Alex Worster

Usually as a 1st I'll put focus on the slate if I know the slate will be way out of focus then quickly roll it back to my 1st mark. That's why it's a good idea for the 2nd be in the general ball park of 2.5ft for a 25mm 5ft for a 50mm for 35 and double the focal length in feet for 16mm that way I will always know about where to focus for the slate. It's always nice for the post people to have a readable slate. When I'm 2nding I usually try to be follow the rule if possible unless the situation dictates otherwise or the 1st asks me to slate from a specific point.

If the shot you set up was really so critical that you couldn't hold the elevator fence and the actor as he/she goes by then you'd need to rely on a decent dolly grip hitting his/her marks during the take. If I were faced with this shot I would stick the actor to a specific spot in the elevator with a mark then dolly the camera to the frame which the DP and director like for the actor crossing through the shot. I'd take my measurements and set a floor mark for me so I know when to go from the elevator fence to the actor and also make sure the dolly grip has a good mark so he/she knows that's the spot to be when the actor is passing the camera. Then dolly back and set some incremental marks to hit so i can hold the elevator fence while we dolly in, same for after the actor passes through the shot. Rehearse to make sure everybody is comfy, especially the dolly grip because that shot is probably harder for him/her than you, then go for it. The message in all this is many times carrying good focus relies on a calm minute of thought and mental walk through, good easy to follow marks, a couple rehearsals, and a good dolly grip. Get to love your dolly grip, buy them a beer, they play a big part in not making you look bad.

Here's a link to the manual: http://www.panavision.com.au/Downloads/Dow...ManualsSONY.htm Don't have too much fun with that but you should probably get to know it pretty well as the f23 has some interesting features above and beyond the f900. If you know the f900 pretty well then the learn curve shouldn't be too steep. Where are you getting your camera from? Most rental houses I've ever dealt with are totally cool with you coming down and learning their camera provided you don't show up when everyone is slamed for the stuff to do.

Viper, F900, and film says this article... http://www.cinematographers.nl/THEDoPH4.htm

Although the lingo might seem a little nerdy at times, and it is, it does help you communicate better and more quickly on set thus it would be good to learn the lingo. There is plenty of time to joke around about how nerdy some words are though so don't worry. Yes, it is very important in my opinion to call "flashing" before you take a flash photograph as it does look very similar to a globe blowing out. Furthermore, the electrics might get just a little annoyed after looking for the bulb that went out for 10 minutes when they finally find out it was a flash photograph. They might not hear you call "flashing" but someone will alert them when they start asking around if anyone saw a globe blow.

A camera mysteriously died and B camera's flange focal distance did not want to stay put. Satsuki's the bomb AC and even when my stress level made me a little cranky to say the least he stuck with me and helped us pull through. However, he does like spicy hot funyuns so proceed with caution.

Yeah that conversion issue just occurred to me. That converter will be a bummer for the Steadicam Op if that's what ends up happening but I guess it beats going to the gym right? Thanks for the tip on wireless HDMI, I haven't heard of it before so I'll be looking into that. Thanks for your advice Chris! Anybody else had experience with the RED and Steadicam?

I might have a job coming up soon where production wants to shot with the Red on a Steadicam for the majority of the show. I've worked Steadicam jobs with film cameras were we used a Modulus to transmit wireless video from the tap to a monitor. How have people been getting video wirelessly from a Red to a monitor? And, is there anything out there that will transmit a cleaner signal than a modulus that I can use with a Red as the director and clients want the best picture possible? Any help/ opinions/ advice would be greatly appreciated.

It's interesting to hear that Red is getting a tried out on bigger things. I really look forward to seeing these films down the road to see what top notch talent can get out of these cameras. I've been ACing a 1 camera feature with one for the last couple weeks and we're on our 3rd body and 2nd hard drive. There has definitely been some down time while trouble shooting this camera. Not to sound like too much of a bummer Brad but it might be a good idea to have a 1st call up Red Tech Support and get to know one of their senior techs or make sure they have a good contact number for someone at the rental house the cameras are coming from just so if stuff starts going down your show can get good personalized service. For all the headaches the camera has caused me over the last couple weeks the Red techs have been very nice and helpful which definitely counts for something. Good luck to the both of you.

Another problem has arisen on the feature I'm ACing with the Red. We're shooting 2k 16:9 at 23.98 framing for 1.85 and about 3/4s of the time we try to play back the camera crashes and reboots itself. I called Red and they said that happens with 2k 16:9... great. So now I'm wondering what happens if I change the project settings to 2k 2:1 and frame for 1.85 as Red says play back is fine with in 2:1. Of course I would talk to the editor and post dudes as I don't want to bone them. The real question is: is there any quality difference between 2k 16:9 framed for 1.85 and 2k 2:1 framed for 1.85? It seams like you would lose some image area going the 2:1 route but maybe not. The DP, director and producer all really want play back but are weary of changing the project settings, especially the DP who wants as much info out of 2k as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I guess not because we're using build 15. I told them (director and DP) that it doesn't seem that it would be too hard to fix in post. I hope I don't get mean emails from the editor and f/x guys for opening my big mouth.

Thanks for all the help Phil and no, I didn't mess with changing the Hz and seeing if there was an effect on the monitor issue, not the smartest I know. I'll also try playing with the frame rates during some down time to see if that would solve the problem. More than anything now I want to be able to tell them why it doesn't work. If anyone has/does get a TVLogic monitor to work out of the HDMI I'd be interested to hear about it. Thanks to everyone else that's given it some thought as well.

