Gregory Irwin

This video was shot with my iPhone to illustrate the focus issues we had with the Canon K35 lenses and the Preston FIZ. You can also see the T stop on the lens which further complicated our challenges in this shooting situation. This video was shot on set of AMERICAN HUSTLE.

Sounds good Adam! He loves living in Stckholm. He speaks very fondly of that. And it's very impressive that he speaks 6 languages!! Not many can claim that. As an American it's amazing that I can speak 2! ;) G

Thank you Mathew. To answer your last question, Geoff and I were direct requests by David. He wanted us for SLP as well but we were not available. And I believe that was one of the issues our DP had. He didn't have his crew since Geoff and I were "forced" upon him. But we tried our best to look out for both his and David's interests. That got a bit tricky at times. As far as your other observance, you're correct. David does not rehearse, there are no marks and we haven't a clue to what's going to happen during a take till after we have shot it. It must be quite a sight watching the steadicam operator, the focus puller, the boom man as well as the gaffer, who was booming a china ball on a stick, all negotiating for the same space while trying to stay out of eyelines and the key light! We all got into the habit of keeping an eye out for each other and signaling to which direction any of us needed to shift whether it was ducking either under the boom or even the lens! Even the cast got involved with the calling of audibles during a take and were extremely respectfull of our challenges as we were of theirs. The script supervisor would always ask me what the shot would be and I would smile and say " I'll let you know after we've shot it." Finally, I accidently omitted the name of our 3rd steadicam operator who spent just a couple of weeks with us. Dave Thompson also made a huge contribution to AH. Sorry Dave! G

Thanks for the kind words Jeremy. David O's choice of using steadicam only comes from his interpretation of what a steadicam is capable of. He feels that it has an ease of movement and he truly believes that it is a panacea for the amount of time that it would take to set up a studio camera along with dolly track, etc. He doesn't want to be limited in any way that track would limit his camera movement to. David simply wants the cast to do what they want and for us to conform on the fly to them. It's interesting to note that Geoff ("A" camera and Steadicam operator) and I are very accustom to no rehearsals or no blocking of a shot. In fact, we kind of enjoy that challenge. We had a tremendous success with David's THE FIGHTER which was shot in the same fashion. The movie is in frame and completely in focus. The difference was that we did not use the Canon K35 lenses. We shot with Zeiss Master Primes at a T1.3 and it looked fantastic! Hoyte van Hoytema was the cinematographer on THE FIGHTER where as Linus Sangren was the cinematographer on AMERICAN HUSTLE. His choice of employing the Canon K35s was fatal to our success when referring to the focus pulling challenges. Those lenses simply could not perform to the level we required. Thankfully, after we changed lenses to the Zeiss High Speeds, our focus issues were put behind us. I only wish we had made the change earlier in the shooting schedule. I also want to mention what iron men Geoff Haley and Greg Lundsgaard were. They both operated steadicam non-stop for long hours and weeks on end. They really sacrificed their bodies to make AMERICAN HUSTLE. It was both physically and mentally challenging for us all. Jorge Sanchez was my "B" camera 1st AC and he too did a wonderful job. G

Thank you!

Hoyte is a good friend of mine and we have now done 2 pictures together, THE FIGHTER and INTERSTELLAR. He has quite the interesting history. He's actually not a Swede, although he resides in Stockholm. He's Dutch, born in Switzerland and lives in Sweden. He is very worldly and quite a talented cameraman. His career has just begun and he will be a major influence in cinema. G

You're right! Much of the movie had focus issues. The cinematographer insisted upon using old Canon K35 lenses for their 1970's look, the time period that the movie takes place. Unfortunately, the K35's have 1970's technology as well. Since AMERICAN HUSTLE was shot entirely on steadicam, the use of Preston FIZ remote focus units were necessary. Since the K35 lenses have a compressed focus scale and are known for "loss of motion," they could neither respond to the Preston transmitter commands nor return to a prescribed focus mark. There wasn't much chance for success in the focus department with these lenses. About half way through the shoot and against the cinematographer's wishes, the First AC insisted on switching the Canon K35 lenses for the Zeiss Hi Speed lenses which were made for cinematic use. After the switch, the focus issues were eliminated and the integrity of a period look was mantained. G

