By Robert Goldrich

LOS ANGELES --

Taking the highest profile honor at last month's Toronto International Film Festival–the Audience Award–was director Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave. It's a distinction that historically carries weighty implications further down the road during awards season.

Over the years, 11 Toronto Audience Award recipients have gone on to garner Best Picture Oscar nominations. Four of the films–Chariots of Fire, American Beauty, Slumdog Millionaire, and The King's Speech–wound up winning the Academy Award for the year's Best Picture.

Set in the 1840s, 12 Years a Slave is based on the memoirs of Solomon Northrop, a New York violinist who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Based on a true story told in Northrop's memoirs, the film is a harrowing look at the physical and psychological trauma he endured during his dozen years in slavery. British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor has earned rave reviews for his performance as Northrop.

Among others garnering plaudits are Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyongo and Sarah Paulson as supporting actors, John Ridley for his adapted screenplay, editor Joe Walker, production designer Adam Stockhausen, music composer Hans Zimmer, costume designer Patricia Norris, and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, BSC.
 

For DP Bobbitt, perhaps the biggest creative challenge was to create and maintain throughout the film the world that existed at that point in history, enabling the audience to become completely immersed in the human story. "You don't want viewers distracted by the period piece elements. It's almost like you're trying to hide the period and make it seem like a contemporary film in some way–so people can focus on the characters and be moved by the situation."

Bobbitt has shot all three of director McQueen's feature films–the first being Hunger (2008) and then Shame (2011). The catalyst for their coming together was the 1999 film Wonderland, which Bobbitt lensed for director Michael Winterbottom.

"Steve was already at the time making a big name for himself as a fine artist," recalled Bobbitt. "He and his wife saw Wonderland and she told him at the end of the film that he should be working with whoever the cinematographer was on that movie. He tracked me down, we met and hit it off. It was that simple."

This first led to Bobbitt shooting an art installation project for McQueen centered on the Western Deep gold mine in South Africa. "What we saw could be almost perceived as slavery," recalled Bobbitt, noting that apartheid was in force back then. "Of the 4,000 workers, maybe 100 were white," he estimated. "The workers went down into the mine every day–it took us two hours to get from the top to the bottom. Once we got down there, I remember asking Steve, 'What do we do now?' His response was, 'I don't know but I do know there is something here.'

Initially, continued Bobbitt, "that response from Steve made me really angry. I came from the documentary filmmaking world where there's always a reason for going somewhere. I was used to a linear, narrative story. For Steve to say, 'I don't know' went against everything that I had been associated with."

But in a matter of minutes, Bobbitt's perspective changed. "We took the approach that there was something there and we needed to find it. We started filming and I changed in just three minutes to being elated. For the first time, I had the freedom to simply visually explore, and we wound up finding compelling stories and material. It opened my mind to all the possibilities we are presented with visually but we strip ourselves of because of the structure or narrative we have going in. We were in one of the most hostile environments in the world. There was serious danger at the full depth of the gold mine. What Steve did was take that setting, Western Deep, and transformed it and imbued it with emotion and content. He has a remarkable, unique ability to transform the unexpected into art."

Bobbitt reflected, "Working with Steve in the art world, which is informed by so many different things, changed me dramatically as a cinematographer. It gave me a freedom and a bravery that I didn't know I had in me."

That freedom and bravery have spanned for Bobbitt several of McQueen's art installations and his three feature films. "It's every cinematographer's dream to meet a director whom you have a common aesthetic with, who is a brave, moral and talented artist," said Bobbitt. "I've found that in Steve."

Bobbitt conjectured that McQueen's status as "an internationally renowned fine artist in high standing" also helps him as a director.

"He doesn't need to direct films," said Bobbitt about McQueen. "He would still be successful in the arts if he didn't direct another feature film. I think that adds to his strength and bravery. Other directors are often susceptible to the desires of others so they can get the next job. Steve isn't. He maintains the purity of the idea. He directs films that he really wants to direct and makes them the way they should be made."

For 12 Years a Slave, Bobbitt knew immediately that he would shoot on 35mm film with a widescreen ratio.

"Particularly for a period piece, film gives the audience a definite sense of period and quality. And because of the story's epic nature, widescreen clearly made the most sense. Widescreen means a big film, an epic tale–in this case an epic tale of human endurance."

Bobbitt chose the Arricam LT and ST for 12 Years a Slave, describing them as among his favorite, most versatile "bullet-proof workhorse cameras." Bobbitt did a lot of hand-held work with the LT.

Bobbitt would like to see film remain among the viable, readily available choices for cinematographers.

"There was a brief period, which is sadly going away, where cinematographers had more choices than any other time in history–different film stocks and digital. I don't know why film has to die in order for digital to succeed but the industry market is moving so strongly towards digital that the option of film is diminishing. That is quite sad."

Bobbitt has been on a whirlwind schedule. Just four days after wrapping 12 Days a Slave, he moved right into prep on Oldboy directed by Spike Lee.

"Spike is one of my heroes. It was exiting to get a phone call from him to shoot one of his films–for me it was an 'I've got to sit down' moment. I couldn't believe it at first. I feel very fortunate to have gotten the chance to work with him."

For Oldboy, Bobbitt went with super 35mm, again deploying the Arricam LT and ST.

