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Transcript
of Live Chat with June 23, 2001
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:05:20 PM) Hey, folks. Thank you for taking the time and interest. I'm ready for questions whenever you are.
SantaBDP (Jun 23, 2001 12:05:35 PM) I like the notion that DP's are a combination of artist and engineer. Where do you see yourself in that range.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:06:03 PM) For me, the material is tantamount in attempting to design the look of the film.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:06:25 PM) I usually try to think of how the camera and the mood of the lighting can help to tell the story and affect the viewer's perception. Usually that means that how I get there is secondary to the initial idea of the shot or of the mood of the scene. I come from looking at a lot of experimental films and documentaries, so those influences have always been present in however I see a scene. The experimental especially. Because I'm always looking at alternative ways of seeing the world.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:07:38 PM) The technical is an area that I've explored more slowly than others. Perhaps because I've always been more interested in what the camera can do to help me get the particular look or image I want rather than being interested in the technical aspects of the camera itself.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:08:19 PM) My gaffer, John Nadeau, a long-time collaborator who is sitting here with me, also added that I tend to be much more of a chemist in terms of pushing and pulling and trying to get the emulsion to do different things that otherwise wouldn't be normal technical specifications.
Bobby (Jun 23, 2001 12:09:13 PM) Which cinematographers influenced you the most? Any current ones?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:09:58 PM) Right off the top of my head, I would say I've become very interested in the work of Chivo Lubezski and the DP of Amores Perros, I think his name is Rodrigo Prieto, but after 24 straight days of working, my memory struggles.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:11:45 PM) Lubezski's work interests me because he has drawn from painting and literature in a way that I think is profoundly moving. His work in Sleeping Hollow was like a painting.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:12:05 PM) Also I would say another influence in terms of his ability to use light is of course Storaro.
Ladyinfilm (Jun 23, 2001 12:12:54 PM) Rumor has it that you really go to the mat for your crew. Isn't that unusual in this biz? And why do you do it?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:13:19 PM) That's a really good question.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:13:49 PM) The crew, quite simply, is my family. It doesn't matter whether I've just met them on the set or whether I've been working with them for the past ten years, like a significant number of people I work with. The crew, in my mind, supports me and therefore I am totally there for them. I realized while working on independent films that if I don't support them, then there is no one to go to bat for them.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:14:44 PM) In one instance, when the crew was having trouble negotiating their deal, I asked my agent to represent the entire camera/grip/electric crew. Oftentimes, during independent films, I would make sure the crew deals were made before I made my deal, and made sure their quotes were written into my contract.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:15:49 PM) I also am very aware of all of the politics that go on within the crew and encourage that everyone respect each other equally because I realize we all have to work together. Frankly, we spend so much of our lives working on film sets that we have to take into consideration making our workplace and work conditions viable.
INI (Jun 23, 2001 12:16:29 PM) "Alternative ways of seeing the world" So you're more of an artist than a technician? A nod to your undergrad studies?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:17:21 PM) I guess I've often been described as a so-called artist. Although, I never would call myself one because of the obvious pretentions attached to that term. I try in my work to bring a certain emotionality into the work to be able to show my empathy for the subject matter I'm photographing and try to convey some of the feeling that goes with conveying a certain scene.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:19:28 PM) This, I would imagine, stems from my work as an anthropologist and as a photographer, especially in the documentary sense.
SpiderCam (Jun 23, 2001 12:19:48 PM) How do you forsee the role of cinematographers changing with the advances made in digital post-production making it easy to change everything in a digital suite?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:20:32 PM) I think that we can't forget that being a cinematographer is not only about taking a camera and photographing a scene. It really is about the ideas and the vision behind what you want to say. And the material at hand.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:21:13 PM) I think a lot of people think of cinematography as a craft only, and once you've mastered the camera and the technical that you can become a cinematographer. I think that for me, the material and what I want to say about that material is what motivates me and has motivated me, to become a cinematographer.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:21:42 PM) So how does that relate to the emerging field of video?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:22:23 PM) I've been discovering more and more, since Bamboozled, and especially since I worked on a small art project with Rebecca Miller, with whom I did Angela, that video can offer a lot of possibilities, even in mini DV. In terms of taking a camera-original film negative and running it through a Spirit film-to-tape machine into data, which seems to be the next step in the future, I can explore so many more possibilities of color and contrast that otherwise would be hard to achieve going from negative to an interpositive and internegative. Now we will be able to go from data, color correct from data, and output directly to an interpositive, which bypasses the whole answer-print process.
