Filthy Rich Insights - New Zealand Cinematographers Society

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Newsletter # 9, December 2015
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Filthy Rich Insights
Dave Cameron explains his shoot from within the main set When you go on the Universal Studio tour, you know perfectly well that you are not seeing the real thing, unless
you count the backs of distant trucks down studio side alleys. You can understand why – extra people on a film
set is a hassle they can do without.
This is why it was such a coup when Dave Cameron ACS, NZCS vice­president and DoP on Filthy Rich,
convinced the show’s producers to allow him to open the set and show NZCS members how he was
approaching the shoot. This was never going to be an ordinary lecture where a cinematographer shows a few clips and talks about his
work. This time, NZCS members would be able to sit in the East Tamaki warehouse sets, watch selected scenes
and have Cameron actually show them how the shots were achieved. Nor was this a sanitised tour, as Cameron related the pressures and compromises he faced, and how he tried to
turn them into positives and advantages. To give a taste of what belonging to NZCS offers, the event was opened to non­members, and this proved to be
a winner. People who are filmmakers and camera operators, but not on full­sized drama productions took full
advantage of the invitation. Corporate members too, used the opportunity for staff who don’t normally get onto
sets. The evening began after the day’s wrap, when the visitors – once they’d signed confidentiality agreements and
had a drink – were ushered into the main set. Challenged
Cameron showed a trailer for the show, and talked about how he was challenged to make dollars go further.
Even though it is publicised as New Zealand on Air’s biggest budget TV series to date, it is a 20­episode show,
and for Cameron that meant stretching each dollar further than before. He says within the budget he couldn’t afford the 10K lights that would normally be used to simulate daylight
streaming in from windows on the sets. This left him with a three­way trade off between illumination levels, lens
speed, and acceptable camera ISO. His solution was to use the more expensive ARRI Zeiss Master primes which reach T1.3 wide open, ARRI Amira
cameras set at 1280 ISO, and 5K fixtures outside the windows. This was the most cost­effective combination and
Cameron is happy with that images came from a set that until now, would probably be regarded as under­lit. Not afraid
To take advantage of the lens speed means shooting wide open, and what’s more Cameron was not afraid to
use long primes, revealing a high level of confidence in his focus pullers, Sam Matthews and Dave Steel. They
seemed remarkably cheerful and relaxed about the whole thing, nearly always pulling remotely from monitors in
another room. The lighting was inventive in more ways than one, with home­made soft light boxes overhead in some sets, fluro
strips built into others, and the edge taken off LED panels with a variety of soft boxes and egg crates rigged up
by gaffer Grant McKinnon – a character who completely understates his insane ability to simultaneously hold the
position of gaffer, builder of one­off lighting fixtures, and B camera operator. To top it all, he sometimes steps up
to DoP if Cameron is called away. Surprise
After showing selected scenes, and running through his approach, Cameron took his visitors on a tour of the
sets, surprising many with his talents for making the set look far more expansive on screen than in real life. The evening wrapped with a chance to meet and greet the crew who had set up the gear, and had stayed behind
to explain their part in the shoot. NZCS is indebted to producer Steven Zanoski and line producer Nikki Baigent for their generosity in allowing this
event, and the crew (see below) who stayed behind to help make it happen. Sam Matthews
Focus Puller
David Steel
Focus Puller
Daniela Conforte
Camera assistant
Johnathan Guest Data Wrangler/Video split
Grant McKinnon
Gaffer / camera operator
James Young
Best Boy Matthew Thomas
Lighting assistant
Alex Young Lighting assistant
Alex Jenkins Generator operator
Jeremy Osborn
Key grip
Rajiv Raj
Grip assistant
Jack Potter
Grip trainee
Filthy Rich is due to air on TV2 in Autumn 2016. Peter Parnham Staring down the barrel Michael Engelbrecht recounts a new experience while shooting Along with Dan, the DoP, I was in the front passenger seat as we drove across Mount
Wellington in the early hours of Sunday morning recently to shoot a music video. As 1st
AC, I held a Ronin on my lap fully rigged and ready to go. Our director Tim was in the van
ahead of us as we followed in convoy to our location, an empty office building. There were no other cars on the road at that time so it was easy to see the unmarked
police car quite blatantly tailing us. Thinking it just must be a quiet night for them, we didn't
read too much into it and pretty soon we arrived at our location and the cop car
disappeared. About 15 minutes later, the sun was just starting to come up and a light rain had started
falling on us. Tim and I were outside unloading the van and Dan was inside setting up
when we amazed to hear, ‘Turn around and put your hands in the air!' I turned around to see, just like on an episode of cops, a bunch of police officers popping
into view with their guns drawn and pointed directly at us. My first reaction was, obviously, terror (the first time
anyone has pointed a gun at me before, let alone multiple guns). Pretty soon, after seeing the uniforms and connecting that to the cop tailing us earlier, the thought ran through
my head: 'It’s OK, it's just the cops and they've just made a massive stuff up, I'm probably not going to get shot'.
