Andre Felipe Meneses

Amparo, Actually, I´m also planning to study in NYFA, One-year-filmmaking, but can´t hide that One-Year-Cinematography is one of my ambitions too; and I have the same doubt of yours: NY or LA? It seems that NY is more practical, because as I heard, in LA you’ll certainly need a car and son on. Other hand I’d like to keep contact to fallow your journey in NYFA and any advice it’ll be well come. Cheers

Thank you all very, very much!

Hi David, First of all I would really like to apologize because of my insistence in the examples of multiple cameras I´ve seen in the cinematographic market along my entire life. I guess that the excess of enthusiasm and, also, the natural curiosity of every beginner, took me a little far, and I didn´t realize that I was being inconvenient with my insistence. I’m terribly sorry if sounded impolite, I really beg your pardon for this annoying distraction. Be sure that the contribution you all gave me is really relevant and absolutly necessary. And it’ll help me quite a lot in my future decisions, considering that I still have a long and tortuous road ahead. So I´d like to deserve your attention for many others moments that, for sure, it’ll come. I do apologize once more. Best wishes, André Felipe

Hi Daniel, Yes, you´re right. The credits show only cameras A and B. But on DVDs released here in Brazil, the making of shows a little more: shows the sequence of tango being shot from 4 different angles at the same time (one of them it seems to me, also, that there was a steadi involved). I can´t believe they´ve cheated, filming the same sequence twice with 2 cameras and showing as if they had done all of that at once. Is that possible? May even be. For me was too perfect to be a trick. Thank you very much, Daniel. I really appreciate. André Felipe

Ok Dave, I´ll keep very carefully the considerations of all of you. Actually, considering my lack of experience, what I’m planing is shoot digitally first (using very simple cameras) the most important scenes or all of them, depending of the circumstances, (It’ll be something like a “visual sketch” or something like that) and then, I presume, I´ll have a very close Idea about what and how to do in order to know exactly how many cameras it’ll be necessary in every scene. Other hand, gentlemen, I keep watching many examples offered by cinematographic market, like THAKE THE LEAD directed by Liz Friedlander. There´s a scene when Antonio Banderas dances a tango with his dancing academy student, that´s it was shot, not with 3 cameras, but 4 ones. And the most extraordinary, at least for me, is that in 01:52min I could count about 110 frames, not the entire scene, but only the dancing sequence; and all of them (frames) were performing its own role in perfect equality, not in a secondary condition of a supporting frame. So, at least for my eyes, there was no problem of lighting, or nothing evident, of course. You guys, thank you very much for this helping hand in this very painfull beginning. A helping hand that it won´t be forgotten. André Felipe

Yes, I do realise that many incovenients for set lighting, as a whole, may come very easily, what sooner or later it’ll be a problem to solve. But I guess that the bigest gain, considering all the incovenients, it´ll always be the objectivity, the possibility of control of the angles of that scene at the same time, and if you have material enough to feel comfortable on the post production to give the rythm you really want to your film (in my case, my first one) that´s the most important for me. For sure, there will be a very heavy price to be paid. But I’m getting ready. Thank you Brian, :rolleyes:

Thak you Brian, As you well said, not every scene it´ll demand multiple cameras, but i´m planning (just planning) to have 3 cameras for the entire production.

First of all Thank you Adrian and David, Well, I’ve read somebody talking about this proportion in one list... now I can´t remmeber where. As I´m beginner who didn´t shoot yet, all I could do was simply get the information. But as a second opinion is always prudent I decided to confirm asking my friends of Cinematography.com I also saw an interview of Joel Schmamcher, when he was shooting Phone Booth. The film was scheduled to be shot in 10 days, but he used 4 cameras, instead of one. Though he admited that it´s a little harder to light, the film it was lighted any way. And it seems that Matthew Libatique did a good job. And in his own words (Joel) he said that with only one camera it would have been taken 40 days and not only 10days. A considerable gain. John Woo is another one who very oftenly works with 3 cameras. I also saw action senquences in Richard Donner’s 16 Blocks that could hardly be done with less than 3 cameras. But in my point of view, a simple point of viewof a beginner, with multiple cameras are easier to maintain the intensity of an action sequence or even a dramatic dialog performance, avoiding problems of continuity in image and sound, and also it helps the actor to produce his (or her) best, with a minimum of interruptions possible. Please guys, is there any (or a lot of) inconsistency in points of view? Thank you once more

Considering that (theoretically) every minute of the film demands 12 ours of shooting, I ask: This relation is valid, taking in consideration the numbers of camera on set, I mean, dependinding of the number of cameras, this proportion it’ll be naturally reduced like: 1 camera: 1 minute requires 12 ours. 2 cameras: 1 minutes requires 6 ours. 3 cameras: 1 minute requires 3. or, it doesn´t matter how many cameras you have, you´ll have always 1 minute for 12 ours of shooting?

Thank you anyway.

Hi Peter, As I am a simple beginner my knowledge of cinematography at all it´s still very small, but I know that a Steadicam operator is naturally much more expensive than a handheld one. Price it wasn´t exactly my point when I posted this topic. I just wanted to know if the Steadi device could also, technically speaking, provide a controled effect of handheld camera. That´s about it.

But this control of shutter angle can also interfere in any aspect of steadiness or it is simply about the "texture" of the picture, I say, the shutter angle manipulation gives the picture a certain look you want. I'm planning BL Evolution line.

Oh, yes, Chris. I guess you´re absolutly right. I fear that every sofistication I plan for this film it´ll cost my skin. I good hand-held camera operator it won´t be cheap. I have no place to run.

thank you Adrian I posted this topic because in this film, that (I hope) it´ll be shoot in 35mm, there is one scene with a lot of action., and I only would like give that natural look that every hand-held gives, but fearing the final result, and watching many films and a good example could be SAVE PRIVATE RYAN, where Kaminsky (I mean, his operator), in my poor point of view, gives a show of action, specially in the first 20 minutes, where each frame pulls you into the beach. You really have the sensation to be in the middle of the batle field. At a first sight it seemed handheld, but as it was so controled I started to ask my self: steadi or handheld?

As every frame a is source of information that helps us to tell a story, the precision of this frame must be taken in cosideration before you start shooting, or no the possibility of sucess it´ll be drastically reduced. In action fims, when sometimes we have frames smaller than a second, the steadiness of the camera is very important to make everything clear to everyboby, we use a Steadicam is used. Other hand, POV (observer point of view handheld camera) is also interesting to be applied whem we want to make audience feel as they were performing the action and, depending of your project, maybe very interesting to the story telling. So, as the stability, and consequently imprecision, of the handheld camera can also be conveniently seen and used as a kind of SFX option, a highly qualified camera operator is required to avoid the SFX desired turn into a disaster. Considering that you don´t have the chance (or budget) to hire a good camera operator I ask: Steadicam system can be adjusted and have its stability reduced in order to provide the frame the same looking of a handheld camera, but with more control and obviously not so rough?