Ryan Ball

Thanks for the replies. Seems like they could have used 16mm and had the benefit of more compact cameras for all the hand-held stuff.

Really liked the look of the film. Had a grainy, gritty look. Looked like super 16 to me.

That's on a 60D, by the way.

If you really wan to save some money, get a $10 M42 mount adaptor on ebay. Then you can get some really cheap M42 screw mount lenses (also on ebay or craigslist). I picked up a nice little Mamiya Sekor 50mm for $30 on craigslist and I use it all the time. See the image for quality example.

Go to your local thrift store and buy an old leather jacket. Cut off one of the sleeves and slip your camera in there with the lens pointing out where the hand goes. You'll be amazed how well this works. Not perfect, but great for run-and-gun situations.

I thought the film looked great and I generally like to see a lens flare every now and then, but it becomes a little distracting when you realize they were posted in. Still an awesome movie.

They went a bit crazy with the lens flares in the new Trek flick. I assume a lot of them were added in post?

Try having your actors chomp on some ice before takes. I've heard that works for the misty breath effect.

Yeah, I'd love to work as a camera assistant on a shoot. However, it's been my experience that smaller films offer more opportunities to jump in a get your feet wet. I've worked on several student films and a couple low-budget features and got a chance to wear a lot of different hats by the time the shoots were over.

I think I can throw in a free T-shirt as well, Tom. Let me know when you're going to be at your favorite watering hole. Ryan

Okay. Fixed it. Thanks. I thought it defaulted to public.

It should work. I didn't password protect it.

Hi all, I'm building my DP reel and was wondering if any professional cinematographers living in Los Angeles would be willing to share some of their knowledge with me. I'm interested in learning more about lenses and working with 16mm, 35mm and HD cameras. If nothing else, lets have a beer sometime. I'm buying! Thanks. You can see my reel at http://www.vimeo.com/4308446

I don't quite understand the logic of shooting day for night under a plastic tent. Sounds like a lot of extra work as opposed to just shooting at night.

You can always slap a filter on to get your wide establishing shot with the windows open, then black them out and use artificial light to light the actors using the windows as motivation. I a living room, you can also take advantage of practicals (household lamps, etc.) tor round out your lighting scheme. I like to use soft boxes on actors for nice soft, even lighting that looks natural. These can easily be made using foamcore and putting some diffusion over the fronts. For diffusion, I'll buy a pillow-case cover for a couple bucks at Wal-Mart and cut it up. This will cover two soft boxes.

Nice footage. That was all shot with the stoc meteor lens?

I use the Sunpak Readylite 20. very bright and easy to mount on a flash adaptor. Downside is the battery wears down fast. I purchased a seccond battery from B&H Photo so I have a spare charged up and ready to go. Sells for around $70. see it here: http://cgi.ebay.com/SUNPAK-Readylite-20-Co...%3A1%7C294%3A50

Link doesn't seem to work.

Thanks! Rank transfered to Mini-DV at Spectra

Thanks! Glad you like them. My wife is jealous because we had our wedding shot on video 10 years ago and it's not nearly as cool. Super 8 is definitely the way to go for weddings. I've met a lot of people who said they didn't even bother with a videographer because all the wedding videos they've seen are so cheesy. It's a great opportunity to shoot film and help demonstrate to Kodak that there is a demand for 8mm stocks.

That looks fantastic! Too bad they shot the short on a RED camera when they could have had you shoot it on super 8. I've been looking to super 8 to give ma a gritty kind of 1970s spaghetti look and I think this nails it. Do you think Spectra will do cross-processing?

Weddings are playing a big part in the continued use of Super 8 film. Here's my latest: http://www.vimeo.com/2152618 Shot on 500T, 200T, Plus-X and Tri-X with an Elmo 1012-XL and an Elmo Super 106. Interestingly enough, the Tri-X turned out a bit underexposed but the Plus-X turned out great indoors. Go figure.

Looks pretty soft. The 1012 has a sharp lens and that transfer isn't doing it justice.

What exactly is a reverse telecine?

I've been an Elmo fan since I bought a mint Super 106 at a yard sale for $20 about 16 years ago. i still shoot with that camera and it has been a solid workhorse and still runs beautifully with great registration and good optics. I recently bought a 1012XL on ebay for $180 because I need something for low-light situations. I just got the test roll back from Spectra and watched it today. Very crisp image and good registration. I'm very pleased with the results and will post some footage when I get it digitized. This is a great alternative to the very pricy Nikon R10 and Canon 1014XL. The Elmo 1012XL was the company's top-of-the-line camera at the time it debuted, and has some nice features. It's also a big, hefty camera, mostly because of the sound recording system that is pretty much useless today unless you can find sound-stripped film. Just shoot double-system like the pros. I highly recommend this camera. Hope you get a good one. Mine came in good shape and running order. I'm having Spectra lube it to get it a little quieter. Should purr like a kitten when I pick it up.