IEC
#2: [Right] with Curt Cressman [KODAK]
JAMES HAWKINSON ASC
Born: 22 May 1962, Los Angeles, Calif., USA, as James Robert Hawkinson.
Career: Ph 200+ music videos [see below]. Ph commercials dir by Dave Meyers [for Motorola], Dean Karr [for Universal Studios], Tom Kuntz/Mike Maguire [for IKEA], Russo Brothers [for Allied Domecq], a.o.
Member of the ASC since 2021.
Awards: MTV Music Video Award for Cinematography nom [2001] for 'Get Ur Freak On'; MTV Music Video Award for Cinematography nom [2004] for 'Naughty Girl'; ASC TV Award nom [2015] for 'The Man in the High Castle' [pilot].
'Arrested Development' [2003]: When the producers of the Fox sitcom, 'Arrested Development', went hunting for an acquisition format to fit their show's creative approach and budget, there were limited available options. And of those options, most didn't suit the production's requirements, according to the producers.
16mm, for instance, was out because the show is shot documentary style, with a great deal of improvisational moments and multiple running takes, and the film and lab fees associated with that much footage made the option prohibitive. Video footage would have to be shot and delivered 24p to suit network standards. Sony's CineAlta HDCAM system, however, was too large for the kind of frenetic, handheld camera work the production wanted to adopt.
The producers had DP James Hawkinson next tested Panasonic's AG-DVX100 MiniDV camcorder. Because that camera, however, does not permit the capture of native 16:9 images, the production would have had to extract a 16:9 version from a squeezed 4:3 image if it adopted that approach. 'We would have lost information on the bottom of the frame that way, and in our tests, the image just didn't look the way we wanted it,' explains producer Victor Hsu.
Therefore, producers opted to make 'Arrested Development' using Panasonic's AJ-HDC27 Varicam technology. The first season, at least, would be acquired solely using the Varicam, and both they and Panasonic officials believed the show to be the first network, episodic, primetime series to use the Varicam exclusively for an entire season. Several pilots have used the camera in the last year, and a handful of regional and syndicated shows are now using it, as well, but 'Arrested Development' is believed to be the first primetime series to adopt the technology.
Hsu calls the Varicam an 'intermediate camera'. Ironically, it was chosen not for its variable frame-rate capability, but because it fit the show's shooting style, creative approach, and technical requirements. These matches made producers choose the camera even though the Varicam captures its images at 60fps, thus requiring an extra post step of converting to 24p.
The DP says the result was, stylistically, what was intended. 'Man, we were flying during that shoot [of the pilot],' he recalls. 'We actually got out an hour early the first and second days,' Hawkinson adds. 'We spent very little time on setups - it was all spent shooting. The camera held up optically, and it let us shoot almost entirely handheld at a blistering fast pace. We did not use the variable frame rate and some of the other bells and whistles since we wanted this to have a raw, documentary-type look, but the camera performed well at a very fast pace. All handheld. No sticks. No dolly tracks. No focus pulls, unless the operator is doing it himself. The camera isn't exactly light, per se, but it was light enough, along the lines of an ENG camera, for this style of shooting.' [From article (2003) by Michael Goldman on the digital content producer website.]
| FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1996 |
Progeny [Brian Yuzna] c; 2uc: Jürgen Baum, Gary Hatfield, Baqi Kopelman & Lawrence Sher |
|
1999 |
Zoetrope [Charlie Deaux] b&w; short/18m |
|
2000 |
Tool: Salival [Adam Jones] c/V; anim: Jon Tucker; 2uc: Gary Hatfield; comp (25m) of 5 music videos |
|
2000 |
The Kiss [Anthony & Joe Russo] c; short/8m |
|
2003 |
Linkin Park - Live in Texas [Kimo Proudfoot] c; concert film/71m; filmed 2-3 August (Houston & Irving, Texas) |
|
2004 |
Idlewild [Bryan Barber] s35/c; addph; ph: Pascal Rabaud |
|
2005 |
Lonely Hearts [Todd Robinson] s35/c; co-addph; ph: Peter Levy |
|
2006 |
The Hitcher [Dave Meyers] s35/c; 2uc: Gary Hatfield; aph: Kurt E. Soderling; remake of film (1985, Robert Harmon; ph: John Seale) |
|
2006 |
AVPR - Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem/AvP2 [Colin & Greg Strause] c; addph; ph: Daniel Pearl |
|
