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Photo by William Kallay |
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DARYN OKADA ASC |
Born: 2 January 1960, Los Angeles, Calif., USA.
Career Okada was born
and raised in Los Angeles. He displayed a very early keen interest in the
visual arts, including both still photography and motion pictures. He began
documenting family trips and experimenting with a Super 8mm camera during his
pre-teen years. He graduated from high school at the age of 16, and began
working part-time as a projectionist at East Los Angeles City College. He
worked as a volunteer on student films and low budget independent movies, mainly as a grip. He subsequently found opportunities to shoot occasional
aerial sequences for commercials, and earned his first credit for 'Nomad
Riders', an ultra-low budget film in 1981. During the mid-1980s his career was put on hold for several years when he was injured
in a helicopter crash while shooting aerial footage.
Member of the ASC since 2002. President of the ASC [June 2006-June 2009].
Married to actress Sandra Cean Heidt [Cean Okada] [1986-present].
Appeared in the doc's 'Unmasking the Horror' [1998; about the making of 'Halloween
H2O'] & 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph:
J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].
Awards:
ASC TV Award nom [1992] for 'In a Child's Name'.
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Daryn Okada with the Sony F65 - photo Sony Pro USA |
'Made in Jersey' and the Sony F65: The new CBS-tv legal drama 'Made in Jersey' is the latest high-profile production to showcase the capabilities of Sony's F65 CineAlta camera. The production team for the new show is using up to six F65s at any one time, taking advantage of every aspect of the camera - from image quality to low-light performance to workflow flexibility.
Veteran director of photography Daryn Okada, ASC, said the camera fits his style of
shooting in terms of matching his previous experience with film to his more
recent work in the digital domain.
'I never once had to baby the camera,' Okada said. 'I shot it
like film as much as possible. I didn't ND one window for this whole show and
it is not even lit that brightly. There are no power windows, or secondary
color correction. It's just a straight primary ACES [Academy
Color Encoding System] color grade. The camera
has such a wide color gamut, I can mix lighting easily - tungsten with
daylight coming in and it all feels right. That's something I've only been
able to do with film - until I started working with this camera.'
'But the coolest stuff is light,' Okada added. 'I really
stretched the heck out of the camera. For one scene, we were in a SOHO loft
with a lot of direct sunlight. The lighting was just done with Kino Flos and
in existing light bouncing off the floor. I shot at f5.6 and it read like f32
- and there was still information in the blue sky. You could color time if you
wanted to bring it in more, but it's entirely natural. The only thing I'm
doing with the Kino Flos is just getting a little bit of face here and there,
but most of it is just coming off the floor.'
'When people look at the images out of the camera, they're just ecstatic
when they see the textures and the way it holds different color mixes,'
he said. 'It gives you a wider palette to work with. I feel like I'm
shooting more with the latitude of film. I'm not obsessing about where
somebody's face or exposure goes. I'll light it by eye and use my meter as the
only measuring device. If I notice something really hot there, I'll just
expose it down slightly with the confidence of knowing that I have all this
other information.'
The F65's shooting capabilities were just one part of the production's
success. The unique and flexible file-based ACES workflow was critical to the entire project.
Okada monitored the F65 signal on-set through Technicolor's DP Lights real-time color correction system. Technicolor inserted the IDT [Input Device Transform], RRT [Reference Rendering Transform] and ODT [Output Device Transform] into the system, allowing Okada to create custom looks through the ACES pipeline. These looks traveled as the ASC Color Decision List [CDL] so Okada's creative vision would be applied to all of the dailies material as well as the final on air product. This is the first use of ACES in a major studio television series, and the first for DP Lights. [From the PVC Pro Video Coalition Website, October 2012.]
