I have Ektachrome 64T to shoot

Alessandro Machi · July 22, 2005

I'm trying to avoid shooting boring shots.

Do I hold out and see if I can make some connection happen through my contacts and shoot something with known personalities, or do I simply shoot landscapes?

Any suggestions?

Filip Plesha · July 22, 2005

Shoot people. I find landscapes to be the worst test material.

why? well they tolerate everything.

Remember those old 70's and 80's postcards with sea scenery and with insanely saturated colors? Well they look nice when you shoot sea, sky etc.

I can only imagine if you used the same printing technique for a portrait. It would probably look REALLY bad.

I think shooting people is the best test.

Make a test for an overcast situation, one for a sunny day, and one with artificial indoor lighting

It would be nice if you have a MacBeth color chart to put into the scenes

Alessandro Machi · July 22, 2005

Shoot people. I find landscapes to be the worst test material.

why? well they tolerate everything.

Remember those old 70's and 80's postcards with sea scenery and with insanely saturated colors? Well they look nice when you shoot sea, sky etc.

I can only imagine if you used the same printing technique for a portrait. It would probably look REALLY bad.

I think shooting people is the best test.

Make a test for an overcast situation, one for a sunny day, and one with artificial indoor lighting

It would be nice if you have a MacBeth color chart to put into the scenes

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good Suggestions. I was thinking of concocting some kind of color pallette from VHS carboard sleeves that come in differnet colors. I like the idea of using VHS cardboard sleeves because they are three dimensional rather than flat.

I was thinking of just placing it somewher in the shot plus filming something else going on.

Anyone have any location suggestions, I'm in LA.

Alessandro Machi · July 22, 2005

One other thing.

Close up shots, should they be done as wide shots up close, or as Telephoto shots from a distance, or as medium zooms from a medium distance? Which way is most effective for use in determining a stocks strengths or weaknesses in tems of grain and contrast and color?

Filip Plesha · July 22, 2005

If the test is personal, for your own use, I'd rather suggest that you shoot it in your home and your backyard or your street.

These are scenes that you know by heart, and you will know exactly how this film ticks and how it renders the the light that you are so formiliar with.

If it is for your website and for general readers, then I guess you could use some locations that are formiliar to everyone in your town, but that won't help much because with internet, a lot of viewers of your test will be from Europe, or Asia, and a formiliar location in LA would be as strange to them as your living room would.

Also

I think interesting locations are also not good for tests. For example, you can learn very little about a film stock if the scenery is a gorgeous pacific island with blue sky and golden beach. It is too distracting, and too exotic. While looking at such an image, it would be hard for people to imagine in their heads how anything else would look with this film.

It has to be something that everyone can relate to. Like a common street with cars.

It will be your boring everyday scenery, and will not distract from what is important: film stock itself

I say this because I've often tested still reversal film on eye catching subjects, and first impressions were always great, but not because of the film itself but because of the scenery. Only after I have started using these films in every day photography did I see its true nature, which is not all that impressive always as the first impression was.

So out of experience, I suggest that you keep it simple. Avoid eye candy scenes if you really want to see what this film is all about.

The best example of this are those promotinal photographs for digital cameras. They always are made by high-end photographers, state of the art lighting, or exotic scenery etc etc. But they are not doing customers any favours. A boring shot of your kitchen will tell you tons more information about the medium than one of these high-end photos they show on websites.

Of course, after you finish the tests, make a gorgeous roll just to enjoy and wash your mind from all these boring technical tests

Alessandro Machi · July 23, 2005

Those are all good takes and I appreciate them.

But part of why I enjoy shooting Super-8 is to avoid the stuff that won't come out looking good and shoot only what looks terrific.

Now for testing purposes, I'm still confused as to whether or not I should see if I can emulate a look that is close to Kodachrome in terms of not looking grainy.

Will Ektachrome be less contrasty than Kodachrome? That is another test I am interested in doing.

As for finding universal images, than that gets back to filming people and animals.

Filip Plesha · July 23, 2005

good luck with your test then, keep us up to date with what is happening, and let us know if you post any screens or footage on line

Matt Pacini · July 25, 2005

I would shoot a variety of shots, different exposures, and make sure you keep a log of your exposures, etc. so you'll know what you did when you get your footage back.

Remember, you only need a few seconds of each setup, because you're going to scrutinize it by freezing a frame, most likely.

I'd shoot stuff with high contrast, like buildings in full sunlight, people in different lighting situations (full sunlight, full shade, interior under tungsten & also fluorescent lighting, etc.), really saturated scenery, something with LOTS of detail, like a closeup of a bunch of bikes in a rack (the spokes), etc.

You could do all this on one roll of film.

MP

Alessandro Machi · July 25, 2005

I would shoot a variety of shots, different exposures, and make sure you keep a log of your exposures, etc. so you'll know what you did when you get your footage back.
Remember, you only need a few seconds of each setup, because you're going to scrutinize it by freezing a frame, most likely.

I'd shoot stuff with high contrast, like buildings in full sunlight, people in different lighting situations (full sunlight, full shade, interior under tungsten & also fluorescent lighting, etc.), really saturated scenery, something with LOTS of detail, like a closeup of a bunch of bikes in a rack (the spokes), etc.

You could do all this on one roll of film.

MP

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The place I was thinking of, and a place that probably matches most of the criteria you mention and that has been mentioned by others, would be CityWalk at Universal Studios.

Alessandro Machi · August 19, 2005

well thats no good!people should be more then willing to send those back after having received free carts! i know I will If I get the one I asked for..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Anymore suggestions for the LA area?

Maybe Descanso Gardens, Westwood, I still like City Walk the best, but it will cost me $150.00 and that is a very generous "free" rate for a limited amount of time shooting.

John Pytlak RIP · August 19, 2005

The Macbeth Color Checker chart provides a well-known color reference.

A scene with a variety of flesh tones and a gray card demonstrate flesh-to-neutral.

Colorful scenes: fruit market, clothing store, neon signs

Sharpness: long shots of buildings and landscapes, close-ups of people and detailed objects

Grain: uniform areas with gradation, light playing across a uniform surface, sky

Alessandro Machi · August 19, 2005

The Macbeth Color Checker chart provides a well-known color reference.

A scene with a variety of flesh tones and a gray card demonstrate flesh-to-neutral.

Colorful scenes: fruit market, clothing store, neon signs

Sharpness: long shots of buildings and landscapes, close-ups of people and detailed objects

Grain: uniform areas with gradation, light playing across a uniform surface, sky

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Those are all great suggestions. My issue is I definitely want to have a few actual actors in the scenes. So I'm hoping to have it all in one location. Other than paying for lunch I and perhaps some gas money, it would be a test cartridge so I want the shoot to be for a very short time and with no changing locations.

Westwood might fill that need.

The biggest problem is I want to shoot everything from a tripod, and that is what might get me in trouble with local security, who will probably want to see some kind of permit.