hariharan swaminathan

Hello Thanks for your response. I have been waiting for so long to get an idea. My shoot is postponed to next sunday that is jan 17th. I have one polarizer filter for my 28-135mm lens. For other lenses i dont have any filters. Actually am going to shoot all day. Photo shoot and am planning to shoot an video. And it might be tough for me to get a hold of the models to shoot at night. Since it's the daylight and i dont have modelling lights or any continous lighting source other than strobe flashlight. So probably i will end up in shooting higher shutter speed. But the weird thing is, the video which i said was little big freezing fast... is not happening when i converted it into H.264 format from final cut and as well as played the original in quicktime player. So probably it's the Adobe Bridge which might not rendering the video properly. So to shoot in the day you would advise me not to shoot in higher shutter speed? But i left with no option... :( But what is the reason i shouldn't use higher shutter speed... and one more important question is, what kind of focus you all use? manual or auto? if i use shallow dof it's hard for me to focus on the subject using auto focus. At the same time manual as well... So what is the tip or work around for that? Please advise. Thanks! Hariharan

20+ views but no replies... think it's not a good question... ;)

Hi Everyone Hope you all had a great christmas. I need some advise on shooting video for a song. This is what my requirement and my gears are. Gears: 1. CANON 7D 2. LENSES: 28-135mm, 85mm f1.8, 70-300mm, 10-17mm fish eye 3. Have a hand made steadycam rig (built using this site info: http://steadycam.org/) 4. Can borrow a video tripod which can do smooth panning 5. Have 2 strobes which also has modelling light. (will be shooting in outdoor over the rock. so not sure whether i need lights) Requirement: I am planning to shoot this video to show my ability in photography and as well as video. I have 3 models and they will have great makeup and nice costumes. So i want to shoot a video for a song(yet to chose). My plan is to shoot individual models for full song, and all models together again for the same full song. So i believe i will have different angles and shots to edit well. But the suggestion and advise i need is about which is the best frame rate, output format, shutter speed preference i should go far? I have shot a video recently at 1080p hd using 7d. But i can see it is little bit freezing.. i mean it's not a smooth video. Can't explain well about it in english. Sorry... but i hope you understand what am trying to say. Video quality is amazing, except it is not smooth. I dont have filters except polarizer for one lens. So i dont think i would be able to reduce the shutter speed to 1/50th of the second if i shoot in 24fps. So what is the work around for that? And which format should i go? I dont want to mess up the whole day and ruin the oppurtunity. Would appreciate any INPUT which can help my shoot do well. Can't wait to hear from you all. Hariharan Swaminathan

thanks for the reply. i understand what you mean. i am willing to use the aperture to expose the shots properly. but if i want the shallow dof and at the same time i want to shoot at 1/50th that's where am little confused about. i know i need to use filters to cut the amount light coming to the camera. am not sure how tedious it will be and how many filters i might require... :) anyways, but i understand the concept actually i built a steady cam but i dont have tools. i built everything in the homedepot itself with the help of the salesman. but i didn't tight 'em. will do it soon and see how it helps. actually i tried to play with final cut and noticed it works amazing. i mean i overexposed one small clip and i used the composite mode to correct it. it was amazing. so even in movies does it happen all the time? or the footage will be perfect? i wonder... how someone can achieve the perfect exposure everytime. i bet there will be lot of planning involved. right?

hi thanks for the detailed explanation. actually that's what i have heard raising shutter speed will make the video looks odd. but if i want the depth of field and i dont want to close the aperture thats' the way to go right? and i dont know how much it affects the motion blur. and regarding the focus pulling, i know there is a distance for certain aperture. but in reality if the assistant helps with the focus without even looking at the view finder how can be so sure the distance of the subject from the camera? is it a guess work or he is really precisely doing that? i would like to learn more about focal distance. and how can i use a tripod for moving subjects? it wont fit the need right? thanks for your replies... hariharan

