Written by: Shirley Baugher

What can you say about a man who’s done everything? Because Bruce Logan has done everything.

He’s told us amazing stories and accompanied them with equally amazing special effects.

He’s given us some of the most memorable film images of the last two decades. Think of the revelation of the killer ape’s bones on the space ship in 2001: a Space Odyssey. Or Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star in Star Wars. Or the opening scene from Airplane with the shark-line tail fin gliding through the clouds to the music from Jaws. Or the miniature Lily Tomlin going down the garbage disposal in The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Or Hank Williams and his rowdy friends mixing it up on Monday Night Football. Or the hyped up Johnny Depp setting out on his acid road trip in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Or film’s first journey into cyberspace with the revolutionary Tron.. We have Bruce Logan to thank for all of these.

He has racked up film credits that are almost too numerous to mention. He won two Emmys as a writer/director and Director of Photography. He has directed spots which garnered two advertising Golden Lions at the Cannes Film Festival. He has produced enormously popular Super Bowl spots. He has shot feature films, theater projects, television commercials, music videos, and television shows. He has produced 80 episodes of Network HDTV. And, he has been a colorist for film and television under his own company: Color by Rainbow. Talk about being a legend in your own time.

I am a camera with its shutter open, recording…recording the man shaving at the window opposite and the woman in the kimono washing her hair. Someday, all this will have to be developed, carefully printed, fixed. Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin

Bruce Logan and his camera are lifelong companions. A member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Bruce has worked with all of the Hollywood legends: George Lucas , Stanley Kubrick, Robert Wise, Johathan Demme, Joel Schumacher, John Huston, and Terry Gilliam to name a few. He created the visual effects for the original Star Wars films, as well as 2001: a Space Odyssey, Airplane, and, more recently, Batman Forever.

But all this is the stuff of biography. Who is Bruce Logan—really. For starters, there was Star Wars: Episode IV the film for which Logan created special effects. Who can begin to recount the scenes that will be forever etched in our collective memories: X-Wings and Tie Fighters bursting into flames, the destruction of the Death Star which Bruce Logan is proud of (the destruction of Alderaan, not so much).

Star Wars

In 1977, Bruce Logan’s camera took us to a place we’d never gone before, Deborah Blake’s exotic and terrifying fantasy world of half-naked pagans roaming a bleak desert landscape. A world in which Deborah was both ruler and slave –subject to laws and rituals she herself had designed. At age 16, Deborah Blake was a certified schizophrenic. The film was I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.

Deborah Blake fantasizes in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Tron, 1982

He went on to serve as DP for the Disney film Tron. Tron was released in 1982 to capitalize on the video game craze. It was the first onscreen attempt to represent “cyberspace”. Kevin Flynn, played by Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges, was a computer game designer whose advanced ideas were constantly being stolen by a rival company head. Flynn is accidentally transformed into a computer component and enters the Tron dimension. Inside the computer he finds himself on a game grid where he does battle with electronic villains. Logan captured the action so brilliantly that the movie is still recognized as a ground breaker, inspiring a Tron video game that went viral.

Tron

In 1986, Bruce displayed his directoral talents with Vendetta, a prison action movie in which Bonnie Collins, sister of a successful movie stuntwoman, kills a man who tried to rape her in a bar. Convicted of the murder, which she believes was self-defense, Bonnie was sent to prison and subsequently attacked by a gang of women who injected her with heroin and dumped her over a railing to her death. The film was notable for Logan’s brutal depiction of prison life and the inequities of the judicial system.

Vendetta

He moved behind the camera in 1995 again to act as DP, shooting visual effects for Batman Forever, a film in which the Dark Knight of Gotham City confronted the duo of Two-Face and The Riddler. Two-Face, a former DA who believed Batman was responsible for disfiguring him on one side, unleashes a reign of terror on Gotham. A former employee of Bruce Wayne (aka Batman), who was also out to get the caped crusader, invents a device for draining information from all the brains in Gotham—including that of Bruce Wayne. Batman must stop him. In this film, former circus acrobat Dick Grayson—whose parents were killed by Two-Face—becomes Batman’s partner. Enter Robin, the Boy Wonder. Chalk up another cinematographic achievement for Bruce Logan.

Batman Forever

If you think Bruce Logan is a one-trick pony—movie DP—think again. Drawing on his own acting and directing skills, he has directed commercials for every major brand, including Pepsi (Play for a Billion, Bank Robbery), Suzuki (GRX R 750, Coliseum) , Shell (Oil, Rain), Toyota (Tundra, Answering Machine, Sienna, Sticker Family), Mt. DEW (The Dew Crew, Race Track), Jeep, Hitachi (Ultravision, Unforgiven), and National (Emerald Club, Speed). He won advertising’s most covered award, the Golden Lion, at the Cannes Film Festival. He has also created television commercials for the Superbowl, probably the most desired gig on tv. And, he has photographed music videos for pop artists Madonna, Prince, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, the Go-Gos, and Hank Williams, Jr.

