Nick Robertson

Hi all, I recently finished a 6 year project. It is called Monomyth, an 11-part short film serial. I shot on 16mm using a Bolex Rex5 and two lenses - a 10mm and 18-86mm zoom. This is my first filmmaking effort, when I began I knew nothing about working with film so I learned as I went. I made a lot of mistakes and built those mistakes into the look of the film. I'm now really good at doing the wrong thing. I'd really appreciate it if anyone would like to take a look and see how they think I did. If nothing else, it is interesting. You can find it on my Vimeo page here. Thanks in advance for checking it out. Cheers, Nick.

Thanks for the response, mate. It's just a print - should the dull side face the gate and the side with the emulsion scrape against the pressure plate? (very new to projection!!) N.

Hi all, This may not be the best place to post this but I'm desperate and everyone here seems to know everything. I have a 16mm projector - a Hanimex Eiki NT-1, to be specific. I recently purchased a film from EBay to watch on said projector - but - the film is backwards on the spool. By backwards I mean that the perforations are on the wrong side - everything else is cool, it's the right way up, it's at the beginning, etc... Now, I've tried over and over again to correct this, in every configuration, between two spools - back and forth over and over. I'm just too dumb to get it right, I guess. Can anyone (a) understand me and/or (B) help me? I'd really appreciate it! Thanks, Nick.

Is anyone here planning on doing this? I bought my iPhone 4 (16gb) outright with the intention to shoot with it. I messed around with it and got some decent results and to be honest I was underwhelmed with the way its camera functioned, with a little research I found an app called 'Almost DSLR' which allows me to lock focus, white balance, exposure, etc. Then I bought the OWLE Bubo, a Zacuto Z-Finder Pro with and articulating arm, the Vid-Atlantic 35 adapter and various other little pieces of hardware and all of a sudden I have something to really work with. Now, I know for the price of all of that I could have got some DSLR, but I didn't. It may seem like a complete joke to want to shoot anything on a mobile telephone, but the fact is that I've never felt so free to shoot in my life. I have tested and tested and every problem I have had there is an answer out there. There is even an iPhone Film Festival www.iphoneff.com - Even Park Chan Wook has had a go at it. Has anyone else been seduced by this? I was really against the idea of digital filmmaking until I just had a go and now I'm going to finish this 16mm short I've just finished shooting and let the Bolex rest for a while, maybe one day soon I'll get myself that Canon 5D that everyone talks about but for now I'm very much into the idea of working with this amazingly versatile and adaptable piece of technology. Check out these links - www.wantowle.com www.vid-atlantic.com/iphone35.html If anyone else has any experience shooting with their iPhone, let me know, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks everyone, Nick.

Thanks for the replies, guys! I have no idea what to do concerning greenscreen and know no one that does. I may have to screw around with the natural way of doing things. I happen to be an apprentice electrician so acquiring lights is no problem, plus, as I said, I'm shooting this at the local cinema/theatre so they have many many production lights... The greenscreen thing does sound MUCH better though...

Hi everyone, I'm looking at shooting a few shots comprising of the actor(s) and some sets as pure silhouette. I have access to the local theatre which has a big screen for showing movies. I'm figuring that if I pull the screen down and set the action up behind the screen and blast light from behind them towards the camera, I'll achieve the silhouette effect. But I'm quite sure that for a solid, crisp shadow I'll have to use only one source of light, correct? I also want the light to be a colour. There's a similar shot in Tarantino's Kill Bill II, I believe. Pai Mei and The Bride are training and they are just black shapes against a red background. Any ideas, guys? Thanks, Nick.

I'm wondering how you would shoot the pages of a book as someone turns them and you can clearly read the information on the pages. I'm thinking an overhead god's-eye-view type of shot. How to light it evenly and clearly is something I'm not quite sure how to do. I've got a great 10mm lens that has been used for a lot of animation, sure this will be perfect. Anyone ever done this? Thanks in advance, ladies and gentlemen. Nick.

Six months max - it's on a shelf in my room and I try and maintain the moisture in the room with desiccates and ventilation. It should be fine, it'll be ok... hopefully lol.

Hi guys, I'm shooting right now and I have several cans already back from the lab and I'm waiting to get everything shot and processed before I have it telecined so I can have it consistently graded, etc. How can I store this without it turning to crap? Fridge? Dry, dark environment? I've found a few contradictory suggestions so I thought I'd ask the experts. Thanks, Nick.

Yeah, that certainly is the point. The film I'm making is about a person dealing with the personification of death and the title at the beginning will be like this - skewed, unsure, erratic and the title at the end will be perfect and still - I'm trying to give the idea of his beliefs and experiences before and after and two different interpretations of the title. I'm really looking forward to doing this :) I've got 3 unopened rolls of Kodak 7201 that I haven't kept very well so I'll work on those. I appreciate the wealth of help you've given me. N.

Hi Adrian, Thanks for the advice. I have a lot of loose ends of spoiled film I might practice on. I was thinking I might just take a whole roll, and in regular light just work on the whole thing and have it telecined - am I correct in thinking this would work? I have a lightbox and a loupe - I'm excited to play around with this between days I can shoot. Thanks again, mate. N.

Has anyone ever scratched effects or titles into their negative? Is there anything that I should know before I do this? I want to scratch the title of my film into enough frames against black so I can go from that to a solid title generated by my editing software which sets up the theme of the film. I'll use a whole roll of 100' and do a bunch of experiments and versions but I'm shooting 16mm which is obviously very small so I'll use a magnifying glass or something... All I know is that I want to do this, just seeing if I could get some friendly, informed advice. Thanks so much guys, Nick.

