Robert Gardner

hi there, i am planing on buying a new camera and have a hard time deciding between the canon xl-h1 and the new sony-z7. i am planing on using the camera mainly for wildlife filming, so i was thinking of the canon befor the new sony z-7 came out. now that sony also offers interchangable lenses i am stuck. i personally prefer sony over canon, but i am not sure if the sony is quite as good as the canon + it just came out and might still have some baby problems which have to be solved? anyone out there who could give me any piece of advise??? it would be highly appriciated. cheers, rob

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions. Helped me a lot! Cheers, Rob

thanks rob, so would i get the same effect with a film camera running it at 2fps? it would not only speed my footage up a lot but also give me those streaks of light? cheers, rob

hi there, i had a technical question of how to create slow shutter speed shots on film or video? i used to take lots of city portraits by night with a very slow shutter speed so that all the traffic looks like different color lines. i was wondering how to create an effect like that on video or film? is it done in the camera or in post? have a look at attachments. thanks for your thoughts, rob

Hi , check out my new web site inncluding some of my work. It's my first site so it would be great to get some feedback. Cheers, Rob. www.robertwgardner.com Rob_W_Gardner_CV_.doc

Hi, can anybody please help me with this. We're making a short film and we want to know, is it ok to put products in the film tht you do not have permission as such to show? Like 'Animal' the drummer from the Muppets. In the shot it would merely appear in the background and not featured in any way apart from its presence. Is it legal? any help on those legal mettars would be appreciated.

Hi there, I just had a general question about story boards and shot lists. Who is creating the shot list on a feature film. Will it be left soley to the DP, or has the director a big impact? The same with story boards, will the director sit together with a story board artist and the DP and discuss every singel shot, or is it left to the DP to make those decisions. I was just curios how those things are handeld on big productions? As for me working on short films, I mainly create my own shot lists after having intense conversations with the director. Any thoughts on that would be great. Cheers, Rob

Hey there, I was wondering if anyone has any experience using the P+S Technik 35 Mini Coverter, the Movietube Kinomatik, or the Redrock M2 adapter? I personaly worked with the P+S technik befor, but has not worked with the others yet. Maybe someone out there, who worked with the other adaptors can share his experience with me. I was quite happy with the P+S, but would love to work with an other one as well. I will be shooting a short next month on the Sony Z1, and am not sure if one of the other adaptors might work better. Any thoughts are highly welcome. If you are interested on the result I got with the P+S check out this video: http://www.20202.co.uk/contestant.php?user_id=21 Thanks, Rob

Hey there, I was wondering if anyone has any experience using the P+S Technik 35 Mini Coverter, the Movietube Kinomatik, or the Redrock M2 adapter? I personaly worked with the P+S technik befor, but has not worked with the others yet. Maybe someone out there, who worked with the other adaptors can share his experience with me. I was quite happy with the P+S, but would love to work with an other one as well. I will be shooting a short next month on the Sony Z1, and am not sure if one of the other adaptors might work better. Any thoughts are highly welcome. If you are interested on the result I got with the P+S check out this video: http://www.20202.co.uk/contestant.php?user_id=21 Thanks, Rob

Check out the P+S Technik 35mini converter. http://www.pstechnik.de/en/digitalfilm-min...p?region=Europe that might be a good option?!?

BBC Bristol, UK, is always a good source to find out about nature documentaries. Love those guys!

One camera they've used was a Photron high speed camera. http://www.photron.com/ I just shot a music video with it. We had a wolf running through a forset. We got amazing results from this camera. The only downside was that we were filming in North England, so the we lost loads of light from take to take. But I appreciate what those high speed cameras can do for you.

Thanks for the advice, I think the videouniversity site is the more user friendly site. Cheers.

Hi there, I'm not sure if that is the right forum for my question, so please bare with me. I was wondering what the best way is to callibrate a hd monitor. What do I need to look for when looking at the color bars??? It might be a stupid question, but somehow I think I am doing the wrong thing when setting up my monitor. To be honest I haven't done it to often ( quite new to it ). I will be going to our local rental house next week to get a monitor. They said they can show me, but i would like to have a better understanding of it befor I go there. Any help would be great!!! Thanks a lot, Rob

Thanks a lot!!!

Hi there, I've posted a simmilar topic a few days ago "Warming Filters". I just had one more question about combining a coral filter with a polarizer. Will the polarizer change the effect the coral filter would have on it's own. The polarizer will enhance colors on it's own, will it look "weired" slapping a warming filter over a polarizer? I do understand how each filter works on its own, just not to sure about combining both. If anyone has any experience or thoughts on that, please let me know. Thanks a lot, Rob

So I guess you would loose around 2, or 2.5 Stops. Thanks a lot, Rob

Hi there, I will be shooting a Short next month on a Sony Z-1 with the P+S 35Mini Converter. I was just wondering if anyone has shot with this particular converter befor? Are there any things I have to look out for, like loss of light? I was also concidering using a movie tube, could anyone explane the difference between those two converters? Thanks a lot, Rob

Many thanks for all your advice, There would only be one last thing to ask. When shooting the grey scale, should I also take the polarizer of with the coral? As I understand it, I should always shoot the grey scale clear!?!

Cheers, will do!

I believe that a photographer should be bale to creat his own look as much as he can without going into grading. I found the grading options in final cut better than avid. i personal use final cut hd, but i've heard good things about final cut studio 2 (color).

I will be there for the telecine session. My only concern is that I would like to get as close to the look I want without using the help of the colorist to much. Since I am still learning I would like to experiment a bit. My prof adviced me to just shoot everything clear and than do the rest in post. I don't really agree with him. I think it should be the job of the photographer to achive his own look without to much grading. i might just go ahead and try the coral. maybe just a light one, and if I have to warm it up more, do it in post. Again, Thank you very much for your help.

So you would recommend using a light blue over the lense when shooting the grey scale. Does it matter witch lab I give it to? Should I let the lab know what I did and tell them to correct it for the blue filter, or shouldn't I say anything and just let them go ahead and correct it by themself? I am pretty sure I won't use any diffusion. Might have to throw a ND in on occasion though. So you would recommend not to stack to many filters because of reflections and flare? Thanks a lot for your advice. Rob

I will be using 250 D for exteriors, and 500 T for interiors. I was thinking of leaving the coral of. But since I am still in film school i would like to experiment a bit. Don't know when I will be shooting on film again, so I would like to be in controll of the look and don't leave it to the colorist. Thanks a lot, Rob

I will be shooting on Super 16. It won't go to print. Will go to digital.