Recently, Bruce was interviewed along with Zacuto President Steve Weiss about the importance of digital cameras and the relationship between the cost of a camera and the images that were produced. He noted that, at one time, the quality and price of a camera had a direct bearing on the final product. Now, he says, it’s not about the camera anymore. All of the new digital cameras are good. The key elements are talent and lighting. “Get a camera,” he tells would-be cinematographers; “and learn to use it”. As for lighting, he says he’s learned a lot about lighting by walking through museums and studying how the Renaissance masters lit their subjects. It’s the lighting, as well as the technique of the artist, that makes their works endure. Similarly, he says that the right lighting can make any camera look good.

Logan came to Chicago a few months back to do a camera shootout for Zacuto USA. He chose different DPs to use specific camera types and created problematic lighting situations to see what the cinematographers could do with the equipment. The outcome was predictable: it was the lighting, not the camera that made the scene. He believes that in the future, the emphasis on film quality will shift to lighting instruments, not cameras.

Q. When did you first decide to become a Director of Photography and Visual Effects Director?

A. I never really remember deciding anything about my career, it just evolved from one interest into another and I was lucky enough to get work in each category.

Q. Who has had the greatest influence on your work?

A. I would say, Stanley Kubrick, Doug Trumbull, Ridley Scott, Roger Corman.

Q. You have been a DP on both films and music videos. Do you have a preference for any particular genre?

A. I love music videos for their pure creativity and the ability to push the envelope. I love films for their storytelling, consistency of style and creation of dramatic mood.

But the thing I enjoy the most about the film business is that there is no monotony. Every day is different, and that’s the way I like it. So when I’m asked if I like any particular genre, I like them all and enjoy and get learn the challenges of each one.

Q. How did you gravitate to doing commercial projects?

A. Commercials are the greatest concentration of production value in the shortest length of time. The challenge of creating a story in thirty seconds is second to none. Although it’s a bit debilitating directing at the pleasure of a committee the reward are large, gratifying, and creative.

Q. Recently, there has been speculation that digital photography will make the work of the cinematographer obsolete. Do you believe this?

A. I believe that if the cinematographer is to retain his status as the auteur of the image, he or she needs to move into and take control of the color correction process. This must be taken firmly in hand.

Q. As an artist who is constantly on the go and exploring new uses for his talents, what are you currently involved in?

A. I am currently color grading a feature film, which I DPed, titled “Desecration.”

On a shoot with Bruce Logan

There’s much more I could say, but the words keep slipping away, And I’m left with only one point of view—Mr. Wonderful, that’s you Bette Midler

Bruce Logan was born in London and educated at Merchant Taylor’s Guild School. He has GCE certificates for English, Art, Physics, and Chemistry. He began making animated and dynamated films when he was only fourteen years old. He studied acting and directing, as well as photography, working with such well-known teachers as Stella Adler, Nina Foch, and George Tyne. He later studied writing at UCLA with Linda Seger, John Trilby, and David Freeman. And proving that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Bruce learned much of his craft from his father, Campbell Logan—a BBC classical drama director.

His love of imagery started when he was hired by Stanley Kubrick to work under Douglas Trumbull on 2001: A Space Odyssey. He came to California in 1968 and worked as a DP on over a dozen films, including: Tron, Star Trek, Airplane, Firefox, High Road to China, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Big Bad Mama, and Jackson County Jail. He did visual photography for most of these films as well.

He has shot commercial films for most of the major companies: Pepsi, GE, Visa, Chevrolet, Pontiac, DuPont, Contac, Sprint, Amtrak, Suzuki, Sunlight, and Armstrong. And—he has applied his talents to making music videos for such high profile performers as Prince, Madonna, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, Glenn Frey, The Go-Gos, Karyn White, Tevin Campbell, Hank Williams, Jr., and Michael Cooper.

Combining his love of directing and creating visual effects, Bruce has developed a new Virtual Set Process with the Entertainment Design Workshop. He is keeping his hand in directing—having just completed several episodes of The Book of Pooh for Disney and the new PBS show It’s a Big, Big World. He’s currently involved in writing The Corn King, a “witchy sex comedy” that takes place in Los Angeles and Cornwall, England.

Oh yes, did I mention he is a champion racecar driver and a licensed pilot? As a sheet metal expert, he puts his driving skills to good use by filming car commercials for most major manufacturers. He has filmed on aircraft carriers, and at racetracks—as well as on top of skyscrapers.

Sir Bruce Logan—Director of Photography, race car driver, pilot, humanitarian

As a little icing on the cake, Bruce was recently knighted in the Dominican Republic by President Leonel Fernandez—a high honor bestowed on those who have excelled in outstanding service to humanity and for contributions to unity and development among the peoples of the Americas. Well done, Bruce Logan. Very well done.

