Tyler Purcell

Kodak could work with Illford or Owro and simply re-brand their B&W stocks. Then they could focus on color only. I would see that happening for sure, but I would not see them canceling B&W stocks.

Orwo will be Kodak pricing most likely. Ferrania Chrome I'm totally into, but only if we can process it locally. My concern is that they won't make it E-6 compatible. Kodak also no longer has those long-term contracts with the studio's, so if Orwo could make quantities large enough for big enough and consistent enough, they could be in business. We wait to see! 2022 could be a pretty great year for film honestly.

I’d that akin to the CRI process?

Why would I give you information, when earlier you threatened that those professors were in the wrong? I have zero reason to lie about anything, especially when it's so well documented online. For the record, I didn't even notice that little note you made at the very tail end of the post until AFTER I had spent all that time making the grade for you. It was unbelievable someone would resort to such behavior; "he can't post, but everyone else can". Gatekeeping is not welcome ANYWHERE on the internet. If you want to start your own website and block my IP address, that's your prerogative, but if you are on a group with other people, telling someone they can't post is unfitting behavior for this group. Wait, have I gotten bent out of shape because you hate film or something? No, not at all. I never called you names, I never said you couldn't post, I never argued credentials, I never said your films sucked, I never said you were an elitist. You probably don't even notice you say those things, you probably don't even understand the psychological effect they have on people. Nope, it's not an accredited University. Unlike most universities, my school is a place for anyone, no gatekeeping, no financial transactions, no long-term commitments. If you want to learn what it's like to actually shoot on film, then you shouldn't have to be burdened by some gatekeeping. You're kind of confusing two different stories, from different times and places. The professors I worked with here in Los Angeles, they seemed to be a bit more in touch with the industry. Also, we were all friends and we talked about their failed filmmaking careers. One of them IS a successful filmmaker, but he recently had to move to another school in order to find some place where he could take time off to shoot. Two other guys actually quit teaching because both of them also moved out of Los Angeles and got jobs back in the industry again, one in broadcasting, one as a writer for TV. Then during covid, things got worse and entire programs were shut down, which meant my other friends were all let go as well. I haven't even tried to re-connect with the department heads because I'm frankly too busy to teach anyway. I'm still on the mailing lists tho, they have job opportunities all the time, but as you pointed out, need a Masters. I would still teach high school, but to make a long story short, the cinema program director was let go and there was a protest by the parents which meant their program was nearly de-funded. They had a few full-time positions open, but I was not interested in being stuck teaching high school full-time. I do miss it tho, I really enjoyed my time teaching high school. Tho the college kids were far more receptive. Which his why so many graduates, can't find jobs. Look, I could go on about this all day, but suffice to say if you spend $100k on education and have no idea how to actually do your job, then the education was worthless. The piece of paper you receive is just a qualification. According to multiple websites, 45% of graduates are unable to find work in the field they graduated from. Covid has made it worse because prior to the holiday job growth, the unemployment rate for students has been hovering around 10% for years. It's a huge problem and you may not see it as a professor, but I see it having worked with so many students post graduation. I see they are completely unprepared for life outside of college, they have some skills, but they aren't what the industry needs. Many work as waiters or for fast food joints, hoping someday their little indy feature they made on credit cards will be seen by someone. Meanwhile they have to live at home with their parents in order to pay their debt. Colleges need to do more in order to prepare our kids for real work, including forcing students to do internships and get real skills. I was forced to do an internship during High School and without it, I would have never received the experiences required to work at a broadcaster, which was my first big break. It is, so why don't you just assume that people are nice and try not to treat them like shit?

