Cole Webley

This is really hard to answer in writing...do you have any sound buddies? They could show you (XLR cables are wrapped over/under) Best of luck.

If all else fails get some cheap thin pieces of wood 1/2'' thick in 4x8ft pieces or so and build a sound wall around the genny w/ ferney pads on top of that...this cuts down the sound quite a bit...just don't put the ferny near the exhaust pipe! Done that a couple of times. Just worked on a shoot last week where we used a 1200w invereter on a car battery and powered a couple of pepper lights that equated to approx. 650w...the battery lasted a couple of hours then we had to pull out the second one...later that night the inverter quite working...my experience with inverters and batteries is that you can never trust them, best finding another location or getting more budget to use a silent generator. Plus--remember when it is really cold all batteries have problems keeping their full charge (another problem causer) Cheers. Best of luck

Next week I am shooting a short on S16mm with several day exteriors in a moving car. I loaded on a commercial with Oliver Curtis, BSC and he mounted a 2k HMI on a trailer pullling the picture car and punched it through the front window...with some diffusion taped on the front windshield---like 250 or something...we are going to be using a car mount and driving the car instead of using a trailer so I won't be able to mount much if anything to the car. I could add fill in the shadow with some kinos (I have 2' and 12'' banks but will they give much fill?) or should I just shoot with natural lighting? I guess what I am asking is what most people like to do in this situation--I am most likely shooting kodak's 7212 or 7217 Tungsten balanced film wearing some 85ND's...I would like to keep a high contrast between my highlights and shadows so maybe I shouldn't worry about any fill...anybody have pics or links to scenes they have shot in cars during the day and how they lit them or didn't light them?

Thats tough...I don't know how old you are i.e. how much time you have before you need a full time job, income, etc. Film school is what has done it for me--working on films and then getting to know the camera department and asking for numbers!! Then not being afraid to call later and ask if there is any job that they need some help on--D. Mullen mentioned that a DP must be a bit obsessed with self-educating and I am learning that this is so true...read as many books on the subject you can...also another thing that seems to help is going out and shooting things if you REALLY want to do camera--I mean, if people see you are shooting stuff and you can somehow get someone to look at something that you've shot on film (without pushing too much) I think most decent people would appreciate the enthusiasm...and if you are talented and determined they will recognize it and want you to be around them on shoots. I don't know, this seems to be what has worked with me and what has gotten me jobs during the summer when I am not in film school. I hope this helps. Best of Luck.

Oh yeah, I shot it on a Mitchell Mark II--old, sounds like a train, but gets the job done.

Thanks for the feedback gentleman. The shot where he looks at the wall is a bit soft, dissapointing but it was hard to cut around--my fault. The reflections on the wall are pretty obvious--I must admit...I remember when I was shooting trying to solve that problem but time constraints wouldn't allow for much problem solving. We can only hope most of our audience wouldn't be able to distinguish between regular alley lights and our nice 575's. I am beginning to agree with the advice that the Adidas graphix is too much. Point well taken...maybe some kind of slogan, or just let him walk out of frame. The music isn't done yet but I have grown acustom to this song by A Tribe Called Quest--but I doubt we could ever get permission. Also, I must admit that I remembered wrong about pushing the film! I was thinking about it again last night and I remember that I didn't push it--sorry--it was Kodak Vision 5289 (800T) and I rated it at 500 or 400 and then crunched it a bit in Telecine--I had spoken with some other DP's and they mentioned this would help hide the grain and also increase contrast. It seems to have worked well except for the shots that I underexposed. Thanks Again.

First time out shooting 35mm so I am looking for feedback on lighting, camera movement, etc. on this project I did for film school. I shot it all on 5289 rated at 1000ASA and pushed it a stop in processing. It was lit mostly with 1200w HMI's and some 575's giving fill through some 4x4 frames of 216, 250, and I believe opal. I lit the sidewalk with directional light straight above with the 1200w's. It was hard to get enough light because some of it I was shooting at a 45 degree shutter angle and then for some shots I was at 120 fps. The effects guy I was working for is pretty good but he hasn't finished the masking perfectly in front of the Adidas symbol--don't look too closely! Anyhow, I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks guys. Here is the address: http://www.brilliantcastle.com/adidas

I am glad that this thread was started. I also have am wondering if I am going to have enough light...I am shooting a exterior night scene this weekend on S16 most likely a 500 ISO--I have already decided that I will most likely rate it at 800 ISO and push it a stop in processing. Hopefully by keeping my lighting highly contrasted I can keep the grains as inconspicuous as possible. I will have access to (4) 1200W HMI's and (2) 575's...I also have some 4ft 4Bank Kino's for fill but I am worried that they won't give enough light for fill. I wouldn't mind my fill being a couple stops under but I am nervous I won't have enough light. I am shooting everything at 24 FPS and at 180 degree shutter angle, so I won't have to make up for lost exposure time. I plan on keeping my sources soft--maybe punching them through some 12X Silks... My lens package opens up to a T2.1 I believe...Does anyone anticipate any problems with my way of thinking and/or do you think I will have enough light? I apologize that my only correspondence on the forum is that of questions but I appreciate the experienced DP's patience and advice.

Thanks David. I had asked other young DP's this same question and nobody has been able to give me such a complete answer.

Can anybody explain what the principal differences between black/white pro mists, classic softners, glimmer glass, white/black/etc. nets... It seems to me that nets and filter differences are pretty obvious, but if I can't get a hold of glimmer glass or a classif softner does a pro mists get the same look? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Thanks David. I especially find the comment that you tend to use light diffusion with heavy overexposure to get the halation very helpful, since most of the stuff I am shooting now is on S16 and it is inherently softer. I will combine this advice w/ that of shooting on a slow film stock to get the halation I want and attempt to keep my grain structure as tight as I can. Any past problems with Eastman EXR 50D? I plan on using this for my day ext. with some kind of diffusion...also I will overexpose it by a stop to crunch it a bit in Telecine (I am going straight to video). If you see any mistakes in my plans let me know. Thanks again for the advise. It is much appreciated.

I took a peek at the trailer, it looks nice. I have been interested in the discussion about diffusion and I was wondering what you happened to be wearing when you shot (going off of the clips on the trailer) what seemed like a POV of Akeelah as she looked off the stage toward the cameras and lights--and again as the police car pulls up to the house. It looks like a classic soft #1 or #1/2? I noticed most of the scenes had a softness to them (very inviting) which looks great. What did you use? Thanx Cole

Thanks David. We'll give it a try. Cole

I am shooting two shorts next month on S16mm...because 16mm is inherently softer overall, is there anyway to get a similar look like Kaminski's using a Classic Soft and by creating a great enough exposure ratio or would the overall image result in becoming too soft? I will be shooting on an Arri SR2 w/ Zeiss Primes and a Canon Zoom with Kodak Vision2 7218 -Cole