Bruce Taylor

That's where DOF scales and blocking are going to come into play. You're not going to be doing any zooming, so take your meter reading, get out your DOF tables and a tape measure. It's 16mm, that will help with the DOF. You'll need a vid tap of some kind to see what you're looking at. I don't see why you couldn't make it work. Perhaps you could make a homemade stabilizer (basic idea here: www.steadycam.org) to try out the idea before renting or buying the real thing. Any of the real stabilizers will have weight specs so you can determine that compatibility with the Scoopic.

I completely agree with Brian's comments, but there may be an exception. Cinema Products CP16 or CP16R. Certainly not as elegant as the Eclairs or Arris, but a workhorse and cheap! The CP16 is non-reflex uses a dogleg reflex viewfinder that is part of the lens. Not the best choice, but it will work. The CP16R is a spinning mirror reflex, quiet, crystal sync. 400ft mags. Good lenses available (I had an amazingly sharp Canon macro zoom on one of mine), and you can get an Arri lens adapter to use Arri std or bayo lenses on it. I had 2 CP16R kits and sold them recently, one for $600 and a freshly rebuilt one with the Canon lens for $900 I think. Service and parts are still available through Whitehouse AV last time I checked.

I would think something like the Iscorama front adapter would yield the horizontal flares and also the bokeh, as any anamorphic cine lens with a front anamorph mounted assembly would. Using rear mounted anamorphic elements the horizontal flares are obviously not there.

You may be right. Sometimes it's time to stop listening to teachers and just do the thing-- after all, that is the goal, correct? That's why they have scholarships and student loans. I always see tuition as "list price." Scholarships are the discount you get. But if the 4 year academic route is not your thing, I certainly understand-- it's not for everyone.

There just seem to be so many reasons not to do this. One other significant issue would be depth of field. Not only is the 5D going to have shallower DOF than the 7D, it will be much more shallow when you use anamorphic lenses, a spherical 50mm horizontal field of view is about the same as a 100mm 2x anamorphic- I don't know how you would keep things sufficiently in focus on the 5D (not even mentioning the fact that a 35mm cine lens won't cover the sensor). Other potential issues are 5D (or 7D) workflow and final output formats-- is the Canon really the best option? A feature is such a huge undertaking, it just seems that using standard image aquisition (film or digital), storage and proven conventional workflows would benefit you in the long run.

I looked at their site, MPI looks flakey. With $10k to back you up, why not just go to work as others have suggested? And/or go shoot a bunch of your own shorts? You're young, strap some balls on. Or go to a real school, like NYU, USC, etc, pay the money, get a degree with value (regardless of whether or not you end up in the film biz). Just my 2 cents...

Cinelab looks like the right choice for you. I hear good things about them. Bernie O is the man!

Herbie, If you went sniffing around the archives you've probably already found the other threads with Paul Korver of Cinelicious.tv discussing his ultra 16 telecine capabilities. He's been doing it probably for a year now. He also has some Ultra 16 cameras for rent. I visited his new digs a couple of weeks ago. He has a very nice, spacious facility a few blocks from his old location.

Good call on the bulb, running a 12v bulb in a 6v circuit is going to be very dim. I also find that over time the internal optical parts can get pretty dirty or develop a film on them. It is usually easy to remove a panel or two to get in there and clean the optical surfaces with some appropriate lens cleaning material. I can't remember exactly what the Minette viewers looked like, but I do recall that they made the better quality editing tools. I think I still have one of their splicers (all metal!). Be fanatical in keeping the film clean while you're working with it (camera original!). Nothing beats looking at it on a projector. I pulled out some S8 Kodachrome I shot 30 years ago, and projected it on a wall with my Elmo. It looked amazing-- it made me remember why I was such a big fan of the format.

What a hoot!

That would be sweet. But you're probably looking at twice that. Of course you'll also need a small crew to haul it down to the beach to film the kiddies. My Kinor Tachniscope package will fit on a handtruck to get it down to the beach, and one person can put it on a tripod.

Interesting! Perhaps it was simply a through the lens meter, like your K-3. I've never seen an illustration of one.

No one has a response? Interesting. Here goes: 1st of all, I have not commuted for the movie biz, but I can offer some observations as I travelled a good deal between the East Bay and LA in years past. Don't drive up and down, it will kick your butt. Even when I was young, the concentration required for the 6-7 hr drive was taxing, especially when you have to go to work right away. Flying is too expensive, and the waits to get through security too long. The cheapest way with the least strain I found was the bus (believe it or not), an express of course. Took it overnight, slept, felt pretty good. You'll have to have a car in LA, so stash one in a safe place. It's tough to live out of your car. LAPD is not keen on it. Renting a room for $500 would be best, or couch surf I suppose, and be in a central location (not way off in the 'burbs). You'll still get stuck in traffic, but it won't be as bad. Finally, just give up on the Bay Area. We have good coffee and decent bread now, even some good restaurants. Why not give up the culture wars, the knee-jerk far-left political conformity (Eat the Rich!) and everyone trying to be so damn smart! Here in glorious LA the unrelenting sunshine will make you forget everything you ever stood for, you'll graze on lotus blossoms, contemplate your navel and worship the money god. But avoid the alpha rays, Max, they make you look old. Good luck!

