February 3, 2000

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:04:15 PM)
Hello. Welcome everyone. I'm happy to be here at such an early hour. I'm looking forward to your questions.

Sofia (Feb 3, 2001 1:04:24 PM)
What was your impression of Sundance and the films you saw?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:04:41 PM)
I'm assuming you mean this year...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:04:54 PM)
The documentaries, as usual, were of an unusually high caliber. And I felt that the dramatic films were better than ever.  I haven't cried so much in one week since I was a kid. It's always better to go if you have a film there. Although many people go for the film going experience, camaraderie, the skiing, the parties

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:06:26 PM)
I had a film in this year as a surprise screening. It's entitled Stranger Inside and focuses on a young woman's journey through the prison system in search of her mother. We just wrapped in Oct and weren't expecting to finish in time to apply for Sundance. Some time in December Sundance heard about the movie and offered us a surprise screening so we had to finish anyway

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:07:59 PM)
The film is directed by Cheryl Dunye who also directed Watermelon Woman. Everyone can see it on HBO in June, although it was an unusual marriage of independent film combined with HBO. In addition to HBO, the producers were Michael Stipes, Jim McKay, also a director, and Effie Brown.

lonnielynn  (Feb 3, 2001 1:09:05 PM)
Did you get a chance to see the controversial Raw Deal? What did you think?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:09:40 PM)
I didn't have an opportunity to see it, although the controversy has been fascinating and I'm looking forward to viewing it. It takes a lot of gut for Artisan to have picked it up to distribute...

Filmoz-DavidW (Feb 3, 2001 1:10:16 PM)]

Nancy, In the past I have used Arriflex cameras exclusively...I would be interested to know your preferred choice of gear...Arri vs Pananvision

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:10:58 PM)
Well don't forget Moviecam and Aaton...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:11:27 PM)
Although I prefer Panavision primarily because of its lenses, it's not about the equipment, it's about what's in your heart and mind. I've used all of the cameras and sometimes due to the nature of the project, it's practical to use different kinds of equipment...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:12:16 PM)
For example, sometime you need many Panavision bodies to do the same thing as one Arriflex camera. The Millennium is a favorite of mine because it is easily changed from studio to steadicam or hand-held mode. It can go fairly high speed, but if you really want to go extremely high speed you need another body...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:13:59 PM)
I used the 35 mm Aaton for the hand-held sequences of Blair Witch II and I used Super 16 Aatons as well as the new Aaton A-minima on an HBO pilot this fall entitled Lessons Learned.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:15:34 PM)
In China, there wasn't an Panavision at my budget level and I used Arriflex for the movie Shadow Magic, which Sony Classics is bringing out in April. I feel that it's my best work...

jazz (Feb 3, 2001 1:15:59 PM)
It's been said that DPs are a combination of artist and engineer. Where do you fall in that range?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:16:30 PM)
You certainly have to have a technical proclivity to be a cinematographer, but the real creation comes from one's artistic side. I feel every DP, including myself, has to have a balance of both.

Jendra (Feb 3, 2001 1:17:20 PM)
Can you tell us about your experiences on Visions of Light?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:17:48 PM)
Visions of Light was photographed in high def in the early days. I always thought it was ironic that a film about cinematography should originate on an electronic medium.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:18:32 PM)
They were old tube cameras tied to a large truck of engineering and were not portable. I think this was '92 and a lot has changed in the last few years with high definition. The advent of chip cameras, Sony 700 and 24p. The old camera needed an incredible amount of light.

togo (Feb 3, 2001 1:18:55 PM)
What was it like being the first woman gaffer in NABET? I am a woman electrician (local 52) and have heard horror stories from other veteran women.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:19:49 PM)
We were shooting Visions of Light for NHK. I used to try and trick the engineers in the truck by making it as soft as I could with as little light as I could...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:20:15 PM)
I tried to have as little depth of field as possible so that it felt like film instead of an electronic image where everything is dark... sharp, not dark...

kosmodog (Feb 3, 2001 1:20:43 PM)
Still photography has had an enormous influence on my vision as a cinematographer. Has it influenced you and are there any specific phtographers that come to mind.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:21:43 PM)
Before I became a cinematographer I was shooting stills. I didn't go to film school. I have a psychology and art history degrees instead, but I always shot mostly black and white stills. I like formal photography as well documentary photography such as Steiglitz, Brassai, Dorthea Lange, Walker Evans, Margaret Burke White, etc...

Filmoz-DavidW (Feb 3, 2001 1:23:05 PM)
Nancy...we all have films that have influenced style, ideas that sort of stuff...does one particular film stand out for you?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:23:46 PM)
Definitely The Conformist. Storaro is such a master of so many differeni styles all found in that one movie. The lighting and the framing were exquisite and probably influenced me to become a cinematographer. Later, I was also quite influenced by Blade Runner, photographed by Jordon Cronenweth. Early on, when I was in college, running a film society theater, Sven Nyquist had a profound influence on me...

DF  (Feb 3, 2001 1:26:05 PM)
Was it a hard transition to make between still photography and shooting motion picture film? Can you explain the difference?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:26:42 PM)
After college, in Ann Arbor, I moved to New York and became an electrician and then a gaffer for many years. So my transition was gaffing to shooting. And that was not an easy road...

