Sundance Films

NikiNewland · January 23, 2004

I wanted to start a thread about this year's films.

If anyone has questions about CSA: The Confederate States of America, I shot a goodly portion of it. It incorporates 8mm, 16mm (B&W and color), 35, dv, betacam. Some of it was hand cranked (that was fun).

Spike Lee has endorsed it and agreed to executive produce. Also, it was just picked up for US distribution by IFC films. Much rejoicing is happening around here.

Any questions about this or other films in the festival?

Phil Rhodes · January 23, 2004

Hi,

Darn, if I'd have known it'd have been such a get together, I'd probably have tried to get there. Unfortunately the internationational film sales setup will ensure that we'll never get most of it over here, but still, congrats on being involved. I've only ever had one thing I was involved in play at a festival in the US, and it sucked roundly, so I'm rather glad not have heard anything about it!

Phil

Mitch Gross · January 23, 2004

Niki--

Congratulations! Here's to success on your film. I've heard a bit of buzz on it--didn't know that you'd worked on it. And welcome back to the forum btw.

Wendell_Greene · January 23, 2004

Congrats Niki!

FYI, the film was mentioned by film critic Ernest Hardy in his article, "Sundance and the New Negro Cinema" as found in this week's Los Angeles Weekly.

"And in the documentary ? make that mockumentary ? vein comes what is undoubtedly one of the festival?s best offerings, the ambitious CSA: The Confederate States of America, in which writer-director Kevin Willmott imagines what this country might look like if the South had won the Civil War and managed to extend the slave economy north of the Mason-Dixon Line. A biting, densely researched and meticulously crafted parody of the American Experience style pioneered by Ken Burns (as segmented for commercial television, with genially racist 30-second spots lifted straight from the junk heap of real-life American advertising), CSA, while holding on to the reins of its thesis, also succeeds in spinning out an overall critique of U.S. imperialism and global white supremacy. By not reducing the complexities of race, identity, politics and culture to pedantic dialogue or rote poses, Willmott and Evans have helped Sundance make good on its aspiration to present exciting and provocative Negro cinema."

for the rest of the article go to:

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/09/film-hardy.php

Wendell_Greene · January 23, 2004

I wanted to start a thread about this year's films...Any questions about this or other films in the festival?

I'd like to hear more details about your work on CSA.

Also interested in what you thought of Chris Soos' cinematography in the film "1.0" ?

Matt Pacini · January 24, 2004

What portions did you shoot in 8mm (Super 8?), what camera & stock(s) did you use, and how did it look in the blowup?

Was it projected at the festival on 35mm, or a digital projection?

Matt Pacini

David Mullen ASC · January 24, 2004

A film I shot called "D.E.B.S." was also up at Sundance; it just premiered this Thursday night. 24P HDCAM transferred to 2.35 anamorphic 35mm.

Sorry I missed "CSA" -- it was on my list but I found this year to be the worst for trying to see movies up there, what with a 30% jump in attendance, something like 40,000 people up there.

I only saw "I Like Killing Flies" (doc.). "The Corporation" (doc.), "Screaming Men", (doc.), "Baddassss" (drama / 24P HDCAM / digitally projected) and "The Woodsman" (drama / 35mm 1.85, all shot on 5289).

Wendell_Greene · January 24, 2004

Congrats, David. We're you pleased with the screening ?

David Mullen ASC · January 24, 2004

Yes, it went well. It was a big screen (Eccles) and 24P HD-to-35mm scope can look a little soft if you sit too close, but from halfway back it looked pretty sharp most of the time. It's always a bit hit-or-miss with HD; sometimes it looks stunningly clear, fine-grained, sharp, and film-like and other times it looks a little soft with digital artifacts. Trouble is on a lower-budgeted film, you don't get as many opportunities to fix things that need fixing.

After doing tests of various filters, we ended up shooting most of the film sharp, even the close-ups, which were often hard-lit frontally with hot backlights. Luckily the actresses were all beautiful. The hard light, the hot backlight, gave the image a nice "pop" when transferred to film. I only used a light Soft-FX for a love scene that was fairly short in the final edit.

I look forward to the day that I can shoot uncompressed 4:4:4 HD because I think that will help tremendously with some of the artifacts you pick up in post as you color-correct the image.

