Bob Hayes

Also in addition to 90 and 45 degree shutter Private Ryan did a lot of the Normandy footage setting the shutter slightly out of sync so the negative would be exposed while it was moving. This primarily effects the highlights giving them a vertical streak.

SAY WHAT?

The CSI shows have gone through many different looks from many different DPs. Some of them cutting edge and some of them pretty conventional.

Terrible. I thought everyone phoned it in. Story it went from one moronic challenge to another with no character or drama. The photography was over lit and had too many close-ups that looked like the Love Boat. Whose fault? Who cares? The effects had no drama to them. It was as if some engineer was asked to design a shot that took you from A to B. Where as a director like Steve Sommers on Van Helsing would take the same kind of shot and blow me away. People have learned a lot about making disaster films since the first Poseidon to bad no one listened.

I think it was the transfer you saw. When I saw McCabe in the theater it blew me away. It was one of the first uses of pre-flashing and the look was stunning in the theater. It felt so realistic and so period when it came out. If anything I remember it being desaturated and not the Technicolor look that was so popular at the time. It was one of the films that heralded a movement to more realistic and gritty photography and stories.

Arris tend to be a more robust light. I have an Arri Soft light kit 1open faced 1k, 3 fresnel 650, 1 350 fresnel, and chimeras. Works great!

You say good old 1k fresnels but didn?t say which ones. Arri kit, Mole? My initial reaction would be to go with the Lowel kit. It is designed for easy transport and easy set-up.

Quite often I shoot my HD video nights with the shutter off. It gives it a slightly dream like quality. I like the feel but it doesn?t feel like film.

When I first started I assisted and operated for Dick Bush BSC. He was a great DOP and I learned quite a lot from him. Once he told me how dissatisfied he was with his work. He felt all he saw was mistakes. I thought he was nuts. His work was superb as far as I was concerned. Then when I started shooting I saw myself doing the same thing. I see the mistakes and areas I wish I had fixed far more then I pat myself on the back for the stuff that looks great. It sucks.

A light meter is a decent way to set your base levels for your lighting by giving you a light level. They are a rather poor way of setting exposure. For one thing a meter sets middle grey at 18% grey card. The middle grey on an HD cameras changes considerably with regard to the Gamma. Also because HD doesn?t have the range of film the meter won?t tell you when the highlights will over expose. I notice a one stop difference on video behaves like a two stop difference on film. So you would have to learn what the differences in stop readings with a spot meter would reflect on the HD image.

Fortunately goggles hide much of the actors face so you can place the lights to hide them rather then light the face. It?s all about angle of reflection. You can place your lights high or low. Experiment with hard sources which are obvious but easier to keep out. Soft sources can sneak in and be less offensive. Try creating irregular light sources that look more natural. Indoors I?ll cover a desk with white papers so the reflection looks like it?s coming from the desk. Cut out a shape that looks like a lamp shade; put it on your diffusion frame. My Favorite is to put tape on a 4x4 frame and make it look like a window.

http://www.temcool.com/products/portable_a...ers/default.asp There is an Aircinditioning link. Look for portable Air Conditioning motion picture

I just did a quick Google and this site came up. There are lots of portable systems. I don?t think they are cheap because I always have to fight for them. They are really very important. The cast will look like poop with out them; the crew will get cranky and work half speed. Your lights will turn the set into a furnace. If you can?t afford to rent Air-conditioning buy a couple of large supper strong fans, the ones that look like the fire department would use them to evacuate smoke Place one pointing out a window, preferably high to take the hot air out and the other pointing in. You want to create a through draft that will pull air through the building. Also get a couple of small fans to point at the cast. Point a space heater at the producer until he gets the point.

I usually choose to go with Pars because they are smaller and have more punch. A 2.5K HMI light might just be enough. Jordan Cronenweth did some fun lighting on a film called ?Cutter?s Way?. He lit some of the interiors using arcs outside the windows and white cards on the floor. Don't pull the lens on an HMI!

I am looking for new editing software. I have been limping through Adobe Premiere. It endlessly crashes and fragments my hard drive. The resolution has been inconsistent. It has trouble reading some of my media. I am using it just to cut reels and demo pieces. I could never consider attempting anything professional. I am considering Liquid by Pinnacle. Any advise? For all you Mac heads I?ll save to the car pool tunnel syndrome. ?Get an Apple?. I have a PC Pentium 4 2.53 Ghz, 1 GB Ram. 57 GB on my C Drive, 223 GB on a Raided second drive.

