Rhys Cooper

I disagree with what many of you are saying about it being 'stealing' and morally wrong. Theft means that you are taking SOMETHING away from someone. Yes, copying a movie can be stealing, but only if the person was going to pay for it in the first place. That is exactly right. The people who are downloading films and music are often people who don't have the money to blow on these products, and would have NEVER paid for it otherwise. How many teens do you know that have 3000+ songs in iTunes? Do you seriously think that teens could afford to pay for all of that (equating to over $3000)? Many users are downloading the products to test their quality, see what they like and whether or not they think it is really worth paying for the physical product. Most of these people would have bought a few of the albums in their library. Many of these users are getting these products so they can see if they like it first. Yes, the rental companies are losing money, but it is also because it is overpriced for the average consumer. Many users are not going to pay $5 to watch a movie once before they have to return it. It is costing too much in terms of effort and price. Many feel they are obeying morals and social values more-so, but in the end it is still costing too much. I think we are all forgetting a major thing right here - people eventually want a physical copy that is easy to carry around. People want the physical product because they feel like they are actually receiving the work (including the box art, pamphlets, posters, cd art, etc), often with additional features and such that they wouldn't get from downloading. People like to have something they can carry around easily to a friends place and such so that it can be exposed to them, as well. No one wants to pay for something they cant physically feel exists. People don't get excited from soft copies. Cinemas are still in business today because people like how epic it feels, and the fact that they are going out to see a film. Not an aweful lot of people invite someone over just to watch a film anymore. Home cinemas may be more likely to damage the industry. Look at the Dark Night for example, that made almost a billion in revenue because people went to the cinemas. We should be making cinemas more exciting and worthwhile for the costumers, so they are more likely to pay for this legitimate business. Cinemas need to compete against home cinemas in a way that will never be achievable at home. Ultimately you are getting more exposure, more people are admiring your work, it is being talked about more often and there is more chance people are going to buy it. More people (including those who have not paid for it) are watching and appreciating your work. However, if you have not made a good film it is doubtful that they would be recommending it to their friends. This means you are going to have to work harder on your next project, which is exactly what your audience wants! You have to try and make films people are going to want to watch more then once. If you make a good film, you are going to be supported through this system. If you make a terrible film, no one is going to pay for it. This is the way that it should work, to keep us on our toes and to keep us working hard. It also keeps competitions levels up. I don't feel this system will damage the industry at all. It is just getting people to work harder at their jobs (filmmakers, technology, cinemas, marketing, advertising, etc).

Is there an affordable way I can achieve night vision (any kind that lets me see pretty much everything in very low light) on a Canon XL1? A lens, or a filter? Thanks

You might want to read up on some free scripts from movies already made. I have read the Kill Bill and Resident Evil movie scripts. Also Charmed and a few other TV show episodes. They are all fairly interesting. To structure scripts faster and easier you might want to try something like Final Draft, it's cheap, small in size, fairly easy to use and exports to a variety of different formats (.doc, .pdf, etc).

What exactly were you experimenting? The feathers and hand thing was cool, but playing it again in normal motion kind of ruined the initial effect. The creases in the sheets don't really work in your favor, either. Creative, but could have been better done.

Alright, that's cool, but will I be able to zoom in and out without having a visible cornering where the redrock/letus sits? I still need to put another lens at the end of the redrock/letus, don't I? Like I said, I'm a noob and am probably extremely frustrating. Thank you for helping me out.

Easiest way -- either "become one" with the lens or don't push the focus to the boundaries.

