Nate Yolles

Not to try and redirect the conversation, but I was just thinking along a similar line; I have a Cameflex CM3, which also has easy to change mask. I was thinking that I could have the gate shaved to Super35 and be able to swap out the regular 35mm mask and super 35mm mask whenever needed. The camera has a turret system with three mounts, so I could leave the current PL mount for regular 35 and swap one of the other mounts for another PL but off-center it for super. Thus leaving my camera ready to shoot both formats and able to change in matter of seconds. Is there a flaw in my theory that anyone can think of?

There are several different types of beacon lights. Call the rental houses and tell them what you want and they can help you. Depending many footcandles you need, you could use a real police lightbar from a prop house. Alternatively, you could take two tweenies, gel one red and one blue, and throw them on a triple-header (or a rig them on a c-stand) facing 180 degrees apart. Spin the rig before the shot so that the power cables twist up the stand and for the shot spin it the other way to give you twice as much spin time; or have somebody work the rig and somebody else somehow wrangle the cable above the rig so that the cables don't twist around the stand. I've also talked with friends who have another method. The take a full apple box, stand it tall and tape another half or quarter to it to make all four sides even. Then they attach 1-foot square mirrors to each side, a baby pin on the bottom and spin the contraption on the pin while gelled lights bang into the spinning mirrors. Which is more how a beacon light works, with a spinning mirror not a spinning light. Just be creative and make it work.

Oh, and you have to love the fact that the clubhouse lights the walls with a dozen or so dedo lights hanging from the ceiling.

They will post them at www.theasc.com. I would also like to say that they have a beautiful collection in their museum. I found it humorous that they have a Cameflex sitting behind glass while I'm out building my reel with that very same "antiquity."

It was fun. The members were very open. I heard some cool stories. I ran into several people that I've worked with in the past. For the Internet chat, I transcribed for Tonino Delli Colli (translated through Dante Spinotti), Bruno Delbonnel and Paul Cameron. I'll go again next year.

Even in "The Hand Exposure Meter Book" (http://www.sekonic.com/Products/meter_book.html), the first two authors incorrectly specify that light meters are calibrated at 18%, which is odd considering the book is being pushed by Sekonic and is copyrighted by parent company Mamiya America Co.

Here's an informative link. http://www.bythom.com/graycards.htm I think it's particularly interesting that most people use a simple grey card incorrectly.

Could he be referring to the fact that light meters are not calibrated to 18% grey as commonly believed, but closer to 12%?

Yes, it can be nice to let someone else do the talking for the crew just to stay out of the drama. But I've been on both sides. I've been the one got fired for standing up for the entire crew and their rights. This past Friday I was filling in for a friend as a loader. At the end of the day after filling out the inventory forms etc., I walked out of my station and the producers were gone. I was standing there with my invoice in my right hand and the entire day's exposed stock in my left and nobody to pay me. Ohhhh, I was so temped to get into my car with the entire day's work and if I wasn't filling in for a friend I probably would have done it.

Phil, you leave me speechless. That's literally the most depressing thing I've ever read.

For those that are members or IFP/LA do you find it a useful? Do they have some sort of facility with editing bays and screening rooms for members to use or rent?

If you call Fuji they'll project those same examples you saw on the DVD from a 35mm print using the screening rooms at FotoKem. You'll really see a difference from watching the DVD. I just came up on a roll of 8522 (64-D) and I'm really excited, I've been wanting to shoot this one for a while.

I bought my Cameflex from the Optical Electro House in Culver City, across the street from Sony Studios. It came with an Arri B, CA and Nikon mount. I paid extra to have the CA changed to a PL and to get an extra mag, etc... If you don't care about 16mm (for those that don't know the camera shoots both 16mm and 35mm), you can save a big chunk of change by not getting the 16mm gate and mag. You can get what you want - a 35mm camera, crystal sync motor, variable speed, variable shutter, nikon mount for under 5 grand.

When using letters in the scenes (ie. 4A or 12C) you don't use the letters I, O, Q, S or Z. I looks like a 1. O looks like a 0 or a Q and so forth. Write big and keep it neat. If it's MOS, don't clap the sticks. It's good to draw attention to the fact that it's MOS. Some like to swing the slate open to a 90 degree angle others put their hand between the sticks to make it obvious that the sticks are not going to clap, hence don't bother looking for the sound track. Since sound sync isn't an issue, you can run the camera to shoot the slate then stop the camera and then run it again for the scene. Watch you 1st and be aware that he may want to pop it off quickly while the DP's tweaking a light or something. If they call for "quiet sticks" clap them gently, yet still firmly, producing a quieter "click." Note that there is a difference between a "slate" and an "ID." Don't clap the sticks on an ID. The same applies for a Tail Slate versus a Tail ID. Oh yah, watch your thumb and never cover the DP's name on the slate. There are those with inflated egos. You know the difference between a DP and G-d don't you? G-d doesn't think he's a DP.