DF (Feb 3, 2001 1:27:11 PM)
This business is never an easy road

togo (Feb 3, 2001 1:27:22 PM)
What was it like being the first woman gaffer in NABET? I am a woman electrician (local 52) and have heard horror stories from other veteran women.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:28:06 PM)
It never occurred to me that I couldn't do the work as well as any man. I'm sure that I was considered a novelty. I felt that I had to work harder than the men.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:29:09 PM)
I never felt that I was discriminated against when I was a gaffer. There were always DPs to hire me and support me. I do remember taking the union test and someone asked me how much I weighed because they were afraid I couldn't lift the lights. I doubt that question would have been asked of a man. When I started shooting, I felt the discrimination begin. Probably because people were afraid that a woman was controlling the entire look and budget of the movie.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:30:28 PM)
It was always a surprise. I just never considered that lighting and cinematography were gender based. T-here's a long history in the theater of lighting directors being women and it surprised me that there might be prejudice in the film business but the important thing to remember is not to focus on any perceived discrimination because you won't get anywhere.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:31:32 PM)
It's as hard for men as women to make it as a cinematogrpher.

Nikka Costa (Feb 3, 2001 1:31:43 PM)
As a woman has it been hard to gain the confidence of men which, I would assume is the majority of those with whom you work?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:32:19 PM)
I often know when I'm at a job interview whether or not I even have a chance to get the job. I feel that certain men who have had mothers who worked professionally and were good role models are more open to working with a woman DP. Many men aren't even aware or don't want to admit that they would have a problem working with a woman DP so when one doesn't get a job, one never knows whether it's because they don't like your work or because they don't want you controlling the look of the film and the set.

Filmoz-DavidW (Feb 3, 2001 1:34:03 PM)
Speaking from the male perspective, and observing the "games" people play...the male crew members let the testosterone level  get in the way.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:35:01 PM)
I shoot primarily for male directors, because there are fewer females directors, but I've heard from other women DPs, that people like the tone of the sets that we work on. There's a feeling of openness and camaraderie and not competition, but that sounds like a stereotype as well...

TK Green  (Feb 3, 2001 1:36:04 PM)
You mentioned Watermelon Woman and HBO. What do you make of the budding relationship between pay cable networks and independent films or edgier programs like The Sopranos or Resurrection Blvd?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:37:02 PM)
We all used to be depressed when our independent movies opened and closed within a week because the budgets were too small to promote and properly advertise a film. HBO and other pay cable networks as well as the Sundance Channel and Independent Film Channel allow filmmakers to reach larger audiences than anyone could imagine...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:37:54 PM)
Also, HBO, for example, who originate programs, are able to take more risks in subject matter so we're finding more and more filmmakers as well as prominent actors working in TV, particularly cable.

Filmoz-DavidW (Feb 3, 2001 1:38:43 PM)
I genuinely believe that US films have a better look than their Aussie counterparts, and I put this down to filtration...would you agree? What Filters do you like the best? My apologies to any Aussie film fans...just a personal view point

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:40:01 PM)
I feel that cinematographers everywhere are talented. I feel that the European and Chinese films are the most beautifully shot although, for example, A Time for Drunken Horses, an Iranian movie, is exquisite.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:41:01 PM)
I am a big fan of Australian DPs, many of whom are working in the US, such as John Seale, Dean Semler and Peter James, etc...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:41:59 PM)
I feel that American independent films can suffer in look because their producers do not give their cinematographers and directors enough days to shoot, unlike their European counterparts...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:42:36 PM)
Also, witness the digital revolution at Sundance, which is a lot about the democratization of filmmaking, which I DO support, even if it's at the detriment of "the look."  In terms of filtration, I like Black Promists and soft effects filters, although I gear my use of filtration to each individual project.

Jazz Bass (Feb 3, 2001 1:43:35 PM)
Have you seen the latest web technology for streaming video? Do you envision the Internet as a market for indie films?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:44:32 PM)
I feel it is a good market strategy for indie films, which tend to be for special interest groups. I think the technology still has a ways to go. Witness the slowness of this chat session...

lonnielynn  (Feb 3, 2001 1:45:04 PM)
touche'

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:45:23 PM)
Also, the digitized quality of images needs improvement. We're definitely at the beginning of a revolution. However, I'm still romantic and believe that people will go to a theater for that a tribal experience of sharing emotions in the dark...

