Rolfe Klement

Chris Soos is doing some great work at the moment as well thanks Rolfe

http://www.creativesunshine.com/projects/movies/z.mov thanks Rolfe

They would miss out on the free coffee, cake and hot telecine assistants! Also they would not be able to say in a loud voice in the street "Nope can't make your party - got to go to the GRADING of my film" Depending how much you shot - a one light to create an EDL might be money well spent - cause then you can go in an telecine only the parts you need. But make sure you apply the same settings to identical scenes that you are not going to use - cause the editor will always decide to use something not on the EDL - after you have done the telecine. But think like a producer - it is only about Return on Investment - Art is a disease for them. Repeat this to get into their mindset "DON'T care what your stupid project is about - blah blah art? WHAT is my RETURN?!" So if for X$ in Telecine you can make the project so much better then there is a much higher chance of it selling for more. Take a digital photo then show him http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/view?id=65948&forward= the TK difference is what you pay for. It makes your product better then the others- and sells for more and more money for them But make sure you agree a total price and not a per hour. Make sure you price includes everything (Stock, VT time, prep, cleaning etc) - but don't get paranoid either with the post producer. Telecine can improve the look of a shot, reframe a shot, focus an area, fix a problem, add a mood, soften an area etc etc my 2 cents (0.8p and dropping...) Rolfe

Thank you both for your replies. Mike- I agree with almost everything you say. Except I worked for Capital FX - who use Mac for all Warner Bros regionalization SFX for Print Distribution As you said the workflow I have come up with is based on quicktime and seems best suited to the process. I didn't really want DPX files at my TK grading but it was the cheapest option since they just output straight from DVS Clipster from my 35mm. Any conversion and I would have to pay VT time at £200 (U$D500 and rising) an hour. I agree with the linux options except the only caveat being "Color" from FCP and Gluetools 16bit 4:4:4 DPX handling. And I am in the market for a new machine anyway and like the interface of FCP. I think the best option is get the EDL done before the TK - which I did but insist next time the DVS Clipster does the conform (and not me on my old mac) FCP Color works with DPX files and supports 3D LUT's. I have Sony CRT Broadcast Pro monitors and Wavescopes but the options within Color are great and if I can get it to work then it might even save me TK time - which is currently my greatest cost when producing - and the only thing that matters is the bottom line (as I am sure you know) I am now able to shoot a full music video in 35mm for about £1000 - so I am getting there... I think the way forward is 35mm origination One light - create EDL TK - DPX and Digibeta DPX and DPX (low res) [conform done within DVS Clipster] Color conform with COLOR using low res EDL Overnight (or more) conform in FCP to DPX (1080P), HD ProRes, PAL SD and web based delivery packets DPX to DVD Studio Pro for master duplication Then I gone from origination to distribution without major cost except in render time [which can be purchased from offshore vendors cheaply nowdays anyway] Which means we can spend more money on artists, production value and £36 coffees at Club 55 in St Tropez... But can anyone answer the questions I asked? thanks Rolfe

This is turning into a major headache and I can see why post houses charge so much for this now. So I went and bought Gluetools - but it didn't work with my version of FCP. ($400) So I had to buy FCP 6 (Final Cut Studio 2) ($400) Now I can get the footage into FCP but the EDLs do not seem to work since DPX or FCP or Gluetools seem unable to handle reverse speeds in EDL CMX cuts. Using a 4 yr old Imac is not helping. Which means I might need a new Mac - might have to wait till the new Pro Macs come out next month. ($X!!) The other big thing is the way DPX handles timecode - it is metadata that is carried in every file. So if you open and recut and resave in DPX it remembers the original DPX timecode and screws up the EDL imports. I am used to working with Cineon high rez files but on a company ProMac that is maxed out with RAID. The current option I am thinking about going with is to Convert the DPX 1080P to Apple Prores HQ 1080P (14hr render!) Then cut and down convert in FCP I would prefer to cut the DPX in FCP ( and would if I didn't have 437 cuts) then export the EDL. Then open Color and bring in the DPX files and use the EDL with the DPX timecodes to do a final color conform. My questions Does anyone know about using EDLs with DPX? Is there a tool to slide an EDL (my TC is roughly 2 sec out) and resetting the EDL or source footage is useless since the DPX metadata overrides the FCP timecode? Anyone have a good idea on settings for the DPX and Cineon Dgamma etc for display on an Imac? My DPX framerate is 24fps but my edit was done at 25fps? Is there an easy way to convert the EDL? I have had a quick look at Cinema tools but no luck... Easy and accurate way to create identical proxy DPX file in low res But getting there slowly... thanks Rolfe

