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Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC

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Posts posted by Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC

    RED with anamorphic

    in Red

    Posted

    Shooting it right now and it looks awesome! Heres my workflow.

     

    RED ANAMORPHIC

     

    Records:

    2816x2304

     

    De-Squezed:

    5632x2304 (2:1 Aspect Ratio)

     

    2.40:1 Crop:

    5414x2304

     

    2.40 in 2k:

    2707x1151

     

    For Dailies:

    REDRushes - Scale 1280x640 - Change "Fit/Stretch" to "Fit Width x2"

     

    For final output I can color time 2816x2304 in Color. Then take into Shake and De-squeze, crop, and rescale if wanted.

    How to apply for IATSE Local 669 camera trainee program in Vancouver?!

    in Camera Assistant / DIT & Gear

    Posted

    Hi there

     

    I'm moving from Montreal to Vancouver, to try it out there. I want to take the camera trainee program that IATSE provides. But on their website there's not much info, and I haven't got an answer on my email yet.

     

    Also they say the only accept applicant's in Manitoba and Saskatchewan? Don't get it? Vancouver is one of the hot spots for film making, why don't they have a camera trainee course there?

     

    Please fill me in. Also look here

    http://www.ia669.com/index.php?option=com_...5&Itemid=27

     

    Thanks! :lol:

     

    Allan

     

    Hey Allan,

     

    669 periodically closes its trainee program. Every few years (or when its really busy in town) they invite about 15 trainees and after the program the union places them on a show rotation. That way you can get introduced to different camera crews and gain lots of different camera experience. But because the system is so involved and the Vancouver industry can only support/give work to so many people they make it so that they only open it up when there is work available for those trainees on union shows after the initial training. A lot of people that join the trainee program have experience on non-union shows as a 2nd AC. I applied once after film school and was rejected... But a few of my class mates got in and are working as DIT's, 2nd AC's, and 1st AC's on union shows.

    Chayse Irvin Demo Reel 2009

    in Please Critique My Work

    Posted

    That's that. it would be hard to discuss about those images without knowing the context. in fact, I'm not saying that images are common or that they lack in feeling. I think that a reel like this (showing us amazing images) goes beyond pretty images. It allows us to start discussing cinematography in depth. By looking at this reel, we can't really say that images lack in feeling or are full of soul... it's hard to say that. Of course, these images are perfectly exposed and compressed, and I'm sure that you interpret the scripts and colaborates with your vision.

    I just wanted to bring up the point that a pretty image can also be an empty image, but I'm not saying that this is the case. As a cinematographer I'm always exercising this. I always want to be able to know if the image I'm creating is empty, is full, or lacks in something, or goes beyond the story and makes it smaller or bigger.

    It's a great reel, it makes me keep thinking in terms of images.

     

    I agree. I've been moved by the honest and raw images in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Where in the film "Sin Nombre" I felt like nothing but an observer, watching pretty images pass by with no connectivity to me. However my girl friend who was sitting with me did connect. After watching it the first time I rewatched it numerous times to find a reason that soul was seen by someone else and not me. At first I thought it was something technical... the cinematography seemed to perfect. But I felt that was my ego talking, not my heart. Its something subjective that allows that. The images were something reminiscent to my girl friend as well as surreal, like a dream she may have had. But thats something unique to her and I don't think its a formula that can be exercised; Perhaps as your own vision to your own soul it can. But that will only touch those who are in tune with it.

    Chayse Irvin Demo Reel 2009

    in Please Critique My Work

    Posted

    Chayse, you do have some great images there and the compression looks really amazing. although it's your demo reel and you need to bring in the best shots you have, I also feel that you could put in some shots with more 'soul' to them, because in my opinion cinematography is not only about pretty pictures, I'm sure you'll agree with me. Nowadays we can shoot slowmotion easily and play around with the images in digital color grading and that's a plus. But honestly lots of people can do that (I'm not saying anyone can do what you do), so... what makes you special, what's going to make a producer or a director choose you instead of anyone else? That's what I call the 'soul' of the image, the feeling, the heart. And it has nothing to do with compression.

