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James Leonzio

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Everything posted by James Leonzio

  1. Ah, cool. Thanks Gabe. Looks like there's another one of these coming up at AbelCineNY in July. https://www.abelcine.com/learn/calendar/hdr-color-grading-for-davinci-resolve-with-dado-valentic. Anyone else have any suggestions for a modern, but non-HDR class or workshop?
  2. Hi All, I've decided it's finally time to understand color science at a much deeper level than just the basics. I know, I'm a bit late to the party:) I'm sure there are plenty of resources online, but I'd love to take an in person class or workshop if possible. Does anyone have any good suggestions in the NYC area? Maybe AbelCine or a post house has something along these lines every so often? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! James
  3. I've been using DXOMark for a while now to compare still lens performance, and I've found it really useful/interesting. Does anyone know of something similar that also includes cinema lenses? I'd love to see how higher end lenses stack up against each other, as well as against cheaper counterparts. I found THIS DATABASE in another thread, which appears to be really comprehensive, but doesn't speak much to the performance of each lens.
  4. Very Cool, Travis. Just judging from the pictures and descriptions, I like the Mega-Quick Pipe Splice. Seems to be really easy to connect, disconnect, and fairly strong. I think with a little silicone, or maybe some fine grit sanding at the joints, I can put something together pretty sweet. to the BatLab for testing... thanks guys!
  5. Hi, I'm trying to figure out the best dolly/slider solution for my specific application. I need to be extremely mobile (be able to transport my gear in the trunk of a NYC cab). As far as track goes, I think 4' is about as long I can go without having issues. So, in order to do a fairly decent length dolly move, I'll need to find a way to connect speed rail in a fairly precise way, so that when the slider goes between two sections of track, there wont be a bump. Anyone out there figure out a way to connect multiple sections of speed rail for this purpose?
  6. So I've been contracted to do a few basic aerial shots of skylines and a few approaches of a particular skyscraper in the downtown Houston area. We'll be keeping it really simple camera-wise, just a 5D mkiii with a zoom and zoom control. After all the horror stories of Helicopter shoots gone wrong, I'm trying to reach out to as many sources as I can, before I get up in the air. I am currently working with the following company, trying to work out all the details of the particular mount we would be using (a custom gyro stabilized mount they designed) http://www.paradigmhelicopters.com/aerial-photography.php If anyone has any insight on who to talk to, and what questions to ask when it comes to aerial work, I would really appreciate it. Safety is my number one concern here, so please, whatever help you can offer...
  7. I have a used but fully functioning Bartech remote focus system. Great, dependable wireless device for all those tricky camera setups. Here's the link to the ebay listing, which has more information. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8#ht_1277wt_962 Asking $3500 You can use the buy it now feature, or buy it separate from ebay with a discount! All serious offers considered. Let me know if you have any questions. thanks, James
  8. This mattebox is in overall very good shape, and has some real nice features. One rotating filter stage is a little stiff, but serves its function well. There are also some typical scratches, etc that you would expect to find. To read about the features, please visit... www.vocas.com and find your way to the model MB-350 mattebox. Here's a link to this item on ebay as well. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=150355968999 This mattebox can also be adapted for use with rail support with a bars adapter. This lot includes: (2) 4x4 filter holders (1) 4x5.65 filter holder that are included. 85mm clip on adapter for most standard ENG/EFP lenses. Extra wide top flag. 16x9 hard matte. 4x3 hard matte. Asking $550 If you have any questions, let me know. thanks, James
  9. This is a great lens, part of the HJ series lenses. It is a "standard" zoom and it's fully functional. It's used and you will see minor cosmetic blemishes, but I've fully tested the image on my HPX500 and it looks beautiful. This particular model is not sold new anymore, however the must comparable one would be the HJ17ex7.6B-IRSE sold here at B&H for over $17,000. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4289...s_17x_2_3_.html It's an HD ready lens. Just slap it on any B4 mount and you're good to go. It also has the 2x extender. Asking $5000. Here's a couple pics.
  10. Anyone know of a good cable and connector guide that has diagrams or pictures and names for all 1 million types of connectors out there? I checked Lemo's website, but naturally they only talk about their own connectors. I'm looking for something comprehensive so that when I see a connector and I don't know what it is, I can look it up fairly easily. Online would be ideal, but even in a book would be great. Someone stole my ASC manual (it was the nice black hardcover bible looking one too, damn!). Is there anything useful in there? Thanks in advance.
  11. Kooooooooooooooch!!!!! What's up man? Thanks for the post. I have another question to add here... So I've called everyone I can think of here in NY to try and find those T8 kino bulbs and can only really get them through special order. Most people don't even know what they are. However, I did find a lighting supplier that carries MovieTone bulbs that, according to the salesman, has a true color temperature of 3200K just like the kinos. Has anyone had any experience with these? If so, please do share. thanks.
  12. I can't believe it but I couldn't find a thread about this. Sorry if I'm repeating, but I just wanted to make sure what the deal is with swapping out kinos for typical on location flourecents. So my location is an office with typical gross nasty flourecents. Instead of waiting for post to color correct, I'd like to swap out the bulbs with 3200K Kino Flo Bulbs. As I understand it, these will give me a true color temperature and I can work with typical tungsten lights around it as well. So my question is, kino flo makes several different 3200K bulbs. Obviously I will need 4' bulbs, but what intensity/type? Will some work and others not? or will any 4' work? Also, does anyone know a good place to rent or buy these bulbs in the NYC area? thanks, James
  13. Ha, that's what I saw happening at my school. I mean how many DPs have you heard of that came out of film school that started shooting right away, besides Janusz Kaminiski shooting Schindler's List almost right out of AFI? But he probably would have been successful with or without film school. Even the graduating DPs in my school who were talented seemed to have nowhere to go after school besides more free work. Again, I know this is a tough industry but if you are paying someone $10k+ a semester, you better get some kind of guarantee that you can at least get a paying pee-on position somewhere. My first year of film school was actually great. It was fun, I learned a lot, worked hard, and I don't regret it at all, but I just saw that tuition money floating away. The higher ups in film school look at it as a business/investment more than anything else. Students should start looking at it the same way, in my opinion anyway.
