Max Jacoby

Who says that DI gives you better quality than Optical? There are advantages and disadvantages to each process. I do quite enjoy this exchange between Landon and Daniel, I must say. Kind of like 2 aliens observing human behaviour and trying to make sense of it all. ;)

There are primes dedicated for macro use. Panavision use the 'close focus' description for their lenses where they have improved the minimum focus distance of a certain lens series. Primos (both spherical and anamorphic) come in regular and 'close focus' variety. But even the Close Focus Anamorphic Primos do not focus as closely as other 'regular' anamorphic lenses (like the Hawks for instance). In fact one cannot not use these Primos for macro work.

Landon I didn't know you were the copyrightholder for images from 'Aliens'... On the other hand I must congratulate you, you seem to finally have figured out how Super35 works (well the general principle at least). As you could see all the information (plus loads more on that subject) is freely available on the internet, all one needs to do is look for it.

There are lots of Dops (Vilmos Zigmond and John Seale come to mind) who use zooms almost exclusively, even if they shoot anamorphic. 'The Perfect Storm' was shot mostly on anamorphic zooms for instance. But you are right that a zoom will not look quite as sharp as a good prime lens. In general anamorphic zooms are just spherical zooms with an anamorphic element screwed on at the back, which makes the lens one stop slower. I think the best zoom available at the moment is the Angenieux Optimo 24mm-290mm which is fast (T2.8) and had a good minimum focus. If you happen to see the trailer for the 'Merchant of Venice' there is an extreme close-up of a seal ('the' seal actually) which was shot on the long end of the Optimo. In addition there are zooms lenses that have macro functions, like the Hawk 46-230mm anamorphic and the Panavision 14.5-50mm. As I was told, the Zeiss Master Primes are pretty much as good as it gets in optical design, there probably isn't much room for improvement anymore. So there is a tendency in lens design to go towards zoom lenses and get their quality up top to that of primes. Zooms like the above mentioned Panavison lens and the short Optimo (17-80mm) hava a stop (T 2.2) that is nearly equivalent to that of primes already. It is likely that in the future we will see zooms that are just as good as primes and prime lenses will only get used for special purposes (handheld, steadicam, very low light shots)

I got that info from a Kodak lecture, where they screend prints and also showed the graphs of push/pull. I have never really worked with a Dop who pushed or pulled the filmstock regularly. The only times when I've seen it done is to gain an extra stop.

Actually the film was shot on Cooke S4s and Arricams. Digital Intermediate by Eclair Labs

The film was shot last year. Master Primes will only be available later this year.

The 9th edition will be coming out soon. If you only buy one book, buy this one. It will make a lot of things clearer for you.

The one thing that I am wary about is the fact that they planned to use the DI to make Kevin Spacey appear younger.

Landon May I suggest that you get yourself a copy of the 'American Cinematographers Manual' which explains all these post production steps and has lots of other great articles on technical subjects also. It is obvious from your questions that you lack even basic technical knowledge which makes trying to explain things to you very difficult, since one needs to pretty much start from scratch every time.

According to the Arri Press release regarding the Master Primes, they mentioned that previously in lens design it was always about finding a compromise between close-focus and breathing. So breathing might be a problem with macro lenses, since for macro work one doesn't usually focus-pull (and therefore breathing is less of a consideration)

The user guide for the 435 Advanced is in the download section of the ARRI website. The differences between the Advanced and the Extreme are mostly small improvements (like LDS), the basic operations of the cameras are the same, so you can safely use the Advanced user guide even for the Extreme.

Anamorphic is just a question of a viewfinder switch that is availble on some conversions. I have used the 2C with Super 35, on the other hand there aren't any 3perf movements available.

Try the ARRI website (www.arri.com). In their download section you should be able to find a manual for the 435.

To go back to the original question, while I haven't yet been on a shoot where the Dop got fired, I have several friends who went through that situation on a film called 'Octane'. From what I gathered after the first week they were so behind schedule that the insurance comapny demanded that either the director or the Dop got replaced. Of course they sacrificed the Dop, along with his gaffer, operator and focus-puller. For anyone who has seen the film, it is all night exteriors on a motorway and was shot during the middle of the summer. The shooting days were so short that the schedule was impossible to make. On top of that it wasn't even the original Dop who slowed them down but somebody else (guess who...). So after the weekend the new Dop came in with his crew and his lighting brief was pretty much the following: Be fast!

Haven't you seen any pictures yet? The way the mag curls around your shoulder, absolutely lovely...

'Scuse me? Film projection is much better at handling colors than digital projection. Not to even mention contrast, resolution and shadow detail. If you serioulsy think that dvd gives you a better picture than theatrical projection then you must have been to some truly abysimal theatres that are the exception, not the norm.

Yes you are. :D

Yes, but with a film camera, if you want to get rid of the cables (for steadicam shots for instance), you can.

Most Dops that I work with seem to accept a second camera as a necessary evil, something that one ressorts to in order to save time and make the schedule. I have also encountered Directors who are completely uncapable of dealing with 2 cameras simultaneously. Sometimes you end up doing an unneccessary big amount of cut-aways instead of an alternative angle of an actor who is giving a big performance. From what I hear Michael Mann shoots with multiple cameras as often as possible. The scene in 'Heat' between Al Pacino and Robert de Niro was covered with 4 cameras (2 on each actor). same for 'The Insider'. But it suits his style of filming, which is more raw and also slightly chaotic. On the other hand you can bet that Jean-Pierre Jeunet is the opposite: once he has set up one of his wide-angle close-ups he couldn't get in a second camera even if he wanted to. And if you ask the soundguys for their opinion, the best way to use 2 cameras is to shoot not 2 sizes in the same direction, but 2 shots in opposite directions

I'm not that familiar with Tony's work, the only film of his that I remember watching is 'Aimee & Jaguar'. Tony's very nice to work for, he never loses his temper no matter how much stress there is on the set. While most Dops nowadays use 500T a lot (or even exclusively, like Eduardo Serra and Benoit Delhomme), Tony hardly uses it at all. We had some day interios that he shot on 64D (with an ND6 at times) and we also did some night scenes with 250T. Most of the these scenes were shot around T2.8, on Zeiss Ultra Primes. The short Optimo zoom only got used very rarely. He used hard light a lot for seperation, the film demanded a more stylized, hip look.

If it is your first camera, then yes. Because the camera is compatible with existing magazines (435, Arri3) and accessories, rental companies are at an advantage. Most will still buy the sexy 235 200ft mag though.

Pushing means you overdevelop the film, which increases contrast and makes the colors warmer. Pulling means underdeveloping the film, which reduces contrast and makes the colors shift colder.

Probably 5218. Some of 'Cold Mountain' looked incredibly grainy, especially for a S35 DI. There was one shot in particular that looked like Super8! I have no idea why he got an Oscar nomination for that film.

That was the nicest shoot I've been on so far. Great director who created a really good atmosphere on set. Very friendly actors that were fun to hang out with. Eduardo is wonderful, he is not only very good, but he is also very calm and prepared. He always knows what he's going to do which makes everyone's job easier. Watching him light the recreations of Vermeer paintings was amazing. He had a painting as reference and molded every light and every shadow just like on the real painting.