David McLeavy

I have the VFM-055A and I’m very pleased with it. I find it very easy to pull focus and to judge color on it. It’s not super bright but it’s plenty visible in daylight with a hood.

David, I double checked and you’re right. The 23.976 is the lowest pre-made pre-set setting. If you want lower you have to add a preset and then dial it in. You learn something every day.

I just checked on ours and it seems that 23.976 is the minimum frame rate. If all you want is motion blur, you could play with the shutter settings and adjust frame rate in post.

You have to make it in Frame Line Composer and then load it into the camera via USB. https://www.arri.com/en/learn-help/learn-help-camera-system/tools/frame-line-composer

Documentaries dont require actors.

Thats an insane deal if its in good shape.

The first person I added was a great 1st AC I could trust, depending to a degree on what kind of setup youre generally shooting on.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Hello, everyone. We will need to rig the camera to a ladder top on an upcoming shoot and I wanted to get some input as to the best clamps to use. We have the board and mount already. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

This interview with the cinematographer from the time of the first season only mentions the Alexa. It does go into some depth about how he achieved the look of the show. https://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/news-features/cold-war-cinematography-concealing-and-revealing-fx-s-spy-drama-americans-423138

Could you paint out the AV equipment? Or is that beyond the scope of VFX you have for the scene? Depending on your camera moves that wouldnt be too difficult to do given the room layout.

Are you seeing more noise in the blacks than in the image overall? The Alexa has some noise throughout the image but its generally a pleasing texture. Ive never seen heightened noise in the shadows at 800.

You can see exactly how that one shot was lit at about 1:15 on this video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VOs4TWaZwJ0 Theres probably a better quality version out there. The Blu-ray of the Social Network has a ton of great extras.

Ah. Good detail to know. Thanks!

Yes it will flicker at that shutter speed and frame rate because the light dims slightly every cycle. You need at least a 2K tungsten to be bright enough that the slight dimming doesn’t read on camera. The fastest frame rate I’ve managed to shoot without any flicker with smaller lights is 120fps with an appropriate shutter speed.