Andrew Wheeler

I’ve used it on a couple of commercials already. Both times with Sphero 65 lenses.

I shot this film 2perf which was featured in the IN CAMERA section of the most recent June issue of AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Publications/InCamera/Andrew_Wheeler_on_Capturing_Winter_Light.htm

AFI was extremely helpful to me and it has more Academy Award winning cinematographers than any other school. However, if you think that you are going to be on studio films in just 4 years and you havent already had great successes and worked at budgets near studio numbers, then AFI or anything else for that matter can't help you and you will be extremely dissappointed. Its a process to get to do studio features and you have to work up to that. Its even a process within the studios to get to do bigger studio movies. There is usually a little bit of luck involved as well. Most of the time the saying "10 years to overnight success" is true.

Are you selling the mitchell d?

I use Panavision Hollywood all the time for music videos. They have been extremely helpful in getting me what I need.

Its hard to tell on the internet, but I shot this whole video at 2000 ISO with digi cons and Hawk anamorphics wide open. We did it for a look, but the "noise" isnt excessive even at this ISO. All the Night INT/EXT and Day INT/EXT are at 2000ASA Hope this helps Andrew

Here is the graded video that came out today. Enjoy! http://www.vevo.com/watch/jamie-n-commons/lead-me-home-the-walking-dead/USUV71300528

The RPP's are pretty fast, sharp, and contrasty lenses. I think they are good lenses especially if you cant afford something like a master prime and thats the look you're after. They have a lot in common! I'm not a big fan of how they flare so I try to avoid that with RPP's. They are big bulky lenses which is another thing you hear people complain about. Comparing them to Super Baltars though is apples and oranges. Andrew

This was shot on EPIC with Red Pro Primes and converted and down rez'd to jpg directly from Red Cine X tiff files with no corrections, just in camera settings. It was lit entirely with par cans.

Some more info about the DI. http://thepostlab.com/color-grading-on-funs-music-video-why-am-i-the-one/

Here is a new music video for the band FUN. that I shot 2 weeks ago. We shot this on EPIC almost entirely with an Optimo 15-40 which had a fair amount of vignetting (although it didnt bother me.) Most of the motorcycle shots were done with a Canon 70-200 with IS turned on. All of the shots with the band were shot 1 day in Seattle and we shot everything else for 2 more days in the LA area. Color correction was done by Prehistoric Digital in Santa Monica. Enjoy! Andrew

If you are going to be using 2 cameras often my suggestion would be getting 2 operators. On a small film with not a lot of time you can quickly lose control of the B camera if you're operating A.

Adrian, I disagree with your blanket statement saying film school is a waste and to save your money. I attended AFI when I was 29 and I have a bunch of other friends who have as well and its set us all on a path to succeed at high levels. I could cite several reasons what its done for me and other people I know. The most difficult part is the expense. I took out full loans to attend AFI but the way I saw was that I couldn't afford to not gamble on myself. To Kyle and TStrunnia I posted in another topic a few months ago about my experiences if your interested in reading more about it. http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=54231&st=0&p=362694entry362694

Again, really great! Thanks Stephen!

Thats great, so many wonderful quotes! Thanks, Stephen

Hello Mo. AFI was worth it for me. There will be other people who say otherwise. I would say however,if you are expecting a gold ticket to success that won't be the case. There are cinematographers from my class who are struggling to shoot no budget projects and maybe they won't "make it." who knows. Like anything, it will be what you make of it and there is no quick path to success since its different for everyone. Being at AFI will present opportunities for you, but if you're not proactive then nothing will happen. In your 2 years at AFI you have to position yourself (when you get out) to take advantage of the breaks you get because they don't happen often especially when you are starting out. You need to make relationships with producers and directors at the school and also with vendors and people outside AFI who are willing to help you. The opportunities and people I met is the best thing I got out of AFI. I certainly learned a lot about myself (how I want to work) and the process of how to think about and apply a visual style that enhances material you will be shooting. As for technical things, you will learn by doing but if your looking for someone to teach you "how to light" that wont really happen. You learn from your fellows and by working nonstop on each others films the first year. Most fellows come out of camera or grip/elec departments and some are really experienced and can teach you. All that said, it is a lot of money and I will be paying that back for a while. I moved to LA for AFI and in a many ways it made the transition much easier than coming here cold turkey. I was never going to become a DP in Philadelphia where I moved from and I knew that. There is no one to learn from there and the culture of filmmaking doesn't really exist. You're a big fish in a small pond there. Outside LA, I couldn't go to watch a screening of Tree of Life and hear Lubezki speak about it. I couldn't visit the ASC or ICG or have access to successful DP's, new equipment, so on and so on. Also there weren't enough opportunities for the scale I wanted to exist within in Philadelphia. Every movie above 500k 3/4 of the time had a DP from LA and the rest of the time from NYC or another country. My experience was as an electric so I had a base for lighting already entering AFI. I still have lots to learn and always will, but AFI gave me the confidence to speak as a cinematographer. Hope this helps, feel free to ask anything. Andrew

Hello Marcus, thanks for posting. I've been shooting pretty consistently the last 7-8 months which was one of my first goals after AFI. I had worked as an electrician for a few years before AFI and really didnt want to have to continue that for very long once I got out. I shot a feature this summer and have mostly been doing music videos and smaller commercials. I've definitely still got a long way to go! Here is a music video that I shot recently. Nothing groundbreaking but.. itll give you an idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ycwvKOn14 As for my thesis film it has been serving the director and I well post AFI. He is directing episode 15 of HOUSE this season and we should hear this week if the film is shortlisted for the OSCAR live-action shorts.

http://www.icgmagazine.com/wordpress/2011/12/05/stolen-moments/#more-1799 An article was published today on ICG's website about me and my experiences at AFI (cinematography) and my thesis film which won the Gold Student Academy Award this year. People have different things to say about their time at AFI and its different for everyone but, my experience was really great and the things that are happening for me because of AFI would at the very least have taken a lot longer. There are technical details about the film as well. Here is a link to the trailer If anyone has any questions about the film or AFI feel free to ask. I'd be happy to answer. Andrew

Bouncing it from the mirror will also get the "inverse square" working in your favor and the light rays will be more evenly exposed across the room.

Looks good Rick! Wheels

I thought there some bold framing choices as well that really helped visually communicate his difficulty speaking.

Soft light as frontal as possible

I'm going!

Correct me if I'm wrong but, passing the Local 52 grip or electric test does not mean your in. And its generally pretty hard to get in without some help. I took the grip test and failed. Its quite difficult. Again, I could be wrong but im pretty sure passing the test just means it gets voted on as to whether or not your in. If you don't pass it doesnt even go to the vote. Basically, if you don't have people to speak up for you its probably going to be difficult.

Yeah Flickr is pretty sweet. Here ya go http://www.flickr.com/photos/64765872@N00/