Ninth Annual Lifetime Achievement
Awards Banquet
By Jeffrey Alan Goldenberg and Michael Frediani,
SOC
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Dockside, the clinking of cocktail glasses
rang in the Ninth Annual Lifetime Achievement Awards banquet
at the opulent Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey. The balmy
late afternoon air was filled with chatter as the tuxedo-clad
and begowned glitterati of the camera set brought each other
up to date and exchanged war stories. Academy-award winning directors
of photography and technicians were in abundance, as were corporate
executives from the many innovative companies that make our jobs
possible. Operators and assistants buzzed on about their new
projects. The air of excitement was palpable. This promised to
be a special evening. What better crowd could there be to honor
the best of the best in the motion picture industry?
Meanwhile, inside the Grand Ballroom, banquet
chairman David Robman and his team scurried around making last
minute preparations for the ceremony to come. President Michael
Frediani coordinated a few final script changes with the distinguished
presenters. The tables were being prepared with china and floral
centerpieces. Light levels were being adjusted (although a gremlin
found its way into the dimmer board). The stage was just about
set.
At the appointed hour, the ballroom doors were
flung open and all present filed in to begin the yearly festivities.
Wine glasses were filled, toasts were made. Then after a savory
dinner of delicately arranged California cuisine, topped off
by a potpourri of chocolate desserts, the lights were dimmed.
(Most of them anyway.)
The awards ceremony began on a politically
correct foot with the screening of a serenely scenic public service
announcement produced by the environmentally conscious Earth
Communications Office. This wondrous pictorial celebration of
the glories of nature reminded us that "We only have one planet.
We only get one chance."
President Frediani then stepped up to the podium
to welcome all to the SOC's "crown jewel event" of the year.
He stated that ECO's PSAs are "meant to educate and inspire.
Our purpose tonight is to thank those people here who also have
educated and inspired people internationally."
Frediani recapped the SOC's many successful
activities throughout the year, including the first "hands-on" Crane
and Remote Head Seminar as well as the rock'n'roll concert/picnic
hosted by Stan and Kim McClain.
He then rolled a short video of Dr. Murphree
and Dr. Matsumoto at work, showing the assemblage why the SOC
has maintained its long-standing commitment to helping children
with vision difficulties at the Childrens Hospital Eye Care Clinic.
David Robman presented checks totaling $3,750 to clinic doctors
Ellen Matsumoto and Mark Borchert; money donated by the Board
of Governors as well as donations from sales of picnic/concert
tickets.
President Frediani who designed the new fund-raiser
pin for 1996, had one placed upon every table setting as a gift
to each attendee, courtesy of the SOC. Dr. Matsumoto thanked
the SOC graciously for its annual support and said, "On behalf
of the Eye Group, our patients and myself personally, thank you
so much. Not only for this evening's generosity but for your
continuous support and also for your time, energy and efforts
in fundraising on our behalf. You have enriched so many lives
and brought care which would be impossible without your support." Dr.
Borchert added, "Often we feel that we are operating in a vacuum
and many times it seems as if we are taking care of people for
whom society doesn't really care. We are grateful for the fact
that there are so many here who do care."
Presenting the evening's first Cammy, the President's
Award, Frediani introduced SOC "founding father" Robert Marta,
quoting past president Bill Clark, who called Marta a "master
of smoke and mirrors" for his many contributions to the Society,
safety on the set, and substance abuse treatment programs.
"My decision for this award was very easy," Frediani
told the audience. "Bob was my first and only choice." As photos
from Marta's career played out on the large screen stage left,
Frediani stated, "Tonight we honor Bob for giving substantially
and unselfishly of himself for the benefit of others."
To great applause Marta rose from the table—where
he was encircled by friends and family—with the assistance
of a cane, vestige of a stroke and heart attack that prematurely
curtailed his career. At the podium Marta gave a warm, rousing
and heartfelt speech where he recounted the struggles in forming
the Society.