FILMS |
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1979 |
Pizza Driver [John Fisher] c; short/18m; 2uc: Allen Skelly; prod Moorpark College |
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1979 |
Falling in Love Again/In Love [Steven Paul] c; addph (+ tech co-ord); ph: Dick Bush, Wolfgang Suschitzky & Michael Mileham |
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1981 |
Nomad Riders [Frank Roach] c |
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1981 |
The Beastmaster [Don Coscarelli] c; co-2uc (+ steadicam op); ph: John Alcott |
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1983 |
Monaco Forever [William A. Levey] c; short/48m |
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1985 |
Stitches [Alan Smithee = Rod Holcomb] c; 2uc; ph: Héctor R. Figueroa |
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1986 |
Lady in White/The Mystery of the Lady in White [Frank LaLoggia] c; co-2uc; ph: Russell Carpenter |
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1987 |
Witness to a Killing [Chandran Rutnam] c |
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1988 |
Phantasm II [: The Never Dead Part Two] [Don Coscarelli] c; 2uc: Roberto A. Quezada; anim ph: Patric Kenly |
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1988 |
Blind Curve [Gary Markowitz] ? |
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1988 |
Boris & Natasha [Charles Martin Smith] c; 2uc: Paul Edwards; debuted on cable tv |
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1989 |
The War of the Roses [Danny DeVito] c; ?; ph: Stephen Burum |
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1989 |
Survival Quest [Don Coscarelli] c; addph: Roberto A. Quezada |
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1989 |
Punk Vacation [Stanley Lewis] c; addph: Christopher Lynch & Roberto A. Quezada |
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1990 |
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken [Steve Miner] c; uwph: Jordan Klein Sr. |
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1992 |
Captain Ron [Thom Eberhardt] c; 2uc: Gary Capo & Frank P. Flynn |
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1992 |
The Man Without a Face [Mel Gibson] c; uncred addph; ph: Donald McAlpine |
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1993 |
Airborne [Rob Bowman] c; 2uc: Dulce González; uwph: Yuri Farrant |
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1993 |
My Father, the Hero [Steve Miner] c; 2uc: Nick McLean; aph (New York): Donald Sweeney; remake of film 'Mon père, ce héros' (1991) |
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1994 |
Immortal Beloved [Bernard Rose] p/c; uncred addph; ph: Peter Suschitzky |
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1995 |
Big Bully [Steve Miner] c |
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1995 |
Black Sheep [Penelope Spheeris] c; 2uc: Raymond Stella |
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1996 |
[Leo Tolstoy's] Anna Karenina [Bernard Rose] p/c |
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1997 |
Céline Dion [: The Concert] [...Live in Memphis] [Bud Schaetzle] c/V; concert film ('Falling into You Tour')/60m |
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1997 |
Senseless [Penelope Spheeris] c; 2uc: Jamie Thompson |
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1997 |
The X Files/The X-Files [Rob Bowman] s35/c; co-addph; ph: Ward Russell |
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1997 |
Payback [Brian Helgeland] s35/c; uncred addph; ph: Ericson Core |
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1998 |
Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later [Steve Miner] s35/c; stop-motion ph: Ken Rudolph |
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1998 |
Lake Placid [Steve Miner] p/c; uwph: Pauline Heaton & Mike Thomas |
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1999 |
Texas Rangers [Steve Miner] p/c; addph: James W. Wrenn; 2uc: Don McCuaig & (Mexico) Cameron McDonald |
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2000 |
Dr. Dolittle 2 [Steve Carr] s35/c; 2uc & vfx ph: Tony Cutrono |
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2001 |
Joe Somebody [John Pasquin] c; 2uc: Afshin Shahidi; main title seq ph: Mark Eberle |
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2002 |
Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat [David Raynr] c; stand-up comedy/113m; filmed in 2 days |
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2002 |
Cradle 2 the Grave [Andrzej Bartkowiak] s35/c; 2uc: Robert LaBonge & Philip C. Pfeiffer; aph: Phil Pastuhov |
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2003 |
Paparazzi [Paul Abascal] s35/c |
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2003 |
Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! [Robert Luketic] s35/c; 2uc; ph: Peter Lyons Collister |
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With dir Mark Waters - "Mean Girls" |
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2003 |
Mean Girls [Mark Waters] c |
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2004 |
Just Like Heaven [Mark Waters] c |
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2005 |
Stick It [Jessica Bendinger] c; 2uc: Larry Blanford; ph splinter unit: Steve Adcock |
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2005 |
Apocalypto [Mel Gibson] HD+35mm+s16-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; UK ph; ph: Dean Semler |
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2006 |
Sex and Death 101 [Daniel Waters] c |
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2007 |
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay [Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg] c |
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2007 |
Baby Mama [Michael McCullers] s35-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; addph: Gerard Sava |
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2007 |
KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 5219 [Tim Wainwright] s35-to-HD/c; short/12m43s; addph: Christopher Pearson; Rochester ph: Thom Marini; Eastman Kodak Company ph: Christopher Hart; demonstration film for new film stock |
