The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) has named the honorees for its 16th annual Emerging Cinematographer Awards to be handed out at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles on September 30. There will be a New York screening of the honored shorts followed by a reception at the School of Visual Arts on October 21.
The honorees were selected from a record number of more than 100 submissions, an increase of 30 percent. Only Guild members who have not yet reached the official status of Director of Photography are eligible. Films must have a maximum running time of 30 minutes, though this year none were longer than 20 minutes.
“There was such a high overall standard in the submissions that it was an extremely difficult task to choose just ten,” observed ECA Chairman Jim Matlosz.
The honorees are camera operator John Barr (The Carrier), 1st AC Daron Keet (Ripple Effect), camera operator Brian O’Carroll (Angel), camera operator Michael Pescasio (Don’t Let Your Love Annihilate), camera operator James Takata (Only Child), camera operator Pete Villani (Carjack), camera operator Robert C. Webb (The Girl in the Dark Room) and 1st AC Stewart Whelan (The Money Pet).
In addition, two honorable mentions were named: 1st AC Michael Lloyd (Dawn) and 1st AC Basil Smith (Cowards and Monsters).
All but one are based in California. Brian O’Carroll, who is a New Yorker, also received an honorable mention last year for 8 For Infinity.
“This event grows every year to one of the most important benefits we can give to our young members,” Guild president Steven Poster said. “Everybody knows how difficult it is to start a career in this business these days. This can give a young artist a career boost they can’t get in any other way.
“Our industry sponsors are indispensable to this process. They know that today’s honorees will be tomorrow’s customers.”
Three film festivals will be screening the Emerging Cinematographer shorts this year. The Holly Shorts Fest and the Rhode Island International Film Festival, both in August, will screen the 2011 honoree films. The Ojai Film Festival, which takes place in October, will screen the 2012 honorees and honorable mention films.
Among the sponsors of the 2012 Emerging Cinematographer Awards are Tiffen, Canon, Kodak, Sony, ARRI, Panavision, Carl Zeiss, Deluxe, K5600, Technicolor, Band Pro, AbelCine, Birns & Sawyer, Chimera, Cinematography Electronics, Clairmont Camera, Illumination Dynamics, JL Fisher, KinoFlo, Rosco, Sekonic — The Mac Group, The Rag Place, Fletcher Camera, Mole — Richardson Co., Sim Digital, The Mac Group, The Camera House and Matthews Studio Equipment.
Craig Henighan Sounds Off On “Deadpool & Wolverine”
Hollywood lore has it that character actor Edmund Gwenn--while on his deathbed--quipped, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The second part of that darkly witty utterance remains all too true today as Craig Henighan--a Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Oscar nominee in 2019 for Roma--can attest in that he had to grapple with the sonic of being comic for this year’s box office hit, Deadpool & Wolverine (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios).
The degree of inherent difficulty was ramped up even further because Deadpool & Wolverine had to seamlessly bring together high action-adventure exploits with moments and dialogue that tickled the funny bone. There’s a mesh of humorous banter--a staple of the franchise--along with major spectacle replete with explosions, fights, an impactful score and off-the-wall musical numbers.
Henighan explained that among the prime challenges for him from a sound perspective was having to make sure every joke landed within the construct of a superhero film. The tendency for a tentpole movie of this variety, he noted, is to gravitate towards big, loud audio spanning music, dialogue and sound effects. But the unique comedic element of Deadpool & Wolverine necessitated that re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor Henighan strike a delicate balance. “You need to get out of the way for the comedy,” he related. The jokes in a superhero film become “a real dance” as Henighan had to establish a rhythm that did justice to both the comedy and the action as the narrative moves back and forth between them--and sometimes the funny and the high energy, high decibel superhero dynamic unfold simultaneously in a scene or sequence. The “sonic fabric” has to... Read More