Claudio Miranda ASC

I am not aware of an anti-ringing utility used. The white pixels flashing around highlights is probably due to sharpening in the noise reduction process (DTS) and definitely not Viper (I just checked original footage). Could be the H.264 conversion, but I have not seen it there before. I have seen the same happen with another noise reduction software where the sharpening setting was too strong. The RED and/or Green fringing occurs most prominently on a bright and dark hard transition in the Viper and it is more pronounced towards the edge of frame. Both of these issues will be fixed on the release of the movie. The red and green shift problem is in every Viper. Some more than others. I picked 2 out of 5 cameras for the movie where this issue is minimal. Some focal lengths show it worst than others. Also the green channel is the first to clip, which is one of the reasons I use a slight magenta filter. When the green channel fails the others keep on going and can produce artifacts in highlights. This artifact you can see more with a bright sky in the background (especially with the sun). We are still working on the movie and final color correction will not happen for awhile. Also for some reason Apple converted the 1080 and 480 at 29.97. The 720 version is correct. Apple should have these fixed shortly.

I am glad you liked the trailer. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to proofread the article before it went out. There are a few errors. It is always best when the writer sends myself a copy before the article goes out. Since this article I make sure I get a chance to proofread. Wayne and myself corrected a few statements below but not all.

you may have a 10K aimed at the subject and you realize the look is boring and average. Sometimes taking that light and panning it off somewhere else... the light may bounce or skip off of something else and produce something more beautiful. Wolski taught me to pan lights where they are not supposed to be panned. Sorry Claudio i can't understand what do you mean with that..., it is an expression "pan lights" or did you mean literally panning lights... thanks Xavier Plaza

I did work with some great DP's who were really supportive. They still support me to this day. Savides told me not to be afraid to tear down your original plan if another better one presents itself. What is the best way to tell the story? Wolski taught me to pan lights where they are not supposed to be panned. Sometimes you may find something better than the obvious. These are just a few of many I have learned from these two. In the past, I have worked hard for these two and their directors also saw the work I put in and one of them gave me my big break. After shooting for only 6 months, Fincher asked me to gaff Panic Room with another DP. I said that I was shooting only and shortly afterward he gave me a 6 week Nike spot to shoot. That was an amazing ticket to have. When I 1st started shooting my lighting was a mix of everyone else I worked with. After time I made it my own. The upgrade mentioned earlier was a joke. I am better suited as a DP than a director.

Some people hate the way I started. I was an stage manager then electrician, then best boy, then gaffer and DOP. Yesterday I got a David Fincher "Longevity Award". David knew me when I was a stage manager in 1985. Once a year, I am a speaker at USC and seems that everyone wants to be an "instant DP" or "instant director". I chose a long road or the long road chose me.. mainly because I was not sure I wanted to be a DP. While I was gaffing, my girlfriend at the time (who was a producer) asked me would I mind shooting a job... sure what the @#%. I think she was trying to upgrade her boyfriend in the end. So as a kid I never made my own movie. I never shot the ants on the ground. I was just a kid. I was happy to be a stage manager. I was happy to be an electrician.......... Now I am a happy DP. Just hope the new girlfriend does not want to upgrade me. I do not want to direct.

This is correct. I can not show any footage from my current project. What I can show you is what is already on my site. Although the file has been coverted from dpx to jpeg, you can see the color correction applied. http://www.claudiomiranda.com/heinekenttl.html

Nice presentation. Good work as well.

Nice job. I love the limited color in some of your exteriors.

It's always brave to put out your work for others to critique. There are some scenes that look good. I liked the tunnel. I agree with David that the bar is overlit, but that is usually my opinion on most music videos that do the bar scene. I am shooting a movie in HD and one of the benifits is that you can see what you get instantly. The director on the show I am working on commented yesterday that what he loved about HD is that he is basically looking at the answer print. Now you can push the image to the toe and shoulder having instant feedback where they lie. This was shot in 2 days with a very low budget.. The bar scene is 1/4 into the movie: http://www.claudiomiranda.com/alpine264.html Also in presenting your movie make sure you allow it to download and view at the same time. On your video, you have to finish downloading before you can view it. That is why David was having trouble viewing.

