tom quinn

Hi Alex, I shot two low-budget shorts on 7218 this year. The first used very minimal lighting (we only had one day in the location, which was a store open for business!). It was a pretty lo-fi look, but allowed me to really focus on performances. The film ended up being a Kodak Eastman finalist, which really surprised me because it was mostly practicals and a few scoops and fresnels bounced for fill. I attribute a lot of it to the kids in the film, who were really cute and did a great job. Here's a link to a clip. Note - for the outdoor stuff we didn't have an 85 so I had to choice but to blow it out and time it later. http://www.stationhousefilms.net/shorts/via_bicycles.html We used superspeed primes (getting around a 1.4-2.0 in the shop with their practicals). The second film was for a friend of mine and he wanted to try for a look similar to Birth, shot by Harris Savides. I am used to shooting on video so shooting film and going for a style was a scary prospect. We used the superspeed primes again and 7218. A lot of the lighting was practicals augmented with china balls, kinos, and some fresnels. Some of those stills here: http://www.stationhousefilms.net/trains/RTB_Stills.html There is definately grain (for some reason i noticed it more on this film than the first) - especially in brighter areas (which I had in some cases exposed a bit too hot and timed after). I think that for the most part we could have shot on 250 with few problems, but I did run into some difficult focus situations shooting with a 50mm. A few takes go soft as folks miss their marks or when we tried dolly moves. Many times were were shooting between a 1.4 and a 2.8 - not a smart move. Live and learn. The great thing about 7218 is that it handles mixed light really well. I'd imagine the same is true for Kodak's Vision 2 250d, but I haven't had opportunity to use it yet. Anyway, I'm still finding my way myself, but hope this helps. later, tom

Hey Justin, We've been running the same circles these days.... : )

Hey Folks, a few stills from a second short. I shot it for a friend last Spring, but we just wrapped up the sound mix. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Tom http://www.dioramamovie.com/gallery/index.html (these may be a tad dark on a pc monitor)

There is quite a bit of grain - more obvious in some shots than others. If anyone is in the Philly area is interested, we're showing a short i shot on sunday at the festival of independents. 7pm - international house. Some stills: http://www.dioramamovie.com/gallery/index.html

Ha, I won't hold my breath, but thanks Matt. The dinner table scene is one of the better shots in the film - the rest are kind of hit and miss.

Thanks for the kinds words. I had been worried that the symmetry was too much, but for the film it seemed right. I'm still adjusting to larger lighting units (still small by most film standards) and am struggling to keep things looking natural and not overlit. I was happier with some more than others (of course I mostly posted the "Some" :) It'll come with experience I suppose! take care, tom www.stationhousefilms.net

Hi - We ended up skipping the covered wagon option after building one because we had a low ceiling, very short shooting schedule, and no ideal way to rig it quickly. I know on the Sopranos they often bolt them directly into the ceiling, but that was not an option for us. We started looking at different rigging options to get them overhead, but the logistics made it a poor option for our needs. hope that helps, Tom

Thanks! I wish it had been 35mm. I don't have a heck of a lot of film experience, so I was glad that they turned out at all. The film has some nightmare sequences, which let us play with the atmosphere a bit. I am hoping to get some more stills this week. Thanks again. tom

good idea!

i wasn't so much hell bent as curious. I don't have enough experience to know if they were an option. the reason it was worth looking into was that we originally thought about doing a wall of light from overhead and did not have the amps or rigging gear to do it right so we were considering creative alternatives.

thanks! it's a shame. it looked good in rehearsals and then she took it home to 'practice.' not so good.

Hey all - Since you were so helpful I thought I'd post a few stills from the shoot. I should have more soon. I was really nervous because I hadn't shot film in over a year and don't have much experience with it. Fortunately, I had a great gaff and camera team. We shot on 7218 with an XTR Prod. We ended up using a mix of china balls, kinos, and fresnels instead of the overhead lights. We made one covered wagon and realized that we did not have time to rig each set up. The aspect ratio may be a tad off (I stretched the exported stills in photoshop) and the color is probably a bit washed out on PC monitors. Any feedback would be great. I'll post more when I get them. Thanks! Tom http://www.stationhousefilms.net/trains/RTB_Stills.html