We tag-teamed the classes. Believe it or not, I was invited by the program director to lecture. They paired me with multiple teachers amongst different disciplines, hence the reason why I'd lecture on multiple things. I mean, the only reason I don't have a masters is because as I said earlier, they wanted too much money to finish the program. It's a long story, but both of my parents worked in education for decades, I went to college for a long time as well, have 3 degrees. I know how it works and sadly, I grew up poor and was lucky to even attend college. Gosh if only you heard the sailor talk on set about the very same products I bitch about online. My complaints are tame compared to the way they talk. If you knew how the industry actually worked, how people actually talk to one another behind closed doors, you'd probably understand where I come from. Since this place does have a lot of professionals on it, I just assume they understand my language because they've seen it before. I don't remember why I came on here originally, but I started getting back into cinematography around 2007, so that may have been what happened. I had a really horrible experience shooting two features back to back and I totally left the industry, but had a friend who wanted to shoot a short film and I think that's why I came back. I mean do you want me to show you the PM's they sent me about how annoying you've been to them? lol 😛 So basically, if I say anything negative that has anything remotely to do with you, then you'll be triggered. Like if you own a Ford Fiesta and I say "oh man Fiesta's are garbage" then you'll get triggered? When did I attack academics? For gosh sakes, I've worked in academics for years, I have my own damn school! lol What you thought was an attack, was actually a suggestion on "course of action" and my own experiences with a certain type of professor. I bet you didn't know that just because you can afford a masters, doesn't make you somehow a more "educated" person. I've worked with dozens of tenure'd professors, they haven't worked in the film industry in 20 years. Do you really think they'll be able to prepare kids for what it's like to actually work in the film industry? Your comment earlier about teachers not needing to prepare their students is ridiculous. How about this, why don't you go to film school for 2 years, then come to Hollywood and try to become successful. I'm sure kids who leave your program do fine because you're teaching them what they need to know in order to perform their job. But with the arts, things change so rapidly, unless you're in it full time, you just don't know. So how are you going to prepare the kids? For gosh sakes in my broadcasting classes we used 3 TUBE cameras and 3/4" tape when the rest of the world was all digital. Anyway, I'm a nice guy, you should be able to tell that from all the videos you've watched of me. I'm not purposely attacking anyone or anything, I'm just speaking my mind.

OHHHHH so do it as a spliced together, projected presentation? WOW that's nifty. What about soundtrack?

I don't consider someone who attends every class for an entire semester, year after year a "guest speaker". I actually did a lot of lecturing on film history, script/story development and of course anything related to the different professions on a filmset. So many of the professors at those schools I lectured at, had not been in the industry very long. Talented as they were, things change fast. If you aren't constantly busy making stuff, you will be out of date quick. If you re-read what I said, I was referring to their posts as being deleted, never once mentioning their user accounts, which are of course still active. RedUser is a support group for Red cameras. It has nothing to do with cinematography, even though they have a totally dead cinematography section. Oh and yea when I use to shoot Red a lot for commercial work, I was on there quite a bit trying to come up with solutions to cracked monitor mounts and cameras that wouldn't boot up. I have been nothing but kind, understanding and direct with my responses. I have helped you answer many questions and I have not called you names or belittled your projects. You came back on here and the first thing you did was get triggered in the middle of a conversation that had nothing to do with you at all. As if, any of the technology or techniques discussed were ones you invented, so you must defend them to the death. Same goes for Robin and his love for Sony cameras. He defends garbage products as if he designed them, as if his paycheck said Sony on it. Yet I'm the guy who has to deal with the issues on productions AND when the cameras needed to go in for service for things no other cameras had issues with. If you saw the bullshit I had to deal with, you would be ready to throw the cameras out the window. I stayed calm and sorted things out. You come on to a group thats mostly populated by film people, or people who want to work on film, exclaiming that film people are elitists and spouting utter nonsense that is just not true. Coming from someone who admittedly doesn't even shoot film anymore, acting like in the few years since they have, that things are worse?!?! So no, you don't get to spin this and make it all my fault, especially when other people on here agree with me. If you wish to leave, that would be unfortunate because you have a lot of great questions that should be answered by professionals. I care about everyone who wants to make product, but I wish to inform them of the proper way to be successful, even if they don't want to hear it.