2008 |
The Unborn [David S. Goyer] p/c; addph: Gregory Lundsgaard; aph: David B. Nowell & Kurt E. Soderling |
| TELEVISION & INTERNET | |
|---|---|
|
2003 |
Arrested Development [pilot dir by Anthony & Joe Russo, ep #2 'Top Banana' dir by Anthony Russo (AR), #3 'Bringing Up Buster' dir by Joe Russo (JR), #4 'Key Decisions' dir by AR, #5 'Charity Drive' dir by Greg Mottola (GM), #6 'Visiting Ours' dir by GM, #7 'In God We Trust' dir by JR, #8 'My Mother the Car' dir by Jay Chandrasekhar, #9 'Storming the Castle' dir by GM, #10 'Pier Pressure' dir by JR & #11 'Public Relations' dir by Lee Shallat Chemel] 68-part series, 2003-06 (Panasonic AJ-HDC27 Varicam) & 2013 (15 ep; RED Epic); 1st season, 2003-04 (22 ep); other ph: Greg Harrington; see above |
|
2005 |
Dirty Famous [Alex Winter] pilot; for VH1-tv |
|
2007 |
Carpoolers [pilot 'Dougie's First Day' dir by Anthony & Joe Russo + 12 ep dir by various] 13-part series, 2007-08 |
|
2009 |
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret [Joe & Anthony Russo] pilot/RED; followed by 6-part series, 2010; series ph: Simon Vickery |
|
2009 |
Secret Girlfriend [ep #1a 'You and Your Ex Call It Quits' & #1b 'You Find an Awesome Strip Club' dir by Ross Novie] 6-part series, 2009; other ph (+ cph #1): Hisham Abed |
|
2009 |
Community [pilot dir by Anthony & Joe Russo + 24 ep dir by various] 110-part series/HD, 2009-15; 1st season/HD (ARRI D-21), 2009-10 (25 ep) |
|
2010 |
Running Wilde [pilot dir by Anthony & Joe Russo] 13-part (5 unaired) series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2010-11; other ph: Michael Slovis & Peter Reniers |
|
2010 |
Community [ep #26 'Anthropology 101' dir by Joe Russo + 6 ep dir by various] 2nd season, 2010-11; other ph: Gary Hatfield (ep #33-43 & #45-49) & Michael A. Price (ep #44); see 2009 |
|
2010 |
Happy Endings [pilot dir by Anthony & Joe Russo] 57-part series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2011-13; 1st season, 2011 (13 ep); other ph: Michael A. Price |
|
2012 |
Hannibal [pilot 'Apéritif' dir by David Slade + 10 ep dir by various] 39-part series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2013-15; 1st season, 2013 (13 ep); other ph: Karim Hussain (ep #4 & #7) |
|
2013 |
Hannibal [13 ep dir by various] 2nd season, 2014 (13 ep); see 2012 |
|
2014 |
The Man in the High Castle [pilot 'The New World' dir by David Semel] series/RED Epic Dragon, 2015 (pilot in January; 1st season in October/November)-present; 2uc: John Grillo; for Amazon Instant Video |
|
2014 |
Hannibal [various] 3rd season, 2015 (13 ep); see 2012 |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
|---|---|
|
1987 |
Intruder/Night Crew: The Final Checkout [Scott Spiegel] electrician; ph: Fernando Argüelles |
|
1989 |
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!/Blind Terror [Monte Hellman] co-electrician; ph: Josep M. Civit |
|
1990 |
Open Window [Rupert Wainwright; tvm/25m] 2nd c.asst; ph: Chuck Colwell |
|
1991 |
Alien³ [David Fincher] electrician; ph: Alex Thomson |
|
1994 |
Fist of the North Star/Hokuto no ken [Tony Randel] 2u electrician; 2uc: James McCalmont; ph: Jacques Haitkin |
|
1994 |
Species [Roger Donaldson] electrician; ph: Andrzej Bartkowiak |
|
1996 |
Turbulence [Robert Butler] co-electrician; ph: Lloyd Ahern II |
|
1996 |
Air Force One [Wolfgang Petersen] electrician; ph: Michael Ballhaus |
|
1996 |
Selena [Gregory Nava] 2u c.op; 2uc: James L. Carter, Kirk R. Gardner, James Glennon & Phil Pfeiffer; ph: Edward Lachman |
| MUSIC VIDEOS [Selection] | |
|---|---|
|
1997 |
All for You [a: Sister Hazel; d: Thomas Mignone] |
|
1997 |
Aenema [a: Tool; d: Adam Jones] |
|
1998 |
I'm Losing You [a: John Lennon; d: Dean Karr] |
|
1999 |
Windowlicker [a: Aphex Twin; d: Chris Cunningham] 11m |
|
1999 |
One Man Army [a: Our Lady Peace; d: Mark Kohr] |
|
2000 |
Kryptonite [a: 3 Doors Down; d: Dean Karr] |
|
2000 |
X [a: Xzibit; d: Dave Meyers] |
|
2001 |
Up All Night [a: Unwritten Law; d: Honey] |
|
2001 |
Hey Baby [a: No Doubt; d: Dave Meyers] |
|
2001 |
Get Ur Freak On [a: Missy Elliott; d: Dave Meyers] |
|
2003 |
Drain the Blood [a: The Distillers; d: Dean Karr] |
|
2004 |
Southside [a: Lloyd; d: Irv Gotti] |
|
2004 |
Over and Over [a: Nelly & Tim McGraw; d: Erik White] |
|
2004 |
Naughty Girl [a: Beyoncé; d: Jake Nava] |
|
2005 |
Teary Eyed [a: Missy Elliott; d: Antti Jokinen] |
|
2006 |
Lonely Day [a: System of a Down; d: Josh & Xander] |
|
2006 |
From Yesterday [a: 30 Seconds to Mars; d: Bartholomew Cubbins] 2uc: Gary Hatfield |
