Phil Connolly

I think thats just magical thinking - what deal are they getting with Kodak where 10,000ft of film costs less then a days hire of an Alexa and a stack of hard disks? The cost of 10,000 ft of 35mm stock is more then a weeks hire of high end digital camera and thats before you even process the footage. In the UK the book rate of 10,000 ft of Kodak 35mm is £3875. I can hire an Alexa Mini body for around £500 per day. A DIT maybe costs £350 per day, £500 would be more then enough for data storage for a single days Alexa rushes. So even if they got the 35mm kit for free, all the lab work and transfers for free(good luck getting that) - they would still need a greater then 50% discount on the Kodak stock just to break even with an Alexa shoot cost wise. Film lenses cost the same to hire as digital lenses do they not? All the other bits and bobs grip, matt boxes etc cost either the same or less on a digital shoot. The only really saving is perhaps a 35mm camera body can be hired for less then an Alexa body. But I don't see why you'd get extra discounts for lenses and support gear on a 35mm shoot, its mostly the same stuff I love film, but stories like this don't seem credible. I would find it hard to believe any feature budget would find digital costing $150k more then film, unless its comparing Alexa 65 vs Super 16 or some other very unique uneven situation. Or do US DIT's cost several thousand dollars a day to hire?

It has not got image stabilisation. I did a project handheld using the Panasonic 14-140mm zoom that does have internal stabilisation, last week and it turned out ok. I'm more of a tripod person so it tends not to matter to me , but there are lenses that can help. At the price point I don't think you can expect more then the basics, sure ND, good ergonomics, better battery life and SDI would all be great to have. But they would push the price up. I have access to an FS7 but already the BM pocket is turning into my goto camera for certain projects, because I can just fit it and a couple of lenses in a small bag and travel light. I still do the odd central London job where public transport is needed to get to the location. The ability to fit everything into a bag that you can take on the tube, go through barriers - is huge. Combined with the great low light, meaning I can get away with just bringing a reflector or single small LED source for interviews. Its very practical for those jobs. And this is from someone who was very angry with black magic 1 month ago and considering cancelling my order. BM has won me round...

I've already shot two projects. It completely saved my bacon in a dark location, requiring 5000 and 10,000 ISO to get enough exposure. The footage that came out was quite useable, grainy but in a nice way 10,000 iso looks a bit like 500 ISO 16mm The only issues I have is the ergonomics are not great, I'm going to have to get a rig. The internal battery life is also poor - between 30 and 50 mins each charge dependant on resolution, again going to have to source an alternate power source

There are two entry level jobs in film production: "Runner/PA" and "Director" - thats a old joke but you get the point. You can try climbing the "ladder" it will help make you contacts and get know etc... but it won't actually prepare you for the creative task of directing. I would recommend you just start making stuff, maybe videos for friends bands on no budget. keep working gradually get better, build up from micro budget to whatever. Since kit is now easy to access - nothing to stop you makeing stuff and experimenting. Plenty of good music video directors: Dougal Wilson, Hammer and Tongs (sorry dated ref's but google) only ever worked as directors but built up from project to project. Working on other peoples sets will help but only gets you so far, you need to test your own ideas and creativity in practice

I agree resolve is the best bang for (no) buck out there. I used to use Apple Color and it had a really nice work flow and was powerful. Shame they killed it off on the roll out of FCP X. I've had good experiences with Baselight - it works great and the runners bring you food and drinks. I have to get my own drinks when using Resolve at home.

Had a play with it today. They are excellent, the screen is really sharp, they are easy to set up, images out the box look great, good latitude and low light is v impressive. Just pointing it at the office in random lighting looked great. This is going to be the goto budget camera, the ergonomics without flip screen are a bit fiddly but i guess manageable with a rig. Might have to order a few more - I think these are going to be the perfect replacement for our stock of canon DLSR's. Shame they don't do an EF mount since our lenses are mostly EF and the adaptor is an extra expense.

The Film Truthers are the same as Flat Earthers, it doesn't matter you can prove digital is cheaper using numbers and facts. They will still present some theory about shooting ratios and short ends that proves digital costs more. Right gotta go measure the horizon

and perhaps worth the wait. They are very impressive at the price point.

