Jake Ures

Since the Deakins site is down, I thought I would ask you guys how I could achieve the muted light (overcast) look from Assassination of Jess James by the Coward Robert Ford. I am especially talking about the scene where Jesse is playing with the snake behind the barn, but mostly any scene outside during the day has similar lighting.

All I can think of is to flag and bounce of some muslin to soften up the subject. Any suggestions?

Thanks, guys.

Color me stupid and/or ignorant, but since when are church videos shot on F900s? Last I remember it was GL2s and VX1000s...

 

Anyway, I think if you'd keyed from the top, rather than the bottom, it would have been more effective. Seeing the source of the light on the floor was a little sourcey of course, but the backlight look was nice for the most part.

I set the light up on the ground for a couple shots (for the cleats and tape shots), and the director looked at it through the monitor and loved the look even when it became a bit sourcey on the wider shots. Style over realism, I guess. I really did want to rig the light from above, but we were given limited access to the building, so I rigged a diffused PAR from behind and the rim light from the bottom. Then I used a reflector to fill. Thanks for the input.

This is a little commercial I DPed for a church video. We shot it on a Sony CineAlta F900. We used Final Cut Pro and some cold grading.

 

http://www.whitestonemotionpictures.com/mo.../PregameDND.mov

 

Thanks!

I also ask that this video be kept on here. I was given strict instructions to only put this up here to get critiques. We intend to sell this video and do not want any leaks. Thank you, kindly!

This is a little commercial I DPed for a church video. We shot it on a Sony CineAlta F900. We used Final Cut Pro and some cold grading.

http://www.whitestonemotionpictures.com/mo.../PregameDND.mov

Thanks!

From your tone, it doesn't sound fair. If you're the DP, you should be there behind the camera as well, supervising the framing and collaborating with the director in that aspect. If you're handing off the camera responsibilities to someone else, you're essentially a gaffer. A gaffer who's considered part of the "creative team" perhaps, but I'd fight really hard to be there with your eye to the viewfinder setting up the shot, if I were you.

I have more creative control than a gaffer. That's for sure. I get an eye on the monitor and the director asks me questions about lighting. I give him my ideas, and they are listened to more than on most sets. Our sets are a bit more laid back than you'd imagine, so it may seem strange to those of you who think I'm getting the raw end of the deal. I guess, we separate the Cinematographer and the Director of Photography although we both collaborate hand in hand.

i'd be pretty upset considering they listed two others guys as the DP

Naw. They deal with framing. I handle lighting. It's fair, I suppose.

Personally I'm impressed by the work on this project and the other projects done by you guys. Judging from the other work I've seen on their site, I'm sure they understand what the roles are and the proper titles. However as was said if you're an independent film company you're not always going to have someone in every spot thus people do multiple roles.

 

Brandon where are you guys located?

I know that question was pointed at Brandon, but to answer the question, we are located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hey is the magician the same actor in Awake O'Sleeper?

Yes he is. His name is Jackson Walker. He's great. That was our first movie with him, and we had such a good experience with him during Awake that we decided he was also right for the lead in That's Magic!.

Brandon,

 

Welcome to the forums and thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

As far as proper etiquette is concerned, critique is not a back-patting session. It's a way for artists to get feedback on their work and improve their abilities. If you ask for a critique you need to put your ego and emotions on hold and use the analytical part of your brain to objectively evaluate comments. None of my comments were derogatory or insulting. They were direct and deconstructive, as they should be in a critique. Holding people accountable at a professional level for their work is a service to them.

 

My comments and questions were all aimed at pointing out problem areas that should be corrected if Jake wants to improved his skills. One of the skills you and Jake need to work on is understanding the roles of crew members and taking / giving proper credit where credit is due. You are making a distinction between Cinematographer and Director of Photography, two interchangeable terms. If you give either credit to someone you are giving that person credit for camera AND grip AND electric. Neither you nor Jake, according to your post, were fully responsible for those departments. Your roles were malleable. Credits, however, are not.

 

If you're unclear about the distinction between roles, please search the forums. There are threads discussing the perceived and actual differences between Cinematographer, Director of Photography, and Lighting Cameraman. Understanding roles will help you when you recruit professional crew in the future, and it will help your crew to be more competent in the jobs they perform.

 

I hope my comments have been helpful, and I wish you success with your future projects.

Unfortunately, in an independent film company, we cannot have all roles filled. As we grow, we may then be able to make more distinctions between all of the departments, but no one just did their one job. At some points, I was a grip because we were short-handed. I guess I was also the gaffer, but I'm not looking for credits; I'm looking for experience.

In some circles, a cinematographer and a DP can be two separate individuals. I dealt with the lighting, Brandon dealt with the framing and shot composition, and Dan brought both of our departments together as our camera operator. I believe all of us were properly credited aside from the one clerical error which could be partially my own fault.

Thank you for your criticism, though. We DO need to get better about crediting our crew members.

