Contents Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Highly regarded German cinematographer Frank Griebe (Run, Lola, Run) reteamed with director Tom Tykwer on this epic and visually stunning adapatation of the critically acclaimed 1985 "historical horror" novel by Patrick S?skind. Set in 18th-century France, the film tells the chilling tale of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), a perfumer's apprentice whose incredible sense of smell leads him on an obsessive pursuit of the perfect scent - whose secret ingredient requires him to murder a series of young girls. Shot in Germany, France and Spain, Perfume became a box-office sensation during its fall 2006 theatrical run in Germany, and will have a two-tiered release in the United States in late December (limited) and mid-January (wide).

The Invisible
Gabriel Beristain, ASC details his work with director David S. Goyer on this intriguing thriller, which concerns a teenage boy and girl whose "true selves" are invisible to others due to his untimely death and her problems after the death of her mother. Beristain will offer a full account of the shoot, which took place in British Columbia.

ASC International Award
The career of world-renowned cinematographer and three-time Academy Award nominee Michael Ballhaus, ASC will reach a pinnacle on February 18, when he will receive the International Award during the annual ASC Awards gala in Los Angeles. This prestigious award is reserved for foreign-born cinematographers who have made an enduring contribution to their art form. In an in-depth profile piece, AC executive editor Stephen Pizzello will trace the full arc of Ballhaus's career, from his early days with prolific German auteur Rainer Werner Fassbinder (for whom he shot 15 films) to his later years in Hollywood, where he has worked with such prominent directors as Martin Scorsese (7 films, including GoodFellas, The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York and The Departed), Francis Ford Coppola (Bram Stoker's Dracula), James L. Brooks (Broadcast News), Wolfgang Petersen (Outbreak, Air Force One) and Mike Nichols (Working Girl).

Tribute to Sven Nykvist, ASC
Cinema lost one of its leading lights on September 20, 2006, when legendary director of photography Sven Nykvist, ASC passed away. AC historian Robert Birchard will pen a tribute to the great Swedish cameraman, best known for his seminal work with director Ingmar Bergman, for whom he shot such classic films as Winter Light, Persona, Scenes From a Marriage and Fanny and Alexander. Over the course of his career, Nykvist also lent his talents to films by Woody Allen, Lasse Hallstr?m, Bob Rafelson, Bob Fosse, Louis Malle, Norman Jewison, Philip Kaufman, Alan Pakula and Richard Attenborough.

The February issue's departments will also offer illuminating insights:

Global Village will present an interview with cinematographer Hyung-ku Kim about his work on the South Korean horror/comedy/sci-fi thriller The Host, in which a mutant creature emerges from Seoul's Han River and proceeds to terrorize the populace.

DVD Playback will offer a review of The Premiere Frank Capra Collection, which includes five of of the director's classics shot by Joseph Walker, ASC: American Madness (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It With You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). In addition, we will assess the new DVDs of Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), shot by Aldo Tonti, and Lady Vengeance (2005), shot by Jeong-hun Jeong.

Production Slate will present pieces on Miss Potter, a Beatrix Potter bio-pic shot by Andrew Dunn, BSC, and The Astronaut Farmer, a quirky drama shot by M. David Mullen, ASC.

Points East will detail the shooting of Project Rebirth, an ambitious 10-year project that will employ 10 fixed-position, time-lapse high-definition video cameras to capture the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site in New York City. Cinematographers Jim Whitaker and Tom Lappin will detail their collaboration on the project, which is scheduled to be released in the year 2011.

Post Focus will offer a piece about Cineric's restoration of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), shot by Gilbert Taylor, BSC, as well as an overview of Sohonet's new North American headquarters, which opened recently in Los Angeles.

Short Takes will present an interview with cinematographer Jaron Pursuant about his work on the Meat Loaf video "It's All Coming Back to Me Now."

Wrap Shot will be revived this month to present a look at The Last Run (1971), a crime thriller shot by the late Sven Nyvkist, ASC.

Contents Letters From Iwo Jima
Tom Stern will detail his work with director Clint Eastwood on this WWII battle drama, which serves as a companion piece to their recent feature Flags of Our Fathers. This time around, the Battle of Iwo Jima is retold from the perspective of Japanese soldiers fighting in the shadow of Mount Suribachi. Stern will discuss his unique participation on both projects with interviewer David E. Williams, who covered Flags for our Nov. 2006 issue.

