Marco King

Thanks for all the inputs. I think I have a better understanding of the process. marco King

So I guess it all depends on what has been decided beforehand; Cards straight to the edit suite can work but I think in that case it would still be wise to have one backup onto a drive as well. Obviously this option isn't always viable, in remote locations and so on. Otherwise three backups seems to be the standard if you are storing on hard drive; One for the client and two that the production keeps. On that side of things, is it generally accepted that you charge for the storage of digital media? How does that get worked into the budget? Brian. I'll be reading that academy report when I get time to see what conclusions they came to about that. Also, When storing to drives, is there a reliable standard format that the footage should be stored as? I know there is great debate about standardizing digital media so that is does not become redundant but have there been any conclusions to this? Does one simply store the raw footage (tons of space req.) or a codec?

I recently encountered a problem with a certain hard drive onto which I was offloading footage for a series production. The drive, a Lacie Rugged, was supplied by the production company for offloading and storage during the post-production process and beyond. Now I knew about the reputation of these drives and was very skeptical about long term storage on them. However, this is what I was given and budget restraints didn't allow for anything more reliable such as a mirrored drive system with a dedicated power source. I am an AC and relatively new at it. Turns out the drive crashed, well almost and luckily I managed to retrieve the data because I had picked up a problem with it mounting to a computer before it really did crash. So my ass was saved but still too close a call. Why didn't I have a second back up you might ask? Well I did, also onto a Lacie, but by some foul turn of fate that drive also crashed, just days after the first one, leaving me with one back-up and no other drives for another. I also used a data transfer program, Shotput Pro, as an assurance because it creates a text file of the offloading process that can be used to verify that nothing went wrong during that process. The question that I would like to pose to everyone is; Is there now an industry standard method for storing data over long term periods? For instance a new series in production here in South Africa, The Wild, stores all of their media on the cards they originally shot on as well as onto dedicated drives. However with budget in mind it may prove to be too costly for most to purchase hundreds of p2, CF or whichever cards to be used as tapes originally would as storage mediums. Then there is the question of space. When an entire series, shot in HD, is being stored it means a LOT of space and if the drives are mirrored, even more cost. Are there any solutions to this. I feel this is a relatively important discussion to have because with the few production companies I have worked with thus far none have allocated sufficient budget for long term or even reliable storage that will span the whole production process. Who does this cost fall upon, the production company, post production company? The client? Any input would be great.

Hi I recently heard a rumour that effects filters such as Coral or Straw can be used effectively as colour balancing filters rather than 85's. What kind of effect does this create when shooting tungsten stock in daylight? Anyone have any examples of where this is used?

late sixties, then late seventies and finally present day.

We only have one day exterior scene, the rest being interior and exterior nights, shooting on tungsten stock; Vision3 200T and 500T, and Fuji VIVID 500T for another period in the narrrative. However, if shooting on better lenses means that we have to compromise on other factors affecting the overall look, from lighting to wardrobe, then yes I think i will have to just settle for a simple lens package and make it work. I was only kidding about eating into the catering budget, we will be well fed.

I have considered the digital route but since this film is a period drama piece we found the look of 16mm to be much more suitable and, with some very helpful connections at telecine offering us processing for next to nothing, not too expensive either. Rob. I have thought about the problem of wide lenses and decided that, along with primes, 10, 25, 35, 50, 85 , i will complement my lens set with a S16 zoom as well that covers most of my focal lengths, especially the wides; the 11.5 - 138mm Angenieux perhaps? haven't had any experience with the cooke S4's. Think i'll test one this weekend as well and see how the look compares to Zeiss. Any personal preferences? Zeiss or Cooke?

Hi all I have a super 16mm shoot coming up in the next month and a half that has a ridiculously low budget. I am trying to find a way to get the best possible quality out of the format for cinema viewing without eating my way into the catering budget in my search. So far this is what I have come up with: Using an inexpensive Arri SR2 lighting with tungsten rather than HMI's spending the majority of the budget on better glass!! I was planning to shoot on Zeiss 16mm ultra's but since there is only one set in the country, this may not be the best option. My other option is to shoot on Zeiss 35mm ultra's as they are cheaper but here is where my question lies. Does shooting on 16mm with 35mm lenses have a negative effect on the depth of field? What happens with circles of confusion when a lens designed for a larger format is used in this case? And one final question. Would it even be beneficial, quality wise, to shoot on ultra's as opposed to standard super speed 16mm primes on a small format like this? I will be testing the Zeiss 35mm ultra's this weekend but opinions would be great.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply Arun. I must definitely look further into these schools. By the way did you say that these places offer shooting on 35mm? What is the length of the films you produce and how many do you make a year? Thanks again

Hi there I have been looking around for film schools all over the world which offer post-graduate studies in cinematography and am particularly interested in India. It occurred to me recently that with the massive and successful industry that India has it must surely also have some top quality institutions to match. I have looked at a few websites ( Asian Academy of Film and TV and the Film and television institute of India). Whilst the education itself remains extremely cheap I have no idea of the quality of these places. Anyone with experience, advice or knowledge of film institutes in India? I think it could be an amazing place to study further and to open up doors into the bollywood scene. Marco King

whilst we are discussing The Hurt Locker does anyone know what stock they used for the film?