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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.
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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: craig@demoreelnetwork.com
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
admin@csc.ca.
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. ●
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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
jim.mercer@sympatico.ca
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 llapham@llsr.com
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: david@fieldview.com
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: watt@ca.inter.net
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, llong@neptune.on.ca.
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 editor@csc.ca
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”
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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
ed@thelab.on.ca
Al Lindsay
al@thelab.on.ca
Tel:
(416) 461-8090
Fax:
(416) 461-0768
Toll free: 1-888-822-2505
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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