Jason Reimer

Has anyone here ever used Cinescore? That would be one possible answer to this questions, but I have never used it myself. I'm curious about people's experience with it.

Hey Eric, I looked at the hd trailer (beautiful, by the way) and I saw some of those night shots you were talking about. I'm assuming you were using 500T pushed to 1000 ISO. In particular there was a long-exposure shot looking down at a freeway, and I'm wondering how long the exposure was, and your T stop. I've been thinking of some ideas for some similar night work around town, and never having done any before, I've been trying to calculate what I would need for a proper exposure. I'd be using some 400 ISO color slide film that I'd have to push a stop, but then I'd be losing a little light to the 80a or b filter I'd need to put on to balance for tungsten light. I have a 50mm lens that will open as wide as f1.4, a 28mm that will open up to 2.8, and a 100m that can manage a 2.5 Any suggestions? (Or any of you guys, for that matter). Thanks in advance. Now back to our 500 Days of Summer discussion...

I checked out the trailer, and this looks really interesting; Joseph Gordon Levitt was great in Brick, so I'm curious how this turned out. Like we talked about with Juno, this has its own look that isn't like other movies of this genre; at least judging by the trailer, it doesn't look like the same old bright, slick & glossy stuff that you see so much of. Definitely looking forward to it, Eric.

It almost feels like a wake or a memorial service here. Indeed, it was a big loss for those of us trying to soak up everything we can get our hands on. I know that for myself, the first time I visited Roger's site was on a slow day at work, and I couldn't stop until I had basically read every sentence on the entire website. I was always amazed that not only did he have a site that he posted so much of his expertise on, but also that he interacted with most who asked questions, and he was always super gracious. Very class act. It makes me appreciate all the more the time that David Mullen and so many of the rest of you put into your participation on this forum. Thanks guys!

Idziak DP'd an episode of The Decalogue, and it had that same heavily filtered look to it that you're describing, a lot of color that is obviously not natural. The first time I saw it it was a little jarring, but you acclimate pretty quickly and it's just his look. So I'm guessing the Criterion version really is what he wanted. Why he likes that look, who knows, but there it is. He also shot Blackhawk Down, and his brownish color palette really suited that film, although I don't recall the heavy use of colored grads like in some of his Polish work. It's been a while since I've seen it, so he might have used it some, but not in a way that was heavy-handed.

$20,000 lens + $1 worth of mystery chemicals = sick to my stomach :(

Totally off topic, but happy birthday, Mr. Beverly :)

That's beautiful Marc. I like the old school power equipment. When I was 21 I had a '49 Ford Custom sedan, all stock. My dream was to chop the top a few inches, cut out the door posts for a hardtop look, and then suicide the back doors, so that it would look super long and low, maybe drop a super charger in there, and a set of really high-volume (coolant wise) aluminum heads; there was a company (Baron I think) that made some high-compression aluminum heads for marine applications that were really tall because they held so much coolant, and they also made some really cool finned aluminum covers for them that made them look huge. It wasn't very realistic on a college student budget, though, so eventually I had to get rid of it. Later I had a '64 El Camino that I was going to do sort of a hybrid rat rod/outlaw/dragster treatment to, with black suede paint, real subtle red and white von dutch striping, a 383 to go with the really tight close-ratio 4 speed I had in it, some wide whites, sitting way down in the weeds. Ah, to be rich enough to afford a garage and a cool project car to drive on a Saturday afternoon... Again, the reality of needing to finish college before the age of 30 kicked in and I sold it to get the Toyota pickup I still have. Way more sensible choice, but nothing sexy about it in any way, shape or form.

Chayse, Granted these are just tests, but I like where you're going with it. Look forward to seeing your dailies.

I have so many thoughts on this topic, I don't even know where to start! As someone who has a degree in philosophy, I am torn between feelings of pride in my academic training and feelings of despair knowing that our society does not necessarily value critical thinking (and therefore my degree). When pressed as to why I didn't get a more "practical" degree like business, I usually respond that someone with a business degree is pretty much locked into doing business only, whereas with the critical thinking skills I picked up in philosophy, there's no job I can't do better because of those skills. Is that a tough sell to an employer? Yeah, it is. The problem is, I'm not interested at all in any of your standard 9 to 5 type office jobs (never mind the fact that I have one right now). Since I picked up the film/photography bug, my philosophy training has been a huge help while I teach myself, though, and I'm thankful for that. What bums me out is knowing the reality that because I'd like to be married and maybe even have a family someday, I have to come up with something else to pay the bills, and to be honest, it's not likely to be film. As Walter Graff said in another thread recently, I'll probably be one of the vast number of people on this board who will not be working in film or video in ten years. At almost 35, those are sobering thoughts. Yet another thing I can't escape is that for whatever reason, I was made to be a creative person, who is passionate about art and ideas, and I can't NOT do what I love to do. So I guess from there you just do your best to negotiate a compromise that allows time for both, albeit with seriously revised goals and expectations. Ah, the tension... PS- To what Matt and some others were saying about the financial "worthiness" of a theological degree, I've known some seminary grads and church planters (my own church being only 5 years old), and it can be really tough. Workdays that never end because people are calling you at all times of night and day with issues they need help with, and oftentimes a lot of strain on the family. All of those guys would say it's worth it, but at least for them it hasn't been lucrative. I realize it can be, though. Just look at Joel Osteen.