Bro tell me about it. I actually shot a feature in 2019 that we did one takes on pretty much everything and we only shot 25 rolls or something stupid like that. So if you count reaction shots and such, you're looking at 4:1 ratio? It was tight, but we got it done. Film looks great. It was 16mm tho, so that's something to think about. I think with 35mm, I'd try to go with 1000ft loads, but that's me.

Right, you have a problem with me, not the other way around. I haven't critiqued your films. I haven't done anything to bother you, besides being brutally honest about things that really have nothing to do with you personally. Your very first post here since you came back was a direct attack at one of my comments: Then you spouted some nonsense about people who shoot on film being "divas" and talking about massive rigs, noisy motors, hot lights, massive dolly that you "could never afford a camera with a rock solid image". That comment let me to research your other films to see what issues you struggled with in the past. Having watched the only short available online, it was very clear there were many misconceptions that needed to be corrected. If you say things that are false because of missing knowledge, then we (it was a few of us commenting) are useless for not correcting those mistakes. I would for sure hope other people correct my mistakes or we will never learn and this place will be worthless to everyone. Then you criticize me about how out of touch I am about "indy" filmmaking, when I'm literally wrapping up my 4th indy film, that's being internationally distributed with a limited theatrical run for academy qualification due to our decent original soundtrack. Meanwhile, you had the balls to say the screen grabs from my last film were not up to your standard, as some sort of "dig" on my abilities? I took the time out of my day to grade your sample professionally, with multiple nodes, power windows and to a level that is (all be it not perfect) close to where it would need to be in order to be acceptable. I did that to help you since this group is for cinematographers, not editors and colorists. So most people just dabble in color and I actually do it for real. I did it, even though you went out of your way to put me down on every occasion possible. I have not once, not a single time said anything negative about you personally. Your decision making process maybe flawed, but that's inexperience that can be solved over time and through education. Every single time I talked about other people, like YouTubers or other indy filmmakers, you were instantly triggered and resorted to name calling. Not true at all, you told other people to mind their own business as well. Robin and Gregg have defaced this group with the meanest, most hateful comments I have ever seen on a group like this. They have been long deleted, which is why you think it's all my fault. If you are triggered because someone complains about a certain type of camera and the only thing you can do about it is name call, you should not be on the internet period. This place has zero issues when people aren't triggered. Yea you were "purposely" a tool and you say I have mental health issues? I think one of my compatriots here on the group tried to send you to my film school's website, so you could check out what we do. Alas, you must have skimmed over it. Outside of working part time as a teacher at LACHSA, I also worked directly with three other professors at 3 other colleges; Cal State Northridge, Cal State LA and LMU. Two of those professors would have me in to lecture on a regular basis. Most of my lectures were about indy filmmaking, from script to finished product. They really liked having someone in class to discuss what the process is like, since I've co-produced two successful internationally distributed indy features. I also lectured about shooting on motion picture film and Cal State Northridge has two 35mm projectors in their cinema program auditorium, so we were getting close to being able to show things as well, but covid hit and sadly those adjunct professors I worked with, either quit or moved out of town. The worst was losing my LMU connection, that was horrible. He was one of my closest friends in Hollywood, fantastic filmmaker and teacher. He sent me students to work with at my place instead of doing lecturing because it's hard to have 25+ students touch two or three cameras. So he'd send them in small groups over to my place and we'd shoot little projects. A bit of that footage is in my YouTube series, if you look closely you'll see some strange "test" footage, that's nearly all student produced. I would like to finish my masters program someday, but being a professor at a film school doesn't interest me anymore. I have way too many skills to be stuck teaching, even though I really enjoy it.

