Tom Hepburn

You know it's always buyer beware, but I've got all of my stuff on Ebay. Just be careful and check feeback as well as ask a question or two of the seller. Sometimes their response time and tone speak a lot about that person. Here are two on the UK's Ebay: Chinon Braun Nizo I've had a Chinon that I bought off of Ebay for $25. It still works, going on 5 years now. Tom

Thanks Martin. It's funny, two years ago I bought a Kodak Cini 100 off of ebay for 140 bucks. If you're not familiar, it has a turret with 3 lenses, a 75mm, 50mm, and 25mm. Six months ago I bought and Eclair ACL II (S16). I have a zoom for it, but since my cine 100 lenses covered the s16 and are obviously primes, I used those for this footage: Cinor Berthoit Elgeet The shots in the first half were very rushed and not crisp because of it-bad planning. When we heard the horn go off signaling the beginning of the race, everything was still in it's case. We couldn't get to "The" spot as there were just too many people to get around. I'll get up an hour earlier next year. Tom

I would take a look at this as well. One of these may serve you well in the long run: http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-11314_7-6608500.html I bought the Sony one about 6 months ago and am happy with it, but it wasn't cheap. Tom

Hi Joana: Choose File > Export > Frame T

Hey Martin, Looks really good. Good subject. I've seen some great, great, talents in the subways here as well. This guy sounds completely unique. Some nice editing in the teaser too. Can't wait to see it. Tom

You know, like many I'm familiar with all of these artists. Their work is hung in galleries all over the world and taught about in our Art Schools. I've never heard of you.

Hey Peter, There is some potential there, but I too was thrown by the night and day shots. If a viewer is interrupted by lack of continuity (as in "wait, wasn't this night time?") then that really reduces the ability to follow along and to get absorbed in the story or message. Also, it seemed out of character, for a person to be smiling on a cell phone, while helping someone from a burning apartment. Still, I think you've got some potential in your shooting. Tom

Dots? I thought that was grain :D That is a cool painting. I've spend more than a couple of hours in front of that puppy, as well as in the whole Impressionist section. Even the frame is painted in dots. One thing to consider is because he was using large quantities of paint and did not buy them from a tube, apparently the colors have faded quite a bit. I wonder what it looked like 130 years ago. I'll bet it was almost like neon back in the day. Tom

That is sweet. I remember not that long ago, the cost of RAM and Hard Drive space was big money. I got a 1 gig drive that I split with someone back when I was in school and I thought I was the stuff. "yep, that's 500 megs, read it and weep." Tom

I'm sure Saul or someone else can give you a more detailed answer to your question, but in general the pressure plate holds the film in position when the film is exposed. I wouldn't shoot again until you know that your camera has all of the necessary parts, if not working, at least present. Maybe post a picture of the open camera so more experienced eyes (not mine) can asses if it looks in order. Or even better if you have a manual, check in there. Tom

I have chosen to keep out of this post until now. I'm not addressing the subject at hand one way or the other. I do have to say that David has been EXTREMELY helpful to me regarding Cinematography. He has gone beyond the call of what I expected to make sure that I understood the things I was missing, and asked for nothing in return. We all have strong opinions on controversial subjects. Again, I'm not defending, endorsing, or promoting anything or anyone, I just wish we could have found another way....ALL of us. Tom

Hey Saul, Thanks for the response. Here is the workflow Super 16 processing Telecine to HD (Spirit, 1920x1080) convert to stills (a long difficult and necessary step) Now I expose "my little engine that could" computer I'm basically editing by proxy. -I take my HD footage (still sequence) into the my Premier Pro Timeline At full 1920x1080 there is just no way. -So I export the whole sequence at 480x270 with significant compression -The next day ;) I edit with my reduced and compressed footage (saving early and ofter) -When that's finished I duplicate my timeline and replace my reduced and compressed footage with my HD footage -at this point, I compress to taste. Blueray as soon as I find a player to test it on. I'm not sure if that's the info you were looking for, but there it is. I would say that in the future (b4 I upgrade my computer) I'm going to get all of my Telecine converted to still sequences. To me it seems like that is one way to avoid platform and codec restrictions. Let me know if there is any other info that might be helpful. Thanks as always. Tom