Hi folks, I just wrapped shooting a short film for a friend of mine. While very nervous because I had not shot film in over a year, I am pretty happy with the results (thanks to a great colorist at Shooters who really saved me). Any feedback would be great. They do not seem to be stretched to the correct ratio (anamorphic transfer) and could be off color-wise on a pc. I'll post more when I can get them. We shot on 7218 on an XTR-Prod. Take care, Tom http://www.stationhousefilms.net/trains/RTB_Stills.html

I happened to watch A Woman Under the Influence and Il Posto within a few days this week. I was struck at the raw beauty of each film and how they both managed to feel lit by slightly augmented natural light. I don't know enough about the production process of NeoRealist films, but have been thinking about how rarely we see feature film cinematography using that style to such effect today (especially on film - although stocks are faster than in1959). I realize that the overall effect of those films is a coupling of subject matter, acting styles and visual approach, but thought it may be nice to discuss experiences of using natural (or slightly augmented) light. Photos and samples would be great. Thanks, Tom

Thanks for checking, Luke.

Much thanks to you both! I'll also look further into building a softbox. Hal, if you get time to test further, that's fantastic. If you don't, I'll let you know if we do a film test. take care, Tom

Thanks for your help, David. I appreciate it. So, even though they are rated 3100k there would still be green spikes, as Frank stated, due to the broken spectrum, correct? Take care, Tom

thanks, greg. i had read about the "covered-wago" idea a few times - New Cinematographers talks a bit about them and several other articles on Harris Savides do as well. I bought some supplies to build a test, but with our meager budget and short schedule, I am looking for other options. We were also concered about power in the house and thought this may be a way to free up some amps.

Hey frank, Would I get flicker with the compact fluorescents in a medium socket? I was under the impression that the flicker had more to do with the ballast on tube florescent fixtures. Also, would I get a green spike at 3100 - if anything it would be a bit warm - correct? From what I understand 100 kelvin would barely be noticable compared to 3200 (if I understand correctly, based on David Mullen's explaination of color temperature differences in another post, I think it would require less than 1/8 CTB). But I am not certain about any of this! Am I way off? Thanks for your help (liked your reel as well). Take care, Tom

Hello, I am in pre-production on a super-16 short to be shot on 7218. For some scenes I would like to emulate Harris Savides lighting style in "Birth," but am not sure I have either the electrical experience or the gripping resources to build and rig covered-wagons. I am thinking of purchasing a strand of 24 light sockets that will take 25w bulbs each and filling them with 23w compact florescents, which will give off the equivelent of 100w incadescent bulbs and burn at 31k. If I buy two strands, that would potentially give me 4800w of overhead light for a medium-sized room. From there, I could hang a silk or muslin to soften the light and duv to flag it (and can remove bulbs where necessary). The added bonus is that it would run at about 12 amps! The color temperature seems to be within a range I can compensate for, but I would be interested in hearing of other potential probelms or ideas you may have. If there are no obvious problems with this approach, I'd like to plan a camera test for next week. Thanks for your time! Tom Quinn

I am also curious as to as to safe dimensions for the covered wagon. I also asume the muslin should be fireproofed?

hey all i have a shoot this weekend and am using 7218 500T stock. I may be adding an outdoor component, but do not have a correction filter. Will I be able to warm this up when I correct during my transfer to digibeta? thanks tom

i finally saw Last Days and although i was prepared to hate it i really found it beautiful. I think it ranks between Gerry and Elephant for me, but I'd like to see it again. Strangely, i didn't find this nearly as slow as the last two movies. There are more cuts and I found the action and images beautiful and interesting. Granted, I was a pretty big cobain fan so small details like the cigar box, walking through a nearby park, were all interesting as well. There is a strong motif of hunting in the film, from Blake's hunting cap and shotgun (obviously pulled from cobain) and the decor in the house. While he talks to a yellow pages salesman, talking about sucess, there is a painting on the wall of hunting dogs bringing down a giant deer. It seemed as close a visual representation of Nirvana's song "Rape Me" as you could get. I am not sure about the last 10 minutes, but would liek to watch it again. Savides' photography is beautiful and Michael Pitt does an excellent job.

hi guys, working on a new film and cut a short trailer. the blacks will be pasty, especially on a mac, b/c i overcompensated for the gamma differences. Hope to fix that soon. Feedback/criticism would be great. thanx. tom