Justin Marx

Hey guys, thank you very much for the input! I don't know why but I usually get an email when I subscribe to my posts.. I didn't even know their were any responses ???

Thank you in advance for your info!

I have worked with these guys before on shorts, and now they are trying to get a feature together.. I am a fairly new DP, although I have shot a feature that was sold to lionsgate, and many shorts (not tooting my horn, just stating who I am) I have been in the business for over 14 years as a PA/AC and really like to think I have an idea of how this business works..

They want me to DP this film that currently has no financing or actors attached and are looking for about 1.5 million, and they want ME to tell them my needs for Lighting, Camera, and Crew.. To that I gave them a very "GENERIC" list of what the minimum would be and told them there is NO way I can give them anything more specific until we do a scout of every location, now they are asking me who I want as my gaffer because they are going to start "crewing it up".. WHAT THE HECK?!? Crew it up before they even have ACTORS or MONEY!?!?! He even asked me what film stock I want (which I told him) then he came back saying "oh, how about this film stock, it's newer!?!)

At this point I am loosing interest just because I feel like they are going to get NOTHING QUICKLY and are over producing.. The director is an ok guy, but also says stupid things like "we don't need a dolly"?!?! I basically told the producer to don't ask me anymore questions until he has money, and whatever money he gets we will make the best film we possibly can with the crew we can afford.

My question: What as a DP should I need to give the producers before they have any idea of what their budget is?

Hi,

I'm gonna have to shoot a series of shots (some part of the same scene) in a room with huge windows facing north on the ground level. Due to actors' scheduling I'm going to have to shoot day for night, I prefer to heavily ND the windows (as oppose to black-out) to at least get some depth and definition outside, my question is where do I start with this? how heavy of ND and should I go with ND 85 instead, what if on the shooting day the sky is all fluffy clouds going in and out of the sun? any input would be appreciated.

Have your grips build a "BLACK BOX" around the area of the windows, and use your own lights to bring some moonlight in. Grab some tree branches or plants to put outside if you need to see something.. No ND, no waste.. a couple of 8x8's and some duvateen.. Just mind the HEAT!

Otherwise You would have to GEL the crap out of the windows and the look would be inconsistant with any sort of cloud cover..

My 2-cents..

Whats the difference between Redrocks M2 35mm adaptor and there new product the Micro follow focus?

 

Is the follow focus an add on for the adaptor, would you need the follow focus if you already have the Adaptor?

Thanks

The M2 is the adapter, the follow focus is just an add on. A VERY USEFUL ONE when your using 35mm lenses..Get the M2 before the FF..

- - Justin

:blink:

 

P+S Technic absorbs 2 stops. From there, light with your eye, and the monitor.

Thank you..

Interesting, does it have to be 24pn? I had it in 24p and it didnt do it. I didnt try in 24pn yet. Ill have to try that. Thanks. If anyone has tried it in 24p (not n) mode and still seen slo-mo, let me know, because it was weird...thanks a bunch!

Actually, i just tried it. You were right, it had to be in 24pn mode. Do you know why it wont play back slo-mo in just 24p mode? Is there something im missing?

You need to be in 24pn mode because when you shoot in 24p or 30p, its still keeping all the frame information as if shooting 60i, but with 24pN it drops the un wanted frames and shows you playback..

The good thing about shooting 24p is that you can speed it up and slow it down in post, because it's saving all that information even though your not using it.. It's still there..

They're open-faced fixtures. I just ordered the first gel I saw on B&H's website. I'll try some of the better gel and see what happens.

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

Just saw the packaging... it's made by Lowel. I'll stay away from them from now on.

Buy some heat shield while your at it. :-)

- - Justin

Just wrapped on this short film! Here are some shots of our lighting setups. We were on a sound stage. The larger fresnels are 10ks and there are some 2ks and other lights mixed in. Inside the tent we brought in 1ks and 650w's and some mini moles. Lots of fun. Here are some pictures of the set.

 

are those 575's above the actors heads?

Nice SET :-)

Has anyone found the ISO of the PS Tecknik and the XL2?