On feature I'm ACing we were shooting some "beauty" shots using a lot of backlight. In one particular shoot when we pointed the RED at the sun we get this sweet red and black circle/artifact in the middle of the sun. I think I remember reading that this may have something to do with the rolling shutter or something, maybe not. Is it correctable in camera or is that just something you have to live with and fix in post? Also, could this potentially happen if there is a nice bright light bulb in the shot? Sorry if this has been answered before, I looked but couldn't find it. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for all the responses so far. So what I'm gathering is that the RED and this specific monitor (and probably a lot of other monitors) just wont work with the RED's HDMI out if we're shooting 23.98 fps. I also tried using an HDMI to DVI converter to go into the monitor's DVI in, no luck. I believe the RED has an option to change monitoring from 50Hz to 59.98Hz, would that solve any problems? Really I guess it's not such a big deal because we can use the HD/SDI camera out and monitor in to get picture but I get curious when things don't work. I don't suppose anyone out there has used one of these new TVLogic monitors with the RED's HDMI out and gotten it to work?

So I'm ACing this feature with the RED (build 15) and during prep I couldn't get the HDMI out to work with the monitor we're using. The monitor is a TVLogic, can't remember what model it is but it does have a HDMI in along with all the usual suspect, HDSDI, DVI, and analog. So is there a reason the camera and monitor aren't working together? I just get a no signal warning on the monitor. I've tried two different cables, still the same problem. The monitor is not a dub because I ended up running cable from the onboard monitor's SDI out (we're not using a red monitor, its a small TVLogic that we're feeding from the HD/SDI out on the camera) to the big TVLogic SDI in and we get picture. Anyone have any bright ideas? Also, another question... When we pointed the camera at the sun we get this sweet red and black circle/artifact in the middle of the sun. I think I remember reading that this may have something to do with the rolling shutter or something. Is it correctable in camera or is that just something you have to live with and fix in post? Thanks for all your help in advance.

For Arri stuff just make friends with dudes over at Utterbach. They're got all the Arri gear that you'd want to learn except for the Arricam line. They're good guys all around and if you're nice to them they're nice to you. For Panavision you can either wait for their gear to make it up here on a project you're on or go down to LA and stop by either of their two locations. Like Utterbach and every rental house I've ever been to the guys are always nice provided you go in with a good attitude. Staying humble and making it clear that these rental house people have valuable knowledge that you're genuinely interested in is key, a sense of humor never hurts either. Rental houses would rather have people out there that know how to use their stuff properly rather than break it by accident. Last word of advice is learn in steps. You can't possibly expect to have a tech train you completely on a whole camera system in one visit, they have jobs to do. So maybe the first couple times you go in there have them train you on the mags. Then spend some time practicing and chatting. Also, its always good to read manuals before hand so you're familiar in theory.

It is like an overgrown SR in that there is notch you pull the film to once it exits the feed side. Like the SR, once you pull the film to the notch you hold the loop steady and insert it back into the mag on the take up side. Easy mag.

All camera manuals have a section dealing with their magazines. All major manufactures (Arri, Panavision, Aaton) have manuals on their website's but for older ones just google it and you'll probably find it. Also, forum rules say you need to use your real full name, homes.

Good to know. Nothing trumps real experience.

This is just a guess because I've never tried putting Ultra Primes or S4s on an SR but I have used both lens so am fairly familiar with their form factors. Chris is right, the 416 says it fits Master Primes and the SRs don't so that would rule S4s out since there are similarish in size. Ultra Primes are smaller than S4s so those might work. So, S4s no but you might be able to get Ultra Primes on there. That's just an educated guess though.

I'm doing some tests with the new Vision 3 stock and I want to shoot a night ext. time lapse-ish shoot of cars going over a bridge. I live in San Francisco so I've got access to some good bridges. I'm shooting s16 and plan to rate the stock at 320. I want to shoot at 4 fps to get some good light streaks and I've figured out my run time vs screen time and all that but what I'm unsure about is how to expose the shot. How would one meter for this type of situation and any suggestions on what stop to shoot at would be very much appreciated.

Andrew, I've had a couple friends go through Panavision's shorter term internship and they both had a good time, if nothing else you'll get really good at cleaning cases and filters. Coincidently, I'm looking into both the two year one and the shorter term one at the moment. You're right, they're tough to get. Last summer I was supposed to go interview for a spot but when the process started slowing down, they're busy guys and ladies down there, I had to take feature I was offered. It might help to live down there before you apply because if you start stopping by and making friends they'll know who you are when you apply but who knows, the world works in strange ways some times. If anybody has any good advice I'd love to hear it as well. Good luck Andrew, hopefully it works out for you, it sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Jamie, I've 1sted several jobs with the Red so far with several in the near future. So far things have been more positive than negative. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to see any of the footage yet but some stuff is supposed to be going through a film out so that'll be interesting when/if it happens. Did you have any specific questions? Although after a week at Red you probably know more than most about the cameras operations and workflow.

Super stoked from a fellow Cell enthusiast. Hope I can catch a screening somewhere sometime. If not I look forward to the DVD.

Rules, eh? If you want wider go with the 35mm, that's closer to POV focal length for a 35 camera anyways. Then if somebody says, "No no no, the rules say a POV is a 50mm, so its gotta be a 50mm." Then you say, "Actually, 50mm is a normal lens for 35 still cameras with an 8 perf frame which means the equivalent from a 35 motion picture camera is somewhere between 35mm and 50mm, so I suggest we use the 35mm cause it looks better." (or so I've been taught, hopefully someone wasn't pulling my leg). If that's the kinda rules you're talking about. Getting it to look natural is just a matter of taking the time in rehearsal to get it right or now if you can use the 35 it might be easier to have the op be the hand and feet in the shot. Op should be able to take the weight, and easy rig is good idea tho (they're usually not too pricey) or maybe the op should start hitting the gym.