The Cinematography of “The Company Men” (2010)

The Cinematography of “The Company Men”
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins

An Interview with Mark Vargo, ASC

I recently had the very exciting opportunity to speak with Mark Vargo, ASC. Mark has worked on some of the most iconic films in the history of cinema like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ghostbusters (for which he was nominated for an Academy award in 1985). He graciously shared his thoughts on film vs. digital, his experience shooting “The Way Back” and where technology might be headed in the not-to-distant future. Special thanks to Mark for taking the time to chat with me. Here’s what he had to say.

2012 Academy Award Nominees for Best Cinematography

The 2012 Academy Award Nominees for Best Cinematography

Reverse Key Lighting

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The Cinematography of “Dances with Wolves” (1990)

The Cinematography of “Dances with Wolves” (1990)
Cinematographer: Dean Semler
Won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Cinematography
Won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Picture

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The Cinematography of “Taxi Driver” (1976)

The Cinematography of “Taxi Driver” (1976)
Cinematographer: Michael Chapman
Nominated for the 1977 Academy Award for Best Picture

The Cinematography of “Seabiscuit” (2003)

The Cinematography of “Seabiscuit” (2003)
Cinematographer: John Schwartzman
Nominated for the 2004 Academy Award for Best Cinematography
Won the  2004 ASC for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Theatrical Release

The Cinematography of “Tideland” (2005)

The Cinematography of “Tideland” (2005)
Cinematographer: Nicola Pecorini

The Art of “The Incredibles” (2004)

The Art of “The Incredibles” (2004)
Cinematographers: Andrew Jimenez, Patrick Lin and Janet Lucroy
Won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film

End of the year update: 2011

Hey everyone,

I apologize that I haven’t posted anything in a while. Things have been very busy for me lately but in a good way. I don’t want you to think that I’ve given up on adding new content to my site here so I want to give you all a quick update on where I am and what I’m doing these days.

At the beginning of September I started working for visual effects company called Brickyard VFX located in Boston. They are a company that works on visual effects for television, film and internet. I was brought on board to work at General-Gau the newly launched 3D and character animation division of their company. General-Gau specializes in character animation but also provides 3D work for a wide variety of different projects. General-Gau is helmed by Anders JL Beer who was the animation supervisor on “Paul”. He also worked on such films as “Hellboy II”, “Reign of Fire”, “Lake Placid” and many others.

It is interesting that I have gotten into 3D work since I always put the most time into compositing. Since I have started working in 3D though I am finding that I just love the work and want to take my 3D work as far as I can. I’m working primarily in Maya with a little zbrush thrown in. We are rendering the majority of our work in Vray. I am personally less interested in the animation aspects of 3D and more interested in the live action integration and visual effects aspects of the work. I am also still shooting a fair amount. I am shooting several weekends a month on different projects and will hopefully be starting a couple projects of my own in the near future.

Since I started working for Brickyard and General-Gau in September I have worked on spots for Progressive Insurance, Klondike and Ocean Spray as well as a National Geographic project on Fenway Park. I’ll be posting more work in my gallery once they are broadcast so stay tuned!!

Evan