2004 told CSC News (see “Ideally we want this network to streaming video. ••• who submitted an entry. ● cover story A Team for Peace I f serendipity is the faculty of making happy discoveries by accident, then award-winning filmmaker Michael Boland csc is serendipitous as well as courageous, inspired and just plain stubborn. The Toronto-based director/cinematographer took a bullby-the-horns approach to his latest project, the documentary A Team for Peace, which delivers a message of youthful hope in the midst of Middle East hatred. Boland can relax a bit now. His work, about an improbable soccer union, will soon air on the CTV network. But to get it to the screen, he had to wrestle with money worries, shifting schedules, exotic technical standards, and the ogre of the volatile Middle East itself. Here, in his own words, the filmmaker tells the intriguing story of how, against all odds and with lots of serendipity, A Team for Peace grew from a hunch and a lunch. T In this series of scenes taken from video footage of A Team for Peace, a Peace Team player takes the ball down field, the boys celebrate a victory by mobbing their game hero and trading shirts with their opponents, and finally get to hoist their trophy in jubilation. 4 • CSC News / April 2004 he writer of A Team for Peace, Jeff Butler, describes the documentary as “a film that’s touching, passionate and provocative. “A Team for Peace,” he wrote in a promotional outline, “follows the riveting journey of a group of preadolescent soccer players, half of them Palestinian, half of them Israeli, who are put together to play on an all-star team – The Peace Team – and compete in the world’s largest international youth soccer tournament. Behind the concept of the team is the powerful force of Johann Olav Koss, one of the greatest Winter Olympians ever and founder of children’s charity Right to Play, which promotes conflict resolution through sport in more than 20 impoverished countries. Can mutual respect and understanding be discovered on the soccer pitch? More important, can it be translated to off-field life in the tinderbox of the Middle East? A Team for Peace is a true hero’s journey as we watch to see if the children By Michael Boland csc can overcome centuries of hate and emotionally documented personal tragedies in search of a peaceful future together.” That’s how Butler encapsulated the story, but the journey of making that story, from November of 2002 through February, 2004, was more difficult than I could have ever imagined. In a way, it actually started in 1994. The only Olympic Games I’ve ever attended were in Lillehammer, Norway. At that time, two memorable aspects of that great carnival were etched in my mind: the vast sea of spectators patriotically waving their flags, and the accomplishments of Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss. A 23-year-old medical student from Oslo who had won a gold and silver medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, Koss demolished all records in the 1,500-, 5,000- and 10,000- The Making of a Documentary of Hope metre competitions at Lillehammer, winning three golds and immortalizing himself in Olympic history. But what impressed me more was the selfless act that followed. The Norwegian government awarded Koss a bonus prize of US$35,000, which the athlete promptly donated to the rebuilding of Sarajevo, the host of the 1984 Winter Olympics that was then being destroyed in the civil war raging in the former Yugoslavia. Fast forward to November, 2002. In a Toronto newspaper, I read that Koss was living in Toronto and heading up a non-profit organization called Right to Play, which essentially went into warravaged countries throughout the world to help children. I thought, “There’s a film to be made here!” I managed to call him through a friend and he agreed to lunch. Over lobster bisque I wasted no time in cutting to the chase. “I’d like to do a film on you, are you interested?” His response was immediate: “Why not?” I then warned him: “I need to follow you around, I need complete access, and you may not like me after a while because the film process can be intrusive and unrelenting.” He paused and narrowed his Nordic gaze directly at me. “You may not like me after a while!” he said. Then he challenged me: “If you want to follow me around then you can start on Sunday. I’m flying to Rome to meet with some Israeli and Palestinian officials. They want Right to Play to help in the peace process.” I was floored! My mind was in overdrive. So many questions, so little time. I didn’t have a film proposal, I didn’t have financing. I didn’t have a clue this was going to move this fast! All I had was an idea and a credit card. I couldn’t afford to bring a sound recordist, but I couldn’t pass on a potential start to a film. “I’d love to go with you!” I blurted. “See you at the airport Sunday.” Three days later, there we were, an Olympic legend and a filmmaker with a credit card, winging our way to meet some people from the Middle East. I had no idea whom Johann was going to Rome to see, and not really a firm idea of Johann himself. It was all so vague. And costly. On the plane we talked nonstop. I told him who I was, what I’d done and what I dreamed of. I believe in making friends with the people I’m filming – that’s what life is all about. Johann responded in kind. He laid out his organization’s mandate — child development and conflict resolution through sport. It all sounded so logical, but could it work in one of the most volatile regions on the planet, the Middle East? The fires of hate and mistrust have burned for centuries, and in late 2002 the tensions were heightening and the prospects for peace were dimming by the day. The meeting was with the Shimon Photo: Michael Boland csc “I believe that peace is hidden in a box and the children are the keys to the box” Winter Olympian Johann Koss, head of the Right to Play organization, talks with Peace Team players Waheeb Mahmoud (left), a Palestinian, and Shimi Abotbol, an Israeli. Footage from mini-DV camcorders loaned to the boys forms part of the documentary A Team for Peace. Peres Centre for Peace, which had been founded by the former prime minister of Israel. I hired a local to do the sound and used my Beta SP 400 to shoot the event, which lasted an entire afternoon. • see page 6 CSC News / April 2004 • 5 Photo: Michael Boland csc The two Peace Team coaches, Israeli Viko Haddad (centre) and Palestinian Khader Abid (right), share a laugh in Norway with Right to Play volunteers. • from page 5 The main speaker was Yuri Savir, an Israeli now living in Rome and chief architect of the Oslo Peace Accord nearly 10 years prior. That accord lay in ashes when both sides walked away from the negotiating table, and Savir was now the CEO of the Peres Centre. There were a number of other people there from both sides, but Savir made the most dramatic statement: “There ‘The only thing that comes between us is the forbidden’ are children as young as three years old who profess a profound hatred toward the other side. Now,” he emphasized, “they may not feel it in their hearts but you hear it in their language.” We flew back to Toronto the next morning and, over Christmas of 2002, I mused on that trip to Rome. I sensed that the Peres Centre had initiated a project where children from both sides of the conflict were engaged in a joint sporting activity, and now the Centre’s cash flow (it is also a nonprofit organization) was starting to dry up. Hoping for a fresh source of money, they’d approached Johann Koss and his organization for assistance. At the time, Johann declared he couldn’t promise 6 • CSC News / April 2004 anything, but if he was to become involved, then Right to Play had a well-thought-out set of criteria that must be adhered to. I spent the holidays writing up a film proposal and e-mailing it to the networks. The CBC