Sing Howe Yam

Hey everyone, I'm shooting a short out in Cook, MN. The package I'm working with is a RED Epic, Cooke S4's, etc. I have a few questions about any issues in the cold with the EPIC and S4's in these conditions. The average temp. during the day will be from 15-32 degrees and can get to -10 below at night. I haven't shot EPIC in the cold and was wondering are there any issues? I'm kinda gonna be in the middle of nowhere so I wanna be prepped for it. Also any issues with the TV Logic 5.6 monitors out in these temp.? Thanks!

Number of aperture blades are different on the ZE and CP.2 The ZE series have 9 blades and the CP.2 is 14 blades. I will say this, the CP.2 have great ft markings.

So I've been wondering what the etiquette is to finding a agent to rep a DP. Is it one of those situations where you need to have that body of work or something that created buzz and then they come? Or is it common practice for DP's to basically go shop around and find an agent? I'm assuming either way could work, nice to hear the stories from some other DP's and how they got repped. Thanks Sing

Please check out my new reel! Mixture of music videos to narratives, varying from 35mm to HD. Link: CLICK HERE

The Super Baltars have a soft look to them. It basically looks like a black pro mist or black frost. If you want to get an idea of what they look like, check out the film "The Wackness", that was shot 35mm with the Super Baltars. Also a more recent movie, I've been on quite a few RED shoots with Super Baltars. But each set is different, I've worked with four different sets and they all have a difference in softness to them.

Finished film I lensed last year. It's a short film/experimental music video for Nico Muhly (scored the film "The Reader" and plays a good bit with the Dirty Projectors) Let me know what ya guys think! Happy trails! Camera: Arri 3 Lenses: Zeiss Super Speeds MKIII Stock: Fuji 8563 & 8573 CLICK HERE for the VIDEO

The director I work with loves scope so we talked for a little about the look. He loves the way scope works on a close up, even if its a choker shot you still have this wide canvas. Also we wanted to spread the band out, so the scope helped us with that. And the obvious things about scope, the flares and what not. The band was all steadicam and dolly, there are a few handheld shots with the narrative.

I posted in here after the video wrapped but here is the finished video. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts! Camera: Arri 435ES Lenses: Todd-AO Anamorphics Stock: Kodak 5229 CLICK HERE

So I'm prepping for a feature and I'm looking at shooting on the variable primes on the RED MX. I haven't found too much info about other DP's shooting with these lenses. I was wondering if anyone could drop me some insight on these lenses and personal experiences with them. Be very helpful if any of the experiences were with these lenses on the RED. Things I'm wondering about is vignetting, ramping, how they handle flares and so on. I know these are things I can do in testing, just wanted some insight about them. I read the article on CML that Bill Bennett posted. Just wasn't sure they performed well or not since there isn't much out there about them. I heard that Pan's Labyrinth was shot on these lenses, if so I guess that is a statement about them considering it won the oscar that year for cinematography. Any stills or frame grabs from footage shot with these would be awesome! Thanks!

Are you going to correct in camera or have the lab apply the correction? I think the '19 (all of the kodak tungsten stocks) look great once you throw an 85 on. I've shot a short with 5217 and 5218 (200T & 500T) which were both vision 2 stocks and they looked great together. I actually had to go back and shoot pickups with the '18 on a scene I originally shot on the '17 and it matched fine. I rated the '18 @ 320 to thicken the negative but it looked fine. I think with the 5219 you'll be even better with the grain structure. Like Mr. Mullen said, it's like splitting hairs. I've shot 5218 and 8573 in the same shoot (budget reasons and recans...) and I was shocked how much they ended up being similiar. I had a hardtime figuring out which stock was which when the dailies came back in. Not recommended, but a lot of stocks seem to be more for acquistion nowadays. Happy shooting Francisco! Is this the anamorphic shoot? Let me know if I can come pull sharps for ya!

Thanks Tom, Cedric is the man. The coolest steadicam operator I've met and very very good, very positive attitude on set too. I recommend him highly to anyone who is looking for a steadicam op.

sorry for some reason the link won't work. this one should be fine ---> BLOG

Hey guys, I just recently wrapped on shooting this music video. Check out my work blogspot here ----> WORK BLOG

This looks really good, I disagree about the three shot being flat. I love the dimension of the shot being a reflection off a mirror, the little lamp that hangs in the foreground adds a nice depth to the shot. You must be stoked on the look, I dig it a lot man. Let me know when this movie finishes, I would like to see it. Did you do a lot of booklights by bouncing those 500w photofloods into a bounce source and then back through your muslin? Cheers man, this stuff looks awesome.

