Academy Award-Nominated "Ray" Shot Through Cooke Lenses / Cooke Professional Cinemagraphic Lenses Chosen to Chronicle the Extraordinary Life of Music Legend Ray Charles
When Hollywood comes calling, Cooke Optics, manufacturers of professional camera lenses for the motion picture and professional photography markets, answers the call with superb, precision lenses that bring the cinematographers vision to life. This quality is readily apparent in the Academy Award-nominated film "Ray." To bring the vibrancy of Ray Charles' life and times to the screen, award-winning filmmaker Taylor Hackford gathered a highly accomplished behind-the-camera team that included director of photography Pawel Edelman, himself Oscar-nominated for his work on Roman Polanski's "The Pianist." Edelman chose Cooke lenses to create this masterpiece.
(PRWEB) April 19, 2005 -- When Hollywood comes calling, Cooke Optics, manufacturers of professional camera lenses for the motion picture and professional photography markets, answers the call with superb, precision lenses that bring the cinematographers vision to life. This quality is readily apparent in the Academy Award-nominated film "Ray."
"Ray" is the never-before-told, musical biographical drama of American legend Ray Charles, brought to the big screen following a 15-year journey by award-winning filmmaker Taylor Hackford, and featuring a remarkable Academy Award-winning performance from the multifaceted Jamie Foxx.
To bring the vibrancy of Ray Charles' life and times to the screen, Hackford gathered a highly accomplished behind-the-camera team that included director of photography Pawel Edelman, himself Oscar-nominated for his work on Roman Polanski's "The Pianist."
To achieve both richness and historical realism, Edelman photographed the entire film without special processing, because the filmmakers decided to create the separate looks in post-production using the Digital Intermediate process.
Hackford and Edelman also worked out a strategy for camera movement. In the Flashbacks, the only world that little Ray knew was Jellyroll, so his life is totally stable; thus, there is very little camera movement in those scenes, the camera appearing almost rooted in the red earth of Georgia. However, when Ray gets on that Greyhound bus and travels across America, the camera starts moving and never stops -- just like his life.
Cinematographer Edelman used Cooke S4 prime lenses, varying focal lengths from 18mm on wide shots to 180mm on close-ups.
There were no strict rules," said Edelman. Right now, I'm shooting 'Oliver Twist' with Roman Polanski, and we're using just two lenses, a 21mm and 27mm. But with Taylor Hackford for 'Ray,' because we were using multiple cameras, we were using a lot of different lenses. For concert scenes, additional cameras were equipped with Cooke 18-100mm T3 and 25-200mm T3.7 zoom lenses."
"Ray" is a Universal Pictures and Bristol Bay Productions presentation of an Anvil Films Production, in association with Baldwin Entertainment.
Cooke is a storied name in both the cinemagraphic and the ultra-high-end professional photography markets. Known worldwide for their precision, exacting tolerances and superior quality, Cooke lenses are specified by many of the most renowned directors of photography and cinematographers in Hollywood. Cooke S4 Prime lenses, acclaimed for their unique mechanical design and extraordinary photographic qualities, have been used to shoot several of the most renowned and visually beautiful motion pictures of all time, both in Hollywood and internationally. Other recent box office releases shot with Cooke lenses include "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Chicago," "Under the Tuscan Sun," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and the extraordinarily beautiful "Girl With a Pearl Earring."
For more information about Cooke lenses, visit their website at www.cookeoptics.com
Media Contact:
Jason Ledder
(973) 541-5264
Jledder@RandJpr.com
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