Dan Salzmann

The top first AC's here in Paris seem to be using the Hilti.

What do you mean by "drag the shutter"?

I understand the time and budget constraints but frankly these demo films are not as a good as many student films I have seen with similar budgets. I consider a DP to be more than just a technician that can put some lights up, twiddle some knobs and get an image. I feel these films are insulting to the cinematographers and far from flattering to their (Kodak and Fuji) products. I would rather see tasteful still lifes of flowers to show colour rendition, contrast, saturation, etc. than some feeble, tacky attempt at a narrative. Sorry for the bit of a rant but it's sad that at these things, the catering looks better than the demo films.

Every time that Kodak and Fuji have one of those "here is a new emulsion" presentations, I find the "demo" films are really, really bad. They are sometimes shot by AFC and ASC DP's yet they are never, ever interesting and a far cry from flattering to their products. I would think that especially with the so called "digital revolution" they would want to make the best, yet often most expensive capture medium as attractive as possible. Frankly, I would appreciate seeing something more impressive than just lifeless sensitometric curves. If the marketing people think that what they are presenting is some kind of lowest common denominator, then I believe they are quite wrong. It's even lower than that. Just my opinion and I am curious about how other DP's feel about these things. Am I the only one cringeing?

What is Safety Pass training?

I use a series of Nikon AIS lenses on the 5d MkII with one of those adaptors with no problems. The lenses stop down to the set aperture when focusing so the image can get quite dark in the viewfinder/LCD screen. The images look great!

I would suggest that you take a camera stills or other and look at the difference between the two. You will notice for example that the same frame can be obtained with any focal length lens by moving closer or farther from the subject. What changes is the perspective. There is flattening of perspective with longer focal lengths and "distortion" with shorter focal lengths. The choice of focal lengths is determined by how you want the subject to look. Often we are forced to use certain focal lengths because to achieve a certain composition in a tight space it is necessary to use a wider focal length than we would like. A lot of it is a mix of personal taste, common sense and the limitations of the set.

Ahem, his e-mail indicates that he is from India and that might be his name. Also to just automatically suggest the "Film Lighting" book really gives the impression that you have some vested interest. It is a really good book and there are others but try to answer the question and not appoint yourself a moderator.

Recently we had to film in a hospital room and found it easier to find an office and rent the hospital bed, IV, EKG, side table, curtains, etc.

I find that sunlight changes rather often.

Frankly I question the economic and logistic viability of shooting a dialogue intensive feature film in super8. You will undoubtedly get stuck with lots of unexposed short ends that will be hell to organize. Do not forget that the majority of the film transport mechanism in a super8 camera is not in the camera but in the disposable plastic cassettes. Even a quiet standard 16mm camera will give you a far superior image that you can always "degrade" if necessary. They can get very compact if you need them to be. Research this!

Right, "Pelham 456". If only there was as much R&D in the screenplay end of things as there is in the Cinematography department. And I'm not criticizing the screen writers, I'm criticizing the lack of vision of the people that green light the films that get made.

Agreed yet I feel it is somewhat sad to remake a great film instead of sinking all that money and creative talent into a NEW screenplay.

Get an intern job sweeping floors, anything at a grip, electric or camera rental facility. Be humble, efficient, personable, observant, patient and intelligent.

Batteries do not last very long, offer relatively low power, rarely have the desired autonomy and are very bulky. Getting power from adjacent buildings is definitely the best solution if possible. Also remember that the more light you put on the foreground action the dimmer the existing background lighting becomes when you adjust the aperture. If there is existing sodium lighting, do not forget the possibility of bouncing that on to the foreground action.

Hi Tony, By "charlie bar" do you mean a small scrim?

Sounds like having a bag of bread crumbs on set could help to get them in the right place at the right time.

Sreious +1 on this. Some fine glass out there but barrel throw inadequate for serious focus pulls.

Many pigeons have large areas of 18% grey on their bodies-ideal subjects for spot metering!

Maybe the seller thought BL stands for bikini lady.

The two films that come to mind are Martin Scorsese's "Taxidriver" and Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth"

Pay a "visit" to the producer with a couple of grips.

Yes but will this work on a G4?

Definitely stick with it if cinematography is what you really want to do. A lot of really brilliant cinematography never got any gold statuettes.

Situation is that I am on a shoot where someone needs to look at footage shot on P2 and backed up on a hard drive using a PowerMac powerbook that does not have Final Cut Pro. is it possible to do this with some kind of downloadable software that can be used to view the footage?