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Brian A. Levin

Basic Member
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About Brian A. Levin

  • Birthday 07/12/1983

Profile Information

  • Occupation
    Cinematographer
  • Location
    Chicago, IL

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2090448/
  1. Hello filmmaking community! I'm shooting a short film in Chicago in December and we would really like to go the route of shooting on anamorphic lenses. Unfortunately a full Red package may be outside of our budget range, and I've seen some pretty awesome work done by DSLR owners with anamorphic lenses. This is a look we'd like to adopt, and I'm wondering if there are any DSLR / Anamorphic owners willing to rent us their equipment for a weekend in December? Please contact brianlevin83@gmail.com if you've got any leads or want to help out. Of course we'd pay fair price for the rental. www.brian-levin.com www.imdb.com/name/nm2090448/
  2. It really is a big rollercoaster ride. Most of my best jobs have been through Craigslist, a 100k feature DP job through Craigslist, some other work, I've met some good crews through looking for crew on Craigslist. I know it sounds like a low way to find work, but I think like a lot of filmmakers out there, there are probably a lot of directors and producers who really do know what they are doing, but just don't know where to find the people to get it done. Sure, you won't be getting your next gig working for Spielberg on Craigslist, but, it's a good place to start, a good place to network, and really, since it's a big portion luck and timing in our industry, Craigslist/Mandy are an excellent place to put your foot in the door.
  3. The filmmakers, that is, the 2 producers and 1 director all grew up and regularly return to Lagos, Nigeria, where we will be filming. They've dabbled in Nollywood films before, but now that they've been through an American film school program and worked with Western filmmakers they are anxious to go back to their homeland and make a film about life growing up in Nigeria with a western crew and western tactics. They want to distance themselves as much as possible from Nollywood filmmaking. They are independently finding money to fund the project.
  4. This has been very helpful and a little eye-opening, though it's nothing I wasn't already concerning myself with so far. My understanding from speaking with the producers and director of the film is that in Nollywood all the films are shot in short times, 5 days or less, and they shoot on video and produce the films as cheaply as possible. The reason the industry is so big is because it's all a numbers game. They produce a ton of content, however, because they mass produce this stuff (think Aldi of the filmmaking world) the shear volume of media, with low price-to-produce and high sales rivals that of Hollywood, but comes nowhere close in terms of content quality. Most, if not all films, are shot on video to avoid the cost of film, and even if there were a somewhat reputable lab, I'd even be weary having gone back and read some of my peers posts here regarding the extreme level of (in)competence and corruption in the country. I wonder if I can get the film shipped to Johannesburg so that it doesn't have to leave the country and therefor never has to go through customs.
  5. This is really new for me and I'm just going to go out and say how green I am about working out of the country. I have always worked in and around a big city (Chicago), and so I just don't have quite the background in the kind of problems that might occur while shooting a feature film in Lagos, Nigeria. Here's a few things we've encountered and I'm hoping I can get some good advice on how to deal with it. 1) Getting equipment over there The Nollywood industry as I've been informed by the producers shoots on low-end video equipment and doesn't work with the kind of equipment we're used to working with here in the States. From my understanding, the HMI's aren't well kept and don't keep their color correctly balanced to daylight, and there is only one of everything, and you can't just reserve a rental and expect it to be there when you arrive, you kind of have to speak with your wallet (we have just enough budget to make this thing happen the way we want to but not enough budget to bribe everyone we meet). Has anyone had a situation kinda like this, and what are some outside-the-box options you can think of? 2) Shooting film and keeping it safe The issue of gear applies to cameras as well, but we plan to parcel our crew luggage in with our camera equipment and just bring it on the plane with us. I plan to shoot with something good and small for handheld in Super16 like an Aaton XTRProd. How do we keep all the film in a cool dry place while we are out there, how do we make sure it stays safe back at our home base and how do we get it all to and from Nigeria without scanning it, or having them check it at customs? 3) Obtaining additional below-the-line crew members locally Where can I find places to look for crew that have a basic understanding of the process to hire locally? I just don't really know where to look. Any advice is appreciated.
  6. Hello, I'm DP-ing a short mid-January. We're using a Canon XLH1 with the Mini35 adapter and a nice prime set of Zeiss Ultra Speeds. I've worked with the Mini35 before, liked it, but have no worked with the Canon XLH1. My understanding is that it's the exact same as a Canon XL2, except that now we're shooting HDV. What protocols will I have to follow in terms of importing this footage? Although I won't be editing the piece, I'd like to be able to have a lot of research ready to go for the director and the editor prior to production so that we can possibly import nightly and run dailies over lunch the next day. Any advice? Preferred edit system is in Final Cut Pro, but so long as they can export an EDL I'm happy.
  7. Well I know this forum is a bit outdated since 2005, but I figure if anyone looking for advice comes back here I'd throw in my two cents as well. I went to Columbia College Chicago, I know it's not one of the major film schools often mentioned, but if like the midwest Columbia is the place to go. The nice thing about the program is that there are a lot of peers for you to interact with, and lots and lots of student shoots to get work on. You can really choose if you prefer cameras to lights, or directing to cinematography. In addition, any gear you take out for a student project is completely free of any charge, and Columbia's lighting stage has just about every head you can imagine to rent, you could fill several 3-ton trucks with Columbia's gear package. The other thing that's nice is the assortment of cameras and lenses available to you at Columbia. Like most film schools you'll start with something small and easy, but as you progress Columbia has their own Panavision GII and lenses, as well as a BL3, Arri IIC, both with outstanding lenses, and an array of Super16 SRII's, and Aaton's. I felt that I walked out of that school with more technical knowledge than I even knew was there to be learned. Columbia is a school for tech-heads who want to know what everything does and why, although if what you want is to get a more art driven education, the directing and screenwriting programs just don't match up to the cinematography program. -brian
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