Michael Jasen

Thanks guys!

Thanks for that. Really. I appeared in focus on my monitor.

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can clear up some questions I have as to how a DOF calculator works. Here's the skinny: Today I was camera assisting on a testing day for a shoot that is happening tomorrow. We are shooting on the RED at 4k 16x9 using Cooke Pancro lenses. The only thing we wound up shooting was a jib shot that was minimal. The distance from the focal plane to the subject was between 14' and 16' at all times. I used my trusty pCam software (DOF Calc) and set it to RED CAM 4k 16x9 (COC .00075") with a focus distance of 15', focal length of 32mm and apreture 2.8 (this info was all correct) We did the move and I didnt pull focus at all because pCam told me that the range of sharpness was from 12'4" to 19'2". I set the lens to 15" as it had a mark for this, Unfortunately, some of the shot was soft. My question is: Do I understand how to use pCam and a DOF calculator properly? If I input my data and it tells me the near and far distances, shouldnt I be ok to work within those range? Should I still be pulling from 14' to 16'? I was always under the impression that at a specific lens, aperture and distance you had a certain DOF that was "acceptable sharpness" and wouldnt render as obviously soft in playback. The DP seemed to think that that much depth of field (for that lens etc) was a lot and we were probably working in a space about half that. The back focus was verified to be in the calibrated position. We found out it was soft by viewing a high res proxy of the shot on the DIT station. Any tips? pointers? Thanks guys, Michael Jasen

Have you tried cinema tools? It's bundled with FCP Studio. I recently shot a Super 16mm short transfered to HDCam. The edit and final output was 23.98. We used 29.97 footage and used cinematools to convert it to 23.98. It's really quick and easy.

Insurance is always different. There's no set rate. The insurer decides based on the factors they choose. But, if it's any help, I recently paid 700$ to insure our gear for a shoot. It included a SR2 and 8 Zeiss high-speed primes. I'm not positive, but I think that bought us $100 or 150,000 worth of insurance.

Can anyone shed some light, or point me in the proper direction about clearing footage taken of other people? I'll be shooting a s16mm short in Detroit next month and would like to get some "real people" shots. I want them to be candid and random. What should I be doing about clearances? Where is that line drawn? I've seen some films lately that obviously were able to get these kinds of shots. On the "Vanilla Sky" commentary track Cameron Crowe even says while we see some shots outside of the car he says "we just pointed the camera out the window and stole these shots" When should I get people to sign something? When shouldn't I? -mike

Yeah you're right. I had originally checked the canadian website and it still had all of them listed. The american one does not. I called yesterday and confirmed they only one they will make is the 64D.

I can't seem to figure out how to delete this thread! Sorry! I posted this in the wrong forum section.

Can anyone shed some light on to what exactly the difference is between the Fuji F-Series and the Eterna stocks? Is the f-series just an older stock, where as the eterna is their new and soon-to-be standard stock? I might be coming into posession of some 250t and 64D fuji f-series stock but am wondering if I can even get more of this stuff. It's listed on the website but I just thought I'd get everyones opinion on it. I'm going to call tomorrow about availability but any words about tests or comparisons that people have done would be greatly appreciated! -mike

Can anyone shed some light on to what exactly the difference is between the Fuji F-Series and the Eterna stocks? Is the f-series just an older stock, where as the eterna is their new and soon-to-be standard stock? I might be coming into posession of some 250t and 64D fuji f-series stock but am wondering if I can even get more of this stuff. It's listed on the website but I just thought I'd get everyones opinion on it. I'm going to call tomorrow about availability but any words about tests or comparisons that people have done would be greatly appreciated! -mike

We're getting ready to shoot a script that has a couple of driving shots. THey are of the actor driving only, no dialog. We do need to flip the camera around and shoot out the passenger side window and get shots of the city as he's driving. How is the safest way to accomplish this? I really don't think we have it in the budget to rent a trailor car to pull the car around. The initial idea was to just has the operator in the passenger seat and doing it handheld over the shoulder. The shots flipped around out the window would be mounted on top of sandbags or something as that shot is completely static. I'm worried about safety and what not. Can anybody shed some light on how to accomplish this with a very very tiny budget? It's a s16mm shooting on the SR2. Thanks!

Has anyone used a bolex 35mm lens adpater? Are they normally available for rent anywhere? I've never used an adapter before and am being forced to shoot on a Bolex for some key scenes of a film. ALso, the Bolex footage is going to be used in direct conjunction with footage from an ARRI SR2. EG: The scene takes place inside of a car. The Bolex will be capturing the view from the car outside of the passenger window, where as the ARRI SR2 will shoot closeups of the driver. Will there be any noticeable problems cutting this footage together? Im not sure about how good the registration is on the Bolex but the SR2 is flawless. Does this only rely on the registration abilities of the Bolex? Even if its perfect will there be a difference? I plan on shooting tests but I was hoping for some opinions in the meantime. -mike

Hello! Hoping for a little help. I need to mount a panasonic HVX-200 directly over-top of something and shoot down. Specifically, I need to have the camera above a record player and shoot the record dead on from the top. Tilting the record player doesn't allow the arm to work properly. Is there a piece of equipment to do this? Any other tips or tricks? Thanks! -mike

Hey all! Brand new to this site. Seems like an excellent resource. I'm a film student shooting my first solo project on 16mm film. Two of my scenes involve the scene being in a small space, and each space should look as tough the only motivated light is the sunlight coming from the window. One of the rooms has a window but it is located off camera in a space about 3 x 3 feet, where I was planning on putting at least one light. The second space does not have a window. I was going to simulate the look of the light falling onto the floor from a window shape, then cutting to an actual window. I'm really just curious about how to get that overall "sunlight" look in the room without using actual sunlight. The window does not create enough light in the one scene, I thought about blacking out the window all together so I wouldnt have to deal with the color temperature change. My first instinct to to just one huge light placed out the window, or where the window should be. In my head, if you do this, everything will just kind of work itself out.The shadows should all look natural...But my instincts also tell me this probably wont work. Whats the best way to tackle lighting this? I have a feeling I've described this very poorly. Im new! If anyone cares to help, and needs more information, just let me know. Thanks everyone!