    You have a beautiful work.

     

     

    I agree. Cinematography is about storytelling. I would say a demo reel is a story about a cinematographer. Are you meaning my stuff looks like someone else, or each image lacks meaning? What feeling are you looking for in the image? What's missing? The images lack honesty in the technique there for lack in feeling?

     

    All the things you've stated about soul is where I come from when shooting a project. Whether I focus my mind on carefully designing the cinematography or going into a production with just an idea in my head and just my own heart/emotion to understand a performance or setting is dependent on who I'm collaborating with. I try to never use my own pertinacious resolve of how I think a story should look because unless its my story. Which it isn't and the closest I'll get to understanding that is through the director. I can tell you all the images in the reel are my interpretation of words and feelings the director described to me and they are a direct manifestation of that collaboration. To get the looks described I use the technical tools my obsession (cinema) understands. The reel itself is just me editing parts of the footage from those stories into a montage. If there were a question asked on why I made a image look that way I would answer with a honest reason both artistically and technically.

     

    My understanding of your post causes an contradiction in my mind. Your saying I have things in there that pretty in the technical sense, but lack in feeling or heart... but thats exactly where I come from when shooting. So perhaps there is something lacking in my artistic sensibilities or I have to find a new path to express. I think if anything, as far as tools go, I mostly express myself not how the camera moves, color grading, compression, or use slow motion... but how I expose it... the ladder being more so an expression of that collaboration.

     

    After seeing my reel... how would you describe the images in my demo reel and why?

     

    Chayse

    High-budget look of "Inglorious Basterds" vs. lower-budget look of "Reservoir Dogs"

    in On Screen / Reviews & Observations

    Posted

    The appearance of saturation and desaturation can be equated to the two different lighting styles in this case. In fact I would equate most of the things you've asked too two different lighting styles.

     

     

    Aside from the obvious differences in how they were lit, what has Richardson done in "Inglorious Basterds" that Sekula did not do in "Reservoir Dogs?" How does he get the saturated colors and deep blacks? Is it something in the color timing/DI? Is Richardson rating his film over or under what it's labeled as, while Sekula uses the suggested ASA? Is it that Richardson is shooting on a newer stock? Or is it more a matter of the production design? I'm sure to some extent, all of these things are involved in creating Richardson's high-budget look, but to what extent is each involved, what specifically is done and how does it affect the final look of the film?

    Lubezki on working with Malick

    in Cinematographers

    Posted · Edited by Chayse Irvin

    Agreed, I understand the technical aspects of DOF, FOV, and format. But I guess in my mind those distinctions have become just technicalities. As a cinematographer tho, when shooting anything, a primary concern is that it is sharp... and no matter what format your shooting, dealing with shallow depth it is a challenge... and I would contest that the practicality of shooting 65mm would be a bigger challenge technically, artistically, and politically then 35mm, specially when dealing with strictly available light... and the fact that a lens is slower at a T2.8 it would become even more of a challenge lighting wise. I think it would take one of the best DP's and best crews in the world to pull it off... which I think Chivo is. But by no means do i think its easy for him and I respect him for that.

     

    I had the pleasure of working with 1st AD Bobby Bastarache who did Tree of Life. He was the best 1st ive ever worked with and a very nice guy. In a discussion i told him that Terrence Malick was my favorite filmmaker and Chivo was my favorite cinematographer. I ask him what it was like working with them, he cringed and said "it was a challenge... if I did it again I would ask for more money ;-)"

     

    Making films that way is extremely hard and deserves a lot of respect. When you attempt to make a film like that your always teetering on the pretentious and brilliantly artistic. I love it, takes big cahonese and skill to try it in any format.

     

    DOF (and shallow focus) is not dependent on film format, it depends on the lens focal lengths and aperture used mostly, but longer lenses are used for larger film formats, hence the perceived shallower focus.

