Daniel Carruthers

Gross, but I like it. I like the clean strylized look in contrast with the red blood and the brain.I also like the grain I see in the shots especially the cu of the man.

Also you might want to try shooting with the matrix set to normal, and maybe lower the chroma level to desaturate the picture more. The dvx picks up alot of noise if the image is to blue. And it might look more like night if the colours are more desaturated.

I agree minidv is crap for greenscreen.. but there is a product called ULTRA 2 and it is supposed to be the best product for minidv greenscreen work. But I've never tried it out myself ive only seen a tutorial on it, and I was impressed. I dont have a link to the website but google ULTRA 2 and Im sure you'll find a link

city of god had alot of super16. Texas chainsaw Massacre was 16mm, I think the best 16mmstock in 73 was 50asa

Hey dave if your light is balanced to 5600k and your shooting tungsten stock, it will look unnaturally blue. unless you add an 85filter,but theres no reason to do that if your shooting in a studio.

I usually dont have an aproach to lighting walls or even actors,until i see the set and block the scene out. Right now on the computer in my room Its an overcast day outside and I have the curtains closed. The light is very soft, almost shadowless. If I was on a set and I had to recreat that look I would set some 2ks out side the window going through a frame of gridcloth, or I would bounce light off a bounce board and back into window. Since the light is soft it falls off quickly, So there would be no need to flag the light,unless it was to hot and you set up some nets to take down the intensity on a specific part of the set. In terms of how bright or dark i want the walls,it depends. I usually wouldent want the walls brighter than the actors,but maybe that would look really good?? Bright walls and underexposed actors?? Theres lots of ways it really depends on the story and the scene. I find in black and white its easier to get away with more extream lighting, and have it still look real and natural.I guess cause black and white isnt natural? I like to keep my lights high up, so I dont get any annoying shadows across the actors face,so there nose shawdow falls along there lip and cheek. But I dont like backlighting. I try to keep the actors seperated form the background by the use of shadows and different intensitys of light. maybe I'll keep the wall a stop under exposed and the actors key light is a half stop overexposed. Although I dont mind back light aslong as its motivated.

I agree for the most part. You should have a monitor and wave forms on set. But I like using my meter. I work on small indie productions, where im usually away from the camera helping set up the lights, and I love being able to take a reading and know the ratio from all my key lights to fill, before i even look into the camera. Ive never worked with the varycam, so i cant give you the asa. But i own a sekonic meter myself,and i keep the framerate at 24. And yes for the most part its not very accurate,but the more you use your meter and the more familiar you are with the camera, you'll know what asa to keep your meter at.

Hi I own a dvx and I like to achieve most of the look in camera myself. I would first lower the detail and v-detail down to -3, they take the hard edge off the image. I would lower the chroma level to -7, desaturating the image. I would lower the chroma phase to -7, gives a slight greenish tinge to the image. maybe even add a bit of blue, try raiseing the colour temperture to +2 or +3, just enough to cool the skin tones,but not enough to see the blue. I like to keep the master peds at -5 Keep the matrix on normal,its the least saturated giving a more desaturated look I like to shoot cinegamma, giving you the most dynamic range.Just watch for over exposure. keep the lighting high contrast, lots of silohettes keep the key light overexposed by at least 1 stop, use no fill light. I would also keep the lights clean from any gels, except colour componsating gels, just as long as your white balanced to those gels. you'll have a cleaner image giving you more room for minipulation in post if you need it? one more thing I also like to shoot wide open, just use the nd filters, you may want to buy a 2 stop nd filter n6. This camer is dreadfull for its strong depth of field,which can be good if your filming a home movie. but not if your trying to make a movie. just remember shoot on a 45mm lens and keep the aperture wide open.

I think video is perfect for this subject matter. though I do agree better composition and knowing your lens is the key. Obviosly when you pick up a video camera and just hit the record button its gonna look like crap. thats what this movie looks like.The person dident know the camera. Only filmmakers can really see the difference, the audiance feels the difference,but might not realize it. And if the audiance is into the subject matter and it gets a few laughs than thats what matters.

Thanks So if you edit on a 24p timeline will that correct the 60i pd-150 audio into 24p? making the audio in sync with the 24p footage

Hi Im about to shoot a indie feature on the dvx100a. And the director wants the sound to go into his pd-150 so the dvx can be free of xlr cables. we are gonna have long running pov shots. So my question is will the audio sync up later?? I'll be shooting in 24pa, and the pd-150(audio) in 60i. will this cause any noticable problems???

I just watched the trailer. Looks creepy,and disturbing. I cant wait to see it.

most directors Ive worked with have been inexperianced on the technical side. The last shoot I was on the director thought I lite a scene to dark, and I kept saying Im only half stop under exposed plus I had highlights that where 1 stop over exposed.And he kept saying it was no good. We had a very crappy monitor on set an old lcd monitor with crushed blacks so the shadows had no detail in them.I didnt rely on that monitor at all. I trusted my light meter. But unfortunatly the director( Who never left the monitor) kept wanting more light. and I kept saying "no more we have enough any more and its gonna look lit".I told him not to trust that damn monitor and to trust the light meter.eventually I got my way. And when it came to watching the dailies the image looked great. I have no problem working with inexperianced directors just as long as they trust me.

My Webpage NEW SHOT I just added a before and after of the girl in the white room.1 shot without the highlight and the other 1 with the highlight. Again its much more effective when you see the shot in motion LOL I ment writer/prodcer not writer?producer B)

Its kind of an educational video with a story wraped around it The writer?producer is a teacher and he wrote a story around his teachings The story is these characters go to this house and into these 3 rooms and each room is a metaphor for the subject matter that the teacher is teaching. I did go for a dark look for 2 of the rooms because i tried to keep the set well lit but keep the light off the actors, because in 1 of the rooms the teacher is talking about objects like,teddy bears,newspapers,chess boards. and how different meanings and memories people get by looking at stuff like that. I agree the footage does look alot flatter on my computer. It looks alot better on my TV, its actually supposed to be darker,and the highlites brighter, but my computer washes every thing out. And unfortunatly this is a video made for the internet so thats where the image is gonna end up, but I think you can also buy the dvd online. As for the girl in the white room,She is darker when compared to the white background, also 1 thing you cant see in the still shot is that highlight on her left cheek and hair is a light I have fading in and out, I think its really effective, but I agree when I see the still shot of the bright highlight it can be a little distracting.

anymore opinions???

They really took advantage of hds depth of field. some of those establishing shots where fantastic you could see forever, which really added to the isolation of the dessert. the look for that movie was mainly achieved in post. so I would shoot as clean as possible giving you more room for minipulation later on. I loved the campfire scenes very realistic. I hate movies where people are around a campfire and the moonlight overpowers the fire light??? in wolf creek they stayed away from the moonlight look and kept to practicals,car headlights. they only used moonlight when they absolutly had to. when your alone in the dessert at night you have to see somthing

I dont own any lights myself and Im a DOP, I tend to shoot low budget indies and what ever I can.I figure when I start making more money I might invest in a small light kit. All the productions Ive worked on payed for the lighting equipment,so Ive never had a reason to own any lights, just as long as I supplied the camera gear.

:rolleyes:

Thanks troy My Webpage still shots haha victory!!!! just some still shots taken from a internet video i shot last week. The shoot went good,Im happy with my work, I was the DOP. hopfully the video will be online in the next few months

yeah your on the right track keep the light soft and high up, just make sure their eyes dont turn into black holes, maybe find a camera light so the singers eyes have a sparkle in them, In lord of the rings the dp andrew lesnie got christmas lights and hung them up behind camera so galadriels eyes sparkeld like stars. Also if your shooting in a actual club work with the lights they have, also get a fog machine. looks like in that video the dancers where in silohette and the singer was in the forground under a soft light so dont worry so much in lighting the background dancers worry more on lighting the set behind them so they go into shadows and silohettes,

got another screen grab,had to lose the old ones, is there a way to post more than 2,I see multiple photos all the time?? Im not to happy with this shot myself.

the strobing is normal, thats what film looks like. you can hide the strobing effect by panning with the actors in the forgound, the higher the focal length the more it will strobe, so you should move the camera slower. you lose light cause its 24p or 25p as compared to 60i which is always open.

I dont know I guess im looking for opinions, only people who've criticised my work always tells me its good and I dont always believe them, so its good to hear an honest opinion. In terms of critique im looking for peoples opinions on, Framing, lighting,the usual