Mike Washlesky

Uh. wow? I agree with you on loving the old version of BSG. It was a great show, but also a bit campy. And I also hated that robotic dog too that someone mentioned. But Starbuck as one of the BEST characters in television HISTORY? C'mon. He's ok, but Apollo was way better dude. Starbuck's awesomeness is parallel to Micheal Night and Stringfellow Hawke from Airwolf. They were one dimensional cartoons. This new series really brings deeper character development than the whole older series combined. While I also have gripes with the latest version, including the fact Edward james Olmos and Jamie Bamber look NOTHING alike and they are supposed to be father and son. I mean, one guy is from East LA and the other from England. I still cant understand that casting decision. And, I miss the old shiny Cylons too. They made a re-appearance in the Razor mini movie towards the end that was pretty cool. But the replicant/android thing angle did take a bit getting used to. I hated the "handheld" space battles at first but have now come to appreciate the show as a whole. But comparing it to something found on PAX? You show me a series on PAX where a ship captain shoots her first officer point plank in the head on the bridge in front of the entire crew for disobeying one order, and I will start drinking tea and cuddling up with my kitty. here's a few pics for you holmes.

Interesting. Got any samples?

Dude, the new show rules man. I know it takes a while to get used Starbuck as a chic, but seriously, she kicks ass and drinks hard. I saw her stab a fork in a Cylon numerous times! The show is well written and uses many present day issues like terrorism and occupation in the story line which really makes it contemporary and pertinent to the current political climate. Plus things go boom!

Its because their one eye moved back and forth. You try flying a space ship with a single bouncing eye! :lol:

So is the CineAlta not made by Sony? Or is there a single, Sony manufacturing "factory" that only makes CineAlta branded cameras? And now as DP's should we refer to the CineAlta we all know, now as the CineAlta 900/950 to distinguish it from these other imposters! It seems weird you spend years putting out the CineAlta as a singular name into the filmmaking community, and then water it down with branded prosumer cameras. But I guess that will help it's sales of course. And you can wow your clients with your very own CineAlta. Sweet.

Wow. You're right. There it is, plain as day. So what gives? Now the term "CineAlta" has no real meaning now besides being a marketing tool. Just like HD Radio. HA!

Yeah, thanks. Mui appreciado.

Thats interesting. Do you remember where you saw that ad? I am curious if they are now just using that name now for marketing, and not in reference to one particular camera.

Hmm. Its cute I guess.

Sorry, XDCAM EX. I am assuming thats the one. Too small for my taste.

Thats what I thought it might be, the XDCAM. but this guy was swearing up and down it was being referred to as the CineAlta. Weird.

So a guy at Heavy Light in NY mentioned a new Sony camera that is being billed as the latest CineAlta but is available for $8K (US). Am I hearing this right? $8K? If anyone know what camera this might be, thanks.

Looking for used lens(es) to purchase for a production starting in March. Looking for HD Cine style lens like the Canon HD-EC series zooms. Not in the market for primes, just zooms that are not ENG in nature and need to be B4 mounteable. If anyone knows of any vendors that have used equipment, please let a brother know. Thanks in advance,

Stay away from the JVC. I have shot tons with the HVX and its a solid camera. I wouldnt waste your money on lens adapters. You need to be more concerned with first, becoming familiar with the camera as it is, and second, becoming a filmmaker. You dont need to focus so much initially on all the toys you can use to make your films better, you need to focus on making a good film to start with. Your focus right now should be on shooting and lighting, and making a great story. And editing if you are cutting this stuff yourself, which is also a reason to stay away from the JVC in my opinion. All the rest of the bells and whistles is secondary. Get the principals of filmmaking down first. Get a camera, and start shooting. and shooting, with a little bit more shooting peppered in there here and there.

I bill myself out less as a commercial DP and more weighted towards narrative, so my choice trade work is limited. Ok, thanks for response. Thats what I was thinking as well about interesting/entertaining. But does anyone else cut their own reels in that fashion?

Thanks, I will check them out.

