Matthew Skala

I am selling my Panasonic 17" HD production monitor BT-LH1700W, I haven't used it much. it comes with case, hoodman, adjustable table stand, and baby/junior mount all in good condition. I am not sure of the hours, probably somewhere around 600 based on my camera usage. If anyone knows how to check the hours of usage on this monitor please let me know. $2900.00 OBO For now details and pictures on this craigslist post:http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pho/1863210453.html

Thats great, thanks guys!!

Can anyone tell me what the ratio is on the HVX lens. 11:1, 18:1, ??? And how do you figure this out? I should know this but I don't. Panasonic says its an 13x lens, does that mean its 13:1? I need to know for sure, please don't respond if your guessing. thanks, matt

Hello Joseph, You bring up a good point using green/blue screen, It would be a lot simpler and cheaper especially if there isn't any action in front of it, which I am not sure if there is at this point. Thanks for the input! M

Hey Hal, That sounds pretty logical to me. I hope it doesn't take away too much brightness. I can start with a full CTO. It doesn't have to be perfect for it is a surreal effect. Thanks Matt

Thank you nick, I will keep you updated.

I like the matte surface spray idea, definitly worth experimenting with! I wonder if we could use steam, that would be pretty hot! Seeing outside the window is not important and we can put the projector right outside the window with plenty of room to move it back and forth.to be out of shot it will probably have to be about 10 to 15 feet away from the window.

Hello All, I am shooting a short film and there is a scene in a bedroom where we need to have imagery showing on a window. Its not supposed to look like there is anything going on outside the window. It needs to be a surreal effect similar to stuff in Natural Born Killers, If I am remembering that movie correctly. We will be shooting the short on HD with my HVX200 package. I have some ideas myself but would love to get some of yours. Such as what kind of Projector I could use. What kind of material should I use on the window that would look natural. Should I shoot the scene at night or day, or at night for day. At this point we are flexible as to what time of day in the story the scene takes place. If we shot it during the day I would have to tent the window, at night we may have to flag off some street lights, etc. Just let me know what you guys think. Thanks! Matt

Hey Chuck, Thanks for the fast response. There is some great info there, however I am looking for more of a dummies guide on how to make one specifically for film applications. I hope such a thing exists. Matt

Hello all, I have been searching the web on how to build a versatile block battery to power my film/video equipment but to no avail. I mainly need to power a Panasonic HD monitor and the HVX200, but would like it to be versatile enough to use for other applications such as powering an Arri SR3 or what not. So I guess it would have to be 12v/24v switchable. I have seen some home built block batteries using pelican cases and would like to follow a similar model. If anyone has a resource on how to do this best, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks. Matt

Does anybody now anything about this film. I am really interested in what DV camera's they used to shoot the film: http://www.miramax.com/secuestroexpress/

I agree, I thought I was watching the discovery channel for a second there. What bothered me more than the smearing whip pans and such was the frame rate. It looked like 29.97. Even my wife noticed and she is not a filmmaker at all. It was really depressing actually, I watched it digitally projected and coming out of the film I was thinking, "I hope this isn't what films are going to start looking like, and I hope I won't be forced to make them look like this." It was a good film when I was able to forget about the technical stuff. "Oh but wait am I watching the Discovery Channel again" was a thought that entered my mind at different times during the film.

Sorry for the late response But what do you think would be a better length. I have always been told 5 min. Hope this gets to you.

Thanks!

hey all, Hope everyone is doing good. I would love to get some feedback on my reel: www.matthewskala.com Thanks! Matt

JDC, a rental house in Wilmington, NC & London has a set of 16mm anamorphic lenses: www.joedunton.com give them a call, mention my name: Matthew Skala (they may not remember me but I am trying to get my name out there, just tell them I referred you.)

