Part One: Digital Archaeology
I’d like to revisit your journey from DIT to cinematographer. Alongside Francesco Giardiello, you were one of the pioneers of the DIT role in Italy and have a lot of experience in this field. Let’s start with your background…
I attended a technical industrial institute, a school chosen by my parents. It was intended to prepare me to work in the company where my father was employed. Fascinated by imagery, I chose to write my final year thesis on cinema and literature, a subject I hadn’t delved into before. I then decided to enrol at the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy at Tor Vergata University in Rome, specialising in Performing Arts. Thanks to Professor Giulio Latini, who taught a course on visual arts in the digital age, I realised that what interested me was creating moving images. Latini gave us access to a large space within the university, which soon became the university’s cinema lab. We had a SONY HVR-Z1E and a Mac Pro Final Cut editing suite, just enough to start filming.
There weren’t many of us attending the lab, but enough to form a crew and divide the tasks. We had directors, editors, a screenwriter, a sound engineer, and I wanted to be the cinematographer. While practising with short films, I often rented some lighting equipment from Arco Due, a film equipment rental company; there I met Massimo La Sala, who supported me a lot during that period by helping me choose the lights.
In 2007, thanks to Andrea Belletti, who introduced me to film sets, I began my career as a DIT. Whenever I had free time, I spent it at the D-Vision rental, practising with film cameras and cinema lenses. I specialised in the technical knowledge of some digital cameras, including the SONY HVR-Z1E, which I had already used during my university period, and the Panasonic DVX200, which at that time was mounted on a support designed by PsTechnik, the Mini 35, which allowed the use of PL mount cinema lenses on various digital camcorders.
These cameras recorded on DV PAL or HDV tape. At D-Vision, I also started using the Sony HDW 750P, an HD camcorder derived from television, which, however, could shoot at 25fps. I used the Sony HDW 750P for one of my first assignments, a documentary in Sicily with Sergio D’Offizi, the cinematographer of many films by Alberto Sordi.
I had to handle both the role of Focus Puller and camera management. I prepared myself at Panalight’s warehouses, with the help of Franco De Luca, a historic Sony Italia technician. That documentary was my first field experience, during which, at twenty-two years old, I learned to manage a camera I barely knew and to interact with a cinematographer from the film world who relied on me.
These were technically complex cameras, with a linear video output, similar to shooting with reversal film. That was a real school. After working with Sergio, I was called for a TV series for Rai Tre, again in Sicily. We shot with three cameras simultaneously, always Sony HDW 750P. Nino Celeste and Giovanni Brescini were the cinematographers on set, whom I remember with great affection. I spent a year in front of a Sony BVM-D14H5E CRT HP monitor; we shot both on location and set. I had to align the colour of these three cameras and adjust the exposure. I learned a lot about colourimetry during that experience, acquiring a perception of colour I didn’t have before.
What kind of software did you use at that time?
There was no software; the camera recorded on an HDcam tape and was controlled with cables a hundred metres long. We had a Sony RMB750 touchscreen control to adjust the aperture and all camera settings, from the main menu to the analogue-digital converter: gamma, master pad, bias, RGB, the sensor’s RGB.
Does that mean you were manipulating a video signal that was then recorded with your settings? And that you didn’t have a logarithmic signal to start with again in post-production?
Exactly. What I did on set was indelible on the file recorded by the camera. You worked with a camera that had a very low dynamic range. You tried to get the most out of its potential in every single shot; this meant balancinDa qui che cosa è successo?g the camera before each scene to customise it according to the shooting situations.
Hadn’t the role of DIT been defined yet?
No, it was called “camera control,” because it derived from television.
Had these cameras replaced the Super 16s?
These cameras began to replace Super 16 film cameras, although not completely, as their quality was still considered inferior.
What happened from this point on?
In 2007, the Red One was released. It was a camera that could effectively replace a Super 16. The first TV series shot with the RED began production. Francesco Giardiello and I, especially Francesco in this case, because I tried it a bit later, were among the first to use it. Cinematographers who were using this camera for the first time relied on us to help them understand how to use it, and we tried to explain it to them by relating it to their existing knowledge of film.
I remember that at the beginning, the first digital cameras, like the Red One, had more depth in the low lights than in the highlights compared to film… This created confusion among cinematographers with traditional training.
This happened even before the Red, with the old HDCams with CCD sensors; they were cameras with good colour rendering, but they were very limited in dynamic range. You could dig into the shadows, but the highlights were very problematic. Modern cameras have improved highlight handling.
It was never fully explained why they abandoned this technology. I have read a lot about how CMOS sensors have a series of advantages. But in terms of image quality, the CCD was superior…
The CMOS was easier to build and develop. Manufacturers eventually focused on a single technology, abandoning other paths, even technically more interesting ones. The Red One started to be used in more TV series, and the role of the DIT often corresponded to that of the technician who went on set to fix the numerous problems that this camera had.
I imagine that productions weren’t very eager to pay for this technician, this new figure, added to the camera department. Is that right?
It was a necessity. Since the camera assistants didn’t handle these types of cameras, they called us.
At what point was the role of DIT more precisely defined?
It became more defined with the arrival of the Arri Alexa, or perhaps even earlier, with the Arri D21.
In 2011-2012, the data flow, the camera signal, and even the “photographic comparisons” that the cinematographer made between the Alexa and film were definitively mediated and managed by the DIT, a role that made a difference between 2009 and 2014. Among us DITs, there was a great exchange of information; we grew professionally together, often discussing how to manage live colour on set, file management, exposure, which lenses to use, and what was the perfect match between a given sensor and a certain type of lens to tell a story. We experimented and studied.
Was being a DIT helpful to you in becoming a cinematographer? What advice would you give to those who are approaching our world and would like to follow in your footsteps?
At university, I was studying to become a cinematographer. I was trained in film criticism and semiotics. I built a foundation in art history and philosophy that has been very useful to me. For those who aspire to become cinematographers, I recommend starting as a DIT to learn how to work effectively on set, to see how everything is managed photographically, technically, and also emotionally. The DIT works closely with the cinematographer, overseeing the process of visualizing the film’s images during production. In my case, I also worked closely with the Gaffer to manage the color of the lighting fixtures and maintain the contrast ratios required from the start to the end of each scene. Many times, I did this work as an additional check after the cinematographer’s. This taught me a lot and prepared me for the role I now perform.
I didn’t attend the Centro Sperimentale but a photography school that was useful because it helped me understand the relationship between the past (film) and the future (digital). This knowledge allowed me to relate to the cinematographer through a common language. I worked with many professionals, but mainly with Fabio Zamarion, who, technically speaking, was my mentor.
After ten years as a DIT, I embarked on my career as a cinematographer. I didn’t start earlier not because I wasn’t technically or aesthetically ready, but out of respect for this role.
I imagine that you DITs also helped in the creation or definition of the data manager role…
Yes. We started as camera technicians, but then there was no one assigned to transfer the files to hard drives when they transitioned from magnetic to digital storage. Initially, we handled it, but we fought to recognize this new workflow and division of roles. Finally, data managers were definitively recognized as part of the crew.
(To be continued)