You need more money kid.. and I agree, try to get a used HVX200. Or at the very least a used XL2. Doesnt matter what type of adapter you get for those little DV cameras, the chips are way too small to make a difference anyways.

Yeah, I vote for Austin too..

Chayse, are you speaking of the ACV-235 Cinemascope adapter from Canon? If so I shot the first feature to use the adapter (it was the prototype) in 2005. Worked awesome. Used The Canon HD primes w/ the VariCam. There's a nice interview in HDVideoPro this month about our project. Lemme know if you have any questions.

You also mention the breakdown of a scene and a V/O track of how and why you shot a particular scene as you did. That scares me a bit because at least from my projects, which are typically underfunded and short on time, serendipity often rules the day. Say a light blows out or its raining and you are forced to shoot in a way you hadnt originally planned on. Would this information make you sound incompetent? So much develops on set that you cant totally forecast such as a producer breathing down your neck because a set-up is taking so long or equipment failure like I said previously. Also, I find that sometimes the shot you spend 3 hours trying to get in the can gets cut to save 30 seconds of total run time (its happened unfortunately). But i guess I could just pick the scenes that are more straight forward and avoid that can of worms all together.

Thats a great idea, I wonder if anyone on these boards has done a reel like that. Only problem I see is that most clients have such short attention spans for something as indepth as this, and simply would move onto another potential reel before the scene develops. I would be afraid that a reel like that might actually hurt getting potential gigs. I would be curious anyone else's thoughts on this. I could see this helping once you've been narrowed down from a list of other DP's once you get to the "getting to know you" stage where more viewing of one's work would be asked for. Thanks for the suggestion.

I am about to start cutting a new demo reel for my DP work and am curious everyone's thoughts on the best way to present the material. Previously I would cut individual trailers for each project I had worked on as the trailers for said projects are edited more for story and less for visuals (not always highlighting my best shots etc.) This tends to be time consuming as I am having to cut a trailer from scratch for both my best shots, and trying to piece together a coherent story. I have been poking around this site checking out members demo reels and see that the majority of DP's tend to simply overlay beauty shots with music underneath. Should I abandon cutting the trailers and just slap on the nice visuals? If I do, should I segment the material into specific projects and place titles of the projects and the year of production? What are potential clients looking for most when they look at a reel? Obviously for DP's, they are looking for nice visuals, but isnt a little bit of entertainment also necessary? Gracias

Yeah, thats generally what I do with the VF. I was hoping someone had a miracle fix like an anti-fog spray. I actually have the same problem on the opposite end when shooting here in Texas in the dead of summer where temps hit 105 +. The lens fogs up from the heat and sweat from my face.

I shot a documentary in Norway last January on the HVX-200. The temp was never too far below freezing for very long but one thing to keep in mind is to keep your spare batteries warm. Once they start getting too cold the juice falls out of them extremely fast. Once thing I used was those little chemical hand warmers you can find for hunters at sporting goods shops. Drop a few wrapped in a sock in a backpack with your batteries and that should help. Also, like you said, climate acclimation of the camera is primary and have plenty of dry lens cloths on hand. In Norway it had been raining for 80 days straight and condensation was more of an issue than the temp. Another problem you could run into is the eyepiece fogging up when you place your warm/moist eye to it. You wont be able to see anything in no time at all. I dont have a good solution around that problem, I would appreciate anyone who could help solve that as I will be shooting in Colorado in March under similar conditions possibly. There are heated camera enclosures from Porta Brace that help keep the camera at a decent temperature. Its just depends how cold an environment you will be in to warrant those enclosures. Mike

That would be nice but not for this project and specifically with this Director. We will be burning tons of footage with takes as long as 20 + minutes with a very small crew. I have worked with the Director on numerous shorts and his style and work ethic is along the lines of organic growth. The script is a loose framework to work from and the scenes develop naturally with the actors and the situations growing from "take" to "take". Very documentary in style and totally natural. Dealing with the added limitations (tongue in cheek) and cost increase of film doesnt fit with our proven work model. But it would be fun.