George Ebersole

I think it's just really all about money. When PC's were evolving every few months during the 90s the computer you bought/built today was already obsolete. The microchip industry knew that, as did all the research firms. So what they did was space out the technology to allow the previous generation of computers to pay for the next. It's a business strategy that SONY is notorious for, and it looks like that same business model has hit motion picture equipment. The point here being the incompatible and newer file formats, hardware and such are essentially the nature of the beast. It probably won't go away for some time. I interned for Rob Nilsson this past year, and he shoots using prosumer stuff. I think right now he uses a low end Panasonic, but in the hands of a capable DP (Mickey Freeman is the DP he uses most often) the stuff comes out just as good as if it were shot on normal to low grade 35mm film stock. At least the Black&White stuff does. The color footage I'm going to reserve judgment on. It looks "okay", but the colors just aren't rich enough for my money. Back in March or April I was on a green screen stage using a high end HD camera (I think it was SONY's latest). The people manning the laptop who were marrying the actors with the green screen image took a while to get setup, but once they worked out their kinks we were done in just over a half day. I'm not sure what's going on with the rest of the industry (LA, NY or Fla.), but the Bay Area seems to be on fairly solid ground with HD cameras.

Thanks much for this. Next question, if I just grabbed say an hours worth of footage at 24p, could I simulate time lapse with Final Cut Pro? That is does Final Cut Pro have a function that can do time lapse from normal footage?

Does anyone know of a digital camera that has a intervalometer function? Does anyone do time-lapse with HD video?

I've been trying to get a small short film off the ground for a year now, and am having real problems getting it rolling. It's a small short period piece regarding a knight, and some private time in a forest by a small lake. Everytime I put out a call for actors or somekind of help I get no reply. The only material thing holding me back are costumes. I've got a beed on some cheap costumes and props, and my boss is going to let me use his 3-chip Panasonic, but either somebody backs out, is unavailable, or, more often, I get absolutely no reply whatsoever. Has anybody ever encountered this kind of problem before? p.s. I'm tempted just to costume myself up, and shoot myself as the main character.

Thanks for the replies. I actually do need a ruged enclosure. I'm tentatively planning on shooting in Big Basin, maybe Portola Valley. Either way it's going to be up in "god's country", and it'd be nice to have something that can take a little shock and withstand dirt and moisture.

I thought I posted this earlier, but I guess didn't hit the submit button or something. I've got a project that I'm plannig to shoot in the Santa Cruz mountains. I'll be using a Canon HL-X1, but I want to use a portable hard drive instead of their personal format. Can someone reccomend a good one? Thanks much.

Hi; I'm developing a spot for a local museum, and one of the shots may require looking down a gopher hole. The plan is to use a Canon with a snorkel lens, but I can't seem to find one. Does such a beast exist? Thanks.

Welp, I gave it my best shot. Thanks all. You guys were great, but it looks like media ain't in the stars. I won't be checking back on the boards, so give me a PM if you need to tell me something. Thanks! :)

Excellent advise. Shoot what you can afford. Right now I have to keep pushing back my project because I can't even afford a good prosumer camera for a filmout. Scrimp and save so you can shoot on the format you want. And like Tim said, 16mm is an excellent option. For an HD camera I keep hearing good things about Canon's XH-A1, which the one I'm hoping to use.

Cool link for a commercial. Digital 16. Neat :)

Easiest way is to have money. But to stay in the game you also need talent to coordinate and spot other talent that can help you in your effort to produce and direct the film you want. In short, shoot it yourself. There's more to it than that, but as others have mentioned starting out as a PA, graduating to say a grip or production designer is really leading you to a support niche. GL.

Was it really all shot on super-8?

So I whipped out my old Nikon R8, opened up the handle and saw that the old batteries were there. They were corroded, and had corroded all over the battery leads. I took a shot and put in some new AAs, but as expected, no dice. Short of buying a new camera is there anyway to fix this? Should I try to sand the leads or something?

My old Bauer C107XL was able to do both time lapse and slow-mo, but, unfortunately, it was the victim of my last super-8 project which I shot circa 1992. The story; I was atop Koit Tower in San Francisco with a buddy of mine. I was getting footage of an American flag atop either the KRON or KGO buildings when a breeze caught the camera, which I had mounted on my dad's old tripod, and sent it hurling down a flight of concrete steps. The lens broke off, as did the mounting bracket for the handle, exposing wires, motor, and jamming all the gearing inside. I sent it to New York to be fixed, but they told me it was irreperable. Real shame too, because it's the best super-8 camera I ever had. With today's super-8 stock I can only dream of what I would've been able to shoot back then with that camera. At least I still have my old Nikons (2 of them), but neither of them has an intervelometer, nor high fps setting. I may have to spring for another camera. Ideally another Bauer or even a Beaulieu (Bauer's cheaper last I checked). I'm still looking to buy a Canon HD camera, but for the time being Super-8 will do just fine. :) Besides, it's cheaper than outfitting my Arri :P

Watching "De Jagade" now. Kinda creepy if you ask me.

Wow. I'm really blown away by this footage. I take it this stuff was shot at 24, but projected and transferred at 48. This footage looks really good. It looks like 16mm from 1990 and before. I'm extremely impressed. Particularly by the last two uploads. It reminds me of a Koyanisqatsi like film I shot back in 1986, only the film stock I used was a low grade Ektachrome. All this time I've been saving up for a Canon prosumer XL H1 for a filmout. Instead I think I'm going to whip out my old Aaton Bauer. Thanks Emil. Incredible stuff.

I'm really fascinated that Super 8 is still around. I was wondering if anybody had a link to some super-8 stuff they've shot recently.

Oops, that post was almost a year... wait... TWO YEARS ago. :lol:

Is anybody in, or going to, Georgia to cover Russia's military intervention?

Bill them for your time, but maybe cut them a deal depending on what the reasons were as to why they weren't ready. One time I was asked to do a series of martial arts videos for an old acquaintance I had known for over ten years. I booked stages, arranged for free equipment, a Umatic 3/4" deck, lights, location and editing facilities. The whole nine yards. The guy never showed up. Not just once. Not just twice. But he failed to show up on three different occasions, and never explained why he didn't. I was doing it as a favor, so I wasn't too happy with him flaking out. But I finished the opening sequence to see what he thought, and hoped his interest would be sparked. No dice. Needless to say it's the last time I did a project like that for free. I could've billed him for everything, but it was supposed to be a project for the local club. I never brought it up again. If it had been anybody else I would've sent them an invoice and billed them for a half day rate and any rented equipment.

Thanks John. It seemed pricey to me too, but I thought it might be worth it to get a certificate of somekind from the equipment manufacturer. Ah well :) Last I checked Lee Utterbach (the local film rental house in San Francisco) wasn't renting digital equipment as yet. I used to know a couple of their techs many years back, but lost contact with them. One of them wanted to sell me an Arri III :P I guess I'm gong to have to go about it the old fashioned way.

Don't get me wrong, I think Salma Hayek's a very capable actress. I guess I'm looking at actors of yesteryear through rose colored glasses. When I compare Monroe's performance in real life and on the screen, it strikes me as being more of a performance than the sale of emotion. When she wasn't doing her "blonde act" she was pretty normal, which to me struck me as showing how capable an actress she was.

I'm up for it. Send me a PM for contact info.

Interesting. Will they offer formal training on the RED, or is it like before where you have to buy the equipment or know someone?

None of you people have been to Sony to get trained on their F series?