Robin R Probyn

Just wondered .. do you live very close to Disney Land... :) (joke)

But your words are not the real world... guys are getting huge salaries and pay off,s for running companies into the ground... watch the news.. where is the risk in that.. easy job.. risk takers are small companies.. the big ones,that effect our lives are run by crooks.. I rest my case your honour

I guess it depends on the lamp ofcourse.. a desk light you can cut off the light towards the camera totally... but a table lamp close to the subject for an interview is going to be very distracting.. unless its a look you are after.. IMHO.. but the ND is a good idea.. Ive done that for the whole bulb.. until I woke up and got a dimmer..!!! Slicing into the lamp shade sounds fun too... an antique one should cut easily :) Tanks

Why channel 3 or 4... if its audio I would say 1 or 2 nes par?

Hi How do you avoid the lamp and shade from burning out/blowing out.... if you expose for the light... doesnt the face get too dark.. or do you have some special shades made up? Thanks

Yes Badlands had no budget for lights at all !!! .. as Terry Malick thought the DP didnt use any... but that soon changed ..!!!

You could try a Lite panel for your fill in the tunnel... they work off batteries , low power consumption .and can be handheld..

Whats that story.. the DP is asked by the director.. when he put up a big HMI for a night ext... but where is that light coming from..DP answers.. same place as the music.. :)

One thing would be to shoot on a better camera,if thats possible.. a 2/3 inch chip camera,with a nice canon or Fujinon lens,is going to make things look better.A mattbox with an ND grad will help landscapes etc straight out of the box.. ofcourse these all cost money,but if they will make your pictures look better. Personally I dont think you need fill on the first interiors ... will make it look pretty flat.. the shadow is nice in my option .. and ofcourse its up to your personal taste in the first place.. if you did have a small kino light I,d use it on the window /source side of the face on the CU if anything.

Just get some 240V/230V bulbs.. alot easier than lugging transformers around.. and some travel plugs ofcourse! Also 50hz so watch out for flicker from flories /tv screens if your not shooting 25p/25fps

Just had a thought.. I think Chimera do ND screens.. might not fit the windows exactly (maybe you could draw the curtains to hide edges) but they are built pretty tough and I dont think they crinkle up,and have velcro around the edges

Yes see what you mean.. didnt mean to lecture ! keep us posted.. and good luck.

Why take them off at night? it will be dark anyway.Alot of these tour buses have tinted windows anyway.You know really what is going to make this doc good or not,are the moments you catch,even if underexposed or a blown out background... I think your sound is going to much more important.. esp if you are doing it yourself. Have you seen some of those early rock doc,s when they first had low profile mag,s on 16mm camera,s.. so they could actually walk through a door way! Look back in anger.. an early one about Bob Dylan .. some early Rolling stones ones.. .. lots of underexposed and over exposed stuff, but great content.. In my experience.. except for 5min interview that you,ll wait 4 hrs to get.. you wont have any time to do much pre lighting at all.. you just have to think on your feet.. go for a silhouette if the back ground is burning out.. its more being in the right place at the right time..

Ok yes see what you mean... Iam pretty much always doing doc,s with alot of interviews... only the subject on camera... where lighting from the dumb side is just done by beginners.. unless physically impossible.. or wanting an unorthodox look or framing for the subject matter..but IMHO.. purposely lighting from the dumb side and or having the empty frame space going the wrong way is not very clever.. just because its ..(edgy) ? or the latest vogue in music vids.. or the DP had too much Gin at lunch.... speaking of which even Chris Doyle doesnt do it :lol:

How do you mean you wouldnt give a person such an intense significance in an interview... but I agree what they say is more important than the lighting at the end of the day.. but my job is make it look good/interesting/try to make someone not switch over to the simple life.. :P

So you are saying the dumb side looks crap in an interview,and the smart side is obviously the better choice.. :)

I found out its same as Endura 10 settings

Anyone using this battery with the hdx900.. if so what have you been setting for full voltage in the bat settings menu..? Thanks

I assisted Barry Ackroyd way back and there cant be a nicer guy to work with,also very open to tell all his tricks,idea,s .. Badlands was shot by Brian Probyn BSC... Thanks :rolleyes:

No mention of Chris Menges.... a fore runner in his day... and Barry Ackroyd now... United 93 , and all the recent Ken Loach films.

Hi there Dont see much talk of the new PDW700(think thats right) 2/3 inch XDCAM camera. I know its not really out there yet,but any thoughts about this camera for the doco/corp world.Seems like a no brainer to me,provided it has variable frame rates,and presuming its an accepted format by BBC/Discovery/Nat geo etc Thanks