Sam Lebo

the panasonic sdx900 is $20k. a drop out of my budget.

I'm filming a cooking show this summer and wanted to know whats the best SD camera to use. I'm renting 2 cams and having one DP and an audio guy help me make this production. In the end, i want my product to look like something from the Food Network and i dont know what some of the details should be. here is what im guessing so far (that i should use): DVX -100A 24p frame rate 4:3 i WAS thinking of doing it as 30i, 16:9...but i dont know if it would be a better quality production. what do you think?

I figured since no one has responded that they've been having a hard time downloading such large files. i've brought them down in size to around 500kb. hope that helps.

Hi all, Im new to this site and very excited about what i can contribute (from bad experiences) and gain from my fellow cinematographers. anyways, i'm creating a specialty cooking DVD this summer and have tons of questions. I'm going to go through just a little bit at a time but for now, here is the dilemma: i do not have a studio kitchen, but i've found some REALLY nice kitchens amongst some friends and was hoping to produce this DVD from there. In a sense i want this DVD to look almost exactly what one would find on the Food Network with Giada and Rachel Ray etc. but i dont have 5+ cameras etc. i've got just two cameras for these kitchens (each image is 2MB, so give it time to load) and i want to do as few takes as possible (to keep a good continuity). How would you setup the cameras and lighting? Would it be just one on a tripod and one with a cameraman holding a steadicam? what about getting shots above the stove? kitchen 1 - main cam kitchen 1 - wil this window be a lighting issue? kitchen 1 - larger view of the set kitchen 1 - other side of the same kitchen - Another possible set? kitchen 2 - main cam view kitchen 2 - side view please help! Sam

I think this was a great film except for two things: 1) you could have really benefited from using some sort of steadycam (even a cheap $20 one would do just fine). Running with the actors and seeing the shaky shaky movements was killing me. 2) If the actors were grown men in sort great uniforms, it would have significantly added to the drama. watching a cop chasing a robber is WAY better than watching two kids pretending to be tough. music was perfect. good luck! Sam