|
|
|
American Cinematographer magazine
January 1999
Editor's Note
In this age of megahype and megabudgets, the admirable efforts of documentary filmmakers are often overlooked. That's truly a shame, because the work of these diligent artists frequently offers the kinds of insights and emotional truths that only the best feature films can achieve. Movie lovers everywhere appreciate the creativity and inventiveness of a well-crated piece of fiction, but nothing resonates quite like real life.
This issue of AC illustrates the point by exploring the full range of the documentary aesthetic. Our coverage kicks off in Production Slate (page 16) with an overview of the Third International Documentary Congress, held recently in Los Angeles. Attendees debated a variety of intriguing topics, including the philosophy of cinema verite' and the challenges presented by dwindling budgets. Meanwhile, this month's feature articles present several riveting pictures that deserve an audience. In War lone (page 60), Manhattan-based filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West confronts abusive male pedestrians in an attempt to understand their attitudes toward women. Across the globe, writer/director/producer Michael Henry Wilson travels through Tibet to capture one of our most accomplished auteurs in action (In Search of Kundun With Martin Scorsese, page 68). We've gone even further afield, to the world's most treacherous locations and geopolitical hot spots, to report on the trials and tribulations of documentarians who can't seem to resist the lure of hazardous assignments ("The Art of Filming Dangerously," page 84). Finally, lest we forget that the real world can also be amusing, Trekkies (page 76) visits some of science fiction's most devoted followers, who occasionally take their love of Star Trek just a bit too far.
Speaking of Star Trek, this edition of the magazine will no doubt excite those same stalwart fans with complete coverage of Insurrection, the ninth installment of the ever-popular Paramount franchise. Cinematographer Matthew Leonetti, ASC reveals the details of his photographic approach to this outer-space adventure ("Trouble in Paradise," page 30), while the film's effects experts demystify their digital wizardry ("Effecting an Insurrection," page 40).
If Earthbound stories are more to your liking, A Civil Action (p. 48) brings this issue of AC full circle. After scoring a cinematic triumph with their first collaboration, Searching for Bobby Fisher, director Steven Zaillian and cinematographer Conrad Hall, ASC have reteamed to create a compelling courtroom drama based on a real-life case in Woburn, Massachusetts, where lawyers attempted to prove that two corporate monoliths had tainted the town's water supply, causing the leukemia-related deaths of five children and one adult. In this motion picture, art and actual events merge to impressive effect, shedding some light on a thorny ethical dilemma.
Sincerely,