At press time, Bobbitt was planning to take a brief break after going back to back on several projects over a four-year stretch. He just wrapped lensing Kill The Messenger starring Jeremy Renner and directed by Mike Cuesta, a veteran of commercials (handled by The Artists Company), independent film and television. In the latter, he most notably has served as an executive producer and director of Showtime's lauded Homeland.

Kevin Tent, ACE
Editor Kevin Tent, ACE, has cut all of director Alexander Payne's feature films including The Descendants which earned Tent a Best Achievement in Film Editing Oscar nomination in 2012 as well as an American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Award win as Best Edited Dramatic Film.

Tent has three other career Eddie nominations, each for a Payne-directed film: Election in 2000, About Schmidt in 2003, and Sideways in 2005.

Now Nebraska, which is Tent's latest collaboration with Payne, is being projected as a possible Academy Award and ACE Eddie contender.

Starring Bruce Dern and Will Forte, Nebraska, which was shot in black and white, chronicles the journey of an aging, alcoholic father making the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes prize.

Tent noted that like The Descendants–in which Hawaii was a protagonist in the story–Nebraska finds the Midwest community and humanscape serving as a character that helps to shape the film.

"Alexander is an absolute master at locales and having them as part of the story, impacting the story in subtle ways," said Tent who related that Hawaiians felt The Descendants accurately captured the life and lifestyle on the Islands, dismissing the cliche touristy depictions that were otherwise extremely prevalent in movies and television.

Tent cut Nebraska on the Avid Media Composer, version 5.5. He extolled the virtues of the system, his only regret being that he didn't have version 6.5 available to him at the time he was working on the movie, which was Payne's first that was shot digitally. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, ASC, deployed the ARRI Alexa.

Payne talked of editor Tent during the DGA Awards' "Meet the Feature Nominees" roundtable discussion session last year. Payne was a DGA Award nominee for The Descendants and cited Tent's first career Best Editing Oscar nomination, which was secured on the strength of his efforts on that film. "I was thrilled he was recognized," affirmed Payne. "He [Tent] is indispensable to me."

Payne also recalled how he came to meet Tent. The director related that years ago he asked an editor [Carole Kravetz] who was "too expensive and unavailable" for him at the time for other editors she would recommend. "She gave me two names," recalled Payne. "One was Kevin–I met him and that was it."

Tent observed that he and Payne are "similar in several respects. He grew up in Omaha. I grew up in upstate New York, in Buffalo. Our upbringings were outside the big cites. We're the same ballpark in age and at one time even used to live right down the street from each other in the Silver Lake area [of Los Angeles] but didn't know it.

"Our sensibilities are similar and have grown even more aligned over the years. He'a a wonderful, friendly guy and we just naturally get along."

Tent recollected that the way his editor's reel started out was a dynamic that impressed and strangely intrigued Payne upon seeing it for the first time. "I had done a movie called Gun Crazy. There was a huge crane shot from that film which I put at the head of my reel–there were no cuts in the scene for the longest time before you finally saw some edits. I remember him [Payne] mentioning that he thought it was ballsy to put a huge long shot with no edits at the beginning of an editor's reel."

The first feature film Tent cut for Payne was Citizen Ruth, a 1996 release, and the two have been collaborators regularly ever since.

However, Tent's filmography extends beyond Payne. Among the editor's notable earlier credits–coming chronologically after Payne's Election–was the James Mangold-directed Girl, Interrupted. And in-between The Descendants and Nebraska, Tent cut Disconnect, which marked the feature directorial debut of commercialmaker Henry-Alex Rubin (whose spot production house roost is Smuggler). And most recently, Tent edited a Martin Scorsese-directed commercial for a new perfume being rolled out by Dolce & Gabbana.

Oscar vibe
Beyond this installment of The Road To Oscar, there is other coverage in this issue with Oscar contender overtones. Look no further than our Directors Series in which the lineup of profiles includes Paul Greengrass, Brian Percival, Ben Stiller, Scott Cooper and J.C. Chandor.

Greengrass directed Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks, Percival the much anticipated The Book Thief, Stiller helmed and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Cooper directed the gritty Out of the Furnace, and Chandor the Robert-Redford-starring All Is Lost. Greengrass is a past Oscar nominee for Best Achievement in Directing on the basis of United 93 in 2007. Chandor was also an Academy Award nominee in 2012 for Best Original Screenplay on the basis of his feature directorial debut, Margin Call.

Out of the Furnace is Cooper's second feature as a director. The Book Thief is Percival's second feature as well. And All Is Lost is director Chandor's second theatrical movie. Cooper's first feature won two Oscars–Best Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role for Jeff Bridges, and Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song, for Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett for the song "The Weary Kind."

Also in this issue is SHOOT's Cinematographers & Cameras Series, which includes Barry Ackroyd, BSC, who lensed Captain Phillips, and Anthony Dod Mantle, ASC, BSC, who shot Rush, a film directed by Ron Howard that is also generating Oscar buzz. (Howard won two Oscars in 2002: Best Picture and Best Director for A Beautiful Mind.)

Mantle won a Best Cinematography Oscar in 2009 for the Danny Boyle-directed Slumdog Millionaire.

Ackroyd was nominated for the Cinematography Oscar in 2010 for The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

The Hurt Locker and Slumdog Millionaire were both Best Picture Academy Award winners.

This is the first in a multi-part series with future installments of The Road To Oscar slated to run in SHOOT's November, December, January and February print issues, concurrent >e.ditions and on SHOOTonline.com. The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on March 2, 2014, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.

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