On A Mission

Filmmakers from around the industry talk about saving our shared cultural history in the new PBS documentary, These Amazing Shadows. By Bob Fisher.

These Amazing Shadows is an 88-minute non-fiction film that artfully tells the story of the Washington- D.C.-based, The National Film Registry, which has been tasked by the federal government with the mission of preserving worthy fiction and non-fiction films for posterity. The documentary blends comments made by a diverse range of 65 people with clips from movies they recommended for preservation. Read more

Exposure: Clint Eastwood

Over the course of winning four Oscars, director/producer/actor Clint Eastwood has built a wide-ranging resume – everything from comedies, thrillers and those famously iconic Westerns, to complex and sophisticated adult dramas. A consummate craftsman, whose career stretches all the way back to the studio contract system, Eastwood appears at ease in any genre he chooses. That’s never been more true than recent non-fiction projects like Invictus, Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of our Fathers, and his newest, J. Edgar, a biopic about the FBI’s powerful long-standing chief. An “actor’s director,” who always puts his cast first, Eastwood is also famously efficient with schedules and budgets. Many say his ease behind the camera stems from the confidence he places in the collaborators he’s brought along over decades. Or as cinematographer Tom Stern, ASC (now on his seventh Eastwood project) describes the many creative partnerships: “a jazz quintet,” in that Eastwood is the leader, but gives everyone the freedom to contribute with their own particular talents. How fitting that the man who gave us Bird approaches filmmaking as one inspired piece of improvisation, where every single person on the set has a key note to play. Read more

ICG November 2011

J. EDGAR
DP Tom Stern, ASC, AFC
by Ted Elrick

FIVE
DP Christopher Popp
by Pauline Rogers

GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
by Matt Hurwitz

GREAT UNION LOCATIONS
by Pauline Rogers

DREAMS FULFILLED
Photos by Richard Ducree

EXPOSURE: Clint Eastwood

REFRACTION: Albert Maysles

DEEP FOCUS: Robert Chappell

GEAR GUIDE: Non-Fiction

KEY LIGHT: Bill Birch

Private Eyes

Tom Stern, ASC, AFC, rips out all the “bugs” in Clint Eastwood’s new biopic, J. Edgar. By Ted Elrick. Photos by Keith Bernstein. Read more

President’s Letter – November 2011

Pros and Cons

How will the world of non-fiction filmmaking be impacted by the amazing new array of prosumer tools to hit the market? I’m talking about iPhones that can shoot at1080P and a tiny HD camera like the GoPro® that can fit literally anywhere. There’s even a new support rig (the Smoothee) made by the same people who brought us the legendary Steadicam. There are also new mini (and mighty) camera systems from Sony, Panasonic and others some, of which, are 3D capable! Read more