Simon Roel

I really must disagree with you about this Steadicam-scene. From a director's POV I think it becomes boring, and the intensity of the action seems to evaporate after awhile, as if the protoganist actor got tired from all the stunt work. Also, due to not having coverage you can easily spot certain choreography misstakes, e.g. the last bad guy on the stairs bringing his arm back on his back while the protagonist only grabs him by the neck. Not a fan although I enjoy long takes - just don't do it for the sake of doing it or it will attention to itself and so pull the viewer out of the unreflected immersion in the movie.

Hi Phil, Thanks for answering. To your questions: Yes, we did test the cameras before the shoot - they worked fine and recorded without any trouble. We also tested the cameras afterwards, away from the military area - no problem, they recorded and played back just fine. And we didn't change a single setting between the end of the shoot and this post-shoot test. I don't know if the passes switch - I'll have to ask the director to check that out. However, if the heads were causing the problem, wouldn't they cause the same problem after the shoot (which they didn't)? It's still mysterious, in my opinion. Best, Simon

Hello there, I worked as a B-camera operator on a no-budget short film. Despite the odds, the producer/director was able to get assistance from the Danish Army. They supplied a PMV and a couple of jeeps and we got to shoot in a military area. So a pretty big operation considering the budget of the production. The A-camera operator and I shot on a Canon XL1S and a Canon XL1, respectively. We used regular, fresh JVC miniDV tapes. The problem: There is no footage on the 4 tapes we shot on. Only short fragments (no longer than 30 seconds) spread out across the tape that, when played back through both Canon cameras and a third DV camera, are filled with grey bars across the frame (cf. attached grabbed frame). There is almost no sound; only a few noises and a few very crystal clips of audio, though these are clipping. The A-camera operator and I made sure that the cameras were recording and that the time code was running before we yelled 'speed' to the director. We had no problems throughout the day. The XL1S had to be cleaned with a cleaning tape at one point, which we did. Possible causes: ? We have been going through what happened throughout the entire day - what we did, the circumstances of the shoot etc. And there seems to be no clear reason why the tapes shouldn't have worked properly. We recorded on the same type of miniDV tape from the very same batch later that night, without altering ANY of the settings on the two cameras, and that footage worked fine. Could it be some kind og climatic issue or could it be static electricity or something that scrambled the footage? We were shooting in a military area, but the director had done that another time using the very same XL1S at the very same location, and that worked fine. We would simply like to know the reason why this happened so we can avoid it in the future (of course, we'd like to be able to obtain the footage from the tapes, but that seems unlikely). If you've experienced anything similar or can give os a clue as to what happened, please respond - I'd be most grateful. Kind regards, Simon

Hi Ollie, Thanks for answering, I appreciate it. Best, Simon

Hello there, A friend of mine is an avid still-photographer and has quite a few Nikkor still-photography lenses (F-mount). We are currently planning a trip to Kamchatka to shoot a doc. Due to logistical and economical reasons we are considering going with the Canon XL-1 (a friend of ours has an XL-1). However, it seems I can't find out which adapter allows you to use the Nikkor lenses with the XL-1, or if there even is one out there. I did hear something about an Optex Nikon adapter as a possible solution, although I couldn't track it down. Does anyone have any experience using Nikkor lenses with the Canon XL 1 or -2? Or with using Nikkor lenses with some other prosumer DV/HD camera (like the JVC GY-HD110U for example)? Thanks, Simon

How come nobody mentions "Apocalypto". Great setting for running and excellent cinematography by Dean Semler using the Genesis. Maybe "Point Break" used to be the benchmark standard for chase sequences...