darrel-Kirk Lambert

Cinematography

Personal Portfolio

Taking the piss

pre production

Statement of intent

For my personal portfolio unit I decided to take on the role of cinematographer as part of a team of

three. Within this team I took on the responsibility of lighting. This role meant I had to analyse the

script and breakdown what lights were to be used. Having read the script it was clear from the onset

that the film would rely heavily on available light. This meant researching cameras and presenting

the best camera options that would perform excellently in low-light conditions to the Camera

Department.

The use of available light required research into colour temperature, filters and lenses. Aside from

that it required conducting case studies on films that could prove as inspirations for what I in-

tended to create visually, by focussing on the works of a cinematographer.

Visual approach

When I was first signed to the Cinematography Department the aim was to use the knowledge gained

from the tutors, and try to develop my own personal style. This was to be created by experimenting

and a process of mixing and matching and trial and error. In doing so I had to be bold in pushing the

boundaries of the normal standard procedures of a cinematographer.

For camera work I wanted to incorporate a lot of smooth camera pans with wide lenses in order to

establish the geography of the location. Within these camera movements I had to have long takes in

order to capture every single moment. Furthermore I wanted to shoot a lot of Close Ups in order to

capture the natural human form in the light. I also tried to be experimental and try a wide variety

of shots, and camera positions to see if I could develop my own stylistic approach to camera work.

for the lighting aspesct of the film again I wanted to be experimental with the colour tones of the

image, the film is set around the scotish winter when the weather is generally quite overcast and

harsh. therefore i knew the image must be constructed to match that type of weather. the colour

temperarture settings would have to be adjusted several times in order to get the image, that i be-

lieved matched the story telling purporses.

mood board

These images are what I feel best represents the ‘brit-grit’ genre, they provided a basis of what re-

search I needed to conduct for this project, These images also helped visualise the ideas of what i

beleive taking the piss should look like.

mood board: why i needed one

the reason I constructed a mood board was to gain inspiration into how films focused on the story-

telling of British social issues that were portrayed on screen. I wanted to visualise how the actors

were going to be framed within the context of the landscape. furthermore, I wanted to gain an un-

derstanding into how the character interacted with that environment.

furthermore the use of the mood board was to act as a visual map of the ideas I hoped to construct

on screen, these were my idea of what films represented the ‘brit-grit’ genre. the films often used

available light as much a possible, what I took from this is that the Cinematographers wanted to

construct an image that was as natural as possible, and capture the landscape in its true essence.

this further strengthened my claim for shooting the film in as much natural light a possible,

through the aid of filters and colour temperature settings on the camera.

Cinematographer: inspired by

robbie ryan

I chose to use robbie ryan as an inspiration and a template to try to construct the image for tak-

ing the piss as it seemed he shot quite a range of films that represented the ‘brit-grit’. this meant

I had to gather a list of his films, watch his films and select the ones that provided the best ref-

erence of ideas I wanted to utilise for taking the piss. these were fish tank, wurthering heights

and the angel share.

I watched all three films and took out pieces of information that I hoped to illustrate. This in-

formation was collated into case studies of each film, this information included what camera the

film was shot on and the kind of lenses used. This was done in order to inform the decisions the

camera crew had to make of which camera and lenses would be best to shoot in natural light. As I

was responsible for the majority of the lighting aspects, i took this into consideration.

After watching these films I believe that wurthering heights was the best key reference I hoped to

use, in order to create the look for the film, it proved the best material to source ideas from. The

other two films Fish Tank and the angel share I still kept on hand as secondary inspirations, for

shot composition and camera movement.

key cinematographer; robbie ryan

fish tank

angels share

wurthering heights

case study: Wuthering heights

wuthering heights: technical specs

Director of photography: robbie ryan

Camera

Arriflex 35 IIC, Panavision Primo Lenses

Bell & Howell Eyemo, Canon Lenses

Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL, Panavision Primo Lenses

Film negative format

35 mm Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, Fuji Eterna Vivid 160T 8543, Eterna 250D 8563

Cinematographic process

Digital Intermediate 2K master format

Spherical source format

Printed film format

35 mm

D-Cinema

Aspect ratio

1.33 : 1

wurthering heights: why it inspired me

wurthering heights was film shot by director of photography robbie ryan in 2011, the reASON I

FOLLOWED THIS AS A TEMPLATE FOR INSPIRATION WHEN CREATING THE LOOK FOR THIS FILM, WAS the use

available light. robbie ryan was able to shoot this film with very minimal light source creating

stark images,

robbie ryan was able to capture the bleakness of the surrounding landscape. this was very

Successful and i wanted to emulate this throughout taking the piss. when conducting research for

this film ryan stated that he wanted set apart his cinematography for this film from any other by

focusing on shooting the landscape. This can be backed up by a quote by robbie ryan stating ‘The

only influence could have been how they shot the landscape’. A lot of other films have not been so

specific about the landscape’.

