michael brierley

Shot one feature film, but it has been really slow on the commercials side- but living in Dubai, this is hardly surprising. Michael

I read somewhere that the spot was shot by Christopher Doyle and won a cinematography craft award, more specific I cannot be. It's not a new commercial, probably at least a year and a half old. Best, Michael

Compass, Sun Path, hat

I have just finished grading a film and some of the B camera footage was slightly off/out of focus. I asked the colourist to electronically sharpen one of the shots and it looked slightly better, ie it bought the shot slightly back into focus (had to do it. it was a key moment in the film, and it was no good soft). We are printing out on Premier and projected, the images have a nice shine to them, but I have to agree that images look slightly lifeless on 2k DI. Cant help thinking that a traditional photochemical finnish would have looked better. Michael Brierley DP

Please could someone explain, in simple terms how to use an Arriflex Timing Shift Box and what effect if offers? I am shooting a car commercial soon and I want to get horizontal streaks on the film while keeping the car in register. I will be using an R1 rig for some of the shots. Does the altering the timing in camera result in vertical streaks only? Thank you

I recently shot an entire movie on a hand crank camera ("Faiths Corner" premiered at the Durban Film Festial in South Africa). It was a Arri 3C that Media film service had converted for us. It had a teflon gear on the side to gear the crank down so that you didn't shake that camera too much when cranking- cranking direct into the movement is nigh on impossible and looks really bad. We lowered the profile of the camera- got rid of the Goose Neck to minimise the shake. You get into the rythym fairly easily but have to be careful that you don't get too consistent with the movement other wise the flickering is kinda lost. Shooting with old series lenses is also a good idea and if you can get some expired film stock- high ASA is best then you are really cooking. (The critics really hated our movie!) mb

With regards to the stocking. Christian Dior #10 Denier used to be the favorite stocking of the older (Brit) DP's. My loader and I roll a thin strip of Blue Tak around the back of the lens, and pull it tight, stretched over the back element/glass, and I would check it every time we did a lens change. I think we compensated about 1/3 of a stop for the net. Very important to keep checking the tautness of the stocking. mb

I am about to strart pre-production on a film. We are scheduled to do a DI in post. I want to shoot Super 35, but the producer feels there might be addtional costs and sound issues involved with the Super process and is insisting on shooting 1:1 185. What are the issues and implications in post surrounding shooting in Super?

Also a good rental house in Dubai run by Ant Smythe <http://www.filmquip.net/>. He is an accomplished DP, knowledgable and really helpful mb

Hi, Personally this is what I try do when I have to shoot a beauty close up at midday. I try to cheat the subject into whatever backlight there is, shoot on a slightly longer focal length lens (65, 75, 85, 100 mm, whatever), put in an ND filter, or change the shuttter angle, to defocus the background, use an off white card as fill (just to iron out the shadows) and perhaps a soft refelctor from the back to give the hair a little glow. Perhaps a little slow motion (28, 32 fps) For classic beauty perhaps a domestic fan to blow the hair a little! I shoot on any film stock, whatever is available in the truck! (I dare anyone to point out to me the difference between 45 and 46 or any of todays film stocks for that matter) With regards to diffusion, I find the Classic Softs are effective for ironing out skin blemishes. Or, if you are able to go to the transfer, add diffusion in in post. mb

This is cetainly a common thing us cinematogaphers share- that and never getting a chance to pee! As I seem to shoot a lot on location- ie out in the countryside, any bush will do! Never thought about taking a chair to work, don't think it will ever get used. mb

thats just so funny, (and so true). ah the ego!

oh, and you need a digital camera that takes pictures as raw files (Nikon D70 or D100 or Cannon Rebel etc.)

