Nico Hardy

Actually, I was the operator for the whole shoot, and the configuration you see is what best worked for me in this particular situation. In my experience, the handles look like the best approach, and sometimes it works OK if you are shooting some hand held thru out the day, but when every single shoot, day in and day out depends on your body, it gets uncomfortable pretty fast. The thing I don't like about the handles is that you're controlling the center of gravity of the camera from further out, making it heavier, in a way as in when you need more counterweight the longer your crane extends. Camera configuration is highly personal, and it's good to keep an open mind that maybe what looked snappy for 10 minutes in the camera rental house prep room, can turn into a mayor drag on the 18th take after 9 hours of shooting, into your 3rd week. Every once on your rig becomes a bag of bricks given some time,so be mentally prepared to do weird & silly things so you can (literally) shoulder the weight. Doing this kind of handheld is an exhilarating experience, so involving that you feel as a character perfomorming right there with the actors in a kind of dance,and the camera should be the least bit intrusive. Not to say that I belong to an exclusive club, but shooting a complete feature operating handheld is an intense experience I had encountered before. And if all becomes very uncomfortable, remember that it could be much worse....think BL4 with 1000' mag.....now THAT was heavy stuff. NH

I shoot a feature in a 40 day schedule, all 100% handheld and learned a few things that are helpful. Besides the great advice mentioned above: Epic is very good in its ability to be striped of extra add-ons you don't really need (avoid on board batteries, drives, grips, etc.) just get cable extensions and let a grip carry the batteries for the camera + wireless. Unless you really need specific glass, opt for something "lighter" like SuperSpeeds or Cooke S4. Change your footwear halfway thru the day, from running shoes to something with heels like a work boot, makes you stand up in a slightly different position and a different set of muscles kick in. Use a tripod to line up shoots and lighiting, the amount of time you hold the camera should be the bare minimum. Avoid caffeine as much as you can. Get a set of knee pads and an apple box cushion. On set, the best friend I had besides my 1st with his wireless (impossible to shoot without a wireless) and grip, was this weird contraption you can see me in this making of: It's a version of the foam roll mentioned on an earlier post. It really makes a huge difference on a long shoot. Also you can use it to place an Epic in front of you, on your chest. It's a different approach that the usual shoulder placement, but very effective. Get the phone number of a good osteopath, they can work miracles. And have the producer pay for it! Happy shooting. Nico

In the next few days I'll be shooting a TV spot which involves a megastar athlete who I know is very reluctant to do more than just a couple of takes, if that. The director, understandably, wants to shoot a cowboy and a tight CU simultaneously to increase the number of good takes we might get. The lines that have to be said need to be with this person staring into the lens, which creates a problem when there are 2 cameras rolling at the same time. I suggested using a mirror 3D rig but with different lenses (like a 32mm + 150mm) to get the effect of both eyes into the camera(s). I won't get the chance to test it beforehand (on another job and traveling the previous day to this gig). The local rental house has secured 2 alexas XT, a complete set of master primes from 25 to 150 plus a 24-290 optimo. The 3D rig available is a studio one from P&S technik. Has somebody tried this approach and run into problems I can't foreseen? Thanks! Nico

Ektachrome 100 run thru E6 has a particular look, offhand I'll say it looks more contrasty, more saturated and "sharper" than negative stock, but not by huge margins. One thing I do know, unless you've been shooting slides with your stills camera AND using the same light meter as you use for cinematography, make sure you have some way to double check (polaroid? DSLR?) your exposure settings. Chromes have minimal leeway in exposure tolerance. Shooting negative film is a poor way to know if you meter is calibrated to the tolerance needed for reversal. Another way to make sure you get the look you want is to do snip test to see if need to push or pull in the processing. This is common practice when shooting chromes. if the lab is used to run reversal, they should know about this. Just remember to leave some exposed footage at the tail end of the roll. If you decide to cross process, one way to make the effect less dramatic, is to overexpose by 1 1/2 or 2 stops and pull process 1 stop. Tiffen ultra contrast (strong ones like 3-5) also help. This leads to less blocked shadows and less burned out highlights. the rest you can deal with in the positive. Make the fake blood more red and less burgundy that looks right to the eyes. Xprocess makes reds look darker than they are Hope it helps.

Contrary to what seem the most popular opinion here, I would go 100% for the dino. i know that street and shot in that same hotel. the sun runs parallel to the street down bellow, so there's no direct sun for most of the day. Multiple tungsten bulbs set further out from a set look really beautiful, to me at least. In a way they tend to look more like real daylight than a single HMI lamp. The multiple shadow issue is bit too technical and not a real world problem. Only by-the-book DPs looking for them would object. I would save the condor money and get 4x Ruby 7 and get more control of the light array and focus they give. Used with tungsten film and color balanced in post it looks great. The blue fill from natural light most probably will make it even more interesting. enjoy Montevideo, always a pleasure to shoot there. Cheers, Nico

Maybe i wasn't clear enough on the earlier post. the reason I showed the Iscorama in 2 pieces is to show the protrusion that is behind the anamorphic element. Mr. holland explained in a very didactical way the using of the lens. I second his experience completely. Unless one is ready to do some heavy work with adaptors, thread reducers, spacers and the like, the best way to enjoy the iscorama LENS (not the iscorama anamorphic ADAPTORS) is to just use the whole units altogether. The back element in the anamorphic front is too small and too far apart from the filter thead. If you want to use different lenses, I suggest you look for the iscorama ADAPTOR (or other brands that you may fancy) as the ones explained in detail on an earlier post. The lens can be used as a stills or for HD in the 5D2. pulling focus is a bit tricky, if you're experienced it can be done, but an AC is nice for mode demanding situations. Also the minimum focus is something like 6 feet, so diopters are in order for CU work. When it gets clearance from the client, I'll post a commercial I just did with it.

