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Austin Schmidt

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Profile Information

  • Occupation
    Cinematographer
  • Location
    New York, Los Angeles
  • Specialties
    Feature Films

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://www.austinschmidt.com
  1. Looking for experienced 1st AC/focus puller in San Francisco Bay Area. Check out this Friday February 20th and shooting the 21st and 22nd. $300/day. If interested please contact me off list at info@austinschmidt.com Send along resume, references, and bio.
  2. Hello all, facing a very specific light bulb situation and curious if anyone has figured out a solution for something similar. We're shooting in a hallway with practical ceiling units lining down the center of the hallway. This isn't necessarily that big of a problem if the camera just stayed in the hallway as I could just color correct the green out in post, except for the fact the the camera will follow talent from the hallway into their apartment in many scenes which is illuminated by big windows of daylight. The disparity of the CFL's and the clean daylight make the hallway look garish and aweful so I'm trying to figure out a way to clean up the light quality. The CFL's in particular are GX23-2 2pin base. They do not except adapters to medium base. They do not except high wattage CFLs to overexpose a little and clean up the colors a bit. They are outputting so little at 13w that wrapping them in gel will kill most the output. The director wants to see the symmetry of them in the ceiling as we walk the hallways so we can't turn them off and just illuminate from the other end of the hallway. Is there any other "tricks" any of you have found that might address this issue?
  3. Needing to locate a set of Lomo Spherical lenses in NYC. Can't seem to find them at any rental house. Does anyone know of a set available through a rental house or personal owner there?
  4. I am unavailable for a color timing session. In the past I have always had two monitors that were calibrated to "match" be available to the Colorist and myself in our separate locations so that I could send color corrected stills to communicate the look of the images. This has always cost a certain amount of money and this time a Colorist recommend we use IPad Minis to save cost. According to the Colorist the screens will match as long as the IPads are the same model. This is obviously not the optimal method considering the IPad mini's shortcomings in color space and general viewing size to monitor color correction, but in a pinch as long as the image is consistent between the Ipads it might be handy in a pinch. I don't believe the screens can really be calibrated like regular monitors, so does that mean they all should look the same right out of the box with the factory settings? Has anyone used this method before or have any positive/negative experiences with this?
  5. "Man On Fire", another Tony Scott Film, has a lot of Ektachrome work in it. "Three Kings" also used some of that stock.
  6. Thanks David. Either will do fine. For anyone else interested my 1st AC also recommend three other heads with similar capabilities; the Talon Head, The Carbon Head and Kessler's Revolution Head. I've used Hot Gears in the past and it was rather easy to use without a technician. Its great to have these other options though to see price-wise which one fits in our budget.
  7. What camera support/head can be programmed to repeat a simple pan and tilt movement 180degrees on a tripod so as to layer a character repeatedly in a shot? 3-axis programming not needed.
  8. For sale. $9,000 or best offer Moviecam Super America 35mm Camera Package- Full gate gg w/ Movieglow system; 1" onboard monitor w/ B&W video assist; 9" external monitor; top load mag adapter; 2x 1,000 digital mags; 2x 400 digital mags; spare circuit boards; 3x battery packs; bridge plate w/ rods; pistol grip; 2x XLRs; cases for all All equipment is in great shape. Contact me off list if interested.
  9. Grad Fog Filters are not common to my knowledge. I would recommend contacting Stan Wallace at the Filter Gallery in NYC. He is the guru on specialty filters. If a filter doesn't exist, Stan always finds a way.
  10. For sale. $12,000 or best offer Moviecam Super America 35mm Camera Package- Full gate gg w/ Movieglow system; 1" onboard monitor w/ B&W video assist; 9" external monitor; top load mag adapter; 2x 1,000 digital mags; 2x 400 digital mags; spare circuit boards; 3x battery packs; bridge plate w/ rods; pistol grip; 2x XLRs; cases for all All equipment is in great shape. Contact me off list if interested.