response was to the point: a fine project but at the moment they had too many Middle East stories. CTV, in its first appraisal, expressed a similar sentiment: a noble endeavour but they had far too many completed documentaries sitting on the shelf and lacked air time. The lone bright spot was NRK, the Norwegian national broadcaster, which had expressed initial interest primarily because the story focused on their favourite son. Meanwhile, Koss had promised to visit Israel in early March, 2003, and I knew I had to lock in on the trip. I scraped together some money, banged up the credit card a bit more, and we flew off to the unexplored. At the suggestion of Tore Tomter, the commissioning editor at NRK, Koss purchased two PAL mini-DV cameras at the dutyfree shop in Heathrow Airport. The plan was to loan the cameras to one boy from each side – an Israeli and a Palestinian — to see their worlds through their eyes. It was a clever suggestion, but now I was mixing my formats and broadcasting systems. Our four-day visit was a success. Three protagonists clearly emerged: Johann Koss was the facilitator, but the story revolved around a wonderful friendship between two soccer coaches, an Israeli named Viko Haddad and a Palestinian, Khader Abid. Their special relationship had begun only a year and a half before, but they’d bonded like brothers. In the words of Khader, “The only thing that comes between us is the forbidden.” Apparently it’s an Arabian adage. In Israel we drove out to Issawiah, a Palestinian enclave at the eastern edge of Jerusalem. Down the winding, narrow main street we went until we stopped at a school at the bottom of a hill. The asphalt play yard was teeming with dozens of red-shirted Palestinian boys aged eight to 13. There were three different soccer matches happening simultaneously in the fenced-in enclosure. The children flocked to Khader and Viko as if they were pied pipers and Johann was introduced as a famous Winter Olympian from Norway. Although language was a barrier, Koss reached out to make contact in a heartfelt way. Khader pointed out a young cherubic-faced boy named Waheeb Mahmoud, to whom he suggested we lend one of the mini-DV cameras, along with five tapes to get him started. Our schedule was tight and we left shortly afterwards to drive two hours to Sderot, a sleepy Israeli town of 25,000 not three kilometres from the Gaza Strip. Here the Israeli children were under Viko Haddad’s tutelage. The twin-city soccer program involved the children from Issawiah playing with the children from Sderot – Palestinians and Israelis together – a wonderful experiment for peace and understanding. As Khader said, “I believe that peace is hidden in a box and the children are the keys to the box.” As the kids were training under the watchful eye of coach Viko, Johann proposed a plan, to form an all-star “Peace Team” of 13 year-olds – half of the players to be Palestinian and half Israeli – to travel to Oslo, Norway, in late July and participate in the Norway Cup, the largest youth soccer tournament in the world with over 2,200 teams from around the Photo: Michael Boland csc globe. Viko was excited, and he suggested we lend the other mini-DV camera to a stout young Israeli boy named Shimi Abotbol. Only time would tell if our efforts reaped rewards. Our whirlwind tour concluded in Tel Aviv with a visit to the office of former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres himself. The day was not without complications. As I had in Rome, I’d secured a resident sound recordist, Palestinian Akram Kawasme from Hebron, and on the drive to the Peres Centre I could see concern cloud his face. He twitched and looked nervously out the window as I tried to reassure him, “You don’t have anything to worry about, my friend; nothing’s going to happen. You’re with us.” He looked at me mournfully, “I don’t think they’ll let me in,” he replied. He was concerned that the German press card he was carrying wouldn’t be enough to allow him access to the heavily guarded office complex. He was right. When we entered the building, security officers whisked him off to a separate room. I ended up relying on the camera microphone to record barely usable sound. After we filmed the meeting with Peres, we headed down to the ground floor where secret service agents explained that only yesterday five Israeli settlers had been killed in the Hebron area. The army promptly killed the two Palestinians responsible for the carnage. One man was Akram’s uncle. We pleaded with the agents to allow Akram to return to the West Bank and, after some negotiation, they relented. I packed Akram into a taxi, gave the driver $50 and Akram was set free. We flew back to Canada that night. April became May became June. With the late July date fixed for the trip to Norway, the agenda became a crush of rewriting the proposal, continuing to press for a broadcasting deal and planning a trip back to Israel/Palestine to film the setup leading to the Norway Cup. It was time to bring in additional help, namely Barbara Barde of Upfront Entertainment, an accomplished film executive with a wonderful compendium of programming in her vault, as executive producer. She In a tangle of enthusiasm and friendship, Palestinian and Israeli boys are indistinguishable as the Peace Team comes together for a group photo. believed in the project and she trusted me – two vital ingredients in a partnership. Unfortunately we both faced more obstacles and, as time ticked toward the end of July, it became painfully obvious that I wouldn’t be returning to Israel before the Norway Cup. I informed Johann Koss of our dilemma and explained that even the trip to Norway was in doubt. No Norway, no film. He said he would understand if I dropped the idea of making a film. Doubt was starting to creep into my soul. Had I bitten off more than I could chew? Should I just be content filming other peoples’ films? But I couldn’t quit. It was a fine idea and I was too stubborn to stop. Serendipity turned the tide. The previous summer, in Russia, I’d filmed a documentary with a Danish sound recordist named Ole Jakobsen. While lamenting the impossibility of getting to Norway, I received an e-mail from Ole informing me that he’d just purchased a used Panasonic DVCPRO50 digital camera with 16:9 capability in PAL format. I told him my Koss documentary was right on the bubble and I proposed a possible solution: Ole could do the sound for the rest of the project if he would throw in his camera at a reasonable price and drive from Copenhagen to Oslo. Ole, appar- ently a gambler, readily agreed. I was back in business. As my plane touched down in Oslo I was excited about the prospects of filming again in PAL widescreen. I knew the images would be excellent, but I didn’t even consider the postproduction nightmare ahead (see sidebar). When we filmed the Peace Team’s first game, it was impossible to distinguish the origins of the children; the entire team was clad in white uniforms. I couldn’t speak Hebrew or Arabic and Ole wasn’t a big help in that regard. All I knew were the two boys to whom we’d given the miniDVs, Waheeb and Shimi, so I assumed that the children gathering around Waheeb were Palestinian and that Shimi’s friends were Israeli. My sense of segregation was intuitive. The next day I learned that when the team arrived in Oslo the Israeli boys had refused to sleep in the same converted schoolroom as the Palestinians, and Viko and Khader had laid down the rules: “Sleep in one room . . . or go home.” The Peace Team lost their first game, but the wonderful part of this film is that it shows the boys growing together and winning together. As the team advanced through each round • see page 8 CSC News / April 2004 • 7 • from page 7 they became more confident and better friends. It was most obvious by their hearty embraces after each victory. The boys became oblivious to their