Michael Goi - American Cinematographer Manual

American Cinematographer Manual
Tenth Edition

Copyright 2013 by The ASC Press

Hollywood, California, USA
All Rights Reserved

ISBN 978-1-4675-6830-2

Cover design by Martha Winterhalter
Book design by Deeann j. Hoff
Production by Mark McDougal

Y ou hold in your hands the result of five years of thought, debate, and inspiration. When Stephen Burum, ASC, asked me to be the editor of this 10th edition of the venerable American Cinematographer Manual, the industry was in the birth throes of transition; digital intermediates were the exception and not the rule, we still used the term video rather than digital, and 4K as a viable production and post format was far beyond our reach. All these changes and many more came in rapid succession as we labored to bring this book to press. No sooner had we completed an article when it had to be updated due to sweeping advances in technology.

I am at heart a low-tech person. I like things simple. I questioned whether I was even the right person to be taking this book on. But in a strange way, it made sense. If I could design the manual in a manner that made sense to me, then the information it contained would be accesible to a wide spectrum of professional and prosumer image makers. Cinematographers today need to be closet scientists in order to decipher the tools they have at their disposal, but all those technologies need not be daunting; they can be fun to explore and exciting to utilize. Now more than ever, the dreams of a whole new generation can be made into real moving images. This edition contains some of the most comprehensive information on digital that you will find anywhere, but it doesnt leave behind the essential building blocks of film technology, which is at its highest level of development. Where we are now is really having the best of both worlds.

When you embark on a journey to a new world, its best to take along a crew who know the territory. The contributors to this edition have proven to be the most helpful and dedicated group of scientists, artists and craftspeople one could possibly hope to assemble. Thanks go to Jim Branch, Curtis Clark, ASC; Richard Crudo, ASC; Dan Curry; Linwood G. Dunn, ASC; Richard Edlund, ASC; Jonathan Erland; Jon Fauer, ASC; Ray Feeney; Tom Fraser; Taz Goldstein; Colin Green and the Previsualization Society; Frieder Hochheim; Michael Hofstein; Bill Hogan; John Hora, ASC; Rob Hummel; Steve Irwin; Kent H. Jorgensen; Frank Kay; Glenn Kennel; Jon Kranhouse; Lou Levinson; Andy Maltz and the AMPAS Science and Technology Council; Vincent Matta; Tak Miyagishima; David Morin; M. David Mullen, ASC; Dennis Muren, ASC; Iain A. Neil; Marty Ollstein; Josh Pines; Steven Poster, ASC; Sarah Priestnall; David Reisner; Pete Romano, ASC; Andy Romanoff; Dr. Rod Ryan; Nic Sadler and Chemical Wedding; Bill Taylor, ASC; Ira Tiffen and Evans Wetmore.

Special thanks go to Iain Stasukevich for his assistance in research, Lowell Peterson, ASC, Jamie Anderson, ASC and King Greenspon for their proofreading skills, and Deeann Hoff and Mark McDougal for handling the layout of the book.

Extra special thanks go to Brett Grauman, general manager of the ASC, Patty Armacost, events coordinator, Delphine Figueras, my assistant when I was handling being ASC president while trying to finish this book, Saul Molina and Alex Lopez for their expertise in marketing and events management, Owen Roizman, ASC, who is the heart, soul and inspiration for the organization, George Spiro Dibie, ASC, my mentor and friend, Martha Winterhalter, whose knowledge of what we do and how to convey it to the world knows no bounds, and Gina Goi, my wife, for her love and support during my many twilight editing sessions.

Enjoy the Manual. Go make movies.

Michael Goi, ASC

Editor

Summary of Formats
Tak Miyagishima

Basic Digtal Concepts
Marty Ollstein

A Primer for Evaluating Digital Motion Picture Cameras
Rob Hummel

Digtal Cinematography on a Budget
M. David Mullen, ASC

Putting the Image on Film
Rob Hummel

Comparisons of 35mm 1.85, Anamorphic and Super 35 Film Formats
Rob Hummel

Anamorphic Cinematography
John Hora, ASC

Exposure Meters
Jim Branch

Lenses
Iain A. Neil

Camera Filters
Ira Tiffen

Previsualization
Colin Green

3-D Stereoscopic Cinematography
Rob Hummel

Day-for-Night, Infrared and Ultraviolet Cinematography
Dr. Rod Ryan

Aerial Cinematography
Jon Kranhouse

Underwater Cinematography
Pete Romano, ASC

Filming Television and Computer Displays
Bill Hogan and Steve Irwin

Digital Postproduction for Feature Films
Glenn Kennel and Sarah Priestnall

ASC Color Decision List
David Reisner and Josh Pines

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy Color Encoding System
Curtis Clark, ASC and Andy Maltz

The Cinematographer and the Laboratory
Rob Hummel

Emulsion Testing
Steven Poster, ASC

Finding Your Own Printer Light
Richard Crudo, ASC

Adjusting Printer Lights to Match Sample Clips
Bill Taylor, ASC

Cinemagic of the Optical Printer
Linwood G. Dunn, ASC

Motion-Control Cinematography
Richard Edlund, ASC

Greenscreen and Bluescreen Photography
Bill Taylor, ASC and Petro Vlahos

Photographing Miniatures
Dennis Muren, ASC

In-Camera Compositing of Miniatures with Full-Scale
Live-Action Actors
Dan Curry

LED Lighting For Motion Picture Production
Frieder Hochheim

An Introduction to Digital Terminology
Marty Ollstein and Levie Isaacks, ASC

Safety On The Set
Kent H. Jorgensen and Vincent Matta

Preparation of Motion Picture Film Camera Equipment
Marty Ollstein, Michael Hofstein & Tom Fraser

Preparation of Digital Camera Equipment
Marty Ollstein

Camera-Support Systems
Andy Romanoff, Frank Kay and Kent H. Jorgensen

Camera Section
Jon Fauer, ASC and M. David Mullen, ASC

Formulas
Evans Wetmore

Handheld Apps for Production
Taz Goldstein

Quick Picture Monitor Set-Up
Lou Levinson

http://www.clairmont.com

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/microoled/?q=trimasterel

http://www.chapman-leonard.com

http://www.SamysDV.com

http://codexdigital.com