Going after academics by being honest about the people I've met and worked with in the field of academics? I use to teach bro, both college and high school. I had my own film based program at LACHSA for 2 years before the budget was cut and because my career was more important to me than a $55k a year paycheck, I did not take them up on the offer to teach full time. I'm sorry if my example resonated with your life, it was not written to trigger you. I work in Hollywood man. If you don't have hubris, you're a waiter making minimum wage living in a shitty single bedroom apartment, asking your parents for rent. It's not sad, it's reality bro. You'd be outraged working here, you'd last 10 weeks before you were so triggered at what someone said, you'd sell everything and move home. The only thing that drives people away are your embarrassing remarks. Also, you clearly don't need any help. You've said many times you have no interest in learning how to be a real cinematographer. Everyone here has given you advice and in the other thread, you literally said you have zero interest in doing what any of us suggest. You blame us for being "elites" for suggesting proper lighting techniques which are outside of your budget range. Then you refuse to hire a cinematographer to help make your projects look better. What else do you want us to do? No bro, people who get triggered the way you do, who resort to name calling and angry posts are the ones who need the metal health assistance. Also, I have severe dry skin, it hereditary, so I blink and twitch my face because it itches constantly even with creme. Thanks for thinking I'm mentally retarded because I have dry skin.

It was actually done... I can't for the life remember the title. It was a hipster film shot in LA, using 2 perf and 1000ft loads. Very clever movie, well made actually. It all takes place in a single take, but they used the reel breaks as a "shot" change. All done on Steadicam and the operator(s) were beasts. Where the film COULD have been better, it wasn't half bad. Great low budget vibe and it had a little theatrical run on 35mm as well, that's where I saw it. Damn I wish I remembered the title. I mean theoretically if there is no physical editing, no editor attached to the project, you can't really get an editing award. Animation is edited in the storyboards, so they do have "editors" on both the pre-production AND production side as they will cut down scenes that don't work, so they always need an editor. But a film that was shot entirely in camera, roll by roll would not necessarily need an editor. However, if you're doing multiple takes it can be an issue. Also remember you need to put a slate in and mark each new roll. So that would need to be cut out, so an editor maybe necessary. Interesting thought tho! Oh and welcome to the forum!

Oh for sure, but like when do people stop wasting time and actually make watchable product? Digital cameras democratized filmmaking to a level where anyone can do it, but so few people have compelling stories to tell. They want to learn the job as they do it and ya know what, that's impossible when you're working on a feature. Funny enough, I tell people now NOT to attend film school and to focus on a backup career in something they like to do, so when they fail at filmmaking (which most do) then they won't have to resort to making YouTube videos about filmmaking. Honestly I always thought it was funny when people said; "Film school professors are usually failed filmmakers" and they're right. The top professors at my college in the filmmaking program, were all failed filmmakers. They had all made a big movie, realized they needed a break from the industry, got a masters and started teaching at a film school. Honestly, I almost went that route, the money was good. However, engineering seemed more logical, way more money and more freedom to take time off and do what I want. One thing that would fix these issues is if everyone said "I refuse to work for free, period". That would force those ultra-low budget filmmakers to raise some money and actually have a crew. Maybe they'd even get someone to make their piece of shit script work before they bothered blowing every penny they and their friends have on a futile project that won't be seen by anyone. Sorry, but it's infuriating to know so many people who have these habits and they never learn. Project after project, it's just the same shit, with the same horrible actors, same poorly written nonsense, it's frustrating and it kills potential careers.

