Phil Connolly

Hi Erik If you are watching a PAL dvd in NTSC land, the player is having to do a real time conversion from 25 to 30 fps, different converters do this with different degress of sucess. If your player has a less good PAL to NTSC conversion, you would get noticable artifacts especially on pans. Phil

Hi, go with the PDX10P, the 16:9 feature on the Xl1s is rubbish.

Alessandro, Beta SP, pillerboxed 4:3 on a HD monitor would look pritty good and this is the best way to deal with the format from a quality point of view. I have a 16:9 standard def tv and good 4:3 looks really sharp when viewed in this way. The problem you will have is most viewers with 16:9 sets hate having black bars down the sides. 16:9 sets are very common in the UK, but 95% of the time most people when watching a 4:3 programme will use a stretch or zoom mode to fill the screen. 4:3 pillerboxing looks better, but most people prefer to fill the screen even if composition and quality is reduced. SD is not dead yet, but in a HD world people are going to at least want 16:9 origination so they can fill their screens.

I've had problems with the JVC MiniDV/S-VHS deck with DVCAM. The newer model claims to be able to play back DVCAM formatted tapes. Unfortunatly, in my experience you get loads of drop outs on playing back DVCAM tapes on the JVC deck. Initally I thought I had a bad batch of tapes, but they played fine on the camera.

Good luck with getting a manual, I've never had any luck finding Sony manuals on the interweb - not for want of trying. When you hire the camera ask to borrow the manual, maybe they will let you have a copy a few days early, its worth asking... It would be a good idea to make sure there a few hours in your schedual to play with the camera and shoot some tests, or pick up the camera the day before the shoot.

Thomas you can download a backfocus chart from here: http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/pages/cvp_back_focus.htm This page also has instructions on how to use it. Hope this helps Phil

It would make sense to go with VFG, ask for a deal since your getting the camera from them - they may do package deals, especially if your getting the tripod, grip and lighting from them as well. They should also be able to sugest the right size for the camera/budget.

I always order a couple of 8' by 4' black/white polyboads for every shoot I do. They are cheap and I always find reasons to use then, both as flags, reflectors and gobos etc.. They really useful because you can cut them quickly cut them to the size you need, on set. But they don't last that long (wear and tear etc) and you will still need C-stands to hold them in position. Blackwrap is also good for makeshift tiny flags. I also second Phil Rhodes comments about sandbags, you can never have enough - think how many you need, then get more. One thing I've noticed the more shoots I do - the number of lights I spec isn't going up, but the number of stands/clamps/flags/sandbags is going up - I guess I'm learning.

Fstop, Thanks, its good to hear that you can just have a Digital Reel. Good luck with your films and remember, its not the size of the lights, its how you use them :) Phil

Hi I'd be curious to know if anyone has any info, along the same lines about the school as well. I'm in a similar position to Fstop, I applied this year but didn't get anywhere - the reel I submitted was mostly low budget DV and I guess not good enough. I've been working to beef up my reel, as well, ready for a second attempt next year. I don't think I will get chance to shoot on film - so my reel is only going to have a mixture of Digi-Beta and DVCAM on it, anyone think this would put me at a disadvantage? Assuming the digital stuff is of decent quality. I don't know anybody that went to the school, but I have heard good things about it. I did think about the 'London International Film School', but its more expensive and after talking to a few ex-students and I felt that its probably not for me - I'm more interested in a specialist cinematography course rather than a general filmaking MA. The fact that you have to do a weeks workshop, before being offered a place at the NFTS, would give a good insight into the course and teaching quality. Phil

I've only used a smoke machine once on a film, looked great, but setting off the smoke detectors and fire alarm was less great. :rolleyes: Still won't make that mistake again.

Thanks for the replys - I think I'll go with tungstans. I think it was a case of me wanting to try a different light for the sake of it. Yep I am able to rig lights from above, the room has an open celing with steel beams, so I should be able to clamp lights to those. Phil

Hi I'm shooting a scene set in a prison meeting room - its open plan, with people sitting round tables and in the real world would have traditional office syle Fluorescent lighting. For the set I'm using a 30'x40' room in an office building with windows down one side of the room. The scene will have 15 actors in it and all will be featured so I need to light a farly large area. I'm shooting on a DSR-390 DVCAM. I had thought about lighting from above with kino's but I'm nervous about it looking too flat. I don't have much experince with kinos but I'm keen to try them out and gain experience using them or would I get a better result with easier to control tungstan lighting? I'm after a fairly contrasty look, with quite a strong key and not too much fill. How controllable would the light from kinos be in this situation? Any thoughts, tips, ideas would be a big help Phil

Hi, I would say the quality off the DVX-100P is closer to the XL-1s than a Digi-Beta or DVC-Pro 50 camera, but DVX-100P will out perform the XL-1s on a 35mm transfer because of the progressive scan option. '28 Days Later' - is a good example of what an XL-1 looks like transfered to 35mm. I would try an get hold of the PAL version of the camera, this give you a 20% increase resolution over the NTSC version, which will make a big difference on the 35 mm blow up - also the 16:9 Anamorphic lens adaptor would be well worth using.