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  • We have some fantastic events coming up, but no confirmed dates yet - watch this space.
  • 16 Oct 2016 12:51 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)

    Ginny Loane won NZCS Cinematographer of the Year at the inaugural NZCS Awards on Saturday.

    Photo: Barrie Osbourne presenting the NZCS Cinematographer of the Year Award.



    Photo: Barrie Osbourne presenting the NZCS Cinematographer of the Year Award.

    Ginny Loane won NZCS Cinematographer of the Year at the inaugural NZCS Awards on Saturday. Her success was earned from shooting feature film Mahana directed written and by Lee Tamahori, who was on hand to offer his congratulations.

    It was a fitting climax to the event, after NZCS President Richard Bluck acknowledged at the beginning of the evening the lack of women and ethnic diversity in the New Zealand cinematography profession. He promised that NZCS has a programme underway to address the issue but warned that it would take time to bear fruit.


  • 16 Oct 2016 12:19 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)
    The inaugural NZCS Awards were judged a resounding success by the sellout crowd at the Heritage Grand Tearoom, in Auckland last night.

    Photo: Presenting the Al Guilford Emerging Cinematographer Award. Sandra Clover Smith, Sophie Guilford, Christian Hipolito, Antonia Prebble, Richard Bluck NZCS.


    Photo: The Al Guilford Emerging Cinematographer Award. Sandra Clover Smith, Sophie Guilford, Christian Hipolito, Antonia Prebble, Richard Bluck NZCS.

    The inaugural NZCS Awards were judged a resounding success by the sellout crowd at the Heritage Grand Tearoom last Saturday and NZCS offers a huge thank you to everyone involved.

    The event was led by master of ceremonies Antonia Prebble who helped make the evening entertaining and moving along smoothly with lots of breaks for socialising.

    The climax of the evening was Ginny Loane winning NZCS Cinematographer of the Year for Mahana directed and written by Lee Tamahori, who was on hand to offer his congratulations.

    Over dessert, guest of honour Tom Stern ASC AFC, surprised the audience by waving a roll of genuine 35mm film stock. Then, like a Clint Eastwood gunslinger he drew a mobile phone and GoPro from each pocket as a vivid illustration of how the world of cinematography is changing.

    This view was thoroughly reinforced by the amazing range of clips that demonstrated that New Zealand produces world-class cinematographers across a wide range of genres.

    The Australian cinematography community supported the occasion by sending special guests Ron Johanson OAM ACS, ACS National President and David Lewis ACS, ACS NSW President and ACS National Vice President, and a number of Australian-based sponsors.


  • 16 Oct 2016 12:04 AM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)
     

    NZCS Awards 2016 winner list

    Cinematographer of the year



    NZCS Trophy Ginny Loane Mahana



    Al Guilford Emerging Cinematographer Award

    NZCS Pan Glass Trophy
    & Cheque

    Christian Hipolito Pound

    Turtz Award for contribution to cinematography

    NZCS Plaque Dennis Thompson

     

    NZCS Accreditation

    Accreditation Certificate James  Cowley NZCS  
    Accreditation Certificate Dave  Cameron NZCS ACS


     

    Student films



    Gold Christian Hipolito Pound
    Silver Richard Lane Suck It up
    Silver Manan Fredriksson Unnatural Selection
    Bronze Tim Philmester Mad About Pigeons
    Bronze Ross Dredge The Pissy Tits Street Gang


    Experimental and installation



    Gold Kieran Fowler Dominion
    Bronze Mathew Knight No man's land
    Bronze Ian McCarroll Nurse Me


    Music videos



    Gold Kirk Pflaum I Will Be a Figure Eight
    Gold Callan Green George Michael: Let Her Down Easy
    Silver Kieran Fowler Mat Zo: Sinful
    Bronze Kieran Fowler Broadhurst: Little Lover
    Bronze Drew Sturge Haunted House
    Bronze Donald Duncan Cairo Knife Fight: Rezlord


    News and current affairs



    Gold Grant Findlay Campbell Live Series 10: Episode 47
    Bronze Jacob Bryant Maori Television: Native Affairs
    Bronze Nick Zieltjes 3 News

    Magazine, lifestyle and reality

    Gold Clayton Carpinter Topp Country Series 2:  For the Love of Fruit
    Silver Murray Milne NZCS Intrepid New Zealand: Adams – Miracle in the Southern Alps
    Silver Hamish Pattison Abandoned Iceland
    Bronze Clayton Carpinter RockQuest 2015


