A scene from Andrew M. Davis' The Line, winner of ASC Laszlo Kovacs Heritage Award for a student project.

Andrew M. Davis of Chapman University and Sean Stiegemeier of the American Film Institute (AFI) shared top honors in the 2008 American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Laszlo Kovacs Heritage Award for Outstanding Cinematography on a student project. Davis was chosen for his work on The Line and Stiegemeier for The Butcher's Daughter.

"These students demonstrated an ability to use artful cinematography in a collaborative environment," says Isidore Mankofsky, ASC, chairman of the organization's Education Committee. "We weren't looking for beautiful images. We were judging how effectively the films submitted by student cinematographers creatively presented the stories."

About Andrew Davis and The Line

Davis is a native of Spokane, Wash. He earned a bachelor's degree at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in May 2007. Davis says he became captivated by historical photographs and their power to inform people about periods of time and/or sequences of events. His passion for imagery combined with a love for narrative storytelling – both in literature and cinema – drew him towards focusing on cinematography.

Danny Jackson lives on the Arizona border in The Line, a student thesis film shot by Andrew M. Davis of Chapman University.

The Line is the second short film that Davis shot for fellow Chapman student director Kent Bassett. The story focuses on two sets of fathers and sons who attempt to rebuild their relationships under new circumstances. It follows Alvaro Nuñez who has crossed the border many times, but this time he is preparing to do it with his son Omar who is coming with him to live and work in the United States. Another storyline follows Danny Jackson who has been living on the Arizona border with his father Luke since his mother left them. Eventually, the two families cross paths and nothing is the same when the high stakes of life at the border collide.

Davis describes his visual grammar as "heightened realism." Although it is a fictional tale, it is based on facts. Davis wanted to remain faithful to the authenticity of the story. He also wanted to draw the audience into the story and connect emotionally with the characters. Davis and Bassett referenced photographs taken by migrants from Mexico and ranchers who live along the border.

Andrew M. Davis of Chapman University

"I tried to illuminate how these people perceive their environment and the extremely complex situation they are a part of," says Davis. "I found a great sense of optimism and companionship in the photos taken by the migrants at the beginning of their journey, but an increasing amount of desperation and isolation as their trek progresses. I sought to capture these sentiments on film."

Davis chose the Super 35 widescreen format, which allowed him to isolate characters within the vast landscapes. The 2.4:1 aspect ratio also gave him the ability to have two characters in the frame during more intimate moments, eliminating the need to switch to a wider angle lens.

His camera package consisted of a Moviecam Compact and Super America bodies with Zeiss standard primes and Cooke 10:1 and 5:1 zooms. After testing a variety of films, Davis and Bassett decided on KODAK VISION 200T 5274 for daytime exteriors, and the 500T 5279 stock for day interiors and all night sequences.

Andrew M. Davis, of Chapman University, receives the ASC Laszlo Kovacs Heritage Award during the 22nd Annual ASC Awards Gala held in Los Angeles in January. (Photo by Chris Pizzello)

"We liked the added grain, increased contrast and rendering of primary colors offered by these stocks," he says. "I didn't know if we would get the opportunity to do a digital intermediate (DI) in the end, so I opted to create our visual arc in camera. Both Kodak stocks responded wonderfully to force processing and captured the visual progression of the story."

For the beginning of the migrants' story, Davis exposed for the sun and used a Super Pola filter to capture details in the golden yellow earth and cobalt blue skies. As their situation becomes increasingly desperate, Davis pushed the stock one stop without compensating or exposing for shadows. At the culmination of their story, Davis pushed the stock two stops without compensating, eliminated all fill light, and exposed for the shadows, so the images have an intense quality that reflects the dehydration of the characters at that moment.

With the ranchers' plot, Davis created a world with more muted, desaturated green and brown colors. He utilized this look throughout the first half of the film to heighten the sense of unrest and monotony in Danny and Luke's relationship and environment. When the lives of the migrants and ranchers cross paths, Davis transitioned to a very industrial color palette with a harsh, unforgiving quality. As the narrative concludes, Davis color timed the scenes with a warm golden–yellow hue for an idealistic tone that represents each characters positive internal transformation.

Davis timed the film in a DI suite at Encore Hollywood. EFILM handled the film out and prints were made by Deluxe on KODAK VISION 2383 stock. The Line has screened at Palm Springs, Arpa and Whistler International Film Festivals.

Sean Stiegemeier of the American Film Institute (AFI)

About Sean Stiegemeier and The Butcher's Daughter

Stiegemeier was born and raised in Park City, Utah. His interest in photography began during high school when he took black–and–white photography classes. He earned a bachelor's degree at Chapman University, and graduated from AFI with a master's degree in film arts with a concentration on cinematography in December 2007.

His AFI thesis film The Butcher's Daughter follows a young farm girl living with her aging father on the secluded plains of the Midwest during the Great Depression. Their lives are forever changed when rumrunners show up on their doorstep making demands, and secrets are revealed.

Sean Stiegemeier of the American Film Institute (AFI)

Stiegemeier says an Andrew Wyeth painting called "Christina's World" set the look that he and his AFI peers – director Daniel Casey and producer Jonah Bekhor – envisioned.

"As the film begins, it's very warm, bright and comfortable," he says. "As the daughter discovers the truth about her father's past and their relationship begins to dwindle, the images become grainier and have more contrast."

Stiegemeier explains that he started with classic soft filters and then slowly pulled them out to get a rawer image. He also opted for (KODAK VISION2 500T) 5218 film in the beginning and transitioned to the (KODAK VISION) 5279 500T stock for more grain and contrast in the end. The lighting set ups went from larger soft sources to harder and higher contrast ratios.

"We even got lucky when we were filming a climactic scene where the daughter finds out her father is a murderer," he recalls. "The weather worked to our advantage because the sky turned overcast, adding depth to the feelings of the characters at that moment."

Sean Stiegemeier, of the American Film Institute, receives the ASC Laszlo Kovacs Heritage Award during the 22nd Annual ASC Awards Gala held in Los Angeles in January. (Photo by Chris Pizzello)

Stiegemeier chose the Super 35 format in order to compose the daughter and father on opposite sides of a wider frame at the start of the story. He let doorways and vertical lines split the image in places. In the final scene, the characters are centered in the room, sharing the same doorway. The frame allows the audience to see that the rest of the house around them has been torn apart.

"We wanted to achieve the effect of transitioning the look of the film to the progression of the story in camera rather than in post," says Stiegemeier. "We were able to see the difference in the print dailies at Deluxe and learned from that experience."

Stiegemeier used a Moviecam Compact camera mounted with Zeiss Ultra Prime lenses, which rendered the sharp, clean images that he and the director wanted to achieve without using zooms. The negative was transferred on a Spirit DataCine at 2K and finished in HDCAM format.

Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC presented the awards to Davis and Stiegemeier during the 22nd Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards ceremony in Hollywood on January 26. They both plan to continue their pursuit of a cinematography career with the goal of entertaining and inspiring audiences in the future.