The forthcoming film Jungle, based on Yossi Ghinsberg’s memoir, “Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival,” was shot with Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses. The film recounts Ghinsberg’s 1982 journey through the Amazon where he ended up alone for three weeks before being found and rescued. Jungle stars Daniel Radcliffe in an Arclight Films production, directed by Greg McLean and lensed by Stefan Duscio.
Production for Jungle was split between Australia’s South East Queensland jungle and Colombia (substituting for Bolivia) along the rivers, jungles, villages, and towns, for its rugged and bigger landscapes.
Sydney’s digital and film equipment rental house Cinoptix supplied two ARRI Alexa XT cameras and the Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses including a 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm. Cooke Optics also stepped in to supply one of the first production models of the new 65mm Macro Anamorphic/i lens.
“I used the 65mm a lot and loved it,” said Duscio. “It is such a versatile lens that it gave us the freedom to go from mid-shot to extreme close-ups without a lens change. The 65mm had a beautiful classic ‘Cooke look’ to it.”
With some of the most intensive pre-production work he has ever done, exploring jungles and climbing cliffs, Duscio wanted a classic adventure film look, but not something hand-held. “Almost the entire film is composed with elegant compositions and simple dolly moves, practical and pragmatic setups. It was important that the audience be able to watch Jungle effortlessly, with the cinematography not calling attention to itself.”
Duscio has used Cooke lenses already on two previous feature films and various commercials, and thought that, with his desire for big landscapes, Cooke lenses would be perfect for the natural landscapes, skin tones, and faces.
“There’s a real roundness and classic quality to the lenses–sort of vintage,” said Duscio. “Today’s new lenses are way too sharp. The Cooke anamorphics are a beautiful middle-ground between traditional anamorphic lenses and going too sharp. They’re classic lenses that just feel familiar.”
The jungles of Australia, while very production friendly (the cast and crew could drive right up to the location), did present some challenging shooting conditions. “It’s very difficult once you’re under the dense jungle canopy,” added Duscio. “It’s really low light levels and you’re shooting almost wide open every day. At 3pm, it starts to get dark with sunset at 5:30pm, so by 2:30pm, we’re bringing out large HMIs and bouncing them around the forest to lift the light level under the canopy. I always tried to place our biggest HMIs as far away as possible to give Greg and the cast the creative freedom they needed for blocking, and the cameras the light they needed.”
Duscio used all six lenses in his kit with the 32mm and 40mm for wide setup masters and close-ups on the 75mm — as he likes to have the camera a bit closer to the actors – plus the 100mm and 65mm.
“We tested other anamorphics, but the Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses made the biggest impact,” said Duscio. “Once Greg saw them, he was totally on board, even though he had never shot with Cooke lenses before.”
Jungle is schedule for release in the U.S. in 2017.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More