Mr. Cruz (Jun 23, 2001 12:25:22 PM) Blow was outstanding. Can you tell us what you're working on now?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:25:53 PM) My gaffer just chuckled. In other words, what is he doing next?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:26:32 PM) During the past year I've been working on a lot of commercials and have just recently finished doing a labor of love project with Rebecca Miller, which was a trilogy of short stories about three women. When Rebecca told me she wanted to shoot on mini DV (the budget was $150,000), I agreed to do it because she and I have a great collaboration together.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:35:46 PM) I plan to spend the next few months working on commercials while trying to finish a long-time personal documentary that's been in my heart for a long time. It's basically about the relationship of a young Lao and his father, who worked for the CIA designating bombing targets during the secret air war in Laos.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:37:01 PM) This project has been on the back burner because I've been so busy doing features and commercials. So now's the time for me to pause and finish it.
Jendra (Jun 23, 2001 12:37:06 PM) I was an electrician for the IBM spots you did a few months ago. When I saw you last you were talking about venturing into the realm of commercial director/shooter. Do you have any plans to direct?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:37:35 PM) Hey, Jendra, I hope you're well.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:37:44 PM) Yes, that's another area that I'm going to venture into. In fact, I've been meeting with a lot of commercial houses to see where I want to be represented, before I step out into DP directing. As one might guess, there is always a risk of not continuing to work with some directors because of an obvious conflict.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:39:02 PM) Most of the directors I've worked with, however, are aware of my intentions and seem to be at ease with continuing our collaborations.
Leah (Jun 23, 2001 12:39:12 PM) Is it important to have an agent? How do you pick a good one?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:39:36 PM) My introduction to agents was completely unexpected and frightening.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:39:59 PM) The night I won at Sundance for the best cinematography for Swoon, in 1992, I was deluged by agents at the party thereafter.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:40:03 PM) What to do?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:40:20 PM) I was completely in the dark about what agents can do for me and what their role is in helping to develop a career. Swoon was an art film that I did with Tom Kalin and I didn't expect the attention that came from the film because it was a project of the heart, not to advance my career. I ended up meeting with a number of the agents and chose one based on the feeling that if they were going to represent me, then they had to have a similar value system and sense of propriety.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:43:06 PM) Personally, I am not interested in the wheelings and dealings of the business. I simply am interested in having a person who can honestly and fairly represent me as well as protect me in certain situations.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:43:37 PM) As we all know, the DP is often the fall person when a shoot is not going well. (That's fall "guy".) Not that we all have to live in fear of being fired off of a job, but we do have to be aware that the politics can be brutal. John reminds me that I tend to work, however, with producers and directors who are not as cutthroat as many in the business.
Glenda (Jun 23, 2001 12:44:57 PM) Very few women have been given the opportunity to shoot studio films. Do you believe this will change in the future?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:45:12 PM) Absolutely.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:45:55 PM) I think that women have to face their fears about being competent technicians, because most of the women I've met in the industry have consistently been great technicians. We have to look into ourselves every single time we walk onto a set and reassure ourselves that we're okay and that we know our jobs, and that we're as competent as the rest. Be confident and people will see and believe in your confidence. More importantly, don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't know something.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:47:17 PM) Just recently, a female assistant came up to me to ask me a question, with some hesitation, because she was afraid of disturbing me. I reassured her that under no circumstances should she ever feel afraid of asking any DP any question. Perhaps DPs promote an image of superiority on the set, which I think is inappropriate to a collaboration of all crew members involved.