Bruce Logan captured by Steve Weiss

Written by: Jill Remensnyder 

Zacuto is headed to the 16th annual Cine Gear Expo in Los Angeles, California! Cine Gear Expo is considered one of the premiere industry events for film and video professionals worldwide. This year’s Expo offers something for everyone: exhibits, seminars, a film series competition, new product announcements, demonstrations, VIP awards ceremony, special events and more.

If you felt like a kid in a candy shop at this year’s NAB show in Vegas, think of Cine Gear as the golden ticket to the chocolate factory. First off, anything taking place on the Paramount Back Lot is bound to be a unique experience. Second, fill it with booths of industry leaders showing off their latest equipment and film and video professionals who are available to talk shop- it’s like having your cake and eating it too.

This event is smaller and much more manageable than larger shows like NAB. You’ll see a lot of the same names as you did in Vegas last month, but will actually have the time (and energy) to visit each booth. Compared to the sea of exhibitions at NAB, Cine Gear is a more accessible and approachable experience.

Zacuto will be at booth #74 with their award-winning camera gear accessories, including several of the showstoppers that had industry buzzing last month at NAB. The Plasma Light, recognized with a Video Innovation Award by BCPVA, is our patented ultra-thin light panel that gives off light as soft as a Chimera and comes in a variety of sizes. Our C300 Grip Relocator allows you the advantage of using the camera remote and start/stop recording from the handgrips. The Tornado is a remote mechanical follow focus that allows pulling focus from the handgrip as well. Both the C300 and Tornado use recoil technology. FS100 Top Handle makes transporting your Sony FS100 camera a breeze- just mount directly to the camera without the worry of blocking the opening of the LCD screen.

Kessler Crane will be joining us with their line-up of cranes, sliders, motion control equipment, and much more. Zacuto and Kessler reps will be available to answer all your questions and assist you in finding the perfect gear for your next production.

Finding the latest and greatest gear is a plus; learning from professionals on how to make the most of it is mandatory. What good is acquiring all this stuff if you can’t put it to good use? When you’re not checking out the exhibits you need to take advantage of the classes and seminars taking place.

The big ones worth mentioning include an all-star line up of ASC cinematographers discussing the art and craft of cinematography based on their own experiences, a presentation by cinematographer David Leitner on shooting documentaries with the Sony FS100, FS700, F3 cameras, and a seminar on financing/producing/distribution- something all indie filmmakers should attend.

Also worth noting is the Cine Gear Film Series taking place May 31st. Not only will the filmmaking finalists screen their films on the Paramount Back Lot, they’re in competition for over $100,000 in prizes! The categories are student short film, independent short film, and indie feature film. (This alone should motivate you to start/finish your latest film in time to submit to the 2013 Cine Gear Film Series, don’t you think?)

Cine Gear takes place at The Studios at Paramount in Hollywood. The Cine Gear Film Series will screen Thursday, May 31st 12pm-8:30pm with a reception on Friday, June 1st 8pm-10pm. Exhibition and seminars take place Friday, June 1st 3pm-9pm & Saturday, June 2nd 10am-5pm. Master classes will be held on June 3rd at the Mole Stage in Hollywood.

To register for Cine Gear 2012 and view their full list of exhibitors, schedule of classes, and seminars visit www.cinegearexpo.com.

The new Zacuto PlaZma Light, with over 30 patents on Micro Plasma Technology, will change the way you light. It has already received a “Best Innovation” award from the BCPVA at the NAB 2012 and was one of the most talked about products on the exhibition floor! Thousands of filmmakers, photographers, news channels and other professionals stopped by Zacuto’s booth at NAB, some repeatedly, all amazed by the sheer amount of light coming from such a small, flat source.

Above: Side, Front & Back View of the PlaZma Light

Unlike a LED light, the Zacuto PlaZma light is a super soft light source much like a Chimera soft box, yet extremely bright when needed. It is production grade quality, dimmable, thin, light and portable. Measuring less than an inch think, they can fit into extremely small spaces. Zacuto PlaZma lights will be available in many sizes and shapes. The PlaZma light is environmentally friendly, no mercury or lead used and is made in the USA.

The PlaZma light puts out an impressive 2000 lumens versus other industry 1×1 LED panels at 1200 lumens and 777 lumens on side lit reflected LEDS. It also has a characteristic incandescent curve unlike LEDS that can have a nasty green spike and don’t mix well with practical or tungsten lights. The daylight balanced curve is unwavering at 5800K and mix well with HMIs. Just like traditional soft lights, the PlaZma light has a wide light pattern as opposed to the spotty nature of an LED. However, unlike traditional soft lights, the PlaZma light has a huge throw. Existing lights, including LEDs, force you to lose light output as they need to be diffused, bounced or have an umbrella attached to it. The soft nature of this light enables actors to look directly into it (from 5 inches) without squinting and fills the face with beautiful soft light.

The PlaZma lights will be available in a 1×1 Tungsten or Daylight. We are also working on making different sizes as well as accessories such as barndoors and expandable snoot. The lights are powered by 110-240V 50-60 Hz AC or 11-18V DC with a 3 Stud Anton Bauer like battery or a Sony V-Lock battery. The power box also has the dimmer. The control box connects to the light via weather proof 10 or 25 foot head cable or and be placed on the ground or mounted on the light stand.

