Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS, the cinematographer of films including Lion, Zero Dark Thirty, Foxcatcher, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Mary Magdalene (currently in postproduction), and numerous commercials, relied on the Creamsource Sky, a water resistant five color 1200W LED light system from Outsight, for Lucasfilm’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
“Creamsource Sky is just so flexible and renders colors amazingly,” said Fraser, who recently won the ASC Award and earned an Oscar nomination for his lensing of Lion. “I am obsessed with the technical, and Creamsource Sky produces really great skintones. That can be a benefit and a curse when having to mix Sky with lights from other manufacturers, so I use a single brand of lighting for each source — one for skylight, one for a window, and another for facial lighting.”
For Rogue One, Fraser relied on Sky’s ability to be used in all weather conditions, finding it especially useful for the raining stage shots depicting Eadu, a storm-stricken world and Imperial terraforming operation in the Outer Rim Territories. “We had Sky rigged in the ceiling for weeks while it was ‘raining’. It’s just amazing that we can do that,” said Fraser. In addition, Creamsource Sky delivers high power output with full creative control and repeatable, calibrated color that helps users craft emotion.
Fraser first discovered Outsight LED lighting many years ago while in Sydney doing a US television commercial for Old Navy, during the very early days of LED lighting. “My gaffer brought in an original 2×1 Creamsource, and we were amazed by how much power they had,” said Fraser. “We were so impressed that we both bought one head each. Fast forward to more jobs and I saw the technology evolve to portable battery power, making lights faster and more powerful, and lights I could gel.
“I now have four 2×1 and two 1×1 Creamsource lights in my kit that have just been upgraded to the fourth generation with new LED boards for better color, more output and higher CRI,” added Fraser. “Being able to buy these lights as a younger DP meant that I could own and have control of my lighting, without relying on whatever a rental house could provide.”
In addition to his film work, Fraser just completed a commercial for Budweiser and is scheduled to shoot a Ford spot this month, using his own Outsight kit for both.
What really impresses Fraser is the amount of freedom and flexibility he gets with Outsight LEDs. “They allow you to decide on the cover seconds before shooting, which is fantastic if you can’t prelight,” said Fraser. “You save time and money, going quickly from creative to a stage full of hung lights, knowing how much colour and correction you need. With tungsten, if you dim it, you need to know exactly what stops for the colour you want to capture. On big films, you can do testing and prelight a week in advance. With Outsight LEDs, I can prelight in an hour with flexibility and control of all parameters — plus do instant trial and error for warmth. You just can’t do that with tungsten — it takes days and weeks. Now it’s just flicking a switch — it’s game changing.”
“As a pioneer in film and television lighting, we’ve designed our LED lights to be both beautiful and tough,” said Tama Berkeljon, managing director, Outsight. “DPs around the world are discovering that our Creamsource lights are built for the creativity that is needed on set or on location, with repeatable results.”
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More