Jon Rosenbloom

Well, if the negative and positive are going in the same steps, wouldn't it be continuous? Guess I'll just go to Wikipedia.

If it's for coolest dude to be a DP, he's a shoe-in :) .

I mean what exactly is step printing?

Yes, one of the all time great movies! Since you mentioned it, David, can you elaborate on the step printed shot?

I used this lens on my last short film, shot with a Red (2nd generation chip.), and I was very pleased with it. Yes, it's shameless of me to say, but you can see the result on my reel http://vimeo.com/31770723, from 41"-1'18". The exteriors have some Soft-FX filtration, the interiors are the clean glass. I'd say we were very lucky that the Cooke was the lens that came with the camera.

Hey Mike, why don't you embed your reel on Vimeo so we can see it in a decent size window? Love the music.

I highly recommend a viewing of the beautifully depressing new Todd Solondz film "Dark Horse." While Solondz has sometimes pushed his DP's to the limits of blandness, I found the cinematography in his latest downer to be rather stylish, perfectly controlled and ultimately beautiful in its own tamped down way. The camera moves are especially elegant; they really go somewhere. Every word of the script is purposeful; the same can be said of the cinematography. It's got a very small release, but check it out, especially if you're feeling lousy about yourself :)

I think I know what you want; we see that light reflected off of windows all the time in New York City. Using actual window glass sounds a little dangerous, though. You could try using square mirrors - which are pretty standard grip/electric items in the US - to reflect the sun, but then you'd still have to create the ripple effect. Maybe if you diffuse the reflections with frames of hampshire frost you can get a little closer to what you want. Or, maybe you just put a crinkled layer of 1/8th or 1/4 blue directly on top of the mirror. Or, you can make some square frames with Rosco shrink mirror gel (http://www.rosco.com/stage/mirrors.cfm?menuReturn=quickTheatrical), but don't shrink it so it stays loose on the frame. Of course, all this depends on working where the sun will help.

They're called "menace arms" for a reason!

I learned something on the first page!

Perfectly stated.

The white sides are diffusion, about the same look as the old Rolux. You can hammer the white lid on to cover the top, but I think it's more versatile to drape some muslin over it. I've never had occasion to not cover the top, but I'm sure it could work. It's like a China Ball, but one that's sturdier, doesn't roll around, and it's easier to gel. It's also easier to build than a strip of lights with a frame of chicken wire (AKA a "covered wagon"). I have not made any specific measurements of the bucket's output. Imagine an 18"-24" china ball wrapped in full grid and light grid. Cheers.

With many caveats about the accuracy of my memory, I think the issue was that Brando was wearing a lot of facial extensions and the standard issue hard lighting circa 1972 would have made the makeup really obvious. Freya, the paint bucket is just a 5 gallon mixing bucket of white plastic. You just poke a hole for a zip-cord, and bolt, or tape, a porcelain socket to the bottom. Insert the bulb of your choice.

You're not supposed to see the bucket ... Just trying to show what it can do.

Well done. My only critique is that you've got a lot of unlit eyes in there.

I watched up to 50 seconds, and the shots were good, but then I saw that your reel is over 5 minutes and I couldn't commit to watching any more. My apologies for that. Are you being ruthless about cutting?

"Am I not up to that level yet?" I like that your reel is 50 seconds, and nothing seemed too quick, but, I'd politely say you need to develop your eye a little more.

Or - to be really shameless about it - at 51-54 seconds on my reel, the guy walks right past the bucket on a table. It was much easier to set it there than to rig it above ... https://vimeo.com/31770723 Also, the light over the hero table is my home-made version of a bay light with two ECA lamps and 250 diffusion.

Try logging in to Facebook in another window first.

Is theft the sincerest form of flattery?? I stole the bucket from Gene Engles (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0257291/).

I think I've had ECA's (250w) in the little bucket, though that seems a little dicey ... I know I've seen a 10 gallon bucket with a 500w, but I've never gone that big myself. The first one I made, I put on the lid and cut a hole for the heat to escape, but now I leave the top open and just drape some muslin over it. I can't hold on to them because my gaffer's love them so much, I give them as wrap gifts. Here's the bucket in action, keying the actor from a table just below the frame, with natural muslin covering the top: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=596125038527&set=a.596123516577.2067134.4601839&type=1&theater

I believe he developed the soft-top light in order to accommodate either Brando's make-up or acting method, (Brando wanted to move freely). I also think that since The Godfather 95% of stage sets have been rigged with bay-lights. The average bay-light is box of black/white foamcore 4'x4'x30", with 3 strips of incandescent lamps at the top, white diffusion on the bottom, and duvateen skirts around the sides. It's a nice soft light, but it's not directional, and often they get rigged and then are never turned on. Chicken coops are not unwieldy as long as you're just putting them on the floor. Actually, they're quite useful. You can dim them, change the diff easily, they're easy to hide ... That said, my personal preference is for the white paint bucket with a socket.

If you can't afford the gear and the man-hours to rig above the set, then you're stuck with either putting the stuff in the shot, or at least trying to hide the stands. Can you maybe build some par-cans trees that will feel like they belong in that setting? These will motivate a ton of lighting. If the gym has grandstands, you can place your movie lights somewhat above the action and just drape duvateen around the bottom of the stands, or see if the set-dresser to put something in front of them. You can put the dedo's on the floor and use them to uplight a wall. Put them deep in the shot, dress the cable tight to the wall; who's going to know what they are? Or, mask them with some clean cut blackwrap. David, do you have the still from the ice rink where you have the 6K in the shot?

"About 2 years ago I purchased my Canon 7D which has introduced me to the world of film." Does anyone else find that statement to be rather ironic?

In my humble experience, it seems that your average TV show (NOT Boardwalk Empire) will take about 90 minutes from call to start shooting. Of course, on these shows, the actors and the beauty dept's all start work earlier than the call. If it's a low-budget, or student film (like I would shoot), it seems like it takes two hours to get rolling. In planning my own shoots, I always have a tough time adjusting to how long things take when instead of a photo crew of 40 (cam, grip, elec, plus riggers.), I have a crew of 5. Also, we always seem to forget about costume, beauty, and "actor-time." Never-the-less, it seems to average out to a half-hour per shot. As for finding a formula for figuring it out: I don't think such a thing exists. You have to immerse yourself in each script, break it down, figure out what you want to do, draw up your ideal schedule, watch it get trashed and adjust accordingly. The biggest non-photographic factor is moving the gear: Loading in, packing the trucks, driving through traffic can have a huge impact on your days.