NikiNewland · January 24, 2004

Unfortunately, due to being an underemployed filmmaker, I didn't get to attend the festival this year.

I shot for CSA, some of the 16mm, (all but one scene of the B&W, the "I Married an Abolitionist" clip) and some of the DV. I operated on the betacam. I camera assisted (1st and 2nd) and gaffed most of the rest. The 35 was shot by a local camera owner (Kansas City) with the last name of Paddock (I don't remember his first name). The 8mm was all shot hand cranked on a bolex.

We used a Arri S or 16 BL for most of the 16 work with some shots with an SR2. DV was all shot on a Canon XL1. I was told to follow the actor and push record on the beta, so I don't know what it was. The 8mm was Matt's bolex, modified.

8mm stuff is easy to spot: "Dishonest Abe" hand cranked, silent, with title cards (and Harriet Tubman). Also, Abe Lincoln at 90, denouncing slavery from his home in Canada. Unfortunately when Kevin told the lab guys to scratch up the film, he failed to tell them to scratch a "WORK PRINT" so the original is in terrible shape.

It's hard to say who shot what between my mentor/professor Matt Jacobson and I because we made it a collaborative effort between the two of us. I'd light half the shot and he'd tweak and we'd both compose, or he'd light and I'd compose, he'd operate and I'd assist. It's a fantastic relationship we have because we have similar ideas with enough difference to spark creativity.

If you haven't seen it, this won't mean much to you... but, the things I know I shot (which may not all be in the final cut as they tweaked since I last saw it): speeches by stodgy politicians talking about 'keeping darkies in line' (b&w 16mm, arri s), the 'evangelist' talking about how 'negroids' are not quite human (dv, canon xl1), the press conference with the main character, Fauntroy, and his family as well as the coming down the stairs shot with all the confetti from his campaign video (xl1, I believe) All of "she's a good one", both the kitchen shots where the maids talk about the gardener getting uppity and the interview with Queen Bey later.(also xl1) The Cops-like segment called "Runaways".(XL1) The "Gone with the Wind" type epic musical shot "they tried to take my blacks".(SR2) There's more but I'd have to see it again to tell you.

Oh, and on the World War II ("kill em all, let God sort em out") (35mm) I was designated sweat wrangler.

CSA sold out every screening, especially after Spike Lee attached to the project, so a lot of people didn't get to see it, but it's been all the buzz since it premiered.

I don't know how it was projected, but when they all return from Utah I can give more details.

David Mullen ASC · January 24, 2004

I assume that any print would be made from a digital master -- this project sort of screams for a digital intermediate step, what with so many different formats to blow-up to 35mm. I'm just curious as to what digital format they are going to blow up from. I hopes it's HD or 2K and not some NTSC digital betacam master they have. But I suppose it's possible that all the work was done in standard def video for editing and onlining.

Sam Wells · January 24, 2004

Unfortunately when Kevin told the lab guys to scratch up the film, he failed to tell them to scratch a "WORK PRINT" so the original is in terrible shape.

Of all the "Don't Go There's" in the world this has got to be "Don't Go There" #1 !!

I'm surprised to hear the lab would be willing to do this (couldn't you simply write "Critical End" on the can ?) <- JUST joking

But anyway, congrats !

-Sam

cinemattographer · January 29, 2004

Actually, that "scratched original" was more the fault of the producer. Even though I had made things perfectly clear to Kevin Willmott (the director) on the steps we needed to follow (print original footage, distress print), he failed to pass that info on to Rick Cowan (the producer), who was "supervising" that transfer (because of cost reasons- we were in the transfer room as a "sweetheart deal"- proving, once again, the old adage that "you get what you pay for".)

My actual first response at seeing the footage was unprintable. But, once it's done, it's done. At least the post team was able to include some digital scratches to make the "real" scratches less obtrusive, while at the same time, the digital scratches lost some of their artificial feel due to the analog scratches on the film. Small silver lining, big dark cloud...

My name is Matt Jacobson. In case you haven't guessed by now, I was the Director of Photography and Co-Producer (with Sean Blake and Ben Meade) on "CSA: The Confederate States of America". I was privileged enough to attend the whole Sundance Film Festival this year, along with Kevin, Rick, and a group of my current students.

