Michael Louis Hill

Hi Sherri! I'm not the best to welcome you to the forum but I'll say hello anyway! Enjoy!

Hello everyone. I was hoping to get some words of advice and experience. I am shooting a film that takes place entirely during a thunderstorm. Most of the action takes place by windows which face south. The location is an apartment on 11 floor in NYC. The sun blasts through these windows. Shooting with hvx I am totally afriad of sunshine for this two day shoot. However if there is sunshine what can I do? I really want to use the windows as a source but if it is super bright out I guess we will need to close them. Is there anything I can put on the window? Would nd do the trick. If it is really orange should I put some blue on the windows? Or just compensate with white balance adjust. I'm hoping it will just rain that weekend. Any thoughts suggestions or well wishes would be appreciated. hope i posted this in the correct forum. Thanks! -Michael

Please feel free to email lajuergafilm@gmail.com Thanks!

Hello Everyone, I am looking for a cinemtographer for my thesis film. I am planning on shooting S16. The date for the shoot is Dec 7-10th and we are shooting in NYC. The script is about an old Spanish woman living alone in Spain who takes in a foreign exchange student and how the two find a common bind through music. The script is mostly silent so I really want to express everything visually (hey it's a visual medium right?). All INT locations. We don't have enough money to fly anyone in from outside of NY so I suppose I am looking for NYC based DP. I've enjoyed being apart of this forum for a few years now and look forward to hearing from those who are interested! -Michael

It's been a long time since I've posted...but i had a question. I'm shooting a red carpet event with a DVX and i was wondering how these events are usually lit. I've tried looking at some pictures online to get an idea. it seems that there are a lot of baby's and some HMI fixtures being used. I will not have my own space to shoot in...as in i'm not doing this for the E! channel etc...so it will be run and gun, can't imagine setting up any lights. Is the best option to get an on board light then? Are those lights that i see provided by each television crew? Is there usually enough illumination out there? Will i be out of place with a video light on board? I've never used one so i don't want to be blinding people with it...sorry for the ignorance. Any suggestions will be much appreciated! Thanks! -Mike

i was an intern on the show and i remember seeing a lot of steadicam.

just watching and learning....please keep me around as well

Thanks for the info. i'll try it out this weekend.

What would you set the shutter at and the iso? i'm not sure if it would be the same iso as the film stock yeah? I tried doing this the other day but had trouble figuring out the shutter and he aperture for that matter. not sure if the light meter gives off the same reading for the digital aperture.

a very beautiful film. i want to hang each frame on my wall. i thought the photography was just perfect for the story. any thoughts?

sorry to just spew emotion out like this but i swear i can't keep myself ffrom bouncing off the walls at the moment. i thought this film was amazingly beautiful. i haven't felt this for quite sometime. i draw much of my inspiration from painting so this film to me was just unreal. i found myself unabel to sit still through certain shots becasue i was blown away at their beauty..the lighting...the frame...just incredible. i wonder if anyone else felt the same.

i would think about studying something other than film production as an undergrad. i have heard from many different DPs and Directors in the industry that an undergraduate education in something other than film (english, history, philosophy..etc..) is a very useful and important part of any artists life. but if you know what you want to do then go for it. i had a friend who went ot Ball State and they he said they fund all of your FILM projects. look into if you can.

maybe i should switch dreams from wanting to capture light to wanting to CORRRECTLY project light. i must ask and wonder for those cinematographers here who have exhibited on the Big screen, How annoying is it to have your film projected incorrectly? I have been notcing more and more now that my favorite movie house seem to feel like they can crop the film with the curtain in anyway they see fit. I know it must be difficult to have the perfect theater for all formats but geez...it is driving me crazy. am i being too picky? also, i went to a screening of A Clockwork Orange and the projection was out of focus for the first 15 minutes! i had to go back there and ask if they could focus it. i felt like an annoying perfectionist (but hey i was watching Kubrick right?) but i just couldn't stand to see the film like that. so how does one become a projectionist? is this really an issue for working DP's? Is it normal to loose a foot or two all around the screen? just my thoughts

I'm not sure if this question belongs here but since the film is now on DVD i thought i would just put it here. i was wondering what type of lens would ahve been used for the shot when Hughes enters the Cocanut Grove. I am referring to the shot behind him where we see the lights come up and illumniate the club. He then walks away and for some reason, alteast to me, he moves quickly from camera. I figure this must have to do with the type of lens or maybe i'm just tricking myself. anyone have any info on this? how is this achieved? and what is the purpose? also, what is the purpose behind the way the light functoins in this scene? thanks

yea i bought the box set of the fox studio classics for around 30 which gave me three films and sunrise. i thought it was a great deal. i love the commentray track on the film as well.

that is funny that you are from NYC and could possibly come out here to orange county. i'm the other way around i guess...or atleast that is what i want. i was accepted into the MFA at Chapman as well but i was never contacted for an interview or anything which i thought was odd. i have heard so many different situations and stories with the school it makes me a little nervous. well to answer your question aobut Orange County. Frist off it is not like the OC on Tv if you ever watch that show. i would imagine that you would find Orange County to be quite opposite from NYC. this could also be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you feel about NYC. atleast the weather down here is very favorable and great for shooting. there is a lot more to be said so maybe if you had some more specific questions i could help you out.

I just saw playtime and i was wondering if anyone had any history of the film and technical facts about it. it was so beautiful.

thanks for the info i will have to check it out again when it comes out on DVD. -michael

Thank you for the help. i will have to get over there and chech that out. michael

i really enjoyed the film myself. There is one sequence in which the two are infront of a store late at night. i cannot remember exactly what is going on but there is some interesting lighting effect going on either in the reflection off the windows or something else. Does anyone know what i am referring to and know what they did there?

Hello I know that many of you either live in New York or you are from New York. I will be spending a week there next month and i was hoping some of you could list some interesting/historical places to visit. I am aiming this more towards Film and Art. So if there are any old movie houses or museums that have some nice educational or just plain fun connections with film that would be great. I feel like i have seen the city a lot through film (especially from Scorsese, Lee, and Allen) and now i finally get to see it with my own eyes for the first time. So any rare and interesting sites that not everyone knows about would be greatly appreciated. thanks michael

Very cool information! thanks!

Carlos Thanks for the advise. i do have a subscription to the magazine and i recently purchased that book. AC gets easier to understand as i read more and more articles but i still struggle to understand everything so hopefully Blain's book will help fill in the blanks. I will also look into the light meter because i have not thought of that approach before. thanks

Thanks for the links those were very useful and a great to look through. Would you happen to know of any theaters in the LA/Orange County area that have screenings of older films? all i know of is the Egyptian Theater. thanks

Carlos i completely understand what you are saying and i do take all that into account when i am working with DV. i just want to understand the process film. the way it reacts to light.etc.... i try to understand what the project is about and light it with the resources that i have. From my experience with DV i have learned a lot about compostion i just feel in the dark about film. But i did find it very interesting when i shot with film because i was very selective with my framing. I'm just looking to learn and have those experiences such as the one you mentioned.