No replies yet :(

Hi, Finally i put my footsteps learning cinematography. I mean, i just got my Canon 7D which has a true 24fps 1080i capability. I also made a steadcam rig which is described in this website www.steadycam.org I have lot of doubts and i realized taking videos is definetly lot tougher than taking pictures. My doubts: 1. How to maintain focus continously for moving subjects? Is manual or automatic focus good when shooting video? Is there any source to learn the sharp focusing distance? I mean if i use the 50mm and certain aperture value in which distance there is a maximum focus? where do i learn it all? 2. Canon 7d has a 24fps to shoot 1080i. But this is really a great mystery to me and i can't wait to see the replies. Yes, let's say i am shooting video in a high contrast day. I heard to achieve the exact 24fps i need to shoot at 1/50th of the second shutter. If i have to maintain the 1/50th how do i adjust my exposure? I either have to adjust the aperture or iso where sometimes i want the shallow dof, and dont want too much noise i have the only way to increase my shutter speed. I dont think filters will cut off that much light. So if i increase my shutter speed to achieve the right exposure will it affect the 24fps shooting? How does it affect my footage? I am really confused in this part. I am sorry i put my question exactly right. But i hope you can understand what am trying to ask. Please explain this in detail if possible. thanks! 3. Last but not least, how do i stabilize my camera? It seems to be very tough though. What is the cheapest way i can take a panning effect, moving subjects, properly? I know it's not a single solution, but please suggest me the best way. Because i have already spent a lot and i am not affordable. Can't wait to hear from you all. Hereafter i will post something continously because i am very serious about becoming a cinematographer. Please bear with my english. Looking forward to have long term communication with you all. Note: Just to add with this, i have very good knowledge about photography. So many of the terms i can understand. But am not sure how similar both cinematography and photography. Regards Hariharan Swaminathan

With all due respect, please keep your argument healthy and sharing information. I know none of you are against each other, but sometimes words give different meanings when you read it in a different way. I am not good in english nor i dont know much about cinematography. But i know onething, treat everyone right, and take only good things from whatever have been told. that way nobody is in trouble... Please keep giving me advise and let's talk cinematography :)

will change my name... but thambi is my real name too. am known as thambi to everyone... so that's not fake. and thanks for the suggestion of the film lighting book.

Hi, thanks for the advise. i understand and i will definetly work hard to learn all ins and outs. when i started learning photography i thought it will be easy, but as you said, when i started learning more and more it had no stop sign and i found out more things. also it's very very hard for me to shoot on film since its' expensive. above that i cannot develop it here but dallas which is 5 hours drive. i haven't started lighting yet.. i use one of my 580 ex ii speedlight for my photography and i achieve whatever i want with just one light. but filming is continous lighting and that's not good for photography unless its' a day light. next peron suggested me the film lighting book. will buy that and read for sure... thanks for the suggestion of the book. i have access to sony ex1 camera. i hope it's a good one. but if you all dont mind... now am confused what to shoot... what to video tape? i have very strong computer knowledge. i have also started learning the final cut in the other side. am sure it wont be tough for me to learn editing as well. will it help for me? for real film what movie editing program they use? final cut, after effects, adobe premiere? or any combination? could you pls share that?

hello michael thanks for writing back. actually i love film, because i have seen a great quality of the film. and i certainly agree it is superior than digital. but it is very expensive right? right now the company where i go they have a super 8/16mm camera. but i heard the film costs $100 and nobody here develop that film but dallas and it's more expensive. and above all it can shoot only 3 minute videos. tell me, how can i be affordable of doing that since i just start to learn? and i also agree film/digital medium is jsut to record the action. the real matter involves in the composition & light and the angle of view we see the subject to express the motion. to be very frank i dont have an idea how to start with. could you please give me exercises? :) i can do that so i can know the progress of learning. what i meant as exercise here is to learn what... the output which i will produce will be my own unique way... (mood, ambience and dramatic effect) by the way what kind of softwares do they use to do the post processing. am planning to learn after effects. will that be helpful? i know tis' a different area, since i have a computer background i hope that wil be easy for me to learn thigns. and i want to learn that too. thanks!

hi thanks for the advise. i will definetly do that. but getting a camera? what kind of camera you want me to use? and can i do things in digital? because i am from san antonio texas and i dont find any company doing film production. so nobody into film. so if i do things in digital how much the difference are going to be? i heard the whole cine industry is trying to move into digital.. but is it possible and are there ways to achieve the best result? pls guide me on this... and may be tomorrow i will write what kind of digital cameras this company has and which one would be best to use... thanks!

Hello All, I have just registered & am glad to be here. Okay, basically i have masters in computers and i was working IT full time till last month. I quit my job(at this recession), because am so serious about cinematography. But i haven't started it yet. Yup, so far i have been learning photography since i wanted the good start & strong basic on what is what. I took a course from NYIP of masters in prof photography and am about to complete it. I have mastered in 360 virtual tours and have taken photography as best as i could. My main goal is to become a DP. But where to start & how to start? I have access to different digital cameras in a local production company and they have a nice continous lighting studio setup. But it's all DIGITAL and cinematography is film. But i dont have access to film. So if i learn digital and other techniques how it will help for my cinematography? and what are the things to learn? Please get me started in the right way. But right now am not in a situation to take up any course which requires payment. I am a good self learner and i can definetly DO IT. because i have a great passion about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Hoping to have a very long term communication with you all. thambi