Matt Rosen

A friend of mine is about to edit a short film and was asking if there are any quality differences exporting from one of these programs versus the other. From personal experience, I've found it easier to export from Final Cut, but I don't know enough about how the programs export or the export options of Premiere to say with confidence one way or another. I'm not even sure what to look for. Any advice?

I was wondering if anyone knew what they did to get the look of the scene from Sunshine when Pinbacker first appears on the Icarus II. What would be the minimum requirements as far as lighting goes for shooting such a scene?

I'm doing a shoot in August, and it looks as though we'll either be shooting on the Panasonic DVX 100 or the JVC HM100. I've never used the HM100 before, and I wanted to see if I could get some information from people who have used it. It seems like the camera's big selling points are its size and its format, which allows for easy access to places most comparable cameras would be restricted from. This won't be an issue on this particular shoot. It has a smaller sensor than the DVX, despite shooting in 1080p. How do the pictures compare? What kinds of menu controls do you get from the HM100? How is its latitude, and how does a picture look in direct sunlight? Thanks in advance for your help.

So I am crazy. ;) I figured it was something like that. I borrowed the light from my school, and they don't come with manuals. Looking at the picture you posted, though, it seems like it should've been okay, since it more closely resembled the lamp on the top right than on the bottom left. In any case, I'll definitely try to be more mindful of that in the future. Thanks for the help.

I was on a shoot this weekend, and we were using Lowel Pro 250W lights. It was in a tight space, and we needed a backlight, so we pointed the light downward onto the character. After a while, we noticed a strange smell and realized that the light's plastic housing was melting. Am I crazy, or is it absurd to build a light out of a material that can't withstand the heat of its own bulb?

Lowel Omnis and Pros

Rain is forcast tomorrow night, but I am scheduled to shoot a scene outdoors. Is there a quick and affordable way to protect the lights?

Rather than dispersing the weight throughout the upper body, the entire weight of the rig is placed on your shoulders and wrist. I haven't had much luck with it. If you are gonna use it, you really need to be in great shape and have gotten a lot of practice with it beforehand. Otherwise your arm will buckle, and the shot will be shaky anyway.

Pop in any film with a car, and chances are good that you'll find what you're looking for. Pulp Fiction Royale w/ Cheese Cab ride after Butch's fight "Oh man, I just shot Marvin in the face" Minority Report After Anderton kidnaps the Precog Collateral The whole movie, basically Se7en John Doe is in their custody Fight Club Tyler lets go of the wheel The Right Stuff Gordo Cooper drives to and from Edwards Air Force Base The Dark Knight Gordon protects Reese from an angry mob Two Face confronts a mob lord Blood Simple The opening scene No Country For Old Men Lewellyn hitchhikes The Hitcher The opening scene Most of the rest of the movie Death Proof Opening scene Mike demonstrates his death-proof car The build up to the "Hold Tight" crash sequence Snickers TV spots The ones with the Viking and Henry VIII on a road trip Anyway, those should probably be a good start.

So, no takers?

This might sound a little weird, it being an animated film and all, but the 3-disc edition of WALL*E is a terrific resource for the amount of time its special features spend on cinematography (in both real world and digital universes). They show fairly big chunks of a seminar hosted by Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, almost every Coen Bros film) that he put on for the Pixar crew. Then you can see how his lessons were put into practice on the film itself. Deakins is probably my favorite cinematographer, and his website has a user forum where you can ask specific questions and get detailed answers. I recommend No Country For Old Men as a great example. I'm pretty new to the field myself, but I have to concede that you're not going to learn that much from watching movies. Almost everything I've learned so far, I've learned from personal experience.

There's a scene in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button in which Cate Blanchett stands in front of a wall of mirrors. There is a wide shot angled in such a way that the camera should be reflected on the wall, but it is not. In this case (this curious case, if you will) my guess is that they actually shot from outside the building. It was dark and there was little detail through the window. The camera could've hid in that dark area. But I see scenes like this all the time. Reflective glasses that seem to have complete freedom of movement but never reveal any rigging, shiny chrome cars perpendicular to the field of view, POVs of people looking into mirrors without consequence. Are vampires shooting these films or what? How do you go about hiding from reflections?

I'm going to be working on a project in a few months that will require a nighttime driving sequence during rain. If at all possible, I'd rather shoot the car's interior without it actually moving (the illusion created by light passing over the characters). What would you suggest in terms of location and set? Should I seek out a dark, secluded parking lot or pay for a soundstage? If the latter, can you recommend an afforable place in the NYC area? Should I use and actual car or have a mock-up built? How should I deal with the water on the windshield? Will I need a fan to simulate drag, or will the mere presence of raindrops be enough? If I do need a fan, how should I deal with the noise it will make when we shoot the characters? Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Okay, so then dynamic range is the range from the brightest bright to the blackest black, and latitude is the range within that which contains enough detail to be corrected.

I was cinematographer on my friend's grad school project. It was shot on a DVX100 on very short notice (roughly a week). http://www.vimeo.com/2529719 The opening news sequence was done during a reshoot that I did not attend, as were two inserts whose color and lighting don't really match. The first slow-mo shot in the flashback was my first attempt at the simulating overcranking with the DVX. It was shot in 30p; and played back at 50% speed (I'd have shot it at 60i had I known it would be slowed down so much). I didn't expect the 30p footage to look like it did. At first it was blown out, so I increased the shutter speed to 1/120 (which in retrospect probably defeats the purpose of shooting in 30p). There's still something off about the look of it which I can't quite articulate. The colors seem a little more saturated, but I'm not sure if that's it. If you have any advice on how to better deal with this, please let me know. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the movie.