I have heard good things about Focus Optics out in Tarzana, (818) 757-1007. My experience has been with Duclos Lenses in Canoga Park, (818)346-9505, their work is always first rate.

I have never seen a reference to a Kinor 35H light meter. Given the very basic manual operation of the camera I would be surprised that one was made for it. Also, the standard Lomos made for the 35H do not have aperture gears so I don't know how it would have operated. I have a set of Russian manuals too, but since I know no Russian I can't make heads or tails of them!

Have you thought about getting a BNC mount for the RED? I know someone has made them. You might check with Doug Underdahl at Long Valley Equipment, he sells and rents RED lens mounts. I would think you could find some Super Baltars in BNC or BNCR mount locally? Though Paul Duclos Lenses is all the way out in Los Angeles, an advantage in renting from him would be that you know the lenses are serviced, accurate and really ready to go out and work-- especially since he is primarily a lens technician.

You can of course use foam not specific to pelican cases. I have had to refoam a lot of my cases, I went to FOAM MART (near Arri), 628 North Victory Blvd., Burbank, CA 91502 800-943-8362. They have foam for equipment cases you can buy in sheets, and the glue you'll need. The sales guy gave me a great tip for cutting it: use an electric kitchen knife, like the kind you would use for carving a turkey. I went to Target and pucked one up for $18. Now I can cut my own custom foam inserts in a few minutes with Sharpie to outline, a pair of scissors to start the cut and the electric knife. I hate the pick-n-pluck because it just doesn't hold up.

I have to agree, there is just so much to try to take in. If you're in the market for something specific it's a great place to compare competing products all in one place. It can be very informative to speak directly to manufacturers, the Canon rep had some interesting opinions on the 7D vs T2i that I haven't heard elsewhere (overheating-- perhaps less of a problem with the T2i, buy 2 T2i's instead of one 7D and have a spare). One thing that struck me was the shear quanitity of Canon DSLRs on display configured with the various manufacturers accessories. Are they really that much of a factor in production now or do they simply represent more of an opportunity to make and sell gear?

Wow, those are some stunning images. If I saw them in a film I would assume many of them involved special effects; but I know a little of what Death Valley is like-- truly otherworldly things happen with light out there. Were some of the shots undercranked? Or were the cloud movements natural?

True enough, Adrian! Hey Daniel, it's nice to see you're running some film through your Kinor. Kinors are not the quietest cameras, but they are managable. It should be relatively quiet after the B&H perf issue was resolved, but even their spec sheet rates them at 32db for noise, so they aren't the quietest sync cameras (though few clients have complained about noise except in small, live rooms-- that's why I send my sound barney out on rentals). Your camera is essentially new (used on one production I think) and just serviced ("CLA'd") by Richard at Cinema Engineering before being shipped to you, so it should be running perfectly. Rather than making your own barney you might contact Lee Gaither at http://www.customupholsteryproducts.com/ . He makes barneys for all the big players (Arri, Panavision) and he already has a template for your Kinor. His materials are much better than anything I could come up with, plus he's a nice guy and his prices are very reasonable. Good luck and have fun!

Karl, Thank you for sharing that link.

Great advice here, except for the shoot digital suggestion, of course! (just kidding, I am neutral on the film vs digital thing, though I personally prefer film for my projects) I should have elaborated on the camera/lens tests, as Saul said, shoot film tests with the actual camera and lenses you'll be renting as close to your shooting date as possible. Have the tests developed and HD telecine'd before the shoot start date. You're in LA, so you have great resources available, you may even be able to find a screening room with a 3 perf projector! You'll have no trouble finding an excellent DP in this town. I agree, Deluxe is great, and they are a short drive from USC. I also like Cinelicious.tv, and they are on the way back to 'SC from a trip to Deluxe. But it might be a lot easier to see if your lab rep (they have one specifically for students!) at Deluxe will give you a great deal on a few hundred feet of telecine every couple of days to confirm everything is going okay during the shoot. They are very helpful to students. Good luck and have fun.

You should test the camera and lenses thoroughly before the shoot. And you should get some sort of confirmation (like dailies!) during the shoot to confirm that everything is okay. At the very least could you budget for SD dailies for a few hundred feet? Forget about printing it unless you have a 3 perf projector (extremely rare!) to look at it with.

Funny, passionate, well read, articulate and well versed in the arts. I am going to miss your friendship, Paul. -Bruce

You are correct, Dillon. Another way to think of it would be pulldown; a 2 perf camera pulls 2 perfs into the gate each frame, a 3 perf pulls 3 perfs, etc. It's one of the many versatile features of 35mm film, there are so many ways to expose it: Techniscope, 1.85 and 1.66 Wide Sceen, anamorphic ('Scope), Super 35 (3 and 4 perf)... and on and on.