Rolfe Klement

I was thinking about a roof mounted jib arm - I even did some 3d previs to extend the system out to include some additional functions... I did some work in previs and I have various options - I take the largest track that Arri UK offer and go on a wider lens or place the action off centre - so when we have close ups and wides on the same shot - then place the movement around that. thanks for the feedback though Rolfe

I am looking for track recommendations to make the largest circle possible in the UK. I am ideally looking for something that has a radius of 5 Meters (so a circumference of 10 meters) means I can do low shots Op on dolly and dolly at high speed I have seen ArriMedia offer a large curved track but it is only 6.5 meters in Diameter. Fisher offer a 30' track in the US but I have not seen it in the UK. Portajob have the flextrak option but I have not seen it in lengths greater then 40ft (I need almost 90ft) I could just look for a dance floor that is smooth then set the wheels to whatever radius I want but what issues would I run into? Any ideas? thanks Rolfe

think I might have found one in Soho. My Guild directory - GBCT book comes to the rescue AGAIN Also did a search on google on Phil's Idea "black box space london theatre" and loads of results! thanks Rolfe

Good idea but the piece is a single scantily clad girl doing dance stuff. She has about 9% body fat and she stops doing anything in the cold... I tried once before but it didn't work with her in the cold. Shooting 35mm Vivid 160T - this is the girl and the shoot http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=27225 thanks Rolfe

I disagree with the cabbage comment - more like asparagus. And we tend to have lower BMI But the best thing to get good post production is someone else's money - and lots of it. Then you can pay data gimps to spend hours in dark rooms making your footage look great. thanks Rolfe

Thanks Phil I thought about a theatre space and even went to look at some. They tend to use curtains for blackout and it is bumpy. I was trying to figure out a way of tightening the curtains to get a more uniform blackness and then I thought there must be studios who do this... Freya - a cove is like a cave - soft edge box. Like the inside of a chamfer box thanks Rolfe

Does anyone know of any 3 or 4 wall black studios in London area? Most of the white infinity coves say they will do black but I called up three and they all said no - cause it takes about 15 layers of repaint - to go back from black to white (even with pro undercoat and primer repainting) I could build the set with black-wrap - it might be cheaper. But i have not seen any black studios except for the new one in the basement of "The Hospital" in Covent Garden but at £2000 /hr it is a bit much. thanks Rolfe

I did the same thing cause the Production company took ages to do anything once the show is complete. I used Handbrake Created a full resolution VOB file Brought the VOB file into FCP (not viewable in timeline until render) Exported with FCP Compressor using Quicktime H264 at high res http://www.creativesunshine.com/projects.asp?projectID=30 If you do not have FCP then maybe QT pro can convert VOB to H264... hope this helps thanks Rolfe

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/...e-entertainment seems others have the same idea... thanks Rolfe

there are 4 sunset shots - all from different positions etc - with no clouds - so the crew either moved really fast on one perfect day, or they shot it over multiple days of perfect cloudless weather or they had 4 camera set ups ready to go in place or they did it all in post. Every shot is cloudless so they either took them all out in post or the crew moved really quickly - I waited 12 days in Nevada and 9 days in the Maldives once to get one perfectly cloudless day and nada... Most crews I know take hours to move a camera round - especially on a hill - so my comments were related to best use of daylight on a shoot by a crew. Next time you shoot on a hill with HMI's, generators etc ask the crew to move the camera down the hill and do it within a 6 min sunset window - you will see what I mean. or maybe it was an average crew with days and days of pefect weather - but I think not... thanks Rolfe

I watched the film for a second time and noticed something weird. It seems when RR does a punch in CU he brings in a dark background - something like a 4x4 black frame and places it behind the talent just off centre. It also looks like there is a black - green frame. So we go from bright wides with bland backgrounds in the Museum, Congo and Frat House etc to super dark and moody CU's with loads of dark blacks and greens in the background... I might start carrying some black and green 4x4's around to do this ;) Best film this year - but reminded me very much of "A Perfect Spy" by J le Carre thanks Rolfe

Anyone thought about using the new HDMI liveview option that comes with the Nikon D300 Could be the cheapest HD camera block around? http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond300/page9.asp Check the videos near the bottom of this page for some of the stuff done with it thanks Rolfe

http://marcwebb.com/videos/Regina%20Spektor%20-%20Better.mov that or DNALA spent millions in post <_< Does anyone know the DP? It was directed by Marc Webb. thanks Rolfe

Most companies use Cinepower - but their stuff is very expensive I have a battery belt from them and it works great but it was very expensive http://www.cinepower.com/ thanks Rolfe

