Nicholas Shields

I've done a brief search here and didn't find anything relevant so I thought I'd ask... I'm shooting a car commercial in an all-white studio. I'm familiar with the basics of shooting vehicles and have been doing so for some time, but this will be my first in an all-white studio. I was wondering if there was any specific advice anyone has that may help my cause. Thanks in advance. Nick.

Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC recent chose to use RED to shoot Three Stories About Joan.

Yeah, I'm getting out there right now to see what non-Red footage looks like - cause I haven't seen film before. Done here. Waste of time.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/knowing

I hear you Fran. RedUser is the bastion of fanboys, but there are very few other places to get other shooters' advice on shooting 4K (and the unique features of the RED). That's why I came here - for what I had hoped would be some progressive discussion about the camera - the kind of discussions that happen elsewhere on cinematography.com - always informative. Unfortunately, discussion of RED in forum is just as frustrating as it is at RedUser - only in the opposite direction. Both forums make it difficult to share information without the fear of attack. Even the validity of your metaphors are not safe. My comments about impact were based on my on-going interactions with some of the largest rental houses in the U.S. and Canada - historically a very reliable source of information.

I'm amazed at the aggression towards Red in this forum. Sure there are fanboys making unreasonable claims - but that's an everyday occurrence in every forum on the net. Is it the possibility of change that angers some? If you don't like the hype, don't read it. Most, if not all, reasonable people can see hype for what it is. However, it is undeniable that the camera has made a massive impact in the marketplace. It has become a useful tool for many film makers including Steven Soderberg and Peter Jackson. Some of Hollywood's biggest stars are allowing their image to be captured by this $17,500 camera without complaint. It has far out-sold high-end offerings from Arri/Aaton/Sony/Panasonic combined. At times, this forum reeks of film snobbery - with the most offensive comments being made by unknown, self-proclaimed "professional" shooters. This thread was supposed to be about films using the Red cam but it quickly descended into an attack/defend technology thread. If the net was available at the time of the "flat" vs. "round" world discussion, the threads would probably parallel this one in their descent into the ridiculous.

God forbid tools come out that allow young upcoming filmmakers get a chance to make the vision a reality. The snobbery in this forum knows no bounds. I'm surprised any of you have time to surf with all that "work" (read corporate video)! Nick Shields

I can agree with the unfortunate nature of some of the fanboys at the RedUser site. However, with regards to their critique of someone using a beta build for a professional shoot, they are dead on. If Arri or Panavision decided to change their business model so that their clients would do beta testing (with full consent and if so inclined), the result would be a price reduction based on a lower investment in R&D (as seen in the Red product). This is Red's business model and they have expressed it loudly, explicitly and repeatedly. If someone decides to throw caution to the wind and, when burned, blame it on someone else, they expose themselves as inexperienced professionals - regardless if they make pretty pictures for music videos or not. It goes without saying that a major responsibility for a DP is to make informed decisions on behalf of the production. In the above mentioned case, the DP was either not "informed" or consciously ignored advice. Either way it was a poor decision. Nick Shields.