ROB: Unfortunately the project was canceled, well the director and screenwriter had a conflict and the writer left with the script. It was an odd experience though. Just a couple days before I got the call about the project being canceled I scheduled everything for a camera test in San Antonio and the director was talking about giving me part of my pay upfront the next week so he could feel more comfortable about asking me to do more prep work. I was shocked by that and then blam, the project is shut down. Real bummer. RICHARD: I completely agree with you on the 35mm vs. RED look. The only reason I put together a RED package was based on the budget. When the project was a go we had a good bit of night ext. w/ a process trailer for probably at least 1/3 of the shoot. The budget just didn't seem right to be done on 35mm and at the pace we needed to go either. But after the director looked at more RED footage he opted out and went and found more money just to shoot 35mm.

I'm intrigued by your post. I have the same question, how do I contact you? I left where I lived before because I wasn't being challenged. Lets talk more and see if we can vibe together.

dang, I was wanting critiques. c'mon people help me out!

Also find out the camera so you can research the manual and figure out how to work the menus and how to get to everything quickly. DP's don't want to be dealing with camera problems when they have so much other things on their minds. So knowing the camera inside and out is extremely important, definitely during moments that everyone is in a rush because you don't want to whole crew waiting on you while you're trying to thumble through menus. As for pulling focus, well I'm assuming the camera you'll be using either has a built in lens (which focus will be easy peasy) or a you'll be using a 35mm adapter. If using a 35mm adapter if you have time check all the lenses for focus (although, if using 35mm stills that goes out of the window for testing the focus to feet/meters) and you can shoot some footage on a color chart to see if there is any variances in color rendition from lens to lens. Hope this helps.

I think the footage looks great man, my only complaint is that it feels long because it seems like it is compiled of two music videos? I'm looking at the same style over and over (don't get me wrong I think what you have looks stellar) and I want to see more variety. Other than that man, props on the work. Anamorphic must be fun.

I think your layout is really cool. I'm a fan of bright colors, so it's cool to me. I think the font in the bars is hard to read in that color and sideways though.

Hey guys, I just finished my new reel and want some opinions. It's a mix of 16mm, 35mm, HD, and RED footage. here is the link ---> DP Reel

Looks really good, nailed the noir aspect well. Maybe a suggestion in the future, maybe a little bit of atmosphere would help. Hazers can do wonders to a look, definitely for a noir. I liked the crane shot with the car a lot, only complaint is the sharpness (haze would help cut this down and give it some more texture and cools shafts in places.)

Kill Bill 2 the part of Pei Mei was shot on 5285 but then crossed.

As being a young DoP and working with a crew I haven't had any problems. I also don't come onto set being a prick, my crew relies on me to be a good DoP and I rely on them to help me get the image I'm going after. I have the utmost respect for my crew and they know that, I've always stuck up for my guys too when things start to get fishy or terrible. I will say I was fortunate for the school I went to, which was University of North Carolina School of the Arts which their film program was rooted in being hands on. I spent my four years there every weekend working on set. Like I said this is not to say I know everything but I did not go to a film school where I studied theory for three years and then raised money (hopefully enough) for a film (which most of the time a student would hire a professional crew to shoot their film). We individually DPed a film every year (sometimes more) and crewed on countless numbers of other productions in so many other positions. Most schools are not like UNCSA though, so if you get a grip/electric interning on a film from UNCSA don't sleep on them. These are not kids that come to a set and don't have a clue what a c-stand or a maxi-brute or 4/0 cable is, they know their craft very well. I again emphasize that we don't know everything and there is a great deal to learn, but majority of the graduates from the cinematography program where I came from have the skill to be a DoP, every student from our school crews every weekend as well and when they can will pick up a job or an internship on real productions. Like I said not a DoP for huge shows right off the bat but the skills and smarts to make it to that position. This is also the same for the rest of the disciplines in film - director, producer, editor, production designer, etc. all these people worked in so many different capacities within their departments to get the experience of how a real set is run. I will say the hardest thing for me at first to deal with after I graduated was the business side of being a DoP, basically how to deal with productions and not get screwed. I now have started to get a hang of it and now know how to handle myself accordingly.

I think most people on the forum would agree with Mr. Verma about the lighting and camera movement shouldn't take away from the story. But to say that specific lighting that is powerful and noticeable not to work at all I think is wrong. Depending on the story I think certain things called for a very dramatic lighting scheme where the viewer notices it but notices the lighting for story issues. To go back to Conrad Hall's work, in American Beauty when he goes to his daughters dance performance at the school. In the fantasy/dream sequence Mena Suvari is obviously lit by an unmotivated source and Kevin Spacey is spot lit in the audience by himself. It sells the idea that the Mendes wanted to get across. Realistic no, but would it have been as powerful if it was lit realistically? I know every one has their own taste but Hall also won the Academy, BAFTA, and ASC that year for RTP. Another DoP who doesn't light things realistically all the time is Robert Richardson A.S.C. His famous trademark of the hot toplight, never bothers me in any of the films he has shot.