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Chris Pickle

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    Cinematographer
  1. You not only responded to my comments, you essentially told me they were not relevant to discussion. At least, I suppose, not your part of it. I don't dig harsh, and sometimes these boards, in my view, can be a bit knee-jerk. Sorry if I came to the discussion late... and it had evolved beyond general feedback on Red & Nikon to Red & steadicam & nikon & pulling focus. I did however have a small amount of insight into the general idea of Red & Nikon and I apologize if my comment on taking issue with other folks issues with Nikon seemed harsh to you. Yes, my experience doesn't include Stedicam, so I can't speak to that. The two features we just completed with Nikons. We were lower budget, but the footage looks fantastic. On a tight budget, I wouldn't break the bank with expensive rentals if I had access to fast Nikons. When I hear of folks going to the ZF line, I'm surprised, since there is no image benefit and I can't imagine that a smoother focus barrel (that is still short) would factor. And as I mentioned, going to Standard Speeds, well, on low budget, I would have missed all those stops. On the other hand, it would be great to have a fast set of quality PL glass. Hopefully Red has solved the issue for the budget minded. It's all good. Chris
  2. I wasn't talking to you. If you read my post, you'd see I was responding to the OP's first post. (which I quoted!) I was simply giving my two cents on shooting Red & Nikon, which is what the OP was asking for. All my comments were to my experiences--like, lens speed, focus, my thoughts on pros & cons... etc. My comment about folks complaining about this setup wasn't directed at you, nor anyone in particular... I hear the Nikon lens lament often enough to comment on it without talking about you. These were MY EXPERIENCES. Do you think everyone who posts in this thread must make posts that are relevant to yours? Or are we allowed to comment / respond to the OP?
  3. Recently shot 2 features with Red / Nikon. Mostly 35 / 50 / 85 ... some 135 & 17-35. Footage looked great, especially 35, 50, 85. Focus was tricky but we managed. Dp / Operator pulled his own focus from LCD, but he's a machine and shoots this way 5 days a week. I must say how surprised I was in how well it worked. When I hear eveyone worried about this approach, I'm not sure what they mean. Yeah, it was tough, but the Nikons were faster then a set of ZFs or Standards. Obviously the biggest issue is the short focus turn radius... but For anything low budget, I'd just go this route. The LCD was remarkably accurate. Chris
  4. I know this might sound sacrilegious, but data wrangling is not the big deal people say it is. Actually, on anything other then a very big budget you don't even need a DIT. Everybody, (Especially Red owners) like to perpetuate the idea that it's some big scary difficult issue--data and DIT. As far as the camera goes, well, someone on the crew should know the camera menus,etc. But that's no different then any camera. The data is as easy as pulling the drive or card and copying it to two other drives. No one sits there and watches the footage. That would take forever. Even the data transfer takes forever on big shoot, so once it's started, all you can do is maybe count the ceiling tiles. You double check the files sizes on all 3 drives, watch a bunch of clips, maybe a few seconds from each, then carry on. It's ridiculously easy. On a small indie crew, the 1st could do it, or at least get it started over lunch if that's how you want to do it. Hell, the director or DP could do it. On our last two features we simply went back to the office and transfered footage at the end of the day. Someone on the crew took care of it, but we all communicated to make sure no one wiped drives until all double checks were made. We shot on a drive so we didn't stop mid-day to transfer. Chris
  5. I think the solution will come via faster read chips and processors, verses a mechanical fix. I can't imagine Red wanting to go that route. Especially at their biz model / price point. There's speculation that their new models will already see an improvement. I always admit to loving the Red, but when I see (not meaning you) folks bash the D90 or other cams as having horrible skew and making fun of it, I wonder if they are really being honest about the Red, and doing a bit of a white-wash because they are such fans or they are justifying buying the Red. In a best case scenario we could be fans of the Red and yet speak truthfully about it's shortcomings. It's a first generation camera from essentially a ground-up design. There's bound to be short-comings and challenges. Just my perspective. Chris
  6. If we agree that there is skew and that it's caused by a slow chip read, then a mechanical shutter wouldn't fix the issue, because when the shutter is open, the weak link would still be the chip. Now, maybe we don't agree that there is skew, but from my experience, there is major skew in the Red footage. As I said, I'm a fan, but I was surprised at how much there is. But that's my experience. Chris
  7. Exactly. Even if they had a mechanical shutter, the chip read speed still couldn't keep up with an "open" shutter. I love the Red and it has given my latest feature film a great level of production value, but the skew shows up way more then I thought it would. Parts of my film are busy handheld, but not crazy cam. The skew shows up even in very calm pans. Again, I love the Red.... but... Chris
  8. This may be an odd question, but can I put a 1200w bulb in a 2500w light? I want to buy 2 used 1200w HMIs but I can't find any. I have found many more 2500w HMIs. I thought I read somewhere that the ballasts are rated for more than 1 watt setting? Maybe I'm way off base? Also, does anyone know of a good source for used 1200w HMIs. PARs preferred. Thanks, Chris
  9. That was certainly a low point. BTW - I see that your Oscar nomination (and obvious talent--Silent City was way cool.) finally paid off! Akira....?? Wow!! And rumored to star a couple of of most talented actors in Hollywood today!
  10. I don't think anyone works for free. Who really knows the "value" breakdown of the rental day rate. For a person just staring out, this has always been a popular biz model. They can amortize the camera as long or short as works for them, and then know that part of the "rental" rate includes their own rate -- even if it is on the lower end. It's similar to the DP who talks the producer into renting some light goodies from their personal stash, and then only using them once on the shoot. Everyone knows it was really about the day rate, even the producer. But then the producer thinks at least their getting some extra value. Just my thoughts. Chris
  11. It would be nice to see someone like David Mullen do a full shakedown outside of any group or NDA. (I'm not meaning to disparage LART) Chris
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