I'd love to know :-)

Thanks

- - Justin

just be sure to go minimal with your lighting for shooting DV. DV reads into everything so if you want somehting moody make sure either light dark, or crush your blacks heavily in post. Hope it works out!

Really?

I have a small idea which may help you to acheive a dark "top-lit" scenario. Take the kino's and rig them into the ceiling pointing down. Then put some dif on them 216 or even something lighter like Opal. Make sure to allow the gel to hang down a bit, its called the Puffy Shirt technique. Then, take a long piece of Duvatine around 8-12 Inches thick and wrap it around the whole Kino covering the sides and the barn doors. This acts like a teaser and will kill a whole lot of the side spill. Then just go up or down on the lights until a desired effect is achieved. For a more cooler look on tungsten film swap two of the kino tubes for daylight so that there are two tungsten tubes and two daylight tubes, this is called a "Barber Pole." After that the HMI's can be used as a moonlight either green or even a slight lavender color would look cool as a backlight. As for the smaller heads, you can use them to accessorize the walls to create depth. Thats just a suggestion. Hope any of this helps!

Cheers,

Eric U.

Great! Thanks.. Any pictures would be GREAT!

ALSO, I am shooting DV 24P with the CANON XL2 with the Mini 35/Technik/Zeiss 2.1's

Sorry I dont have time right now to give you more detailed advice, but no one can really tell you how to light your scene, but maybe can give you some ideas:

 

I had a lot of small room situations in these production journals, so maybe they can give you some ideas. If not, I am sure someone here can give you a better reply.

 

http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=11530

http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...?showtopic=7700

http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...?showtopic=7823

Kevin Zanit

Thanks Kevin.. I have a prettygood idea of what I would like to do, I would just like as much input as I can get so I can go into it knowing more than I need.. I'll pick and choose what I really want at the end, but the wealth of information and qualified people here is such a great resource..

Thank you for the pictures.. They were great.. How was Howie to work with?

- - Justin

Ok here's the SCENE:

NIGHT INT. Hospital room

The room has one WINDOW (diagram attached) the otherwindows will be blocked by a wall we are building.

My charachters will play around the bed, the closet, and in the area to the right of the bed (looking from above)

The lights I have are 3 1200 HMI's 1-575 1-dedo light kit, and 2 4-bank 4' kinos..

I have 3 1200's for another scene and only planned on using one, to blast through the window as night moon light..

I wan't the room to look fairly dark.. It's a dream world hospital, and I want it to look cold..

With the lights I have, how would you light the actors playing around the bed, and in the area to the right.

I'd like to change the light as little as possible for each setup (I'm dreaming). The ceiling height is 8' and the ceiling is a DROP ceiling with removeable tiles..

I've never had so many lights at my disposal, and am afraid to OVERLIGHT.. any ideas?

set_no_lighting1.bmp

Wow, never really knew the major cost difference!! Thank you! I will look into it.. I'll let you know how it goes..

- - Justin

Sorry guys!! We're shooting HD (Sony F900)

I'm probably going to throw some diffusion on the windows and play with the distance of the 575 outside as much as I can.

Thanks!! Any pictures would be great..

Can I plug the Arrisun 5 575 Watt HMI PAR Light into a regular wall outlet?

 

Thanks - -

Thank you!

Can I plug the Arrisun 5 575 Watt HMI PAR Light into a regular wall outlet?

Thanks - -

Deck out a CP-16 to make it look like an SR3? Just get an SR3, much more reliable, and if your ever going to do any transfers to HD, super 16 is the only way to go.. Otherwise, spending all the money to change the mount, and worry about the camera's registration is not worth it, also the viewfinder on the CP-16 SUCKS! Good luck seeing anything with an ND3!! Threading, or drop in loading mags.. hmmmm.... It's all about the $$$.... But I'm sad to say, I'd take the new P2 Panasonic HD over a CP 16.. I LOVE FILM! But I hate that camera..

Been a long time since I've posted... I miss you guys!!!

Anyway, to the point!

I'm shooting a short film in a hospital room (really a school classroom).