"The SOC was born from the needs of our industry
and the commitment and ideas of a handful of associates. That
commitment was a natural for everyone involved, as the foundation
of the SOC was built on one of this country's oldest working
conditions. Very simply it was, is and will always be a labor
of love. It was impossible to hold back the momentum," recalled
Marta. He graciously acknowledged the contribution of member
Tom Munshower who first suggested having a banquet to honor the
unsung heroes behind the camera in all categories.
"The SOC is your organization and your future.
Get involved," exhorted Marta. "Help expand it by bringing in
your new, fresh ideas." In closing, Marta his voice tinged with
emotion said, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless
you all... SOC forever!"
Bill Hines SOC, last year's winner of the President's
Award, then took the stage. Hines, who wears many hats within
the SOC and currently serves as corporate liaison, introduced
the Technical Achievement Awards portion of the program. "The
Society proudly recognizes the dedicated inventors, manufacturers
and suppliers who have developed and introduced equipment, materials,
services and techniques which have significantly contributed
to the art and craft of operating cinematography," explained
Hines. With that he introduced the world-renowned cinematographer
Dean Cundey ASC, who took the podium for the second consecutive
year.
The first award honored the Worrall Geared
Head. "The truth is, George Worrall refused to call it an invention," related
Cundey. "He insisted it was simply a mechanical device based
on common sense." Cundey joked about his first job as an operator
which ironically fell into his lap when his DP was not able to
operate anything but a fluid head. Cundey said wryly, "Thanks
George for all the laughs your device provided over the years
as we watched producers and directors try to follow the action
with those 'oh so confusing' wheels." Accepting the award on
his father's behalf was George Worrall Jr. He thanked the SOC
and then provided a short video of his dad working at their machine
shop and saying to the attendees, "I'm gratified and very thankful
to be honored by the users of my geared head. Thank you."
The award for the Norelco PCP-70 camera was
presented by George Spiro Dibie ASC, National President of International
Photographer's Guild Local 600. Dibie related his experiences
with the camera and introduced a video of Wolter Wolthers describing
the evolution of this portable and wireless camera, first used
by CBS at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami.
"The camera weighed over 65 pounds, so needless
to say, the camera operator we selected needed to be very big
and strong. After fifteen minutes of operating this camera handheld,
he required a half-hour rest."
Wolthers further related, "At Phillips we learned
to ask for input from the camera operators. They are the people
who know what is required and what is lacking in existing products.
The cameras that we have today are a result of their comments." Accepting
award plaques for the Norelco PCP-70 were Wolthers and Thom Calabro
of Phillips BTS.
Cundey also announced the next award, to Ernst "Bob" Nettmann
for his Cam-Remote system. Cundey was introduced to the now widely
used device during his prep for "Back To The Future" where
he needed "a stable head that was responsive and easy to use
since we were using VistaVision for our plate shots."
Cundey's unique sense of humor was again evident
as he told the gathering that he had always thought Nettmann's
accent was English, even though Nettmann's roots were actually
in Germany. "I guess," quipped Cundey, "when you're someone involved
with precision high-tech camera equipment it is essential to
be German, Swiss, Japanese or Panavision."
Video of the Cam-Remote in action was shown
preceding Nettmann's acceptance speech. He was joined on stage
by Ed Phillips, president of Matthews Studio Equipment and Carlos
De Mattos, chairman of Matthews Studio Group. "May the wheels
be with you," stated an ebullient Nettmann as he proudly raised
his award.
