Photo by Antonio Caregnato

MARCO PONTECORVO AIC

Born: 8 November 1966, Rome, Italy, as son of dir Gillo Pontecorvo [1919-2006].

Education: Istituto di Stato per la Cinematografia e la Televisione 'Roberto Rossellini', Rome [1984-85].

Career: Started as clapper-loader [1983-85]. Became focus puller on 21 films and numerous commercials [1985-90]. From 1990-96, he worked as c.op & Steadicam op on 13 films and numerous commercials.

Ph commercials dir by Gigi Piola, a.o.

Awards: As doph: Coppa Enzo Serafin [1999] for 'Fuochino'; Premio Fotocinema [1999] for 'L'ospite'.

As dir: Venice FF 'Pasinetti Award' [2008] & Mar del Plata FF 'Best Film' nom [2008] for 'Pa-ra-da'.

Website: Marco Pontecorvo

On 'Eros' [2001]: 'Our early plan was to shoot in digital. We tested the Sony 24P HD camera, using all its features, and analyzing the results shot in different lighting conditions. After seeing the tests I told Michelangelo my thoughts. In short, I said that if his aim was to make this film with 'traditional' photography, then I saw no reason to shoot digitally. No digital medium has the resolving power of film, nor its 'body' or flexibility. On the other hand, if you wanted to interfere with the traditional rules of picture composition and image capture [for example, colorimetry], to achieve an alternative style of photography, digital might be a better choice.

'Eros' is a three-phase story, about the predicaments of a young couple. It has a typically Antonioni open ending. The script suggests there is a key element missing in the characters' make up - but there is hope for them. In the final chapter we see a hint that they may yet again find equilibrium.

To reinforce this expressionistic approach I wanted the photography to reflect this 'absence' - the missing element - to bring the spectator closer to the moods of the protagonists. I did this by subtracting red or blue [the most emotionally influential of the three primary colors] from each of the first two phases of the story. The final part would return to normal colorimetry, to suggest a rediscovered stable relationship. We decided to find and fix our definitive look in post-production. I knew we could do it at Cinecittà using Cineon, ARRI Laser and Inferno technologies. This would be the most relaxed way for our Maestro to interpret the final images. We also had to retain the highest possible resolution. In the end we realized we had no choice. We had to shoot on 35mm film. But we deliberately shot the various sequences in the traditional way, as if filming the final result, seemingly discounting our plan to remove two primary colors in post-production. Our only compromise at this stage was in the design of the costumes and sets. Otherwise, we lit purely to create the right atmosphere for each dramatic situation. This filming plan reassured Antonioni that, by starting with the highest quality medium - film - and then working on the 'atmosphere' using advanced digital technology, he would retain complete creative control.

This approach also influenced my choice of film. My main stock, chosen for its softness, pastel colors and extraordinary exposure latitude, was Vision 320T film 5277. Under low light levels I changed to the new Vision Expression 500T 5284. It shares many common features with the 5277. Both films are flexible and malleable; ideal for 'Eros', especially considering our post-production plans. I exploited the extremes of the central part of the curve, precisely so the image would be classically balanced. When composing the frame, we alternated between long tracking shots, graphically strong panoramic shots and sudden zooms, often using a wide-angle shot followed by a detail shot with a long lens.

Another reason for choosing film was because Michelangelo wants images where interior and exterior are perfectly balanced. When we shoot interiors he wants to see everything, even what's outside the windows, and vice versa. Film [especially our two choices], with its much wider exposure latitude compared with 24P, gave us much better coverage of this important visual feature.

On the other hand, Michelangelo is a great lover of the 'pan-focus', preferring images where everything is in focus. Here, 24P, with its greater depth of field, may have offered something more than film. Antonioni does not like selective focus. When we were shooting interiors he would insist that both the subject and the background be in focus. This often meant that I had to use a shorter focal length [25/32mm], increase the light levels and reduce the aperture for greater depth of field. This led me to alternate between the 320T and the 500T. Interestingly, we found little difference in the costs of shooting in film compared with digital. The two estimates were similar, allowing us to make our choice of medium in total creative freedom.' [From the KODAK InCamera website, July 2002.]