If you are looking for a small, portable AC/DC soft light, that is less expensive then LED hard lighting, the Zacuto PlaZma light is the choice for you! The lights are due out at the end of summer 2012. If interested in learning more about the light and availability, sign up here:

Written by: Jill Remensnyder

Gearing up for a shoot can be challenging. There’s always the list of equipment you’d like to have- then the list of equipment you think you might realistically be able to afford and get your hands on. Not every production has a budget to run out and buy new equipment. Let’s be honest- if you had all the equipment you needed for every shoot you’d have too much equipment. You might as well go into the rental business instead of production. Here’s a solution- let the Zacuto rental department outfit you with gear for your next production.

Now is the time to contact our rental department. We understand the changing needs of filmmakers and have made some changes to meet those needs. We’ve lowered our rental rates for much of our equipment inventory. All of our lens pricing is 20 to 40% lower; prices on P2 cards are lower, as well as DSLR camera bodies.

If that’s not enough, we’ve added Canon’s latest full-frame sensor camera, the 5DMkIII, and Canon’s cinematic workhorse, the C300 to our line-up. These two top of the line cameras round out our collection of DSLR, digital cinema, broadcast HD, and prosumer HD cameras.

If you compare rental prices in the Chicago area, you’ll notice our rates our competitive. You get what you pay for. You may get a lower price somewhere else, but we’re willing to bet the equipment won’t be in as good condition or the packages as complete as ours. We make sure you get all the equipment you need for a successful shoot. This means if you need a monitor we include all the necessary accessories that go with it. We’re not going to nickel and dime you with add-ons.

You’re going to get some of the best customer service in the business, which we pride ourselves on. There’s nothing worse than dealing with a condescending gearhead- especially when you’re trying to rent equipment you’re not totally familiar with. The last thing you want is to be on set with your crew scratching your heads on how to use a rig or a camera you’re not familiar with. Zacuto gets that not everyone is an ASC certified cinematographer. We’re here to assist filmmakers at all levels of expertise.

“We do whatever we can to give people the information they need to use their equipment properly. Often times, this means an in-shop demonstration of the proper way to set up an item or camera system. These mini-preps happen on-the-spot, upon request, all the time. Other times, with scheduled demo appointments, we will work with a customer to optimize a support option for their own camera. We build customized support rigs for our clients every day. It’s what we’re here for,” says Leo Koesterer of Zacuto Rentals.

Productions come in all sizes and budget needs. We mainly service local indie-level productions but other clients we’ve helped with rentals include reality TV producers, film students, DPs of commercials and feature films, and broadcast news producers. Most of these clients are local, but Zacuto will ship equipment anywhere in the continental United States.

As in any business, it’s all about building relationships and exceeding customer expectations. Rent with Zacuto- whether it’s a C300 with a Scorpion shoulder rig or a tripod and a lavelier mic- and you can expect the best in service and quality of equipment.

Need another reason?

“We like to think we’re a fun group of people to work with,” added Leo. “You’re going to encounter a lot of stressful situations in the world of production. You might as well make renting the easy part.”

To learn more about renting the Canon C300 or 5DMkIII, in addition to other great gear, visit our rental page.

Written By: Shirley Baugher

Natacha Merritt might be surprised at being designated a millennial woman, but she definitely is. She came of age with the Internet’s bare-all, confessional culture. She boldly went where few women had ever gone—on a journey of self-exploration for the new millennium—and gave us no holds barred images depicting her life through sensual encounters. She’s smart, she’s daring, and goes her own way in the world.

Natacha’s story follows the stories of two other women who broke the photographic ground of self-portraiture in the last millennium: Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun. Like Natacha, Cindy Sherman was a star of her own photos. In the 80s she photographed herself in many guises: a Hitchcock heroine, a Monroe-like glamour girl, an abuse victim, a clown, a corpse, a mutilated hermaphrodite sex doll, a clown, and occasionally, as herself.

Above: Cindy Sherman as a clown and as a Monroe-like glamour girl

Above: Sherman as a mutilated hermaphrodite sex doll and as herself

Cindy Sherman began to make a name for herself in the 1980s. She achieved almost instant success after the shock value of a centerfold series the commissioning magazine refused to publish—not because the images were too sexually explicit, but because they were too disturbing. They depicted terrified, exposed, and hunted women which some thought perpetuated the idea of females as victims. Predictably, the more controversy her work generated, the higher the prices went. Before long, her photographs were selling for $1 million at auction. All of her early work was done using cameras with film. She recently bought a heavy-duty video camera and took a class in video editing. While her digital manipulations still leave you looking for the real Cindy Sherman, you might be able to find her in the retrospective of her work currently being exhibited at MOMA in New York.

