JUAN RUIZ-ANCHÍA

From interview [Zinebi Bilbao, 2015]

JUAN RUIZ-ANCHÍA ASC

Born: 1949, Bilbao, Spain, as Juan António Ruiz-Anchía.

Education: Escuela Oficial de Cinematografía [EOC], Madrid [graduated in 1972]; American Film Institute [AFI] [1979-1981].

Career: His ph of the AFI-prod 'Miss Lonelyhearts' [1982, Michael Dinner] won an award at the Cannes IFF, was shown on PBS-tv, and launched his career in Hollywood.

Was a member of the AEC. Member of the ASC since January 1991.

Directed the commercial 'El corte ingles' [with actress Sharon Stone].

Awards: Premio 'Goya' [1999] for 'Mararía'; Silver 'Ariel' Award nom [2005] for 'Voces inocentos'; Zinebi 57, Bilbao, 'Mikeldi de Honor' [2015].

'Innocent Voices/Voces inocentes' [2003]: 'Our goal was to portray the civil war in El Salvador as something that could be happening anywhere on the planet,' says Juan Ruiz-Anchía. 'The specifics, how the war is structured, are in the background. We focused instead on how the war immediately affected the living conditions of children. Children see reality in different ways. There are some amusing moments in the film, but we always tried to make the camera a participant in the events, rather than a passive observer.'

The filmmakers used multiple cameras to capture the performances of the children, who were not actors. A recreation of a fierce battle near a school was filmed with as many as seven cameras. That was one of the reasons why [director Luis] Mandoki and Ruiz-Anchía decided to film 'Innocent Voices' in the Super 16mm format combined with a digital intermediate process in post-production. Ruiz-Anchía used a variety of cameras, including ARRI 16SR-3s, usually in combination with zoom lenses. Cameras were often mounted on Steadicam rigs for smooth movement without laying track. He occasionally utilized Lenny arms and other cranes for a more distant perspective, and handheld shots when the mood called for more energy.

Ruiz-Anchía used a variety of stocks including Kodak VISION2 500T 7218 film. 'I was very pleasantly surprised,' says Ruiz-Anchía. 'I never thought the results could be so incredible with a 500-speed film. Shooting conditions were very difficult. We were filming in jungles, mountains and other places with a lot of variation in light. I had to change stocks a lot, especially when I lost the light. But we were able to match everything through the digital intermediate process used in post-production.'

Ruiz-Anchía and his Mexican crew used a large complement of lights including 12K HMIs to recreate sunny conditions during the afternoon and into the evenings. In addition to matching for continuity, he used the digital intermediate process to fine tune special looks for certain situations.

'We wanted to maintain the beauty of the jungles to help emphasize the horrible situation taking place within,' he says. 'In those scenes we went for saturated, lush colors and additional contrast. In other scenes we desaturated colors.'

Ruiz-Anchía said that grain was not a problem. 'We had the option to control the grain digitally, but as you diffuse the grain, you lose sharpness, so we chose not to,' he says. 'I also created many shadows to enhance separation for photographic reasons. This was not a movie where I could take a lot of time for lighting on the set because then you lose that moment. The small, lightweight Super 16mm cameras combined with the ability to improve the look of the images through digital techniques were perfect for this film.'

'I found Super 16mm to be very useful, and I learned a lot from this project. The process will probably continue to improve as film stocks get better and better. When I see a preview or festival screening of the film, it's impossible for the audience to tell it wasn't 35mm.' [From the KODAK inCamera website, April 2005.]

