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Getting Ready for 2005


Tim Tyler

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hi all

thanks for this forum which helped me in many times

thanks for the freedom of speaking, it's only here i saw profesionals talking whith beginers.

a little idea could be a sub forum on the framing concerns?

i mean composition, movments choice of format, rules, experiences

i expect more of an artistic kind of forum rather than a pure technical one but i think it's a huge part of cinematography and it's always hard to have discutions and infos about this topic.

this forum is like cinema it has no limits

happy new year

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Tim, as always, thank you for providing this wonderful place to talk about our craft- and free of charge, too! You're fantastic.

 

I think a lens section would be a good idea, with so many questions about lenses mixed in with camera questions in the 16 and 35 forums. Also, maybe in each forum have a list of frequently asked questions that apply to that particular forum, so newer people can find it without having to do a search, which I think a lot of people don't know exists.

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Hi,

 

You do the the bleach bypass and video-to-film FAQs, I'll do the video formats, compression and data imaging stuff - which should just about cover 95% of the posts to this board!

 

Perhaps we could also try to come up with some kind of reasonably neutral commonly-accepted-truths thing about the whole film versus video debacle.

 

Phil

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Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith

How about a java based chat room? Discussing things is ok sure, but it would be nice to actually have a talk with some of the other people on this board.

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No suggestions, but many thanks to Mr. Tim Tyler. Having been a participating member since 2001, I have learned so much from all of the members of the forum, and am proud to be a part of the Cinematography.com community. I am happy to see that cinematography professionals, students, and enthusiasts can come together and discuss in a friendly, organized online society.

 

Happy Holidays to All! :)

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I use this site so much it would be cool to have a widget sitting on my dock or desk top so that I can access the site at the click of an icon. A search bar in the widget for the archives.

 

Just an idea.

 

I have widgets for many web sites like IMDB that allow easy access to information without having to navigate throught the whole site.

 

Other wise this is a great site, I enjoy it.

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Hi Tim,

 

Thanks as always for the hard work and diligence in maintaining this forum over the years. I count myself lucky as one of the few who've watched this site grow since the beginning, along with David Mullen, Mitch Gross and Phil Rhodes.

 

I'm all for dedicated categories when the number of posts warrants it, but in the interest of speed and convenience I'd like to see the number of categories kept consolidated where possible. For instance I too would love to see more discussion of commercials and music videos, but based on the actual number of posts on those topics I'd say the "On TV and DVD" category can neatly contain those discussions. Maybe just change the description line to reflect that that category includes music videos and spots. Similarly, I think "DI" could fit in the same category as telecine and color correction.

 

I do agree that a "Post" category would be helpful.

 

Oh, and maybe a few more feature articles. ;)

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Thanks for all the suggestions and compliments, everybody. Here's some stuff you can expect before the new year arrives:

 

A new skin. You'll still have the current skin as an option is you want to be 'old fashioned'.

 

A new 'Music Videos & Commercials' forum, and new HD sub-forums for 'Varicam' and 'CineAlta' too. I'd like to create a 'Post' category too, but I wonder if it'll just fill up with NLE, FCP, 'best disk drive', etc. stuff that really has little to do with 'cinematography'. Ideas?

 

A new hard-to-miss 'Forum Guidelines' link at the top of every page. Let's encourage new members to read it through, and feel free to PM me with suggested additions to the Guidelines.

 

Blogs. Everyone can read them, but you need to be a Sustaining Member to create one. The blogs are nearly exempt from regular forum content rules and regulations. I think they'd be a great place to journal your next shoot.

 

Real-time Chat Rooms. See the link at the top right?

 

I don't think we should delay new users from posting since many members sign up just so they can contribute to a thread that interests them.

 

> I second the ban on anonymous unregistered posters.

 

Only registered members can post (except in the Support Forum) and there's no good way to ban a member for not using their real name. I mean, if they did use a full name in the UserName or Signature it might not even be their real name. It should be encouraged though.

