Andrew Koch

The Reala 500D is much more grainy than the Eterna. On a short I directed about 5 years ago, my Cinematographer underexposed the 500D stock by 2/3 and pushed it a stop to increase the grain. It was really grainy just as we had hoped. When you were warned about the risks of pushing 16, what were the specifics issues? The obvious one would be that you have less latitude, but I always think its more fun to take risks. I would recommend testing the 500D if you were to use it because it has a different look overall than the Eterna series.

Not to split hairs, but Harry C. Box's book is called Set Lighting Technicians Handbook. Fantastic book by the way. I think it should be required reading in film school.

Lastolite and Flexfill are two brands of handheld reflectors. They are shiny on one side and white on the other for a softer bounce. Of course you could have someone simply hold a 4x4 beadboard. You wouldn't soften the sun by adding more light, what you need to do is soften the source itself. You could do this by placing a large rag of diffusion overhead (like a silk for gridcloth)

Check out Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler and Head over Heals by Tears for Fears or You're the Inspiration by Chicago. Very 80s in terms of look and style. I'd recommend using some heavy diffusion on the lens. More than normal so the effect if obnoxiously obvious. Heavy promist can have an effect along these lines. Are you shooting on film or digital? If you're shooting video maybe you can shoot it on an old eng camera or even worse, VHS-C (I'm not sure what you're workflow is, so some of these options may not work.) Lots and lots of smoke on the set. You may want to gets some fans to have the band members hair blow.

I have the NEC AccuSync LCD24WMCX. It's a 24 inch 16x10 Aspect Ratio. It's very bright and crisp. It's pretty good, but not even close to the quality of a cinema display, but it is cheaper (about 350-400 bucks). It is an LCD, so the viewing angles are limited, you really need to be looking at it straight on. I don't work for NEC. A monitor at this level is fine for editing, but if you want to do any color correction or anything else that requires accurate display of colors, contrast, brightness, etc... a computer monitor wont cut it. You will need a professional video monitor that you can calibrate. Samsung also makes a computer monitor with similar specs and price

J-beat, please change your screen name to your First and Last name as per forum rules

TKim, please change your username to your full first name, a space, and then your last name as per forum rules.

What will it take for people to change their mindsets? The average job in America is an 8 hour day, something laborers fought hard for many decades ago, and yet people think it is whining to not want to work more than 12 hours and get a 12 hour turnaround. Is our health, safety, and having some semblance of a life outside of work that unimportant to people? Just because it's the norm, does that make it acceptable. If I had a nickel for every time I hear "it is what it is" I'd own my own production company and have and afford the power to enforce better treatment of workers.

I'm sorry if my post came across as argumentative. That was not my intention.

You're reopening a can of worms that has been opened several times on this forum. There was an extensive discussion on how the audience perceives what a cinematographer does. So what if the average viewer can't tell. Many people can't tell the difference between oil and acrylic paint. Does that mean that artists should always choose acryllic because it's cheaper and most people wont notice the difference. I believe someone already said this, but it's not the audience's job to be thinking about image acquisition. But it IS our job as cinematographers to think about this stuff so the audience doesn't have to. We are hired to create the most visually compelling story possible, not to see what we can get away with. I am not going to make a film versus digital argument, but I will say this. Film looks different than digital. Not all stocks look the same and not all digital movie cameras look the same. As far as content goes, cinematography is part of the content. It affects how the story is told. Lawrence of Arabia is an example of this. The experience of seeing a 70mm print of that film is breathtaking. Could you imagine how that film's impact would change if it had been shot on an EX1. It would not be the same movie. (I feel dirty even suggesting such an impossible atrocity). I don't think it is fair for you to make a judgment against shooting film if you haven't tried it. It's like saying you don't want to try halibut because you've only had salmon and one of your friends said it tastes the same and costs more. (Sorry, kind of a crappy analogy) I can understand if its simply a matter of budget or the production choosing digital, but I think its only fair to shoot both film and digital before making a qualitative assessment. Just my two cents.

If you're shooting film and you're on a budget, you could get a simple 18% gray card. They're about 10 bucks. It's not something you would want to make yourself because it needs to be calibrated to exactly 18% so your colorist as proper reference when printing, telecine, or DI. Sure, it would be nice to have a MacBeth chart and maybe black and white chips on your grey chart, but if money is tight, the greycard will work okay.

