Jon Rosenbloom

Can't you just put us on the dailies screen-grab email list?

Like I said, it wasn't a very informative article.

I read a pretty uninformative article about this shoot in HD Video Magazine. Fincher wanted to involve Swedes in the project, but apparently, it just didn't work out between director and DP. It happens. They kept about half of what he shot.

So, the short answer is: Gleb needs a lot of light B) . He also needs some diffusion or bounces, which will probably throw off all those FC estimates. All these numbers are very interesting, but I can read about them for only so long before my brain seizes up. Does it make me lazy and unprofessional to say that as a DP (of 26 short films!) I've never looked up an illumination table? If by some miracle I actually get a shooting job, I get a sense of how big it is, who they can hire, and what can the production afford to rent and transport. Do we get a genny or a tie-in or just use house power? If it's just house power, then I'll beg and plead for two 1.2ks, and maybe a 575w. If you're not doing a big show, you're probably not sending the swing truck to the rental house to day-play big equipment. Also, actors, locations and the weather will wreak havoc on your schedule. The result is, you carry the same package for the duration of the job, so you'll need a selection of lights for a variety of scenes. To keep things simple, give me one big gun, and two of everything smaller, and I'll do the best I can with that; it's called being flexible. I'm not saying don't do your homework, and I'm very stubborn about checkouts. The original poster is a student, and I respect his looking for a "mathematical" answer to this particular shooting challenge. But, I would advise not getting too lost in foot candles and voltage drop. The bigger issues are is your vision in sync with the physical abilities of the production, and can you adjust the vision - stage the scene somewhere else, wait for a cloudy day - so you don't kill yourself trying to attain the unattainable?

Ah, "Peasants." There' are a couple of rough shots, and a bunch of really good ones in that little film. Of course, the prettiest ones didn't make the cut! I think you have to keep the same key, fill, back-light feel going for reverses even if it doesn't make geographic sense. It just doesn't work to have one person keyed with a passive bounce, and then cut to the complimentary shot in which the key is direct sun. Whatever is happening in the background is "background." As far as that transition in and out of the grid, you do your best to frame it out. I've also stuck branches around the edge of the frame, as well as taped on more grid or muslin to cover the gap between the frame and the pipe. Again, it helps to either build the frame that way from the start, or have lots of grips to add it at the last minute.

Barry Lyndon The Godfather, or almost anything shot by Gordon Willis Man of Aran Sweet Smell of Success Once Upon a Time in The West Night of the Hunter Citizen Kane Seven Sunrise Nostalghia Amazing that I've omitted Hitchcock, but you would watch his films anyway. Also forgot Storaro!

When wouldn't it suit the story?

For the wide shots you don't light so much, but a good team will try to stage things so shots are backlit by the sun. Closer shots might use big "fly-swatters:" either 40'x40' grids hanging from construction cranes, or 20'x20's off of condors, if you can get them close enough to the action. The only time I've seen the Bee-Bees used was on Indy 4, and it kind of seemed like maybe the DP and Gaffer said "We asked for 'em, so we better act like we need them." They are pretty. Once you start lighting the closer shots, planning makes things go fast (like having a condor with a BFL waiting for the turn-around), but mainly it's having a really big crew. If you get 20 guys working hard you can probably bring in a couple of 18k's in the back, a 10'x20' bounce for fill and a 12'x12' solid for negative fill in about the same time my last crew set up ... Well, pretty fast, anyway. That said, I saw War Horse and on the true exteriors it looked liked the clouds were moving too fast for even Spielberg's crew!

A good bit of "Children of Men."

It's an array of 18 6K par hmi's on a truck. I think we had two on the second unit. Big movie. Haven't seen them since.

Exactly. Of course Spielberg pulls off some insanely complex sequences with great ease, but overall it's overlit, with some blatant lighting mistakes, like they just said "let's get on with it." The french farmer and grand-daughter seems to come straight from the Monty Python school of making fun of the French. I thought the last scene is visually preposterous.

How do you think most producers make their living! Moreover, would you rather pay someone to teach you, or get paid to learn? As long as you're not passing yourself off as a department head, you'll be fine learning from your work. Humping cable and sandbags is lighting, after all, and you'll still have to do it even if you do great in class.

Yes, Film! Did you edit in pro-res?

If you're carrying 4 bee-bee lights, you might as well use them.

Having finally shot (a short) on the RED, I have to concur. I'm pleasantly surprised by the camera. We had many moments of looking at the monitor and being very happy with the image, but when I cut this footage into my reel right behind my 35mm work, it comes up short. It's very nice VIDEO. Here's a small gallery of 1/4 resolution grabs: I'm still hoping for something spectacular when we go back to the digital negative and do a proper grade.