the use of silhouettes in the film was done very well and aided in the story telling of the

film. the use of natural or available light ensured that the image had a strong contrasting tone.

case study: fish tank

technical specs: fish tank

Camera

Arriflex 35 IIC, Panavision Primo Lenses

Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL, Panavision Primo Lenses

Film negative format

35 mm Fuji Eterna Vivid 160T 8543, Eterna 400T 8583, Reala 500D 8592

Cinematographic process

Digital Intermediate master format

Spherical source format

Printed film format

35 mm

Aspect ratio

1.33 : 1

fish tank: mood board

stills from fish tank

fish tank: mood board

case study: the angel share

technical specs

Camera

Arricam LT, Zeiss Master Prime Lenses

Film negative format

35 mm

Cinematographic process

Digital Intermediate 2K master format

Super 35 source format

Printed film format

DCP

Aspect ratio

1.85 : 1

the angel share: mood board

stills from the angel share

the angel share: mood board

stills from the angel share

case study conclusion

when concluding my research i found that robbie ryan shot these three films primarily on the 35mm

film using a varied range of lenses. the budget earmarked for the cinematography department meant

that we couldn’t afford to shoot on film. the next step forward was to put together a kit package

that would allow the team to capture a cinematic image close to academy 35mm film.

the first step was to outline three camera options, and discuss with the camera team my recommen-

dations of what we should use. the camera had to be able to perform well at capturing images in

available light, not only that, the lenses had to be a key factor in deciding what camera to use. the

use of artificial light was also taken into consideration as part of the discussion with the team.

most of the film would rely on natural light, so i also compiled a list of equipment that i thought

would help supplement the depth and texture of the final image.

the selection of lenses was a key topic discussed. robbie ryan mainly used prime lenses for these

films, so it was essential that we tried to hire these lenses out, alongside some strong filters.

camera choices

canon c300 red mx

sony fs700

sony fs 100

canon c300

technical specifications

Camera type: Professional video

Sensor size: Super 35

Sensor type: CMOS

Effective pixels: 8.29 megapixels

Supported media: Compact Flash CF Type I, CompactFlash CF Type II, SD, SDHC, SDXC

Multiple card slots: Yes

Minimum ISO: 320

Maximum ISO: 20000

Fastest shutter speed: 2000 seconds

Slowest shutter speed: 24 seconds

Video capture: Yes

Max. resolution: 1080p

Standard framerates: 25, 50, 59.94, 29.97, 23.98

Slow motion framerate: 59.94 FPS

Continuous AF: Yes

recording : NTSC, PAL

nterchangeable lens: Yes

Supported mounts: Canon EF, PL Mount

Video out:Yes

Connections: HDMI, 3.5mm stereo audio, XLR, BNC, Timecode in out

red mx

technical specifications

SENSOR 14 MEGAPIXEL MYSTERIUM-X

PIXEL ARRAY 5120 x 2700

SN RATIO 66db

DYNAMIC RANGE 13+ stops

MAX IMAGE AREA 4480 x 2304

LENS COVERAGE 24.2 mm x 12.5mm x 27.3 mm

DEPTH OF FIELD Equivalent to S35mm Motion lens

Equivalent to 16mm Motion lens in 2K RAW

ACQUISITION FORMATS 4.5K RAW 2.4:1

4K RAW 16:9, HD, 2:1, and Anamorphic 2:1

3K RAW 16:9, 2:1, and Anamorphic 2:1

2K RAW 16:9, 2:1, and Anamorphic 2:1

PROJECT FRAME RATES 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 fps 4.5K, 4K

plus 50, 59.94fps 3K, 2K

DELIVERY FORMATS 4K : DPX, TIFF, OpenEXR RED RAY via optional encoder

2K : DPX, TIFF, OpenEXR rED RAY via optional encoder

1080p RGB or 4:2:2, 720p 4:2:2 : Quicktime, JPEG

Avid AAF, MXF. 1080p 4.2.0, 720p 4:2:0 : H.264, .MP4

red mxtechnical specs

MONITOR OUTPUTS HD-SDI and HDMI with Frame Guides and Look Around

720p RGB or 4:2:2

SMPTE Timecode, HANC Metadata, 24-bit 48Khz Audio

DIGITAL MEDIA REDFLASH CF Module : 16GB Media

RED SSD 64GB, 128GB, 256GB Capacity

REDCODE 12-bit RAW : RC28, 36, 42 Quality Levels

1-30 fps 4.5K, 4K

1-60 fps 3K

1-120 fps 2K

AUDIO 4 channel, uncompressed, 24 bit, 48KHz.

