Peter Moretti

John, What did you use to edit the footage, and can you give an overview of the editing workflow? Thanks very very much.

Carlton, AVI is a wrapper, not a compression scheme. So just b/c the file is an AVI does not mean it's uncompressed. And in you case, it almost certainly is, since as you pointed out the files size increased when compressing it to mpeg-2. There is a free program called GSpot that will tell you what codec a file is compressed with. Vegas actually works quite well w/ AVI's (well compared to how it handles MOV's). I believe Vegas 7 came with a free copy of Cineform, which is a very good codec. HTH ;).

Nikon, Canon (just released) and Panasonic all make DSLR's that shoot 24P. It is of course true that the 5DM2 does not shoot 24P.

Phil, thanks so much for the excellent review. I was aware that, to combat rolling shutter, the 5D doesn't read out the entire sensor.

Agreed. If you want to go cheaper, then a Canon XH-A1s. BTW, HDV is a recording format. So while both are HD cameras, the Canon acutally shoots HDV. The Sony shoots XDCAM EX, which is not HDV. XDCAM EX is better than HDV.

Carlton, you're very welcome. Vegas is a very powerful program in its own right. I really think you'll be happy with it. Hal, you definitely scored!

I just want to mention that if you have an external timecode source, like a slate or recorder w/ a timecode generator, you can record the timecode to one of the camera's audio tracks. Avid has a timecode autosync feature that will line up the TC from the audio recorder's file to the TC on the camera footage's audio track. I beleive there is also a pluging that allows FCP to do this as well.

I think directors understood editing better and held stronger opinions on how scenes should be cut than they do today. FWIU in the "old days," directors used to frequently came up from editorial, it then changed rising from tv commercials and then even from music videos. I realize that Heaven's Gate is "old" by now, but that film was directed by someone whose background was burning through film to capture that one transcendent image. Michael Cimino made his name in commercials. We also use a much faster, choppier, energetic style of editing now, esp. in tv where you have to keep the viewers' attention. A sequence with lots of cuts and CU's requires more takes and angles and results in more footage being exposed.

Shoot low light in daylight balanced light, not tungsten.

I think my title is misleading. I'm not asking about the DP telling the editor what to do. I'm seeing if the DP sometimes consults with the editor to be sure that scene is being filmed in a way to give the proper coverage and to suit the intended editing style. It seems like the answer should be "Well of course the DP knows how to give enough coverage." But for example, in the scene described above there are too many permutations and groupings to cover everything. I would think some conception of editing decisions has to figure into the setups that are chosen. Does this mean the DP asks the editor or director how they see the scene being cut?

As a Director of Photography, do you find it necessary to talk with the editor (or the director about editing) before filming? Shooting a seated two person scene seems like it should be pretty straightforward, one master and two CU's. But things could easily get complicated. For example, what if one of the actors gets out of her seat; do you follow her or let her leave the frame? Or let's change it to five actors around a table and a few standing, like you would find in jury room. It's not possible to shoot coverage of everyone. Does the DP consult with the editor and director on how the scene will probably be cut? I'm sure the answer is "It depends," but I love to hear anyone's thoughts on the topic. Thanks much!

Thanks. The effect isn't used all the time. but you can catch just a glimplse of it at 1:03 when the band member is punched. You can also see it starting around 2:30 on the YouTube clip just below it called "Drumline - Final Part." Notice how the drum sticks become very sharp, unlike earlier in the sequence.

John, thanks for the link. I have to say it looks very impressive... and nothing like the effect I saw in Drumline. In the Youtube video, the sticks blur, while in Drumline, the have a stop motion type of effect. This also appears with some of the marching sequences. BTW, I think Adrian is probably correct, that it was done during shooting and not in post b/c it would be very difficult to un-blur motion.

Hi John, That is one impressive talent that you have! The movement I described above occurs during many of the closeups of the snare drum playing (but not all). It also happens during a few of the marching sequences. I believe it was created by an effect added in post or a some change in shutter speed or frame rate during filming. Thanks much for shedding any light on this.

