James W

I've just finished listening to Danny Boyle's commentary on the director's track of the film Sunshine. In it he mentions briefly an in-camera method that the cinematographer Alwin Küchler employed. To destort the images of the "villan" Boyle says that a 50/50 mirror technique was used. He vaguley describes the use of two cameras, one shot straight the other through a mirror, and then combined in post. Has anyone used this technique or got any good references to where I can further explore it's technical details and other examples of it's use? Thanks!

Thanks alot Brian! I did'nt think of going straight to the source! james

Hello everybody! I will be shooting a short spot for broadcast on British television, and I'm interested in any comments, advice and help. There are a few HD technical aspects regarding my equipment requirments, broadcast/output considerations and lighting issues that I would appreciate support on. Any wise folks out there that can share experiences? Thanks!

The T-Rex is in my experience a heavy piece of kit so I tend not to use bowl heads and tripods but for better stability flat base. I was in Berlin last week and the guys form FGV rental showed me a T-Rex like lens system from P+S and Skater which has some cool (if you like that sort of thing) functions. It's also a rotating lens principle which allows you to look round corners and and the such! As far as a T-Rex manual is concerned the thing is fairly self explanatory, the rental house should have a reference card for you with all the Fstop compensations. One important point is when your checking the lens out before the shoot be really careful about dirt in the system. There's a lot of glass in the T-Rex and lots of places for dirt and dust to hide. What I always do is aim the T-Rex (without lens) at a bright white surface and slowly pull the focus/zoom all the way through. Everytime I've found something and the rental guys have got it out. Have fun and report back how your shoot went! james

I worked on a commercial on a ice ring, outside, in january, in the snow: all factors that added up to a damn cold day! We wanted to keep the batteries off the ice as much as possible so we constructed "jackets" for each battery from 5cm styro boards. It made them a bit chunky but was a good form of insulation. Taking extra batteries, keeping batteries in warm place, and not leaving batteries over night in the truck are all good points. Also try and get batteries that have newer cells inside, they will last longer. Good luck and wrap up warm yourself! james

I've heard many differing opinions on this subject. Recently I was shooting in Barbados for a German production. We flew back from Bridgetown, over London eventually arriving in Hamburg. We took the 10 cans of 16mm Fuji 250ASA film in our hand luggage and it was x-rayed repeatedly with no resulting problems. I did this after years of careful consultation on this vexed subject with many very experienced co-workers. Then I read what John Pytlak (Senior Technical Specialist Eastman Kodak Company) said: Don' x-ray! It bad! So that's me sorted from now on! Changing tent, polite smile and hours earlier at the airport! It's just not worth it! It only has to happen once and all your insistances to the production company that: "I've always had film stock x-rayed, it's never been a problem" will be a very mut and expesive waste of air! Another question though: I've heard from assistants (admittedly the hand-luggage-film-stock-x-raying-variety) that the radiation that we're exposed to during the flight due to altitude is also a concern! True? Fiction? I never payed attention in science class, any ideas?

One thing I always do with short ends on the camera is to make an extra label, with the exact length loaded, placed right next to the counter. Focus Pullers (even if told, bless their little hearts) tend to assume that there's a fully loaded mag on the camera, and this extra highly visable label is a good reminder. The one time I forgot to do this (even though I'd told the Focus Puller it was a short end, bless his little heart) the mag rolled out in the middle of the only perfect take on a complicated, fiddley, macro, chocolate sturring special effect shot. How would James Cameron have dealt with that ah?

I guessed that would be the case. I did some internet research after my posting (maybe I should have done it the other way around?) and I think that for the progressive video alone it's worth it? What are opinions out there about the lenses on the DVX100 or XM2?

Michael has hit the nail on the head as far as I'm concerned! There is no better start to any training than being around experienced professionals asking informed questions. Plus if you do get on with the camera dept. and get some loading practice in, then the next time you're up for a camera dept position you've got another layer of experience. Have a read of "The Camera Assistant: A complete professional handbook" by Douglas C. Hart (if you already haven't) and go to the camera guys with specific questions, that always goes down well. Good luck!

I too am a latch taper! It has always seemed to me one more safety level to prevent the nightare of wrongly opened magazines. I have slapped many a bored fiddeling finger away from untaped latches. I think taping the edges of modern, well maintained and carefully tested mags is purely psychological. The first time the Arri 235 turned up on set my focus puller of 15 years experience gave me very nervous scathing looks when I gave him an untaped mag. But now he doesn't even bat an eye lid. But if taping serves no practical purpose and is purely psychological, but makes people feel better it can't be all that bad!

I hate getting shouted at too and a good way to prevent unneccsary winging from behind the camera is to locate the slating position before the camera rolls and look for a distinctive height and distance marker that you can easily locate again. Also a good trick for finding the correct slating position at night is to look for the "red eye" of the Arriglow. Look right down the front of the lens and when you can see the red glow circle fully then you're looking right into the gate.

Has anyone had experience with soft effect filters on 3CCD digital video. I'm looking to diffuse the highlights in a similar way to a effect achieved with a Pro-Mist filter. Is their any particular filtration that is best to use with video to achieve this effect or should I just us PMs? Thanks!

Hello! I'm due to be shooting a small 3 minute clip in november We've got two possible camera that we can use: Canon XM2 and the Panasonic DVX100. I'm interested in any general comments, ideas and advice before I opt for either one. Thanks!