Very quickly, Tim and I found ourselves on the ground in puddles with officers standing over us, while the rest of
them looked inside for Dan and this mysterious 'firearm' that I had been spotted holding in the front seat. Judging
from the all of the camera/lighting gear and the lack of any weapons, they realized pretty quickly that we were as
we said we were and, as if not wanting to admit they were in the wrong, sheepishly said we could stand up and
relax. The one officer that did admit to the mistake was the one in the unmarked car who had called it in, and he was
clearly apologetic and very embarrassed by the whole thing. Before they had even left, his colleagues had already begun teasing him about it, and no doubt they will for a
long time yet. As ridiculous as it was, it could have turned out much worse than it did. I got a great story out of it, and that is
one cop who won’t make the same mistake again. It’s just a shame we weren’t rolling. Great response to Camera Pathways
Kevin Riley The Camera Pathways programme, launched last month, has generated a great response from the industry with
over a dozen applicants joining the programme already and our first trainee position filled (see below). Producers
tell me they like the standardised format of information from participants and with the anticipated lift in production
next year may be able to open camera trainee postitions. A lot of my colleagues have said how they wish such
a scheme had existed when they were entering the industry so hopefully they will be spreading the word and
encouraging Producers to take part. Often taking on a trainee in the camera dept is influenced by the DoP, Operators or 1st AC who may know of
people who have the right attitude. As an aspiring camera trainee your chances of meeting these people is
increased if you can get along to the occasional NZCS event, some of which are open to non members. Sign up
to this newsletter keep an eye on our Facebook page where we give people a heads up about our events. Two problems solved
Send your CV too early and it gets discarded, send it too late and you miss out, and the production may miss
the best candidate. With Camera Pathways your name is in the pool, and the producer looks at the whole list
when the time is right. Are these applicants aware of the hours involved and the need for punctuality on set? With Camera Pathways
the application process explains all that, and the steps one and two of the programme should identify anybody
who was not fully committed. What is Camera Pathways?
Camera pathways is the new NZCS programme that:
Gives new camera trainees a chance to get started in the industry by introducing them to productions
Give producers and DP a quick way of finding camera trainees with real potential
After getting into the programme step one is for the aspiring trainees meet with an NZCS cinematographer, step
two is some work experience, and step three is a camera trainee position as they become available. With Camera pathways NZCS facilitates the networking that is so important to get established in the industry, it
doesn't create the work experience, trainee positions or judge the performance of the trainee ­ like any
freelancer, they have to built their own reputation for unflinching hard work. But, Camera pathways can help with
that crucial first step. To find out more about the Camera Pathways program or participate email kevin@nzcine.com First Camera Pathways trainee
Cinematographer and NZCS member Guy Quartermain passes on congratulations
Jamieson Montgomery (L) and Guy Quartermain (R)
First Camera Pathways trainee Jamieson Montgomery, being introduced to the big bad world of Television
Cinematography! Well done to Jamieson, and also to Kevin Riley for a useful scheme. Having a formal
framework to employ and train was very useful, and I am sure will improve quality and outcomes for production
and the students. Women in camera – things are looking up
Representing NZCS on the selection panel for the inaugural Cinefem scholarship caused cinematographer Mairi
Gunn to reflect on her own career. It’s a story involving focus pulling, shooting while pregnant, balancing family
life and winning awards, intertwined with the history of camerawomen in New Zealand. Womens’ Series (1976) L­R Lorraine Engelbretson (sound recordist), Margaret Moth (camera), Julie
Thomson (research) and Deidre McCartin (director). Deborah Shepard from Reframing Women: A
History of New Zealand Film (Auckland: Harper Collins, 2000: 52)
In 1932 Hilda Hayward, Rudall Hayward’s first wife, picked up her camera and went to film the Auckland riots in
Queen Street. It was a courageous move that made her New Zealand’s first known camerawoman and paved
the way for women who have been working with movie cameras in New Zealand ever since. Hayward had
previously collaborated with her husband as an editor but went on to shoot doco and drama footage with, and
without him. Later, Ramai Hayward, Rudall Hayward’s second wife, and Margaret Moth became icons for aspiring women
cinematographers. Ramai is credited as the first Maori camerawoman. She was a stills photographer with her
own photographic studio in Devonport before she met Rudall. Margaret left New Zealand after shooting The
Women’s Series in 1976 and became a renowned CNN news and current affairs shooter. Both have since
passed away.