FILMS & TELEVISION

1989	Fallo! [Andrea Gropplero] 16mm/c; short/12m
1990	Passami il burro!/Pass Me the Butter! [Andrea Gropplero] 16mm/c; short/13m
1992	Ritorno ad Algeri/Return to Algiers [Gillo Pontecorvo] tv-doc/?m/v
1994	Bluff [Alessandro Colizzi] c; short/7m
1995	Binari/Tracks [Carlotta Cerquetti] c; short/8m
1995	Ennio Morricone [David Thompson] tv-doc/b&w-c/54m; for BBC-tv & ZDF-tv
1996	La tregua/The Truce [Francesco Rosi] c; cph: Pasqualino De Santis; was c.op, but took over ph after De Santis died
1997	Bambina in metro B [Vito Vinci] c; short/19m
1997	Metà [Giovanna Di Meglio] c; short/6m
1997	Piccoli ergastoli [Francesca d'Aloja, Pablo Echaurren & Valerio Fioravanti] v/c; doc/75m
1997	In barca a vela contromano/Physical Jerks [Stefano Reali] c
1997	Tutte le donne di Fassbinder/The Many Women of Fassbinder [Alessandro Colizzi] tv-doc/b&w-c/51m
1997	Fuochino [Carlotta Cerquetti] c; short/7m
1997	I corti italiani [seg 'Una gioia involontaria' dir by Simona Izzo, 'Pollo, pollo, pollo' dir by Ricky Tognazzi, 'Stress metropolitano in rap' dir by Daniele Costantini, 'When in Rome...' dir by Federico Quadrani & 'Nostalgia di protezione' (8m) dir by Gillo Pontecorvo] c; 10 seg
1997	L'ospite/The Guest [Alessandro Colizzi] c
1998	Cuori in campo/Greener Fields/World Cup '98 [Stefano Reali] tvm; ph Italy; ph Canada: Richard Leiterman
1999	Banana Splatter [Anne Riitta Ciccone] ?; short/9m
1999	Gessetti [Andrea Papini] ?; short/7m
1999	Falkehjerte/Katja's Adventure [Lars Hesselholdt] c
1999	Sulla spiaggia e di là dal molo/On the Beach Beyond the Pier [Giovanni Fago] c
1999	La destinazione [Piero Sanna] c; or ph Emilio Della Chiesa
1999	Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna [ep dir by Riccardo Donna] tv-series
2000	Una storia qualunque [Alberto Simone] tvm
2000	Voci/Voices [Franco Giraldi] c
2000	Gangs of New York [Martin Scorsese] s35/c; co-2uc & cph action unit; ph: Michael Ballhaus
2001	Sei come sei [seg 'L'ospite' dir by Guerino Sciulli & 'Una seconda occasione' (13m) dir by Anselmo Talotta] HD-to-35mm/c; 6 seg
2001	La prossima volta [Fabio Simonelli] c; short/17m
2001	Eros [seg 'Il filo pericoloso delle cose/The Dangerous Thread of Things' dir by Michelangelo Antonioni] c; 3 seg; other ph: Christopher Doyle & Peter Andrews (= Steven Soderbergh); released in 2004
2002	My House in Umbria [Richard Loncraine] tvm; London ph: Peter Hannan
2003	Perduto amor [Franco Battiato] c
2003	Undergroundklaustrofobia [Giovanni Runci] ?; short/?m
2004	Rome [ep #1 'The Stolen Eagle' dir by Michael Apted (MA), #2 'How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic' dir by MA, #3 'An Owl in a Thornbush' dir by MA, #4 'Stealing from Saturn' dir by Julian Farino, #6 'Egeria' dir by Alan Poul, #9 'Utica' dir by Jeremy Podeswa & #11 'The Spoils' dir by Mikael Salomon] 22-part (HBO-tv) series/s35, 2005 & 2007; 1st season, 2005 (12 ep); other ph: Martin Kenzie (cph ep #1, 2 & 3; ph #8) & Alik Sakharov (cph ep #1, 2 & 3; ph #5, 7, 10 & 12); filmed 2004-05
2005	Firewall [Richard Loncraine] s35/c; 2uc: Ciaran Kavanagh
2005	The Last Legion [Doug Lefler] s35/c; addph: Nic Milner
2006	Rome [ep #14 'Son of Hades' dir by Allen Coulter, #16 'Testudo et Lepus (The Tortoise and the Hare)' dir by Adam Davidson, #18 'Philippi' dir by Roger Young, #20 'A Necessary Fiction' dir by Carl Franklin & #22 'De Patre Vostro (About Your Father)' dir by John Maybury] 2nd season, 2007 (10 ep); other ph: Alik Sakharov (ep #13 & 15) & Jonathan Freeman (ep #17, 19 & 21); see 2004
2008	My One and Only [Richard Loncraine] scope/c
2008	Prove per una tragedia siciliana/Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy [Roman Paska] s16-35bu/c; doc/77m; addph: Jonathan Nastasi
2009	Passione/Passion [John Turturro] HD/c
2009	Letters to Juliet [Gary Winick] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR

1985	Assicurazione sulla morte [Carlo Lizani; tvm] co-c.asst; ph: Marcello Gatti
1986	Cronaca di una morte annunciata/Chronicle of a Death Foretold [Francesco Rosi] c.asst; ph: Pasqualino De Santis
1986	Dance Academy/Body Beat [Ted Mather] 2nd c.asst; ph: Dennis Peters
1987	Transformations [Jay Kamen] clapper/loader; ph: Sergio Salvati
1989	Dimenticare Palermo/The Palermo Connection/To Forget Palermo [Francesco Rosi] co-c.asst; ph: Pasqualino De Santis
1990	Eurocops/Il commissario Corso [ep dir by Gianni Lepre; tv-series] c.op; ph: Pasqualino De Santis
1991	Eurocops/Il commissario Corso [ep dir by Gianni Lepre; tv-series] c.op; ph: Pasqualino De Santis
1992	Mouche [Marcel Carné] c.op; ph: Pasqualino De Santis; unfinished
1992	Diario napoletano [Francesco Rosi] c.op; ph: Pasqualino De Santis
1992	Killer Rules [Robert Ellis Miller; tvm] c.op; ph: Ennio Guarnieri
1993	Fratelli del silenzio [Giancarlo Santi] c.op; ph: Pasqualino De Santis; status unknown
1994	A Month by the Lake [John Irvin] c.op; ph: Pasqualino De Santis
1994	Cento di questi anni [Corrado Farina; doc] c.op; ph: Tonino Delli Colli
1994	Les couleurs du diable/I colori del diavolo/The Colors of the Devil [Alain Jessua] c.op; ph: Pasqualino De Santis
1995	Viaggi di nozze [Carlo Verdone] c.op; ph: Danilo Desideri
1995	Croce e delizia [Luciano De Crescenzo] c.op; ph: Danilo Desideri
1996	La tregua/The Truce [Francesco Rosi] c.op (+ finished film); ph: Pasqualino De Santis

FILMS AS DIRECTOR

2003

Ore 2: Calma piatta/2PM: Dead Calm [short/9m; + scrpl] ph: Roberto Meddi

2004

InpsNoi [co-d: Gillo Pontecorvo; doc/v] ph: ?

[Right] with actor Jalil Lespert - "Pa-ra-da"

2008

Pa-ra-da [feature; + co-scrpl] ph: Vincenzo Carpineta