    Corporate and educational



    Silver Ian McCarroll Air New Zealand: Surf Safari
    Bronze Alexander Glucina ANZ: AFA Rising Star of the Year 2015
    Bronze Richard Parsonson Coffee Supreme
    Bronze Matt Gerrand Life Conference 2016 Closer Promo


    Short films

    Gold Andrew Stroud +/-
    Gold Simon Raby Unit 6
    Silver Ian McCarroll Cradle
    Silver Kieran Fowler Overtime
    Bronze Chris Matthews Judgement Tavern
    Bronze Mark Lapwood ACS Hypothermia


    Documentaries


    Gold Jacob Bryant A Flickering Truth
    Silver Bevan Crothers Dreams Lie Deeper
    Bronze Peter Young The Women of Pike River
    Bronze Bevan Crothers Hip Hop-eration



    Dramatised documentaries


    Silver Dave Cameron ACS The Monster of Mangatiti
    Bronze Richard Bluck NZCS Beyond the Edge



    Commercials



    Gold Callan Green Middleton's Whiskey
    Silver Callan Green Bridgestone Driveguard
    Bronze Ben Ruffell Mad Mike Conquers High Lands
    Bronze Sigmund Spath Jnr NZCS Craig Partners Investments: Wedding


    Specialised Cinematography



    Gold Ben Ruffell Flying south
    Gold John Mahaffie NZCS Avengers: Age of Ultron
    Silver Murray Milne NZCS Seafolly


    Teleseries

    Gold Aaron Morton NZCS Orphan Black Season 3: Certain Agony of the Battlefield
    Silver Thomas Burstyn NZCS CSC FRSA Hell on Wheels Season 4: Two Trains
    Bronze Dave Cameron ACS Filthy Rich: Episode 18


    Telefeatures

    Gold David Paul NZCS Field Punishment No.1
    Bronze Dale McCready NZCS A Midsummer Night's Dream
    Bronze Richard Bluck NZCS How to Murder Your Wife
    Bronze David Paul NZCS The Kick


    Features


    Gold Denson Baker NZCS ACS The Dark Horse
    Gold Michael Seresin  Dawn of Planet of the Apes
    Gold Ginny Loane Mahana
    Silver Leon Narbey NZCS The Dead Lands
    Bronze Kieran Fowler Terminus
    Bronze Simon Raby Deathgasm
  • 20 Sep 2016 5:12 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)

    Cinematographers are set to pack the Grand Tearoom of Auckland’s Heritage Hotel next month for the first cinematography awards event the New Zealand screen industry has seen.



    Cinematographers are set to pack the Grand Tearoom of Auckland’s Heritage Hotel next month for the first cinematography awards event the New Zealand screen industry has seen.

    With over 170 entries, there is no shortage of image-makers willing to go after one of the prestigious awards created by the New Zealand Cinematographers Society (NZCS).

    “We have been overwhelmed by the response,” says Richard Bluck, NZCS President. “We have fantastic entries across 14 categories ranging from students, news and current affairs, through documentaries, teleseries, and feature films.”

    Because the judging standards are set extremely high, it is no easy feat reaching award standard, says Dave Cameron, NZCS Awards chair.

    “I’m delighted to say our judging panel of seasoned-pros were astonished at the quality of the cinematography coming through,” he says.

    “The NZCS Awards follow the pattern set in countries like the US, Canada and Australia, and after seeing the entries, the judges tell us we can be confident that our New Zealand cinematography stacks up alongside any in the world.”

    In one sense that is not surprising, because among the entries are a BBC One drama, Netflix hits, Hollywood blockbusters, and some beautifully shot commercials and music videos that are designed for a worldwide release. But these productions won’t have a monopoly on awards, because of the quality of the New Zealand productions.

    “I think the audience at the NZCS Awards dinner is going to be bowled over, when they see just how far New Zealand cinematographers reach, but also what they achieve at home, ” says Cameron.

    He adds that NZCS has also been amazed at the level of support received from the sponsors led by major sponsor The Weta Group of Companies, and Platinum sponsors Panavision, A2Z, Xytech Technologies, Metro Film, and ARRI. 

    “These companies, and our gold, silver and bronze sponsors, have been enthusiastic from the beginning, perhaps because they know that top-quality cinematography is one of the keys to a successful screen industry,” he says.

    The black tie event will be held on 15 October, and will include guest speaker, acclaimed cinematographer, Tom Stern ACS, AFC, and a considerable contingent of guests from across the Tasman.