Seems pretty accomplished to me. Your reel is your chance to showcase those long shots that get cut to bits in editing, but it is a little slow. I did find myself asking if your lighting of faces isn't a little too safe.

It's quite busy in New York. I'm sure you can find some PA gigs by going to the Mayor's Office for Film and TV and looking at the list of permitted productions. Or, you're almost certain to come across a shoot if you walk around town a bit. (Psst, try the Wall Street area on the weekend.) Just find a PA doing lock-up and wait till he's not too hassled and you can make your inquiries. It's shitty work, but you are just starting out. If you have any technical skills, you could apply to join Local 52 and they could assign you work on a day-to-day basis as a "permit-guy." I think you have to prove you've been an area resident for 18 months, and you may have to demonstrate some real skill. As for non-union work, I know it's out there, but I have no clue how one finds it. I just shot a low-budget short, and the G/E guys seemed to have their own little world of jobs that keep them busy. I think you have to go through the looking glass to get there ... As for your education, you do realize that it now counts for nothing. What matters is your ability to endure the work, get along, and make connections. As for your reel, I know it's a matter of personal taste, but the music is so loud and agro that I can't watch it. If you want to be in this biz, it's a lifetime of plugging away. Good luck!

Isn't a shadow just a relative absence of light?

I'd love for everyone to check out the update to my reel: http://vimeo.com/31770723. It's pretty straightforward stuff (though shooting it didn't feel straightforward!), but I like to say that I do boring very well. For the update, I dropped in a section of Red footage, bumped down to ProRes 422, that I shot last month. It's the first time I've used the Red. We had a Mysterium (I think - the camera was a last minute favor) with a very pretty old Cooke 5:1 zoom. Working without a DIT or an off-board monitor, it seemed pretty good while we were shooting. But, it sure doesn't have the punch of the 35mm and super-16mm clips that come before or after. Of course, there are a million variables to consider. But, is ProRes422 such a bad representation of what the Red can do, or, is that pretty much it? Very nice video, but still video. Thanks for looking.

Could you use shelving boards??

If you haven't done film work in the cold, you might be in for a shock at how cold you will get when you are waiting around. I've found that the layering approach that's usually recommended for outdoor activity doesn't really work for the movie biz. Either you're busy and warm, or you're idle and freezing. Or, you're working outside, and then you're working inside. I would recommend some medium weight base layer stuff that EMS or Patagonia sells, wool pants, wool sweater, and then insulated snow pants, and a big ass coat with 700 fill down, that you can remove when you start sweating. I also wear a deer-skin hat, full-on mountaineering mittens, and a shell over the down coat. If you're in NYC go down to Tents 'n' Trails; a store full of stuff that better than The North Face. If you want the lightest insulation, check out Western Mountaineering. Of course, if it's 35 and raining, you'll be miserable no matter what you're wearing.

The big issue in getting away from, "50-50, over, over, and tighter" - besides the schedule - is the fact that narrative films are about actors, and you have to see their faces, you have to see their eyes, and they want to look good; so you start out with a lot of limitations of where you can put the camera, and how you can light. As I found recently when shooting a "film-noir," you can leave much of the set dark, but it doesn't work if you can't see the actors. Given those limitations, one still has lots of photographic leeway: Is the lighting soft or hard, warm or cool, or somewhere in between? Do you shoot from eye-height or below, or above. Who's prominent in the frame? Who has the most "weight" in the frame? Is the frame harmonious or askew? Heavy lens, or shorter focal lengths? Or, do you restrain yourself, shoot straight as can be and let the story play out? These are all decisions that one usually makes in prep, but you can change them on set if your sure it feels right to do so. I see very few movies these days, but, I thought Polanski's "The Ghost Writer," was quite masterful in its blocking and camera work. They very elegantly avoid the "50-50, over, over" parade, and the images, while never calling attention to themselves, set the mood perfectly. A very instructive film. (I stole from it for my own short!)

Okay. I just finished DP-ing a short with a very nice, but inexperienced crew. Here's my advice: When using a c-stand, EXTEND THE ARM ONLY WHEN NECESSARY!! WTF are you doing extending the arm every single time?? Keep the rigging as simple and compact as possible, and try not to turn the set into an obstacle course. Level the big lights.

If it has a plug, it's for the electrics.

Reusable gel off a roll? Not a chance. We ended up adding soft nd on top of hard gels the rigging crew installed, and some of it looked pretty crinkly. If we had to do again, I think the order would be for two layers of hard gels. I mentioned the camera scenic's dirtying up the window, that's what sold it for me.