ethnic and religious backgrounds and just became children. They were eventually eliminated in the semi-finals, but their Israeli coach, Viko Haddad, speaks in the film with profound insight: “I feel as if this team won the tournament,” he says. “What they had to overcome is a wonderful thing. I hope one day that one of our boys is the Prime Minister of Israel and another ‘What they had to overcome is a wonderful thing’ is the Prime Minister of Palestine. When the peace agreement in Oslo fell apart everyone on both sides said it was a disaster agreement. Now here we are in Oslo again, so, from Oslo to Oslo, maybe we can build something!” During the Norway Cup, Koss had successfully petitioned the Norwegian Foreign Ministry for additional funding to expand the soccer program into Jericho and Ramallah in the West Bank. I’d always hoped and planned to go back to the Middle East to get some of the back stories and to record the denouement of the story, and with Johann’s successful mission it was an absolute necessity. By early September I began to feel that the train was starting to gather momentum. I had some important ingredients on board but I still felt frustrated. I had one true believer in Barbara Barde and she was about to become the engineer of that train. Armed with her considerable persuasive skills, she’d not only convinced CTV to take a second look at the project but also had convinced a third party to invest in our venture. I phoned Ole Jakobsen in Copenhagen and told him to book his ticket to Tel Aviv — and bring his camera. While in Norway I’d given the two mini-DV cameras to two other boys to take home and record their lives. Both were co-captains of the team, Harel Travelsy from Sderot and Waleed Atieh 8 • CSC News / April 2004 from Issawiah. The film would now focus on their perspectives, their thoughts and dreams, and I would also explore the back stories of the families for the elements that would characterize their ongoing struggles in this most violent and historical conflict. On arrival, Khader Abid, the Palestinian coach, took us to young Waheeb Mahmoud’s house and we met his family. I’d seen from the copious mini-DV footage that he was a lovely kid from a wonderful family. Mrs. Mahmoud was a strikingly attractive woman and, with her husband seated beside her, she recounted the events of the first intifada of 1988. What started out as a peaceful demonstration soon turned violent, with the Israeli Defence Force moving into Palestinian towns across the West Bank, including Issawiah. She was a young mother at the time and as she went to pick up her two young children from her parents’ house, she was struck in the back at close range with a tear gas canister. For weeks she hung between life and death. Although she expressed her desire for vengeance towards the soldier who caused her injury, she bears no grudge against the Israelis. She’s quite happy to have her son, Waheeb, play together with the Israeli children of Sderot in this “peace through sport” experiment. We travelled to Sderot for the Israeli perspective. During the latest intifada, which began in 2000, more than 70 homemade Qassam missiles had been launched from the Gaza Strip into Sderot. Although they’d managed to wreak considerable damage and terrorize the population, fortunately the town was casualty-free. The Israeli co-captain, Harel, is an incredibly shy yet very capable son, and his mother and father, Amira and Pinchas, are great parents. Mrs. Travelsy told the story of a Qassam missile dropping on a neighbour’s house just the previous month. For months Harel had lived in dread of the missiles, but when one landed next door, astoundingly, he picked up the family video camera and videotaped the damage. His pictures made the six o’clock TV news. Just like the Mahmoud family, both Mrs. Travelsy and her husband wanted Harel to go on the trip to Norway with the Palestinian boys. She spoke of this great experience and the effect it had on her son. He came back so relaxed. There wasn’t any reason anymore to seek professional counselling, as they’d done in the past, to ease their son’s fears. Only time will tell if such an experiment will guide this generation towards a better understanding with the opposites in the conflict. Meanwhile, however, Johann Koss continued on to Jericho to begin the next twinning project, which had only just received funding. “If I can use this platform to change one person’s life,” he says, “I might be able to change two persons’ lives, maybe 200, maybe a thousand, and if you can change a thousand then you can change ten thousand. If this can be done in one soccer school, in one community from each side, then why can’t it be done in every community?” The twinned soccer schools, which began with two small groups of children in the Palestinian village of Issawiah and the Israeli town of Sderot in the spring of 2003, has now grown from 100 to 700 children in 14 different schools as of February, 2004. From the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and Zur Baher and Jericho, to the Israeli communities of Kiryat Ekron, Netivot, Ofakim and beyond, many say that it is difficult to differentiate between the two groups of children as they played on mixed teams of all ages. Perhaps there’s hope! As an optimist I have to believe that. (Among his many credits and awards, Michael Boland csc won the 2003 CSC Award for Documentary Cinematography, and was nominated this year in the Docudrama category. He is a welcome contributor to the CSC News. On A Team for Peace, Boland was director, coproducer and director of photography. Barbara Barde of Upfront Entertainment was executive producer, with Linda Stregger as co-producer. Editor Michael Fuller was also co-director.) ● sidebar A Team for Peace: A Post-Production Nightmare …But Panasonic Rides to the Rescue A las, my ignorance! The last time I directed a film and participated in post-production we were using 16mm film and a Steenbeck editing machine. A lot of water has flowed through the developing tank since then. The journey towards enlightenment on A Team For Peace was both frustrating and revelatory. Since we’re now in the 21st century, the decision to film 16:9 was a no-brainer, though hobbled by lack of money. The PAL format was purely accidental, and the 4:3 images — my Beta SP and purchased stock footage, both NTSC — were out of necessity. Throw in some mini-DV footage shot by the kids and you’ve got the makings of a horror story. Well, it could have been, except the team from Panasonic Canada rode to the rescue like the Lone Ranger. Veteran film editor Michael Fuller agreed to cut the film, and I offered co-directorship, which was only fitting. (Some suggested it was an unconventional idea, which pleased me no end.) Michael reconfigured his Media 100 to PAL mode to digitize the material, but we needed a Panasonic DVCPRO50 PAL player. Many calls later I discovered a company that had one — at only $800 a day, but taking the machine out of their building posed a problem. Hmm, perhaps I could snag one from Europe. Maybe Panasonic Canada knew where one was available. All calls led to one man, Keith Barrow, Panasonic Canada’s manager of Broadcast & CCTV Product Support. After I easily convinced him of my infantile knowledge of all things technical, he agreed to meet me. Being an astute person in an unpretentious way, Keith instantly recognized my 10 • CSC News / April 2004 dilemma and my naivety. He agreed to lend Fuller and me Panasonic’s DVCPRO50 PAL deck to digitize the material. We rented a mini-DV PAL deck from Videoscope to digitize the children’s footage and we went to Deluxe to convert the 4:3 NTSC material to PAL — once again with Panasonic’s deck. Editing now became possible. Two months later we were ready to on-line at Eyes Post . . . or were we? Steve Mayhew and Jim Hardie, the Cisco and Pancho of Eyes, didn’t have