I was simply stating the obvious. When you're making a short film with friends (like I just did), it's fine to shoot things yourself. When you're making a feature film with financial backing, to reduce risk, they will require you to have a full crew compliment and the cinematographer is the right hand to the director. So of course they'd laugh at me if I even suggested that I'd shoot it myself. Furthermore, on my last short film, I spent too much time being a DP and not enough time being a director. I can't do that on a feature, my time needs to be focused on the acting and not on lighting. I had wanted to shoot it myself, just because I know I can, but sometimes just because you have the ability, doesn't mean it's the wisest thing to do. I've learned from the guys here, that the smartest thing to do is have two other "creatives" on your film to help guide the visual and storytelling elements; the DP is a critical role and the editor is as well. I wouldn't dream of making my first feature without both of those positions being filled by trustworthy "other" people, even though I can easily do both. When I say "we", I'm referring to my creative team. Filmmaking is not a "singular" activity. You must have a team. I could care less. I'm shooting my first feature on digital, I'm not butt hurt about that at all. Film can be a nightmare for people who don't take their filmmaking seriously. I would never suggest it for anyone who is mucking around for fun. It's the wrong medium for that. I'm trying to help explain why your opinions fall out of line with other people on this group, myself included. The only reason I'm here is because I'm wrapping up the QC notes on my most recent film "A Cowgirls Song" and I'm just in limbo. So I got some down time and discussing something I like, seems like a better waste of my time then watching random YouTube videos. Most industry professionals wouldn't waste their time with a group like this OR answer rudimentary questions. What is real cred to you? - Having your film on Netflix? Been there, done that. "A Cowgirls Story" that I co-produced, edited and graded was on Netflix. In fact I think you can watch my most recent film on most streaming media platforms. It's called "Soulmates". - Having your film screened theatrically? Been there, done that. Ironically enough, the last feature I shot starts screening tonight at the Laemmle Glendale, it's called "Sleeping Negro" and it's already won several awards, with nominations for cinematography. - Having your film win film festivals? Trophies are on the wall. - Having your film internationally distributed and screened, with decent reviews? Been there, done that. "A Fuller Life" a feature documentary that I co-produced, lead DP, edited and colored was well received by the international audience and screened at the top festivals such as Berlin, Venice, Edinburgh and Sao Paulo. - How about working with stars? I've lit and lensed; Mark Hamill, Bill Duke, Tim Roth, Joe Dante, Wim Wenders, William Friedkin, Jennifer Beals, James Franco, to name a few. So the only thing I'm missing is a script that I write, that I direct with "stars" in it, which goes international distribution and wins festivals. The funny thing is, I actually know what it takes to produce content that goes viral and wins awards. The only reason I haven't made one of my own scripts into a feature is because I refuse to so without guaranteed distribution. I refuse to do so by crowd funding or using my own money. I refuse to do so with a tiny budget and ridiculous shooting schedule. I refuse to do so without a real crew, real cast and a positive outcome guaranteed. So I'm taking my time and doing it right. That's how every film should be made, not by buying a camera, but by working as a crew member on shows so you can learn how they're made. Then after years of learning and practicing your craft, you can move up the ladder and make your own big productions. When things fall together, that's when I'm ready to make a feature. I will never understand people who make feature films that nobody will ever see. Is it an exercise in futility?