Very nice - what did you use for the aerials? I assume a RC heli from the lack of hair blowing on the fly overs thanks Rolfe

I am looking for configuration advice on using DPX files with FCP I am now starting to work with 1080p DPX files There seem to be 3 options Use Glue tools quicktime plugin - nice and simple but about $400 Use Combustion - I have version 3(Win) so the upgrade to version 4 (Mac) is only about $300 and I am good on it however I need to transfer the entire file from DPX to something and then cut it unless I use something like automatic duck (another $400) Use Shake - I have never used this but have spent quite a bit of time time on nodule based VFX systems so should be able to pick it up and it seems tighter integrated to FCP Glue tools seems the best option but then I lose the advantage of a compositing program and pay $100 more - but the Combustion workflow is then more complex in FCP - same with Shake Are there any other options I am missing? What do you think I should do? thanks Rolfe

I am getting into this on my ol' 2C. Shoot and rewind with lens cap on and then shoot again I am looking for advice and ideas on the metering The 2 methods I use are Meter both scenes correctly - this leads to over exposure in cross over areas Meter both 1 or 1.5 stops below - this leads to a darker image but with less burn Any advice or ideas thanks Rolfe

I realised a little problem we might run into. I was watching a Digital film recently and one of the primaries kept dying so the film would go all red for about a min then come back to normal. This would flicker then be OK for 20 min then repeat. This got me thinking all these nice new digital projectors are going in all over the place - into nice brand new screens - but now there is more to go wrong. And what happens in 5 yrs when the kit is not lovingly looked after... My old 16mm projector is simple and still works (20yrs later) . It only has 2 things that break - the motor or the light bulb. It is easy to fix the bulb and the thing doesn't work at all until you get a new motor - whereas with computers and VCR's quailty is always great in the beginning but not in 5yrs. 5 yrs from now when I am watching something in Zinbabwe on their digital screen it could get all messy. Kind of bugged me that the screen is maybe 6 months old and it already has problems thanks Rolfe

they used a huge range of effects in the film. They used handcranked film cameras as well and ran shots twice (double exposure) using black card on the rewind etc. There is quite a bit of information on the forum about the film already or watch the double-DVD version extras. thanks Rolfe

Looking at recommendations about this. I need more flexibility then a snoot and have seen other guys use this. Any advice, recommendations and good places to buy this in UK? thanks Rolfe

This doesn't really answer your question but read this - http://www.dv.com/features/features_item.p...cleId=196602702 and there is alos this now http://www.aja.com/html/products_Io_IoHD.html does anyone know if this handles true HD instead of proRES? thanks Rolfe

thanks for the replies. So it sounds like T5.6 | T8 Keep the flare handheld as far away as possible from the face to reduce rapid falloff Crank shutter to highlight smoke definition Move the flare (or person) to reduce smoke build up (and therefore reduction in visibility) Make sure crew and cast understand extinguishing method Marine distress flares are designed to be handheld by their nature thanks Rolfe

We have a scene coming up where we are going to have a red marine saftey flare used. We will be filming on 35mm with 18. I have seen that they produce loads of smoke and it seems a good idea to move the flare around. Any advice or recomendations? What stop? Better with smaller shutter? thanks Rolfe

I stand corrected. The good thing is as post companies try get more DI work they seem to be adding the option. Of the 4 compaines I called so far only Todd AO (UK) does not have the option. thanks Rolfe

Good news! I had meetings today in London with 2 post companies (we are trying to sort some deals on TK) and good news! Apparently anyone using a Spirit can go straight to DPX on their network servers - it then can be transfered to a client hard drive - but the files sizes are large (about 1Tb for each 40min) Then using "glue tools" or Shake you can bring it into FCP. The one problem area seemed to be around the timecodes - if we use an EDL from a one light it might cause wonky timecode in the spirit DPX - anyone have any experience or ideas... So both companies I spoke to said "no problem" and it wouldn't impact the price much thanks Rolfe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUvmPj9zU64 I need this guy on my aerial camera team or this guy thanks Rolfe