Before Cindy Sherman, there was Claude Cahun—a French photographer born Lucy Schwob. In the early twentieth century, she adopted the pseudonym Cahun. Between 1920 and 1940, she took a series of staged self-portraits in which she questioned pre-existing notions of self and sexuality. Posing in costumes and elaborate makeup, Cahun shows herself as both man and woman; hero and doll; powerful and vulnerable. A retrospective of her work called Entre Nous: The Art of Claude Cahun was organized by the Jeu de Paume in Paris and co-produced with La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona. With support provided by Helen and Sam Zell and the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, the exhibit is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago through June 12. Walking down the basement photography galleries, like the hero of Midnight in Paris, you will be transported back to Paris in the 1920s. This is the first solo presentation of her work in the United States.

Above: Lucy Schwob photographs herself as Claude Cahun, 1929

Above: Claude Cahun, montage

Above: Cahun self portraits

Now, it is Natacha’s time. In 2000, Merritt, at age 22, published Digital Diaries, a book that redefined the boundaries of artistic photography. Controversial and highly sexual, it was the first digital photography book ever published and presented a digital document of sex acts: oral sex, conventional male-female sex, lesbian sexual encounters, and sex with the use of arousal enhancers.

Above: Natasha on the cover of Digital Diaries

Above: From Digital Diaries

The bulk of Digital Diaries depicts Natacha performing sex acts on herself. She looked into the monitor of her camera and when she saw what she wanted, she shot it. While some may see the images as pornographic, Merritt says she was not out to shock or titillate. She was exploring, looking for something beautiful, interesting, and, yes, arousing. The images were featured in publications worldwide: Rolling Stone, The Observer, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal, and Der Spiegel. Through Amazon and the LA Times, it sold 300,000 copies.

 Above: Natacha Merritt

Following the huge success of Digital Diaries, Natacha’s interests broadened. She became obsessed with science and went back to school to study biology—specifically biodiversity and evolutionary biology. She became fascinated with the mating habits of plants and insects, which she viewed as a natural extension of her interest in sex. Just as she saw beauty in the human body, she discovered the beauty of varied life forms. She learned the role of plant and insect life forms on the ecosystem and their effect on human life.

In her new book, Sexual Selection, New book Sexual Selection, due out in May, Natacha is both scientist and documentarian. She asks questions about the nature of selection as a scientist and answers these questions as an artist through photography and writing. She believes that sexual selection constitutes the sensual side of evolution, and she creates lyrical images by comparing and contrasting the sexual intricacies of plants and insects with human sexuality. The concept goes back to Darwin who explained how animal characteristics influenced survival of the species. Merritt adds female choice and sexual plasticity—or the capacity for being changed in form and shape—into the process of survival. The images in her new book are works of art that offer insight into universal sexuality and broaden the viewer’s sense of beauty and understanding of sexual behavior.

Above: From Sexual Selection Image by Natacha Merritt

Above: Natacha Merritt on the cover of Sexual Selection

Above: Another aspect of sexual selection

In 2000, while she was working on Digital Diaries, Natacha collaborated with two fellow artists to shoot and edit D-Life, the first Internet reality miniseries which was picked up by Warner Brothers. Three years later, she became one of the co-creators of the Cirque de Soleil show, Zumanity, an exploration of—what else—sensuality and peak human performance. For this jproduction, she created large-scale multi-media projections from erotic images she had captured of the performers. In 2008, while she was studying biology at San Francisco State University, she wrote an Insect Circus, inspired by her observations of the insect world. She licensed the rights to this work to Cirque de Soleil.

Above: A Study in Sensuality by Natacha Merritt

Q. How did you happen to become a photographer? Did you receive any formal training in this field?

A. My boyfriend at the time (I was 20) gave me a hand-me down digital camera. It was 1998, pretty much the first year consumer-level digital cameras hit the market. The resolution was 240 by 480–basically the size of a thumbnail these days–but there was a live view swivel screen which I immediately fell in love with.

Q. What made you decide to focus your early work on human sexuality?

Above: Natacha Merritt

A. My sex life was fantastic. My ex was very fetishist and into exploration. Borderline sex addict. I loved it, loved the exploration as much as him when I was photographing it. So the two fueled each other. At that age, it was that simple, I loved it, so I took pictures of it. It’s taken me years of reflection and study to really understand that impetus other levels: artistic, evolutionary and socio-politically.

Q. Why did you choose yourself as the primary subject of your photographs?

A. I feel very comfortable with myself. It is convenient because I am always available. The logistics of self-portraiture can be daunting at times, but communicating with a model is equally complex. I often do work with models –always friends or acquaintances – but in the end many of the images look like self-portraits. One of the reasons being that everything I ask my models to do is something I would do myself. I definitely project myself into my subjects.

Q. What kind of reaction did you hope to elicit from those who saw your photographs?

A. I don’t think about it.

Q. In 2000, when you published Digital Diaries, you told an interviewer that, while your photographs were art, you were not an artist. Do you still believe that?

