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Kevin Mastman

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Everything posted by Kevin Mastman

  1. I need to be prepared to be shooting in the rain in Northern Alaska. What can I do to protect the camera and onboard monitor while still having access to the controls and being able to see my image? I'll be shooting on a C300ii on a shoulder rig with matte box, follow focus, 5" monitor and gold mount batteries on the back. Thanks!
  2. Whats the story with the green screen at a downward angle? I've never seen that. (Not critiquing, trying to learn)
  3. OP here. I'm an in house director/DP considering going freelance. I've had a lot of experience shooting with both Alexa's and cameras like C300ii. I have a reel that I think speaks for itself but at the moment, not a ton of prospects for freelance clients.
  4. Thanks for the detailed reply that was very helpful! When you mention insurance, are you saying that the production company's insurance would cover the DP's camera package meaning that its unnecessary for the DP to insure their gear? Or are you saying that since a DP would have their own insurance its not necessary for the production company to insure the gear? Also, one more question: Before laying down the cost of a Porsche for a camera package, is it reasonable for a DP to rent gear themselves for a job and charge that rental as a kit fee to the production, or is that overly complicated? This is probably an unpopular opinion but I actually find the form factor and button interface of the Amira quite cumbersome in any kind of fast paced documentary setting in which lighting and action is unpredictable and inconsistent. With a camera like the C300mkii with nice glass, I find that the access to control wheels, many mappable buttons, and relatively light weight gives me speed and versatility that outweighs the improvement in image quality of the Alexa. The 3 position toggle switches on the Amira were a nice idea, but if I want to go to a setting in between those 3 positions, I have to go into the menu and change it, which takes too much time. Maybe I'm overthinking it :).
  5. For cinematographers working in the commercial / documentary world, is it necessary to own a complete camera package or can you get by renting what you need on a case by case basis? If you do rent gear, do you rent it yourself and invoice the production company, or does the company handle the rentals for you?
  6. Speaking of beautifully shot documentaries, if you haven't seen War Dance, you are missing out. Really great story also :) check out the trailer. http://www.apple.com/trailers/thinkfilm/wardance/
  7. Hello, I'm shooting with the HVX200 with a Letus extreme adapter and canon primes. I'm wondering if I shoot at 48fps, am I going to see the ground glass? What about increasing shutter speed? Thanks, Kevin Mastman
  8. Hi Del, I'm glad this topic came up because I'm confused as well. I've been looking at the Sony Z7U which as I understand is the first HDV camera to shoot true 24p. What are the advantages/ disadvantages of shooting 24p if the footage is going to be used on an sd dvd? Am I going to run into trouble pulling it to 29.97 quality wise, or do I even need to do this? Can it stay in 24p for the round trip through editing and on the DVD? Thanks, Kevin Mastman
  9. Hi, I just saw Slum Dog Millionaire and the cinematography blew my mind. I was really struck by how the film had a very distinct visual style, which never really changed throughout the movie- how every shot could have been a really great still photo independent of the film. I've been thinking a lot about how you develop a look for a film and then how you verbally communicate that style in preproduction. For the people that have been shooting for a while: What is your thought process when you first approach a project? What inspires you? How do you get other people to be confident with your artistic choices? Thanks, Kevin Mastman
  10. We shot the film last Saturday and Sunday and it went mostly without troubles, except that we were miserable out in the 20 degree weather for 11 hours a day. We had access to an apartment that we kept the batteries charging in until needed. The onboards died very quickly but the second day we used a brick and it lasted the entire shoot despite the cold. Thanks for all your advice Kevin
  11. Thanks Chris. Thats great advise. Those gloves look awesome. I sacrificed a pair of setwear gloves and cut off the thumb and index finger tips for that same purpose. It would be good to be able to put those back on at will... :)
  12. Thank you for the advice. I've heard that film gets brittle in the cold. Is there any risk of it breaking? How would I avoid this?
  13. Hello, I am 1sting on a short film with the SR3 this weekend. Its going to be very cold outside (we are shooting outside). I was wondering if you could first of all give me advice on preparations that need to be taken to protect the camera and the film from the elements. And second of all, give me some creative solutions you have figured out to stay warm but still be able to move around and function as an AC. Thanks a lot. Kevin Mastman
  14. Hi, I've been using my Sekonic L-758DR to measure exposure for my Nikon D50 still camera. The camera has the kit zoom lens on it. When I take an exposure, I find that when the lens is zoomed in, the image looks underexposed. The Camera's built in meter seems to compensate for this. So I have a few questions- 1. Why does this happen? 2. Is there a scientific way to compensate for this? 3. Should I be confident at all that shooting at what the meter tells me is actually correct with this lens? 4. What focal length should I be shooting at to get an accurate exposure to what the meter says? 5. How practical is it to take photos on set based on the measurements you get with the light meter to gauge how you want to expose the shot? Is this a common practice in the professional world? Thanks a lot. Kevin
  15. I just used iseek4k on set last weekend and its great having DOF charts that are native to the phone and don't need internet. Theres one thing I'm not sure of on how to use it though. If you are shooting at for example a bump over 4 or a split, how do you notate that in the f-stop field? It only lets you enter a number. Do you just estimate what that number is? Also, in the distance field, is there a way to write in distances that aren't a whole number amount of feet (ex: 5,3)? Or do you have to figure out the decimal? Thanks, Kevin
  16. I generally do not reuse tapes simply because if something happens, like harddrive failure or accidental deletion of your media on your computer, you no longer have the footage anywhere and you are SOL. If you do want to reuse the tape though, you really don't need to degauss it. You should be able to just rewind and tape over it without considerable quality loss (if your not doing it excessively). Kevin
  17. You are in luck with the DOF calculator. Check out: http://iphone.dofmaster.com. There is also a footage calculator: http://digitalrebellion.com/film_calc_mobile.xml I have not seen any camera logs. Sorry. Kevin Mastman
  18. I'm also a student and have also been confused about this for a while. It looks like in the second picture, the areas on the building and sidewalk that have sunlight hitting them are properly exposed. This would mean that if you took an incident reading at those locations, the sidewalk and areas not in shadow would be properly exposed and the shadows and highlights would fall into place relatively. Right? When you take the incident reading and point it toward the camera, isn't that going to give you a reading resulting in an overexposed image because all the light is coming from behind the meter? The way I understand it is: its the same as taking a reading in the shadows because there is no sunlight hitting the meter and you are going to get an image more like the first one. Am I correct/ if you were in this environment and wanted a shot to look like the second photo, what would be your process in reading the light? Thanks, Kevin
  19. I've recently noticed a trend where cinematographers tend to have a scuba diving license while editors tend to be musicians. Anyone? Kevin Mastman
  20. To get the look of lighting from candles or lanterns I would recommend using lights on a flicker box with CTO or straw and lighting the walls or the talents' faces with it. I just got off a set that was lit entirely with "candles" and it worked really well.
  21. Yentl battlefield earth we are marshall The goonies American Pie 4
  22. The Butterfly Effect had some pretty crazy effects with flashbacks. Theres some really cool stuff in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless mind. Those aren't necessarily flashbacks but the effect is similar. Goodluck
  23. I have have been using FCP 6 extensively for a few months and have not run into any problems that a) weren't in the previous version or B) hindered the use so much that I would consider downgrading or not using it. If you get it make sure you do a software update immediately so you have v6.02
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