Mike Washlesky

I shot this a few years back on the HPX500. Good camera. Dig it..

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/suchgreatheights/

Forgot I had this montage of some scenes I cut together from a Feature Film from a few years back. Sadly, no one will ever see this film because it was pretty terrible, and its caught in some legal BS. Anyways, take a look!

Man other than the song- I think it was decently shot. I mean $100 budget. You've gotta be kidding me. Everything was lit solid throughout. Sorta flat but again for the budget decent. My biggest critique is the car scene. I would have lit it a little more subtly. Perhaps lit with a couple Rosco light pads gaffed to the roof of the car, and then diffused the crap out of.

 

Just my two cents. Checked out your reel and you definitely have a great eye.

hey thanks for checking it out Jon. Yeah, zero budget. Did it more as a favor to the artists and to get more Directing experience and material. I think the biggest expense was the ski masks..

Thanks again!

Finished up a rap video recently and was throwing it out there to the world. I Directed, DP'd and Edited. Budget was around $100.00. Seriously, it was..

Thoughts are encouraged. Thanks.

Well, I've been looking to purchase a new camera for a while now. I turned my eye toward the Canon XL-H1S. I found a listing on ebay, but the picture on the listing confuses me. I already asked the seller but I have not yet received an answer. I think that the picture looks more like an XL2 than a XL-H1S. Can you folks give me your opinions on what the camera in question appears to be?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180685509300&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

XL-H1s are black.

HA! Nice...

Here's the problem - which I've written about before.

 

DSLRs are small, cheap, lightweight and unobtrusive devices. If you strap a ton of ACME patent crap onto it, it's often none of those things anymore, which can go at least some way to making me think "why didn't you just buy an F3". A lot of rigs are also hopelessly large, heavy an bulky in their own right, even ignoring the comparative compactness of a DSLR. This whole thing has almost become an anodizing fetish, a fashion statement, and it's long since become quite ridiculous.

 

There are rigs that, to my mind, do at least try to represent something useful. The ECC Tools Binary Rig, which I wrote about around NAB, has a lot of potentially very useful functions, it's usefully square, and it doesn't suffer from Rainbow Anodizing Syndrome, but it's also large and heavy and I hate to think what it costs.

 

Strap on the minimum amount of gear you can possibly get away with - or use a real camera.

 

P

Sure, why not just buy an F3. I havent put my camera through the trenches yet. And of course they are really "hot" right now, but hey if it works, why not right? I agree, using a "real" camera is the way to go, which normally I use be it an HVX, or a RED, but the DSLRs serve a function. BTW, what the hell is "Rainbow Anodizing Syndrome"?

Some nice rigs and components over at Berkey System... All made in the USA.

 

http://www.berkeysystem.com/

 

He lists all the individual pieces so you can create whatever rig you have in your head!

that's cool. Thanks for the link. I partnered up with a buddy and we went with the indiSystem rig with a Ruige 7-inch HD monitor, but had to cough up the cash for the Zacuto Pro3X (man those things are pricey...)

Turned out to be a pretty decent rig for around $1,700.00 which isnt bad. It's already been used on a corporate gig in Germany. I havent shot with it yet but monkeyed with it and was satisfied. We'll see how it performs when put through the paces on a short or feature...

No kidding. Havent heard of these guys. Been nosing around some Chinese Zacuto knockoffs around this same price point but am wary of the quality. How does it perform? And negatives about this particular product that you've found? Thanks for the heads up!

looking into purchasing a rig for my D7000 and have been looking at the Zacuto rigs. Wondering if anyone has used this or other rigs and if there are any pros/cons to the different brands. These things are4 pricey and I want to be sure which one's to stay away from.

Thanks,

I recently saw a test between 7 DSLR's and the Nikon was the worst of the bunch. Not saying not to go with it, if its what you want/need/money, but according to lots of people, Nikon sucks.

 

Now, I happen to rather be a Nikon fanboy and have used many of their DLSR's in still photo shoots. I will say that the Canon is MUCH more user friendly. And the fact that they just (in certain circumstances) make better pictures doesn't hurt either!

So why exactly was it the worst of the bunch? I just purchased a D7000 and have been happy with it so far. Havent shot an extensive amount of video, but what I have shot was great, and I liked it better than when I used a 7 and 5D. But I prefer Nikon glass anyways and have a few from my still background and have accumulated several lenses over the years. Just curious what made it so bad in comparisons.

Hi there

I wonder whether there is any Nikon D-SLR worth filming a video with.

Thanks

Yaron

Yeah, The D7000..

Reminds me of an offer I was given to DP a series of instructional magic and card trick videos. The guy couldn't pay me anything, but assured me he was close to finalizing a deal, and the sales could be over a million, which he'd cut me in on the back end. He wanted to shoot 30 vids...I suggested just one as a "proof of concept" for his backer. He said he wanted to do all of them, because he was so confident they would sign with him, that he wanted to be ready to begin producing DVDs. He also said he was going to save costs and boost profits by hiring people with special needs to do labor...

 

Needless to say I declined his generous offer to allow me to work for him free. Perhaps I denied myself untold riches reaped from the massive, here-to-fore untapped market of aspiring magicians...but I somehow doubt it. :)

 

BR

No dude, I picked up that gig and now own both a black and white Ferrari. I call them Yin and Yang.

No competition:

 

 

That pic makes me laugh! ( :lol: <- me, laughing) That recorder weighed nearly as much as she did!

Just did a YouTube search

Nice vignetting.

 

David, you didn't really know all that off the top of your head did you..? :blink:

Awesome...does it shoot native 16x9? I hear thats the bestest.

