World Premiere at RIIFF

CATERPILLAR screens its world premiere at the Academy Award qualifying, Rhode Island International Film Festival.  Director David Field & SFX artist Ben Bornstein appeared on various panel discussions and regional TV interviews.

Official Selection!

CATERPILLAR has taken Atlanta by storm!!  The third Atlanta screening will be at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival.  The dates are September 28-30th.  For more information on this festival, click HERE

For tickets, click HERE

Official Selection!!

More great news!  CATERPILLAR has been selected to screen at this year’s Dragon*Con, in Atlanta!  If you’re a devout sci-fi fan, then you don’t want to miss this festival!  Order your tickets HERE

Official Selection!

We are excited to announce that our breakout film, CATERPILLAR has been selected to premiere at the Oscar-qualifying, Rhode Island International Film Festival!!  It will be on Wednesday August 8th at 6:30 PM.

For tickets, click HERE
For directions, click HERE

Ben Bornstein – Special Effects for the film, CATERPILLAR

Where are you from, and where are you currently based?

I grew up in North Reading, Massachusetts and my studio is now based out of Woburn, Massachusetts.

What is your background and how did you get into sfx?

I started doing make-up and fx in 2002.  I went to a trade school to learn the basics, then moved to Los Angeles to get into the business.  I flew to LA with $200 dollars in my pocket and barely knew anybody. I was living with a friend of mine in Long Beach while sending out sample sheets and blank resumes to thirty of the Special Make-Up FX Studios I wanted to work for.  I got about three replies for interviews and one job out of it. I got hired and stayed at that company for about 2 years, then went on to work for other FX houses once I knew what I was doing.

What are some of your most favorite films that you’ve created effects for?

The Fighter, Caterpillar, 300

Describe your process behind the effects in Caterpillar

After reading through David Field’s storyboards, I got really excited about the project.  I was responsible for making dozens of webs and caterpillar nests, skin peeling effects, and shedding off all of the woman’s skin on camera.  I thought “OK, I know I can do this…but how?”  So I did some research on how to make fake cobwebs and came to conclusion to use rubber cement blowing through the air using a tupperware container attached to a fan blade and a high speed drill.  Hot glue and compressed air can work alright, although this technique looks far more organic.

As far as the skin effects go, I drove from Boston to Manhattan to do Leslie Bornstein’s lifecast of her face and neck with the assistance of my friend Nick Dennis.  The purpose of this lifecast was to have an exact match of the actress’s skin to duplicate it in rubber with mold making and casting procedures.  I also used the life-cast to map out placement for the transfer prosthetic I built for when she peels her skin off of her face and neck.

In the storyboards, Leslie sheds all of her skin off on camera (out of focus).   I knew there was no budget or time to make a full body life-cast of Leslie and produce the skin from those molds.  I bought a thin female mannequin and using the form, I created a “skin suit” from it that the younger actress would be breaking out of for the FX sequence.

Any funny stories from your escapades?  

When I met Leslie while doing her life-cast, it dawned on both of us that we might be long lost relatives.  Still a possibility!  Maybe I’ll do a DNA test, I still have a hair stuck in her life-cast.

Funniest memory from Caterpillar production

I’d have to say, when I put the suit on the actress, it was the weirdest, creepiest thing ever.  It flopped around on her, and a section of the face was cut out so half of her face and neck were exposed through the suit.  Everybody on set kind of froze.  I thought that was pretty funny.

Official Selection!

CATERPILLAR will screen in Atlanta for the 2nd time at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival, located at The Goat Farm Arts Center.  The festival dates are:  September 13-16, 2012.  For more information, click HERE

Eric Giovon – Cinematographer for CATERPILLAR

What is your artistic background leading to your career in cinematography?

I started as a photographer before moving into the world of cinematography. As a kid I worked alongside my father in his photoshop in Brooklyn. I’ve been around film since I was a young boy. Most of the photography I did was non-commercial. It was mainly street photography. My favorite thing to do was to wander the streets of NY listening to music and taking pictures… especially at night when the people had all gone to their safe homes. I’ve always felt that the city and its streets have a very special presence. I especially loved to shoot with high speed black and white film. Although I never really watched many film noirs, as I became more knowledgeable of cinema, I noticed that’s what I was shooting. For many years, I printed in a darkroom that I built in the basement of my father’s store.

Name 3 films that have been very influential to you as a cinematographer.

Natural Born Killers, Blade Runner, and Apocalypse Now.

How would you describe your visual aesthetic?

It’s definitely dark. I love to play with shadows and contrast. I’m very influenced by Chiaroscuro paintings and it feels right to keep those roots. Some of my favorite painters are Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Goya, Bacon, Velazquez, Dali, Turner and Vermeer. I love the texture and mood. Their images evoke such deep feelings. I think when one can translate this to film there is little need for dialogue. I’m also very influenced by cinematographers of this past century. Some of my favorite cinematographers are Robert Richardson, Vittorio Stararo, Harris Savides, Jordan Cronenweth, Conrad Hall…. to name a few. The list is very long for sure

What was your favorite shot to light & compose in Caterpillar?

This is definitely a tough question because all of David’s ideas were really amazing. The set was beautiful and the story so rich in content. One of my favorites is the shot of Leslie, who plays the main character, as she works on the spinning wheel. It’s supposed to be daytime and I had light coming in through the window behind her and we angled it so that it created beams of light off to the side of her. We started the shot with a closeup on the spinning wheel and dollied out to reveal the entire room. It’s really beautiful.

For the tech geeks, what camera setup did you use on Caterpillar?

We used the Red MX camera at 4K 16:9 and we framed for widescreen (2.4). The glass was Red Pro Primes – 18mm through 100mm.

Describe your workflow on Caterpillar

We’d start directly off David’s storyboards which were very detailed and amazing. Our amazing AD Jeremiah Kipp would put all the storyboards on poster board the night before and we’d work directly off of it. Something I would do with David is preview the composition using iPhone’s amazing app: Artemis Director’s Viewfinder. It’s really crazy. You can choose the format, camera, and specific lenses you’re going to be working with. We’d use this for the blocking and determining camera positions. It’s especially helpful for dolly shots. Once we had the blocking and camera framing down I would direct my crew on the lighting, motion (dollying), and camera specs (i.e.: specific lenses, over cranking, etc.) I emphasize the importance of doing a blocking and finding the camera’s key positions during a scene / shot before doing any kind of lighting, make-up, etc.

Any funny stories from the production?

I think the funniest story from production was David and Leslie’s dynamic. It reminded me of Lily Tomlin and David O’Russell’s on “I Heart Huckabees”. I’m sure most people are familiar with them as the behind the scenes videos went very viral. Of course they never blew up to that extreme. In a way it was like an old married couple. All David was doing was giving her direction as a director should do but she seemed to always disagree.

Visit Eric’s website