Writing for The Hollywood Reporter (and since syndicated by Reuters ), Sheigh Crabtree profiles the efforts of cinematographer Donald McAlpine, whose work on the new production of “Peter Pan” hits movie theaters on Christmas Day. Crabtree explained that McAlpine used a PowerBook and a digital still camera to better visualize the look of the film.
Calling the sum of the new movie’s production components “a lush storybook spectacle,” Crabtree explained that McAlpine developed his own on-set preview system consisting of a PowerBook G4, Canon EOS-1Ds still camera, Apple Cinema Display, iPhoto and Photoshop.
“We used the (still) images to test bluescreens and make lighting judgments for postproduction. Normally we would have taken two to three hours lighting the bluescreen using endless cranes. This way we saved a fortune,” said McAlpine.