Television cinematography
The job of shooting a hit television show involves a complex array of responsibilities, all of which impact and inform a director of photography's creative approach. In this comprehensive piece, we will discuss the challenges of small-screen cinematography with a number of professionals from top-rated shows: Thomas Del Ruth, ASC (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), Ross Berryman, ASC, ACS (Ugly Betty), John Aronson (Heroes), Krishna Rao (The Unit), Eagle Egilsson and Charles Mills (CSI: Miami) and Herb Davis (Grey's Anatomy). Each will offer insights into their day-to-day duties on the set.

Distinguished Achievement Award for Television Cinematography
This newly created award will be presented to veteran television cinematographer Donald M. Morgan, ASC at the annual ASC Awards ceremony in February. Our article on Morgan will present a a complete overview of his career, during which he has earned a remarkable series of honors: 5 Emmy Awards and 4 nominations, along with 4 ASC Awards and 2 nominations. Morgan will offer details about working on his most acclaimed telefilms, which include Murder in Mississippi, Dillinger, Geronimo, The Siege at Ruby Ridge, Miss Evers' Boys, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, Out of the Ashes and Something the Lord Made. Morgan will also discuss his contributions to several noteworthy theatrical features, including Starman, Christine and Used Cars.

The March issue's departments will also offer illuminating insights:

DVD Playback will review new DVD versions of 1900 (1976), shot by Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC; Bugsy (1991), shot by Allen Daviau, ASC; and Superman I: The Richard Donner Cut (1978/2006), shot by Geoffrey Unsworth, BSC and Robert Paynter.

Production Slate will present pieces on The Lives of Others, a compelling German drama shot by Hagen Bogdanski, and The Situation, an HBO telefilm about the Iraq war shot by Sean Bobbitt.

Points East will offer an interview with cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti, ASC about his work on Pride, a sports drama about a deetermined man who starts a swim team for troubled teens at the Philadelphia Dept. of Recreation.

Post Focus will offer a piece about Atlab's 4K digital intermediate for the feature film 10 Canoes; coverage of the post work for Night of the Living Dead 3D; and a tour of iO Films' new Hollywood facility.

Contents Zodiac
Harris Savides, ASC will discuss his use of digital Viper cameras on David Fincher's hotly anticipated thriller Zodiac, which bases its drama on Robert Graysmith's true-crime books about the notorious serial killer who terrorized San Francisco during the 1960s and '70s. Savides, who previously shot Fincher's acclaimed 1997 thriller The Game, will offer a detailed assessment of the cameras' performance, as well as his general thoughts about shooting in the new digital realm.

300
Larry Fong will detail the methods he used to achieve striking imagery for the action-adventure film 300, a big-screen adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Fong shot the film entirely on Montreal soundstages in the widescreen Super 35mm format, and then supervised the project's creative use of the digital-intermediate process, which was extensively applied to emulate the look of the graphic novel.

Sunshine
Alwin K?chler, BSC will discuss his collaboration with director Danny Boyle on this ambitious sci-fi thriller, which concerns a team of astronauts who are sent into space in a desperate attempt to revive Earth's dying sun. K?chler will discuss the full range of techniques he employed, including his use of both the Super 35 and anamorphic formats to achieve different kind of flares for scenes involving the sun.

ASC Presidents Award
This honor, presented to veteran cinematographer Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC at the 21st annual ASC Awards ceremony in February, salutes directors of photography who have made exceptional contributions to the art and craft of cinematography. David E. Williams will offer an overview of Hirschfeld's many stellar accomplishments, which include the features Fail-Safe; Goodbye, Columbus; Diary of a Mad Housewife; My Favorite Year; and the Mel Brooks comedies Young Frankenstein and To Be Or Not to Be. In addition to being the longest-tenured member of the ASC (joining the Society 56 years ago, in 1951), Hirschfeld helped launch the careers of legendary ASC members Gordon Willis and Owen Roizman. He has served as a filmmaker in residence at the International Film & Video Workshops and is also the author of the popular textbook Image Control - Motion Picture and Video Camera Filters and Lab Techniques.

Sundance Film Festival
Each January, industry insiders flock to Park City, Utah to attend this key festival, which has launched the careers of many independent filmmakers. AC's team of writers will scout out the most visually compelling entries for our annual roundup, which will offer insights from the event's most promising cinematographers.