  11. I often use a contraption called a magic gadget flicker box. It has many settings to "mimic" firelight/tv/candle flicker etc. I would recommend getting one with three 20amp channels. That way you can connect three separate sources, each with different gels and intensity if necessary. From there you can individually set a high and low point and alter the flicker rate to taste. This doesn't require any of your crew to be used during the shot, allowing them to be utilized elsewhere.
  12. The director would like a relatively "simple" shot from a fairly high overhead angle of a location. The shot only requires the camera to pan and tilt. The director wants to get at least 120+ ft above ground level with the camera. . To get reach that height my thought was to employ a 135' condor lift with a max basket weight of 500lbs. After sleeping on it I will admit to some hesitancy of putting myself and a 1st AC up that high. I'm not sure what an unsafe wind level will be at that height, but I presume even just a little will put us in great danger of tipping over (the base diameter of the condor is 12'6"). Are there any other safer ways to float the camera at that height? A suggestion has been to use a helicopter, but I figured a helicopter wouldn't hold the shot as stable in place as is needed. Any thoughts?
  13. For sale. $16,000 or best offer Moviecam Super America 35mm Camera Package- Full gate gg w/ Movieglow system; 1" onboard monitor w/ B&W video assist; 9" external monitor; top load mag adapter; 2x 1,000 digital mags; 2x 400 digital mags; spare circuit boards; 3x battery packs; bridge plate w/ rods; pistol grip; 2x XLRs; cases for all All equipment is in great shape. Contact me off list if interested.
  14. All books mentioned above are great ones that I recommend to my students when it comes to technical and aesthetic questions. I would also recommend a book that I recently published (yes, I'm hawking my own wares) that talks about the beginning stages of any cinematographer's career as they climb the film set "ladder" or navigate through film school. Many chapters focus on the business side of the job and how to mold personal passion into a viable career. It does not provide a guaranteed "How To", rather plenty of insight for every young potential cinematographer to consider as they begin their journey. Topics range from joining the union, getting an agent, film school vs the ladder, and strategies on getting yourself out there. So You Want To Be A Cinematographer? ... Life Behind The Lens It was reviewed by our own David Mullen as well as Blain Brown, the author of many highly regarded cinematography books. "This book is an honest and accurate account of what many cinematographers go through at the beginning of their careers, and there are few books like it out there. Hopefully a beginner reading Austin Schmidt's personal experiences will learn what opportunities and minefields lie ahead for them and plan accordingly." -M. David Mullen, ASC Cinematographer and co-author of "Cinematography (Third Edition)" "It presents an excellent overview of what is involved in working as a cinematographer and what is involved in becoming one." If you are thinking you might want to be a cinematographer, you should read this book. Once you decide it's what you want to do, then read my book." -Blain Brown Author of "Cinematography: Theory and Practice" While this book is a lot more than what the title implies it still addresses the questions that many students of the art of cinematography will ask. The author has written from his personal experiences in detail. While others may encounter very different experiences or situations, the basic idea is there. I know that many beginning and most experienced cinematographers will be able to relate to Mr. Schmidt's travails. For those wanting to have an insight into what awaits them in the working class below-the-line world there is a lot to be gleaned from his writings. -Roberto Schaefer, ASC, AIC
  15. I can't speak to exactly how Kieslowski achieved that shot, but I was asked to recreate it for a film once and was quite successful using a Zeiss/Arri macro 100mm lens. Using macro's require a lot of light. But remember, to see the character's reflection in the eye ball it needs to be even brighter in the scene. For my particular circumstance, I lit the face to a f/5.6 which was the widest the macro lens could be, but I had to light the character's reflection in the eye to a f/8-11. Shooting at 200ASA meant the lights on the actor were extremely hot so be wary of makeup that doesn't do well under heat. Also, the depth of field is miniscule so we had to stabilize the person's had so it wouldn't move back and forth too much.
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