I just finished watching Drumline. Formulaic? Yes, but I really liked it. The scene between Nick Cannon and his father who's working as a token collector was exceptionally moving. But this film is about sound and movement. Hence my ?. There are some great shots of the drummers where the movement is very staccato. The drumsticks look tack sharp and seem to disappear and reappear. I'm guessing this was done by shooting with a faster than normal sutter speed, perhaps a 90 shutter angle? But IDK. If anyone would care to speculate, that would be great. Thanks much.

Almost entirely a combination of the F23 and EX-1 (used in some car and tight interior scenes).

I'm going to go right for the balls and suggest to those posting in this thread without having watched the film to go see it. Otherwise, this just becomes another film vs digital debate littered w/ personal attacks that don't have to do with either.

Red, phft! Here comes rasberry.

Another approach would be to remove or make the object less distracting. Since it's at the edge of the frame, you probably don't need a perfect removal. Perhaps even color correcting it to tone down the green would suffice. Avid has tools that could be used for removing, bluring or CCing it. As I have to believe does Final Cut.

Avid Media Composer can do this, and I imagine other NLE's as well.

Well Eric, You're officially Arclight worthy :) . Saw the 10:15 showing tonight. I really liked it, of course. There were a few things I noticed. Quite a few times, I found myself wishing segments were longer. There was the beautiful shot of the car going into the tunnel and I just wish it lingered. Also when Tom was walking out of a tunnel, I wish we didn't cut away so soon. A fair amount of cuts were almost jump cuts just to speed things up, and I found they interfered with the shot developing even more nicely. It almost felt like there were two styles of the filming: one arty and daring and the other locked down and direct. With the talking scenes in the cubicles, I just wanted the camera to move more. JMHO of course. I loved the shot of Tom in the conference room when he talks about being lied to with the big Santa Claus just out of focus behind him--which of course hearkens back to an early conversation between him and Summer. And the sequence in the train with the golden light covering Tom and Summer's faces was gorgeous. The wardrobe looked a little Seattle/Portland, even understanding that these characters are more Silver Lake than Studio City. I also wish I saw more hesitation by Summer when she was around Tom. I didn't understand the "Graduate"'s meaning for her. Perhaps I just missed something, LOL. I almost thought Tom should go and break-up her wedding, a la Dustin Hoffman. (Well, I guess she could have seen her relationship with Tom as analogous to the would be wedding in the "Graduate.") The audience was laughing heartily during the film and clapping loudly at the end, and I certainly enjoyed watching your amazing work. If you care to comment on any of the above, I'd of course be all ears.

The highest resolution is pretty close to 4K because each R, G or B photosite will pick-up some information about the image (except when there is pure red, green or blue in the subject). But because color information is mosaiced across the 4K grid, color information from nearby pixels/photosites is "blended" to create a coherent image. The net result is supposedly an image of 3.2K resolution.

Rob, while MC does often times run on non-qualifed computers that don't meet the system requirements, yours is very far out of spec. There is a 14-day free trial. You could give it a shot, but even if it seems to work at first, there are no guarantees that you won't find inexplicable problems down the road. Vegas is much more computer agnostic.

Avid can edit up to 1080 X 1920 resolution HD. Avid comes with software that can make both SD and Blu-ray DVD's. I'm assuing you are using a PC. There are three main editors out there for you to consider: Adobe Premiere/CS4, Sony Vegas and Avid Media Composer. One determing factor may be if you want to use your existing computer or are willing to upgrade. Depending on your current machine, it may not be compatible with Avid. Adobe is a little less pikcy, and Vegas will run on almost anything. Premiere and Vegas will do even higher resolution than 1080 X 1920 HD, actually upto 4K. But unless you're using a Red camera, it won't really be of much use to you. Avid comes with an excellent set of plugins from Boris FX that allow you to create many very high quality effects. These are superior to what you'll find in Vegas. Not that what Vegas gives you is bad... it's not. I really think it comes down to how much $ you want to spend and what your existing computer is. I'll be glad to answer more ?'s.

Looks exactly like one of my posts before ieSpell gets a hold of it, LOL!