This version has untouched digital files. This explains everything. Going through the car I use a tripod and some handheld. http://www.claudiomiranda.com/caddy.html 60 sec version has been compressed to 30 sec and the sound track has changed from the original Here is the final: http://www.claudiomiranda.com/cadillac.html Shot on Location over 5 days. Digitally removed rig and added some clouds. Also stabilized. Some of the clouds are real. Location is real. Cars are real. After every shot the rig and car moved 9'. Buy the time we were finished we laid over a mile of track. Probably the longest motion control shot I know of. 60 sec version has been compressed to 30 sec and the sound track has changed from the original

Codex was fine. We wanted to view 4:2:2 off of our 4:4:4 signal and that was not posible at the time. Codex was working on an upgrade but was not available at the time of our shoot. And you are right, we did need more time. Lenses on the Chilside were Zeiss Digi Primes. HD lenses on the Sony 900. As far as the S2 and hard drives. On the whole shoot of Zodiac not one frame lost. So maybe the system is insane, but I worked on that show. I am not a computer guy, so maybe we were lucky.

On Zodiac, it was not normal. We are running new video cards that open offer more and (unfortunately) crash more. Feeling a little beta. I have shot a lot with this system and this is not normal. Phil I think you are a DIT. I am curious what have you shot with and what are your experiences? What shows have you had these bad experiences? Also not all hard drives recorders are the same. The data captured is the same, but how I view playback is another story and this is critical for me. Also there are many other differences and if you are a DIT I am sure you know this. We tested Codex, S2 and were originally on the Directors friend. We found that the S2 works best for our purpose. Let me know the basis of your opinions and experiences. Please look at this version. The other is old http://www.claudiomiranda.com/angel264.html

You are very correct Mr Mullen. Fincher's shoot is not cheap and no offense is taken. He is also very budget aware and will maximize the funds to the best of its ability. The producers of Zodiac and David believe that the Viper has saved them a considerable amount of money. I believe they said that it was 3-5 days total and if each day is $300K... well you see thier point. This time is reloading, lab problems, focus issues missed by operators. Unfortunately, we have made some updates to S2 and we are paying for it with a considerable amount of crashes. These will be rectified, but the saving on Benjamin will not be as apparent.. currently. David likes the medium and it is his choice to shoot on Viper and I do see its advantages. On my collaboration with David: David has been open to suggestions whether it is camera angles or lighting choices. He does not want a "yes" man, he wants someone to offer something to the table. There is this job on my site that is called The Angel on Chilside Road. This was for a Sony Dreams project and you had to use the Sony 900. David saw this and loved it. He used it as an example. Originally, I never knew he knew about my site. He brought me in for a meeting and that is when I started shooting Viper for David on commercials. Today, I wanted to use Chilside as a reference for a lighting set up and David agreed. I have put together two books for this project. One is location angles and the other is stills reference. Also everyday after work I time the shooting images for references off of the Viper. David looks at the timed stills daily. When this is over I will post on my site what is allowed and will be open to go into more details. David Mullen, I do want to commend you on all your helpful posts in this forum. I have read some of your posts and have noted them to be very helpful to the individuals needing assistance.

Blue screens have only made up about 5% of the movie. Set extentions another 15%. Fall off on lenses is more apparent on the 35mm lenses and not the 2/3 chip. I do not worry as much about aperature for the Viper on Digi Primes. That is not the big deal. The big deal is something that i can not discuss currently. On how many people. Without counting the crew list or call sheets approx 100 on light and 200 on heavy days on set only. Does not include post, editing and accountants. Is this important?

Film was never an option because of the huge post on this job. Plus David loves the Viper. Although we are shooting some film for the Caribean portion and a battle sequence that we want to shoot at 96fps, but that will only make up 5% of the movie.