You haven't even shot a real film on motion picture film, so how do you know? Kodak has been incredibly generous with me and the filmmakers I work with. Where I can't really go into details in public, suffice to say I have never worked with another media company that has been so nice to me. Without their support, I would have never been able to teach film in the way I can today. So yes, if you actually went out to shoot a feature film on 35mm, you bet your ass Kodak would have your back. You would not pay retail, you would probably get some freebees and you'd probably get a bunch of marketing and promotional support as well. If you shoot a dozen 100ft rolls a film a year, you probably aren't going to get any support. I never once said Kodak has lowered prices, that may have been your interpretation. I've been very clear that Kodaks prices have been going up every few years since they filed bankruptcy. Blackmagic designs is a post company, they make software and hardware for post production. They entered into the camera market because they saw a need for "different" cameras than what existed, but they are still a post company. They are a walled garden and if you stay within the walls, you can get decent results. I do care about BMD a lot, I think they make great products for the price and they are "enablers" which is great. They however, don't really make many professional products; nothing that will last decades of use. Even Resolve is constantly updated for new codec's and functionality. So you stopped updating today, you'd probably not be able to use it anymore in a decade. Meanwhile, all the film I shot 30+ years ago, works great, looks great and will always look great until physically destroyed. Heck, I just used the same camera I shot with 30+ years ago for a recent YouTube video about sound on film. Go play with a 30 year old video camera and come back to me about the experience. When you buy a film camera and work with film, you are buying one camera for life. So the investment is amortized over your entire life, not the 5 years the camera is "relevant" before you buy another one. Just look at the Alexa Classic's from around a decade ago, they use to cost $100k and now they're worth $6k? My Aaton S16 camera was worth $40k 30 years ago and now is worth $16k. Plus, unlike a digital camera that loses value when it's sitting, film cameras only cost money to use when you put film in them. When they're sitting on a shelf, they literally cost you nothing because the value of them is retained. So sure, digital is a great way to simply make a product. I use it all the time when I need to just make something quick. However, if I actually care about what I'm making, I will take the time, spend the money and shoot on film. Why? Because what I shoot will last forever. I know my negatives are physical evidence of my hard work. One's and zero's have very little value to anyone. Maybe people get to a point in their life where just knowing what you shot is "real", means something. Maybe that's why I'm so infatuated with analog audio as well. Master tape recordings pressed at half speed to vinyl records, playing back through tube components. Just knowing that's what it's suppose to sound like or look like, without any manipulation of the image, really means a lot to me. Where one could argue, we aren't editing on film, that's fine. I can still make one light work prints of all my films and watch the B-roll. I have several work prints made to demonstrate what film "actually" looks like and people fall in love with the format when they watch it in person. I've never had a problem with people getting student discounts. Kodak gives them away like candy these days. Also, the discount when you were in school was 30%. Good luck getting a SD card manufacturer to give you a 30% discount on "media", which is all Kodak is... a "media" supplier. Only you can't reuse what they make. I've said this countless times; your "product" is a business. If you treat it like a business, you will be treated well by everyone around you. If you treat your product like a consumer, you will be shoved into the consumer pile and ignored. If you don't care enough about your product to make it a business, then that's your fault, not the fault of the companies who provide services. You have to be serious, build your business connections out of concrete so you can call on them when you need them. Complaining about the medium of film because it's too expensive these days, is childish when all you're doing is making content for fun. If you were serious, you'd raise the money to hire a crew, including a DP with equipment. Then you wouldn't need to spend all that money on cameras and leaning how to use them. You could focus on what you should be focusing on; writing stories that people will want to watch. Even if you have the holy grail of a story, the acting, blocking, shot composition, lighting, sound, music, edit, color, mix etc, will all suffer because you're too focused on doing everything yourself, with nearly zero budget. Nobody really gets away with that, most people will lie about their budgets to make it seem like they spent no money and had no crew, but when you look deeper, you see they had $250k worth of equipment donated and had a full complement of crew members (9 or more) Real filmmakers generally, only write, produce and direct. Even then, most pro's hire ghost writers to get their stories touched up. They'll always hire a real producer and of course a super top notch line producer, the people who "actually" make the films. Some even shoot their own content, but within the framework of a professional set, with camera operators and gaffers. So if you wanna just screw around with cameras, that's fine. But seeing as your journey thus far in the visual media arts, appears to be laser focused on "indy" feature films, you really can't complain when you're trying to do everything yourself on a shoe string budget. It's just too much for one person to do and then worrying about "film" seems hardly worth it. You don't have to be jealous that people "got in" when film cameras were cheaper. You don't have to call us "elites" because we can shoot on film. We earned the ability to work on film because we worked hard, saved for months and instead of making a "feature", we focused on short stories, which are more accessible, which are easier to make and cost way less money. A 17 page short film being made for $6k is a far better investment than a 78 page feature film made for $100k.

I mean most of the stuff I see online are people doing camera tests. They can't really afford to shoot anything of any value, so they shoot whatever they can and post it to say "hey I shot this on film". That's not exactly what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people doing actual productions, where they have an idea, go shoot it and finish it. Are you referring to profits? What "data" are you looking for? Lack of film is not a supply chain issue, lack of film is an issue with them simply not able to produce enough of a certain film because the demand is high. They can only make X amount of feet per day of a certain stock. I personally know the sales people, they tell me how busy they are, it's crazy honestly. You're comparing a consumable to a physical product manufacturing company. There are no comparisons, zero.