Marc Levy

I second Detroit Power and Light. They've got what you need.

Just saw Ballast at LA Film Festival. Pretty amazing cinematography by Lol Crawley. As naturalistic/minimalistic as a film can be. Stayed very close to the line between bad and brilliant, but always on the brilliant side. Visually, it never played a false note. It looked unlit - in a good way - and from what I read in AC mag, it was unlit for the most part. Kudos to bravery behind the lens.

Hmmm. Yeah, I noticed that many of the film titles under that pseudonym are in Spanish. Might anyone have articles or details on the shooting of those films?

I have become a big fan of Shane Meadows' films (Dean Man's Shoes, This Is England), and I love the the look of two of them, Dean Man's Shoes and This Is England. They both are naturalistic, with very few camera and lighting conventions that characterize many larger-budget films. Instead, it's lots of hand-held, and source-motivated lighting that feels real. IMDB says the cinematographer is Danny Cohen, but also says his "AKA" (also known as) is Roger Pratt and Gonzalo Fernández Berridi. Is this some sort of error on IMDB's part, or is Danny Cohen, in fact, the Roger Pratt who shot Troy? Either way, any articles or info about the cinematography in these films would be appreciated.

How long is the scene? If it's shortish, you may be able to catch the sun with a mirror board and direct it into the window. Then, no worries about inverse square law. I would still make sure that you can get the mirror high enough to simulate the sun's angle in the sky. With this approach, you will probably need to have a good bit of light inside to bring up the ambient level, as the ratios will be extreme using real sunlight. Oh, and haze it up. Best

When I've shot with the DVX100B, these are the settings I've used for a "film-look" over and over again. If you want, you can change the chroma level to give you either a more saturated or less saturated image. Also, setting the color temp to -2 or -3 and then manually white balancing can yield a nice warmth that I've used a good bit for day exterior work. Scene File F5: Detail Level: -2 V Detail Level: +2 Detail Coring:0 Chroma Level: 0 Chroma Phase: 0 Color Temp: 0 Master Ped: -6 Auto Iris Level: 0 Gamma: Cinelike Knee: Auto Matrix: Cinelike Skin Detail: Off V Detail: Thin Gain: 0db Progressive: 24P

The more I shoot, the more I learn that the color/tonal qualities of a space is one of the biggest factors in the outcome of the image. Yeah, lighting is huge, but it's really hard to light a space that looks bad from the get go. Unfortunately, location choice seems to be one of the most-neglected parts of the pre-production process. Now, I make sure to impress upon directors the importance of wall color.

The effect of the narrow shutter also depends on what the action is and type of camera movement employed. If you have a static camera, with static subjects, the effect of any "narrow" shutter is much less apparent than if you have, for example, a hand-held camera running behind a person. I've shot hand-held stuff with a 45 degree shutter that looks like fast-motion when played back at normal speed. And then I've shot stuff at that same shutter angle that was not nearly as recognizable because the subject and camera were stationary. But, like David says, if you're shooting video, you can play around with it on set.

Hey Chris, I would definitely separate the types of footage into different reels. For your film reel or narrative reel, I'd only include stuff that feels "filmic". This can include stuff shot in any format, and can include stuff from music videos, commercials, etc. - but it should all feel "filmic". I would then cut a reel for your industrials, and then a reel for docs. Hope this helps. Regarding the song, I'd find something that you like, and that you feel personifies or represents you and your work in some way (with or without lyrics). Cheers,

Scott, Thanks for the great feedback. I never really thought of the navigability in the sense you pointed out. I will definitely try to modify my website so that when one is watching one reel, they will see the options for the other reels on the same page - great point. Regarding the Stella commercial, the one on my website is the final cut "long version" I received from the Director. There is a short version as well. Cheers

Hey all, (I'm reposting this here, as it may be a better section.) So I'm not getting as many responses as I have in the past from my online replies to job postings. I'm now beginning to think, hmmm, maybe there's something I need to change. I usually provide the job lead a link to my website, and then let them pick what to watch. It is below: www.marclevycine.com Any feedback on my website, reel, or montages, or thoughts on how to modify my presentation would be welcome and appreciated. Cheers

Hey all, So I'm not getting as many responses as I have in the past from my online replies to job postings. I'm now beginning to think, hmmm, maybe there's something I need to change. I usually provide the job lead a link to my website, and then let them pick what to watch. It is below: www.marclevycine.com Any feedback on my website, reel, or montages, or thoughts on how to modify my presentation would be welcome and appreciated. Cheers

Very beautiful stuff. Some of the compositions (especially the row of leaves in the rain) are rather inspirational. It's some of the best ext. photography I've seen in its format. Could you share a bit about you camera, camera settings, etc. etc.?

Ram, Some strong stuff. Nice variety, displays a good range. Also, the production values seem fairly high in many of the shots. Kudos. The only stuff I do not care for - and I tend to feel this way about all the reels that have this - is the rap video footage. It's very cliche in subject matter/content, and I feel it detracts from your reel. Great work! Marc

I bought this chart from Birns and Sawyer for $12.00 - just a laminated framing chart: http://www.birnsandsawyer.com/cgibin/BIRst...0Color%20Charts Best