Ed Nyankori

I'd recommend getting two 2ft four bank kino flos with both 3200k and 5600k tubes. They are relatively easy to use, safe and don't draw much current. They provide a soft but directional light that you can control fairly easily. Use the 5600k tubes if your set has sunlight coming into it. Use 3200k if you are mixing light from table lamps, Xmas lights , etc. you can even choose to mix them. Good luck.

Correction 2k and under use Edison or 20amp bates plugs. Some stages use a twist lock.

what kind of connectors do all these cables have? Under 2k Edison connector. 2k - 5k use 60amp bates 10k and maxi brutes use 100amp bates 6k, 12k, 18k and 20k use 220v bates (100amp) and you should order them with camlock to 220v bates adapters (commonly known as snake bites) And banded cable, does that mean its 5 single cables banded together? Yes it's #2 cable rated at 190amps The 2/0, 4/0 cables are laid seperately? Yes and are laid side by side. Rated for 300 amp and 400 amp respectively

Ive come seeking the same feedback. I dayplayed gaffer on a very successful XL H1 feature and am looking at the Canon XH-A1 to replace my DVX100p thats acting abit screwy. To address the original question: I think the Canon HDV platform is pretty good despite the HDV compression. In the here and now the HVX200 delivers the most robust footage and has a familiar 24p look. The Canon 24f look is better than sony's and the file size of HDV makes the work flow of HD easier on my aging G4 laptop (the file size of Panasonics HD50 bogs down the old girl). Im starting to think that Canon is having a hardtime selling this model.

I have no idea where in the world you are or what the market is like there. But if I had $700 to spend on a short Id seek out an aspiring DP who already has the camera and some lighting gear. It seems in Atlanta that there is a DVX100 in every closet and in smaller markets in the southeast people are so inspired/passionate/curious/bored to drive hundreds of miles to work on short films. Perhaps the DP will offers the equipment and services very cheap for the purpose of getting experience and you can spend your money on your production design, props,food,etc. Good Luck.

I often wear polarizing sunglasses while shooting outdoors and even with cheap ones the effect seems greater with my sunglasses than my tiffen series 9 circular polarizer. Until recently I thought that a linear polarizer was just a polarizer w/o rotating capacity. Having overcome that misconception I was wondering if I will see a greater effect on highlights and sky-glare with a linear polarizer. I realize that any effect will differ based on the optics of the camera Im using , which is usually dv/hdv, but I would appreciate any thoughts on this issue including observations about tiffen's "water white" line. Edward Nyankori Gaffer/DP Atlanta,GA

A few years ago I shot a civil war reenactment in Savannah. I had a couple of night exteriors and only a 1200w hmi and a lowel kit. The scene was really large maybe half a football field but the location provided me with an advantage: the old fort had earthen mounds as bunkers. I was able to get the lightfixture relatively high (20' above the set) and used wide lens. This gave just enough stop and provided a nice moonlit ambience. The campfire provided the key light and i blocked the closeup to use the 1200 as a backlight. If I had 2 1200's Id put one high and behind the bridge the other lower heavily diffused closer to the camera (yes im ingoring the five camera situation) and test the fire light ahead of time to know what to expect. Y'all have a good shoot, now!

Ive got one, I've never used it. But if I ever have to shoot handheld for hours Ill dust it off. It does relieve alot of the weight shooting handheld but....its kind of impractical.

http://www.lowel.com/dp/dp_b.html#info here's a link to a lowel photometric chart for a dp light. http://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lampbtl.html here's a link to photmetric data for a bulb. http://www.stlltd.com/rentals/photometrics/s4_photo.htm here's a link for ETC Source Four Leko photometrics. Note how much a difference the lens has on the light output.

There's so much more to the light than the wattage. In this era of emerging technology wattage is becoming less and less relevant. Consider the emergence of fluorescent and LED lighting. Wattage really isnt the best measure of how much light each will provide. Other factors like the lamps housing and/or lens also greatly affects how a light performs. The conventions in early to mid 20th century lighting were based off the dominance of mole-richardson light fixtures. The assumptions based on the effects of reflectors, fresnel light loss, etc allowed the artist/technican to better predict the effects of 1000w, 5k, etc. Now more than ever the PHOTOMETRICS of a bulb and/or fixture is important to understand. The photometrics of almost evbery fixture is available from the manufacturer. This will help you to understand all aspects of a lighting fixture.

I want to use some super8 footage in a low music video amongst other projects. But it will only be effective if transferred to HDV. Im not sure what to expect from the transfer but I know I dont want to upres from DV and want to examine the useablility of super8 as an effect for some other projects. Cost is always an issue so if anyone knows what cost to expect per 50ft cartridge to hdv, id appreciate it. Thanks!

Id black out the windows and keep my back to them all day; shooting down the length of the room using the wooden doors and adjacent rooms to provide framing elements.

Im going to get a little philosophical here. Go with what you know! You got the gig on your own merits right; so why would you want to start experimenting when your director wants to go quickly. Certainly the big lights through a 12x12 would make for a nice look but they require alot to move around and may not be necessay for your material. If you're not feeling it, who will?