While I was the primary DP on "CSA", and supervised the majority of original photography for the finished film, there were several others who shot additional footage and sequences for the film. Because of their valuable contributions to this project, they have all been given "Additional Photography" credits on their own title card.

Tim DePaepe, the first cinematographer on the project, shot the interviews with our two historians before Kevin asked me to shoot the rest of the film. (While his footage was used throughout the film, he worked on "CSA" for only the first few days of the three years that "CSA" took to produce.)

Niki Newland, one of my most talented students, was cinematographer for four sequences in the film, as well as serving as my camera operator, gaffer, and camera assistant. She's done a fair job of representing her contributions here(although I do have to say that we did not shoot any Super-8 footage for "CSA.")

Other local filmmakers like Mike Gunter, Troy Paddock, Fred Paddock, and Roland Schlotzhauer all contributed to the visuals of "CSA". Additionally, the talented compositing and effects work of Sean Blake made many of our most complex shots incredibly effective, accentuating and complimenting what I was able to achieve in-camera.

After looking at the final piece, I realized that there is a definite advantage to having a few different ?eyes to the eyepiece? for a project like this. When Kevin and I were looking at different ?mockumentaries? as research, it readily became apparent that some films were shot by the same person, with the same aesthetic choices- even in footage supposedly separated by decades of time. "CSA" includes footage from over a hundred years of film and video history. With a variety of composition, lighting, and operating styles brought to the project by our different cinematographers, "CSA" looks more convincingly like the product of a hundred years of filmmaking. As supervising Director of Photography, I did consult with the director and other cinematographers throughout the production process, giving guidelines for the basic requirements that I was looking for whenever possible without adding too many limitations to their individual vision. In some cases, I even worked as a crew member on their individual shoots- but they always had the final aesthetic say.

We shot "CSA" using almost every format imaginable- 16mm reversal and negative, 35mm negative, 35mm stills, DVCam, MiniDV, Betacam SP, DigiBeta, even VHS. In almost every case, we chose a stock and format that would be most appropriate to each segment and time period.

For instance, for our version of ?Birth of a Nation?, I became Billy Bitzer for a day. After doing extensive research, including an analysis of technical information from Billy Bitzer?s autobiography, we shot that sequence with a non-reflex 16mm Bolex, using a 25mm uncoated Kodak Cine lens, on Tri-X reversal stock. (Two sequences were shot with this rig- portions of "The Hunt for Dishonest Abe" and the footage of "old" Lincoln.)

I made the decision to shoot that sequence on 16mm Tri-X black and white reversal stock to match the look and contrast of old, re-copied stock. I used both a hand-cranked Bolex and an Arri-S with a variable-speed motor, doing subtle speed changes and variations "on the fly". (Because I couldn?t find a hand-cranked camera with a speed-governor, I decided to use both cameras for this sequence. This also worked out well as a test for the hand-cranked scene with ?old? Lincoln, which we shot later.) I even figured out a way to re-create Bitzer?s iris effects as an in-camera effect (the iris we hasd secured originally did not work, as it had too few blades, and looked recognizibly hexagonical). Footage from both cameras ended up in the final sequence, including a ?happy accident.? When the hand-cranked Bolex came loose from its mount during a charge of the cavalry, to my eyes the footage appeared overly shaky and wobbly. The director loved the effect, though, and included that shot in the final cut.

I?ve just finished an interview for Kodak, and am putting together info for an article in AC. While we didn't win the Audience Award, we had four sold-out screenings, and we did sell "CSA" to IFC Films for a theatrical release. All in all, it was a good festival.

NikiNewland · January 29, 2004

Hi Matt and welcome. I told you you'd like it here.

I apologize for the 8mm mistake... I wasn't thinking.

So there's no mistake about who shot what, on a lot of my 'contributions' as listed, I operated or assisted and gaffed or both. I don't want to step on your toes, Matt :::cough tim cough:::.

But all is well and we should have drinks more often.

David Mullen ASC · January 30, 2004

By the way, an interview with me came out in regards to D.E.B.S.:

http://www.uemedia.net/CPC/cinematographer...icle_6392.shtml

Jason Maeda · January 31, 2004

hey david, i shot the stills on "badassss". often when he shows it as a triple screen instalation, my photos are displayed around the seating area, was this the case for sundance (i can't imagine it to be so)?

jk :ph34r: