Jaco Jansen

Hi all I'm shooting an underwater 'mermaid' sequence soon. Planning to light using 2.5K HMI's from an angle outside a 5m deep pool. The backround will be blacked out, and I will flag the lightspill on it hoping to render the background as a black & empty void. Any pointers regarding HMI beam angles for effective penetration into the water? Im trying to achieve something like the atached frame.. Thanx mermaid.bmp

Hi all I hope this is the right forum to post this on? BBC?s ?Planet Earth? has these stunning ? super steady birds-eye shots. I recall an episode with a polar bear swimming miles out into the ocean, or walking on a barren ice landscape. The framing starts on a full shot, and then zooms out to an ELS showing the vast empty landscape, until the bears are specs on the ice. From the closer shots, right through the zoom the shot is PERFECTLY stable. In other episodes as well? Animals do not seem bothered too much by whatever they use to fly the camera. How do they do it?

Hi All I hope this is the right forum to post this question..? How do the team from BBC's 'Planet Earth' achieve those stunning - super steady aireal shots. I recall the episode with the polar bear swimming for miles out into the ocean, and walking over iced landscapes, with the framing starting on a full shot, and then zooming out to reveal the bears as specs on the infinite frozen background. On some of the other episodes, the animals do not seem to be too bothered on whatever they use to fly the camera...

That's a good idea Brad, thanks. It's also true Jonathan, that some(read: most) of them will never get to the point where they start bending it. I do all of the usual stuff (including studying paintings of the old masters, and analysing shots and setups in different films & genres), but apart from being very lazy, most of the class thinks it's cool and 'real' to use available/unmotivated light in almost every situation.(and can then come up with a list of reasons why the "style" enhances the narrative, rather than looking plain undramatic and dull.) I suppose you can't 'grow' interest or enthusiasm. I think I was hoping somone had a killer exersise, guaranteed to make you fall in love with the whole 'painting with light' thing... One of my colleagues said: "Don't worry about it too much man, if these kids don't WANT to succeed, it means more work for you..." Guess he has a point.

Hi Everyone Classes are starting again soon at a small film school where I lecture cinematography. I have become increasingly aware that, apart from the technical stuff, the students are just not getting it. They either light exactly by the book, and have little creative ideas, (meaning that they cannot solve practical problems, or visualise what a setup will look like) OR go completly ape with no sense of continuity etc. I find that the exercises that worked for me back when I was in filmschool is not really helping. Can anyone recommend a good practical assignment that you found 'opened your eyes' to cinematography and specifically lighting? The school is small and they have a limited amount of (working) equipment. Thanx

Mainly the servo focus. I found pulling focus nearly impossible on it, even with the deep dof it provides. The servo on two of these lenses that I used on earlier shoots does not respond proportionally to the amount/speed that you adjust. Since it's not manual, you can't mark it ether.. It's really frustrating when you are wasting takes because of focus problems. Also, the lens is not cheap when you have to import it, and ends up not being worth the bucks. Any suggestions for an ad-on?

Howzit All Can any of you guru's out there recommend an ad-on wide lens adaptor for the standard 20x XL2 lens? I'm looking for a quick solution for shooting in confined spaces such as car interiors, apartment kitchens, prison cells and what have you. There are quite a few available on the net, but i'd like to hear from someone who actually used/tested one. No point in ordering without research... PS. I am not pleased with the 3X Canon lens. The cost/performance ratio isn't floating my boat.

Howzit All Can any of you guru's out there recommend an ad-on wide lens adaptor for the standard 20x XL2 lens? I'm looking for a quick solution for shooting in confined spaces such as car interiors, apartment kitchens, prison cells and what have you. There are quite a few available on the net, but i'd like to hear from someone who actually used/tested one. No point in ordering without research... PS. I am not pleased with the 3X Canon lens. The cost/performance ratio isn't floating my boat.

Howzit I just bought a demo Sony PVM - 9L2 field monitor, and can't seem to find a user manual for it on the net. Anyone know where I can go look? Thanx.

Since hearing about some DOP not wanting to shoot here in South Africa becuase of its "unfavourable" sunpath, I was wondering what the best / preffered paths are and what countries 'offer' them. I always thought that Southern Africa is great for exteriors especially April- late August? Any opinions?

James, you are on the right track in looking into lighting techniques to get as close as you can to that film look. Apart from the tech differences between film & video image forming, the biggest reason for that 'event', or reality look is a lack of dramatic lighting & dof differences- both can be 'treated' with successfull results, given you have time and experienced crew. Use a calibrated monitor and experiment with lighting ratios before your shoot. Slight filtration on the lens also helps.

In my experience the key to successfull DV shooting at night is to light selectively, and not to use less light. The XL gives rich blacks that works nice as high contrast imagery, as opposed to having grainy washed out images shot with too little light. Play aound with slightly diffused light without fill- you don't need a huge budget for it. Keep facial ratios lower than 4:1, and take time to light- the key to great images...