From the floral bedecked stage Bill Butler
ASC introduced the final Technical Achievement Award for the
evening. "Who do you call when you are working on a film or commercial
that requires exquisite underwater photography?" asked Butler
rhetorically. "The answer is Pete Romano" whom Butler worked
with earlier this year on "Flipper." With that, a video
by Romano's wife Geri Bower was screened to demonstrate the versatility
of the HydroFlex Housing System. Award in hand, Romano beamed, "To
be here in front of you has a very special meaning for me and
the crew at HydroFlex. As an inventor and manufacturer, this
award is the greatest recognition one could hope for, because
as members of the SOC you are the ones who use the equipment
and get the shots and make it all work. Coming from you," Romano
continued, "this means that we have done something right."
Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, who last year graced
the cover of this magazine with 1995's Board of Governors Award
winner Jacques-Yves Cousteau, presented the Cammy for still photography
to fellow Hungarian, longtime friend and colleague Peter Sorel.
Taking credit for recognizing Peter's compositional talent, Vilmos
recounted Peter's odyssey from Budapest in 1956 where he was
a revolutionary law student at the same time Vilmos and Lazlo
Kovacs had just begun shooting documentaries in Los Angeles.
That is where in the early 1960s they first met. After viewing
Peter's fantastic "snapshots," Vilmos shepherded him into motion
picture work.
Zsigmond related an anecdote about the time
many years ago when Sorel took over as camera operator for him
on a low-budget movie shot in Techniscope. "If you ever see a
film at midnight or later on television and my name is on it,
well, there are some sequences where the characters have no heads
on them... (Laughter)... That was why I advised Peter to concentrate
on still photography."
The audience was treated to three minutes of
Sorel's stark, arresting and magnificently composed images while
the music of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" played in
the background.
Sorel then took the stage and called his Cammy
a "Mid-Life Crisis Award" or a 'Don't Give Up the Ship Yet' award.
After more than three decades I feel that shooting stills is
more a pleasure than a job."
He credited his hard-edged photographic approach
to the spirit of Albert Einstein, whom he quoted as saying, "If
you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor."
Former ASC president Lennie South honored Bobby
Greene, his colleague on Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble
with Harry," with the Cammy for his lifetime achievement
as a camera assistant. Accepting, Bobby admitted that when he
first started as an assistant for Milton Krasner ASC on the Marlon
Brando picture Desiree, a clip of which was shown to the crowd,
he didn't know how to find the key light in order to illuminate
the 'lilly' after a printed take. In those days, Bobby recalled, "There
were so many lights up there. I remember looking up and seeing
every 10K and Senior in Hollywood, because cameramen needed to
throw 800 foot-candles onto the set." Observing that present-day
cameramen rarely use more than 30 foot-candles, Bobby exclaimed, "That's
progress!"
Joe Epperson SOC, last year's Cammy award recipient
passed the torch to Bob Keys SOC, whom he called an operator
who "gets the job done." Holding aloft the evening's eloquent
program booklet Epperson stated matter-of-factly that there is
enough in Keys' bio to warrant three awards. We were treated
to clips of Bob's masterful work with the Louma crane from musical
shows starring this century's most renowned vocal stylists Julie
Andrews and Barbra Streisand. We also saw Bob's footage from
the deck of the Titanic, 2-1/2 miles under the sea. (How much
is that in leagues, Bob?) Bob stepped up to the microphone and
heartily thanked the SOC for rewarding him for "a job I truly
enjoy. I've seen the night sky from the center of Australia and
landed on the deck of the Titanic! What other career allows such
a creative outlet?"
While Stan McClain SOC introduced the first-ever
award for a Mobile Camera Platform Operator to "precision pilot" J.
David Jones, we were treated to some astonishing and breath-taking
clips of Jones having fun at work, including one of the most
memorable helicopter sequences in film, the "Ride of the Valkyries" from
Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now." McClain related
that he has been asked over the years, "Who do I think is the
best motion picture pilot around? The answer is simple. There
are definitely some great pilots out there. But there is only
one who is the best: David Jones. He is dedicated in his life
to the promotion of using aircraft in motion pictures in which
safety is paramount and where all other aerial needs center around
the safeguards of the crew." Jones, who had flown in from the
Utah set of "Con Air" to receive his award, stated
in his soft-spoken tone, "It all started for me with Nelson Tyler
and, right along about that time, Bob Nettmann. But there was
a pilot before me, and I'm happy to say that he's here tonight:
Peter Pascal. Thank you all for this award, I really appreciate
it."
