Marcel Zyskind

Hi there Orin Beaton is a great man. I like him very much! I've worked with him several times. All the best Marcel

Hi again. Yes I also shot "The Road to Guantanamo". We shot on video, the Panasonic DVX100A, PAL version in progressive mode. We had the film blown up to 35mm print and it was screened at the Berlin Film Festival last week and I was very happy with the result of that little camera. Great camera. We also tested the Z1, but we prefered the progressive mode the DVX100 delivered compared to the slightly sharper interlaced image of the Z1. Yes, you could say that it is politically edgier, but I would say that most of Michael's films are somewhat edgier, both politically and sexually. Like 9 Songs. Hope all is well. Marcel

I think they were meant to say that I've worked with a lot of different formats. (As many DPs do...) Anyway. :-) We chose the 750 both from budget reasons and for being a lighter camera. A lot of the film is handheld so that was the main reason. I never used the gain, but we were often on the edge of exposure, which i suppose could yield more grain/noise. I also found that during grading noise would appear quite quickly. Possibly because of the 10bit F750 compared to the 12 bit F900 camera. I personally didn't mind the grain myself. Thanks again Marcel

Hi David Thank you very much for recommending my work. I'm must say though, that Tristram Shandy was shot entirely on HD. But I'm happy that you seem to think that we used super16 & 35mm. Kudos to the HD format. I wish we'd had the money to shot 35mm, but when the director and producer had to finance the film themselves for the first weeks, HD it was. You're right in saying that it's always the bright things in frame that give it away as being HD. You can be blessed with the most beautiful sunlight, but if it just burns out, you can be quite dissapointed by the format. Post was all done through HD. All the best Marcel

Hi Jamie. People here have already given you much good advice. Personally I think I would go with the Panasonic DVX100B and finish the film with this camera in the interlaced mode so it would match better with the old Sony. For future projects you can use the progressive mode if you wish. I've just been grading (last two days) a film which I shoot on the Panasonic in progressive mode. The end scene of the film was shot on the Sony PD100A. There is quite a difference in the two cameras. Mostly because the Panasonic was in progressive mode. BUT, there also are some scenes shoot interlaced with the Panasonic and they don't seem to stand out against the sony too much to be honest. In the end it's all up to you. Good luck with it all. Marcel P.S No luck of finding a used PD100A? Are you in PAL or NTSC country? I can get a PAL camera for you very cheap, but no guarentee, since these cameras now are more than 6 years old. It comes with quite an interesting musical history though.

Hi rook Sorry for the late reply. The grips were made for me on order for In This World, but the guys who made them have now finally started a production of them with zoom handles and lots of other cool stuff. They are called Ugrip. They don't have any website yet but you can reach them on these numbers. It's in Denmark. Malte +4520903443 or Lars +4522167600 These new handles are great. I used them last summer on a film and they were fantastic. Tell them you spoke to me. They only shame is that Panasonics lanc does not output iris or focus control, so you only have the control of the start/stop and zoom. But the handles still let you operate the focus easily. All the best Marcel

Hi We had a 1/8 white promist on the camera through out the whole film. The "mist" in Shanghai could be pollution. It's always there, I've just been back there last week and it's as strong as always... Mmm. All the best Marcel

Yep Björn is the way to go. Marcel

Hi The background plates were intially shot as a test for the this scene, we decided later to do this scene in the studio and use the tests a background plates. I shot on low sticks from the pickup. I think I used a 24mm or a 32mm for the plates. We projected it normally, used different lenses (24mm & 50mm) in the studio to shoot the actors. You can use any lens you want as long as you stay within the projection. No additional lighting was used in the Shanghai streets. We had a 12v Single kit kino flo on battery standing by, which we used once. We shot 3perf. The video segmens in the film was shot on a Sony PD150. All the best Marcel

Hi Yes they were Kini Flo's, I forgot to mention. Flagged means that a flag was on a stand in front of the Kino Flo to cut some of the light, to keep the light from some areas in the car. Regarding the grain. Different stock. Different grain. And we also wanted the flexibility of the color stock. The back projection was done on 35mm. I shot the plates from a pickup shooting both into the sun and with the sun in my back. I remember thinking that the shots with the sun in my back looked more D/N but both were used for the plates. We would roll down the window in the door nearest of the camera, to be able to shoot into the car. The car was static in the studio and the camera was handheld. Glad you like it Marcel

Hi Thanks for showing interest in the film. You're right that we shot this scene with a backprojection. I initially shot some plates and ext car on black & white as a test for this Day for Night scene on our recce in Dubai. We decided to project the black & white but shoot the rest with the actors on 5218 for grain issuses. In the grade we gave the scene a dark bronze tint. We used 2 4ft 4banks with 5600K tubes in front of the car and 1 from behind the car which was flagged. Anything else, please feel free to ask. All the best Marcel