I also saw the film this weekend, film projected. As a whole it didn't look as "plastic" as the trailer did. Especially scenes not featuring superman. The look was only distracting during Close Ups, the same thing happen to me with "Once upon a time in Mexico." However, I ended up liking the film a-lot, so the impact of the story wasn't stiffeled by the look. What bugged me the most was the age of the character's. Everyone was too young, Superman looked like he was barely old enough to drink, let alone save the world.

I might have a chance to go see it this weekend. Hopefully digitally projected. I read the American Cinematographer Article, They say this is the look they wanted and even considered 65mm at one point. Their tests revealed that the Genisis would hold up and give them what they wanted. I saw some trailers on my 24" TV and the look wasn't as "plastic" as on the big screen. We'll see.

With "Collateral" I agree. Shooting HD Gave them a technical advantage because of how they wanted to shoot at night with minimal lighting. This is wear HD shines the brightest and would be equivalent to choosing an appropriate stock. However, with "Superman Returns" the aesthetic that the genisis provides, TO ME reduces the production value of the film and turns me off of the film. I probably won't go see it on the big screen, as it is, the preview is annoying because "the look" is distracting. I believe our job as cinematographers is to disguise our work into subconciously helping the story move along and extract emotions from an audience. "Superman Returns" (the trailer) doesn't achieve that for me. Its like a glazed donut with too much glaze.

Yes, technically speaking "Superman Returns" is better off shooting in HD rather than S16. because of its imax release. However, for a film of this scale, and aesthetically speaking, they should have been able to shoot on 70mm or at the least 35mm. Sometimes I wonder if films like this are shot on HD merely to exploit HD. Its like hollywood is the new silicon valley. From boob jobs to HD, they both have the same faux appeal. I am not completely anti-HD. I have shot and seen some great stuff in HD, However I have yet to see it aesthetically hold up on the big screen. And when it comes to shooting epic imax released films like "Superman Returns" in HD, its just getting out of hand. I just hate to see the public come into exceptance of technology that is of lesser quality than its predecessor. Anyways, these are only opinions but I hope sense this is a filmmakers/Artists forum some of you will agree. I would hate to one day walk into a house and see digital screens hanging on the walls instead of paintings and photographs. Even as I write this I am convinced it will happen:(

Yuk, The "Superman Returns" Trailer looks awful to me. Its all soft and plastic looking, A common trait in HD blow ups. I'll take S16 over that any day. I remember sitting through a screening of "Raising Victor Vargas" shot by Tim Orr on the biggest screen in North Carolina. I was convinced throughout the screening I was looking at a film shot on 35mm. It was not till after that Tim Orr told us it was a 16mm blowup.

There are some filters like Classic Soft filters that use dimples in the glass for the soft effect. If you use these filters on a wide angle lens with a small f-stop like f8+ the dimples will start to come into focus and blur parts of your image. I have seen this happen, it sucks!

No. But I am sure it looks great. You can look at some HD trailers to see examples of 35mm transfered to HD. They look incredible. You might be able to find a film shot in 16mm that has an HD trailer. Just curious, Are you finishing on HD or is film going to be your final output? If you are finishing on film why spend the money on an HD telecine?

That looks like a great location. Fuji offers a DVD of footage shot with there new line of film stocks. I believe those stocks are on there. Definitely worth looking at, its free, you can order it from fuji and ask your Cinematography dept. head about it. You could probably make either of those stocks work. You will definitely pick up a lot more shadow detail with the 500D. Based on the location, a little grain in the image will look nice. A good way to judge would be your exposure and film speed of your still image. I shot my thesis film on Fuji Stock a little over a year ago. I was extremely pleased with the results. I used the F400 stock and bleach bypassed it. The grain was nice and tight and the images where sharp. Great shadow detail with this stock even after bleach bypass. You can see some of it on my demo reel: www.skalaphotography.com/reel.html, the large file takes a while to load. The film I am talking about is with the black teenage girl, and gangsters, and she is with her boyfriend in some scenes. Oh yeah also 16mm. Good luck on your project!

There is also a section in the American Cinematographer Manual about this. This is a book No cinematographer should be without :)