a DVCPRO50 PAL deck. Back out to Panasonic again to beg for benevolence. They didn’t flinch an iota. With the deck hooked up at Eyes we were able to start. Problem: Fuller’s Media 100 didn’t have digital output. So, we again borrowed a DVCPRO25 PAL analog deck from Keith for guide track output. With the PRO50 deck at Eyes and SpenceThomas right next door, we were able to sound mix and conform with ease. With the international version at 52 minutes and the CTV cutdown at 44:46 minutes, again there was the necessity for more loaners. The fact is, without Panasonic Canada’s generosity and understanding, this project of peace, of conflict resolution through sport in the most volatile region in the world, would not have been realized. The cost and logistics were prohibitive. Now people can appreciate the story, and it’s a story of hope. And what of a future with Panasonic? Well, they’ve just come out with the AJ-SDX900 camcorder, complete with 24 fps and 16:9 and 4:3 capability. The world of technology is transforming at the speed of light. Anyone interested in a used Steenbeck? – Michael Boland csc ● awards 2004 CSC Awards Winners, Nominees and Special Awards Honourees •••••••• H ere, listed first and in bold type, are the winners in competitive categories at the CSC Awards Celebration in Toronto on April 3, followed by other nominees in brackets: DOCUMENTARY: John Walker csc, Men of the Deeps (Jay Ferguson, Animals; Michael Jorgensen, Battle of the X-Planes) DOCUDRAMA: Douglas Munro csc, On the Edge of Destruction: The Frank Slide Story (Michael Boland csc, Mayday: Flying Blind; Richard Stringer csc, Angel of Death) STUDENT: Steven Deneault, Vancouver Film School, White Grease Paint (Vinit Borrison, Sheridan College, Stalker; Ian Lister, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, The Ice Box) MUSIC VIDEO: Christopher Soos csc, Christina Aguilera Fighter (Bernard Couture csc — Vanessa Mandito Viens sur moi; Marc Laliberté Else csc — Sean Paul I’m Still In Love with You) ROY TASH AWARD FOR SPOT NEWS: Keith Whelan, HMCS Montreal, CBC The National (Cheng-Hsian Chang, Kelowna on Fire, CTV Vancouver (CITV); James MacDonald, Hurricane Isabel, CTV) STAN CLINTON AWARD FOR NEWS ESSAY: Keith Eidse, Manitoba Mushers, A Channel Manitoba (Randy Maahs, Kayak School, CJOH/CTV Ottawa; Paul Wing, Death & Taxes, CJOH/CTV Ottawa) DRAMATIC SHORT: Yves Bélanger csc, Wildflowers/ Les fleurs sauvages (Michael Balfry csc, Passageway; Milan Podsedly csc, Atwood Stories: Betty) TV SERIES: Ronald Plante csc, Les Aventures Tumultueuses de Jack Carter “Episode 4” (John Berrie csc, Playmakers “The Choice-Part 2”; Bert Dunk csc asc, Street Time “Born to Kill”) TV DRAMA: Pierre Gill csc, Hitler: The Rise of Evil (Rene Ohashi csc asc, Shattered City; Attila Szalay csc hsc, Peacemakers pilot) FRITZ SPIESS COMMERCIAL: Barry Parrell csc, Bacardi Rigo (James Gardner csc, Nissan Chinook; Barry Parrell csc, Volkbanken 100%) THEATRICAL FEATURE: Robert McLachlan csc asc, Willard (Serge Ladouceur csc, The Favorite Game; Larry Lynn csc, Histoire de Pen) SPECIAL HONOUREES BILL HILSON AWARD: Michael Spencer Outstanding service contributing to the development of the motion picture industry in Canada FUJI AWARD: Phil Earnshaw csc Outstanding service to the Canadian Society of Cinematographers KODAK NEW CENTURY AWARD: Paul Sarossy csc bsc Outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography 12 • CSC News / April 2004 CSC FULL AND CSC FULL MEMBERS Nicholas Allen-Woolfe csc Jim Aquila csc Eduardo Arregui csc Michael Balfry csc Christopher Ball csc John Banovich csc John Bartley csc asc Stan Barua csc Yves Bélanger csc Peter Benison csc Dean Bennett csc Barry Bergthorson csc John Berrie csc Thom Best csc Michel Bisson csc Cyrus Block csc Robert Bocking csc Ludek Bogner csc Michael Boland csc Raymond Brounstein csc Thomas Burstyn csc Barry Casson csc Eric Cayla csc Henry Chan csc Marc Charlebois csc Rodney Charters csc Bruce Chun csc Damir Chytil csc Richard Ciupka csc Arthur Cooper csc Walter Corbett csc Bernard Couture csc Richard Crudo csc asc Dean Cundey csc asc Francois Dagenais csc Steve Danyluk csc Louis de Ernsted csc David De Volpi csc Kim Derko csc Jacques Desharnais csc Serge Desrosiers csc Jean-Yves Dion csc Mark Dobrescu csc Wes Doyle csc Guy Dufaux csc Albert Dunk csc asc Philip Earnshaw csc Ian Elkin csc Michael Ellis csc Carlos Esteves csc Nikos Evdemon csc Henri Fiks csc David Frazee csc Marc Gadoury csc James Gardner csc David Geddes csc Ivan Gekoff csc Laszlo George csc Len Gilday csc LIFE MEMBERS Pierre Gill csc John Goldi csc Russ Goozee csc Steve Gordon csc David Greene csc John Griffin csc Michael Grippo csc Manfred Guthe csc Thomas Harting csc Peter Hartmann csc Pauline Heaton csc Brian Hebb csc David Herrington csc Kenneth Hewlett csc Edward Higginson csc Robbi Hinds csc Robert Holmes csc John Holosko csc George Hosek csc Colin Hoult csc Donald Hunter csc Joan Hutton csc Tom Ingle csc Mark Irwin csc asc Maris Jansons csc James Jeffrey csc Silvio Jesenkovic csc Daniel Jobin csc Pierre Jodoin csc Martin Julian csc Norayr Kasper csc Glen Keenan csc Ian Kerr csc Douglas Kiefer csc Jan Kiesser csc asc Alar Kivilo csc asc Douglas Koch csc Charles Konowal csc Rudi Kovanic csc Jim Kozmik csc Ken Krawczyk csc Les Krizsan csc Alwyn Kumst csc Jean-Claude Labrecque csc Serge Ladouceur csc George Lajtai csc Harry Lake csc Marc Laliberte Else csc Barry Lank csc Henry Lebo csc Richard Leiterman csc Miklos Lente csc John Lesavage csc Henry Less csc Pierre Letarte csc Philip Linzey csc Walt Lloyd csc J.P. Locherer csc Peter Luxford csc Larry Lynn csc Duncan MacFarlane csc Dylan Macleod csc Bernie MacNeil csc Glen MacPherson csc Harry Makin csc Donald McCuaig csc Robert McLachlan csc asc Ryan McMaster csc Michael McMurray csc Stephen McNutt csc Graeme Mears csc Simon Mestel csc Gregory Middleton csc Gordon Miller csc Robin Miller csc Paul Mitchnick csc Luc Montpellier csc George Morita csc David Moxness csc Craig Mullins csc Douglas Munro csc Dan Nowak csc Rene Ohashi csc asc Ron Orieux csc Harald Ortenburger csc Gerald Packer csc Rod Parkhurst csc Barry Parrell csc Brian Pearson csc David Pelletier csc David Perrault csc Barry Peterson csc Bruno Philip csc Matthew Phillips csc André Pienaar csc Edward Pietrzkiewicz csc Ronald Plante csc Randal Platt csc Milan Podsedly csc Hang Poon csc Steven Poster asc csc Andreas Poulsson csc Pascal Provost csc Don Purser csc Joel Ransom csc Ousama Rawi csc bsc William Reeve csc Stephen Reizes csc Derek Rogers csc Brad Rushing csc Branimir Ruzic csc Robert Saad csc Victor Sarin csc Paul Sarossy csc bsc Gavin Smith csc Christopher Soos csc John Spooner csc Ronald Stannett csc Barry Stone csc Michael Storey csc Richard Stringer csc Michael Sweeney csc Adam Swica csc Attila Szalay csc Christopher Tammaro csc Gabor Tarko csc John Tarver csc Brian Thomson csc Paul Tolton csc Bert Tougas csc Chris Triffo csc Sean Valentini csc Paul van der Linden csc Derek Vanlint csc Roger Vernon csc Steve Vernon csc Daniel Villeneuve csc Daniel Vincelette csc Toronto Vancouver Tel: (416) 444-7000 Tel: (604) 291-7262 Michael Wale csc John Walker csc Tony Wannamaker csc Peter Warren csc Andrew Watt csc Jim Westenbrink csc Tony Westman csc Kit Whitmore csc Brian Whittred csc George Willis csc Richard Wincenty csc Peter Woeste csc Bill Wong csc Bruce Worrall csc Craig Wrobleski csc Yuri Yakubiw csc FULL LIFE MEMBERS Herbert Alpert csc asc Robert Brooks csc David Carr csc Christopher Chapman csc Robert Crone csc Kenneth Davey csc Kelly Duncan csc dgc Dan Gibson csc James Grattan csc Kenneth Gregg csc Brian Holmes csc Maurice Jackson-Samuels csc Myron Kupchuck csc Naohiko Kurita csc Douglas Lehman csc Donald McMillan csc Jim Mercer csc Roger Moride csc Dean Peterson csc Roger Racine csc Robert Rouveroy csc Ivan Sarossy csc Josef Sekeresh csc Walter Wasik csc Ron Wegoda csc Louis Wolfers csc CSC