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 Academy Award-nominated director Bruce Beresford’s latest film Mao’s Last Dancer, based on the internationally best-selling autobiography by Li Cunxin, completed shooting in Beijing, China and Sydney, Australia early in 2009.
Supplying cameras, lights, audio and consumables for big budget film productions - even on two continents - is grist to the mill for Panavision Australia. Custom service, access to global inventory, problem solving, technical support and advanced technology are why Mao’s Last Dancer’s producers chose to work with Panavision Australia, and its sister lighting company Panalux.
CinematographerPeter James, ACS, ASC, says that the whole experience could not have been improved and the production did not miss a beat. “Recently I was director of photography for Mao’s Last Dancer in Beijing and Sydney. I decided to shoot the China part of the film using only 50 per cent of the Super 35 film area. Panavision were fantastic. With a week’s notice they had the ground glasses made in the US and shipped them direct to me in Beijing. Upon completion of filming in China we had less than a week for the unit to fly back to Sydney and start shooting. We needed extra cameras and lenses for the big ballet sequences on stage, and all the camera gear was ready and waiting for us when we arrived,” he says.
“Panalux provided the lighting. At times we required huge lighting rigs. There was never a problem. All my gaffer had to do was make the phone call and the gear was there. The shoot could not have gone any smoother. I achieved the photographic look I needed to bring this beautiful story to the screen.”
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