The April issue's departments will also offer illuminating insights:

DVD Playback will review new DVD versions of Pandora's Box (1928), shot by G?nther Krampf; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), shot by Haskell Wexler, ASC; and The Double Life of Veronique (1991), shot by Slawomir Idziak, PSC.

Global Village will offer insights from cinematographer Souhei Tanigawa about his work on the Japanese film Noriko's Dinner Table.

Production Slate will present pieces on Rescue Dawn, a compelling war drama shot by Peter Zeitlinger for director Werner Herzog, and Severance, a horror/comedy hybrid shot by Ed Wild.

Points East will offer an interview with cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC about his work on Perfect Stranger, a thriller set and shot in New York City.

Post Focus will offer a piece about the use of digital cameras and post on David Lynch's surreal drama Inland Empire, as well as a piece on Milagro's Post's use of Bones software and other tools on a recent series of Chevrolet commercials.

Short Takes will present coverage of award-winning shorts from this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Tricks of the Trade will offer insights into cutting-edge digital rear-projection techniques from ASC member Bill Taylor.

ASC Close-Up will present a Q&A profile of Society member Vincent Cox.

Contents Spider-Man 3

Bill Pope, ASC swings back into action with director Sam Raimi's third installment of the hugely popular superhero franchise, which once again stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and his crime-fighting alter ego, Spider-Man. This time around, a strange entity from another world bonds with Parker, forcing him to confront a new kind of inner turmoil during his web-slinging adventures. Pope will detail his complex integration of live-action footage with CG effects, as well as his post work at Thomson's new Technicolor digital-intermediate facility, which recently opened its doors on the Sony lot.

28 Weeks Later

Enrique Chediak teamed with promising Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto) on this sequel to Danny Boyle's 2002 horror thriller 28 Days Later. Set six months after the action of the first film, 28 Weeks begins with the U.S. Army restoring order in Britain after the suppression of the Rage virus, which turned the country's populace into a mob of undead, flesh-eating creatures. The crisis is reignited, however, when a carrier of the virus enters London and unwittingly spreads the deadly infection. Chediak will detail his efforts to create onscreen havoc in one of the planet's busiest cities.

Smallville

This hit TV series, which follows the teenage years of Clark Kent (a.k.a. Superman), is shot by two members of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, Glen Winter and David Moxness. The show's visual effects are supervised by Mat Beck, ASC, who recently took a turn in the director's chair. All three will offer their perspectives on the show, which recently earned Moxness an ASC Award for his work on the episode "Arrow."

ASC/Academy Award winners and nominees

In our annual salute to the year's best cinematography, we will acknowledge the accomplishments of all the directors of photography who were honored at this year's ASC and Academy Award ceremonies: Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (Children of Men); Guillermo Navarro, ASC (Pan's Labyrinth); Dick Pope, BSC (The Illusionist); Wally Pfister, ASC (The Prestige); Robert Richardson, ASC (The Good Shepherd); Dean Semler, ASC, ACS (Apocalypto); and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC (The Black Dahlia).

Academy Scientific & Technical Awards

We will present a full recap of this year's ingenious honorees, whose technical contributions to filmmaking were feted on February 10 during a prestigious dinner at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

The May issue's departments will also offer illuminating insights:

DVD Playback will review new DVD versions of A Man for All Seasons (1966), shot by Ted Moore; Reds (1981), shot by Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC; and Hollywoodland (2006), shot by Jonathan Freeman.

Production Slate will present pieces on the dynamic sports film Zidane, shot by Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC, and the feature film Vacancy, a riveting thriller shot by Andrzej Sekula.

Points East will offer an interview with cinematographer Terry Stacey about his work on The Nanny Diaries, a romantic comedy set in New York City.

Short Takes will present interviews with student cinematographers Brian Melton and Lyle Vincent, winners of this year's ASC John Alonzo Heritage Award.

Post Focus will examine the image-enhancement services that DTS Digital Images provided for David Fincher's thriller Zodiac and will present an overview of Thomson's new Technicolor digital-intermediate facility on the Sony Studios lot in Culver City.

ASC Close-Up will present a Q&A profile of Society member Nancy Schreiber.