Hi Reconstruction was shot on super 16. Allegro has just opened in danish cinemas today. All the best Marcel

For more great films shot on DV check out: Festen (The Celebration) - Directed by Thomas Vinterberg - Dp Anthony Dod Mantle 24 Hour Party People - Directed by Michael Winterbottom - Dp Robby Müller Marcel

Thank you Mr. Edge for recommending a film that I have shot. Just to correct, the film was directed by Michael Winterbottom. All the best Marcel

I think the 200ft mag issue is to do with the russian cores were smaller then kodak cores. So make sure you only use 180ft in the mag. Marcel

Hi http://www.smartgroups.com/group/findgroup...archTerm=konvas There is a forum dedicated to these cameras. I have a couple of 2M's and I did not need to modify for us film stock... Check it out. Marcel

Hi Has the pd170 improved the iris control from the pd150? Is the iris change smoother? Many thanks Marcel

Hi I'm not sure about this HDV. I saw a comparison test on 35mm print some weeks ago. It was DV, HDV, 35mm & 65mm. Lets leave out the 35mm & 65mm since they are in a league of their own and they were to be used for background and model work. The DV looked like DV transferred to 35mm, but HDV, it kind of had this crappy ntsc look to it and it had some ugly horizontal noise. It kind of looked like interference lines. It did look like it had better resolution, but aliasing looked worse on the HDV than the DV. This was all shot on sticks in a dimly lit interior set. My purpose for these cameras would be shooting handheld, in hot sunny deserts and dark nights. I know what I can get with DV, how far I stretch the grade and so on. I have just been grading a feature shot on HDCAM (sony 750's) and to be honest it was uncool to grade, I prefer to grade Digibeta since it has more strecth. Yes, I agree HDCAM has higher resolution, but I think there is to much compression involved, which is also my worry with the HDV format. I'm hoping to do my own tests, but budget and time constraints might not let me... My bet for the moment for my film is to go with the DVX100A and anamorphic adapters. All the best Marcel Btw 65mm is nice...

Hi Phil Thanks. We're looking to shoot dv since our footage will be intercut with archive footage originated on dv. I think I'm going to go for the DVX100, but 50i, since the footage we're intercutting with is 50i. I'm worried it would look very different if I shoot progressive? We're using FC4 to edit. Can you cut between the two formats in the timeline? Our FC4 timeline would be our master, we would not conform. How and where do you downres the hdv footage? We are possibly going to 35mm... Thanks again Marcel

Hi there Does anyone know if shooting dvcam on these cameras, will it still be using the full 16:9 chip? Many thanks Marcel

Hi Thanks for your replies! I've had a look at these water white nd's next to regular nd's and on the grads you can really see a difference in the glass, the water whites are much "cleaner" and the regulars have a slight green tone to them... Maybe that's where the problem lies. All the best Marcel

Hi I have raised this problem before, but I'll try again, maybe someone got the answer now that this camera has been used for some time. I like to use nd's in front of the lens, but I've had this problem with the colors going off, the blacks going dark red or purple when using heavy nd's in front of the lens. It is not correctable in telecine. I have also seen this on the xl1 some time ago. I have never seen it on the pd150 though. I have been using tiffen filters. Someone suggested that I should try Schneider filters, but I have not have had time to test them yet. I have also heard of mirrored nd's, but have not had the chance to try these either. I would like to source this problem, since I start production on a film soon, where we will be shooting in harsh sunlight and I would like to use nd's in front of the lens. Many thanks Marcel

Hi there Does anyone have info on what diffusion was used on the lenses in Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys? It's quite a soft film. Many thanks Marcel

Hej Line I was born and I still live here in Copenhagen Denmark. That's how I know of the school. I know a few people who have been to the school. I would think they are satisfied with it. But it is no guarentee for work. That is up to talent and connections... If it has a reputation in Europe or in the rest of the world I'm not aware of to be honest. I believe it is one of the most expensive educations in this country, after the F16 pilot education, believe it or not. (I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing) Thankfully, we do not pay for our educations ourselves in this country. We have high tax though... So in a way we do pay... Are you in Stockholm? Ha det bra Med venlig hilsen Marcel

Hi Line Snakker du dansk? Po polsku? Both film schools operate in their native language, so you have to spend some time to learn either language. I spent 9 months in Lodz, Poland 5 years ago, on a "exchange" sort of thing, except for the fact I was not a student any other place. They have this 2 semester course, where you pay, of course, and then you can arrange your own schedule there, following the different classes on the different years. At least that how it was back then. I found it to be cool, mainly because of the many different student nationalities, but I was never any good at going to school... So I was happy to move on. Both schools are good, but both schools are in two very different countries. Good luck Marcel