Mine finally arrived last Friday. From being ordered in Sept - glad I held out. But 6 months late isn't great, you'd hope BM learn't their lesson from the delays on the production 4k a few years ago and not announce projects that aren't ready Still got 5 nice new cameras to play with

Nice - looks great, the location was perfect and the edit was nicely paced. The twist landed at about the right time - I only guessed it about 30 secs before it was revealed.

Thanks Bruce will investigate - I didn't know they did a recent 2/3 version I guess the S35mm Varicams don't do a live 2/3" crop for multicam. I know the Ursa Mini does - but its not amazing in 2K mode.

If your doing pack shots - longer lenses work best. Something in the 85 to135mm range works for me. You might not need the follow focus - if your not pulling focus on shot Would probably need some softer lighting - either soft sources or lighting modifiers to make the Arri Frensels soft: e.g poly board or reflector, couple of flags, couple of C-Stands, maybe a dimmer...

Hmm thanks for the comments - I was considering the S35 crop option. But wonder if 2K Beyer crop would look worse then a 3chip 1080p type camera. But good to here Robin had good results with the vari cam. I'm just curious to see if standard 2/3" cameras have improved from the 400ISO of ten years ago. I'm assuming most have moved over from CCD to CMOS - which is better at low light. But as Phil R said stats are harder to find and decode on broadcast kit. The camera position is going to locked off - basically its an event in a venue where the rear camera position is about 50metres from the stage. It can't be forward of that because it will block the audience. But ideally needs to be able to get a mid shot from 50 meters. So using an online calculator gave me 500mm for a 1.2m wide shot and 1000mm for 60cm width at 50m. Hence the canon looking like the goto lens. The venue is a Cathedral so columns prevent putting the camera closer at the side. Has to be square on at the back. I imagine operating will be tricky but its mostly static shots and I've have to spec a really solid head. The thing thats out my control is the lighting and these lenses are slow. Hence the worry about camera speed. I did think of going full broadcast box zoom - like the canon 72X Digisuper - which is a bit faster. But that starts to push the budget. Looking for a mid range option. If this looks like its going to happen - I'll def try and test the Varicam and see if it intercuts with the other cameras. I'll get some quotes on the Grass Valley as well but seems outside of OB companies fewer places carry them.

Hi I'm speccing some gear for a multi-cam shoot. I need an extreme telephoto zoom lens, I think the Canon HJ18ex28B (28mm to 500mm or 1000mm with 2x extender) is the one to go for, I don't need the size or the zoom range of a box lens, but something that can shoot a mid shot from 50 meters. I'm not really current on 2/3" broadcast cams but anyone know which is best for low light? The shoot is going to be in a Cathedral and I may not be able to add much light. The lens is pretty slow F4.9 @ 500mm and worse with the extender (which I think I'm going to have to use). Are HD 2/3" cameras workable in the 2000ASA range, noise wise? Last time I used a 2/3" it was CCD camera and at best could be pushed to 800, but hopefully things have moved moved on in the last 10 years. Any broadcast experienced peeps on the forum? I understand a super 35mm sensor would be better in low light - but would that be problematic marrying with a B4 type zoom lens. Mathmatically I think I need to be able to use a lens in the 500mm to 700mm range on a 2/3" sensor to get the shot size. So am I correct in thinking their isn't an easy way to get this degree of telephoto with 35mm gear?

Like the lighting - has a nice look overall. I don't think the music works - its too upbeat and busy. It fights the voice over, too much going on in the same frequency. Also it feels at odds with the image and VO - they are darker and melancholic and the music is too happy, jars. The images suggest a more Clint Mansell esq track

Agree - I don't think their should be a quota either. But this year their have been quite a few best picture contenders directed by women. I haven't seen "can you ever forgive me" - yet "Leave no trace" is my fav movie of the last couple of years Imagine if they only had a single "Best Actor" oscar, rather then Best Male/Female..... I guess it will just water down its already waining brand.