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2007 |
The Goods - Live Hard. Sell Hard/The Goods: The Don Ready Story [Neal Brennan] c; 2uc: Steve Adcock; aph: Douglas Holgate |
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2008 |
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past [Mark Waters] s35/c; 2uc: David M. Dunlap; aph: Brian Heller |
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2010 |
Movie 43/Truth or Dare [seg 'The Proposition' dir by Steve Carr] RED-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 14 seg; other ph: William Rexer, Matthew Leonetti, Newton Thomas Sigel, Eric Scherbarth, Mattias Andersson Rudh, Steve Gainer, Frank DeMarco & Tim Suhrstedt; released in 2013 |
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2011 |
American Reunion/American Pie: Reunion [John Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg] s35-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Steve Adcock; film #4 of 'American Pie'-series |
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2013 |
Let's Be Cops [Luke Greenfield] announced in 2011; pre-production |
TELEVISION |
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1989 |
Elvis: Good Rockin' Tonight [Steve Miner, a.o.] 9-part series, 1990; 2uc: Jeff Wolf |
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1990 |
The Dave Thomas Comedy Show [Dave Thomas] comedy special/30m; cph: Michael Negrin |
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1990 |
Checkered Flag/Thunder Race/Against the Odds [John Glen & Michael Levine] pilot/60m; addph; ph: William Fraker |
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1990 |
Blind Vengeance [Lee Philips] tvm |
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1991 |
In a Child's Name [Tom McLoughlin] 2-part tvm |
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1992 |
Laurie Hill [pilot dir by Steve Miner] 9-part (4 unaired) series |
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1992 |
This Is Michael Bolton [Bud Schaetzle] concert film/60m (& VHS/86m); co-doc ph; concert ph: Marc Reshovsky |
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1993 |
The Women of Country [Bud Schaetzle] mus special/120m; cph: David Conley, Richard DiGregorio & Bruce Dorfman |
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1993 |
Eyes of Terror/Visions of Terror [Sam Pillsbury] tvm |
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1993 |
Separated by Murder [Donald Wrye] tvm |
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1994 |
The Road [ep/60m dir by Mike McNamara, Bud Schaetzle, Steven Goldmann & Adam Cohen] doc/concert series, 1994-95; concert ph; doc ph: Austin De Besche & Chris Mosio |
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1995 |
A Mother's Instinct [Sam Pillsbury] tvm; cph: Matthew Williams |
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1995 |
Reba: Starting Over [Bud Schaetzle] mus special/60m; cph: Rob Cowlyn |
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1995 |
Wynonna: Revelations [Jim Yukich] mus special/60m; cph: Jeff Zimmerman, Jack Lawrence, Jay Kulick, a.o. |
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1996 |
Vanishing Point [Charles Robert Carner] tvm; 2uc: Michael Goi; remake of film (1970, Richard C. Sarafian; ph: John A. Alonzo) |
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1996 |
Kathie Lee: Just in Time for X-Mas [Bud Schaetzle] mus special/60m |
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1997 |
Dawson's Creek [pilot 'Emotions in Motion/Signpost' dir by Steve Miner] 128-part series, 1998-2003; 1st season, 1998; other ph: Karl Herrmann |
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1997 |
Sawyer Brown: Where Christmas Goes [Michael McNamara] mus special/60m |
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1999 |
Wasteland [pilot dir by Steve Miner] 13-part (10 unaired) series; other ph: Robert Seaman |
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2000 |
Good Advice [Steve Rash] tvm; Japan ph: Yuji Imai |
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2000 |
Dog Days [John Fortenberry] pilot; for ABC-tv |
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2009 |
Eva Adams/Lalola [Mark Waters] pilot/HD (Genesis); for Fox-tv |
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2009 |
Castle [ep #28 'Boom!' dir by John Terlesky & #29 'Wrapped Up in Death' dir by Bill Roe] series/s35-to-HD, 2009-present; 2nd season, 2009-10 |
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2010 |
Castle [5 ep dir by various] 3rd season, 2010-11; see 2009 |
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2011 |
Switched at Birth [pilot 'This Is Not a Pipe' dir by Steve Miner] series/HD, 2011-present; 1st season, 2011-12; other ph: Russ Alsobrook |
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2011 |
Castle [9 ep dir by various] 4th season, 2011-12; see 2009 |
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2012 |
Made in Jersey/Baby Big Shot [ep #2-4 & #6-8 dir by various] 8-part series/HD (Sony F65), 2012; other ph (pilot): Bobby Bukowski |
MISCELLANEOUS |
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1978 |
Phantasm/The Never Dead [Don Coscarelli] co-grip; ph: Don Coscarelli |
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1978 |
Runaway Nightmare [Mike Cartel] key grip; ph: Enzo Giobbé |
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1979 |
Microwave Massacre [Wayne Berwick] key grip; ph: Karen Grossman |
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1981 |
Fear No Evil [Frank LaLoggia] post prod superv; ph: Fred Goodich |
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1982 |
Frightmare/Body Snatchers [Norman Thaddeus Vane] key grip; ph: Joel King |
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"Ladies Night" |
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1982 |
Ladies Night [Enzo Giobbé; s16-35bu] c.op; ph: Enzo Giobbé |
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1996 |
The Decline of Western Civilization Part III [Penelope Spheeris; doc] video-to-film c.op; ph: Jamie Thompson |