I downloaded a demo of DV rack and was disappointed. They have a great idea and got it about halfway and quit. My big complaint is that the screen displays picture, waveform, vector scope, and sound levels but you can?t change the size of the individual windows. You can only view a small waveform. It seems such an easy adjustment as almost every program out there allows this resizing function. I asked the folks at DV rack and they said they weren?t planning on changing that for some time. If they would allow me to resize the windows I would buy a 12? lap top and DV Rack HD today. I?d love to hear I am wrong.

David you know much more then me. When I said dumping to HD tape I was wondering whether it would make sense to transfer the Blue Ray to the same tape the f 900 shoots so in post they would only need one deck. I assume they will do a tape to tape assembly.

If you want great pictures learn to work with people. In painting and still photography you can work alone but film making is a collaborative art.

I have a potential project coming up involving one Sony F 900 and one Sony XDcam 330 as a B camera. My questions are visually how will they intercut. What do I need to do to get Blue Ray into the editing system? How do you over come incompatibility between to different formats and resolutions? If all this is overcome what happens when they do their on line assembly? Do they have the same compatibility issues at this step? Should they dump the Blue ray to HD tape so as to standardize sources?

These HD cameras are pretty challenging to work with especially for a film guy. The lack of range and especially latitude make getting a decent exposure tricky. My first question for you is how much of a video shooter are you? I had thousands of hours of Betacam and Digi Beta experience before a started shooting HD. If you have a lot of experience the transition could be rather smooth. Depending on the shoot you might want to hire a DIT/First assistant cameraperson to help you with the camera and teach you how to use it. You?ll learn a lot and get a great looking show. On the down side you may have to pay out of your pocket and make little money on the job (recommended) Another choice would be to go to a rental house and get their technician to walk you through the camera. Act like you are shooting reversal and don?t over expose. Don?t get too involved in trying to paint the image. As long as there is detail in the blacks and whites you can adjust in you color timing later. If you don?t have a manual go to the Sony site and down load, print one, go to Kinko?s and get a spiral binding for it. I do this any time I work with a new camera. My shelves are filled with down loaded manuals for quick reference.

People move. On interviews I get in the habit of zooming in a checking focus occasionally when there is a break in the questions or when the interviewer asks a long question. This works if the camera tracks properly when focusing and zooming in and I think the VX 100A does.

My most useful kit is my Arri soft light. 1 Open faced 1k, 2 fresnel 650's, 1 fresnel 350. I also get use out of a solid grip package, 3 C-Stands, flags and nets, sand bags etc.

I think gaffer is one of the more difficult jobs in the industry. You are working for and with one of the biggest egos on the set. The DP. The DP is also under an enormous amount of pressure to make the day and have the lighting look great. 1. The gaffer should know his craft and make sure the equipment is working properly. 2. He should run his crew well. That means hiring the right guys, giving them clear leadership, keeping moral and discipline high. 3. The gaffer must walk a fine line. Depending on the situation he needs to follow orders, collaborate, challenge bad decisions, make recommendations, and cover the DP's back. All the while making the DP feel supported and respected. That aint' easy. 4. I also feel my look is pretty consistent regardless of the gaffer. But, the better the gaffer the better the look is also true. I like a gaffer that lets me run the show the first couple of days. Once he sees the style I like to shoot and the units I like to use then I start to transfer the lighting into more of a collaboration. After I've shown him my tricks I want to see his. I'm open to hearing the gaffers take on what I'm doing and better ways he thinks it can be done. It takes a couple of days for the look to stabilize and sometimes it matures as we see the sets and learn the vibe of the show. It's the most fun when the gaffer and I are thinking together of cool ways to do things. The key grip can also have a huge impact on the collaboration. Particularly with taking light off of things. A good key grip makes the lighting look great. Electricians make the light and grips make the shadows. After I feel I am in sync with the gaffer sometimes I'll ask the him how he wants to light the set. Or I'll just give the gaffer the set and say have fun. This is after I have established the look and have been collaborating with the gaffer. 5. As funny as it may sound I want the gaffer, key grip, and operator to be the voices that say make it better. Take more time. I have a reputation for being a fast DP and I like to crew to keep an eye on me and contribute to keeping the quality high. I find this works better then me demanding the world and blaming the crew for not going fast enough. On one hand I have production, Producers, AD's, and Directors saying go faster. On the other hand I have the Gaffer, Key grip, and Camera crew saying make it great. And I sit in the middle and perform the balancing act.

Yes.

The concept of gun control is such a divisive issue I wonder if it is really an appropriate subject for OFF TOPIC. OFF TOPIC is defined as Not exactly about cinematography, but still related directly to the film/video industry. I really wonder if this topic is heading in that direction. I love a passionate debate as much as the next guy. But, sometimes it?s best to just agree to disagree and move on.