John (Jun 23, 2001 12:48:35 PM) I hear that you wanted to shoot part of Rebecca Miller's film at your own home so that you could coordinate the house painters. How does being away so much affect your family life.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:49:14 PM) All right, John! How come you didn't bring your paint brush?!??!!
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:50:02 PM) The fact of the matter is on Rebecca's film, we pushed a week so that the day we were supposed to shoot moved into my painter's schedule, so I had to coordinate not only the painters but the entire crew.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:50:36 PM) So I sidestepped the question of my family life there.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:51:05 PM) At the present time I've been away for three weeks, and I feel completely discombobulated because I haven't had a chance to sit at my own desk for at least two months. This makes corresponding with people and keeping up with my own personal life extremely difficult.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:52:18 PM) Sometimes I will tell my agent to carve out a week or two in order to recuperate and find time for myself and my dog. It is extremely difficult to be away. As we all know, this industry wreaks havoc on personal relationships. When someone is with another person who's not in the industry, the long hours and the time spent away from home are not easily explained.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:53:35 PM) I too think about getting married and having a child, but being so involved in my career hasn't really left enough space for that to happen. If I did have a child right now, I know it would definitely affect my career.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:54:32 PM) Unlike some DPs, I don't have a wife or a husband at home who can share some of the responsibility. And even those DPs know that their time away from home is very difficult on the family. After spending such an intense time on the set, everyone, including camera crew, electricians, ADs, have a hard time acclimating to family life again. It's a reality of the business. But I think that people have to make choices and fight for reasonable working conditions in order to make the balance more viable.
YoungOp (Jun 23, 2001 12:55:13 PM) If you were 20 yrs old today and trying to start a film career, would you go to film school or choose another route?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:55:35 PM) That's a tough question for me.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:56:14 PM) Because I didn't really go to film school, I only had the opportunity to audit some classes in film production at a time when women were less than welcome. I do wish that I'd had some formal training in color theory and more technical aspects of filmmaking, in addition to the research and in-depth studying I did on the theory of filmmaking.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:57:34 PM) To answer your question, I would say it would be useful to go to film school because that environment encourages groups of students to work together toward making films. And hopefully, film schools will put the students into the right state of mind to think about becoming filmmakers and storytellers.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 12:58:44 PM) Sometimes I've seen people from film school who have done quite well there emerge with the attitude that they've made it or that they know everything. I think it's important to remember that being a cinematographer is a constant learning process and that, in a sense, the research never ends and we will continue to learn for the rest of our careers. I would encourage you to try to work in some aspect of the industry in order to learn the system and to get to know people in the labs, the equipment houses, etc.
Eff-Stop (Jun 23, 2001 12:59:52 PM) What are your feelings about learning filmmaking using video tools?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:00:04 PM) Why not?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:00:42 PM) I think that video allows the opportunity to understand editing and setting up shots, blocking, basic storytelling – without the expense of shooting camera negative. That's not to say that there isn't a lot to be learned about shooting negative (I am an advocate of film!), but video is a fine tool.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:02:06 PM) One thing that first-time directors and DPs often forget to take into account is blocking the actors. Understanding blocking is key to telling the story with the camera. Video, in this case, can help you to set certain shots up very easily and quickly and, in a sense, you use the camera as a director's finder.