Lightman (Feb 3, 2001 1:45:55 PM)
How do you get to stay involved in color timing and other postproduction when film you shoot ends up on television or videocassettes and DVDs? Is it in your contract?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:46:48 PM)
I always manage to be available to color time both print and video forms of the movies I shoot. In my contract, the producers must give me notice several weeks in advance as to the timing dates. However, in the old days, DPs never got compensated for timing services and that remains true today.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:48:38 PM)
Transferring to video takes a week of 10-hour sessions usually, and many DPs feel its unjust that we're not getting paid for our time. However, the producers know we won't let our work out without supervising the color timing transfer so they have us over a barrel

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:50:09 PM)
This tradition of not being compensated probably started before video transfers when a DP only had to go to the lab a few hours once a week for a short period.  But we need to reframe for video, especially if it's shot widescreen and the color rendition is so different on video. In fact, it's even more controllable than film timing, which is still in the dark ages

Moderator  (Feb 3, 2001 1:51:22 PM)
You just shot an HBO pilot in Super 16 format. What were the pros and cons?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:51:36 PM)
There were no cons. We were shooting in the rain and the mud in the jungle in Hawaii which was supposed to be Vietnam. Most of the pilot was shot hand-held and multi-camera. We were able to move quickly and efficiently by using a smaller camera. The image looks incredible with the new film stocks and lenses, which were primarily zooms, were quite sharp, with good color rendition.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:53:05 PM)
It's perfect for TV.

Burbank Hank (Feb 3, 2001 1:53:18 PM)
Do you do anything different when using using digital instead of film?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:54:11 PM)
Digital encompasses many kinds of cameras.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:55:09 PM)
I treat high def and digi beta and the very high end DVCAM cameras very similarly to how I light film. Mini DV can break down in low light, if it's going to be transferred to film later.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:56:09 PM)
Again, it depends of the look one desires for the project. Sometimes one is striving for a funky grainy look. I still prefer Super 8, being a romantic, although I've used all the mediums. I feel it's important to be open to all technology today...

togo (Feb 3, 2001 1:57:03 PM)
Did you become a DP by means of moving up the ranks or did you have to take on small projects of your own to develop a reel before being granted that position?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:57:44 PM)
As I mentioned before, I worked my way up from electrician to gaffer. When I started shooting, I shot anything I could. And I recommend that to anyone trying to break in. Find another way to pay the rent...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:58:33 PM)
In those days there weren't a lot of independent features. There were film school shorts. I also made my own films...

Ricco Ricardo (Feb 3, 2001 1:58:43 PM)
How do you pick the right agent when you are getting started?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 1:59:16 PM)
When I was getting started, no agent would even touch me because it was too much work for them to try and find me work. I feel this is common for every DP coming up. It's very hard to find an agent and it's always about who you know anyway and being in the right place at the right time. One seldom gets work from their agents without some other connection to the project.

Yung Lu (Feb 3, 2001 2:00:33 PM)
You've been to China twice in your career. Do you think it is changing? What is the official attitude towards American filmmakers working there?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:01:31 PM)
My first trip was on a documentary with Shirley Maclaine and Claudia Weill. We traveled around and never put the cameras down...

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:01:55 PM)
I was actually the gaffer and assistant camera for 16 mm cameras. When I returned years later it was for a period movie at Beijing Film Studio for a Chinese-American director with an almost entirely Chinese crew. So I know there was red tape for us, so I can only imagine how hard it is for an American production to film there today.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:03:29 PM)
We spoke a lot about this in the interview. Maybe people could refer to that.

beemer91 (Feb 3, 2001 2:03:36 PM)
Do you think the role of the cinematographer is changing?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:04:39 PM)
Again, I feel that cinematographers need to be open to what's new and what's hot. We need to be well versed in special effects, digital effects and all of the new technologies. As a romantic, I believe cinematographers will be around and yet we need to fight for control over the image so that the final product still has our original intentions.

Moderator  (Feb 3, 2001 2:06:06 PM)
There is a lot of marketing and publicity in the press about how easy it is for anyone to be a cinematographer today. All you need to do is put a camera on your shoulder and shoot. Do you think that influences producers, and how do you answer when people bring that up?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:07:24 PM)
I believe there are enough celluloid lovers that believe the style of the film should be shaped by a professional. I'm all for people making their own personal films, but I feel that as they grow, they will want to be relieved of that task of shooting so they can concentrate on eliciting performances from their cast.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:08:48 PM)
I do feel that someone such as Steven Soderbergh did a marvelous job with Traffic, although he did spend a lot of time in digital suite fixing the Mexican section. But many are not as skilled as Steven.  

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:09:48 PM)
There will always be those who want to control all aspects of their films. Just like cinematographers, editors might be at risk as well in the future. But filmmaking is so overwhelming, people are always relieved to have collaborator and supporters.

Moderator  (Feb 3, 2001 2:10:26 PM)
We'll take one last question.

Ave790  (Feb 3, 2001 2:11:05 PM)
You mentioned Soderbergh. Any Oscar predictions?

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:12:03 PM)
I'm still catching up on a few Hollywood movies. I sat on the Independent Spirit Awards nominating committee and viewed 140 independent films so I still need to see some of the larger movies.

mike (Feb 3, 2001 2:13:01 PM)
Nancy, I just wanted to thank you for responding to me when I mailed you my resume as a lot of D.P.'s don't. I'm an A.C. and look forward to the opportunity to perhaps work for you someday!

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:13:30 PM)
I know how hard it was for me to begin. We're all just human beings trying to be a part of this industry and we all need to be recognized. Good luck.

Nancy Schreiber  (Feb 3, 2001 2:14:49 PM)
Thank you all for tuning in.