Hi I will be shooting in Austin for a few days starting this weekend and wanted to ask some recomendations where to rent some accesories like IR Filter, clip on Matte box for a few days.

Thank you!

m

Contact GEAR..(http://gearrental.com/)

Why are you asking? What exactly are you looking for? Why don't you do the research yourself?

 

Since 1888 there must have been hundreds! A partial list is here

 

Or maybe you mean in use today? 16mm 35mm

 

Now ask us how many ways there are to record video. <_<

ZING! Hey Karel, whats the best video camera?

Hi guys.

 

First time poster. Sorry if make an idiot out of myself.

 

I'm a writer/director but unfortunately for me I am very camera stupid. I'm gearing up to shoot a guerilla style film, so it's not going to be the prettiest. Think the kind of cinematography of the film 'The Wrestler', so fairly rough and ready. Will an XL1 be suficient for this kind of look or will it just look too scrappy? I've got access to one for now but I need to know whether to go with that or whether I would need to get a HD camera of a similar type.

 

Thanks guys!

I echo what Phil said above, and one thing to consider The Wrestler was not thrown together, it was made to look like it was thrown together. Its a very naturalistic film, but it was not shot guerilla style in the truest sense. The lighting is very meticulous and deliberate, save for perhaps the butcher/grocery store scenes which maybe used the existing practical light sources, but the point is that it is a big film made to look naturalistic and documentary-esque which creates a sense of realism.

The XL1 by todays standards is very sub-par. If you are looking for a camera similar in size, go with with either the Sony EX3, or the HVX200 and get some lens adapters such as the P+S Teknik and some primes. They will be smaller and portable like the XL1 but the image quality is far superior. You can shoot a film with only available light, but generally what will make those conditions really terrible in the final product is the depth of field. Practical lights and shallow DOF looks way better than crappy lighting and a crappy camera. even if you are trying to make it look crappy.

 

His reel will move you, seriously. Anyone looking for a (RED only) DP, please consider Timmy. He will work for credit AND copy and doesn't need an AC... thats talent!

And here's the FB page. Funny stuff.

http://www.facebook.com/dpredwizard

Hey folks - this may be of interest...this FCP editing position on www.smoothdevil.com

 

A US studio is seeking quality freelance editors for short to long-term assignments working in a creative team environment.

 

They require expertise in Final Cut Pro and familiarity with Xsan.

Must be creative editor with strong finishing skills.

After Effects proficiency and/or Cinema 4D knowledge a bonus.

 

http://www.smoothdevil.com/index.php?page=...amp;job_id=1213

 

closes: 13 Apr 2010

Is it worth joining this site? I am soooo socially networked out that joining ANOTHER service really doesnt appeal to me unless I can actually find paying gigs on it.

Times are lean. Looking for work. I'll even do wedding videography at this point sheesh..

thanks..

www.12gaugefilms.com

Times are lean. Daddy needs some work. Feedback appreciated. I know its long, but I am cutting to the song. Any other feedback would be super.

www.12gaugefilms.com

I had bought DVDxDV after having good results from the trial version and also used HandBrake, but for some reason, I can't get either one of them to produce good results. I agree that 720 should be a happy medium to cut the HD and the SD work together.

I have found they can be kinda buggy. But, once you lock in good settings with HB, it seems to work ok. not the greatest, but workable.

In the old days, we always used to let anyone who worked on a show have access to the broadcast quality masters. We still do, but now our legal department requires them to sign an agreement saying it's just for their show reel. Then we send the HDSR masters to the post facility where they were made and give the OK for the person to dub or online from them. Theoretically it's on their nickel, but typically the post houses give them freebies.

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

Man that would be sweet.

Ok, I hate this process... I wish I could just pass it off to someone, but I can't.

 

1) I need to RIP from commercial DVD's, burned DVD's

 

2) Once ripped, what is the best codec I should use to archive all my footage for future use.

 

3) What's the best settings to work with in FCP for editing a reel for at least a 720 resolution or should I go for 1080?

 

Ideally, I would like to stay at the best resolution and down res if needed. I know this will mean an uprez for my NTSC material or transcoding the bits I need.

 

I do have Final Cut Studio 2 with Compressor, so if there are presets with in that you suggest, then I'm all over it...

 

 

-Alfeo

There's 2 apps I use for exactly this. DVDxDV (http://www.dvdxdv.com/) and HandBrake (http://handbrake.fr/) Handbrake is free and works pretty well. I have found strange sync issues in DVDxDV, and it does really wacky stuff sometimes on the timeline in FCP. Give Handbrake a try.

as for settings you have several options, but I wouldnt cut in 1080 at all since the material is far from its original source. 720 has been fine with HB, but sometimes I get weird interlacing even when all the settings should check out. It takes a little trial and error, but works out ok. You can check out my reel below. Those files came from multiple format sources.

A friend of mine just got a $500,000 budget to direct a script he wrote, sometime next year. He asked me to DP, and of course I am very excited.

 

The producer wanted to know if I had a preferred rate, and I was unsure how to respond. This is my first feature, and I am thankful for this opportunity.. I can't charge as much as a more experienced DP would charge, but at the same time, I don't want to later come to find that I should have gotten paid more than I did.

 

What is the average rate for DPs on feature films with a budget of about $500,000?

How long is the shoot? $1,500.00 p/ 5 day week is decent. It aint David Mullen rate :) but it pays the bills and is not basement level either. Start them at $2K a week and negotiate your way down. It also depends on your experience of course. Much easier to sell yourself at that rate with a decent reel. If you only have videos on You Tube of your friends slapping each other..might be a harder pitch.

Good luck.