MiniDV and Chromakey... Pulling a key - That will be fun in post... not thanks Rolfe

Any ideas on the best and cheapest places to get this done. I used to hear that Smoke and Mirrors were going to offer it. I am pretty sure most places do it if you go to HDCAM then they use bluefish or AJA to go to 10bit mov files - but you then pay for the TK, the tape, the transfer , the hard drive conversion and the VTR time... thanks Rolfe

Very sad news Thoughts and prayers with the family

I was in Waterloo when Bourne Ultimatum was being filmed and they used no lighting for either the above (South West Trains) or below (tube) ground shots. It looks OK but they cut so fast since they were not using extras but real people and didn't want to get into release document problems. There was a tiny crew - like 7 people! I have shot with 5218 test rolls and it looks OK Clsong Doors was filmed on the tube but they used the filming station - the old station that is used for filming since they cannot and will not allow film crews to interfere with operational usage

We shot a feature with it called "Happy Days" in Feb - the movie is waiting on distribution | release. Expanding past your question I have no real problems with the camera but I do have some issues with how it impacts set. It was early days for ARRI GB with it - so maybe they have ironed out the issues since then but Handheld and steadicam mounting limitations Not very portable - everything had to be tethered to dual SR1 decks - so now you need a bunch more technical people and power. With all these cables, power, tech people and HD monitor issues it makes set-ups slower and less flexible - you really need to previs - so mounting a camera on a three way ladder to get a nice overhead can become a huge task as opposed to just moving the film camera up and giving the director a transvideo with a wireless The tapes become just a big a worry as film dailies - we had one day where the guys at the post house called us to say a tape was damaged - after that "tape paranoia" set in. So even though we can see what we are getting - we still have to worry it doesn't get damaged by SR1's, transport or the post house. - and finding out who is to blame is pretty hard cause evryone blames someone else. We still needed big Arri grip and lighting trucks all over the place - so you can't skimp on the lighting budget cause you are now on video (it is still cheaper to shoot 5218 pushed to 1000) - we had an external night scene by the Thames that came out too dark. - so loads of time in TK to try fix Then there is the whole video village problem. Too many cooks. Someone once told me to always get the worst Video Assit you can since it stops Producers being able to fiddle since they cannot see what is going on. I now agree with that. So when I film on film stock I now try and get a NTSC black and white :ph34r: We also had to have about three preview screenings (not cheap) to make sure the look we got in TK was the look we would get in the cinema that is all I can think of now thanks Rolfe

Caught this thread a little late but 100% agree with David. Some great moments in cinema - Truman Show - Turman's ship hits the horizon and the light falls and lands in the square. Some of my favourite dialogue is about misdirection - two characters talking to each other about what they think is the same thing but is completely different (China town etc) thanks Rolfe

I have done this a couple of times and can give you practical advice. Every time I ask for a hand search things get ugly at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead (not tried at Luton or City) I have taken print outs of the rules, my changing bag, called BAA management, called shift leaders. had heated 30 min debates with head of security, written letters etc - and basically under the threat of terrorism - they will force you to X-Ray it or throw it - I even tried the logic that cigarettes (Which BAA sell) kill 7013 people a day vs terrorism which kills less then 2 people per day - but that is when things got really ugly Having said all that I have never had any problem with 5218 - once on a trip to Malta they rescanned it both sides about 4 times and I thought the footage was gone but it was 100% OK. My advice would be take it out of your bag, to ask politley since it is Motion picture film if they can hand search it, then when they refuse to place it seperate to anything (in other words not in a bag full of lead) which means they run the XRay machine at normal strength - becuase they can turn up the power of these units to resolve through various types of material. thanks Rolfe

In my view you do not need such a large source - you can be fine using a 220 briese light or one of the large chimeras - you could even use a 6ft x 6ft book light. I am slowly going anti flo - but a blanket light from kino is great and light and with an eggcrate even better thanks Rolfe