Technique | Craft > Shooting | Cinematography, VFX, Animation, Editing, Audio and Finishing | Film & Video

Leaving a CG Blood Trail

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 0:00:00 EDT

From the moment Blood Trail, the debut feature screenplay from writer Matt Cochran, came over the transom at downtown New York creative studio Nathan Love, company founder Joe Burrascano got excited about the potential of creating an animated horror film....

DP Dante Spinotti on Public Enemies

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 0:00:00 EDT

Public Enemies, the John Dillinger biopic directed by Michael Mann and starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard, is one of the summer’s most hotly anticipated films. The feature pairs Mann with his frequent collaborator, cinematographer Dante Spinotti. Spinotti shot this digitally, using the Sony CineAlta F23 camera system. Film & Video caught up with Spinotti in Australia, where he is prepping for another F23 project, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, directed by Michael Apted....

Field-Testing the HPX300

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

When director Bryan Gunnar Cole and cinematographer Peter Nelson headed to North Florida to shoot wildlife footage at the 7,000-acre White Oak Conservation Center, the first production question that had to be answered was which camera system to use. They ended up wrangling a pre-release version of the AG-HPX300 P2 camcorder....

Director Duncan Jones on Low-Budget Moon

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT

The visually dazzling film, whose production design may be its most impressive aspect, pays homage to a host of science fiction precursors, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, but carries an emotional charge all its own. F&V talked to Jones about the challenges of creating images of the lunar surface in a British soundstage and directing an actor to fight himself....

Keeping it Together as Director-DP-Operator-Editor-Singer-Songwriter

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 0:00:00 EDT

For director John Zissimos, it sounded like a fun job, but didn't have enough money to hire a full crew. That meant working as his own DP and camera operator, pitching in on editorial tasks — and even singing a little song to help pull the final cut together....