gregory mandry

I've now had a chance to shoot on the EX1. We shot using two cards which we down loaded and deleated as we went - counter intuitive and doesnt feel nice destroying your rushes as you go. The camera was really good similar obviously to the Z1 and the pd170 before it, in handling style so if you liked these cameras this is a good natural progression. The real problem I'm having (and I don't think I'm alone) is in post production although I can watch the rushes on a sony free package niether the client based in the US using mac final cut pro or I based in the uk using PC Avid can edit the material. I seem to remember when we first bought our Z1 we couldn't edit in HDV for about 6 month so I'm still hopeful that this may all work one day but the camera seems lovely.

I wouldn't bother with red heads anymore I know they are cheep, but with a modern camera you just don't need that level of light. In you situation I'd go with the storage and hire some lamps for individual jobs. Then save up and buy a nice lighting kit, 300 / 650 watt fresnel lamps, something like that.

Red promise a pie in the sky camera some time in the 21st century (at this rate that?ll be obsolete when and if it ever gets mass produced) - dependable, reliable Sony bring out what looks like a useful bit of kit and this is all the appraisal info we have?

and maybe a polarizing filter never used one before but what do you think?

Thanks Guys the brief as is is that it is supposed to be summer (november in the UK). I may be lucky the sky may be blue but somehow i doubt it. It is likely to be a grey overcast day. the bigest lamp i'll have is a 2.5 k hmi. but what i don't want is a warm bright character and a dull grey back ground. So yes i'll have to expose for background and light the subject to balence this. but i do like the idea of a stong 3/4 back light. then maybe a soft key light to lift and warm the face a little?

In low light your eyes don't see colour but for that matter go out on a cloudy night in the woods and you really are hard put to see anything. So lighting for night is more about obeying conventions. These conventions used in films and TV enable us to pretend it's night yet still see. eg the moonlight is blue... (especially in Hollywood) etc. The big problem with lighting for night (having tried it a few times) is the amount you have to light. if you put your subject in the woods with no other source but the moon and you just light the subject with a large HMI then you are not lighting the woods. so you end up having to light all the background and foreground. I always find if you are on a tight budget and you want a convincing look, try and squeeze some practicals in. They are great for motivating light and then you can use your blue moon convention as a fill for close ups. just a thought.

I've got a client who wants to film a summer on a beach in the UK in November. I was initially thinking of a big HMI. But i am worried that this may light the subjects well but the rest of the beach background will look dull. So I was thinking of a smaller lamp just to raise the actors a bit so this will blend better with the background. Thinking of avoiding large reflectors in case of wind. Any thoughts that could help? Shooting on Digibeta

I'm planning for a shoot that is in pre production at the moment. should go to shoot over the next year. i'll try and by some experimenting time when (if) it comes close to shoot. see if i can attach a varricon to the camera. If i've got an HDV camera handy I may be able to strap that on as well see what happens...

I have been shooting in the low budget Horror genre and I was wondering about pushing some colour into the shadows using something like flashing but in HD. So I was just wondering if anyone had tried flashing of any sort just to see if it was a tool we are overlooking.

If you are shooting in HDV you will be shooting in colour, i suggest the B&W plus any grainy look can be added in post. ie you could plan for it in colour or B/W and still shoot ur film. If you can get a 35mm lens adapter you will get a nice filmic look with your deph of fields. I have used this a couple of times and it does look nice if thats a look you are after. You will however loose two stops of light so if you have a lot of night or interior sceens you will need more lights. I generally ask the question is this a film that this format will suit? if you are after beautifully photograhed landscape panaramas then don't use it. But, If the format is going to add to the film or if you can make it add to the film and enhance the story, then go ahead.

Just an odd thought has anyone tried flashing using a Varicon or other, on an HD format? I know in this post production age this will seem like a made question but hell i like in camera. Anyway just a thought. Some samples would be really nice top look at.

I've got a studio shoot that could turn into an on going thing and the client wants to shoot on HDV. I have been thinking about the Cannons as everything I have read says these would be good for studio set ups. But, every hire company I've approached says the cameras are not robust enough to take the daily rigours of constant filming. Are there durability problems with the H1? As it seems to be the answer to a lot of my problems, as long as they work.

I,m prety sure you can make a flicker box by wiring up some domestic candesent bulbs via a couple of flouresant starters. a gaffer showed me how to do it. i'll see if i can find out, exactly how.

and if ur using three phase electricty don't have a light on one phase within arms reach of one on another phase.

when the lights come back on pepper the room with practicals with higher wattage bulbs use thes to motivat the scene. for the morning bed scene 1.2 HMIthough the window and if you want it to look pretty, put a bit of smoke in the room.

what are you shooting on? night time candle lit build a tent outside the window usin black (so you can shoot in the day if required) hmi 575 through some silk out side the window, candle, enhanced with a chinese lantern on a dimmer. for close ups use the kino blued up (or bounce a red head through some blue, off a polly board using the barn doors as a crude dimming device) to enhance.

just to let you you know the producers tell me this trailer was made for potential buyers not for the public hence it is overlong ang tells too much of the story. The movietube is a bigger version of the mini 35 i've seen a mini 35 but never used one. It would be interesting to compare mini 35 and movietube as the mini 35 looks a smaller rig and at times the movie tube was a bit cumbersome. Roll on the Oackley RED thats all i can say. i think it just shows that what HD manufactures have missed is that we want 35mm optics on our cameras!

should be woking now.

Hi anyone whos interested i've put a link for the trailer to a horror flick that i worked on. It is currently in post. The film was shot on a Z1 using a movietube quite good results i think. what say you? http://www.bigyellowfeet.co.uk/gnaw.html

Don't know much about the power in USA but in the uk Watts = Volts x Amps. if you know the ampage of the trip fuse and the voltage on the mains you know what you maximum wattage is. also and more importantly i think what film stock are you planning on using if you use 500 or 800 asa you may not need a lot of lights.

what are you shooting on. ie do you need much light? 500 iso is a lot different to 100 iso. Then consider the motivation for the light. (the window, time of day, practicals?) The primary motivation for the scene seems to be the window? a little more info would be useful.

I think the initial question from sid was are there any good film schools in the uk i'm sure sid is bowledover with everyone's concern for his well being however the question still remains. It is important to know what level you are at sid? - there are a few good courses at FE level - at degree level you have ravensbourne, Surrey Institute (farnham), Westminster Uni (at Harrow now i think), Bournmouth art college, the London college of printing used to do a course, Bristol used to do a post grad course. I know these are all london based and a bit out of date but its the best I can do. I would suggest you find a course that has a large practical content and probably best to avoid anthing vaguely media studies like (Personal choice I know). Oh and if you are asked by a hang-gliding enthusiast where a cliff is. Don't tell them how dangerous it is or how crazy they are or whether you could do it. Point them in the direction of the cliff.

Reflect light, it's cheep and outside brighter than any HMI. If you don't want just polly-board there are plenty of other refective surfaces to use.

You could run the signal through a hamlet which will give you a vecterscope on your monitor. But hell I was a student once, sony have built quite a good lightmeter into the pd 150, I know I'll get shot down for saying this but it's a cheep option. You may wanna shoot with the iris close to fully open, close down the deph of field.

Can you not get a sparks to knock you together a flicker box. (i think they use bulbs and fluecent starters) Put them together with some gells, then hide them in a fake gas fire. a good props or sparks should be able to put one together. You can probably hire somthing similar and just get props to hide it in the fake fire.