STARSHIP TROOPERS 3.NET EXCLUSIVE:
Interview with Tibor Szakaly
TIBOR SZAKALY served as 4ward’s miniature camerman for several of the film’s action sequences. He has been a film professional/ cameraman/ director of photography for the last 20 years working on both the east and west coasts. He got his start professionally at Boston’s famed Olive Jar animation studios, Mr Szakaly has shot dozens of music videos, commercials and industrial videos. His animated short film “Nugat” was recently featured in the SPIKE AND MIKE sick and twisted animation festival and has won several short film awards. The interview by PAUL TAGLIANETTI.
What was the most difficult aspect of shooting the miniatures from a photographer’s stand point?
The most difficult aspect was seeing dailies on DVD as opposed to film dailies. We could see how the action worked, but we really couldn’t gauge the accuracy of the exposure. Fortunately, they looked fine and we didn’t have to re photograph anything. Dennis Skotak had an excellent eye and that helped a lot.The challenge with shooting minatures is keeping depth of field, having everything in focus. Anything soft in the foreground or background destroys the illusion. It’s important to know your frame rate, in order to know how much light you’re going to need. The faster the shutter spins, the less light hitting the film. We shot with short focal length lens (18mm-32mm) most often, and anywhere from a T 2.8 to 5.6.
What were the challenges of shooting scaled versions of the creatures? ?
Shooting puppets has the same challenges as minatures, keeping depth of field, but also, as cameraman, you have to make sure the puppeteers, who are in tight spaces, are not showing the tops of their heads , hands, or drifting into the shot. Another challenge is making sure you have the correct perspective, matching the live action footage. Fortunately, we had measurements from the live action footage which helped us determine lenses and where we needed to be..
What obstacles did you have to overcome with shooting on a limited budget?
I think the biggest hurdle I had to overcome is wanting to put in too many lights. A lot of work went into many of these puppets, and you want to show it off, like a product shot. However, for puppets, often less is better.
Talk about the cameras that were used. Any limitations with using film cameras as opposed to the more advanced new digital cameras?
The weakness of the Mitchell is the takeup belt for the magazine, and the viewing system. The belt is a spring coil whose ends are threaded together onto a smaller short coil. Over time, sometimes slowly unwinds. We had a critical shot during which the belt came apart. Fortunately, we got what we needed.
The viewing systems tends to be dark, so sometimes it is hard to see details in low light and with the lens stopped down. The strength of the camera is that it is a work horse. They have been around for years, and the images are rock.
Thank you very much for this interview.
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