     

    The compensation needed to achieve the same DOF between a 35mm format 50mm 1.4 lens and a 65 mm format 100 mm 2.8 lens (which would give somewhat the same FOV in the two film formats) seems to be 2 stops. There are 2 stops between 1.4 and 2.8, so the depht of field would be nearly identical between the 2 above lenses for the 2 formats.

     

    There is still not difference when shooting 65mm, 35mm, 16mm or 8mm in low light (with equivalent lenses) at large apertures.

     

    Perhaps I was overly enthusiastic when I said that it would be easy for a focus puller to nail the focus on improvising actors at large apertures / shallow depth of field. I do think that the right focus puller would have an easier time than most, be it 65mm, 35mm or 16mm. As Serge points out, there are other ways available to a cinematographer to minimize some of the issues associated with filming at large apertures.

    Lubezki on working with Malick

    in Cinematographers

    Posted · Edited by Chayse Irvin

    Umm. ok... The answer is yes, 65mm at T2.8 is shallower then 35mm at T1.3. 35mm at T1.3 with a 32mm with a actor around 4-7ft away; are shallow focus issues quite minimal with improvising actors?

     

    http://photo.net/medium-format-photography-forum/003cdT

     

    DOF formulae do not take into account film format size. The CoC changes though.

     

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

    Lubezki on working with Malick

    in Cinematographers

    Posted

    Is 65mm at T2.8 still shallower then 35mm at T1.3? Do you think shooting 35mm at T1.3 with the actors improvising will have minimal focus issues?

     

     

    Well, true. Most focus pullers that will get a 65mm gig should have the knowledge and gear to keep that to a minimum though. Most of the really good focus pullers I have seen work (those who have no interest whatsoever moving up to operating / DPing), can just tell how far one is from the camera by looking at one and nail the focus. That takes a lot of experience.

     

    And the last time I assisted on Panavision 65mm, it was a while back, I remember the prime lenses weren't very fast (fastest was around T 2.8) _which would make it less of a focusing issue than when using, say, a T1.3 65mm format lens (which I have not heard of).

     

    Can't find anything on Panavision's site about their 65mm lenses or cameras for that matter. Most of these lenses are probably 70s vintage (or earlier), since 65 mm movies haven't been shot quite as often as they were in the olden times.

     

    Most productions I know of that use large format cinematography use newer Hasselblad and similar lenses. And they are not very fast either ( the fastest Hasselblad medium format lens in the page below is a 2.8, the rest average at 4), so shallow focus issues should be quite minimal.

     

    http://www.theasc.com/magazine_dynamic/Jul...night/page1.php

     

    http://www.hasselbladusa.com/products/v-system/lenses.aspx

     

    But the way the original statement was written to me seemed to point at some obscure format (in mm) vs amount needed to expose the negative ratio. Hence the question.

    What Hard Drives to Use?

    in Red

    Posted

    Glyph drives are great but expensive. G-Raid's are great as well. Both have FW800 and eSata. I personally own two OWC drives and went to buy another not to long ago and the store I got them from stopped selling them because of their crappiness. I back up everything now. I've also worked with custom built eSata drives as well. However we had some problems mounting the drives every once and a while... but they all worked.

     

    I'm just finished the first week of a feature I'm the B cam 2nd/digital loader on and I'm encountering some hard drive problems. Production bought 4 3TB OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro drives and after the first week only 2 remain standing which has me very concerned. One seems to have a bad FW800 port out of the box and one seems to have developed a bad FW800 port after 5 days of use.

     

    Long story short I'd like to know what types of hard drives you all recommend I have production buy? Which ones do I stay away from? The ones production initially bought had no eSATA port so I've been FW800 daisy chaining the whole deal. That said, I would love to have the next round of drives we get have an eSATA port as I have a Firmtek expresscard34 dual eSATA card that would probably make the transfer time a little faster.

     

    Thanks!

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