A. I always took great pains to avoid being the stereotypical idea of an artist. I thought artists were always theorizing (not doing), in pain emotionally or frying themselves on drugs or heartache to find their muses. I didn’t want to be that. But now I realize that stereotypes are irrelevant to my sense of self, and they are, at best, generalities. In order to come to that realization, and the realization that I am in fact 100% an artist, I went back to school to become a scientist. I received a degree in biology a year ago. My new book of artistic images is coming out nearly a year after I got my degree.

Q. How do you think you and your artistic output have changed since your early work?

A. The most noticeable change is the subject matter. I now look everywhere for images, not just down my pants or in my sex life, although I still do that as well.

Q. Why did you decide to return to higher education and become a biologist?

A. I had a little bit of financial flexibility, and I was trying to figure out how to make the best investment. I decided that giving myself the luxury of being a full time student for a few years would be the best investment. I had no idea what I was going to study. In fact, they barely let me into university because my high school biology grades were too low. I was hooked the first semester when I took a class called “world of plants, and it all clicked. Plants and insects were kinkier than anything I could have imagined. I wanted more. Turns out you can’t just study plants without all of the other science pre-requisites. The training is like pre-medicine. I had to remediate in math for a year. I needed tutoring and had to record my lessons and transcribe them. It was very difficult. It was a very very humbling experience, especially after all the success I had had in my early 20’s. It strengthened and simplified my artistic vision. I don’t think anything could ever be as hard as some of those classes. But I wanted to get to the end, to really understand genetics, evolutionary biology, and speciation. Now I can read primary scientific literature and really understand. My art needed that. And all along I was meeting new models in my classes and pursuing the erotic photography. I didn’t realize until a week after I graduated that there was a new book all done.

Q. Who has influenced your work as a photographer and documenter of the sexuality of humans and plants and insects?

A. There is a scientist by the name of William Eberhard. He wrote extensively on the evolution of genital morphology and different insect mating behavior. He is my favorite by far. Human sexuality, Otto Dix.

Q. What direction do you see your work taking in the future?

A. I definitely am pursuing this idea of merging science with erotica. I have mostly only explored arachnid genitalia, but there are many other species with elaborate and fantastic secondary sexual structures that I want to photograph. And humans, well I just can’t get enough of them as well.

Natacha Merritt wears many hats. She is an artist, a photographer, a filmmaker, a biologist, and a writer. Born in San Francisco in 1977, she had an eclectic education, including studying law at the Sorbonne and biology at San Francisco State University. Her first publication, Digital Diaries (Taschen), was a series of portraits documenting her personal sexual behavior. Later works included an internet reality series, collaboration on a Cirque de Soleil project, and a return to higher education where she focused on plant and insect sexual behavior. This study led to her latest book, Sexual Selection (Bongout), in which she shows how our morphologies are linked to other species through shared and convergent evolution. She was recently featured in The Guardian in an article on the genitalia of spider. Her photographs of a spider’s erection are nothing short of phenomenal. To get the shot, she boiled the penis of a dead spider in a bath of lactic acid, allowed it to cool, and waited for about an hour while the pedipaps (penis) expanded. Then she took about 60 images through a microscope at 50x magnification with a Leica camera attached. On a computer, she merged them all into a composite shot. She added extra lighting to give the shot …”a romantic feel”. While she admits that pictures of spider erections have appeared in scientific journals before, she says biologists would probably not shoot spiders as she did—achieving undoubtedly the first-ever artistic shot of a spider erection.

Above: Natacha today

Natacha is very much a woman of her time. She works exclusively with digital imagery—in fact, she never used a conventional camera or film. She didn’t have to learn the elements of camera photography and loves the new digital cameras which she says eliminate any existing technical problems.

Asked why she does what she does, she will tell you that she takes photographs to understand herself and her universe; and to understand herself in that universe. Amazing lady!

Written by: Jill Remensnyder

Guess who’s making room in the trophy case for three more awards? I’ll give you a hint- we are! Zacuto Films is proud to take home three Telly Awards from this year’s 33rd Annual Telly Awards. We received the news late April and are excited to finally share the details with you.

Before announcing what we won (in the spirit of all great award shows) let’s talk a little more about what a Telly represents. The Telly Awards were founded in 1978 to honor excellence in local, regional and cable TV commercials, non-broadcast video and TV program categories were soon added. Today, the Telly’s are highly sought after by industry leaders; from large international firms to local production companies and ad agencies. The mission of the awards is to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity.

They have two major awards, the Silver Telly (which is their first prize award) and the Bronze Telly (which is their second prize award). Judges from the Silver Telly Council, considered some of the top advertising and production professionals in the field, award less than ten percent of the annual 11,000+ entries with the Silver Telly.

Drumroll…

Three 2012 Telly Awards go to Zacuto Films for the following programs:

bts: a web series This documenatary series provides a behind the scenes look at a documentary crew in the field making a documentary. bts received a Silver Award in the Internet/Online Video Documentary category with a total of 12,833 votes.