What Country are you in? I ask this because I'm wondering why you say you only have Walmart and Home Depot type stores at your disposal. You can buy paper tape online. Studiodepot.com filmtools.com just to name a few

One thing I find interesting is that in the US, we abbreviate Director of Photography as "DP". whereas other places such as Europe say "DOP". Anybody else notice this?

A couple come to mind. Ernest R. Dickerson, Jan de Bont

If I remember correctly. there was some real vomiting in the Troma movie Terror Firmer.

If not calibrated properly, you cannot trust any of these. Which camera are you referring to? In MOST cases, the most accurate display is a properly calibrated professional CRT video monitor (NOT your computer monitor) and a waveform monitor. On a prosumer camera, like the DVX or HVX, the flipout lcd screen will give you a ballpark idea, but is not particularly reliable for precise decision making in terms of color, exposure and focus. The eyepiece on some cameras is a little sharper, but still not entirely accurate. The flipout is particularly a problem when shooting outdoors. Whatever display you are using, make sure it is calibrated and you are looking at it under proper conditions (blocking out glare, if it is an lcd, then you have to look at it straight on because the image will look different at other angles) This is all in reference to shooting video.

That is a good point. I have seen that problem every once in a while.

Once you get your lens clean, get a clear glass filter to screw on the front of your lens to protect it for the times when you don't use any other filters. Its much easier and cheaper to deal with if this gets damaged than your lens.

It is double the WATTAGE, not double the output. The output of a 1.2K HMI Par can exceed 5 times the power of a 650w (I've seen data higher than this) HMIs are a more efficient (but not necessarily better). This is why a 400W joker outguns a 1K Fresnel. I agree, I like the quality of the tungsten fresnel units as well, but I'm not sure if a tweenie is enough. If you're going to go tungsten, I would recommend something with more power, like a 2K fresnel or a 1k Par. A tweenie might work, but only when the sunlight is low enough. I think tungsten would be a good way to go if the sunset is ultra warm. You may even have to add cto to the tungsten units. The reason I think it would be good to have a bigger unit is you can drop scrims in it as the sun goes down to stay consistent.

A 1.2 HMI with full CTO still has a tremendously higher output than a 650w fresnel, but it might not be a bad idea to bring an additional tungsten source. I would suggest a 1K Par. They about 10-15 bucks a day and have very high output. You could bounce the HMI Par and the tungsten Par into a beadboard. This will mix the color temp and bring it down, but certainly not down to 3200. You could bring it down further with partial CTO (1/2, 1/4, whatever you need) If the sun is low enough, the tungsten par alone could be enough.

I think it is okay for you to be willing to work for free, but I would strongly advise against loaning out any gear for free. If you let anyone use your XA-H1, make sure you charge a rental fee. Otherwise you will be taken advantage of and it also low balls it for others who own equipment who rent it out. We don't want to contribute to the trend of production companies getting free stuff out of us when we put up our own money for it just to save them money on renting it themselves.

Good response with the Arriflex. Arri certainly makes sexy cameras. Someone once told me that a person teaches others how to treat him/her. Consciously or subconsciously. I'm not saying we should blame the victim, but I think the abuse from department heads, actors, producers, etc... exists partially because we allow it to happen. If someone above us screams at us, we try to suck it up for fear of loosing our job, but our not defending ourselves sends the message that it is ok for that person to continue doing so. If you look at it in other industries, getting fired for saying "please don't yell at me, I do not appreciate that. Don't threaten me," would be grounds for a lawsuit. I know someone who ran a company for 13 years who found out that one of their employees was stealing. They spent several days planning how they would confront this person in a nice way so as to not appear angry for fear of a verbal abuse lawsuit. It seams like people on set are less careful (of course I am comparing an office job versus a set job so it is not quite a fair comparison) I wish there was a way to better curb such behavior. I am still pretty new to the industry and would love to hear how some others have handled these kind of situations because to be honest, I usually just bite my tongue and deal with it, but it does get to me sometimes. There are times in the past where I wish I would have said something.

Hitchcock said the same thing about the bathroom, he phrased it as "The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."

Is this a feature film that is going to print? Are you making a 35mm print directly from the negative for screening?

If you shoot in color and remove it in post, I would recommend to NOT just simply turn the saturation down to zero. Play around with the different color channels. Increasing and decreasing their individual levels will give you greater control over your contrast. In after effects, this would be the channel mixer tool. I believe Avid and Final Cut Pro have similar black and white controls.