 

I'm still looking into a Gallery add-on.

 

> the ability to have posts emailed out.

 

Checkout the 'Track this topic' link at the top of every thread. And of course there's also the option to subscribe to Topics and/or Forums in the 'My Controls' Profile menu.

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I'm all for dedicated categories when the number of posts warrants it, but in the interest of speed and convenience I'd like to see the number of categories kept consolidated where possible.

 

One of the cool things about this forum software is that it allows for nested forums (or sub-forums). The HD forum has half a dozen sub-forums for example.

 

For the user (especially a new user) who wants to read all topics about a specific HD camera, you can dive right into that dedicated sub-forum and not be disappointed.

 

As a daily user, I find that I most often use the 'View New Posts' link in the top menu. That'll let me efficiently scan the day's posts without having to click all over the place looking to see what's new.

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Hi,

 

I second Mr. Tyler's fears about a postproduction category. There's already colour correction and DI topics here which are most relevant to cinematography. While we do occasionally answer questions from FCP and Premiere users there are already well-established fora whose members are better-equipped, and frankly more inclined to put in the time time, to answer desktop-post related questions which don't bear directly on the camera crafts.

 

Phil

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I dunno guys- so much of the post stuff is crossover now and we're expected to have an understanding of where different formats end up for editing and such, all of which is just as important to the DP as the processing and lab forums where photochemical practioners get to discuss their stuff here.

 

Video grading such as After effects, Magic bullet, etc. are all the kind of equivalents to DI and RGB traditional grading which seem to be well represented for the photochemicals on here but it's murkier for video people.

 

I agree that editing and sound editing should definitely be a no no, but when it comes into how post production limitations/varyin technology will affect the images already photographed I'd like to be able to ask questions here the same way that someone shooting 16mm telecined can.

 

maybe a nice big fat FAQ for dummies like myself?

 

Does the telecine forum here cover video aswell as film?

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Hi,

 

I certainly wouldn't object to discussion of shooting for desktop post, so long as the discourse didn't degenerate from discussion of practical grading techniques in After Effects, for example, into machine setup and other technical issues. That's what assistants are for!

 

Phil

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I've thought about merging the "On the Big Screen" and "On DVD & TV" forums. Stuff on the big screen eventually ends up on the small screen anyway.

 

I've also thought about changing "Cinematographers" to "Cinematographers & Directors"

 

Any thoughts?

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I prefer to keep home video and theatrical projection forums separate because I want to make sure that people understand that how you see a movie DOES make a difference in how you judge the cinematography. Whenever someone complains or doesn't complain about grain or focus, etc. I always have to ask them "did you see it in the theater?" first. Even with old movies, the discussion is different if we're talking about seeing the movie projected versus on home video.

 

I don't mind adding discussions of directors to the cinematographers' forum.

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I'd like to create a 'Post' category too, but I wonder if it'll just fill up with NLE, FCP, 'best disk drive', etc. stuff that really has little to do with 'cinematography'. Ideas?

 

Hi Tim,

 

I would agree with Phil that space taken up with discussion of NLEs, hard drives and other editorial tech stuff is not for this forum. There are already plenty of places on the net to go for information like that.

 

It would be wonderful to have a section not so much about post, but about the convergence that often occurs between cinematographers and visual effects artists. Depending on the director's or producer's wishes, a cinematographer can find himself/herself imaging a project through a camera, a telecine, or 3D or compositing software. Increasingly, visual effects people are recognizing the advantages of direct collaboration with the DP. ("Polar Express" being just one example.)

 

Thanks again Tim for creating and continuing to sustain such a fabulous web resource!

 

Saul Pincus

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I don't have any suggestions, but also wanted to thanks for this awesome forum! I started really using it only after the new software, because I really hated the old one. But I've been lurking for years :)

 

It's almost quite sad I learn everyday a great deal from here, and not too much on my film school.

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