The room is about 20x20 with three windows.. I convinced the director to shoot it as NIGHT because of the eerie tone to this film. We will be shooting in the day time though.. So I need to black out the windows, but also light through them from the outside. Luckily we have blinds on the windows, so I should be ok with a 12x12 cave around the three windows.. If I get 3 575 HMI's and blast them through the windows, will I be ok? Will they give me enough light so I can minimally light the interior? We don't have a generator. Our budget is -500$? I'm really looking for stark lighting on the interior, half lit faces, cold lighting.. Any hints, tricks, gags for getting this done would be great!

Now to the hallway.. How much coverage will I get with the 575's over a 50' x 6' long hallway. I want to blast the lights through the small windows on the doors on one side of the hallway.. I want dark spots between them, but I don't want it black. I want the beams to BLAST the actors as they walk by them (atmos) Would a 4 bank Kino work along with that for close ups? I'm using atmos in both of these scenes as well..

But here's my deal.. I am looking for cold lighting.. we're killing all the fluorescent in the whole place, so will 4-575's a 4 bank Kino, and a Dedo light kit do the trick? (and of course b-board, foamcore bounces, etc..) Is the Dedo a waste? I just like them for their size, and ease to mount on the drop ceiling, and they are great for SPOT lighting.. What's the best as a fill light? can I use my 575 through a 4x silk? or will the kino be fine?

PICTURES WOULD BE GREAT!!! OR EXAMPLES!!

THANKS BOYS (and girls) Sorry about all the questions!!

:D

I am a student filmmaker considering which camera to buy... I will mainly be shooting shorts and I am looking for the best camera for that purpose. I want a 'film-look' for my films, if you know what I mean....

 

But what is prefferable? HD or 24p? The cameras I am thinking about is the

Sony HDR-FX1 HDV vs DVX100A ??

 

I want to shoot in 16:9, so I guess you'd loose quality if you letterbox the DVX100A image? Which of the cameras offers the best 'cinematic look' ?

 

Thomas

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

24P cameras shoot at the 24 frame rate which is the standard film frame rate. The HDR-FX1 is an HDV camera that will give you very CRISP images that look like HD VIDEO. If your looking for a film look, you should go with a 24P camera. Your best bet is to find a camera rental house in your area and rent one of each before you make your investment. Make sure you have a credit card!

Good luck!

- - Justin

I'm quite interested in making a documentary. I have never made one and have never worked on one. So I'm a bit in the dark about what I need to do..

I want to pitch the idea to The Discovery Ch HD.

I would love to talk to someone who has been in this situation and has been successful (dream I may).

What do I need to do before I can give them my idea?

I think my idea is great, and my way to go about it as well, but who doesn't think their idea is the best.

Do I need to write a script?

How do I write a script for something that I can't predict? DoI write a mock up of how I would like it to happen?

Do I need to have a friend make an AICP budget?

I wrote a basic treatment with what I want to do. I gave it three acts, and what I would like to cover in each act. Is that enough?

I will only want to do this if I can shoot it on HD. It will not have the same effect on any other medium. I LOVE FILM!! DONT GET ME WRONG!! But It's the clarity and look of 1080i that I need!

How do I get them in my back pocket?

What I don't want to do is be a know it all and give them so much information that they just go ahead and say, go do it yourself.. Or should I? heheheh

Thank you for any and all information you can provide.

- - Justin Marx

Thank you! What does holding the film and up and down arrows at the same time do??

Also, what does the LB and CC and K buttons do?

Thanks again!

Got this meter (Minolta color meter II) from a friend, no instructions.. cant find any on the net either? Can anyone please give some some information on basic operations of taking a reading and or point me in the right direction of a manual..

Thank you very much!!

- - Justin

Just got a student film I shot back, and 3/4's of the way through the roll there are 4 semi wavy blue lines from the top to the bottom. Are those scratches? Why so many lines? Could this be a problem with the processing/transfer?

I attached a photo.. I turned up the contrast so you can see the lines..

Thank you for your help!!

I'm using 16mm 320T, I was just curious if my shot looks into a window with sunlight coming in, stop wise, how over can the window be in comparision with my talent being backlit by it. I want to keep the face bright, but I don't want to be totally blown out in the BG.

For example, lets say my BG is and 11 and my talent is a 5.6? How much play do I have with 320?

Thanks boys.. and girls..

- - Justin :o