Andrew Rieger

As the title states, I am wondering if anyone knows how they accomplished the point of view shots (Being in John Malkovich's eyes) in the film. I want to do something similar in a short I am making. Was it a camera strapped to the side of the actors head?

I agree with you 100%, These DSLR's are in at the moment, a nice replacement for DOF adapters but as replacements for true cinema cameras, they are hardly ideal. I have a 7D, I love it and yes, it shoots great video but I would only consider using it if all other, better, options, were unavailable. I have I script I want to shoot soon and I am strongly considering S16 or Red if I can get the funding. The 7D is an option if all else fails. For me, it is worth it to shoot with a pro camera, for others, the 7D and 5D are good enough. Different strokes for different folks. I can not understand why someone would want to go 7D when they have more than adequate funding for a Red.

That look is not exclusive to Red. Soderbergh's film would have looked the same if shot on film. Natural light is natural light. I thought the pics in the link you posted looked stellar. Very natural. I often think lighting in mainstream films looks forced and very very fake. I love the work of guys like Doyle and Deakins because they take natural light and augment it with other lights to strengthen the effect, it still feels very natural. Your low budget film looked much much more professional than films with way higher budgets using three grip trucks worth of cinema lighting. The Red one does not have a set look if you know how to work with it. I recently saw the Academy Award winner for best foreign film. I could have sworn it was shot on film, it looked so, well, filmic but i later found out it was shot on Red. There have been a number of films that looked a little digital to me only to find out later that they were shot on film.

No Red is not always the best. Choose the best tool for the job. The Hurt Locker crew considered Red but was concerned about going digital in a very harsh environment. Aaton film cameras had proven themselves in harsh environment shooting March of the Penguins so they went with a proven system. The District 9 crew however experienced similar conditions but Red worked out fine. Different decisions both with great results. The example you listed is more based on the form factor of the DSLR. The Epic system packs more resolution, higher dynamic range, more sensitivity and higher frame rates all into a package only slightly larger than a DSLR when properly configured so once the camera is released, the small form factor will no longer be exclusive to Canon. also, if small is what you want, the SI2K mini is smaller than a DSLR, has a lot more resolution and has been shooting artifact free long before Canon enabled the 5D to shoot video. When you break it down, the only real benefit the Canon's have over other systems like the SI2K, Red and Alexa is their low light performance, which Arri and Red are quickly nearing, and the small form factor, which both the SI2K and soon to be released REd epic will match. After that, using a Canon will really come down to budget (which is of course a reasonable choice in this industry. Afterall many are choosing to shoot digital because it is cheaper than film even though film is still the gold standard, for now).

Loved the vid. You say the camera was on the shoulder and helmet. Did the actor shift his hands to adjust for the camera on the shoulder to make it seem like the camera was his eyes? Was the helmet mounted cam on top of the helmet or in front of the actors face? I am trying to do something similar for narrative work. Again, great job! Any pictures of the setup? Was the NOX a full size camera or a mini camera head?

I have seen that picture of the SI2K on top of the helmet but they did not use that rig, they moved the camera down to in front of the face for the final shoot. There was a discussion about it on Reduser and someone who worked on the set in the camera dept stated that the rig shown in the picture was a prototype that the director went with a different design.

Well since you are shooting red, that is what it is going to look like. Natural light is natural light. You can modify it with bounce and mirrors but there is only so much you can do. I would suggest checking your locations at different times of the day to best use sunlight to your advantage. Not really a ton of examples of pure available light mainstream films. The Soderbergh stuff looked good in some scenes and not in others. It is hard to be totally dedicated to available light work. It will look very documentary like which is a look I personally like. District 9 also had a great deal of available light shooting, both for interior and exterior scenes.It helped keep the budget down and aid in providing that documentary feel.

Upon further analysis, it looks like the Prodigy vid had the camera mounted on the side of the head rather than in front of the face.

How was this shot?, I can find no technical info about it anywhere! Thank you for posting this, I love POV stuff! BTW, this was an S12K, of course a Red could not do this. Nor could most film cameras except for an Ikonoskop-like 16mm cam, which is why I am so curious about how it was shot.

Very small cam (also look at the Ikonoskop). However, the Take it to the next level shoot had the SI2K mini mounted in front of the face, not on top of the head. The film camera would stick out too far to offer the same perspective. There is an image of the SI2K on top of the head but they did not use this rig for the shoot and instead adopted a face mounted rig that offered a better perspective.

Ya there is, numbers vs numbers. Does anyone actually think a 5D can go up against a red of film camera in terms of resolution, dynamic range, frame rate, compression ect?

I intend to. This industry needs creative individuals who are ready to push the envelope when it comes to what is possible with motion pictures. I was speaking from a technical standpoint, yes the customer and their budget are always right. However, there is nothing wrong with offering suggestions. Producers an directors turn to DP's because they know this stuff inside and out. Look at the House season finale. Was the 5D really the best choice for the job?No, it was more a publicity stunt/experiment than anything else. I have heard from people involved with shooting the episode that the cameras were a real pain in the ass to work with. A post guy for house in an interview mentioned that working with the footage was not the most enjoyable experience of his life to put it mildly. It's not like their budget suddenly fell out from under them. They wanted to try something different and the publicity that came with that. I know a lot of people who watched just that episode just to see how the footage would look. Typical house viewers probably did not notice. It was a worthy experiment but to say the 5D was the best tool for the job is not the case. As I stated, nothing wrong with offering suggestions I have spent time on real sets FYI. I am all about the best tool for the job. Yes, the 5D may be better suited for some situations but from a purely technical standpoint, you will not find anyone who can claim with a straight face that the 5D is equal to Red or film.

