DARIUS KHONDJI   AFC/ASC

Born: 21 October 1955, Tehran, Iran. Went to France in 19??.

Education: University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA]; International Center of Photography, New York; New York University [1978-?; majored in Film].

Career: 'When I was a small kid I swam in films. My father was a film distributor. He bought films in Europe and showed them in Tehran where we lived. [...] Later on, after we had moved to Paris, there were always photographs and film posters in the house. I was fascinated. When I was 12 years old, I became a fan of horror films. [...] I bought a second-hand 8mm camera and started to shoot my own Dracula films. My sister then took my film education upon her. All weekends she trained me in the cinémathèque. [...] I continued my film studies at the New York University where the great Haig Manoogian was one of my teachers. When I returned to France [in 1981] it was very difficult to find a job. The film industry was like a wall. It was impossible to penetrate. But I had the good fortune to be asked by Bruno Nuytten, the greatest French filmmaker of the '70s.'

Ph commercials dir by William Klein, Chris Cunningham, David Fincher, Jean-Baptiste Mondino [for Jean-Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, etc.] a.o. Ph music videos, e.g. 'Frozen' [1998, a: Madonna; d: Chris Cunningham; aph: Philip Pastuhov] & 'Afrika Shox' [1998, a: Leftfield; d: Chris Cunningham].

Directed commercials for Microsoft, Lancôme, a.o.

Appeared in the doc's 'Shooting 'Panic Room' [2000-01, David Britten Prior], 'Les archives de Jean-Pierre Jeunet' [2001] & 'One Stop Beyond: The Making of 'Alien: Resurrection' [2003, Charles de Lauzirika].

Awards: 'César' Award nom [1992] for 'Delicatessen'; 'César' Award nom [1996] for 'La cité des enfants perdus'; ASC Award nom [1996], BSC Award nom [1995] & CFCA Award [1996] for 'Se7en'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1996] for 'Stealing Beauty'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1997], ASC Award nom [1997], BAFTA Film Award nom [1997], Golden Satellite Award nom [1997] & BSC Award nom [1997] for 'Evita'; Music Week CAD Award nom [2000] for music video 'Afrika Shox'.

About the ARRI ALEXA digital camera: Having shot two commercials and a promotional film with ALEXA, cinematographer Darius Khondji has used ARRI's latest digital camera in a number of different environments. All three productions were designed to be viewed on both the small and the big screen; the promotional film was a 3D project for Mercedes while the commercials were a Dior spot directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and a Gaultier spot directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. Khondji spoke to ARRI about his experiences with the camera so far.

Darius Khondji: 'My first ALEXA shoot was the little 3D job for Mercedes and that was all daylight exteriors. It was a film to show the new generation of Mercedes cars that are coming - electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles - and it was shot in Paris; they wanted a 3D film to show on a big screen at the Champs-Élysées before the Paris Motor Show, which took place in October. The ALEXA handled the daylight exteriors and the 3D shooting very well.

The Dior commercial was a 'J'adore' spot starring Charlize Theron; it won't come out until sometime next year because there's a lot of heavy postproduction to be done. That was a very interesting job to do with the ALEXA because the first day of the shoot - it was a day-for-night shoot - was in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, which was only lit by very dim electric candelabras. We weren't able to light the hall so we had to rely on very little light; we did tests with different digital cameras and decided to go with ALEXA because it was the most sensitive and delivered the nicest, softest look. 

I did shoot at 800 ASA at Versailles and that was more than enough. When I read the light meter in this very dim light - just like I would do for film - I was reading T0.7 at 800 ASA, which is hardly any light, but when we looked at the monitor, a stop of T1.4 on the lenses was actually overexposed, so we stopped down to T2.8. The ALEXA sensor is very sensitive and at times your light meter can be almost useless, so you just have to trust your eyes. In the end, though, it is better to use your meter and light the way you would if you were shooting film.

The dynamic range of the sensor is very good. I'm sure it could still be improved, but it's really far better than any other digital camera I've worked with. I just didn't feel any restriction with ALEXA, whereas normally with digital cameras you might have to dim down things like bright practicals a little bit to protect the highlights. 

We haven't used the raw data mode yet, but we have used the onboard SxS card recording, as well as HDCAM SR. On the Gaultier shoot we used the SxS cards and editing was happening on the set, which was fantastic. That's the way Jean-Baptiste likes to work.

The ALEXA is small and it's silent, which is so important; it can be handheld or put on a Steadicam; it doesn't heat up too much and of course its sensitivity gives us a lot of freedom. It's a very sensuous camera to play with; of course there will be improvements, but it's the first time that I feel digital has turned a page. When I first used ALEXA the nostalgic part of me was a bit sad, in a way, because I'm one of the biggest defenders of film - and I will continue to shoot features on film - but for my next feature I think ALEXA might be a good choice, although it will also be really great when ARRI develops the 4:3 sensor model and also an optical viewfinder*, because that will feel even more like a film camera. Being able to use that full sensor to shoot anamorphic or 1.33:1 will be fantastic.' [From the ARRI website.]

* In 2011, ARRI introduced the ALEXA Studio, a camera with an optical viewfinder and a 4:3 sensor.