Tony Brown

you seem to be crossing the line with 3

I do a lot of 5222 with 25a and pola, but I'm convinced that colour neg will get me closer to that Ansel Adams that everyone gives as a reference. B&W processing has become quite inconsistent everywhere.......

Shoot early/late and keep it as backlit as possible. Pull the processing a stop and it will lower the contrast a little. Dont be tempted to use too heavy a diffusion on your overheads.... always looks flat and naff. 1/4 grid MAX. Less if possible. 20 x 20 or 40 x 40 (you'll need a crane probably) White nets can work well, subtle but realistic.

Define 'better' Max. If you want to compare MTF charts and chromatic aberration then its a very literal 'recording whats in front of you with accuracy' world you're dealing with. I do everything I can to soften / disrupt / corrupt images to produce something thats pleasing to the eye and more importantly interesting and different to what 90% of people are doing. Getting 'the best' out of a lens is film school criteria. IMO Cooke S4's shot wide open (and I do..... every shot I do I shoot at T2) look fantastic compared to any Ziess (and I own a set of Zeiss). They for me produce an image that is everything film stands for, whereas Zeiss continually strive for a sharper, more contrasty image to appease the bang per buck HD market. I've yet to use Master Primes, but so far Zeiss leave me very cold. The T2.1 Planars were the closest they ever came to a look that O would be happy with.

LOL Triangles anyone?

I'm terrible with names but I've shot there a few times.... Pyramid Films were the local producers and always supplied reasonable crew. The equipment however (especially funnily enough stuff like playback and on board monitors) has generally been poor

Green foliage is always a tricky subject.... always has been. Keep the leaves backlit if possible to punch the colour through otherwise I've used a lot of smoke lit with big units with a light green gel, works great for interiors.

LOL So be there when they grade. WHATEVER you put on the front and whether you shoot grey scales or not you will need to control the TK. Its 40% of what you do.... if you're not there it becomes 90%. I'd imagine at your stage you have no working relationship with Colourists that know your work and you trust to do a good job. If thats the case they will probably (even in innocence) slaughter your work. Be there.

Never heard of the gum. If you reduce your shutter angle to sharpen each frame you need to watch your camera movement or the speed at which anything moves across your frame as it will strobe or 'stutter'. I think the rule of thumb (though it sounds incredibly slow) is 6 seconds to move across an academy frame @ 180 degree shutter, 12 @90 etc Never really followed the rule myself but you develop a feel for it. Strobe is far less apparent on TK than on projected print. the direction of your light and a dark background will assist you just as much as the reduced shutter angle which can, like Private Ryan and Gladiator look a little contrived IMO.

As you're in the UK contact David French Props http://www.photohire.btinternet.co.uk/ for long duration flash bulb / guns. They supply either single guns or a unit that will fire up to 4. Dont worry about the shutter with these, they are long burn and never miss. Used them in Prague last week, they always work great.

Post houses vary. The latitude in the stock means you could be +2 or -2 it will make little difference. I generally go for the shooting stop so that tonally its a mid tone Cant remember the last time I actually shot green / blue scree. The post houses generally prefer of rough match to whatever will be comped in these days.....

You should check with your production company what their insurance company requires. In the UK it was never necessary to shoot lens tests, though in France its the norm. as long as the collimation has been checked then an eye focus check should be sufficient. If you are using the lenses over an extended period I'd get the 1st to shoot harp tests. Registration tests should be shot at various intervals depending on the camera. Arri 3's need to be checked a lot. I always reckoned 1 in 3 was unsteady to some degree, though if its live action work and not stuff that is intended for titles its not so critical obviously. If you've zooms then look for tracking and focus hold through the range. Check every conceivable combination of lens/matte box. Rest assured the one thing you dont check will be the first thing out of the box Monday morning. Cross check and double check ......

Noooooo,,,, the only possible exception was Thunderbirds shot in Supermarionation... and that was only cool because it was taking the piss....

LOL I honestly wasn't making a political dig..... naming anything 'Super......' is plainly ridiculous....

Excellent camera (lookthru not brilliant), stupid name

Perhaps those of you who have had dealings with the Film Council should invite them to participate in this discussion. Their response (or lack of) would be interesting

Thank you Rupe. Sadly the version on air makes me cringe. Why they put that voice over on it is beyond me...... But yes it was good fun to do......

I have... :D

I always (on 95% of shots..... maybe more) shoot on S4's at T2. I find the fall off exceptionally beautiful. Good job we dont all like the same thing...... B)

I guess I'm lucky I dont work with the same people you do Phil. I can honestly say the English crew I work with are extremely good natured, some of the funniest people I've ever met I'll tell you exactly why there was more competence and experience 20 years ago, as I said in an earlier post, there were less of us. During the 80's it was extremely unusual to turn up on a shoot and there be somebody there you didn't know. Now you're relieved to see a couple of familiar faces. Craigslist. Who? Try the mainstream diary services.......

You mean the barrel moved or it was an internal fault? Hope someone was looking through and noticed!

Cant get on with Zeiss at all. T2.1's are ok but dislike the rest Not had the pleasure of Master Primes tho..... The little Zeiss on my old Contax T never ceases to amaze me. Cooke S4's as a good all rounder, though they barrel a surprising amount 25 and wider Canon 300 T2.8 is my favourite lens ever Nikon 300 T2 is nice (200 is a complete pain for A/C's) Hawk 150 - 450 is a great '2nd camera' lens Old 10-1 Cooke for beauty work

Just exactly what was this 'focus' problem Mitch? I've not heard of any problems since the initial batch were recalled for some kind of cam mod. If lenses have grinding noises dont change the lens, change the rental house.

Aha.... thought you were referring to crewing...... Well I'm glad my local flick shed doesn't show more English films I have to say (cue flack)....just wish they'd show more decent anything

What are the protectionist laws in France? As an EU citizen I work freely there on a regular basis, I'm not aware of any restriction. Its certainly restrictive to work there for producers, local salary has to be supplemented by some 60% for the equivalent of National Insurance. Length of day has also become a huge issue, beyond reason in most cases.