Contents Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Dariusz Wolski, ASC will discuss his work with director Gore Verbinski on the latest installment of this blockbuster Pirates franchise, focusing on the show's demanding logistics and the integration of live-action footage with extensive visual effects. At World's End finds Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) sailing into uncharted waters, where treachery and betrayal await them. Also returning for another voyage is Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow and Bill Nighy as Davy Jones.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Larry Blanford was behind the camera on this high-flying sequel to The Fantastic Four, which exceeded expectations to become a major box-office hit in 2005. In the new film, Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), The Human Torch (Chris Evans) and The Thing (Michael Chiklis) must confront two new foes: the Silver Surfer (Doug Jones) and the planet-eating Galactus. Blanford will reveal all of the tricks he used to lend our heroes their super powers.

Mr. Brooks

John Lindley, ASC, CSC will discuss his collaboration with director Bruce A. Evans on this psychological thriller, which stars Kevin Costner as a man who is sometimes controlled by his serial-killer alter ego (William Hurt). Lindley will offer a full overview of the techniques he used to add menacing ambience to the drama.

The Alps

This stunning large-format film, which will play on Imax screens worldwide throughout the spring and summer, follows the true-life story of mountaineer and journalist John Harlin III, who sets out on an epic personal journey to climb the deadly North Face of the Eiger, the stormiest, steepest peak in all of Europe - 40 years after the same mountain claimed the life of his larger-than-life father, climbing legend John Harlin II. Filled with majestic views of Switzerland's natural beauty, The Alps put cinematographers Michael Brown and Brad Ohlund and aerial-photography specialist Ron Goodman of SpaceCam Systems through a true test of their abilities.

The June issue's departments will also offer illuminating insights:

DVD Playback will review new DVD versions of Performance (1970), shot by Nicolas Roeg; The Conformist (1971), shot by Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC; and The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Fando y Lis, 1968; El Topo, 1970; The Holy Mountain, 1973), shot by Rafael Corkidi and Antonio Reynoso.

Production Slate will interview cinematographer Tetsuo Nagata, AFC about his work on La Vie en Rose, an artful biopic about the life of singer Edith Piaf, and offer a chat with Agn?s Godard, AFC about her photography for The Golden Door (Nuovomondo), a drama about Sicilian immigrants that earned the Silver Lion at the 2006 Venice Film Festival.

Short Takes will analyze the short films Grace, shot by Levie Isaaks, ASC, and Rose, shot by Adam Meltzer.

Post Focus will spotlight the new digital-services company Illuminate, which unites four highly regarded production, postproduction and creative studios: HTV, Metropolitan Entertainment, HD Vision Studios and HD Vision Broadcast Center.

Contents Live Free or Die Hard
Simon Duggan, ACS reveals how he captured all the action for the fourth film in the ever-popular Die Hard franchise. AC's Australian correspondent, Simon Gray, will debrief Duggan about staging a series of explosive and logistically complex setpieces.

Rescue Dawn
Peter Zeitlinger endured a grueling shoot in Thailand to bring director Werner Herzog's thrilling prisoner-of-war drama to the big screen. Fred Schruers, former senior editor of Premiere magazine, talks to both Zeitlinger and Herzog about the arduous location work involved in this ambitious production.

Nancy Drew
Alexander Grusynski, ASC was behind the camera on this teen-oriented mystery-comedy. Gruszynski discusses his approach to the film's poppy, stylized images.

Army of Shadows (1969)
French cinematographer Pierre L'homme, AFC discusses his role in restoring this classic World War II drama, which he shot in the late 1960s for director Jean-Pierre Melville.

The July issue's departments offers illuminating insights:

DVD Playback reviews new DVD versions of All That Jazz (1979), shot by Giuseppe Rotunno, ASC, AIC; The Queen (2006), shot by Affonso Beato, ASC; and Notes on a Scandal (2006), shot by Chris Menges, BSC.

Production Slate offers interviews with cinematographer Jan Kiesser, ASC, CSC about shooting the independent zombie comedy Fido, and Hungarian cameraman Giula Pados, HSC about his work on the drama Evening, directed by ASC member Lajos Koltai.

Points East presents a piece on the tense, New York-based terrorism drama Day Night Day Night, shot by Belgian cinematographer Beno?t Debie.

Short Takes analyzed the short film Rose, shot by Adam Meltzer.

Post Focus presents an overview of digital multi-masters by Simon Cuff, president of Digital Vision.

Filmmakers' Forum offers a piece by the head of the ASC Technology Committee, Curtis Clark, about his recent trip to Korea.