  • 16 Sep 2016 4:45 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)

    Cinematographer Christopher Doyle will appear at the Big Screen Symposium on Saturday 24 September, first giving a talk entitled Three Elements Make a Film, followed by an address to the main conference that sounds like fun: I Didn't Plan to Come Here (And I Ain't Leaving).


    Christopher Doyle's Bio Reads:

    One of the world’s most brilliant and audacious cinematographers, Christopher Doyle has undeniably created some of the most beautiful and innovative cinema imagery of all time.

    He left his native Sydney beach culture on a Norwegian merchant ship at the age of eighteen, and his subsequent experience as a Kibbutz-nick cowboy in Israel, quack doctor in Thailand, and “green agriculturalist” in India, inform but don’t really explain his work. In the late seventies, Doyle was “re-birthed” as Du Ke Feng, which means “like the wind.”

    Soon after, he moved to Taiwan where he started to photograph and film, theatre and dance. It was his 8mm and video work that moved director Edward Yang to hire him for his debut film That Day, On the Beach.  Fluent in Mandarin, French and Cantonese, Du Ke Feng subsequently became a sought after cinematographer in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

    He has been exploring the art form ever since. Du Ke Feng has realized over fifty Chinese-language filmsand his alter ego Christopher Doyle has made more than twenty in various other languages and film cultures. His body of work is famously distinct, characterised by images that are lush, kinetic and highly textural.

    Du Ke Feng worked with Hong Kong director Kar-Wai Wong on DAYS OF BEING WILD, which began a collaboration between the two that included some of the most iconic Asian films of the next two decades: Chunking Express, Ashes of Time, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, and 2046

    Du Ke Keng/Doyle went on to create stunning visual aesthetics for Zhang Yimou’s award-winning wuxia film Hero, Gus Van Sant’s masterful Paranoid Park, M Night Shyamalan’s fantasy/thriller Lady in the Water and the rich cinematic experience of Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control.  

    Doyle’s most recent collaboration with visionary Alejandro Jodorowsky on his carnivalesque memoir Endless Poetry (Poesia Sin Fin) screened at this year’s Directors Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival.


  • 15 Aug 2016 3:59 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)

    Enthusiasm ran high in the camera and lighting crowd as Xytech Technologies, an NZCS platinum sponsors, hosted an evening event to showcase the new full colour LED lighting technology that is revolutionising the way some sets are lit.




    Xytech Technologies owner Stephen Pryor Kicks the evening off.


    Enthusiasm ran high in the camera and lighting crowd as Xytech Technologies, an NZCS platinum sponsor, hosted an evening event to showcase the new full colour LED lighting technology that is revolutionising the way some sets are lit.

    As a huge bonus, Brett Smith, GM of ARRI Australasia - also platinum sponsors of NZCS - flew in with Bertrand Duaphant, GM of ARRI Lighting in Asia Pacific, and Nancy Liu Lighting Product Manager, ARRI Asia.   The ARRI visitors generously shouted NZCS members drinks and nibbles, and a table of ARRI swag.

    The evening opened with introductions and welcome from owner of Xytech Technologies, Stephen Pryor, and President Richard Bluck NZCS, followed by a presentation from Nancy Liu that showed how the Skypanel technology aims to produce a high colour rendering index whichever measure you happen to use. Nancy also illustrated how much control the simple menus provide.

    Perhaps the highlight of the evening, was an amusing and light-hearted talk by gaffer Dave Brown and best boy Scott Harman who explained their experiences with the  Xytech equipment - including Digital Sputniks and ARRI Skypanels - on Ghost in the Shell. 

    However the message from the evening was serious: this technology brings with it a change in the way of working, but the result can be absolutely amazing.

    If you missed this event, that's bad luck, because was both informative and enjoyable. Still, we aim to hold informative events like this regularly. To stay informed subscribe to our newsletter here.

    Special thanks to Xytech Technologies, ARRI, Dave Brown and Scott Harman.

    Bertrand Dauphant explains what ARRI Technology can do.

  • 01 Aug 2016 12:01 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)

    Entries are now open for this year’s fully-fledged cinematography awards. The inaugural NZCS Awards will celebrate, honour, and encourage world-class cinematography in New Zealand.



    Entries open

    Entries are now open for this year’s fully-fledged cinematography awards. The inaugural NZCS Awards will celebrate, honour, and encourage world-class cinematography in New Zealand.

    “The aim is to celebrate the Impressive range of professional cinematography and image-making in New Zealand today,” says our NZCS President, Richard Bluck.