News / April 2004 • 13 exposure Fujicolor Reala Finds Its Niche One and Only 500D Film Wins Visual Friends I t has been 27 months since Fuji Photo Film Canada Inc. introduced Fujicolor Reala 500D, the world’s first high-speed, daylight colour negative film, and in that time a growing number of Canadian cinematographers have seen the benefits. On launch day in January, 2002, Fuji Canada promised that “Reala 500D performs exceptionally under mixed lighting when shooting interiors with a window and fluorescent lighting or using mercury vapour lights. The resulting images are free of any greenish cast and the film’s versatility minimizes the need for special filters and extra shooting preparations.” The stock is also designed to work with HMI lighting in simulating daylight. “It’s amazing stuff,” David Herrington csc told CSC News recently after wrapping the first season of the series 1800-MISSING. He said he used Reala 500D when he was faced with mixed David Herrington csc 14 • CSC News / April 2004 lighting sources, “which was almost every episode.” In some instances where he had fluorescents that were cool-white, “I would use Reala instead of changing all the lights, because the skin tones came out perfect.” Alwyn Kumst csc said he has used the 500 daylight film “quite a lot, especially this past season” on the series Mutant X. “On a TV series it buys you an extra hour or hour and a half at the end of the day when you normally would have to pack up. That extra hour of dayBy Don light certainly buys a lot of favour from the producers when you can go a little further in the magic light. “And I use the Reala quite often when shooting in hospitals or big corridors,” he continued. “On TV shows we don’t have the time to rebulb all the fluorescents, so we tended to use the Reala in situations like that, corridors in hospitals, government buildings and any place where the foyers were too big and it was too timeconsuming to re-bulb everything.” Both DOPs used the Fujicolor Super F series of film stocks in conjunction with Reala. Reala 500D, Fuji notes, “is the world’s first motion picture film to feature Fujifilm’s exclusive 4th Colour Layer. The addition of another coloursensitive layer ensures authentic reproduction of colour as it appears to the human eye. It also minimizes the tendency to Angus produce a green cast under mixed lighting. Its subtle tonal scale reproduces skin tones in a smooth, lifelike manner.The film also minimizes burned-out highlights, and ensures superior reproduction of shadow details. Its generous latitude contributes to accurate telecine transfers, resulting in enhanced image quality when directly transferring images from negative to videotape.” Herrington said he has used the 500-speed daylight stock at night “when I’ve had blue light and sodium vapour light mixed, and it seems to take the edge off all the colours. If I want to have a normal-looking night, rather than the Hollywood blue look, that’s when I use it. And if I want a slightly warmer look, I’ll still use my tungsten lights and add maybe a little bit of blue, maybe an eighth or a quarter of blue on to the tungsten. “It’s absolutely incredible with skin tones. I’ve got three women that I’ve been lighting on the show and I was always concerned that (Reala) was going to bring out inconsistencies in skin and makeup, but it’s remarkable; it stands up exceptionally well. And Alwyn Kumst csc I don’t use a lot of filtration.” Herrington described one stretch of shooting at a large manufacturing company in Mississauga where Reala was a boon. “The office is absolutely spectacular,” he said. “It’s all curved structures and the offices come off the main passageway and it goes up three or four flights; it’s open architecture. We were there for five days and there was no way I could change any of the lighting; they wouldn’t allow me to change anything. I had to work within the confines of HMIs, sodium vapour, mercury vapour, cool-white lighting conditions. I mean all I did was match them.” Kumst, who wrapped his second season as DOP on Mutant X in February, said about 15 to 20 per cent of his stock was Reala (about the same as for Herrington on 1-800-MISSING). He said he found Reala “very compatible” with the other Fuji stocks that he used, “anywhere from the 64 daylight.” Mixing that with the 500D “was tremendous; there was no grain structure difference.” Fuji Canada has received other Reala testimonials from Canadian DOPs. Doug Koch csc said: “I can recall a thousand times I could have used this film stock. It balances and mutes fluctuations in colour temperature from fluorescent light sources beautifully.” Wes Doyle csc: “In one scene, I had a massive wall of TVs in a mixed tungsten and fluorescent environment, with talent in the foreground lit daylight. The white TV screens were pure, the fluorescents showed no trace of green and the tungsten provided a gentle warmth without looking overly orange. What a great film for mixed light!” Pierre Gill csc: “. . . I had to shoot in a huge shopping mall where different light sources can become a nightmare. I decided to light only my main character with HMI and leave everything else as is. The results were great: rich blacks, nice grain and everything blends organically together.” Steve Gordon csc: “I was shooting in a big grocery store; the lighting was so mixed with three different sources, carbon vapour, fluorescents and a light that is used for plants in a greenhouse. . . . I was absolutely amazed at the results the Reala 500D stock gave me.” John Holosko csc: “This stock has the ability of blending virtually all light sources in the same environment and resolving the sources accurately without affecting any flesh tones.” Graeme Parcher, director of sales for motion picture products at Fuji Photo Film Canada, told CSC News, “We are extremely proud of the unique technology we have delivered in Reala 500D. With tighter budgets and the increasing popularity of location shooting, Reala technology has given DOPs a tool they can use to address an everyday shooting environment. Hospital interiors, industrial complexes and night streetscapes come to mind. “In fact, Reala is appropriate in any environment where you cannot fully control the light. It has also opened more DOPs’ minds to the possibilities that Fujifilm motion picture stocks offer. In many instances, a DOP who hasn’t used Fuji in the past has their interest piqued by Reala. Once they try it, they love it and consequently they become more inquisitive about the other films in our lineup. We are pleased to have earned so many new fans.” ● CSC News / April 2004 • 15 what’s new? Kodak Expands Palette of Vision2 Films Then There Were Four: 100 & 200 Join the Colour Lineup K odak Canada has rolled out two new additions to the Vision2 family of colour negative film technology. Joining the Vision2 product line are 100- and 200-speed, ultrafine grain films with specialized imaging characteristics. In Toronto, the films were launched at Deluxe Sound & Picture on Feb. 24 by Kim Snyder, country manager and vice-president of Kodak Canada Entertainment Imaging, and Johanna Gravelle, sales manager, origination. The show moved to Vancou- ver the next day and to Montreal on March 15. The company introduced the first Vision2 stock in November, 2002 — 500T 5218/7218 — rated for an exposure index of 500 in 3200 degrees Kelvin tungsten light. Kodak unveiled a second 500-speed film last December — 500T Expression 5229/7229 — designed to render images with a softer look, including smoother skin tones and a more subdued range of contrast and colour saturation. Snyder told a full house at the Deluxe theatre that the new stocks were clear evidence of Kodak’s commitment to motion picture film for now and the future. She introduced a film message from Kodak Chair and CEO Daniel Carp, who said, “Nobody loves film like Kodak.” Carp elaborated: “These exciting new products reinforce our strong commitment to film technology. Kodak is dedicated to developing a full range of products and services — both digital and traditional — to help bring the visions of filmmakers to the screen so GOTCHA: If you want to catch lightning in a bottle, Kodak maintains that its new Vision2 200-speed film is ideal for such visual effects applications as blue- and green-screen photography, where well defined edges and accuracy in colour reproduction are crucial. 