Susie (Jun 23, 2001 1:02:30 PM) You started you career shooting documentaries. Is that a career path you would suggest for newcomers?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:02:52 PM) Absolutely. Shooting documentaries gave me the opportunity to learn how to think on my feet.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:03:56 PM) Often when shooting documentaries the camera person has to walk into a room and figure out what the essence of the scene is in just a few minutes. In documentaries the camera person has to tell the story with the camera in order that the editor can cut it. Therefore, what happened in my mind was a constant dialogue about the editing and how I could provide the editor with enough diverse cuttable material.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:05:15 PM) That's key.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:05:52 PM) Having to think this way was a great learning experience for shooting dramatic films and being able to react quickly on my feet and light a scene very quickly, so the director would have time to work with the actors.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:06:51 PM) John adds that my unusual framing a lot of the times
comes from the documentaries and that gets translated to the mainstream
theatrical films. John calls it "Kurasic Framing.” George SC (Jun 23, 2001 1:06:58 PM) There's lots of stories in the media about all the freedom digital cameras are giving actors and directors because they don't have to wait for the cinematographer to light it. What do you think of that and how do you deal with that expectation when you're shooting a digital project?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:07:45 PM) The entire first week of shooting Rebecca's project, I felt like the constant negative naysayer on the shoot. I kept on reiterating that video needs to be lit well in order to look good.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:09:22 PM) John indicates that I stretch the video with filters, and take it to its technical limit, i.e., letting the highlights burn, etc. Being respectful of the zebras (100% white) but not letting it dictate my exposures.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:10:14 PM) Getting back to the question of directors advocating video for its versatility, you cinematographers have to be strong and firm about what you need to do in order to make the video look good, or even acceptable.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:10:46 PM) As I said, I was quite vocal about not compromising on the time needed to make the video look good. Particularly since I was doing it for free! In the press and in seminars, I have been very outspoken about not letting video overtake the vision and craft of cinematography.
Glenda (Jun 23, 2001 1:11:22 PM) Have you and your crew been affected by runaway production? What do you think we can do about it?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:12:27 PM) I have been offered a number of films to shoot in Canada, and fortunately I have been able to turn them down because I can't bring my crew with me. And I know that so many DPs have not had the chance to bring the crew with them to Canada.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:13:16 PM) Having shot a couple of commercials in Canada and having spoken to the crew there, I'm aware that their rates are far below what crew members would and should be paid in the States. This is, in my mind, equivalent to having merchandise made overseas and in Mexico by cheap labor. Because the people will do it because they need the work.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:14:37 PM) I don't know what to do about the situation, other than to continue to shoot films in the States as I am able.
SheDPtobe (Jun 23, 2001 1:14:41 PM) How do you manage to shoot both commercials and feature films? Is it hard to schedule? Do you need separate agents?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:15:21 PM) I usually shoot commercials in between doing features. No, it's not hard to schedule. Yet it is hard to schedule downtime.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:15:54 PM) I do have two separate agents, one for commercials and one for features – but they both work within the same agency and talk with each other about my schedule. In other words, they run my life!
INI (Jun 23, 2001 1:16:23 PM) Are you following the SAG negotiations? Think they'll be a strike?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:16:59 PM) Considering I'm sitting in the union hall... the folks here say it's highly unlikely.
SpiderCam (Jun 23, 2001 1:17:43 PM) How do you keep you keep from getting "down" or blue in between jobs?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:18:17 PM) John says nobody has time to get "down." There's always something that's coming up, there's always options. That's what great about working with a good DP!
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:19:23 PM) I say, I never get down. Because I am always interested. Not only in what I do as a cinematographer, but in trying to read a book, get to my "other life," finish my film, etc.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:20:00 PM) I do remember, however, the times when I was just beginning to develop in the feature market and so many crappy scripts would be sent to me. That's depressing. When out of 20 scripts, only one seems remotely interesting as an original story.
Evolution (Jun 23, 2001 1:20:35 PM) The press considers cinematographers "below the line." What do you think?
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:22:03 PM) I think it's interesting that cinematographers shoulder so much responsibility for what goes up on the screen. And we are basically next in line after the director in terms of responsibility, yet we don't get residuals, rarely get points, and often are the scapegoat when something goes wrong.
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:22:06 PM) Go figure!
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:23:55 PM) Actually, listening to the talk in the office behind me, I guess there is a percentage that goes to all IA crew members and DPs for residuals for our health plan and pension fund. But John adds, "It's not painting my house!"
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:25:14 PM) Thanks for everything, everybody! John and I have to head out to a shoot with Spike this afternoon. After finishing a huge Radio Shack commercial, John and I are continuing to shoot Spike's documentary on Jim Brown. We've got a 12 o'clock call so I have to say good-bye now!
Ellen Kuras (Jun 23, 2001 1:25:17 PM) Thanks.
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