Dan Salzmann

Moe Hawke and Jason Katz = Mohawk and Chasin' cats.

Hmm...

I would like to second what Satsuki said about not telling them what you did but telling them what THEY should do to the film.

Sometimes film can be under or over-exposed on purpose in certain situations.

Anyone know if it was a 2k or 4k DI?

I don't think it is a good idea to get too upset about the mediocre quality of a Nasal Strips spot but if you are after this kind of work maybe you should spend more energy selling yourself to those clients.

Personally I get more bent out of shape by feature films with monster budgets that are far, far away from being justified by what I see on the screen not only in terms of cinematography but also in terms of story, acting and art direction.

I've seen pictures of Kubrick carrying a Mitchell finder that he used as a director's finder.

I've seen areas of Lake Powell that looked other worldly at dawn.

I understood that it does not offer manual exposure in video mode. Is that right?

It is awful looking and tasteless. I can not believe Red would approve of it at all.

Personally i can not relate to anything about it in any way.

It is very important to be objective about what you are getting into when setting out to make a film.

Knowing what you need to make the film is a sign of professionalism. Naiveté has struck many, many "great" minds over the course of history.

Look what happened to Napoleon when he sent his troops to the Russian front in the dead of winter in what amounted to felt slippers and very dodgy supply lines (food and ammunition).

Then Hitler essentially repeated the same mistake over a century later.

Between 12:1 and 16:1 are typical, reasonable, realistic ratios on dramatic feature films.

This changes with errors from cast and crew, uncontrollable sound and weather occurences as well as the use of multiple cameras.

If production can not handle this kind of film expense, do not think you can put a pickle in a Cheerio.

(You can with a very small pickle or a very large Cheerio, but you know what I mean)

Face facts, you can not shoot on film. Shoot digital and use the potential savings to make a better piece (get the images you need, feed the crew, better art direction-set design, wardrobe, make-up, etc.).

As a DP there are few things worse than having to light shoddy looking sets and/or badly styled actors. Having that Panavision and filmstock for a 3:1 ratio is not going to change that.

PREPARATION in all departments!!!!!!!

I don't think the camera operators skills are truly demonstrated by screen grabs, it's in the framing during the camera moves and framing throughout the film where their skills are shown and that's what they're proud of. Their work is not intended to used as stills, the "grabs" you see are usually taken by the stills photographer during production rather than from the film camera.

 

The only studio feature film that I can recall that used real "grabs"from a film camera neg for publicity is "Barry Lyndon". However, it's unwise of any producer to save money by not using a stills photographer and use the production camera (s) for the stills they need. These are a key past of your film's marketing, which could cost just as much as the budget of the film itself, so to save money on the stills is very foolish.

 

The DP is the head of the department, so they represent everyone in the camera department. However it's not difficult these days to find the names of his crew and they'll receive a credit in the film.

Just wondering where you got this information about original film camera neg images being used as publicity stills for "Barry Lyndon". Since Kubrick himself started as a stills photographers for magazines in the 50's as well being a real stickler for quality I do not believe he would have accepted the look of that. All "Barry Lyndon" promotional stills that I have seen looked like they were done by a photographic camera.

Saw the film last night and was very impresssed by the cinematography.

Interesting without being overly present and very clearly in-sync with the set designer in terms of colour and practicals.

I'd love to know more about the technical side of this film.

Saw the film last night and was very impresssed by the cinematography.

Interesting without being overly present and very clearly in-sync with the set designer in terms of colour and practicals.

I'd love to know more about the technical side of this film.

Probably cell phone video for the "real" look.

Several years ago, I discussed the "high production value" erotic film market with a couple of producers and they informed me that there is no real market for that kind of thing.

As far as porn, people want things as "homemade" looking as possible for maximum believability.

A major stumbling block is the "black and white is retro" thing - a very shallow way of looking at things.

B&W can look quite modern depending on the subject of the film and its art direction.

It is like any other option in a film - is it right for the story?

Many films that come out in black and white are shot on colour stocks because unfortunately Kodak's research and development for B&W stocks stopped over thirty years ago.

I've had several music video producers tell me (and the director) that we could not shoot B&W because people would think that their TV's had a problem. This is quite disappointing but that's the way things have "evolved".

Remember that you are a camera ASSISTANT not a second DP, director, camera operator, gaffer, or whatever.

Many questions will be answered by just observing and assimilating.

Keep the DP/camera operator comfortable.

Anticipate.

I've also heard from several sources it was Lelouch himself.

Just matte black paper tape on white poster board.

Film schools, rental houses, film making clubs and collectives, word of mouth, take notes at local independent film festivals, scour kung-fu academies...

Be aware that dimming makes light shift warmer. When I can I prefer to use the bulb of the right strength.

Sometimes ND is not possible without being visible. Do some experiments with different types of practicals so that you can work with the set designer to get practicals that are, well, practical.

The original poster of this topic said they were a photographer so they would most likely appreciate manual exposure and also be able to discern the difference between adequate sharpness and contrast versus excellent sharpness and contrast.

I have obtained great results with the Canon 1014XLS and the Leicina Special.

With the cost of film stock, development and transfer being what it is, it is a wise move to start with a very good camera.

Make sure it is in perfect condition because repair personnel and spare parts for super8 cameras are rare and therefore expensive.

Super high tack double sided tape works nicely.

Another thing to consider is that the lighter her clothes, the darker her skin will appear.

In the old days we used to watch as many films from 100 years of film making as we could to learn how to be a film maker. Today we don't make films just talk about cameras and a bunch of other nonsense that has little to do with the art.

I really agree with this. The consumerist formatting of contemporary has really struck. Yes it is important to understand the tools and techniques but it is just as if not more important to understand WHY we are using those tools and techniques.

Guess it is easier to be a gearhead than an artist.

Can anyone recommend a serious excercise DVD that you feel is applicable to camera personnel?

I don't have time to get to a gym but could devote a half hour at least 4x a week.