Ari Davidson

I was listening to podcast interview of Lance Acord ASC and he mentioned that are Red coming out with a 10k sensor. What bothered me about it is that he said that their intention was to revolutionize cinematography by giving the cinematographer the option to shoot one wide frame and then crop out the rest of the coverage in post. Has anyone else heard similar buzz?

Naysayers, Please read the Feb. 2010 issue of AC, and in the course of doing so please check off every step of Mauro Firoe ASC's workflow you've executed successfully. I realize that as artists we're expected to hate on anything commercially successful. I was one of those people and after months of my little sister begging me to see it with her I did. While standing in line at 830am with people who had seen the film multiple times (the woman in front of me had seen it 18 times!) I asked them why they would pay $10 to see a film that relied on a gimmick (3D) to draw an audience. Without missing a beat they were all buzzing about the imagery. Not the special effects, i.e. the CG everyone seems to be complaining about. Matter of fact one woman who had seen it 5 times focused her comments specifically on the lighting! A little note about lighting cg, it isn't done in lines of code. That would be like engineering your own globes. The choice of medium or complexity of story has no effect on the cinematographer's ability to compose awe inspiring images. It takes a world of knowledge to be a good cinematographer, and an additional one to apply everything to a digital workflow and/or cg environment. Not to mention the mathematical accuracy required to create interocular distance that won't distract or confuse the audience! In closing I think we all need to take a step off our pedestals in order award credit where it is due. Keep your mind open and your eyes focused friends. Best, Ari Davidson

I faced the same decision a while ago. I chose Elkins' book. However if you don't own an ASC manual yet get that first.

Not cheap but effective. Apollo Gel Scroller Use a gradient of gels (16 steps max on this product). Note that this device requires a DMX dimmer.

If you open up all the way you're going to lose a significant amount of resolution. Also, shooting at 2.8 (I think that's open for that cam) you won't be able to get enough of the subject in focus. Lastly what also helps separate subject from background in this shot is contrast in color. The cinematographer is using warm/cool (orange/purple) contrast to isolate the subject. Post your results. best, Ari.

My guess it would be something along the lines of: (speed of subject)*(shutter speed)/(frame rate) The problem is there are a bunch of impacting variables, such as interlaced vs progressive. I would suggest spend a day with your camera and conduct an experiment. best, Ari.

Ram, Thank you very much for your reply. I found your story very interesting considering I grew up in Israel so I can really relate to . I moved to New Jersey before I could join though. I've lost many in the wars over there, so believe me I'm not ignorant to the reality of bloodshed. It is more than likely that my interest in a military career is due to the militaristic ideals I grew up with. So I thought why not combine my nature with my passion. I must thank you again for taking the time to answer my post. best, Ari.

Congrats all! Anyone from the NYC are hear anything yet?

I'm thinking of becoming a combat cameraman in the military. Anyone here been there and done that?

Charles Rosher! Sunrise- A Song of two Humans.

Libatique & Aronofsky Kuras & Gondry

Boosh.

Interesting! Post a sample maybe?

Hello cinematographers! I'm performing camera/lens tests for a surreal short I was recently hired on. Currently I'm shooting with the stock 16x lens but I am not crazy about the way it operates. I've stumbled upon a few dead links that mentioned a PL to Xl adapter. This would be perfect since I do have access to a 16mm angenieux 12-120. I don't mind the 3x magnification since I'm shooting mostly exterior and telephoto. As I said all the links are dead. Does anyone know where I can find a PL adapter? Or any mount adapter that would allow me to use more conventional lenses. Furthermore, I would love to hear any suggestions, praises, or horror stories regarding this camera. Best, Ari.

Take a look at the special features on the DVD. From what I gathered its a combination of smoke, silks and 10k's. Amazing cinematography in this film.

I'm shooting a short on the GY-HM700CHU, and I have at my disposal an Angenieux 12-120 (Arri 16BL). Anyone know where I can rent an adapter for this purpose in the NYC area? Specifically the JVC HZ-CA13U. Thanks.

They're no photo floods but you'll get the color you're looking for. http://www.bulbs.com/Spirals_&_Bent_Tu...e-/results.aspx or if matching overcast, http://www.bulbs.com/Spirals_&_Bent_Tu...e-/results.aspx

I agree it looks like a light leak. Test again, and as long as the motor is running keep the eyepiece covered.

Once upon a shoot I clamped some old (clean) parachute silk outside of a large window and threw on a H&H diffusion 1, and had some really nice results. The alternative I would suggest is girdcloth. Double up until satisfied.

I do not know about an APEC replacement, I have never come across one of those in my experience with this camera. Du-All does offer 3ccd color eyetap for $800, and a b&w version for $650.

If you know your stuff when it comes to 35mm and Panasonic prosumer cameras, you'll do perfectly fine. Everything available on those mediums is present in the RED. Honestly, the best you can do to prepare is not get psyched out. It's a great camera but RED HQ has done an excellent job making it seem like one needs to decode the rosetta stone to understand their workflow. Also, if there is a DIT or REDtech hired on the production you really won't have to worry about any of the fancy tech savy stuff, but stick close to that person as they will gladly demystify the camera for you. A few tips: Shoot 4k 16x9, redspace, redcode36, 23.98fps if/whenever possible. on the EVF and the the left side of the camera body there are programmable function buttons. Program the zoom-in function and false color function on buttons 1 & 2 according to your preference. On button 3 on the EVF I would recommend programming the colorspace function which allows you to swap between Redspace, and RAW. When combining this function with the falsecolor, you will be able to see what exposure is being recorded to the RAW image. If i remember correctly it is much more forgiving than REDspace. The menu is really easy to navigate especially if you've owned or operated a cellphone in the past 10 years. Hope this helps.

Buy American

Agreed. Thank you so much for your timely response. I have searched some more on forums such as apug.org and flickr. It seems there has been some success using the c-41 process by people who removed the remjet muck with sodium bicarbonate, sponges, etc. The results vary as much as the methods. I also found some discussion about using print stocks because they don't have remjet layers. However, someone mentioned that they have a low EI (circa 2), and I'm sure cans would be hard to come by on this side of the lab. I will research these methods closer and post my results.

I'm looking to shoot some short ends spooled into 35mm cassettes with my old slr's. Really the only problem I'm having with this workflow is I just cannot seem to locate a lab that will process such short strips, or they do not use the ECN-2 process (still labs). I've also looked into developing myself, though I haven't found a retailer for the ECN-2 kit, and doubt that it is within a film student's budget. Does anyone out there have ANY suggestions as to how one should go about developing such images?