Only one other woman
Despite this history, in 1984, after four years in the cutting room, I joined the camera department in the New
Zealand freelance film and television industry. There was only one other female camera assistant working on
drama shoots. Her name was Moi Cameron and she later became a firewoman. It is quite surreal being the only one of something. It defies reason and the isolation is problematic for a
collaborative person. Thankfully, in 1988, Merata Mita invited me to a wānanga with her filmmaking buddies such
as Annie Collins. It was to support Sharon Hawke and others to fulfil their roles on the upcoming Manuka series
with the legendary Don Selwyn. Subsequently Josie Harbutt was working on film shoots in the 1990s and I was
on Black Beauty with Rewa Harré on Kirsten Green’s first day as a loader. There was Rachel Baird, Rachel
Douglas, Amanda Clark, Freddie, Tara Landry and many more stalwart women loading and pulling focus after I
moved from fiction to the documentary genre. And there were still more talented women who chose not to go on
become cinematographers for a myriad of reasons.
Too hard
I meet women everywhere, often behind desks, or as editors, who say they
wanted to become a camerawomen but it had seemed too hard. They had
the impression it might be too physically taxing, which was a perception at
the time, or too psychologically challenging due to impending torment from
some careless cowboys – the men who could sway attitudes and
atmospheres on set. Others identified unsupportive attitudes within the
female dominated production office as a potential drag on their emotional
resources. This was a pity because the right mentors can provide crucial
support to overcome perceived and real obstacles.
Back then I was operating with film cameras – Super 8, 16mm Bolex, Aaton
or ARRI 16BL – using no more than a couple of lights or a ship’s flare and
often working almost alone with a director, although Chris Plummer reminded me that he held a lamp for me
while filming in the bombed out Rainbow Warrior in 1985. This was my shooting life in parallel to the mainstream industry where I was a camera assistant. I loved the
physicality of being an assistant, along with the banter, the precision, the travel and adventures (even though the
pressure was sometimes untenable and the osteopath became a friend).
Just me
I did it for ten years until my mother suggested I stop serving others and just shoot. That was in 1995, and she
gave me that advice the year she died. My main mentor was gone. I was not one of a filmmaking dynasty or part
of any other team – I was just me. I had been shooting since about 1980 – around twenty short films, a bunch of
music videos, some docos and one 16mm feature film, Gravity and Grace. It was about time to call myself a
cinematographer. I joined WIFT for collegial support and access to an international arena because there was no cinematographer’s
society back then. I didn't know I'd have to wait 12 years to become a foundation member of the NZCS.
Roaring success
It was twenty years after I joined the industry that I met my first female cinematographer, Australian Jan Kenny,
and organised a WIFT weekend cinematography workshop with her. The weekend was a roaring success.
Camerawomen Sharon Hawke and Ginny Loane were there. Ginny had been working in the lighting department
and was a rising star then, while today she is a role model for the new generation of aspiring female
cinematographers. Since then, Jac Fitzgerald appeared on the scene and has been shooting drama and TV commercials. So, there
were only a handful of us who had come up through the celluloid years. Strangely that was perceived by some
as an entire platoon, commenting ‘There are lots of you now, aren’t there!’. Yet in reality there were so few
women out of more than a hundred shooters. It was a matter of perception. The few stood out in high relief. Operating on Timetrap (1990) with Erin O'Leary, Therese Mangos, Rick
Allender and Sally Smith (director/writer)
Shooting pregnant
I’d shot the 16mm feature Gravity and Grace (1994) in Auckland and NY before I met my partner Mike on a
Wellington production to do with domestic violence (it won me the ITVA camera award in 1995). Some
productions are extra lucky. Mike and I shot and recorded my second feature, Harold Brodie’s Reality Show then
we went to Ireland while I was pregnant to shoot and sound record Shirley Grace’s Erin’s Exiled Daughters.
Bridie was born in 1997. After that, there were about five more short films including Felicity Morgan Rhind’s
Donuts for Breakfast which screened at the New York Film Festival, amongst others. I felt that I really needed to establish myself as a cinematographer before I had a baby. I sensed that a baby
would change things and I was right. Short form drama and docos were just manageable but not the big drama
shoots. I didn’t want to put stress on my daughter. I remember throwing my breast milk out the window of a
moving car on the way to a recce in Piha because my baby wasn’t around to relieve the pressure naturally! Some shoots, like Donuts for Breakfast, Bridie attended because Mike could stay with us on location. She was
sick during Moby’s Island so considerate crew members carried her along the beach to keep her within eyeshot.
She had her own wee department. Since I have no family close by, a change of schedule always necessitated
some domestic production management on my part. I only recently learned that there is an aversion to hiring
mothers in key roles because of our changed priorities.
