NEW GIG AS A CAMERA OPERATOR…
…and shooting on film once again!
October 7, 2017
We should be at work today but we’re off, due to Hurricane Nate who arrives here in about 3 hours. It’s raining as hard as I’ve ever seen it at the moment. I’m in Gulf Shores, Alabama operating for Michael Goi on his feature film directorial debut. He also serves as the movie’s cinematographer. We’re here making a horror movie aboard a possessed 65 foot sailboat named, “Mary”. The great Gary Oldman, plays the proud new owner of a boat he always wanted and that’s about all I can say about the story for now.
I was so excited to get the call - it’s the first time in my career where my only job is as a camera operator. I like it, just concentrating on each shots set up, composition and execution. Michael Goi, (American Horror Story) is a brilliant visualist and shot-maker so at times, the operating can be very demanding, particularly with our short schedule and modest film budget. The need to get it right in a couple of takes is not only paramount – it’s expected.
What’s cool is that the film format is 2.35 anamorphic - processed at Fotokem in Los Angeles. Some of our lenses are 40 years old and so far the end result looks terrific. Panavision has bent over backwards for us and given us a very generous rental rate. In addition to our three Panaflex XL’s, is an Arri 235, an Arri 3, a handcranked Arri 3, a handcranked 16mm Arri SR and a old super 8 camera. We have five different color and black and white film stocks too. This extensive camera package was prepped in New Orleans by Bryan DeLorenzo, our “A” camera first assistant, in barely one week with very little help. In addition to running the camera truck, Bryan is a world-class focus puller.
The only digital shot in the movie - a Sony A7 fitted with a Panavision lens on a "bodycam".
Bryan Delorenzo aside the "A" camera.
You don’t realize how big movie cameras are until you try shooting on a 65 foot sailboat. It is very difficult to find the space for the camera and operator and then pick a lens and make a shot that captures the story point effectively. It’s a challenge that we seem to be meeting successfully. I’m not a particularly limber person so I wake up a little sore each morning from stuffing myself into tiny spaces aboard the boat. We shoot in hand held mode for about half the day and that can be physically demanding on top of it all. In the next two weeks we’ll be out on the water filming the scary parts of the story - that will be tricky - and I’ll report back after we finish the movie at the end of the month.
Dawn in an Alabama boatyard, one of our locations.
The iconic and incomparable Panavision camera system.