  14. touche'...hey, I said things were bad, you don't have to rub it in. Besides, there's nothing wrong with an older woman now and then, ya know?
  15. Yea, I think I know what you're saying but if I have the meter in FL mode, this is an absolute reading, and shouldn't be affected by the ISO. maybe a stupid question, but would getting closer to the screen help?
  16. Seriously, I'm having a hard time even getting free work!!!! I just finished a year of graduate film production at Chapman, emphasizing in cinematography. I learned quite a bit about storytelling, which was great, but the more I talked to graduating students, the more I realized that graduating film school doesn't do s@#% in terms of finding real work. Every working professional I got a chance to talk to laughed when I told them I was in film school. Don't get me wrong. I understand that this business is very competitive and I love to shoot and just being on set, so I have no problem with "paying my dues." I WANT to work hard and learn! I know enough about cinematography to know there is ton more I need to learn. It just seems like there is no way to actually learn cinematography besides trying and screwing up on your own (which I've already done a bit of). Wouldn't it make more sense to be taken under the wing of good DP and work for him/her (for free of course) to learn hands on directly? Are there any DPs that do this? Sort of like an apprenticeship? I feel like this would be a much more effective way of learning cinematography than going to film school or working your way up as an AC. If you're a DP, especially if you're in NY, and you have any advice for me I would greatly appreciate it cause I'm this close to giving up and going back to engineering...uhhh, I think I'm gonna be sick. Thanks in advance, James
  17. Even funnier, I usually just bring your mom....hahahha. jk. a little NY humor for you.
  18. It was a rainy afternoon during the week and I had nothing to do. Big surprise for a new DP, right? so being the freak that I am, I sneaked my light meter into my local theater to see "Michael Clayton." Why, you ask? well, I'm not really sure, but I was hoping to learn something interesting. Maybe you guys can help me out. So I'm sitting in the make out seats (not making out, just me and my light meter...yes, that's how bad things are right now) and when the coast was clear i whipped it out (no...the light meter. God you guys are sick). Risking getting accused of trying to make a pirate copy of the film by one of the three other people in the theater (an 80 year old couple and the usher), I continued with my dangerous mission. I switched my 558-Cine to spot mode, and to FL mode, pointed it at various points on the screen and started taking mental notes of the readings. For the most part, I was getting E.u for the complete shadows (obviously not enough light to give a reading) and up to 1.0 FL for the brightest spots on the screen. I guess I was trying to figure out what kind of contrast ratios we see in a typical final print on the big screen, but if my lowest readings were E.u, how would I figure this out? I know FL is for foot*lamberts. If I use 0 in place of E.u then the contrast ratio would be 1:0 which is basically infinity right? anyone have any thoughts? thanks James
  19. just thought of two things. Does it matter if we are using a zoom lens vs. two primes? What about if we are using a macro lens vs. a standard prime? does this throw off the relationship that Mr. Mullen has explained? I guess what I'm really asking is does the lens design throw off this relationship at all, or is this a strict optics relationship? eager to hear responses. there is a large bet between me and my friend weighing in the balance
  20. Thanks for your answers guys. This really clears it up for me. That DOF article is very interesting as well.
  21. well maybe not a brain buster, but something I was thinking about the other day... So here's the situation: 1) we are photographing something relatively small (like a phone number on a post it pad). This small subject will fill the frame. 2) we are shooting fairly wide open, say f/2.0. Why? cause we have to, at least for the sake of this exercise. 3) We need to maximize our depth of field (the right side of the post it pad is closer to the film plane than the left side, and we need the whole thing to be in focus) without changing our exposure, and the subject must be full frame (ext. CU). In order to maximize depth of field, would you... A) get the camera nice and close to the subject and use a wider angle lens? or B) move the camera farther away from the subject and use a longer lens? or or will the two options give you similar results in terms of DOF? I'm guessing that this might depend at least somewhat on the specific lens design, but maybe not. Maybe there's a really simple answer to this, and I'm just going overboard. Anyway, let me know what you're thinking... thanks, James
  22. Thanks for all your opinions guys. This whole workflow freaks me out the more I think about it. Tim, in regards to when you talked about connecting the lacie hard drive directly to the camera...I have a question. When you transfer directly to the Lacie hard drive from the camera during a little down time, I'm assuming that you can't ever view the contents of the hard drive (no laptop on set). Doesn't that freak you out that you can't actually see the files on the drive? What happens if the transfer didn't work correctly. Then when you clear that P2 card, you could lose that footage forever, right? I also have another question for everyone. I know you record directly to an FS-100, but could you connect a typical Lacie external HD (not a bus powered one) and record directly to that? I know you would have limited because the HD would always have to be plugged into a wall outlet, but is that possible? Or does the hard drive NEED an interface like the one on the Firestore in order to work at all. I guess I just don't understand why you can transfer already recorded footage directly to a standard HD but not record live to a standard HD. Any ideas?
  23. I'm a little confused about why the Firestore 100 and other direct to hard disks are so expensive. You can buy the same 100GB HD from LaCie for about $150, not $1000. I know the HVX can't bus power an external HD but obviously Firestore has figured out a way around this. Has anyone tried to rig up there own and gotten it to work? I've never used the Firestore so if there is some feature besides just recording the footage that I don't know about, please let me know. Thanks, James
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