International Cinematographers Guild Selects 18th Annual Emerging Cinematographer Awardees

The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) has named eight honorees and two honorable mentions for its 18th annual Emerging Cinematographer Awards (ECA). The ten short films will be premiered at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles on September 28. A New York premiere will follow on October 26 at the School of Visual Arts.

The honorees, selected from almost 90 submissions, are Frank Buono, Camera Operator, whose film is 1982; Devin Doyle, 1st AC (Lancaster Stomp); George Feucht, Camera Operator (Une Libération); Sidarth Kantamneni, Camera Operator (Saerto Ena); Kyle Klütz, 1st AC who was also an honoree last year (Sequence); David Kruta, Digital Imaging Technician (Wallace); Bartosz Nalazek, Preview System (Making a Scene: Forest Whitaker) and Greta Zozula. Camera Assistant (Immaculate Reception).

The honorable mentions are Chris Heinrich, 1st AC (Sure Thing) and David Jean Schweitzer, Camera Operator (Good Luck, Mr. Gorski).

The purpose of the ECA is to nurture talent within the Guild and to give promising cinematographers the crucial exposure they need to succeed in the motion picture industry.

 The ECA is open to any member of the Guild who is not already classified as Director of Photography. Members are asked to submit films they have photographed with a running time of 30 minutes or less. The ICG is the only organization in the entertainment industry that offers its up-and-coming members the opportunity to be recognized and the chance to further their careers.

The films are selected by a panel of ICG members from across the country.

Steven Poster, ASC, president of the ICG said, “These 10 aspiring Directors of Photography truly represent the future talent in our industry. Each of the films that they helped to create is an example of inspiring and creative cinematography. They also demonstrate a mastery of the new technical skills required by our craft. Our judges had a difficult time choosing the winners from the high number of entries this year. These films without a doubt are extraordinary achievements and deserve the recognition they will receive at this year's Emerging Cinematographer Awards.”

Jim Matlosz, who has been chairman of the Guild’s ECA committee since 2008, added, “Once again we had a great turn-out for submissions to the ECA.  And again our members have proven their talent.  It seems as though we always have more great films than we do winners. This means we usually have about 20 top films that all come very close in numbers and votes, culminating with the 10 we choose based solely on judges’ votes.”

Sponsors of this year’s event include Canon USA Inc., Tiffen, Technicolor, Sony Electronics, ARRI, Zeiss, K5600, Kodak, Lite Panels, Panavision, Aadyn Technology, Blackmagicdesign, AbleCine, Assimilate, Band Pro, LumaForge, Birns & Sawyer, Chimera Lighting, The Rag Place, Cinelease, Clairmont Camera, Illumination Dynamics, JL Fisher, KinoFlo, Light Iron, Mole-Richardson, Rosco, Sekonic, Sim Digital, Matthews Studio Equipment.

About the International Cinematographers Guild:

The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) represents more than 7,000 members who work in film, television and commercials as Directors of Photography, Camera Operators, Visual Effects Supervisors, Still Photographers, Camera Assistants, Film Loaders, all members of camera crews and Publicists. The first cinematographers union was established in New York in 1926, followed by unions in Los Angeles and Chicago, but it wasn’t until 1996 that Local 600 was born as a national guild. ICG’s ongoing activities include the Emerging Cinematographer Awards and the Publicists Awards Luncheon. The Guild also publishes the award-winning ICG Magazine. www.cameraguild.com.

Parallax Blog: Three Weeks into the Future

“Would you mind jumping in and reading the Tarot Card Reader’s line with these guys?”  Director Alan Chebot asked the red-haired young lady behind the camera at our casting session. That question proved serendipitous. From over 25 women who came in to read, it was Courtland Jones, the assistant casting agent, who rose to the top as the obvious choice for our lead actress… and she wasn’t even there to audition! With casting complete, we had exactly three weeks from the day the elaborate concept was given the green light until delivery of an epic mini-movie.  It was a Parallax land-speed record, so a little serendipity was welcome.

Collaborating with agency Mechanica, we were excited to bring PTC’s vision of the future of products and manufacturing to life.  The brainchild of Creative Directors Jim Garaventi and Ted Jendrysik, the concept centered on a business executive visiting an alluring fortune-teller to find out the “keys to the future”…But did he actually visit her?  You be the judge.

DP, Dave Kruta, checks the shot as Courtland and Sean rehearse on the parking garage set

To give the piece a cinematic look, we chose the Red Epic Camera with our own Canon C300 as B-camera. Our Art Director was quickly combing shops for candelabras and woven tapestries to create the rich, layered look of a fortuneteller’s lair. Our Wardrobe Stylist was on the hunt for funky antique jewelry and gypsy garb. Three Location Scouts scoured the Boston area for manufacturing facilities open to the idea of a film crew invading their space. Everyone dove right in and did their part. And, voila! We were ready to roll by 6:00am on the first of two long days of filming.

Alan steps in to direct Courtland while at the manufacturing facility

If you’ve ever been to the Commander’s Mansion in Watertown, you know any room there would make an ideal setting for a tarot card-reading session… and it did. Then, day two took the cast, crew and clients from a factory building in Mansfield up to PTC’s headquarters in Needham for the three remaining scenes. In each setting the original tarot card-reading table needed to be recreated…continuity was vital. In all, we moved the entire operation to five locations over two days, and each worked seamlessly with the vision. The stars just seemed to align.

Creative Director Ted Jendrysik, Director Alan Chebot and Script Supervisor Joan Ganon stand by as Courtland reads the cards to actor Sean McPherson

Courtland helped move things along by nailing her lines and hitting her mark on every take. She even threw the tarot cards down on the same spot, take after take, which thrilled our AC-focus-puller! The film was directed by Alan Chebot, and lensed by Director of Photography David Kruta. Rob Engel designed the set and Team Parallax’s Tara Haggett, and Taylor Wieluns produced.

DP Dave and Director Alan "see into the future" to align the perfect shot

Upon wrap, we had the goods to take back to our editing suite at Parallax where Editor Cameron Femino put together an intriguing and beautiful piece. “See The Future” had its debut at PTC Live Global 2013 to rave reviews…and it all happened in three weeks!

Watch the final "See the Future" spot below.

Read the full article on the Parallax Blog here.

Stax Durrier's Phantom Fun

Phantom Fun "Yellow" with Shake the Baron is out! Enjoy below. 

“Ghost Hits” follows the story of a young couple that has run out of patience with each other and are arguing in the street, on the edge of breaking up with each other. As the fight intensifies, we are transported into an imaginary boxing ring, where they have it out in an intense match that leaves them bloody and exhausted. In the end, they realize they are meant to be together, and find within each other the love they truly feel.

Read the Behind the Scenes post here.