Well, if you were keeping tabs on the progress that Red is making with the Scarlet and Epic, the advances that Arri is making with the Alexa and the potential to shoot both film and digital with the same camera (which Aaton is doing), then you would understand why people are so excited about these systems. Within a decade, film will be a luxury not because it is inferior to digital but because of the cost involved to shoot on it. I am not anti-film, I have been a film photographer for a number of years and will shoot film as long as I can. If the photography industry is any indication, the speed, ease of use and flexibility of digital will eventually win out even amongst picky professionals. Medium format digital backs that once cost upwards of $50,000 are now dropping into the sub $15,000 range with almost double the megapixels. Red is dropping 5K ready systems into the sub $10,000 market. In photography, film cameras fought off the digi cams for a while because the high quality scans of their negatives (in FF35) were around 24-30 megapixels while the best that the digital systems could muster were 5-10 MP. This is no longer the case. Yes, digital has its drawbacks but Red and others are producing systems capable of matching and in some cases surpassing film. Film is limited in its future development while digital has the potential for unlimited development as sensors get more sensitive, larger and more efficient. Most film cameras do not go above 75 FPS while the Epic system can shoot at 120 in 5K and 250 with lower resolutions. The Phantom cameras are even more remarkable. Speaking of the future, 3D is all the rage! What was the last live action 3D film shot on film? These are facts, not opinions. Film is the gold standard of image quality now but not for long. Add the reduced cost, relative ease of use (if you are willing to learn) and the smaller form factor. Digital cinema cameras like the SI2K and Scarlet are tiny and allow cinematographers to place cameras in places never before possible. Here is a great example: Try doing that with a film camera!

I think a better question is why a company like Zeiss has not tried to market a lens that fast since barry lyndon, Leica is the fastest at the moment at F0.95 but there is no modern cine glass faster than T1.0. The lens would be through the roof in price but everything is chump change to studios so there would be some takers. For now, a Red One with the MX upgrade and a master prime at T1.3 should produce low light performance that will allow a Lyndon-like scene lit only with candles.

Here are a few more: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Cinematography by Robert Yeoman 2046 (2004), Cinematography by Christopher Doyle Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli Touch of Evil (1958), Cinematography by Russell Metty

The use of selective color in the film was quite effective. David is right, see a film before you criticize. Ever see Sin City, the whole film is B/W with selective color, hardly a cheap gimmick. And why so much hate for wedding photographers, they are some of the hardest working photographers around and the job is super super stressful. Plus, they get no respect from "serious" photographers. Sure its not the most exciting job in photography but many are very creative individuals who need to pay the bills and could shoot circles around some so-called artistic photographers.

You are 100% right. I should have looked into that more. A google search for Arri Alexa forum did not bring up any results except for threads on other sites. The more communities the better.

Digital cinema is the way of the future. Get on board or get left behind.

I thought it looked good but there were some focus issues here and there. Other than that, it was quite impressive considering the cost of the cams. It looked good in HD but theater projection of 5D footage really shows off some of the flaws but I know that the Canon's will get better as they invest more in the technology. Keep in mind that Canon never designed the 5D's video mode for productions. Expect future versions to resolve many of these problems. Once red's Scarlet shows up on the scene, expect Canon use professionally to take a hit until Canon fixes many of the problems.

Jim does not delete posts or threads, that is the job of the moderators. It is the Red forum, we talk about red, plain and simple. There is a very productive thread going on now about the Alexa and there have also been discussions on the Aaton and Phantom cameras. Jim is not trying to silence discussion about other cameras. Yes the moderators are inconsistent, some let stuff go, some do not. Jim always acts professional as does the whole of the Red team. People go to reduser for red info, not to argue about whether or not a 5D is a suitable competitor to the Red (which it is not which is why the discussion is pointless). Would you ever say that the 5D is a suitable replacement for an Arri film camera? Just wondering why there seems to be so many red haters on this site. One thing is for sure, reduser is a very active forum with passionate members. Questions are always answered (unlike this forum where it looks like many questions go unanswered). And as far as customer service goes, Red has some of the best in the industry. Other companies will not give you the time of day if you are not a big budget production, I know many people who sent emails to Panavision and Arri without any response. Does the Arri alexa have a forum? nope.

Here are some others that have influenced me: The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Cinematography by Roger Deakins Ran (1985), Cinematography by Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saito, and Masaharu Ueda Schindler's List (1993), Cinematography by Janusz Kamiński Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Cinematography by John Mathieson Limits of Control (2009), Cinematography by Christopher Doyle

My college roommate is obsessed with Kurosawa and he has the giant box set with practically all his films. We have made it through about 8 or so of them and Ran is certainly a masterpiece, as is Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo. I love the sci-fi epics as well. My roommate and I would love to make a sci-fi throwback film that emulates the look of the original Star Wars Trilogy and Star Trek films using old-school special effects and miniatures. Not sure if it something that studios or the public would be interested in but fans of that era would enjoy it and guys like Tarantino seem to do well financially with throwback films so you never know. It would certainly be a nice change of pace from all the gci.

Thank you David for explaining split diopters in more detail. I have never used one so I only have a basic understanding of how they work, I do recognize their use when I see them in films however :)

City of God (2002), Cinematography by César Charlone Come and See (1985), Cinematography by Alexei Rodionov Blade Runner (1982), Cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), Cinematography by Roger Deakins 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968), Cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), Cinematography by Patrick de Ranter Soy Cuba (1964), Cinematography by Sergey Urusevsky The Thin Red Line (1998), Cinematography by John Toll