I'm no expert on the matter, but I can assure you there's a difference between the iscorama adaptors and the iscorama lens made for nikon mount. the adaptors are meant to be used with regular lenses as long as the filter's diameter and coverage allow it. The iscorama pret-a-porter is a unit consisting of 2 parts. the mount side has a few elements and f-stop ring only (no focusing ring), while the anamorphic (front) part has an element that protrudes so far back as to be impossible to use on any other regular lens. When I researched purchasing the lens, The same single unit out of polish EBay came up as the only alternative, but 3 years later it's still there. I smell a scam or something of the sort. Does anybody ever seen something similar to it? Hope the crappy snap I did of the 2 sections of the lens will explain what I'm saying. BTW, I just shoot a TV commercial with it, it looks fantastic. So much for expensive gear....It feels a bit subversive to use equipment clients would consider unfit to use compared to the usual fare. A childish pleasure, but a pleasure none the less.

I paid $120 dollars for it, 3 years ago.

No problem. yeah, that pic in flick does just about the same look I was trying to describe. BTW, I know isco also made anamorphic attachment in different screw sizes, but this particular lens was designed as a unit. An interesting side effect is that it has to levers that allow you to control the direction of the anamorphic element. I read that originally it was designed to take apart the front element and use it in the enlarger to de-squeeze the image. I've talked a director into using it on a TV commercial in 2 weeks. I'll post it when finished.

My personal experience with anamorphics is a bit limited, but my guess is that it looks more like a cooke converted anamorphic or older lomos that a panavision C or E. the flares are warm / yellowish, not cold. They flare more as an elegant straight horizontal line that fades to the sides rather than solid. If you're trying to redo the flares in the new Star Trek, this is NOT the lens to do it. This a low contrast lens. The lens doesn't have a FL inscription, but on the canon 5D the height has the FOV of a 50mm. this lens is a 1.5x compression, not a 2x. don't have files at hand, when I do, I'll post some flare examples. hope it helps.

I have the iscorama lens and have used it on the 5d mkII. It's a bit complicated to use as a general purpose lens, specially to focus it. the cle focusing range is very spaced out, but the midrange goes very quick (almost like a still macro lens). it only goes down to something like 6ft, so any kind of CU needs a diopter. also (at least mine) is VERY low contrast. I love it, but it's not a great lens if you're crazy about sharpness and "quality", but it definitively has a personality. the lens is not part of a set. This one is it This is a still shoot with the iscorama on a set, but it will give you a good idea what it can do. -yes, it has a +1 diopter in it and the contrast is crancked way up- Nico

I've used the minolta and the gossen, and own the later. The gossen works all right and it does the job. Anyway, be careful with the name, there's the 3F and the 2F. The one you really need is the 3F, the other one just reads the amber/blue side of the spectrum only. Personally I wouldn't spend too much money on it. In my experience, it only work in reference to itself, matching it to another meter (ie. your gaffer's) is nothing short of a surprise. Somebody also said it earlier, but I do find a digicam sometimes more useful than my color meter. I use the meter only when i run into strange color lights (usually public or big places) and need to match something...and sometimes no even.

I haven't used in a film camera for unsqueeze, I has actually using it compressed. When I need it as a "proper" scope lens, I use a canon 5D and stretch it in PS. Also interesting to use in a Pro35 adapter, but very hard to use as a film lens. Focusing is for static situations only.

There's an old anamorphic lens that came in nikon F mount, the ISCORAMA. There's no way to unsqueeze the viewfinder and takes some practise to use (focusing is a real pain). Not super sharp, not very contrasty, but it the only game in town and fun to use. Here's sample, 2 extras waiting to go on set... Cheers, Nico

I've done a lot of shooting with kids/babies and the one thing that's paramount is to have a baby wrangler that understands your needs, so having a chat with then prior to shooting is essential. Also camera sound can be a problem due to distraction, so if possible, go with a sync sound camera. 1000ft mags make it easier only because you distract them a bit less often. A zoom is big help, since they NEVER stay put long enough. Same goes for lighting, having a large enough area ready to shoot will get you a much higher chance to get good stuff The least amount of people/crew around the kid, the better. Also no shouting or loud noises, a peaceful set is a big plus. A walkie talkie with a voice activated headset makes it easy to communicate with the director and to your dolly grip while keeping a quiet set. If the child is supposed to interact with the camera, taping little toys to the matte box helps. And most of all, patience, lots of it. Cheers,