Bummer
I waited and waited to shoot a TV drama like so many of the great ones I had pulled focus on. However, there
was about an eight­year drought. Bummer. Then when Mike and I were filming a doco in the US in 2001, I was
able to accompany Donuts for Breakfast to Sundance. I was embraced by the doco community there and
gravitated to the House of Docs, a space for panel discussions and screenings that was dedicated to
documentaries. What a relief to see that the inclusive Errol Morris had his entire Interrotron crew on the podium
beside him, explaining their shooting process to the audience. It was a revelation to discover a world where ideas
and real people matter more than cool, career, or celebrity. I was converted. My work with factual storytelling has
since led me into the field of video installation, where computers and digital imagery reign – a brave new world
with almost unlimited potential.
Shedding trucks
In the past the scale of the equipment generally involved trucks. But now working with the newer, lighter weight
digital cameras we are shedding the trucks and the budget! The arrival of DSLRs has democratised the medium
and helped to increase the number of female shooters. Coupled with that is the proliferation of cameras throughout almost every aspect of our lives plus the proclivity for
content that many students and 48 hour pundits are happy to supply at low cost or gratis. Working in the gift
economy requires optimism and energy. That’s something our young women have in spades. In addition to
developing their craft, they practice their sports, build their own companies, go to art school – or go to Brazil and
shoot thrilling dance movies as one of the Cinefem Scholarship applicants did. And women from all over the
world have come to us. Maybe it is the worldwide fame of Weta that attracts them, or our reputation as a liberal,
green society that first gave women the vote.
Power of diversity
I believe strongly in the power of diversity to enrich our ways of being and working in the world, and initiated the
informal Slow Film Movement as a counterpoint to the dollar­driven, slavish, six or seven­day week. Now owning
our own gear is within our reach it means that we can be more flexible. We can avoid the costs of equipment
hire, the time pressure and inhuman work schedules. Women can and are devising new ways of working. These
new approaches impact on the kind of films that can be made and the stories that can be told. Recently, I have detected a sea change for women with cameras. This was very evident at a recent WIFT/NZCS
evening at Panavision. Women pretty much ran the show. It was an historical moment. Aliesha Staples held the
floor as she introduced various drones and gimbals to an audience that included old hands and newbies, both
male and female. The evening was electric.
Scholarship
In April of this year, I was invited to film a series of interviews of our women filmmakers for a New Zealand Film
Commission initiative supported by Jane Campion. Jane’s comments about the woeful lack of women in film
internationally – she is still the only woman to have won the coveted Cannes Palme d’Or – have galvanised the
Film Commission into positive action. Together they devised the Cinefem Scholarship as a way of supporting
women filmmakers and New Zealand film culture in general. The first scholarship focused on cinematography,
and Ginny Loane and I represented NZCS on the selection panel along with Richard Bluck. I was struck by the
combined experience of the applicants, the quality and diversity of the work and the high standard. We were
keenly aware that there were very few Maori and Polynesian applicants, but were pleased that pregnant women
and mothers applied for this cinematographers’ scholarship. I believe there is an abundance of talent and commitment in New Zealand and that as a group, women in film
have a great deal to offer. I am encouraged by the possibilities offered by the new media and by the passion of
the younger generations and their work ethic. It is a world of talent and opportunity that the pioneers Hilda
Hayward, Ramai Hayward and Margaret Moth would probably find difficult to believe and I think it should give us
cause for optimism about the future. Maria Ines Manchego wins cinematography opportunity On the website recently
Dave Cameron wins gold
Dave Cameron ACS won a gold at the 2015 NSW/ACT Australian Cinematography
awards held last week. Our NZCS vice­president, who holds ACS accreditation, was
recognised in the Dramatised Documentaries category for his work on The Monster of
Mangatiti. Read more ...
New Camera Pathways program to build talent
The people entering our industry today will determine its strength in the decades to come.
Yet it has never been harder to get that first step that will set you on the right path – your
first work experience on a professional set.This is where a new NZCS program has the
potential to play a pivotal role in channelling and fostering emerging camera talent. Named
Camera Pathways, it is the brainchild of longstanding cinematographer Kevin Riley. The
program will identify talented people who are committed to a future behind the camera and
help them find a path into the industry. Read more ...
Niu Han wins Golden Horse selection
Congratulations to NZCS member Niu Han who has been named one of the 14
filmmakers who’ll participate in this year’s Golden Horse Film Academy in Taiwan. The
Academy was established seven years ago by then Golden Horse Film Festival Chair Hou
Hsiao­Hsien. The Academy’s selection criteria include the ability to speak Mandarin, since
part of the reason it was established was to offer opportunities for Chinese­language
speaking filmmakers to develop their skills in a culturally­sympathetic environment. Read
more ...
NZ film wins Aussie veterans cinematography New Zealand short film shot by Mathew Knight, won Best Cinematography at the Veterans
Film Festival in Canberra held on Remembrance Day. Read More ...
Coming up in January: another great conversation with a renown cinematographer shooting in
New Zealand. Watch your inbox for details.
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