Patrick Neary

And don't forget "Barry Lyndon"

Allright- I'll give in to some blatant self-promotion: http://www.maxfilm.net I hope others follow suit, it's fun to see what everyone is up to!

...and if you want to get really fancy, have Kodaliths made (at your local printer) from your black-letters-on-white title cards and light them from behind.

I see that a company called Rostronics in SoCal is selling what look like open-face arrilight knock-offs (manufactured by Britek) in 250, 600, 1k and 2k sizes, and for new units, they're quite reasonably priced. Has anyone here had hands-on experience with any of these units? I'm curious what the quality of light is like from them, and what the build quality is like... I want someone else to buy one first and let the rest of us know how it goes!

You can do the "whoosh" effect very simply; walk smoothly toward your subject with the camera (wide angle lens) and stop at the close-up, then speed up the move in post, add a pinch of whoosh (or duck quack, or whatever you like) as a sound effect, and there it is!

Van Sant presented the film here in Portland awhile back and mentioned the VERY out-of-focus shot early in the film, he said it was just a botched focus pull, and the DP urged him not to use it, but he liked the scene regardless, so in it stayed. Savides and his poor AC must cringe...

actually, if you can live with the fixed lens, you can recell the scoopic battery packs yourself, they're just AA nicads. The MS has a great speed range and it's a nice compact package.

I don't know if this helps or not, but you can see a quicktime of a music video shot with the UltraSpeed MKII lenses at: http://www.brokenskyfilms.com just go to music videos then "People Die" There's a shot of one of the band members eating a sandwich on a sofa (with a bright window behind him) that shows a kind of veiling you can get with these lenses. Overall, I really liked them, and man, they were CHEE-EEEP!

Hi- Not to be too flippant, but based on recent experience with a BL-1 with a tap, you should get the lightest tripod possible, that way it will be easier for you to throw the whole arrangement off a cliff after several days of trying to frame shots through what has to be the worst viewing system ever. :blink:

Hi Phil- We just shot 15 rolls of the 200t for a short music vid with three different cameras with no problems- But I wonder with super8 cameras as old as they all are, if they might be more of a potential source of running problems than the carts?

will Nikon/Canon/Leica/etc. still camera lens mounts also be an option? And is the image area of the sensor similar to a CineAlta, so that you would need a VERY wide PL (or other) mount lens (like a 5mm) to get wide coverage? will it take standard bridge plates for rigging matte boxes and follow focus? would an old c-mount lens designed for std. 16mm cover the sensor edge-to-edge? very curious about this camera!

A HANDCRANK??!! Ohmygod- this is brilliant!

Forde does do S-8 B/W as well as Ektachrome and Neg.

I finally had a chance to see Greendale this weekend at Portland's great Cinema21. The movie was fantastic (apparently the three people that walked out after 10 minutes didn't agree...) Some of the footage was crummy -Neil's not much of a DP ;) but when he hit focus, and the light was good, the super-8 just looked otherworldy- in a good way. Some of the 500 or 800 asa stuff he shot was truly amazing, like looking at a moving Monet. I'm really curious how they posted from super8 (at 18fps, no less) to 35mm- There's a digital intermediate in there somewhere, does someone actually transfer Super8 to HD or 2k? Anyway, makes me want to shoot lots more super-8...

Hi- It's really more important that your AC knows the camera inside and out. If he or she isn't on intimate terms with the BL-3, he/she should get down to the rental house and learn it. There's also a great Jon Fauer book- "The Arri 35 Book" that contains a wealth of info about BL-1's, 2's, 3's and 4's. It's worth digging through it to familiarize yourself with the pieces. Another thing about handholding, and it's probably very obvious, but get the arri shoulder pad- I HH'd for part of an evening with a folded towel over my shoulder- ouch. Those cameras seem to have hard edges in all the wrong places. good luck!

There were three other Arri "packages" available last night, which have all curiously disappeared. maybe we should all get into a bidding war before this one disappears too!

I kind of doubt it's stolen equipment- I think there is NO equipment. Literally this person has lifted photos and the exact descriptions from here: http://www.whitehouseav.com/35mm.htm ...and is asking the winner for their bank account number "for wire transfer". I weep for anyone stupid enough to fall for this!

This yokel has posted a bunch of pictures from Whitehouse's website and listed them on ebay, under several different names.

OK, here's info from Feit Electric about those great 250-watt halogens i mentioned in an earlier post: >>>You may order our # BPQ250/JDD through the following national distributor: >INTERLIGHT >800.743.0005 >www.interlight.biz these are great for chinese lanterns, really, i mean it. you'll never use a photoflood again...

whups, it may look like I was trashing Pro8 as the "nameless transfer house", but I wasn't- I actually had an OK experience with them, but with super-8. 320 shouldn't be boiling over with grain, especially if you gave the neg a little extra oomph. The hard part about this is it's all so subjective, what you consider a major grain-fest, I might think is splendid and smooth. But the kind of results you are describing sound exactly like what happened with my 7246. It was all daylight shot in Vegas, all overexposed a half stop or so. The first transfer looked like 500asa, out-of-date, stuck-in-the-airport-x-ray-for 7-hours 8mm. The second transfer (again, done at Fotokem) came up beautiful, and that was just threading it on the machine, the colorist hadn't even dialed it in yet. anyway, if it's important footage (I'm guessing it is!) another Xfer might be worthwhile, maybe even just schedule a test or the shortest session you can get and have them bring it up onscreen so you have something to compare. good luck!

Hi- It could just be the transfer (the transfer house will always tell you it's your film, your exposures, your attitude, etc...) I had some 16mm 250d come back from a nameless LA transfer house once and it looked so bad I almost jumped off a bridge. It was incredibly grainy, horrible color, etc. Then we walked it down the street to Fotokem and got another transfer that was just sparkling. Unbelieveable difference! It could be that you underexposed the neg? but before you throw yourself into dispair, try another X-fer....

OK, I went out to the garage, found one of the lamps I mentioned- it's a 250-watt JDD bulb manufactured (or maybe just distributed) by Feit Electric in Pico Rivera, CA. I sent them a note asking if it's possible to still get them- I'll report back!

Just to throw this in to the mix: I remember reading that Gil Taylor used nets on the back of the lenses for some sequences, and if I recall, at least the desert-planet-scenes (you know, where Luke lived) had a very "netty" look...

For a brief, glorious moment our nearby Home Depot was selling 250-watt, 2000-hour halogens that looked like small-tube aquarium lamps (only about 3" long and not as wide around as the medium screw base). They are GREAT for lanterns, but I haven't seen them anywhere in over a year. Maybe it's possible to track down the original manufacturer and get a case or two... oh yeah, the best part was the under $5.00 price tag-

I think the longest lens i ever shot on a non-reflex bolex was 100mm, but was surprised how accurate the side-finder was for framing distant stuff - In some ways it's easier for framing action 'cause you can watch with both eyes, and those viewfinders are nice and bright!