The Great Camera Shootout 2011 The 2011 Shootout was administered by Robert Primes, ASC to test the strengths and weaknesses of new cameras under a series of tests and on-set challenges. The Great Camera Shootout 2011 received a Silver Award for Internet/Online Programs, Segments, or Promotional Pieces Information category with a total of 12,840 votes.

FilmFellas Cast 7: Webisode 30, What is Truth – In this episode the cast demonstrates the differences between documentary and propaganda filmmaking. How do we really know what is truth is and what is not. It’s hard to make a film without letting filmmakers bias getting in the way. The What is Truth webisode received a Bronze Award in Internet/Online Programs, Segments, or Promotional Pieces Documentary category with 12,818 votes.

Zacuto Films, a totally separate division of Zacuto USA with its own staff of seven (including web series creators Steve Weiss and Jens Bogehegn) has risen to the top and made a name for themselves by producing top-quality original programming that’s been recognized by some of the most esteemed professionals in the industry. Of their six original web series (FilmFellas, The Great Camera Shootout 2010, [critics], bts, The Great Camera Shootout 2011, and Revenge of The Great Camera Shootout 2012) they’ve been recognized with six Emmy nominations and two Emmy wins (Midwest Chapter). Steve and Jens picked up their first Telly in 1991 and have received eleven to date.

“It’s always great to get awards, who doesn’t like that, but that’s not why we create programming. Jens and I have been DP and Director for 27 years and we just love it. We’ve probably made over 700 projects together and it never gets old. At this point, we read each others minds– when you get a partner like that, you stick together. It’s always about the project and the people your work with. We could care less what equipment we use. We started out with 16mm film and 3/4” video but we have always tried to overcome our equipment’s weaknesses and outsmart technology, but in the end awards don’t come for equipment, they come from story. If you have a great team, and a good story, it’s a blast, like you are twelve again building a fort in your backyard,” says Steve Weiss, Director, Zacuto Films.

Quality and content go along way. Steve and Jens have spared no expenses to bring in some of the best talent from around the world to discuss a range of topics in filmmaking. Their guest line-up has included ASC Cinematographers, award-winning filmmakers, wedding and event videographers, and distribution and social media specialists.

“I am most gratified doing these shows when we enlighten, educate and surprise people with the content. The challenge and what keeps us engaged is telling the story well, in a different and entertaining way. I think receiving these Telly Awards is confirmation of that and for that, it’s nice to be recognized,” says Jens Bogehegn, DP, Zacuto Films.

Stay tuned for more original Zacuto Films web programming! If you need to catch up on our existing films you can watch them online at http://www.zacuto.com/original-web-content.

Your persistence paid off! Congratulations on connecting with a director who’s eager to take your script and share their vision with the world. That’s right, their vision. After all, they are the director, right? You just wrote the words and handed it over- what say do you have in any of this? While I wish you all smooth sailing, sometimes things don’t go as planned. It’s important to understand the director’s expectations of the writer as a project gets the green light and goes into production.

What the director needs and expects from you is help maintain their vision for the scope of the film. The director’s vision may not be the same as the writer’s. Don’t fret if you don’t see everything eye to eye- they might just surprise you. After all, they love your script and taking it on as a project is a huge commitment. No one is setting out to destroy your story. (Not intentionally, of course.)

Know your level of involvement going into the project. Will you be the director’s right hand throughout the project or will you be handing off your script with no strings attached? Remember- your script is all grown up and has legs. It can stand on its own. (Take a hike and start writing your next script.)

The only thing you should be concerned about is seeing to it the film is made. If the director needs you to rewrite a scene based on a location change or a budget restriction (or even a budget bigger than what you wrote for) don’t fight or argue the change. If you can collaborate on set in pinch moments without any drama your stock is going to go up.

What the writer expects the director to understand: We just want to tell our stories. We want to help the director (and everyone else bringing their vision to the party) make the best film ever.

Keep in mind that every project is different. If you’re upset or worried about the director changing your story or rewriting dialogue wait until the producer gets involved. Their ideas and input will usually be inspired by budget or scheduling concerns.

1. Take everyone’s input and notes into consideration. You may not like them, may not use them, but smile and be polite. Just say you’ll think about it. This keeps you from committing to any changes but also buys some time to think of a better solution.

2. Speak up early or suffer the consequences. If everyone wants to turn your drama into a slapstick comedy and you don’t speak up, do you really think standing your ground on the first day of filming is going to get you very far? Don’t be the jerk holding up the shoot.

3. Don’t sulk and pout by the craft service table when your funny line is cut or the art department doesn’t dress the set exactly as you wrote it. You did your job- let everyone else do theirs.

4. Know when to compromise. Some battles aren’t worth fighting. The script calls for rain pounding on the windshield of the hero’s sports car but the director wants to use a SUV and take advantage of the sunny weather. Let it go. Besides, no one likes shooting in the rain.