It is really hard to say what everything would be worth. My Rex5 is in similarly excellent condition and I paid US$1000 for it. I may have got a good deal, though. If you're looking to sell I'll buy that 50mm lens off you. N x

My Rex5 runs for 23 seconds safe but drops a frame or two on the 24th second - needs a new spring motor to be perfectly consistent. 10 seconds isn't right at all.

Thanks for the advice, I just purchased 32,000 frames of 16mm film... or 800'.

I'm an apprentice electrician and have access to many many lights and fittings, even for loan from the wholesaler so there shouldn't be a problem in getting anything I need, it's just knowing how to tell everything will work. Basically, I'm not super concerned with how the scenes are coloured, just as long as they're exposed right - my main interest is getting enough light, with an f1.6 lens and a 500 stock I should be okay. I'm going out there soon and I'll take some stills. I was initially happy to see that the place has fluorescent lights because the scene has to have a slightly 'off' kind of feel. I have to shoot on Fuji, they're cheaper - I'll give 500D a go in daylight conditions. I can't take 100' of film and shot some tests because I've done that once and the telecine alone cost me $500 odd dollars for 300' (they charged me a full hour) I wish I'd bought a prosumer digital camera and just gone with that in a way, that way I can look into my display and see what I'm getting, I could even track without having to lock off the viewfinder and know where the friggin' camera is pointing! Having said that, I love that I have to REALLY plan and block my shots out to make sure that I'll get what I need... Thanks for your help guys, I'll make it happen. N.

Hey Adrian, I was looking at the Fuji, I'm not the hugest fan of grain so maybe you're right. When you say the tubes will render mis-matched, can you elaborate a little? With these tubes and some warm candles will it look warm in there or cool? If I want it to be cool will I have to use a filter on my camera? If I used 500T I'd need a filter on the camera, that kodak stock sounds good. I have final cut pro, quad core mac. I've been having it telecined in Melbourne, the test day I shot came back looking awesome - only the do it on miniDV tape. Thanks for the help.

Also - these Chroma 50s - you think that changing the tubes for these in addition to daylight stock is a good idea? The stock will read these as similar to daylight, correct? These tubes give off 5000K, similar to actual daylight, yes? Sorry if I seem ignorant but as I said, I'm incredibly new at all of this and eager to learn. Thanks again, Sir. N x

Thanks for the advice, Hal. I appreciate it. If you're a painter you can paint - if you're a writer you can grab a pen and a scrap of paper and write. Practicing filmmaking isn't that easy - I'm prepared to make these mistakes and learn from them. I'd just like to make as few as possible. I've been thinking about it and I've devised a few solutions - I might shoot the scene during the day, there's nice big windows facing the afternoon sun - I'll shoot 500D. Lighting is the only area I'm a little off on - I might just work on blocking and designing my shots and set detail and hope to do the best I can with the light. I'll get a few more books - I've got Film Lighting but I'm finding it hard to read.

I actually am doing this to learn. This is designed to teach me what I need to know, I wrote the script based on what I wanted to learn and after a year of going through everything It's time to shoot. I obviously don't know enough to shoot but it's time anyway. I don't want to hire anyone and even if I did this is a 15 person town 2000kms from the nearest city. I want to see where my raw strengths and weaknesses are by going through every aspect of production. I've put everything else out of my life and committed to making this thing, thousands of dollars already and an incredible amount of brain cells so I have certainly realized I'm 'wasting' my money but that's the plan. I live in the middle of NOWHERE Australia and I haven't got the option to go to film school, I figured I'd learn myself. I've stolen books from libraries, recorded and transcribed conversations with people at labs, camera stores/repairs, etc to force as much knowledge as I can into my brain. Could you please give me a few tips to help me out? Tackling all jobs has been really hard but I'm learning - I remember reading a quote from Gilliam saying that as a director you should know how to do everyone's job, just not as good as they can. I think that's true. Thanks x

Hi everyone, I've just been scanning a few topics that have piqued my interest and decided that this is an environment that can help me. (I sure need it) As the topic states I'm making a film for the first time and I'm doing everything except for acting. I have a huge interest in cinematography and am reading like a maniac to become as knowledgeable as possible on the topic, however, my desire is to become a director. Scene 1 is coming up next month and with the whole year of writing, learning, practicing and buying that I've done so far I still have a few questions... These questions are about lighting, I'm shooting in a church and I'm due to go there tomorrow with my light meter and check the levels and make sure the shots I've roughly designed work within the space. This building has fluorescent lights, it's a night shoot, the camera will track the entire length of the room (not very long). I have a Bolex Rex5, a 10mm Kern-Switar and an 18-86mm zoom Kern-Switar. I have absolutely ZERO lighting equipment, I can't afford it and there is nowhere to rent it even remotely close to where I live. So... Looks like I'll be shooting with natural source light (I have one reflector disk) and since this light is fluorescent I don't mind what colour it reads on the stock, actually, the more 'off' it looks the better. I'm worried I won't have enough light to expose the film properly, I'll be shooting 500EI film. Would you recommend daylight balanced or tungsten balanced stock? If there isn't enough light, I could introduce some lamps, candles, etc into the set and use those as creatively as I can but the colour temperature will be a mis-match, right? Lighting isn't something I've looked into enough, I guess. This film is completely self financed by my weekly first year apprentice pay and I've done quite well so far but this lighting thing is keeping me up at night. Any and all recommendations are excitedly welcomed. Thanks guys, Nick.