Hey Ron, Here is my experience. I have trouble reading the little numbers on my old Sekonic analog meter, especially the cini numbers. I got a Spectra on Ebay for around $200. Those old meters are certainly capable of giving you a good reading, once their accuracy is verified, but my thought is that given the amount of $$$ I'm spending on film, processing, and especially telecine, I didn't want to cut that corner and I also wanted a meter that was more cinema friendly. Tom

If it's the telecine operator then the negative should be good right? I would take a look at that to determine where the problem is. I'm sure that was disappointing though. Tom

Hello, I wanted to post what amounts to a camera test. You may recall that there was a blocthy grain thing going on a month or two ago. I've since had the camera serviced and had the film scanned in HD. I threw some sound on it to keep it from getting to boring. Let me know if you see any mechanical shortcomings. It's also compressed quite a bit. Eclair Test Footage Thanks in advance, Tom

Isn't he looking through the wrong end? :blink:

I would agree and probably shot at 64 fps or higher to look smooth. Judging by the rotating leaf, I'm not sure animation is there forte. T

Hey Rich, I don't have the answers to some of your technical questions, but I will say that "dooms dayers" are very difficult to be around on any level and in any situation when trying to realize a goal, in my experience. Sometimes when things get tough, and they always do at some point, an attitude be it good or bad can be contagious. Hopefully that drive and the positive attitude, that your friend appears to lack based on what you're saying, will see you through the rough spots. More money isn't always the answer. As they say, my 2 cents. Also, I just picked up a 4 light Lowell Omni kit for $470 on Ebay. Someone please delete my Ebay account :D Not sure if that would work for you what to do, but maybe it would. Tom

Living in Chicago I'm going to happen upon the same situation. In fact it's 20 degrees at the moment. Can I just ask what the protocol is to avoid condensation on your lenses? AND would the same protocol apply to your camera/magazines? For example would you slowly reduce the temperature over a 1/2 hour or so going from outside, to in the car, to inside? Or would it be best to keep the lenses outside, but sheltered in a case? Thanks, Tom

Hi Denisse, A very good first effort. A couple things I would consider for your next project. Obviously everyone isn't the same, but I find it more interesting when things are shown instead of presented in the form of dialog. For example, when she mistakes the gentleman on the street for Mike. Another take could be for him to just shake his head and have the couple walk away after his wife asks, "who was she?" As a viewer I already knew that this woman was a tad strange and that she thought this guy was Mike. I would also clean up the audio and I have a suggestion that may help to do that. What I do if I feel like the audio isn't flowing on an edit, is to close my eyes, or turn off the monitor, and make notes to myself along the way-just listening to the audio. For example, "at point X, abrupt cut." One solution might be to do a short cross dissolve or set the level slightly lower for a specified time, 2 seconds for example, until the listener has time to adjust. Sometimes, you want that abrupt sound change depending on what you're trying to accomplish. You might be surprised what you notice when your eyes are not occupied. As I say these are only suggestions and you have a lot of great things there. Good Luck, Tom

Sing it with me guys, "We are the world" :lol: Seriously, anything to keep film going is a good thing. Tom

You only need to use the high slide when your non high slide reading is burying the needle. Tom

If it were me, and it's not, I would consider doing this in post. However, that may not be what your instructor is trying to teach you with this assignment. I would check first if this is an option. In AfterEffects there is a plug in called leave color. It takes a little tweaking, like everything seems to need in post, but with some masking it should work nicely. Of course I would do a test first. If for example you want to keep the red paint red, you would want to make sure that there is no other Red in the footage. Mostly cyan would probably be best. That would save a lot of masking later. Thought I'd mention it. Tom

Hey Adrian, Is that an SR3 :D Sorry, I couldn't resist. Tom

Thanks Paul. That means a lot. Tom