Shooting your holidays

Bill Totolo · December 30, 2003

So who played cameraman on Xmas morning?

Did the family appreciate the smooth pans, judicious use of zooms and the storyboarded coverage?

:)

Mitch Gross · December 30, 2003

Okay, first post to the new forum; how exciting. This was my first CHristmas (I'm Jewish), over at the inlaws, and of course I was handed the camcorder right off. I don't celebrate so might as well put me to work, right? Anyway, I thought I did a good service of capturing the moments for everybody, but I was disheartened later in the day when I sat down with my nephew and sister-in-law to watch a holiday DVD with them. They'd been viewing a 16x9 version of "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" in 4:3 for about 40 minutes without noticing that Steve Martin & John Candy looked rather tall and thin. When I told them I could reset it they truly did not know what I was talking about and the 10 year-old thought I was making it up. He was into the movie and they didn't want to stop, so that's how they viewed it for the next hour. It's great to be appreciated and have my work so understood. <_<

Marc_Abernathy · December 31, 2003

i enjoyed christmas. i was over my familes house with the wife. i dont get to play cameraman as much as most of you guys so of course i take it seriously when i do. took some great still and motion images (i think). we also watched some music videos i shot a few years back with some local music artists i produced. scary but it was fun! :lol:

John Pytlak RIP · December 31, 2003

For me, I took lots of still images (both film and digital), but no motion (my daughters are 21 and 27 and like watching OLD home movies, but don't want to be part of NEW ones). Had a big family (Polish) wedding on Saturday, 12/27. Betsy insisted I take no pictures in the church, but I had lots of fun at the reception. Like using 800 speed film for available light candids, making people wonder how I can take pictures without flash. I use Kodak "Perfect Touch" processing (digitally enhanced printing) which does wonders for photos with uncontrolled contrasty lighting. B)

Had a scare with my home computer yesterday (BIOS settings somehow reset themselves so it didn't recognize the hard drive). Made me realize that I'm not backing up my digital photo files often enough. :unsure:

Bill DiPietra · January 1, 2004

Okay, first post to the new forum; how exciting. This was my first CHristmas (I'm Jewish), over at the inlaws, and of course I was handed the camcorder right off.

Gross? Jewish? I always figured German/Irish. But in that case, hope you had a Happy Hannukah (sorry...don't know how to spell it.) :)

Bill

Jason Maeda · January 1, 2004

i've been shooting lots of super8 footage up here in maine. i'm shooting on my canon 1014xls (great camera), using kodak vision200T. I've started shooting lots of overcranked stuff, because i think it will help with camera shake (most of my work has been done up here, and i've lost many shots to shaking hands from the cold). it may also kill that immediacy you get from the medium, so hopefully i'll be able to process and transfer it sooner than later.

also, i've started collecting old family photos from my friend's house that i plan on using in a documentary i have been shooting about her on super8. it's amazing these old photos. they are so beautiful, better than i could do if i tried. and they were shot by her mom, her dad, her brothers etc. explain that!

jk :ph34r:

Marc_Abernathy · January 1, 2004

man id love to get my hands on a supe 8 cam... the images from those devices are very cool. you can do so much with them...

Jason Maeda · January 4, 2004

ebay, my good man! if you want a serious (but not overkilled) super-8, the canon i own is great and can be found for $400. but my buddy kent shoots on a sears super-8 with fake wood paneling and minimal controls he got for like $50 and his work is sick. it's like the holga of the motion picture world. do an ebay search for "super8 camera" and one for "super-8 camera" and one for "super 8 camera".

jason kollias :ph34r:

Marc_Abernathy · January 4, 2004

yeah thanks for the links.. i never really thought to look on fleabay for a supe 8... :blink:

yeah i bet that sears one kicks!

all the best...

Phil Rhodes · January 4, 2004

Hi,

I still don't really understand why you'd want to. You can get little 16mm Bolexes for that sort of money - less even - the stock is similarly priced if you want to shoot colour neg and the transfer is exactly the same.

This is a slippery slope - the next step is always just a few hundred more, until you're eventually buying a controlling share in Panavision - but super-8 is really so limited I don't see the attraction. Even the most basic 16mm camera is capable of outresolving most current hi-def video systems, whereas super-8 looks duff even on standard def.

Phil

Bill DiPietra · January 4, 2004

This is a slippery slope - the next step is always just a few hundred more, until you're eventually buying a controlling share in Panavision

Not quite.

Fredrik Backar FSF · January 4, 2004

Ohh I shiver at the sight of Super-8 being put down... :o

Love the format! If not perfect it still gives more life to images than any video system in the world right now!! But hey... 16 sure kicks also of course B)

Bill Totolo · January 5, 2004

I just created a very basic homepage. I posted some frame grabs on there of recent projects. They're compressed to hell but I'd welcome the feedback. Please be kind.

http://homepage.mac.com/billtotolo

Anytakers?

Thanks,

Leon Rodriguez · February 16, 2004

Bill, I like the color on the low angle front porch kiss shot. Was that a coral filter? Gives an early dawn feel like they were out all night. Was that the idea? If so, good storytelling shot. Was that a rack focus from the roses back to the couple?

Bill Totolo · February 17, 2004

Thanks Leon,

Actually I was going for early sunset, no grad filter, just time of day and color timing. No rack focus either, just a very quick establishing shot on a wide angle lens.