5. NO DRAMA. #3 falls under this tip and I touched on it earlier. Making a film is no easy task regardless of what stage of production you’re in. Don’t make it more difficult. Be professional, be respectful, and be ready to work! Word-of-mouth travels fast and you want a reputation as someone who’s enjoyable to work with.

Written by: Jill Remensnyder

That old black magic has me in its spell, that old black magic that you weave so well…

On May 16th Blackmagic Design will host the Blackmagic Roadshow in Los Angeles. The event will be held at the Burbank Airport Marriott from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm and will include Blackmagic Design’s complete range of products for broadcast, post production and live events, as well as presentations by Blackmagic Design partners and renowned editors and color artists, as well as a keynote presentation by DigitalFilm Tree’s CEO, Ramy Katrib.

The Blackmagic Roadshow will be especially exciting considering the surprise release of the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera at NAB 2012 last month. A company known for post-production software and hardware like DaVinci Resolve and UltraStudio 3D had everyone buzzing with the news. The Cinema Camera was designed with high-end work in mind like episodic TV programming and feature films. The quality of video stands apart from other current generation video cameras on the market.

“This is one of the most exciting products we have ever created and its been a work in progress for a very long time,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design.

The camera shoots RAW format, has thirteen stops of dynamic range, has a 2.5K high res sensor which also down-converts to 1080p capture in 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 fps, takes off the shelf SSD drives, touch screen LCD for camera settings, is fully compatible with extremely high quality Canon EF and Zeiss ZF mount lenses and is available at a price point just below $3,000.

From a post-production perspective this camera makes a lot of sense. It records into CinemaDNG format for RAW files, ProRes and DNxHD for HD resolution files compatible with FCP X and Avid Media Composer amongst others. The Thunderbolt connection allows direct camera-capture via included Media Express software and supports live waveform monitoring via the included Blackmagic UltraScope software. The camera also includes a full copy of DaVinci Resolve 9.0 color grading software.

While the Blackmagic Cinema Camera falls a short competing with the 4K resolution of the new Canon 1D or other high res cameras, it’s also much more affordable. With the announcement earlier this year of the Digital Bolex, DPs and directors now have an exciting, low-cost alternative to HDSLR cameras.

Zacuto is hard at work designing and developing rigs that work with the Cinema Camera. Zacuto rigs are modular and adaptive, so chances are you can probably use your current rig as Jens pointed out in this interview for Digital Cinema Society. Zacuto will soon be showing the best way to configure the Black magic camera. Stay tuned in the coming weeks.

The Blackmagic Roadshow is free to attend and will include hands on demonstrations and theater presentations of Blackmagic Design’s products, as well as the first demonstrations in California of the new products announced at NAB 2012, including the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, DaVinci Resolve 9.0, Teranex 2D and 3D Processors, HyperDeck Studio Pro, UltraStudio Express, Universal Videohub Editing Interface and Battery Converters.

As part of the event, Ramy Katrib of DigitalFilm Tree will discuss new workflows and tools used at his LA based post-production house. In addition, he will discuss the DaVinci Resolve workflow used by DigitalFilm Tree on the nationally acclaimed television show NCIS: Los Angeles, as well as new studio projects being completed with Teranex standards converter processors.

To attend the event, please visit http://invite.blackmagic-design.com/event2012/.

Check Out Digital Cinema Society Interviewing our very own, Jens Bogehegn!

Written by: Jill Remensnyder 

If a picture speaks a thousand words Frans Hofmeester’s video should leave you speechless. In just under three minutes his timelapse captures his daughter, Lotte, going from a baby to a twelve year-old young lady. The video went viral last week, putting both Frans and his children in the worldwide spotlight.

Numerous timelapse photomontages exist online; countless still images strung together to show children growing up, personal documentations of change in hairstyles and physical appearance, and the ebb and flow of nature as well as urban growth. As far as live video compilations go, this one by far is one of the most touching.

For Hofmeester, a filmmaker and photographer from the Netherlands, it was only natural to want to capture his child on film as she grew up. Instead of a traditional photo album or scrapbook he opted to film his daughter once a week. The transformation is inevitable as you watch the wide-eyed baby grow, laugh, cry, talk to the camera, and develop a style of her own at age twelve. Each passing year is notated in the bottom corner of the screen with a number.

Three years into the project Lotte’s brother, Vince, was born. Shortly thereafter, their father began filming him, too. While Vince’s video hasn’t received as many plays or coverage as Lotte’s, the sentiment of a father trying to keep the image of his child fresh in his mind remains the same.

Hofmeester commented in an article in The Guardian that Lotte’s video is actually a shorter cut of a thirty-minute video where she’s interacting with the camera more. He felt the longer video was too personal and intense to be released online, but would be better suited for a gallery setting.

In the same article he makes an interesting point that this generation is the most photographed and filmed ever, yet the majority of these photos sit on the computer in files and are rarely seen. With the attention Lotte’s video is making around the world it will be interesting to see if other parents follow Hofmeester’s lead and begin creating timelapses of their own children.