FILMS AT THE EOC
1969	El paraíso ortopédico [Patricio Guzmán] still ph; ph: Enrique Banet
1969	Después del tiempo (Experiencias) [Antonio Lara] c.asst; ph: Joaquín Perea
1972	Una escultura [António José Betancor] c; doc/11m
1972	Dos setenta setenta cincuenta y tres, último trabajo [António José Betancor] c; short/22m

FILMS
1971	Noche oscura del alma [Joaquín Hidalgo] b&w; short/18m
1971	Una estoreta velleta [Tomás Aznar] c; doc/13m
1971	Concierto en llamas [Tomás Aznar] c; doc/12m
1972	Desde el paisaje [Manuel Vidal Estévez] b&w; short/14m
1973	Biotopo [Carles Mira] 16mm/c; doc/23m
1974	Módulo '74' [José Esteban Lasala] c; doc/31m
1974	El agua en la vida [Guillermo F. Zúñiga] c; doc/11m
1976	El increíble aumento del coste de la vida [Ricardo Franco] c; short/13m
1975	Un informe para una academia [Carles Mira] c; short/60m
1976	Ciencias naturales [Augusto Martínez Torres] b&w; short/10m
1976	Eh? [Ignacio Amado] b&w; doc/9m
1976	El viaje a Mannheim [Augusto Martínez Torres] c; short/11m; cph: Enrique Díaz de Diego
1976	El desencanto/The Disenchantment [Jaime Chávarri] b&w-c; doc/97m; cph: Teo Escamilla
1976	La historia y la vida extraterrestre [Juan García Atienza & Álvaro Saavedra] c; doc/93m
1977	Chillida [José Esteban Lasala, Rafael Pérez Madero & Tote Trenas] c; doc/10m; cph: Ángel Luis Fernández
1977	Anoche soñé que había vuelto a Manderley [Augusto Martínez Torres] c; short/9m
1978	Espera [Fausto Canel] b&w; short/10m
1978	Mi blanca Varsovia [Javier Quintana] c; short/21m
1979	Érase dos veces... [Iñigo Botas Armendia] c; short/13m
1979	Guerrillero [Juan Piquer] c; short/12m
1980	Un hombre... una ciudad [Joaquín Hidalgo] c; cph: Alfredo Mayo
1980	El regreso [Javier Lucio Ramos] c; short/15m
1980	Tras el mostrador [Jesús Pascual Andrés] c; short/13m
1981	Renacer/Reborn [José Juan Bigas Luna] c; addph: Craig Camp
1982	Sombras de cristal [Felix Murcia] c; doc/11m; cph: Ángel Luis Fernández
1982	Nana para una nube blanca [Jesús Cuadrado] 16mm/c; short/15m; + co-scrpl/co-ed
1982	Pares y nones/Odds and Evens [José Luis Cuerda] c
1982	Valentina [António José Betancor] b&w-c
1982	Miss Lonelyhearts [Michael Dinner] b&w; short/56m; prod AFI; shown as ep of PBS-tv 'American Playhouse'-series
1983	Soldados de plomo/Lead Soldiers/Tin Soldiers [José Sacristán] c
1983	The Stone Boy [Christopher Cain] c
1983	1919 - Crónica del alba [António José Betancor] c
1983	Maria's Lovers [Andrei Konchalovsky] c; 2uc: Hanania Baer
1983	Stephen King's The Woman in the Room [Frank Darabont] c; short/30m; seg of the video 'Stephen King's Nightshift Collection' (+ 'The Boogeyman' dir by Jeffrey C. Schiro & ph by Douglas Meltzer)
1984	Gringo mojado/In 'n' Out [Ricardo Franco] c
1984	George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey [George Stevens Jr.] c; doc/110m; cph: Don Lenzer, Tom Hurwitz, a.o.; see 2001
1985	At Close Range [James Foley] s35/c
1985	That Was Then… This Is Now [Christopher Cain] c; addph: Bill Carlson
1985	Where the River Runs Black [Christopher Cain] s35/c
1987	House of Games [David Mamet] c
1987	Surrender [Jerry Belson] c
1987	The Seventh Sign [Carl Schultz] p/c; 2uc: Gregg Heschong; vfx ph: Tim McHugh, James Green, Pat Kenly, a.o.
1987	Things Change [David Mamet] c
1988	Lost Angels/The Road Home/Wall Time [Hugh Hudson] c
1988	The Last of the Finest/Blue Heat/Street Legal [John Mackenzie] c
1989	Naked Tango [Leonard Schrader] c
1990	Liebestraum [Mike Figgis] c; 2uc: Andrea Dietrich
1990	Dying Young/The Choice of Love [Joel Schumacher] c; addph: Martin Schaer
1991	Glengarry Glen Ross [James Foley] s35/c
1991	Mr. Jones [Mike Figgis] c; originally scheduled as a project for dir Martin Ritt in 1989
1992	A Far Off Place [Mikael Salomon (replaced René Manzor)] p/c; 2uc: Mark Koninckx & Peter Robinson; sp vfx: Wade Childress; replaced doph Pal Gyulay three weeks into filming
1993	Two Bits/A Day to Remember [James Foley] p/c
1994	Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book [Stephen Sommers] p/c; 2uc: Peter Robertson (India + 'b' cam op & Steadicam op UK/India crew) & Michael Benson (USA); addph 2u USA (+ vfx plate superv): John V. Fante; uwph (India): Mike Valentine; vfx superv: Peter Montgomery
*1995*	Perdita Durango/Dance with the Devil [José Juan Bigas Luna] announced; filmed in 1996 by dir Álex de la Iglesia and ph by Flavio Labiano
1995	The Adventures of Pinocchio [Steve Barron] p/c; 2uc: Mike Brewster
1995	Death in Granada/The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca/Muerte en Granada [Marcos Zurinaga] p/c; 2uc Spain: Teo Escamilla
1997	Mararía [António José Betancor] scope/c; 2uc: Juan A. Collado
1998	The Corruptor [James Foley] s35/c; 2uc: Craig Haagensen
1999	The Crew [Michael Dinner] c; aph: John Trapman
2000	New Port South [Kyle Cooper] c
2000	Focus [Neal Slavin] c
2001	He Walks in Beauty: The George Stevens Production 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' [Michael Arick] c/V; doc/48m; uses interviews ph by J. Ruiz-Anchía & D. Lenzer (see 1984); other ph: Gerald Cotts, Tom Hurwitz, a.o.
2001	No Good Deed/The House on Turk Street [Bob Rafelson] c
2001	Darkness Falls/Don't Peek [Jonathan Liebesman] s35/c; prologue & end titles ph; ph: Dan Laustsen
2002	Confidence/Confidence: After Dark [James Foley] s35/c
2002	Off the Map [Campbell Scott] c
2003	Spartan [David Mamet] s35/c; 2uc: Alan Caso