(Editor's Note: J. David Jones passed away
in 1997. He was honored in "The Operating Cameraman" magazine's
January-June 1998 edition.)
Emil Oster ASC—whose father as head of
the camera department at Columbia Studios was the first to hire
Joe August, this year's recipient of the film camera operator
Cammy Award—reminisced about playing high school football
against August in 1934 in the San Fernando Valley. Oster was
witty as ever and entertained the audience with several anecdotes
about working alongside Joe, as photographs from this award-winner's
career played out on the big-screen and the song "A Wink
and a Smile" played on.
The evening's most poignant moment came when
Oster handed the Cammy award to Joe August's daughter Ellen.
With a smile reminiscent of a young Shirley McLaine, Ellen overcame
her professed fear of public speaking to give a touching portrait
of her father, whom she referred to as "a meticulous teacher,
a master craftsman and a chronicler of the most charming era
in motion picture history." The extent of her pride in her father's
accomplishments during his more than four decades in the industry
moistened more than a few eyes. Joe, who could not attend the
ceremony, personally thanked the S.O..C. for his award by video.
The evening was capped off by the presentation
of the Governors Award to producer Kathleen Kennedy. Two-time
Oscar winner John Toll ASC introduced her award by relating Kennedy's
beginnings as a video camera operator for a small San Diego television
station. "It made all the sense in the world that she might have
started out as a camera operator," Toll stated. "Like members
of a camera crew she is very hands-on. She is involved in making
films, not just getting them started." Banquet attendees were
awestruck by an amalgamation of memorable clips from her seemingly
endless string of hits. From the biggest grossing megahits "E.T.
The Extra-Terrestrial" and "Jurassic Park" to
the touchingly romantic "Always" and "The Bridges
of Madison County." From the oxymoronic "Back to the
Future" series to the innovative "Who Framed Roger
Rabbit?" From the moving historical epics "Empire of
the Sun" and "Schindler's List" to the exciting
and frightening "Twister." "In little more than a decade
Kennedy has been instrumental in providing the world with more
ground-breaking entertainment than one could imagine was possible
to achieve in ten lifetimes.
With a hug from her husband Frank Marshall
and sporting a big smile Kennedy looked over at the screen from
behind the rostrum and remarked, "Well as you can see by those
clips there was a lot of great operating going on." She mentioned
some of the great camera operators that she has had the pleasure
to have worked with, such as Toll, Chick Waterston, Norm Langley
SOC, Paul Babin SOC, John Fleckenstein, Mike Roberts, John Connor,
Dave Whaley, Ray Stella SOC and others. "Each and every one of
them gave life to all of the films that I've had the great fortune
of being involved in, and each of those filmmaking experiences
is memorable because of them." Kennedy continued to lavish praise
on the camera operators saying, "Their pursuit of excellence
has everything to do with why I am here tonight. I share this
award with each and every one of them and thank you for honoring
me because of them. Thank you."
Following her very gracious speech Frediani
returned to the stage and made Kennedy an honorary SOC member
on behalf of the Board of Governors.
A wonderful time was had by all and although
the hour was late when the festivities concluded many were overheard
to say that they had had "a wonderful time" and that "this event
will be difficult to top."
The Cammy will live on. Knowing the spirit
of a handful of dedicated SOC members who unselfishly volunteer
many hours of their time, this torch will be passed on so that
other worthy artists, inventors and technicians may experience
the pride of receiving a prestigious Lifetime Achievement or
Technical Achievement award from the Society of CameraOperators.
A two-hour VHS video of the SOC banquet
is available by writing to the SOC. The cost is $30 US.
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