Richard Vialet

The only two "real" IMAX screens in the Los Angeles area that show Hollywood narratives are the AMC Universal and the big Rave Theaters at the Howard Hughes Center on the westside. In my opinion, Universal is the (slightly) better of the two and from what I know that's where Warner Bros test screens the Dark Knight prints, if that means anything. The closest one after that is somewhere like Irvine I think...

This single shot from the Japanese movie Sansho The Bailiff has always stuck with me and might be my favorite. Like many great shots, it's not only perfectly composed, but when viewed in the context of the story, it really hits like a ton of bricks.

Here's an article supporting John's previous posted image! 65mm!! http://www.awardsdaily.com/2012/05/first-look-at-paul-thomas-andersons-the-master-well-kinda/

I'm a big film noir fan as well! My all-time favorite being DOUBLE INDEMNITY Some of my other favorites include (just off the top of my head): Out of the Past The Third Man The Big Clock The Maltese Falcon The Killing Laura Kiss Me Deadly The Big Heat In A Lonely Place Detour Pickup On South Street The Big Combo Mildred Pierce The Woman In The Window He Walked By Night The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Chinatown L.A. Confidential Body Heat And one that is in my top favorites but I think is completely underrated by others would be DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS. I love that movie!

not sure if this is what you're looking for but: http://soundworkscollection.com/

I was 23 when I got my MFA in cinematography. It's not unbelievable.

Yep! Very excited about it! I'm a HUGE fan of HBO original programming. There never has and never will be anything quite like it. Boardwalk Empire seems like it'll be a great historical drama in the same vein as the brilliant Deadwood, Rome, and Carnivale. But it seems like shows like this would be very expensive to make, which is probably the reason why all those previous programs got cancelled fairly early (Deadwood lasted the longest at three seasons). Hopefully Boardwalk Empire can fair better. The pilot promos look great and I think Stuart Dryburgh shot it so the combination of him and Scorsese makes for an great event! It's interesting to notice that I'm way more excited for the stuff that's coming out on cable and premium television now more than most of the stuff coming out in theatres. Wonder why that is.

Check out the Argentinean flick, The Secret In Their Eyes, which won the best foreign film oscar last year. Great movie and there's an amazing "single-take" sequence that starts with a helicopter shot of a football match and culminates in a handheld foot chase through the stadium. Great stuff. I think you can see the sequence on youtube.

Doesn't Michael Ballhaus use them a lot? I thought I'd read that somewhere...I think much of The Departed was shot on them, intercut with the Master Primes. I'd love to hear your experiences if you end up shooting with them.

There was a great thread on the site about this years ago back when the movie came out...if you do a really thorough search I'm sure you can find it...either in the cinematographers section or the on-screen section. From what I remember it was shot with Kodak 5277 320T stock, underexposed 2 stops and then pulled another two stops and printed up from there (or something ballsy like that). I also think he used older lenses like Super Baltars or Speed Pancros. There might have been mention of a lot of soft toplighting through covered wagons and muslins. My memory could be totally wrong about all this info though, you should do the search. Anyways, I love this movie too. Also, the book Steve mentioned, "New Cinematographers," is great for info, but I don't think there is a section on Birth.

It is shot on film. Panavision 35mm cameras and lenses.

You gotta change your name name to your real first and last name per the forum rules Big factors in the difference you notice are probably the change in film stock and lenses. Probably another huge change is the popularity of the digital intermediates in the 2000's which will definitely be a factor in the change you notice.

I pushed 5231 one stop in anamorphic once. Looks great! The B&W stocks handle themselves pretty well when pushed.

Emmanuel Lubezki used an almost identical rig on THE NEW WORLD for its handheld work. I don't think it was exactly the EasyRig but it was the basically the same type of thing. You can see him using it a lot on the dvd/blu-ray behind the scenes.

Not sure what your budget is, but the best units for this would probably be either HMI Molebeam projectors or Xenons.

Also, do people consider the Oscar to be the "highest honor" for cinematography? You'd think it should be the ASC Award...

I actually thought the cinematography was great in Avatar! I wouldn't have voted for it as the best, but I don't mind it winning. It's frustrating when people dismiss its cinematography just because it was so heavily computer-generated. Would you also dismiss the cinematography in Ratatouille, Wall•E, and UP, because they're all animated? If you would, I would completely disagree. Cinematography is the use of composition and lighting to tell a story (among other things of course :)), regardless of whether the lighting or composition was computer-generated or achieved with a 535 and a 10K on set. I'm sure that some of my favorite shots in movies in recent years were aided by some sort of computer generated camera move or lighting (Lord of the Rings, Amelie, and Dark Knight anyone?). Now the issue I have with the Oscar win is about who should be included in the award, because even though I'm sure Mauro Fiore played his part, I have seen more than one Avatar EPK naming Vince Pace as the DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, not just 2nd Unit. So the titles are getting a little hazy. Check out this featurette for naming Vince Pace as the DP, with no mention of Mauro whatsoever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZmJ8A1Wl6U

*In Cold Blood *The Innocents *Manhattan *Many Kurosawa pictures like Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Bad Sleep Well, Red Beard, and High and Low *The Longest Day (that's probably the movie you're thinking of Karl) As said before too, Memento had some sequences in B&W anamorphic Jayson Crothers on this site also had an amazing journal of a 2.35 B&W project he did too (spherical though) : http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=26872 I posted a little journal maybe a year and a half ago of a project I shot in the format: http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=31875

IMDB says it was used for "select scenes" Having read the source novel and seeing shots in the trailer that seem to be sharper and a little "higher quality" than the rest, my guess would be that 65mm was used for a series of dream sequences. That's my guess. I'm sure we'll find out more details in next month's AC mag.

Wow...Lust, Caution! Great choice! Totally forgot about that one!

For the poll I voted for: Road To Perdition Snow Falling on Cedars Eyes Wide Shut Babel Punch-Drunk Love The New World 2046 Far From Heaven The Dark Knight The Insider Had to ultimately and sadly exclude: Children of Men, American Beauty, The Thin Red Line, In The Mood For Love, Pan's Labyrinth, The Aviator, Passion of the Christ, There Will Be Blood, A Very Long Engagement

I've been following this on your blog and I think it really looks great! I think the slightly overexposed faces on the CU's look great with the filtration! Do you find that the Smoque filter softens skin a lot as well or does it mostly just lower contrast? Did you use a special eye light in that POV CU of the lady (i guess that's Mrs. Peppercorn?)?

I sent you a private message Jack, with all my info. Please check it. I'd love to hear more. www.richardvialet.com

Just got in from seeing this. It truly terrified me. TRULY. It was the first time I've ever trembled and shivered in the theatre. I knew nothing about it other than it had a blair witch style and it had a demon. I hadnt even seen the trailer. Now im on the phone with my girlfriend , with all the lights on to distract me. I don't even wanna say much. Just know that this forum reader and the whole audience he was with was terrified and you should see it.

I totally agree about Amanda Seyfried. I've been interested in her for a while. Not necessarily because she gives the most amazing performances (even though I think she's great and seems like she'll only get better) but I really think she has an extremely engaging face, and instantly recognizable. I can't wait to see her in Jennifer's Body as well as in that new Atom Egoyan movie, "Chloe".