I was one of the 1st ACs on a movie called "Pleasantville". We lost one our own, Brent Hershman, after working a 19 hour day. He fell asleep behind the wheel of his car and died. It affected all of us. As a result, our cinematographer and gaffer drafted a legislation and submitted it to our union titled "Brent's Rule". It called for a limit of working no more than a 14 hour day. It went nowhere. It actually got defeated by our very own members who opted for overtime over their safety and well being of their families. Years later, veteran camera operator, Michael Stone suffered the same fate after working all night. He was my mentor and I considered him family. I'll never forget hugging him goodnight at crew parking only to learn what happened to him a few hours later. I'll never get over his loss. In fact, his funeral is featured towards the end of Haskell's "Who Needs Sleep". Then it happened to me. I was working on a Disney feature film in the South Island of New Zealand. We were in a very remote location where many of us self drove long distances to and from where we were lodging. In my case, I was commuting about 100 kilometers (60 miles) after working long hours in grueling circumstances. I never realized that I was falling asleep. I want to repeat this part: I never realized that I was that tired and was falling asleep while driving. Not until I wrecked and totaled the car. I was lucky enough to walk away from the crash. But I can honestly tell all of you that it scared the living sh.. out of me! I never want to experience that again. Long hours are not worth one's life. Unfortunately, it still is a part of our industry. I will never stop being a proponent to limiting the length of the work day. If it's illegal to drive while intoxicated it should be illegal to drive extremely fatigued. There is no difference. Impaired judgement is the same. I call on each and every one of you to join me in this effort. Thank you for reading this. My best to ALL of you, Greg

Well, it's gotten you to pay attention and talk about it. Ha! Can't be all that bad...

It's not worth the extreme expense of 65mm IMAX when compared to 35mm cost.

No worries Mate! No offense taken. And yes! Your community college point is well taken and very correct. G

Where did you graduate from Richard?

I would love to disclose details but due to a signed non-disclosure agreement, I would be foolish to do so. Details to come after some time has passed. Hope you all understand. G

Just to be clear: California State University at Long Beach is not a community college. The film school there is very good. I know! I graduated from there (many years ago). I wish Lucas had gone to CSULB but he did not. However, Spielberg did. Regardless, Richard's point about community college is quite valid. G

Wow! And all I intended was to share a "first look"!

I'm glad to hear that. But from now on all I want to read from you is about your progress with all of the above. Nothing more. Best of luck to you Rueul. You can do this. Just believe.

Are you kidding me Reuel??? You JUST want to make movies? Direct?? Let's get real. You are talking about the biggest mental and physical commitment that you will ever undertake! There are no free passes here. If you think that this is going to be easy, you are mistaking my friend. Film directors, by nature are some of the most prepared and intelligent people I have ever met. The successful ones anyway. All I read from you are excuses. That's defeatist. Get off your rear end and start finding solutions to your problems. Get a tutor for biology. Make it happen!!! I'm honestly disgusted with your lack of faith in yourself. If you don't have faith in yourself, no one else will. And don't hide behind your ethnicity to make yet another excuse to why you can't be successful in ANYTHING you put your mind and efforts towards. Faith and commitment = success. Are you committed Reuel? If you are, you will find solutions to your challenges.

That's easy! The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. USC is the top school in the world for this. G

NOT THE RIGHT ATTITUDE!!!

I was composing a response to one of Richard's earlier posts in this thread when I read Brett's post. Honestly Reuel, Brett is right on. I am testimony towards that. I had no "in" to this business. I majored in film AND business. I believe my business degree has taken me much farther towards becoming a success as a cameraman than my film degree did. Let's face it: you will be working in the Film INDUSTRY, Show BUSINESS! This is not to say in the least that film school is not beneficial. It is. As Brett stated above, it introduces you to a networking environment and helps lead you to the path in. It's still up to you to go down that path on your own. If this is truly what you want to make your life's work about, you will do anything it takes to make that happen. You will have a "take no prisoners" attitude towards your goal. And this begins with hunkering down and improving your grades and taking the subjects that you think don't matter. Let's face it: Cinematography is math. Good luck to you. And by the way, I am particularly partial to USC. They boast of the top film school in the world as well as their highly respected Marshall School of Business. Can't go wrong! Great recommendation Richard! G

It's not a doc. It's Chris' first Sci-Fi. The music is Hans Zimmer. And as for the faked shots, well I guess we did pretty good because the ones you mentioned are not them! The TV newscaster is the legendary Walter Cronkite who anchored the CBS News for decades. That a real moment of him reacting to NASA's successful moon landing in 1969. Thanks Freya! G

Actually, there are a couple of shots in the "stock footage" that we shot and vfx made to look archeival. I'm not telling which ones! ;) G

Enjoy...

Thanks for the heads up. But that's way too risky. We are going with plan B. We need to be able to trust the film stock's integrity. G

Ah. That confirms it. So much for this idea! :). Thanks David. G