_Jake

And learning from them.

 

The entire film looks a bit dark on my monitor. That's probably a transcoding and Flash issue.

It is sort of dark, I agree.

Does anyone know anything about Canon Digi-primes? We're thinking of using those to replace our Pro-35/prime lens combo. The Pro-35 has presented too many problems.

Thus far, I have been a dolly grip who had an interest in cinematography. This was the first film that I was given free-reign on lights. Framing, the director still likes to have control of.

 

We are using a CineAlta f900 with a pro-35 adapter. The back focus was a bit off, and this was only the second shoot that we were given to play with it. We are looking into a Red sometime in the future, but we are also looking into some Canon Digiprimes. David Fincher seems to use a similar set-up, so we are willing to keep trying.

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I promise this was my first DP job. I've done a lot of studying. Roger Deakins, Janusz Kaminski, etc...

Forgot to mention, many of the shots you found too shaky for the tripod might have been our camera operator with the camera on his shoulder. He has a pretty steady hand. Although our tripod has seen better days...

I guess it has come to a point where you should be shooting on 35mm/Red/Red-equivalent to be able to critique properly.

 

I thought the lighting was a bit harsh at times, I would've used more diffusion (inside at the janitor) so that people wouldn't get too hot/overexposed. But on the other side, maybe the lighting would be just perfect if shot on film/red? I think generally the lighting was moody, but was annoyed at the shortcomings of the 35mm adapter (never thought I'd say that) - sometimes being not very sharp, sometimes having "orangish" hot spots and sometimes seeming too heavy for the tripod (shaky).

 

Let me know if any of my assumptions was wrong :)

 

I think the lighting was better than the script/direction if that's a help. Best of all was the music (not necessarily the lyrics).

Thus far, I have been a dolly grip who had an interest in cinematography. This was the first film that I was given free-reign on lights. Framing, the director still likes to have control of.

We are using a CineAlta f900 with a pro-35 adapter. The back focus was a bit off, and this was only the second shoot that we were given to play with it. We are looking into a Red sometime in the future, but we are also looking into some Canon Digiprimes. David Fincher seems to use a similar set-up, so we are willing to keep trying.

Thanks for the encouragement. I promise this was my first DP job. I've done a lot of studying. Roger Deakins, Janusz Kaminski, etc...

No doubt about that, he just shouldn't have said he was the DoP.

Thank you to everyone who responded. I'll take everything you guys brought up into consideration.

As far as the credits go, I was not misleading you. I was given the position of Lighting Director, and the woman credited under lighting was there for consultation and when I could not be present. This was my first time given full reign over the lights. The cinematographer was in charge of shot composition. I was given the role of lighting. As I get more experienced, I will be able to work on composition as well. My next step is Director of Photography. If the credits were in the film, why would I bloat my importance? I wouldn't count on all of you being blind.

There were two AC's and thirteen grips because this film was created by one hundred percent volunteer work (besides our actors). Everyone from director to production manager to grip was not paid.

Our focus issues were not realized until post because our back focus on our Pro-35 lens adapter was all kinds of screwed up, and our monitor didn't make it apparent. All of the close ups were out of focus. We did the best with what we had.

Anymore helpful tips? Thanks a bunch!

Hey Jake,

 

My internet is slow and I'm being rushed out at the moment.

I did however see the first 7-8 mins and I really like your work.

 

Well done!!

Anyone else have any thoughts or answers to some of my questions?

Hello all,

I've been browsing this website for some time now, and you guys seem to be pretty knowledgeable. I was wondering if any of you would interested in critiquing (mainly the lighting--which was my area of concern) a short film (roughly 12 minutes) that I DPed.

The budget was somewhere around $10000. We rented out lights:

-Two Teenie-Weenie Moles

-A 5K lamp

For the most part we used some PAR lamps and some Kino's that we owned.

My main questions would be:

1. As a first venture into lighting, how did I do? Where can I improve?

2. With the lights we DO own, where do you think I should go next as far as purchases go. Let's say our budget is $500.

3. What would you have done differently?

EDIT: There was some coloring done in post, using the Color program with Final Cut Pro.

http://vimeo.com/2604280

Hello all,

I've been browsing this website for some time now, and you guys seem to be pretty knowledgeable. I was wondering if any of you would interested in critiquing (mainly the lighting--which was my area of concern) a short film (roughly 12 minutes) that I DPed.

The budget was somewhere around $10000. We rented out lights:

-Two Teenie-Weenie Moles

-A 5K lamp

For the most part we used some PAR lamps and some Kino's that we owned.

My main questions would be:

1. As a first venture into lighting, how did I do? Where can I improve?

2. With the lights we DO own, where do you think I should go next as far as purchases go. Let's say our budget is $500.

3. What would you have done differently?

EDIT: There was some coloring done in post, using the Color program with Final Cut Pro.

http://vimeo.com/2604280