Thanks guys, that was classy. :D

I've got an idea: how about someone start a new thread in one of the other categories where one can argue film vx digital, animation vs cinematography, etc, as long as they want? When we get to two or three or four pages of these same arguments that have increasingly less and less to do with Wall*E or The Dark Knight for example, and increasingly more personal attacks, bad attitude, one-ups-manship, etc, the quality of this board starts dipping down into just a more technical version of any other forum out there, rather than a community of film and video "professionals". We might be using our real names here, but at times like this it seems like the only thing that separates this forum from some teenage gamer's forum is the absence of some leet-speak terminology. All that to say keep it on topic!

I could swear I've seen some sort of roll-up solar panel charger-type device in REI's catalog. I would check out REI or one of the other backpacking outfitters. Let us know what you find.

Hey Paul, Looking forward to seeing how this turns out; your other show diaries were really informative, so I'll definitely be checking this thread often!

If it were me, (I'm going to go with this since it seems like you're asking what each of us would do if we were in your shoes) I would go for a low-contrast look (whether it's with a filter of some sort, film stock choices, etc), and probably use longer lenses to flatten the perspective a bit. Then it would be up to you to find different angles for your compositions so that you can still fit in all the information you want to convey, using those longer lenses for the flatter perspective. I would probably also go for more shots that are either static (mounted on a tripod or something), or if the camera did need to move, I'd want it to either be on a dolly or a really smooth steadicam move. But then again, this is my interpretation of those images and what you've said you're trying to do. Everyone's going to have something different. Let us know how it turns out, though.

Hey Eugene, A pola filter will definitely help to hold the sky a little better, and also cut down on glare, etc, but if you have the luxury, try some tests. There may be times that you want some glare or you want the sky blown out. Rick made a good point about overcranking- if you want some slow motion footage in there, where you'll be shooting at a pretty high framerate and then projecting it at 24fps, you're going to need those stops back so that you can compensate for the light lost. The key is to do some tests with all of the variables you think you might encounter, and then try to visualize a look (or looks) that you think you might want to have throughout you film and go with those. Even coming up with a hypothetical shot list ahead of time can help you pre-plan that stuff, so that you have something to improvise off of later. Best of luck to you! Jason

I'd say if you know you're going to face a lot of overcast skies, the 250D would be good so you're not flirting too much with underexposure. But on the average sunny day, 64D is fine. I've shot some surf around town here in San Diego and Mexico, and it was fine, provided there wasn't too much cloud cover, or the clouds weren't too thick. On the overcast days, anything important that happened in the shadows was tough to make out. I will say that with the 64D, I got some great sidelit shots with the sun on the horizon or just below it that looked really nice; don't underestimate it. With surfing or anything on the ocean for that matter, you can squeeze a lot more out of the light when you factor in the reflected glare. All that to say that if you can afford it, bring both.

Yep, there's lots I don't know. :) PS- I just printed out your lighting kit article from the lighting thread to read when I get home from work. Thanks again!

Hey Walter, I'd definitely read something like that. Up to this point, I've always just set my looks by eye. Since there's no danger any of my stuff will ever be broadcast, that's fine, but in the future it would be nice to know how to conform to broadcast standards. I appreciate the time you put into this for rookies like myself. Jason

Why, you ask? Because we all know that the Red threads are way too boring and civil, so I figured throwing some 8mm myopia into the mix would make things fun. Let the carnage begin: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/24/red-one...elecine-system/ :P

I can't wait to see what the shot looks like. After reading this thread, I happened to be browsing through my B&H catalog and found lens couplers that were made for this very purpose. They average about 8 bucks, and you don't have to get tape all over your lenses. I'm definitely going to have to get one and try this out now.

Jonathan, if you need any food or drink recommendations while you're in San Diego, let me know. I know of a ton of great places. It may not be NAB, but San Diego ain't too shabby...

By the way, Francesco, I really, really loved the b&w stuff you shot with the T-Max 3200. I'd love to see some more of that. All of you guys had some great stuff, though. I spent at least the last hour browsing your collections. Good stuff!

Just started my flickr blog and still photography recently: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23587914@N03/ I have some slides I want to get scanned, and then from now on I'll be scanning everything to post there. Strangely, though, I have no desire to get a D40 :) Hooray for self-promotion!

Has anyone seen this commercial? I saw it the other day on a big HD tv the other day, and people of all sorts stopped what they were doing and watched. When it was over they all went back to what they were doing, but it was amazing how it grabbed people's attention. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone here knows anything about this, or maybe even worked on it. It looks like there were a lot of different tricks done to get some of the unusual focus looks, like maybe a tilt-focus lens? Whatever it is, it looks great.