Greg Gross

Mike, I hate long lenses.........get the freaking camera up close to her.............look in her eyes.........its in the eyes Mike........contrast the light in the face with the red hair...........make it snappy.........like a ski-doo on steroids. Have her look over her shoulder at you...... you know that look.......women give you that makes you crazy. I would love to see it on this Kodak 16mm. Best wishes and good luck........your only limit is your own creativity. You know its like a scene........where the girl is leaving her lover..........she stops and looks back.......NYC........nice day........on the street. Get her to give you that "Nicole Kidman" look. Greg

Mike, I'm not an expert on 16mm film.........but I like the look. I particularly like your use of color.......its strong. I just like the look of this film. I personally would have a little more fill light in the red head's face to con- trast with the red hair.......on the other hand maybe you did not want that..........and that is certainly okay. You were at the mercy of "the angel's light" though on the street..........maybe hard to control?? Do not be afraid to take the camera right up to the actor/actress.

Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite films. Does anybody know in which scenes Mr. Lynch used "wacking"? I have it here but have not watched it for a while but probably could figure it out. Thinking about trying this in a short film. Looking at it as sort of a new, personal adventure in film/digital. Liked the Hunter Richard's production. Greg Gross

Long time since I have seen a pure fun action movie. Sly recons the evil island meets a beautiful women, barely gets away with his life,later returns with his true action team and saves the girl; restores democracy to the people of the island until the next dictator. Where was Mr. Van Damme?? Great close-ups,coverage and this is one film where I would have loved to operate the camera. Loved the film stock/HD. Close-ups just made this film for me and they were all there except for Mr. Van Damme. Not the the greatest script,story...a lot of boom,boom,boom and rat-tat,rat-tat,tat-tat-tat. It was just a lot of fun for me and some of my favorite actors. Sly did have his hands full with the big bald guy. I wish Mr. Willis would have played throughout the film. Harleys,tattoos,ford/truck(street rod),great chase scenes. Just a lot of fun for me. I am going to go see it again for one last time on the big screen. I loved the Grumman Goose ,only thing better would have been Harrison Ford flying the Goose. May save LionsGate from hostile take-over. From Pennsylvania's capital city, Greg Gross

Hello Tom, I would have liked to have worked on the "North Fork" set with David Mullen ASC,James Woods and Nick Nolte. I would have loved to be able to light those characters. I still consider "North Fork" to be my yardstick for beautiful photography/cinematography. There is one scene with Nick Nolte(he's lit by a practical) that is my favorite,prob- ably because to me it is a cinematography portrait. The master shots in this film are just so beautiful and I would have liked to have been with David Mullen to see and hear what he was visualizing and thinking. To see how he framed his shots and what lenses were used. I love glass,light,film and how they intertwine,interlace. We are so lucky to have him as a cinematographer on the forum that we can often reach out to. My other choice would have been that of Conrad Hall ASC and may god bless him. I think the scene with Nick Nolte(priest,practical light) is a beautiful one of a kind,classic scene. Light,glass,filmstock,craft,art,painting with light. Greg Gross

Gentlemen, This is a place for art and craft. David Mullen is correct in fact that it is not a place for politics. Lets look to David as a leader here on our forum and show respect. I am now 62yrs old gentlemen and I am quite comfortable in making this statement. Thank you David Mullen for your art and craft and for your posts which have taught us all about the craft and art of cinematography. Anyone who wishes to e-mail me may do so at pd170user@yahoo.com.. Greg Gross

Hello Brian, Sounds like the kid is staying in the picture. You know I have two professions,medicine and photography. I spend about 50% of my time in each profession. Of course I have to admit that if I do work more in one or the other profession,it usually is pho- tography where I have the increased work time. In this senario I have my medical profession to rely on if photography sales start to decline. Usually though(and as a rule) photography has not declined at all for me. Have you ever thought about acting, writing,directing? Thank you for the update as I was wondering how you were doing. Stay in the picture kid! Greg Gross

Hello, Many years ago in vietnam I was angry at god for letting my men die and for letting them die alone so often. I used to lie out on ambushes at night and an overwhelming feeling would come over me telling that I was too far from home(Pennsylvania) and that I never would get home again. So I worked hard trying to keep everybody alive and healthy and just in case there was a god,I would say a prayer every day; not for myself but for everybody else. Well I never died and I got home again and since then I've shot a lot of film and a lot of raw digital images. I still do not know if there is a god but I still say a pray- er everyday. Seems like my photography is always better for it,still I'm not sure there is a god. So say a little prayer for yourself and for others everyday. Just in case there is a god,it won't do you any harm. I'm one that believes when you take care of others that some how you help yourself,heal yourself. So take the gentleman's advice......"run everyday and if you break a leg run on the other leg". I might add to that by saying,if you break both legs then crawl everyday. You have a friend in Pennsylvania,pd 170 user@yahoo.com. I'll end with a famous quote-"the kid stays in the picture". Now you are free to produce and shoot your on films. So my friend "stay in the picture". Greg Gross

Hello, There are so many aspects to b&w film that can make your image/scene impact the viewer. You have at your finger tips vast possibilities for contrast and tonal range through the use of light and the control of light. Think of it as "Painting With Light". I like David Mullen's idea of lighting a face,portion of a scene in relation to other objects,people etc. in the scene. Other words the use of light instead of filters. I'm thinking of some of the Orson Welles films(god bless him) as shot by Tolland. I just like that beautiful glass of a lens conducting light to the film plane,without adding-on of a filter or the stacking of filters. Just pure light to create the contrast,tonal range of a beautiful b&w scene. I envy those guys of a past generation of cinematographers who "Painted With Light". Now I do this as a stills photographer in Light Room 2 and in Light Room 3 Beta. Through the use of RGB channels. I miss the wet darkroom though,the smells,the appearence of a face in a tray full of solution. I think a lot of us love film and light. Photography is really all about light and there is something holy,spiritual about using just light to create an image/scene. Greg Gross

Mr. Barrera, Yes sir that Canon 5D is a fine camera. I have not used one for a shoot but I played with one at B&H Photo in your great city. I am roughly 175 to 200 miles away from from NYC. I suppose a big part of going digital is the work and time involved editing in a color space. If one gets exposures correct and takes care to use appropriate white balance it is possible to spend less time working in the editing color space. So many people think that you can just throw any raw image into the pho- toshop color space and fix it. This is quite far from the truth. Once the highlights are blown you can hardly correct by using the recovery process. Correct exposure and white balance are so important to the initial raw image(file,negative). Greg Gross

Hello Phillip I would suggest a Canon G10,or new version G11. You would have the ability to shoot raw. Then you could correct white balance for the lighting that you are using. Assuming that you expose image properly you would have very little editing to do in your color workspace with your workflow. Of course the raw file is your digital image based on the capture of light by all the "photosites" in your digital sensor based on CCD/CMOS platform. Of course in film we we are dealing with layers of emulsions that are sensitive to light. Film negative versus the raw digital negative. There are plug-ins today to mimic b&w film(silver efex pro) also plug- ins for color film available. I am not sure for example how the color film plug-ins would re- late to kodak Vision films for example. Of course I am sure that you do not want to become a full time digital editing technician either. I have been a professional photographer for more years than I care to be reminded of. I carry a G10 wrapped in chamois cloth in my coat pock- et and it stands right up to its big brother canon proffessional cameras which I use. Sometimes cannot tell or remember which camera was used. Well just another camera,idea for you to con- sider. Good luck with your future in cinematography. Greg Gross

Hi Gio, There are no rules my friend!!!! Break all the rules you want when you light and learn to light. When I read your post it came to my mind about using scrims. HMI's are pretty hot so scrims would be safe. Question is would they cut down on the harsh hot light enough? Just a suggestion and something for you to think about. There are many fine minds and creative minds here on the forum and I'm sure you will hear from more shooters. I guess when punching an HMI through a window just act of shooting it through the window causes some drop in intensity. Of course objects in front of the light(in the room) furniture,white drapes hung,lamp shade on table,actual intensity of light in room as opposed to the HMI light. apply. Greg Gross

Hello Greg, Basic photography rules apply here as in "f-stops". Look up the term f-stop if you are not aware of it already. Make sure you understand the term as it applies to photography. If in your scene you want to expose for the "Werewolf's Face" then measure the light at the We- rewolf's face and not the direct light from a light source such as a key light,fill light etc.. By all means when your scene is lit go ahead and measure the light from the key,fill,background light etc. and at your subject,in this case the werewolf's face. You'll observe a distinct difference in f-stops based on the ISO in use. All of these differences equate into a certain ratio of lighting that could set the mood for your scene. Please read about "18% Gray" when you get a chance. Something for you to think about- "Do not get fooled into believing that the measurment at the werewolf's face is 18% Gray. Best wishes for you and your filmmaking. I am sure also that you will be learning about blocking light. Since its holloween soon just using werewolf for example. Greg Gross

I was very sorry to hear about the closing of Roger's site. I haven't visited the site for a while but I enjoyed very much looking through his b&w stills. Of course it was a wonderful site for cinematography and I know that he would accept e-mails and answer them according to his time restraints. I appreciate very much his art and craft. I guess being famous attracts some of these types that lack integrity and respect for others and their achievements in the arts. Greg Gross

Daniel, I make this statement to aspiring filmakers several times per month. Just go shoot a film(or video,HD,digital cinema). A ten or fifteen minute production would be fine. One very important aspect is that you need a strong script/story. You sh- ould read the script and understand the story. Make a shooting schedule for shooting your scenes and have your crew stick to the story,shooting schedule. You could go to ASC website and look for books on directing to provide you with ideas about a good text or book on direction. The Director,Director of Photography,Cameraman should read the script and be very fam- iliar with the story. If this last statement seems too juvenile to you then I apologize. I'm going to give you a title that you can write a script for and then when ready you can start production. "Best Friends" . Try to tell the story without a lot of dialogue and rely more on action to tell the story. If you can please post your short film here so we can view it. Best of luck to you in your endeavors to achieve excellence in the wonderful world of film. Do not forget that a good story/script can be very simple. Greg Gross