[Right] with dir Luis Mandoki - "Voces inocentes"

2003	Voces inocentes/Casas de cartón/Innocent Voices [Luis Mandoki] s16-35bu/c; see above
2005	September Dawn [Christopher Cain] c
*2006*	Dirty Hands [Cetywa Powell] pre-production; status unknown
*2006*	Caminando [Daryl Lynn Matthews] scheduled to start shooting in August; status (2009): All major talent and elements are fully committed and standing ready to resume rehearsals and pre-production in Madrid, and Andalusia'; in 2010 ph Vittorio Storaro came on board
2006	Sleepwalking [Bill Maher] c; 2uc: Mark Dobrescu
2007	I Come with the Rain [Anh Hung Tran] HD (Genesis)-to-35mm scope/c
2008	Bunraku [Guy Moshe] s35/c; 2uc: Guy Livneh
2009	Pure Country 2: The Gift [Christopher Cain] c
2010	Blackthorn [Mateo Gil] HD (Sony F23)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c
*2013*	A Book of Common Prayer [Campbell Scott] pre-production; scheduled to start filming in June 2014; status unknown

TELEVISION
1984	Single Bars, Single Women [Harry Winer] tvm
1985	Noon Wine [Michael Fields] tvm
2010	Outlaw Country [Michael Dinner] pilot/HD; extensive reshoots in 2011 dir by Adam Arkin; for FX-tv (2012)
2011	Phil Spector [David Mamet] tvm/HD (ARRI ALEXA); for HBO-tv
2015	Clan of the Cave Bear [Pierre Morel] pilot/HD; for Lifetime-tv

MISCELLANEOUS
1970	Estado de sitio [Jaime Chávarri; short] 2nd c.asst; ph: Enrique Banet
*2007*	The Persistence of Memory [dir + prod; feature] announced for August start; status unknown