hey guys and gals

[Ryan Rigley]

hello,

I am the D.P on my class's film project, we are filming this weekend, and i am nervous to say the least. (im terrified) ive never shot on film before (except for one very small super 8 project) but i have been doing video and lighting set-ups for a couple of years now. I am wondering if there are any blatant tips/tricks you can offer to me that will help me out. I am going to be shooting 16mm on a CP-16 camera, and using a variation of 250d/500t/and 85 B&W film stocks. anything will help, thank you very much,

 

signed,

Ryan Rigley

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. Also, i am wonder on the camera how to focus the viewfinders diopter so that it is in check with the camera lens, i vaguely remember someone telling me to zoom the lens to 12mm (the lowest setting) then set focus to inf. and focus the diopter a that point... am i wrong?

[Tyler Poppe]

hello,

I am the D.P on my class's film project, we are filming this weekend, and i am nervous to say the least. (im terrified) ive never shot on film before (except for one very small super 8 project) but i have been doing video and lighting set-ups for a couple of years now. I am wondering if there are any blatant tips/tricks you can offer to me that will help me out. I am going to be shooting 16mm on a CP-16 camera, and using a variation of 250d/500t/and 85 B&W film stocks. anything will help, thank you very much,

 

signed,

Ryan Rigley

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. Also, i am wonder on the camera how to focus the viewfinders diopter so that it is in check with the camera lens, i vaguely remember someone telling me to zoom the lens to 12mm (the lowest setting) then set focus to inf. and focus the diopter a that point... am i wrong?

 

Are you renting the CP-16? I'm not a cinematographer, but my school does have a CP-16 and man does it give us trouble. I imagine if you are renting the camera you will have less trouble, but the CP-16 at our school breaks down constantly, something to do with the mag and the camera.

[Justin Hayward]

Well, without anything specific questions, I don’t really have any tips. Just stick the meter under the key light and point it at the camera. ;)

 

You heard to zoom in and focus, which means zoom in to the lens tightest millimeter, focus, then zoom out to your frame. 12mm is probably the widest, not the tightest.

[Justin Hayward]

You heard to zoom in and focus, which means zoom in to the lens tightest millimeter, focus, then zoom out to your frame. 12mm is probably the widest, not the tightest.

 

Edit: I read your focus question wrong. I focus the eyepiece to the ground glass, but if there's nothing on the ground glass to focus on (frame lines or cross hairs), I guess I would measure your focus from the gate and get wide so everything appears sharp, and then focus the eyepiece to that.

[David Rakoczy]

Rush Order overnight delivery:

 

FILM LIGHTING

[Bruce Taylor]

focus the eyepiece to the ground glass

 

That's correct. The CP should have both crosshairs and a frameline to focus the viewfinder diopter on. Even without any marks, I can usually focus on the grain of the groundglass itself to get a viewfinder in focus.

 

I have to go through this a lot because my eyesight sucks, and I am always having someone young (with perfect eyesight) look through it after me.

 

Good advise also about the zoom-in focus and then zoom out to your intended framing. It is quick, easy, and in my experience accurate for 16mm.

 

Get used to your meter and be sure it's accurate (check it against other meters to see). Use an incident meter properly, shoot on negative and you ought to be fine.

 

Good luck and have fun,

 

Bruce Taylor

www.indi35.com

[Michael Collier]

Keep in mind there is no 180degree CP, which your light meter assumes is your shutter. Figure out if you have the 172 halfmoon or the 155 bowtie (I think there might be another bowtie angle out there as well, so check and be sure) and compensate your rating accordingly.