Contenders for the American Society of Cinematographers 2018 Student Heritage Awards have been named by the organization. Designed to inspire the next generation, the awards recognize graduate, undergraduate and documentary cinematography students for their exceptional work. The 13 nominees this year hail from 10 universities nationwide; the winners will be announced October 13.
Crazy Rich Asians is one of the summer’s biggest success stories. Shot by cinematographer Vanja Černjul, ASC, HFC (The Perfection, The Deuce, Marco Polo) with VariCam Pure cinema cameras, the film is based on the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan, and tells the story of an Asian American woman who meets her boyfriend's family, only to find out they are one of the richest families in Singapore. The Warner Bros film was directed by Jon M. Chu (Now You See Me 2, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and features an all-Asian cast, including Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Ken Jeong, Michelle Yeoh, and many others. It is the first Hollywood studio film to feature Asians in leading roles since director Wayne Wang’s 1993 film, The Joy Luck Club.
The American Society of Cinematographers has broken ground on the construction of the new ASC Arri Educational Center. The contemporary building, located behind the historic ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood, will serve as a hub for the organization’s ongoing efforts to educate the next generation of filmmakers on the art and craft of cinematography. The structure also will be home to all print and digital publications staff. The ASC Arri Educational Center offers a modern, inspired space with offices and meeting rooms, and is slated for completion by 2019.
For William Wages, ASC, filmmaking is first and foremost about storytelling. He says his role, as a premier cinematographer is to capture the best performances with the least intrusion. “It’s less about the technology, and more about the story,” he says in a new video produced by Fujifilm. The winner of three ASC Awards, including ASC Career in Television honors in 2012, and two Emmy nominations, Wages is known for his sumptuous landscape and intimate photography in features such as Maya Angelou’s Down in the Delta, Roland Joffe’s The Forgiven, and Steven Spielberg’s TV mini-series Into the West, as well as his development of filmmaking tools that create more efficiency and transparency on set.
My Breathing on Everest journey kicked off less than a year out of university when my friend and frequent collaborator Meredith Gaito came to me with an idea she knew most other people would call too ambitious or downright crazy. A year and a half later I have been to Nepal twice filming at the base camp of Mount Everest for what has become a deeply personal documentary.
In Small Town Crime, a thriller with dark humor, ex-cop Mike Kendall (John Hawkes) discovers the body of a young woman and, in an act of self-redemption, becomes hell-bent on finding her killer. While his uncouth and quirky detective style helps break open the case, his dogged determination unwittingly puts his family in danger
Premiering at the 2017 Austin Film Festival where it won Best Narrative Short, Demon tells the story of a desperate man emerging from the night where he encounters a solitary shack in the middle of the desert. It is in this night setting where he discovers a dark secret that the property owner possesses. Cinematographer Drew Dawson shot the supernatural drama/thriller, directed by Caleb Slain just outside Joshua Tree National Park. The Demon script had the setting as a desert landscape with a full moon. According to Dawson, the goal was to capture the entire film with moonlight, practicals, and minimal film lights
Panasonic has launched a free VariCam look up tables Library to help filmmakers create a variety of looks with VariCam and EVA1 cinema cameras. The VariCam LUT Library contains 35 unique 3D LUTs, created by Panasonic in conjunction with Local 600 D.I.T.s. The VariCam LUT Library contains display conversion LUTs, as well as artistic look LUTs. In camera, on set, or in post, users can preview or capture various looks using a high-contrast black-and-white LUT, a warm golden hour LUT, a colorful high fashion LUT, a faded vintage LUT, or many others.
The second series of National Geographic’s popular series Genius focuses on the extraordinary life of painter Pablo Picasso. Colorist Pankaj Bajpai at Encore in Hollywood was charged with creating the look that evoked the time and place as well as the art.
Post-production finishing for the first season of Vida, the new half-hour drama from Starz and executive producer Tanya Saracho, was recently completed at MTI Film. Senior colorist Steve Porter worked with series cinematographer Carmen Cabana in finalizing the look of the show, which has just been renewed for a second season and has drawn rave reviews for its revealing portrait of Latinx life in East Los Angeles.