I just finnished a MOW for CBS and the director kept talking about an 'over keeper'. Anyone have any info on this tool? Thanks, mb

Our local Kodak rep in South Africa gave a lot of us local DP's a months free trial with the system. It is a pretty amazing tool to have acsess to. For example, at the time, I was in prep to shoot a commercial for a Swedish bread company, and the wheat field we were using as a location looked really grey and forlorn to the eye. The field was 'bought' by the production company and was a couple of weeks past it's harvest time. Obviously we were all a little concerned. Took a couple of pics of the location on a scout, put them in to my laptop, mixed up a 'recipe' and viola- I was able to show them, with the help of a couple of filters, (I think a Coral 2 or 3, and 1 stop push on 100 ASA), 'golden' wheatfields. (unfortunately, on day we shot it was grey and overcast, Sods Law). I would speak to your local Kodak rep and ask him or her about a free trial. The downside to the KLMS is that the post house you use, also has to have the system in place, you have to sync your computer monitor to theirs, or vice a versa (so they know what you are aiming at) and the files you send are quite large (a drag with a regular land line). But other than those minor downsides, it is a really good previsualisation tool, and alleviates a lot of stress for yourself, the director and the producers, because they can see exactly what they are going to get. mb

You are a little vague in what you want to achieve. Why don't you load the camera, go into a room with low light (or into the sunlight depending on the amount of fogging you want), remove the turret cap from the lens port and roll the camera? Rewind the roll of film, if you want, by reversing the camera movement and... you have fogged film.

I assisted 'Beastly' Paul Beeson on a film caled African Story, an anti aparthied film shot in S Africa in the 80's. He was a particularly uninspiring DoP to work with, sat in his chair all day dozing. How about some of the stuff in Jaws, it certainly looks DFN? Wonder how they did it? It has a silvery quality about it that looks pretty good. Will check out the latest Bond, is it the one with Halle Berry? mb

I am in pre production for a film where a lot of the scenes take place on the open water. A fair amount of the scenes take place at night, and shooting day for night would solve a lot of logistical issues. I don't have much time to test. I remember as a focus puller assisting a British DoP (Paul Beeson, BSC) and he used a CC20G Wratten gel in the filter slide of the 20:100 Cooke, he underexposed the neg by 3 stops (I think) and shot only in backlight. I never saw the results of his endevours, and wonder about it still. Does anyone have any creative suggestions about day for night- what filters to use, lighting conditions etc? The fillm will go straight to video- no print, only a telecine process. Many Thanks, michaelb

Thanks for the info. The asc article is very informative. I was under the impression that he (Mr Charters) shot the whole show handheld- it sure looks like they did! Those guys are really good in getting the look absolutely right!

I am shooting movie with an Arricam LT, and would very much like to have a loose, snappy camera. Are there any longish zoom lenses out there that I can use that are PL mounted and hand holdable ala the TV show '24'. I remember reading that they shot the show on Panavision, but could find no mention of the lenses they used, anybody have any info?

Roscoe and Lee both make a silver/black net that you can staple or tape onto the outside of the window and it cuts the exposure down by two stops- I think it's called Roscoenet or Lee Scrim. It works really well, and is invisible through the lens.

Thanks Kevin, I have never used a soft sun and am interested in the fact that it falls off really quickly, the rental manager at the lighting compay told me the opposite! He showed me a picture of the 100k on a sand dune in the desert that Seamus Mac Garvey used on Flight of the Phoenix and it looked pretty impressive as a backlight- with a nice hard shadow, and it looks like it's about 700m (about a 1000feet) away from the subject. I think the solution might be to bring the source in closer to the shore, thus enabling me to get it higher in the air. A Musco is not an option (we don't have any in SA). So, I think I'll look at a 12kw Silver Bullet. Day for night isn't an option because the beach locatiion is only backlight first thing in the morning and we have about ten pages of dialogue and a fire in the scene. Weather permiting, I was thinking of hanging a helium baloon over the beach to create an ambience. Any suggestions on what to use? Thanks, mb

I am shooting a movie in the new year that has a lot of night exterior work on the beach. I need to create a 'swathe' of moonlight on the sea in order to siilouette the actors. Presuming I can get a barge out onto the ocean and rig a tower onto it, what light would create that path of moonlight better, a soft sun (100kw) or a big HMI- like an 18kw? I reckon I can get a platform about 500 feet (about 300m) out to sea. Anyone have any advice please?