Before Hollywood’s award season drew to a close, the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) held numerous events including its annual Outstanding Achievement Awards, all of which attracted many leading feature cinematographers–some of whom also shoot television commercials. They came out to attend the ASC Awards and to mingle with their fellow cinematographers. Some also took time out to sit down with SHOOT to discuss their work, as well as the relationship between the director and the cinematographer.
“Every relationship is going to be different based on the expertise and ideals of the director,” explains five-time, Academy Award-nominated feature cinematographer (The Passion of the Christ, The Patriot, Fly Away Home, The Natural and The Right Stuff) Caleb Deschanel, ASC, who is a director/DP of commercials via Dark Light Pictures, West Hollywood.
“Some directors really want to work with actors,” notes Deschanel. “I’ve [also] worked with directors who are really knowledgeable [about cinematography], and I’ve worked with very visually oriented directors.”
Deschanel–who reports that his next project would be directing an upcoming episode of the television series Bones–continues, “At its best, it’s a wonderful collaboration where cinematography brings a visual style and way of telling a story that will amplify whatever it is the director is trying to do and apply it in a way that the cinematography will suit the emotion and particular dramatic structure of each scene. The key is to have a really collaborative relationship. It’s not always that way, but you try to make it that way.”
Also on hand to talk with SHOOT was Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC, who took home the top prize at the ASC Awards this year for his work on the Alfonso Cuaron-directed feature Children Of Men.
Lubezki reports that he had just wrapped production of an upcoming Axe commercial helmed by the Traktor collective of bicoastal/international Partizan, which was shot on location in Buenos Aires. This followed a successful collaboration with the directing team on a GE commercial lensed in Santiago, Chile. Lubezki says he loved working with the Traktor ensemble.
“I established a very good relationship with two of the directors,” he said of his first job with Traktor. “Every commercial is another set of two, which makes it very interesting. They are very visual, very good storytellers. They love to try new things and they always push me to do my best work. It doesn’t get any better.”
“Breath”
Matthew Libatique, ASC, served as cinematographer on the recently released feature The Number 23, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Jim Carrey. At press time Libatique was about to embark on production of the film Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau and featuring Robert Downey Jr. The DP also has some recent spot work under his belt.
Libatique recently lensed Pepsi’s “Pinball” via BBDO New York and directed by Traktor. The DP also wrapped Nike’s “Breath” via Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and helmed by Paul Hunter of HSI Productions.
“I love them both,” he said of the spots.
“If I could do a whole year with Traktor and Paul Hunter, I’d be in good shape.”
Both commercials were shot in 35mm film, and contained much green screen and visual effects work. Santa Monica-based Method Studios handled the visual effects on “Pinball” while Santa Monica-based Moneyshots led the effects effort on “Breath.”
For the Nike ad, well-known athletes from various sports are seen training in the same gym environment. “We had to shoot all the athletes in different countries and then composite them to appear all in the same gym working out,” Libatique explains, noting that featured athletes included the tennis world’s Roger Federer, basketball’s Kobe Bryant and Brazilian soccer great Ronaldinho.
“We had to shoot them all in front of green or blue screen,” Libatique relates. “We had to get the scale right and make sure it looked like they were all in the same gym– It’s the new age of cinema.”
“Pinball” also included quite a lot of green screen work to essentially turn San Francisco into a giant pinball machine. In the spot, a man on the round Pepsi logo rolls through the streets as if part of the game.
“With cinematography you just want to do interesting things,” Libatique says, noting that he enjoys commercial and features. “If you are exposing film and framing shots and lighting, and figuring out the craft side of it, it’s good.”
As for working with directors on advertising, Libatique says, “Commercials are very quick. When you get the job, you have a conversation with the director before the tech scout. And depending on your relationship with that person, you get in deeper.
“I’ve worked with Paul before and I’ve worked with Traktor before,” he continues. “I was able in both cases to get to know where they were trying to get to–and then we just got into shooting. It’s very quick. The personal relationship is one that transcends many jobs, rather than just one.”
Music video impact
Music video, commercial and feature director of photography Daniel Pearl, ASC, also lensed some recent ads, including jobs for Mercury with the directing duo The Brothers Strause (Greg and Colin), who helm commercials via Santa Monica-based tight. The job also incorporated visual effects from The Strause’s Santa Monica-based effects shop hydraulx. Pearl additionally lensed Johnson & Johnson directed by Marcus Nispel of bicoastal/international MJZ.
Pearl–still widely recognized for his pioneering role in music videos with such seminal work as The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”–explains that because of his music video portfolio, he has worked with many music clip directors who were embarking on commercials. He advises that new spot directors should be aware of a distinct difference between the two disciplines.
“It is a different pace,” he says. “For music videos, basically you average two minutes of finished film a day. In commercials, you average 15 seconds of finished film a day.”
He explains that he has seen directors look at a board and create a shoot schedule based on a music video pace. “The music video director is not thinking of the kind of care that the agency expects us to take with [i.e.] a car. They are thinking it’s like a music video, ‘okay, the car comes down the street.’ But, it’s a car commercial. This is a very dangerous thing when directors make that crossover and they think they can move the same way in the world of commercials, where things are checked and double-checked. For a music video we only have to shoot something that is in some way the concept. It doesn’t have to be exact [as it does in commercial work].”
Web ads
Meanwhile, noted automotive advertising cinematographer Bill Bennett, ASC discussed some of his latest work, which was created specifically not for television but for the web.
Specifically, he shot a trailer for a series of webisodes for the hit television series 24, which is sponsored by Degree antiperspirant; and he shot web advertising for Dove. For both assignments, Science + Fiction (with bases in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco) served as the agency and production company. The company’s managing partner, Kevin Townsend, served as director in both instances, and the spots were lensed not unlike a traditional commercial, in 35mm film.
“I’m beginning to see commercial advertising that is not intended for the TV set, but instead for the web,” Bennett relates.
On his working relationship with Townsend, Bennett says, “He was very straightforward… He was very clear about what he wanted. We had a pre-defined look that we followed. But then interestingly enough we switched gears on the same day and shot this Dove commercial for the web and TV…, which would never in a million years happen with your typical ad agency. We were doing a 24 look and then two hours later doing this high fashion, cosmetics look.
“It was the same director for two different looks and two different clients [shot] in he same day,” Bennett relates. “What is great is they actually served two of their clients. Interesting things can happen out there.”