    Based on the highly successful ACS awards in Australia, the NZCS Awards elevate cinematography out of a niche slot in general industry awards, and turns the spotlight on the skills and achievements of directors of photography, cinematographers, and camera people who strive to produce the best images.

    “There can be more than one gold, silver or bronze in each category,” explains Dave Cameron, who serves as the NZCS Awards chair. “This puts the focus on the skills that produced the images, not the budget or amount of equipment.

    “Combined with the wide range of categories, it means there is a spot for everyone, no matter what genre, format or budget they happen to work in.”

    The Al Guilford Memorial Award is a special award to recognise emerging cinematographers will also be presented at the NZCS Awards dinner along with the Turtz Award for contribution to cinematography in memory of Ian Turtill. This award is selected from nominations and may be made to someone who is not an active cinematographer.     

    Technology companies and post-production houses form a growing list of sponsors for the NZCS Awards. Panavision, A2Z Technology and Xytech Technologies become platinum sponsors, with ARRI, DVT, Canon NZ, Sony NZ, and Toybox taking gold sponsorships. A full list of sponsors will be announced soon.

    The NZCS Awards will be presented at a black tie dinner at the Heritage Grand Tearoom in Auckland on 15 October 2016.

    NZCS Awards entries close 15 August 2016. Productions released since 1 Jan 2014 are eligible.

    NZCS Awards Categories

    • Student cinematography
    • Experimental and installation
    • Music videos
    • News and current affairs
    • Magazine, lifestyle, and reality
    • Corporate and educational
    • Short films
    • Documentaries
    • Dramatised documentaries
    • Specialised cinematography
    • Commercials
    • Teleseries
    • Telefeatures
    • Feature films
    Find out more

    Not a member? Join NZCS to enter

    Register an entry NZCS Awards

    Students: Join and enter for free


    NZCS Platinum Sponsors

         

    NZCS Gold Sponsors

         
         

    NZCS Awards Silver Sponsors

         
         
         

  • 24 Jun 2016 11:46 AM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)
    Nutshell's new rental facility was packed out on 21 June for an event billed as leaving the Wild West behind - at least as far as drones are concerned.

    Members were treated to one of New Zealand most experienced drone operators, Murray Milne NZCS, explain what you can and can't do without risking infringing regulations and creating safety hazards.  Milne brings a methodic and meticulous approach to the subject - an approach that has stood him in good stead as a cinematographer building an extraordinary record of extreme adventure shooting, including hundreds of parachute jumps and scuba dives with a camera in his hand.

    An official from the Civil Aviation was also on hand to answer questions. 






  • 02 Jun 2016 12:22 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)

    Planning for the exciting new NZCS Awards is well under way. Based on the highly successful ACS awards in Australia, the NZCS Awards will celebrate, honour, and encourage world-class cinematography in New Zealand.

    You should mark two dates in your calendar right now: 

    • 15 August 2016 - the closing date for entries. 
    • 15 October 2016 - NZCS Awards black tie dinner to be held in the Grand Tea Room of the Heritage Hotel in Auckland.

    “We will be celebrating the work of New Zealand cinematographers on high profile productions but equally we will be bringing to light those quiet achievers whose credits are often in the background, but who are producing high quality images in television, or for the web,” says Dave Cameron ACS, NZCS Awards chair.

    “Each award is made independently on merit so there could be more than one gold award in each category. This encourages wide participation gives a low budget production the same chance for a gold award as a big budget production.” 


    He says right now we are working to bring sponsors on board, and are delighted at the response from key players in the industry. 

    The call for entries and a PR campaign begin in earnest during July and to make sure you hear about it in plenty of time to get your entry in, subscribe to our newsletter, or join as a member.



  • 02 Jun 2016 12:20 PM | Peter Parnham (Administrator)

    Since since 1 June, you may have noticed that NZCS is charging GST on all invoices. This is a good sign, because it shows that our society is growing to the point where the Inland Revenue Department insists that we become GST registered. The NZCS Awards planned for 15th of October 2016, are enough to push us into the compulsory GST realm.

    Luckily, the majority of our members are registered for GST so will be able to claim it back.


NZCS Major National Sponsor



NZCS Platinum Sponsors






NZCS Gold Sponsors



 

NZCS Awards Silver Sponsors

 

NZCS Awards Bronze Sponsors



NZCS Awards additional in-kind sponsors



 


NZCS other corporate members

Ariel Camera Limited
CR Kennedy NZ Ltd
Halcyon Digital
Māui Virtual Production Ltd
Nektar
Reel Factory
Rubber Monkey
Gencom Technology
Boxfish Robotics

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