Travis Cline

Once on a show I used a large light, a 12K Par I believe, into a 12x12 Ultrabounce to light the audience. In front of the 12K we placed some shutters that we had used earlier in the show for a strobe light effect and that worked quite well. I think part of selling the effect of a movie screen is to have the light change quickly, simulating a cut, and vary the intensity too. Its nice to have the audience at key, then below, then over, etc. Plus, its fairly realistic to have the light intesity changing. That's my two cents either way. Also, be aware that if your characters are fairly close to "the screen" that you will get a very quick fall-off, which can be good or bad depending on what you need/want. Good luck with the show. Travis

This weekend I was shooting an exterior day. We needed a shot of two people to go from hard sunlight to a soft cloudy look in shot. We shot on a very sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, since we needed hard sunlight for most of the spot. I wanted to try putting up a large 1/4 grid and move it in closer to the subjects to soften the light, but it didn't work. In the end we just cut around it and shot hard light and cut to a soft lit shot. Any ideas how to do this? I've been thinking about how to do this for awhile and have not come up with a feasible idea besides waiting for a cloud or shooting on stage. Thanks all. Travis

I've shot films with both methods David described and I found the tube method worked much better, if you can hide the tube. The film I shot where they used the "flame thrower" method proved that it actually is a flame thrower. A few sparks shot out of it and started a forest fire within seconds. We had to evacuate the crew and all our gear. Sets burned to the ground, but fortunately no one was hurt. I would recommend not using that type of fogger in tall dry grass. Also, it doesn't fog a large area for any decent duration of time. Any fog will dissipate rather quickly outside when its warm. Travis Cline

Sasha is right about Ya Cuba, its amazing and often copied. You also must see Kalatozov's other film The Cranes are Flying. Its genius and way ahead of its time. Travis

Thank you so much guys, I will try those gentlemen. Much appreciated. Travis

Actually shooting in snow is very high contrast, especially if the sun is out. Also, while better than most other video cameras, the RED has problems maintaining highlights, especially compared to 35mm, hence my question. Thanks for the information about the batteries and the fan, I had not thought about the fan. I always have problems with video cameras in the cold, but I had not thought about the fan sucking in cold air. Has anyone shot in below freezing temperatures with it yet? I shot in near freezing temperatures this week and didn't really have a problem, but I wouldn't expect that either. Shooting near 0 degrees C is not that cold anyway. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Travis

Hello all I know its a bit early yet, but I am wondering if anyone has shot with the RED in the snow? I am shooting a feature that is to take place mainly in the snow, plenty of ext. day, and the director and I are both cautious. We would like to shoot on the RED for budgetary reasons, but would feel safer on film. We are obviously going to shoot tests, but if anyone has shot an ext. day in the snow let me know what experience you had. Thanks. Travis

I always tell people what I was paid on the last job, and I make sure that last job was the highest I've ever been paid. That way they know what you already earn and if they really want you they will have to pay your rate or you will take a different job. If you settle for less there is no chance they are going to offer more next time since they know you will work for less. Travis

Evan I like your site. Simple and professional. Very nice. I like the interviews you've shot, you know how to make a lot out of little. I would say however that both your narrative and doc reels should be about half as long as they are. People will judge you by your weakest shot and I think you have some shots on there that are typical, or at least not as good as others you have. One other thing I would suggest is on your resume. Don't list your work as an AC. That will never help you get a DP job, in fact in only hurts you. If you don't think of yourself as a DP how can you expect others to. Overall you do good work. Good luck with all. Travis

David Thank you very much for the posts. I was wondering if you might give more details about the things you say you have learned recently. Specifically I was intersted when you said you have learned to better light wide shots so that you have less lighting to do for CU's. I'm interested to know more about how you do that and what you do differently. Anything else you have learned to would be great to read. Thank you David. Travis

How much flexibility do you have as far camera movement (especially dolly moves) is concerned? I mean while shooting with the cyc in the background, is a changing perspective an issue or not? How about dolly moves on interiors with the cyc out the windows? It looks great, and although difficult, it must be fun to shoot an entire movie on stage. Thanks David. Travis

Hello all I posted last week about grip/elec rental houses in London and had great responses, thank you. I spoke with director last night and we are going to need to rent similar lights, Blondes and Redheads, etc., in Liverpool as well. Any suggestions for good G/E rental houses there as well? Thank you for your help and I so look forward to shooting in England. Travis

Are you planning to have your best boys bump up to gaffer and key grip or are you bringing in new crew to fill in? Just wondering what you see as the best way to maintain continuity and quality on My Boys after your crew moves over to Sons of Anarchy. Thanks for posting, quite interesting to hear about TV shows. Travis

Thanks all, I appreciate the responses. Your recommendations are very helpful. Travis

Hello all I'm shooting a documentary in London next month and I need to rent a few tungsten lights, perhaps Blondes or Redheads. Anyway, its my first time shooting in London and I'm looking for recommendations of the best rental houses to work with, i.e. amenable, best deals, easy going, etc. Also, can you plug Blonde's into wall power in the UK? Sorry for my ingnorance, just wondering. Thanks all. Travis

If you don't mind talking about it, how is your working relationship with this particular director? Travis

Say hello to Reed for me. He is my neighbor. Pay attention, he really knows what he's talking about. Travis Cline

If I might ask, what was it that made you decide to take Will over State of Play? I assume being the main DP over second unit DP had an influence, but I just wonder if you wouldn't mind expanding on your plight. Thanks for posting Eric, very informative. Travis

Thanks Max. travis

Are those modified existing lenses or adapters or what? That's interesting, I have not heard of those before. travis

Thanks Michael, that was helpful. Its a good place to start. I was actually wanting to see a difference between the Primos and the C-series, so that's good to know before I do my own tests. Thanks. Travis

Does anyone know, or have shot, of lense flare tests on anamorphic lenses that I could find online. If you know of any comparison tests between different sets of lenses that would be terrific, but if not any lense flare tests would be great. Thanks all. Travis

I used the Red for the first time today and I have some of the same observations. The highlights do take longer to clip than most other video formats, but they do fall off rather quickly once they get there. The latitude is much better than most video, but I think it is comparable to the Genesis. The only lense we had was a Red 18-50 zoom which was not very nice, but decent. Anyway, I think it is another option for cinematographers if it is right for your shoot. Travis

I read a little bit about this in other threads, but I'm wondering what, if there is one, is the standard on cancelled or pushed shoots? What do people generally include in their DP contracts about how much compensation will be given if a shoot is pushed back or cancelled all together. I've been hosed a few times because I had nothing in my deal memo and would love some info. Thanks all. Travis

That's good to hear Paul. I find the same thing, shooting with primes has all the advantages you mentioned and it never slows you down, but for some reason producers believe it is much better with a tight schedule. Travis