As mentioned before the main issue is around distortion - but it can be mapped out with control shots. I think the other main area of concern is that most SFX work is set to S35 and since many VFX companies reuse assets and workflows so the VFX producers would be nervous about changing the base settings. Reused assets include 3D assets (cars etc), 3D walk, drive animation cycles, Lens flare workflows, Tracking systems, Keying and stabilization systems the ops don't want to or don't have time to change the format or pixel ratios (even though technically it should have no adverse effects) The 3D worlds, the comps, the Lens VFX would all need to be changed. I know Maya, Max, Discreet Flame, Inferno etc all support anamorphic but I haven't really tested it - I am sure most VFX people feel the same. The VFX guys always drop the same problems to the producers - Our workflow is set for S35, Control shots are needed, We don't have experience in Anamorphic, Anamorphic lenses are heavier, more difficult to pull focus, less room for error, Testing time, Testing cost, etc blah blah - and we all know producers would rather go with someone who can deliver rather then something new - [and I understand this logic] If more people put their foot down and demanded it then more VFX companies would get experience with it and it would become easier to get VFX anamorphic done. I heard a good thing from a director on a shoot in India last week - "I have too many problem managers here and not enough solution managers!" thanks Rolfe

I might just use a simple inline dimmer to bring the temperature down on the light - and bring it closer to skin thanks Rolfe

no budget for flame | inferno. TK is taking most of the post budget. but we might be able to go into Combustion using DPX 1080P files - but this would be for me and due to the timeframes would not be part of the deliverable. I have done loads of SFX work using combustion before. It is not ideal but many things can be done - just takes longer <_< I am thinking of getting the best talent I can (the girl in the photo) giving the Fuji 160T a go, then getting my best lens (40mm HS zeiss) at its best stop (about T3) spending the remainder of the budget on repainting the location dark (if need be) getting the makeup smooth and translucent dedo light (maybe with a 5ft dome) egg crate in optimum position. Thanks Rolfe

Once again - thanks to all for excellent advice. We had the greenlight and we are filming with the same girl as in the still image - which makes it even easier since she has great skin. Mike mentioned something about using a filter closer to skin colour on the dedolight to soften out skin without using an over-exposure or push method - can you explain it further and cover risks etc Joe- as Wendell mentioned your Jesse M (And Floetry) videos achieve a beautiful look in B+W. Can you give us an overview of how you did it? thanks Rolfe

thanks for the replies! I am thinking of using a large tungsten dedo 7ft octodome with full eggcrate. I agree the tonal issue is going to be key - I wonder what things i can do to get it as close as possible thanks Rolfe

thanks for the replies! I am thinking of using a large tungsten dedo 7ft octodome with full eggcrate. I agree the tonal issue is going to be key - I wonder what things i can do to get it as close as possible thanks Rolfe

Dear All What would be your advice on how to get this look on 5218 (Kodak 500T colour stock.) I have never tried to get a look like this from colour stock before... I can go through Telecine but would prefer to do as much as possible in camera. I am thinking a nice big soft toplight slightly to the right. Smooth good make up, a dark floor and dark background are very important to seperate talent from background. What would be your advice regarding lighting, filters, beauty filters, lenses, T stops etc? thanks Rolfe

you might be able to squeeze 500ft to 550ft into a 400ft mag. There is a bit of space in there. I was told you can use some of the Arri 1000ft mags thanks Rolfe

You sure about the smoke? I didn't see any warnings and it smells like NOX - which is obviosuly dangerous but no more then being in a pub filled with cigarette smoke thanks Rolfe

So I went and bought some to test with. I decided I prefered the white "Collision warn off" flares - since the red ones make everything red... They come in packs of three and burn for about 60 seconds each. They are pretty simple to use. I get an exposure of T11 to T11.5 at 2m away for 500T at 25fps on a 165' shutter. The light is fairly constant until it starts to splutter at about 60 sec (Hits T8 for about 10 sec then dies rapidly) They are really bright - if you look into the flare when it is going off - you will have probelms seeing much else By design the burn material is encased in some cermaic type tube (at least the Ikaros ones I used were) This ceramic tube gets really really hot (and I mean really hot) and melts everything for about 10min after The flare produces a large amount of smoke The flare flame is about 20 to 50cm long at any time The flare spews out a white powder that is not hot to the touch but I would not recommend being under it - in the same way you would not want to be under sand pouring down. About halfway through the paper casing catches fire but your hand is OK since the plastic handle is seperated I tried spinning at speed holding a flare and towards the end of the burn you need to be careful since the ceramic tube can come out and fly off - so basically try keep the flare fairly static after the half way point So those are the lessons learned from some quick tests thanks Rolfe

Thanks Wendell! Great interview