I think we all need to use an inverter from time to time. If only to charge batteries run a laptop etc. So definitely a good investment. As far as lighting your interior Ill offer my own low budget solution. I use(d) 12" fluorescent cabinet fixtures designed to go under kitchen cabinets. The ones I bought from homedepot gang together in as many as three fixtures. I used two covered in black paper tape to conceal the housing and tucked one into each sun visor. I believe I added some diffusion to knock down the level and hide the 'lighting effect'. We experimented with using a third to up light the subjects using some amber gel to match the dash lights but I thought it was abit much. We shot it both ways so ill be interested to see which one makes the cut. In the past Ive shot parked in a garage with black or green backgrounds (id recomend black). You can use a light on a stand to simulate passing lights and pen lights behind the car to simulate headights in the distance. I think the usual mistakes in lighting car interiors, especially mistakes directors force you into, lies with unrealistic expectations from the light level inside a car. I often feel if it doesnt look consistent with the exposures Ive been offering outside the car then directors want "more" and "even". Despite the fact we know its dark in a car. Oh well. Some of my favorite car shots rely on the audio track driving the dialog and montages of the car, the road and the driver. Instead of the mouth and faces.

Id agree with the painting solution 100% but I wanted to offer some practical solutions. It sounds like you are doing some freebie shorts and you want them to look their best but painting them might be a problem. If you cant paint them hide them. The first thing I do when I see a set with white walls is start looking for artwork to cover them; Ive even taken the rugs off the floor and nailed them to the wall or framing a scene around interesting window treatments. Embrace your enviroment: light through the windows using the window frames as breakups to create something interesting in your background. set dressing - palm plants and other plants can also save the day.

Im assuming your shooting digital so you can get an idea of how the neons will read. so nd them or you can use screen/scrim to knock them down a little. Screen (like window screen from home depot) isn't reflective and tends to disappear better than the shiny substrate of ND gel. As far as color you can use the neon color to motivate some ambiience or backlight. Maybe shifting colors from series to series. (ie a red series, a blue series, etc) then let the editor work with some variety. Dont force the color though I think thats a slipery slope that must be well thought out and coordinated with the set dressing, wardrobe,etc... Oopps gotta relight

Im working with the Canon xl1hd, hvx200, jvc prohd and sony hdv (whatever it is). We are shooting 60i - sd vice hd due to the limitations of the video switcher. We are brodcasting sporting events to the web in a very innovative buisness model. The HVX has the sharpest image while the Canon has a longer lens and is more user friendly, in this case. A few weeks ago I gaffed a Canon xl1hd w/ps technic adapter using zeiss super speeds. That was the sweetest image Ive seen from any video better than Sonyf900 w/eng lens.

I never really got a chance to work in the film world. Life happened and I found myself workling for a network sudio as a lighting technician then as a gaffer for field productions. Im now getting a call here and a call there as dp for brodcast video shoots. Im happy with that considering Im 4 years out of school with a family (far far away from LA or NY). Ive had some success with the DVX and have a feature thats been picked up coming out (shot on the dvx - I came in late in the year long shoot as DP but will recieve additional photography credit). My point is the dvx gave me access to filmmaking success and I plan to build on it with the HVX. Furthermore if there is one statement I remember from my FILM Theory textbook was the statement to the effect of: film will fail to be an artform until the cost of producing it is as cheap as pen and paper. Before anyone states the obvious I think it was meant to imply that in the 1920s film production costs prohibited 99% of the dreamers from weighing in....That has changed and it will continue to... I think the members of this board who use the term "NEVER" probablyuse the word "LOVE" to generously as well. Do you really think 100 - 200 years from now film will still be the standard. I just dont see it. Im in my thirties and think every oscar for best feature will go to one shot on film in my lifetime but not my daughter's. Film isn't an old technology and do you really think todays viewers could tolerate the stocks and lenses of the 40s. I think they would say it looks "not quite right". I think the viewers in the future will be more comfortable with the emerging technologies of today than us image snobs safely pissing in the wind on this board. My wife is a sophisticated person my father and brother phDs and they cant tell the difference from HD and film much less dv and film. They pay more attention to the story, sometimes the lighting (bless their hearts), and the overall affect of the film. Im pretty sure they represent the majority better than we do. They afterall dont like watching movies with me. BTW I got a call from our local video store SHOWCASE and they have a demo cam but nothing for sale yet. The feedback I got was all positive including words like amazing and shocking. He suggested the vertrical smear wasnt apparent.

Anybody got one yet?

time to start hunting ebay. after this camera hits the market you'll see a sharp increase in conversion parts. bhphoto.com should have it in stock if you dont feel like chasing down the part..

How was the 24p effect and what did you think of the lens? I had a jvc dv500U at one point and hated everything about it, especially the stock fujinon lens; I shot multicam with other operators that had better glass and thought hey now all I need is a $4000 lens and Ill be in buisness. Though it was a 1/2" camera the dvx blew it away and upon testing the dvx I put my dv500 on eBay and bought the dvx. Spikey, please keep us informed.

Looks like a great product but not enough discussion on its actual performance.

I needed this software to view the clips. One is free and essentially is the player for the clips. http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/vide...streamclip.html The other is $20 and is a quicktime plugin. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/ Edward Nyankori DVX DP - TV Lighting Tech Atlanta, USA

If I had my way, for day interiors, there would be nd and 1/2cto on every window in the shot...That being said I do like mixed color temps I just think that the bluish blownout look is not natural or appealing...Evening/night shots is a whole different story - I embrace the blue (usually hmi) and accentuate the tungsten with cto or cts (if i have it)...

Im also mixed Ugandan (black) and white. To shift the subject away from Asians for a second, how are things for blacks in Hollywood these days? Im in Atlanta and Id say blacks are well represented in all aspects of media...Largely I think its a merit based system and oppourtunities exsist for all...I grew up listening to Rap artists from LA talking about violence/gangs, the whole Rodney King and Driving While Black (DWB) thing got out of hand.... So what is the racial climate in LA toward black professionals?