glen winter

Thanks Tom. Glad your still watching. Our ratings are down a bit this season, with the move to friday nights, but the show has never been better in my opinion. Still loving the Genesis. We have been pushing the boundaries even more this year, and being able to play with different looks on set with the panavision GDP had been a godsend. Its just so quick and easy... Best Glen

Just wanted to share a depressing memo I received lately, regarding how we shoot Smallville... With digital transmission there is only going to be one signal broadcast, HD 16 x 9 . While this is a great step to the future, the studio is now not doing a SD downconvert with a letter box to preserve the widescreen image we have composed for since season 3. This step is being left to the cable provider. Since the studio believes that this will be not done by them in the foreseeable future, we are being asked to go back to protecting for 4 x 3 centre cut. Most viewers watching Smallville on SD will go back to only viewing it in this aspect ratio, after 5 years of letterbox. This was such a great breakthrough for us at the time. We were liberated from the tyranny of compromise, and began working the frame with stretched compositions that we considered cinematic! Now this is a great step backward, and it really hurts.

The Lensbaby is a lot of fun. For its fairly inexpensive price you can get some pretty cool organic looking effects. I bought one last year and had Panavision put a Pana mount on it and we have used it on both the Millennium and Genesis on Smallville several times.

Hey Tom that was me, waaay back on one of my first days on the show.... You can thank mother nature for the lighting! Thanks G

Karl to answer your questions re alternating. Not all shows have alternating DPs but it is becoming more common. Our show started alternating back in the first season when the complexity and workload of the episodes prompted the switch from one DP to two. Yes this means that you are sharing your creative "vision" with someone else but there are many great advantages to alternating.It is really all about prep. When you are shooting a series with a single DP meetings with the director are jammed into lunch breaks or between shots. Often you would not even go on a location survey and send your gaffer and key grip and work from maps and photos. We have very elaborate stunt and effects sequences that need to be organized, CG elements need to be discussed and we usually story board all major CG or action sequences. Having 2 DPs definitely costs the show more but pays off in efficiency on the set. Luckily our producers recognize that. We also have a full 2nd unit for every episode that shoots 2 of the 10 days, it over laps with main unit allowing us to cram 22 episodes in 9 months. We would not be able to shoot our own 2nd units if there was only one of us. As far as TV being "restrictive" I would say that you certainly need to be respectful of the palate of the show your are on, providing the look has been agreed upon by all. However this should not be considered confining. I have been given the complete freedom on this show by the producers to mix it up and go for it when the situation calls for it. In fact they really encourage as much of the style to be created in camera as opposed to manipulating the look in post. Micheal to answer your question the switch was financially driven. In fact coming up to this season, our budget had been reduced and the producers were nervous about my reaction when they proposed going HD. They thought I would want to leave after shooting on 35mm for several seasons. Quite the opposite, I saw it as a fantastic opportunity, and went to work with Panavision as to how to make the Genesis happen. I think Warner Brothers had assumed that we would end up using 900s or F23s but I went for the top. I knew we needed smoothest transition possible and there was really never any other choice in my book. With the Genesis we could continue to use our beloved Primo zooms that we shoot 90% of the show on, while retaining 35mm depth of field. I was also excited by the prospect of shooting in Panalog and applying LUTS on set, a work flow that actually gives me MORE control than we had shooting film. It has not been without its compromises. To afford the much more expensive Genesis bodies we have had to go from 7 full time camera bodies (between main and 2nd unit) down to 3 in total. When we need an extra body for a stunt its cheaper to rent an arri3 or 435, and roll some film. It cuts well. Thats even with Panavision giving us a really fair deal on the gear. They have been amazing with all of this. They really willed it to happen. I have to say I am having a blast. It looks fantastic and I just came back from timing the season opener in LA and it grades like butter. My colorist was thrilled. We apply our luts for viewing on set and record un baked in. They then apply the LUTS to the down converted digibeta edit master for dailies. I find that I am having to overcompensate a little in crushing the blacks and adding saturation to keep some snap in the standard def dailies. I have a modified 5218 LUT that I have created for this. The camera eats diffusion alive and I have been really enjoying mixing and matching various layers of pro mist and classic softs. Each episode our DIT will send full res HD stills down for each scene so they can be referenced for the final grade as the uprezzed digibeta footage has proved to be not particularly useful for reference. Our DIT also records all footage simultaneously on his hard drive at full rez so we have a back up if needed and we can reference anything at any time which has proven to be really useful on 2nd units and inserts. Its all right there. So far so good, I love this camera!! (and this workflow)

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Before this year we shot on film with a package of various panavision cameras including a millineum, an XL and a 435. The transition to HD has been great. I feel the show looks just as good if not better.....

Hey Tom great to hear your watch the show. I'm one of the alternating DPs.

Sorry for the late notice, if you are interested check out our season premier tonight, Thursday, at 8pm on the CW. Our first episode shot on the Genesis camera. Hope you enjoy it! Glen Winter

Sorry for the late notice, if you are interested check out the season premier of Smallville tonight, Thursday, at 8pm on the CW. Our first episode shot on the Genesis. Hope you enjoy it! Glen Winter

Hey Roberto, hey I just noticed your post. Thanks for the support!!!!! Yes it was fun to do something a little different. We actually used Double X black and white stock for the episode and I used a fogal stocking as you noticed. It gives a nice supple diffusion, and you get those interesting blossoming highlights. To get an award for such an exciting episode was a dream come true. If you are interested, I recently shot an episode called Fracture, which just aired, where we venture into the recesses of Lex's mind. I used a net for much of that episode as well, in addition I did a 100% bleach bypass on the negative. I also had some fun with Kodak reversal 5285 cross processed for one scene. In addition we played with Panavisions Hylen lens system for the Lex Lana love scene. Check it out, it pretty cool! Thanks again for watching, and always having something nice to say. Glen

Thanks David, It was an amazing evening and great to meet you. I am humbled and in awe of the honor. I would like to mention my fantastic lighting and camera crew in Vancouver, who work tirelessly on a very challenging series. They all share this with me! Glen

Has any one shot with 3 perf (DI) for a 1:85 composition? I have only read about 2:35 but I have been told this is possible.

We use Schnieder Classic Soft Halfs on the show for close ups, and this is what gives the dimpled effect in the highlights. They are nice because the diffusion is very subtle, but take the edge off the sharp Primo lenses, as we often go in for screamer close ups. Glen

Hi Roberto, sorry to join in on this so late, I was just browsing and noticed your comment about Smallville. Thanks for you kind words about the look of the show. My name is Glen Winter and I am one of the alternating DPs on the show. I also shot the episode,"Suspect", that you asked about. Our show is shot on 35mm, primarily 79, and the flashbacks were shot on 16mm revesal, pushed one stop, with a Pro mist 2 filter and a 90 degree shutter. Hope this helps ! Any other questions please feel free to ask! I'll keep my eyes peeled, as I am new to this forum! Glen