Alex Plank

Let me know what you think! Shot on XH-A1, did all the lighting myself. the interior stuff (except for the sots of Dr Grandin) used 750watt fresnels and ctb frost gels. http://vimeo.com/8182809

Beautiful set photos!

Here's some stills from a feature documentary I shot called Precinct One. I have not really done any color grading at all. http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/images/Pre...orcorrected.pdf (13mb - 13 frame grabs - scaled to 46% and compressed - may take a little time to download). The stage @ Obama's last rally (election eve) was lit with arrilights. Obviously that was done by Obama's people so I didn't have to do anything. I think there were 6 8k lights pointed at the stage and others on the audience but I don't really care and don't know if I'm correct with my estimate- it was beautiful to shoot. Election day ( @ precinct one in Virginia) was naturally lit. The weather was cloudy/rainy. The clouds created this amazingly diffuse light for everyone. I really lucked out. I shot handheld with an on camera shotgun.

I highly recommend the Canon XH-A1

If you're a serious professional, I can think of very few reasons why you would choose low end equipment when you can afford something better. Although the economics clearly favor digital, choose whichever format gives you the best desired results.

I have a friend there. His teachers are great and quite well connected. It costs an arm and a leg, however. I'm paying in-state tuition for my university. -Alex

The Nikon d300 is a good starter SLR and you can get it for less than 2 grand (great price for what you get).

I just won a Weston Master II cine meter on ebay (for about 12 dollars *including shipping* :ph34r: ). I've read they're really good for the price (and the age; its a 50 year old meter!).

Most government-run museums definitely allow cameras (heck, you're allowed to paint at the national art gallery, they even have easels for people so I don't know why a camera would be a problem there). A lot of Asian tourists have what we'd consider "professional" grade camcorders in the US and I've seen a lot of them in the museums here. (Not sure if I've seen any people with tripods). The only places I can think of where they definitely won't let you use a camera is the mint (they don't want people to record how money is made) and the spy museum (which is privately owned). If for some reason you do get turned away from a museum, try another entrance or wait for that particular guard to get off his shift. Someone else might be more lenient. Good luck!

I recommend using a flash player like you have on your website or uploading to Vimeo. Youtube really doesn't have the resolution/quality to do your work justice. What compression algorithm did you use for the two clips on your site?

Thanks. Don't know how I missed that.

Stephen, Beautiful work. I was wondering how you lit the "romantic" shot of the girl. If you have specifics (watts, lamp placements, etc) that would be even more helpful! Thanks.

Actually Celtx does output PDFs natively. I use Celtx exclusively and it saves me so much time. It also seems less buggy and more intuitive than Final Draft. While the cost (free celtx vs. $229 final draft) is a factor for someone on a budget, I use Celtx because I think it's a better piece of software than Final Draft.

My car:

Brian, Thanks for the really informative post. Do you know if many set photographers still use film instead of digital? Matt, take a look at this video. It gives a kind of general overview of the role of set photographer: http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/galleryfi...Photography.mp4

check this thread out for an answer to your question: http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=30060

I get $3.50 maxell minidv tapes from Walgreens and have never had a dropped frame problem. I've tried the $20 Canon master HDV tape and the only difference is that the canon hdv tapes have a larger more professional looking plastic case. While the magnetic coating on the Canon HDV master is theoretically better, i've never had a reliability issue with my maxell tapes.

Glad you posted this topic (was wondering if any other film guys were on twitter). I'm http://twitter.com/alexplank I also recommend you follow newmediajim ( http://twitter.com/newmediajim ) who's the white house press pool camera operator for NBC News. Also, StandIn ( http://twitter.com/StandIn ) is a lighting stand in for feature films. It's interesting to hear his perspective.

A new light kit. This one looks nice: http://www.lowel.com/kits/DVcreator1.html I'm also waiting to get an AT897 shotgun mic.

I agree with Dominic. Check out Zhang Yimou's films. Most of his films, even the earlier ones (like Raise the Red Lantern) rely heavily on the relationships between colors.

Congrats Niki! I've been following some of your other posts about moving to LA and craigslist. Its good to hear about your newfound success! How'd you find this one?

The Sargent piece is beautiful. John William Waterhouse is another of my favorites although the Pre-Raphaelites (including him) didn't paint with much depth. i forgot to add a link to the artist I mentioned earlier, Katie Miller.

This one is geared towards digital video but is a great intro to lighting: Lighting for Digital Video & Television, Second Edition

Katie Miller: Her lighting is amazing..

This looks great! What film stock are you using?