16 • CSC News / April 2004 that the viewing audience enjoys the richest experience that technology can provide.” Gravelle said that the new 100 and 200 films “provide extraordinary creative latitude for cinematographers, coupled with efficiencies designed to retain the integrity of the original images during postproduction.” Vision2 5212/7212 is rated for an exposure index of 100 in 3200 degrees Kelvin tungsten light. Vision2 200T 5217/7217 is rated for an exposure index of 200 in 3200 degrees Kelvin tungsten light. Both new films, Gravelle said, offer significant advances in under- and overexposure latitude, extremely fine grain and enhanced capacities for recording subtle details in highlights and shadows. They are available in 16, 35 and 65mm formats. “Cinematographers who have tested the new films are finding they can probe deeper into both highlight and shadow areas and record nuances in details that are important to the stories they are telling,” she said. “They also like the truer colours, the fidelity of skin tones and the more subtle grain structure.” The two new films are optimized for both digital and optical postproduction applications. Kodak maintains that the 200-speed film is ideal for such visual effects applications as blue- and green-screen photography, where well defined edges and accuracy in colour reproduction are crucial. There is built-in protection against unwanted light absorption, which helps visual effects practitioners make the clean separations needed for seamless compositing. The Vision2 family of films incorporates new sensitizing layers that provide important advantages during postproduction. The exposed negatives are designed to retain the fidelity of the original images when they are converted to digital and optical formats for postproduction. This provides more flexibility for manipulating images during postproduction, Kodak says, which is important, because with the advances being made in digital intermediate technologies, the role of cinematographers has extended deeper into postproduction. ● Focused. Advanced. Reliable. And then there’s the camera. Production Rentals Service Leasing As a premium dealer for the Sony Communication Systems Network Group, we have a full line of cameras and all necessary ancillary products to ensure the success of your project. All products are available for sale or rent, from an extensive inventory geared toward professional video capture and production. Hardware Sales Videoscope Magnetic Media TORONTO 1.416.449.3030 LONDON 1.519.668.0660 TOLL-FREE 1.877.38.SCOPE Event Staging www.videoscope.com Systems Integration FOR YOUR LABORATORY & POST-PRODUCTION SERVICES 35 MM LABORATORY SERVICES • SOUND RE-RECORDING TELECINE SERVICES • EDITORIAL SERVICES FOR YOUR MOTION PICTURE OR TELEVISION PRODUCTION’S REQUIREMENTS PLEASE CONTACT: PAUL NORRIS V.P. Sales (416)205-8029 OR STAN FORD V.P. Service (416) 957-6202 JULIE WEINSTEIN Sales Executive (416) 957-6211 RUSS ROBERTSON Sales (416) 957-6250 LABORATORY SERVICES 350 EVANS AVENUE, ETOBICOKE, ONTARIO M8Z 1K5 (416) 364-4321 FAX (416) 348-0104 POST PRODUCTION SERVICES 424 ADELAIDE ST. EAST, TORONTO, ONTARIO M5A 1N4 (416) 364-4321 FAX (416) 364-0615 CSC News / April 2004 • 17 education CSC Camera Assistants Course 2004 A Hands-On Experience to Remember W ith eagerness and high expectations, a full complement of 15 students at this winter’s CSC Camera Assistants Course in Toronto came from Montreal, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Welland, and even Berlin, Germany, to expand their knowledge of the fundamentals of camera assisting. All agreed that the annual course gave them even more than they had hoped. For nine consecutive days, from Feb. 28 to March 7, the students were immersed in hands-on workshop sessions with working camera assis- my opinion, the best tants, some of the best in Report and Photos course you could take in the business, who demonby Ernie Kestler order to learn in detail strated their craft on all CSC Education Chair what it takes to be a camera the modern film cameras assistant. In all my school currently in use today. As well as this intense, all-encompass- years I’ve never had an experience ing experience, there were also such as this.” Having working camera discussions of set etiqu-ette, photo- assistants demonstrate the cameras graphic theory and basic responsi- in the milieu of actual camera rental bilities of the camera assistant. houses clearly added a nice touch to the Also on the busy schedule was an process. As Francois Tremblay remarked, evening question-and-answer ses- “I have overheard Ryerson students saysion with three CSC directors of ing: I have learned more in the last two days than I learned in the last year of photography. Student Suave Hupa said it was, “in University!” CLASS OF 2004: Students at this year’s CSC Camera Assistants Course, and some of the instructors, gather for a group photo. 18 • CSC News / April 2004 WATCH AND LEARN: Instructor Steve Tsushima gets full attention from students Viktor Cahoj and Rachael Bracking. Student Pavel Patriki called it “a great course and I am so happy that I had an opportunity to take it!” The CSC thanks instructors Eric Beaulieu, Simon Brown, Margaret Demchenko, Lori Longstaff, Kevin Leblanc, John Lindsay, Ernie Meershoek, Juan Montalvo, Akira Nishihata, Ted Overton, Godfrey Pflugbeil, Lem Ristsoo, Brent Robinson, Steve Tsushima, Brad Vos and Richard Wilmot. Special thanks go to the corporate sponsors who provided venues, equipment and staff for the course: Colin Davis at Alphacine; Sebastien Laffoux at Arri Canada; Denny Clairmont, Jan Madlener and Hans Gahr at Clairmont Camera; Stephanie Fagan at Fuji Photo Film Canada; Cathy Cultraro at Kodak Canada; Bill Zacharuk and Helmut Cremer at Panavision Canada; Irene Trinh, Peter Parks and Emma Withers at PS Production Services; Mike Sinclair, Jerry Papernick and Andrew Prior at William F. White; and Diane and David Woods at David J. Woods. Without the generous participation of our sponsors, there would be no course. Also, thanks to DOPs Kim Derko csc, Phil Earnshaw csc and George Hosek csc for coming out to talk to the class. The course participants were Rachael Bracking, Caroline Brandes, Adam Braverman, Viktor Cahoj, Jon Cameron, Ryan Desouza, Andrew Forbes, Kristy Hodgson, Suave Hupa, Anne Kmetyko, Pavel Patriki, Sacha Proctor, Michael Smith, Francois Tremblay and Greg Winterton. We wish them all a lot of success. ● ‘VERY IMPORTANT’: Students (from left) Anne Kmetyko, Caroline Brandes and Suave Hupa listen carefully to instructor Akira Nishihata. CSC News / April 2004 • 19 news clips GREG MIDDLETON EARNS GENIE NOMINATION Selected for Work on Falling Angels Gregory Middleton csc nominated for Genie G reg Middleton csc is among the five nominees for the Achievement in Cinematography statuette to be presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television at the 24th annual Genie Awards in Toronto on May 1. He was chosen for his work on Falling Angels. The other nominees are François Dutil for Saved by the Belles; Stefan Ivanov, A Problem With Fear; Allen Smith, La Grande séduc- 20 • CSC News / April 2004 tion; and Jean-Pierre St-Louis, Gaz Bar Blues. It has been an extraordinary year for Canadian film and a particularly strong year for Quebec, with three of the five Best Motion Picture nominees originating in that province, notes