It's my camera. I don't really see a reason to want to rent a CM3 over an Arri 3. I certainly don't see a reason to rent nikkor lenses (even for a crash-cam you could buy them), which is why I spent a little extra to put a PL mount on the camera. So I have a set of Nikkor primes, which may be a little hard to pull focus with, but they look good and don't cost a small fortune. They'll be good to shoot tests with which is a major reason I purchased the camera. When I use the setup for 2nd or 3rd unit work, I can use the Zeiss or Cookes from A-Camera, and when I shoot for my demo reel or a music video I will rent a set. I'm happy with the purchase. I have a 35mm crystal-sync, variable speed, variable shutter camera for less than 6 grand. I bought the camera a little while ago but haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. I gaffed a couple of features in a row - As we all know these low budget shows go 6 days a week and long days. I'm doing 2nd unit on a feature, we prep on Friday and this will be my first opportunity to thoroughly inspect the camera. I need to make sure everything is alright while I can still go back to the selling camera house and have them fix/adjust anything not right.

I'm going to prep my camera for the first time. This will be the first time I'm exposing film with the camera rather than using dummy loads so I want to check it thoroughly. I'll be at a camera house so I will be under controlled conditions. The camera is a Cameflex CM3 35mm, with a crystal sync motor capable of running at HMI safe speeds, variable shutter from 5-180 degrees (If I remember correctly). The camera has three mounts, (1) PL, (2) Arri B and (3) Nikkon. My lenses are nikkon & zeiss primes. Here are the tests I've come up with. Suggestions are more than welcome. Am I forgetting something? 1. Scratch Test a. Mag A b. Mag B 2. Registration Test a. 50mm, shoot reg. chart (grid) b. 50mm, reload film, shift chart 3. Lens test a. Focus (near and far) & Vignetting, (use 1.4, 5.6 & 11) i. Nikon mount 1. 28mm 2. 35mm 3. 50mm 4. 85mm 5. 105mm ii. PL mount (use camera house's lens) 1. 50mm iii. Arri B mount (use camera house's lens) 1. 50mm b. Color i. Nikkor 28mm ii. Nikkor 35mm iii. Nikkor 50mm iv. Nikkor 85mm v. Nikkor 105mm 4. Speed Test a. Shoot 24 fps b. Shoot 4 fps c. Shoot 40 fps 5. Shutter Test a. 180° b. 90° c. 45° d. 5° 6. Accessories a. battery, cables, etc...

Actually, it is still there. If you look at the top of the page, any page, you see -> Cinematography.com > Forums > General Discussion (or whatever forum you're in) If you click on "Forums", you make it to the main page, but the info is not there. If you click on "Cinematography.com" you make it to the main page with all the info.

My favorite is "Perfect. Lets do it again."

Except for some odd reason people like to prefix everything with an "And". "And roll camera...." "And roll sound..." "And action...." of course the drawn out one at the end of the take: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Cut" "And lets go again..."

I'd go with the ND, but depending on focus you could stretch a 6/9/12by over the window. So the question would be, when using a 12by double (or other net) in frame, how far out of focus does it need to be in order to not see the bobinette?

I find +RWs and -RWs pointless. The price for +/-Rs are so cheap now that it's not worth rewriting a disc to save 40 cents. DVD-RAM is by far the least popular. As for +R versus -R, it is another one of the debates where neither side will concede. I've found -Rs to be the more compatable format with the vast variety of players. You will find that some players just don't like burnt discs. The PS2 gives me problems as does cheaper DVD players. The new Duel Layer format seems to be just for the + side (DVD+R DL). Although that format is reletively new and discs are still about $10 each compared the single layered .50 each. There's a good board at www.videohelp.com that features discussions on DVD+/-R.

I haven't had a chance to read those links yet, but Nikon's 12.4mp D2X has a CMOS censor as does Canon's complete line of digital EOS including their 16.7mp 1Ds Mark II.

For the same reason you would change shutter angle, ramp, shoot at 4 fps, shoot 96 fps, pull the lens out of the mount while filming, start and stop the camera while filming, shoot reversal, push, pull, flash, re-rate stock, skip-bleach, cross process, shoot on print stock, mix stocks, mix DV with film, mix HD with film, mix 35mm with 16mm/s8mm, bake the film, use custom filters, go through a DI, scratch the emulsion, desaturate the image, choose 500D to shoot at high-noon, emulate Technicolor, shoot an entire film with video against blue screen, go hand held for all 90 minutes, edit the film in reverse chronological order, use blue moon light, use white moon light?.

Is there a difference between a CMOS chip and a CCD in digital SLRs? What are the benefits of each chip?

Has anyone shot through the base before? I'm told that you need to compensate for exposure greatly, but I haven't heard what the results are of loading the film facing the other way.