MONITORING OPTIONS: RED LCD 5” Flat Panel Display

RED PRO LCD 7” Flat Panel Display

BOMB EVF High Definition Viewfinder

REMOTE CONTROL: USB-2, GPI Trigger

WEIGHT10lbs. Body

CONSTRUCTION Aluminum Alloy

sony fs100technical specifications

Filter Diameter 67mm EL18200 kit lens

Imaging Device Exmor Super35 CMOS Sensor

LCD Screen 3.5 inch-type, XtraFine LCD, approx. 921,600 dots 920 x 480 16:9 aspect

Microphone ECM-XM1 Shotgun type monoaural mic.

Optics Lens Lens Type Sony E-Mount, interchangeable lens system

Video Signal NTSC color, EIA standards HDTV 1080:60i, 1080:60p, 720:60p specification.

PAL color, CCIR standards HDTV 1080:50i, 1080:50p, 720:50p specification

Recording Frame Rate PAL Mode

1080 progressive HD PS 28Mbps 1920x1080 50p,

HD FX 24Mbps 1920x1080 25p

HD FH 17Mbps ,1920x1080 25p

-

1080 interlaced

HD FX 24Mbps 1920x1080 50i,

HD FH 17Mbps 1920x1080 50i,

HD HQ 9Mbps 1440x1080 50i,

HD LP 5Mbps 1440x1080 50i,

-

720 Progressive

HD FX 24Mbps, 1280x720 50p

HD FH 17Mbps, 1280x720 50p

-

Satandard Definition PAL

SD HQ 9Mbps 720x576 50i 25p Scan

SD HQ 9Mbps, 720x576 50i 25p Scan

sony fs100technical specifications

35mm Equivalent 27mm to 300mm

Aperature F3.5-6.3

Filter Diameter 67mm SEL18200 kit lens

Focal Length 18 to 200mm

Focus Manual & Auto

Image Stabilizer Optical SteadyShot

Optical SteadyShot with Active Mode

Iris six blade

Lens Type SEL18200 E-Mount zoom lens

Maximum Relative Aperture F 3.5 to 5.6

Optical Zoom 11.1x

Zoom Ratio Selectable 11.1x

sony fs700 echnical specifications

Filter Diameter 67mm EL18200 kit lens

Imaging Device Exmor Super35 CMOS Sensor

LCD Screen 3.5 inch-type, XtraFine LCD, approx. 921,600 dots 920 x 480 16:9 aspect

Microphone ECM-XM1 Shotgun type monoaural mic.

Optics Lens Lens Type Sony E-Mount, interchangeable lens system

Video Signal NTSC color, EIA standards HDTV 1080:60i, 1080:60p, 720:60p specification.

PAL color, CCIR standards HDTV 1080:50i, 1080:50p, 720:50p specification

Recording Frame Rate PAL Mode

1080 progressive HD PS 28Mbps 1920x1080 50p,

HD FX 24Mbps 1920x1080 25p

HD FH 17Mbps ,1920x1080 25p

-

1080 interlaced

HD FX 24Mbps 1920x1080 50i,

HD FH 17Mbps 1920x1080 50i,

HD HQ 9Mbps 1440x1080 50i,

HD LP 5Mbps 1440x1080 50i,

-

720 Progressive

HD FX 24Mbps, 1280x720 50p

HD FH 17Mbps, 1280x720 50p

-

Satandard Definition PAL

SD HQ 9Mbps 720x576 50i 25p Scan

SD HQ 9Mbps, 720x576 50i 25p Scan

sony fs700technical specifications

35mm Equivalent 27mm to 300mm

Aperature F3.5-6.3

Filter Diameter 67mm SEL18200 kit lens

Focal Length 18 to 200mm

Focus Manual & Auto

Image Stabilizer Optical SteadyShot

Optical SteadyShot with Active Mode

Iris six blade

Lens Type SEL18200 E-Mount zoom lens

Maximum Relative Aperture F 3.5 to 5.6

Optical Zoom 11.1x

Zoom Ratio Selectable 11.1x

final choice: red mx reasons for choosing red mx

1. superior cinematic image shooting in 4k image

2. superior form of capturing 35mm video images

3. allowed shooting anamorphic images

4. high iso rating, meaning excellent natural light recording options

5. more options in fps manipulation

6. dynamic colour temperature options

lenses choices

zeiss super speeds arri ultra prime lenses zeiss cooke lenses

final choice

zeiss super speeds prime

12mm

18mm

25mm

35mm

50mm

85mm

lighting equipment

2 x 1.2 HMI Lights

4 x Arri Lighting Kits

1 x KINOFLO

1 x DEDO Lights

1x Gold Reflector

1 x Silver Reflector

2x Flag Kits

Sand Bags

2 x Gel Kits

Polyboards + Holder

Lite Panel 1x1

Extension Cables

darrel-kirk lambert

taking the piss

production stills