Maria Topalovich, Academy president and CEO. Two of the films nominated for Best Picture are among last year’s most popular Canadian films, Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions) and La Grande seduction (Seducing Doctor Lewis). The others are La Face cachée de la lune (Far Side of the Moon), Owning Mahowny, and The Snow Walker. The Genie Awards will air Saturday, May 1, at 8 p.m. ET on Citytv Toronto, Bravo!, Star!, MusiMax and Access and at 8 p.m. PT on Citytv Vancouver. They will also air in Halifax at 9 p.m. AT on ASN. SARS COSTS TORONTO FILM/TV But There’s Cause for Optimism The city of Toronto estimates that the two outbreaks of SARS last year scared off one-fifth of Toronto’s billion-dollar film, TV and commercial business industries. “It was a devastating year for the film and television sector,” Joe Halstead, the city’s economic development, culture and tourism commissioner, said. A report on the number of filming permits issued in 2003 showed major production companies spent $163 million, or 18 per cent, less than they did in 2002. Commercial production also dropped $32.8 million, or 20 per cent, last year. The numbers confirmed what industry workers already knew, said Sara Ker-Hornell, managing director of FilmOntario, an organization that represents industry workers. “Foreign service work was simply not coming here during the epidemic.” She added, however, that many foreign production houses have begun to return and “we are cautiously optimistic.” Toronto’s film and TV industry has also suffered from the rising value of the Canadian dollar, a Hollywoodbased campaign against “runaway” productions and competition from developing film industries in countries like New Zealand. In a later report, Donna Zuchlinski, acting film manager at the Ontario Media Development Corp., said, “We’re very encouraged by the activity we’re seeing.” At that time (March 20), she said there were 16 films and major TV productions in the works, seven of those being American features. “We have more production activity than we did a year ago at this time, so we’re excited about that,” Zuchlinski said. CANADIAN FILMMAKERS’ FESTIVAL Toronto’s Only Exclusively Canadian Film Fest The Canadian Filmmakers’ Festival, Toronto’s only film festival dedicated solely to the advancement of Canadian film, will be held in Toronto from July 15 to 18. The event will be presented in association with key sponsor Schweppes. Filmmakers from all over the country are invited to submit their films for possible selection. Entry • see page 22 CAMERA CLASSIFIEDS FOR SALE: Sony 3-chip DSR PD-150 with all original accessories, manuals and box; 2 extra batteries (one of which is an NP-960 810 hour battery), and Century Precision zoom-through wide angle adapter. Flawless condition, purchased in September 2003 and used under 3 weeks. Contact (416) 993-0041 FOR SALE: Nikon Super Zoom system for Betacam - you can fill the frame with the moon or pan within a postage stamp, $7,000; Sony SX999 miniature (pencil) camera with 3.5mm, 6mm and 12mm lenses, $1,200; BVW25 Betacam record playback deck with Telcom time code display, Pelican and soft cases, and 110v power supply $4,000; Two camera master lighting kit; Two 750W Rifalites with diffusers and egg crate grills, 2 Arri stands, 2 HD stands with lighting booms with counterweights, spare lamps, extra cables and case, $2,000; Custom camera safe with electronic lock, for Durango or larger SUV, $400; Nikon OS “V” underwater camera with 35mm f2.5 lens and SB-102 flash, complete with case, manuals and spare “O” rings, all in mint condition, $1,500. Contact Jim Mercer, 416-932-3485 or [email protected] FOR SALE: Used equipment. Arri SR package, w/10-100 Zeiss, w/Arri Shade & Accs, 2 mags & case,15,000; Arri “S” package, VS motor, primes, cable, battery, 2,500; Panasonic DVX 100P DV Camera, w/standard accs., 3,400; Ang. 12-240, 12-120 Arri “B” mount, call for price;Ang. 5.9mm (Arri S), Ang. 10-150 (Éclair), Ang. 12-120 (CP), call for price; Century lenses, 25-250 zoom, 500mm w/ 2X, 230mm, 300mm, call for price; Bolex packages, Rex 3’s, Rex 5’s, EBM’s, other Crystal motors, call for price; Filters and more used gear: Check our web site www.llsr.com; Phone: (604) 298-3224 Fax: (604) 298-2023; Looking for used film or video, email [email protected] FOR SALE OR LEASE: Camera truck with custom-designed pro-built racking - 2002 GMC 3/4 ton 2500 cargo van in mint condition with only 5400KM (factory warranty); full alarm system - loaded luxury - 4.8 V8 automatic, air conditioning, power locks and windows, captain’s chairs, Clarion stereo with tape and CD changer. Buy or Lease. Call John Hodgson for more info about the excellent and flexible lease rate options available 905-828-0634 FOR SALE: Sony BVW-75 Betacam-SP Editor/Recorder. Completely overhauled at Precision Camera at a cost of over $5,000. This machine looks brand new and has 0 hours. This deck, along with a Sony BVW2015 HR Trinitron monitor (ex. cond.) and a bonus BVW-75 (for parts) can be yours for $9,500. Many other items for sale. For further information, go to: www.fieldview.com/forsale. Tel: (416) 920-7979 – Fieldview Motion Picture. Email: [email protected] FOR RENT: Pro 35 Adaptor with PL Mount and Nikon Mount. Call Henry Less at 416678-5377 WANTED: Used Lighting: 2x 1K Ianiro redhead open-face, each complete with safety wire mesh, 4-way barn-door, full scrim set w/holder. 1x 650W Strand or Arri fresnel, complete with 4-way barn door, full scrim set w/holder. 1x 300W Strand or Arri fresnel, complete with 4-way barn door, full scrim set w/holder. Other items of interest: Speed Ring (for 1K Ianiro), Chimera w/fabric baffle, stands, clamps, etc. I’m open to alternative items from this list. Please call Andrew @ 416-535-1475 or email: [email protected] FOR SALE: From Leather Design Tech, leather items customized to the needs of the film industry; also nylon cordura, an inexpensive way to create and organize “on set” accessory bags, personal tool belts, camera tool pouches, labelled and slimmer cable pouches. Now making TV monitor covers for easier monitor viewing. For camera assistants, now making camera cart bags to hang off your carts, with labelling for great organization, approximately 18x18x6 inches, $35$45 each; and smaller nylon cordura pouches to hold various cables to reduce the bulk in your “ditty bags,” 3x4 inches, $8.00. Think of something you need, we can design and create it together. Call to order: Lori 416-4529247, 905-895-3807, [email protected]. Web site: www.leatherdesigntech.ca Camera Classifieds is a FREE service to CSC members. If you have items you’d like to buy or sell, please fax your list to (416) 699-8521 email [email protected] CSC News / April 2004 • 21 • from page 21 forms and rules are available on the Canadian Filmmakers’ Festival web site: www.canfilmfest.ca. Deadline is May 31. The Festival was created to provide a venue for Canadian filmmakers to showcase their films in a nationally recognized arena and to inspire them to produce more of their work. “Not enough is being done for Canadian films,” explains Bern Euler, founder and executive director of the Canadian Filmmakers’ Festival. “The market is currently saturated with forums that showcase international productions. Canadian films are excellent and we want our filmmakers to share their talent with the public and others in the industry by providing showcasing and networking opportunities that would not normally be readily available to them.” “We think this relationship is a natural fit for Schweppes, and we’re very pleased to be part of the 2004 event,” says Peter Nicov, marketing manager at Cadbury Beverages Canada. “Cadbury is committed to cultivating the arts and entertainment industry in Canada, and we are excited to have the chance to support The Canadian Filmmakers’ Festival as it brings opportunities and entertainment