The Art of Filtration

The WiM Community, Tiffen, and Bandpro/Angenieux joined Birns and Sawyer for a day of filtration education and networking at the Sony DMPC.  The art of filtration workshop helped our members capture the look and feel of their imagery in camera with a real sense of discovery of play. This approach will give our cinematographers, in collaboration with directors control over the image in production. This class was aimed at folks in the camera department, directors, and producers who wanted to have a deeper understanding of this very important tool to enhance your artistic choices. 

We discussed polarization, diopters, diffusion, special effects filters and so much more.  Nancy Schreiber, ASC was our special guest and there was networking and nibbles throughout the day.

Presenters

Ron Engvaldsen is the Director of Optics Technology at Birns & Sawyer Inc. Ron’s expertise in filtration has resulted in a long history of having a profound effect on the outcome and look of many movies and television shows. His work includes custom filtration for the films Gemini Man, Ad Astra, The Lighthouse, The Northman, NOPE, Dune 2 (in post) & Nosferatu (in process.)

Ron is an degreed chemical engineer with 25 years experience in the design & manufacture of cine filters for Schneider Optics USA. He was presented with an Emmy award in 2012 for the development of IRND filter technology which was an industry changer in the eyes of the television academy. Ron has designed high profile filters such as Hollywood Black Magic, Classic Soft, Black Frost, Lowcon, Radiant Soft, Rhodium FSND as well as the graduated version, the first cine 1-Stop Circular Polarizer, Rainbow & Confetti Streak filters.

Thais Castralli is a director of photography from São Paulo, Brazil, based in Los Angeles. She received her MFA in Cinematography from the AFI Conservatory. She has worked for companies such as Leica Camera, Zeiss Cinema Lenses, and Kodak Motion Picture. She started in the film business as a storyboard artist and transitioned into the camera department to be closer to film and cameras. After working her way up as a loader, AC and camera operator, she moved onto what she is motivated by: framing up images to translating stories.

Nancy Schreiber, ASC was the fourth female ASC member and the first woman honored with the ASC President’s Award for her contribution to the art of cinematography and service to the industry. She paved the way as the first female gaffer in New York’s NABET Local 15, gaffing the Academy Award-nominated documentary, The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir for Shirley MacLaine.

As Director of Photography, Schreiber earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Chain of Desire, an Emmy nomination for HBO’s The Celluloid Closet and was named one of Variety’s 10 Cinematographers to Watch. She received the Kodak Vision Award at Women in Films’ Crystal Awards and Best Cinematography at Sundance twice for November, and My America…Or Honk if You Love Buddha (shared). Her credits include films including John August’s The Nines, Kevin Bacon’s Loverboy,  Neil La Bute’s Your Friends and Neighbors,  and television shows including HBO’s The Comeback, ABC’s The Family, FX’s Better Things, ABC/Shondaland Station 19, and Starz: P-Valley. Schreiber was also the cinematographer for the period film, Mapplethorpe, and the documentaries Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and Linda Ronstadt: Sound of My Voice.

Schreiber recently  wrapped the first season of ABC’S The Rookie Feds, with Niecy Nash- Betts and Frankie Faison streaming on Hulu.

photos by Ashly Covington

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