I'm getting seriously close to cancelling my order - but I still can't match the prices on similar gear. Its def a problem not having the gear - I expected a 3 month wait but 6 months is Extracting the Micheal. Whats getting frustrating is reading the BM forum and seeing that plenty of people in the US ordered in Dec and already have their cameras. They are prioritising some markets over other - the UK seems to be getting minimal stock As a Uni we've probably spent close to £200k on BM gear over the last 5 years - we have 6 multi-camera studio rigs built round their gear. I will be making sure we don't spec anymore BM kit its not worth the stress. So they will miss out on future orders, we also have 100's of Media production students that I can poison against Black Magic.

I did also think "Big LCD TV" and do the shot in camera. If the mirror was held at 45 degrees pointing down the screen could be placed horizontally - in a "peppers ghost" arraignment. The trick would be to make the mirror not look like its held at an angle, I guess if the DOF was shallow enough it would be soft enough. I guess their is more flexibility to adjust the shot in post and you could decide how sharp the mirror is and retime and rack focuses - but that would need some skill on the compositors part. The other thing I would do in this situation is ask the compositor what would they prefer. They will be happy to tell you what elements they need. If your comping it yourself - then I'd spend sometime practising in AE prior to the shoot to see what results your able to get.

I think its particularly an issue this year when you have "Leave no trace" and "You were never really here" - both stunning films and directed by women - they could have so easily got a bit more gender diversity by including in the noms

Its probably possible to track without any colour but I guess you could risk loosing the edges - if it reflects something of similar density to background. Covering it with a colour thats distinct enough from the surroundings would make life easier. It also depends where the actors fingers are, if they don't go in front of the mirror then a simple corner pin track would work and its simple. If the edges of the shard are crisply in focus they can serve as their own tracking marks if contrast is good. Otherwise its Keying or Roto of some combination of to cut round the fingers- might get tricky if the hands cast a shadow on the glass. Also Super 16 can be less good for comping if your using faster stocks. So use the slowest stock you can get away with to give you as much detail and small amount of grain to work with. The issue in your reference shot is the shard of glass is out of focus - that may make comping difficult. But it might look weird if the reflected mountains are in focus and your shard is in focus at the same time - it would be two points of focus unless you settled for very deep DOF. If you want the soft edges of the shard like the photo. It might be a case of shooting the glass in focus and digitally defocusing it after the comp - leaving the mountains sharp. Are you going to do a focus pull - e.g from the infinity of the mountains to the hand and the shard? Again I'd do that in post - It won't work as well in camera - if the shard is out of focus, you have to guess at where the edges are to insert the comp. Deep DOF may be the answer. - Considering your plane of focus is important. test test test.. easily done digitally to see what works prior to burning film stock

London to Brighton Cube Adulthood Koyaanisqatsi The Constant Gardener (segments) Primer Following Dog Soldiers Clerks Chasing Amy This is England Vera Drake Dead Mans Shoes This is Spinal Tap Best in Show Moonrise Kingdom Beasts of the Southern Wild The Hurt Locker Leaving Las Vegas Slacker Last King of Scotland (mostly) TV: Spooks Nathan Barley Garth Marengi's Darkplace Hustle Top Boy (Anamorphic 1.33X for 2.39)

Wooden Stands? Really? - Oh dear oh dear. That must be a "London" thing. Ooop north we hold our lights, with our bare hands. Of course it takes a 10 year apprenticeship with the lamp holders guild before a young pledge is allowed anything larger then a 2K. Gives time for the callouses to develop (gloves of course are frowned on).

What are these? Schrodinger's C-Stands? - They both do and don't exist in the UK. gah

They are so common on the Sussex coast, they wash up on the beach. We call them "Sea-Stands"

I think the multi-cam approach is worthwhile if you have a live studio audience - it does create a different performance in the actors and helps time the gags. Its harder to do comedy when the performers don't have an audience to bounce off. But live studio creates lots of limitations and compromises as well. In balance I prefer single camera sitcoms "Spaced, Good Place, Scrubs" etc... I've done a few bits and bobs of multicam studio, as both cam op and director - always found it hyper stressful. I was always so nervous about just keeping on top of the shots. Content would fall by the wayside. Its an incredibly difficult art form to master.