to the country.” PRATLEY SNIPES AT CANUCK CINEMA English-Language Films Not Good Enough Gerald Pratley, Canada’s longestserving film critic, says he knows why English-Canadian movies languish at the box office. “Clearly, it’s in the films themselves,” he tells Playback magazine. “There are not enough films being made, especially in (English) Canada, that make the public feel, ‘I want to go and see that film’ and put down their $12.” Pratley, a film commentator on CBC Radio from 1948 to 1976, was a founding member and chair of the Toronto Film Society. He has written books on several filmmakers and overseen the Canadian entries in the International Film Guide. A former film history teacher at five Canadian universities and colleges, Pratley was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984 and received a Special 22 • CSC News / April 2004 Award at the 2001 Genies. At 80, Pratley is not a fan of much of what he sees at the cinema these days. He feels the majority of Hollywood filmmakers go overboard with sex, violence and profanity, but he says he has enjoyed some recent pictures, such as Road to Perdition and The Italian Job. In the course of viewing 2,000-plus Canadian theatrical and TV movies from 1900 to the present for his new film guide, A Century of Canadian Cinema, the writer became acutely aware of a particular trend. “I could see the Quebec filmmakers were really doing better than (EnglishCanadian directors). I mean, could anyone right now in English Canada make a Barbarian Invasions?” While Pratley welcomes the handle of “champion of Canadian film,” he laments, “I only wish some of them could be better.” N.Y. MUSEUM SCREENS CANADIAN FILMS Showcase Celebrates ‘Strength and Diversity’ Recent films by Guy Maddin and Robert Lepage were featured when New York City’s Museum of Modern Art launched its first annual showcase of Canadian cinema last month. Programmed by Laurence Kardish, senior curator of the museum’s film and media department, Canadian Front: New Films 2004 began March 4 at the Gramercy Theatre and ran through March 8. The eight-film lineup included Maddin’s The Saddest Music in the World (DOP Luc Montpellier csc) and Lepage’s Far Side of the Moon/La Face cachée de la lune (DOP Ronald Plante csc), as well as the recently acclaimed films Gaz Bar Blues, 8:17 p.m. Darling Street/20h17 rue Darling, Dying at Grace, Flower & Garnet, Proteus and A Silent Love (DOP François Dagenais csc). “Canadian cinema is now at the forefront of the international scene,” Kardish said, adding that the inaugural showcase “celebrates the strength and diversity of this national cinema.” KODAK EARNS ACADEMY AWARD Scientific and Engineering Nod for Film Technology Kodak received a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for the development of antistatic layer technology. The new technology controls static electricity that can cause fogging on colour intermediate and sound negative films during highspeed printing operations. Kenneth Tingler, Charles Anderson, Diane Kestner and Brian Schell, the team that designed and engineered the technology, accepted the plaque for Kodak. It marked the third consecutive year the company has been recognized by the Academy for scientific and technical achievements that have significantly contributed to progress in the industry. The technology developed by Kodak prevents static discharges and consequent fogging of film during manual raw stock handling while it is being manufactured, processed and printed. It also deters the attraction of dirt to film in lab operations and during projection. FUJINON DEBUTS FIRST HDTV LENS For Remote Control Applications With a focal length range of 7.6 to 137mm and a wide angle of view (64.5 degrees at 7.6mm), the new HD remote control zoom lens from Fujinon is the first HD lens designed specifically for remote control applications, such as sports and robotic studios. Introduced during NAB 2004, the new HAs18x7.6MD is the lowest priced HD lens in Fujinon’s HD product line and is designed to complement 2/3-inch high definition video cameras. NAT TAYLOR DIES Multiplex Mogul Was 98 Nat Taylor, creator of the multiplex theatre, died March 1 at the age of 98. Taylor once owned up to 60 movie theatres, a movie distribution company and the now-defunct International Studios in Kleinburg, Ont. He created the first multi-screen movie theatre in the world in 1948 when he opened a second, smaller auditorium in Ottawa’s Elgin Theatre. Taylor then built the world’s first trio of theatres under one roof, then the four-plex and the five-plex. In 1979, he and Garth Drabinsky opened the 18screen Cineplex in the Eaton Centre in Toronto. ● “Get it to The Lab” 16/35mm colour negative processing Set up • Academy leader • Cleaning Ready for transfer Quotes for Video Post in conjunction with Deluxe Toronto EYES Post Group C O N TA C T : Ed Higginson [email protected] Al Lindsay [email protected] Tel: (416) 461-8090 Fax: (416) 461-0768 Toll free: 1-888-822-2505 183 Carlaw Avenue • Toronto, Ontario • M4M 2S1 The One Swatchbook that has it all ... ROSCO CANADA 1241 Denison St., #44, Markham, Ont., L3R 4B4 905-475-1400 Toll Free: 1-888-767-2686 Fax: 905-475-3351 w w w .r o s c o - c a .c o m CSC News / April 2004 • 23 ACTION PRODUCTION NOTES & CSC CALENDAR British Columbia, Prairies AMERICAN MELTDOWN (MOW); DOP: Doug Koch csc; B-Op: David Pelletier csc; to April 5, Vancouver. DEAD LIKE ME (series); DOP: Tony Westman csc; to July 27, Burnaby. THE DEAD ZONE (series); DOP: Stephen McNutt csc; 2ndunit DOP: Michael Balfry csc; to April 20, Vancouver (HDTV). DOING IT (pilot); Op: Randal Platt csc; wrapped March 25, North Vancouver. EARTHSEA (mini-series); DOP: Steve Danyluk csc; May 17-Aug. 4, North Vancouver. EDISON (feature); DOP: Francis Kenny asc; Op: Neil Seale; to May 1, Vancouver. THE 4400 (pilot); DOP: Thomas Burstyn csc; to April 12, Vancouver (HDTV). KAT PLUS ONE (pilot); DOP: Peter Wunstorf; B-Op: Ken Hewlett csc; to April 6, Vancouver. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE (mini-series); Op/SC: Carey Toner; to June 11, Calgary. PERFECT MATCH AKA PERFECT ROMANCE (MOW); DOP: Peter Benison csc; B-Op: Rod Parkhurst csc; to April 10, Victoria. REEFER MADNESS (MOW); DOP: Jan Kiesser csc asc; B-Op: Brian Whittred csc; April 19-June 8, Vancouver (HDTV). ROBSON ARMS (series); Op: David Bercovici-Artieda; to May 5, Vancouver. STARGATE ATLANTIS (series); DOP: 1st: Grizz Salzl; to Oct. 21, Burnaby (HDTV). SUDBURY (pilot); DOP: David Geddes csc; to April 5, Burnaby. TOUCHING EVIL (series); DOP: Attila Szalay csc; Op: Brad Creasser; B-Op/SC: Michael Davies; to April 28, Burnaby. Ontario, Atlantic ANONYMOUS REX (pilot); DOP: Bert Dunk csc asc; Op/SC: Rod Crombie; 1st: Paula Tymchuk; to April 20, Toronto. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (feature); 2nd: Marcel Janisse; B-Op/SC: Andris Matiss; April 5-June 18, Toronto. DOC (series); DOP: Barry Bergthorson csc; B-Op:Cudah Andarawewa; to June 25, Toronto (HDTV). EVEL KNIEVEL (MOW); DOP: Ron Stannett csc; April 19May 28, Toronto. KEVIN HILL (pilot); DOP: John Berrie csc; B-1st: Peter Battistone; to April 1, Toronto (HDTV). THE MAN (feature); Op: Mark Willis; April 17-June 15, Toronto. RE-GENESIS (series); DOPs: Nikos Evdemon csc, Michael Storey csc; Op: Brian Gedge; to July 18, Toronto. RIVER KING (feature); DOP: Paul Sarossy csc bsc; to April 27, Halifax. SUE THOMAS F.B.EYE (series); DOP: Yuri Yakubiw csc; Op: J.P. Locherer csc; B-Op: Russ Goozee csc; to May 21, Toronto (HDTV). (Editor’s note: Quebec production listings are no longer available from STCVQ.) Schedule of Meetings and Events of Interest to CSC Members TORONTO May 1 - Genie Awards May 7 - Bessie Awards May 11-16 - World Wide Short Film Festival YORKTON, SK May 27-30 - Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival VANCOUVER May 28-29 - Leo Awards Check www.csc.ca 24 • CSC News / April 2004