Look at a few movies. 28 Days Later for example. It's still shown on TV all the time. The majority of the audience don't even realize it was shot on SD. HD doesn't make a great difference. If you have the money, go for it, but when you only have $1000 you aren't going to get much CONTROL (and control is what will get you that picture perfect image). People shouldn't be focusing on whether its HD or SD, but if it is believable and looks good (that is lighting and cinematography, not the extra pixels). YouTube doesn't use real HD. Real HD would take forever to upload and download. I use YouTube's HD filter to export and keep my footage in its original aspects and quality (shot on SD). It depends on where they are from. In Australia that broadband speeds aren't exactly great. The majority of users won't watch it in HD unless they know they'll be getting a professional product or their internet speeds skyrocket. There's really no use in that. People are just getting excited about the "HD" thing because it's new. Yes, that will be the future, but like I said, most wont realize right now (fake it and keep them happy). The only place you have to start worrying about HD is if you want to exhibit to a theater or on HD broadcast. Even then... a lot of viewers wouldn't realize. BluRay still isn't a large enough product lately. Under half of new movies are distributed to BluRay. Well of course, you'd chose HD over SD if you were buying a new camera, but the camera he has is fine. I wouldn't say "future proof". They are soon to make holographic disks that will be able to contain over 3 terabytes of data. In about 10 years they will be the new BluRay, and would be swarming stores. People would be able to get cinematic aspects at home. Technology is changing far too quickly to say that anything is future-proof. I am a firm believer in quality over quantity. Why have 1080 pixels and still be an amateur if you can have 720 and make yourself pro? Work on visual quality now, camera quality later.

Emos.

Well it depends on what kind of smoke or fog it is. If it's white then generally it's going to bounce light and become brighter, but it's not really going to make a huge difference. It's basically just going to look smoggy on film (slightly blurry and whiter). Even then, it all depends on how thick the smoke is, how much of it there is, where it is, what background it has and what's lighting it. What does it matter? It's not really much different to an actor wearing a white shirt.

Alright, alright. I'm an extreme noob, no denying that. I just want confirmation. If I buy this XL to PL lens, I can just put the 35mm on the front? Or does it NEED to be PL, or Arri PL?

How do focus marks really effect the final image? I saw on a video they said you can only use prime lenses with that, but could I get a lens that would have a zoom for the XL1?

Where are you planning on having your films end up? YouTube? DVD? BluRay? I wouldn't bother with HD unless you had both a BluRay burner and player, you're basically just getting bigger dimensions which won't burn to DVD that is compatible with DVD players. If it's going on the net there's not great use for it either. It's most likely going to be compressed by either you to uploaded it faster, or the website so users can download it faster. If I were you I'd buy camera accessories, from an underwater box (if you ever want to shoot underwater, it would also block sand), to filters, lenses, lighting equipment, etc. The Canon GL2 is fine, you just gotta learn how to use it to achieve a more professional look. After all -- great equipment has little use without a great person behind it. All that really depends on how much time you have to set up, how much space you generally have, etc. It's all up to you buddy, but I'd suggest using that money towards something that is more likely to help you out. With $1000 you're going to get a fairly basic consumer camera, especially if you want HD. After that you need to start thinking about the formats it is on, and if you'll be able to edit with it. Stick to what you got.

Bump. That adapter... will it attach to the XL1 for use to adapt a 35mm lens? Will it let me change the aperture, or will I do that on the lens?

Not a problem. I have had people literally say to me "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!" after I told them to switch the gain off their camera and use shutter/iris instead. Some people are extremely vulnerable to stuff like that, so I try and be as *gentle* as possible, which gets frustrating when it comes to explaining that they did something wrong. Sounds like you really want to be a scriptwriter. That doesn't always mean that you're going to be in a dark room, you'll write it and that'd be your job done. Script writers often become executive producers, and are on the set to direct when they want something done in a particular way. Yeah, special effects can be extremely difficult to get photorealistic. I'd suggest just removing it if it's not important; purely to save some time. It can take AGES (literally months) to get something right. Learning all about mattes, compositing, modeling, animation and all that is fairly difficult, so yeah. Whatever you feel is best. I suggest setting up a YouTube account. If you purely want viewers and some responses, then that'd be the best for you right now. Its a good place to store shorts, as well. Upload all your work to get feedback (granted many of them are numbskulls and don't know the difference between the number one and the word Psychology). There are some people on YouTube who are genuinely there to help out, so you will get some useful feedback. Just keep working on it. Not everything can be taught (although a fair bit can).

What do you mean "everything else"? It was a good movie.