ben jones

Hi all. Im going to be shooting a short in May whereby two men float down a river in a boat. Its a night time scene and the background (including the boat) will be computer generated (gulp!). Now I wont pretend that I have a wealth of experience with green/blue screen practice, but I have been reading the past discussions on similar matters but am still a little uncertain in my approach. first of all, im shooting on a DVX100 in 24P mode. The scene it self will be lit by 'moonlight' with maybe a lantern as an additional practical source. The faces of the charactors (esspecially the one paddling) can naturally fall into the shadows. My questions are as follows - is it ok to light the charactors as close to the final desired look as possible (slightly underlit I guess) and still shoot it against a green screen that may be a few stops brighter than the key (moonlight). or should I expose the charactors a little brighter than intended for keying purposes? or should I light the charactors as intended and expose the screen slightly under the key (moon) Any suggestions would be much appreciated. as I mentioned before, I have looked through the older posts, but need a little more guidence. I appologise if im making anyone cover old ground! regards, Ben.

I just finished a 1 minute film where the whole room was lit by candle light (two fat ones and a couple of tea light) and a 25 watt yellow bulb in the ceiling (from homebase). we were using an XL1 - actually really pleased with the results. On the flame close ups, I decided to stop down a little to retain some information. It was great fun!

Hi michael. Yeh ive done tests in camera, but as yet I haven't been able to play around in post. I guess like most things its a case of trial and error. I have an interesting army of small practicals that should bring the candle light to other areas of the room including an ostrich egg with small stars drilled all over. there has been no budget for any professional lamps so it should be a healthy challenge. In fact I cant wait! thanks for the posts everyone. regards, Ben.

Thanks Jay. I will just have to persuade my director that using additional light is neccessary. As I said, the character is moving around the whole space and to tell this story, we will need to see what is actually going on. Ben.

Hi guys thanks for the replies. my aim is to obtain the least amout of gain. Im shooting a short this weekend, and the director wants to use only candle light in one area of the room (this is to be the only source within the room) The charactor will be moving all around the room, so im not entirely sure if 5 normal 6 inch candles will be sufficient. I just want to be prepared for certain comments like "why cant I see anything" etc. I'll be using an XL1 for the shoot, but ive been doing tests with an XM2 and monitoring the image using a standard television. It is suprising to see how much more information is presented on the t.v compared with the on board TFT. I shot with 0db gain, wide open (f1.6 at the lenses widest) and 1/50th shutter. the results were ok near the candles - up to about 3 feet away) then things start to look grim. some advise would be most appreciated! regards, Benjamin.

hey all, just a quick thought - which method produces more video noise. 1 - using the gain on camera 2 - pushing the image to the equivilant gain value in post using a program such as FCP. Can anyone recomend which of the more accesable programs are better at dealing with this? thanks Benjamin.

thanks for the advise Hal. Ill look into it - hopefully in time for a short im photographing in may! in the mean time, a t.v I shall use! regards, benjamin.

Im not sure that you can calibrate the monitor to any degree on the XM2. I'll drag myself through the menus. Thanks for the advice, regards, Benjamin

Hey all. Im shooting an extreemly short film this weekend which involves candle light and maybe some practical flouros. I am using a canon XM2 wide open at 1/50 with 0db gain. Its extremely difficult to see anything both through the colour viewfinder anf the flip out TFT when conducting tests using similar lighting conditions, however I found that using a standard cheap tube television provided a truer image. Infact I was quite suprised to see how much detail the onboard monitors seem to ignore! Is this my best option? (the production has no budget) If I do use this monitoring method, then should there be any setup considerations? I had the brighness and contrast set at 0 or 50% if anyone is interested. thankyee Ben.

thanks chris - that makes sense. I guess its not always the case, but I shall make it another point of consideration in the future! ben

. Hi everyone! I was reading a production account of Akeelah and the Bee by david mullen, and he mentions the idea of keeping a black reference within the frame. I would like to know more about this if possible. Is it a general rule, or just for certain situations? :ph34r: thanks, Ben (surrey institute)

did you ever concider the surrey institute of art and design? Its a small (but highly regarded) art college in the middle of the countryside. It offers a fantastic and well supported cinematography speciallism with 35mm masterclasses with the likes of billy williams and jack cardiff. Although I myself would have like to go to the NFTS at some stage for the cinematography MA, we beat them many times in competitions and festivals. most people there are hard working, and the place and situation has a good effect on people - If I learned anything, it was to be resourceful and to look to your your imediate environment for sollutions! I had the best years of my life so far there (and the all night forest raves are something else!)

Hey every one. I graduated from the surry institute of art and design in the south of england in the summer. I speciallised in cinematography there. The are only around 4 film schools in england that allow us to learn 16/35mm practice and thats why I chose to go to surrey. It's a tiny art college really in the middle of the countryside, and I think thats why the people who go there push themselves so hard and gain success. Its all about being resourceful and making the best of things. Infact, we beat the national film and television school (the best in the country) many times in festivals, and I think this is down to creativity rather than big budgets. Where you go makes little difference If you dont take anything too it. Be bold!

Hello every one. I havn't been on the forums for a while as I have only just come off a 5 month job as a camera trainee. It was my first job since graduating from the surrey institute (where I studied cinematography). I had a great time, but found the whole thing exhausting - I guess this is normal when your tring to start out! Anyway, Im going to be dp'ing a short film in march (probably on mini dv - either a dvx100 or xl2 with pl mount and primes) which involves two men in a boat (one being death) heading towards a tunnel at night. I havnt discussed the exact lighting requirements with the director as yet, but I do know that he wants to shoot the whole thing using green screen. I have spent all day reading all the related posts on the forums, and I must say that I have learnt so much from you all! this really is a fantastic place. What does concern me though is working knowing that the commpositer is very inexperienced with this being an almost no budget production. keeping the camera locked off when shooting, I guess, would make things alot easier for the digital artists and compossiters as they dont have to work so hard with creating background movement to match that of the cameras. However, if the story so requires a fluid style of camera, then how do I make that compromise? Is there anyway of making the compositers job easier if I am required to use movement? I know im pretty inexperienced my self, but I do understand the importance of communication between all areas of a production. Ive noticed people mentioning shooting empty "plates" for the compositers etc. Im afraid I dont understand this, so some explanation would be wonderfull. Aso, there is the possibility of shooting on HDV. does anyone know how easy it is working with HDV from a compositers possition? I read that people experience problems because its mpeg2. is this true?

This might sound stupid, but how about trying to create the effect of glowworms in a glass jar? Ive only seen it in cartoons and dont know how much light is ommited from such creatures in reality. I own a beach hut myself (in england) but when I sleep in it, im never thrown into the dark due to neibouring security lights from other 'more secure' beach huts and shops. maybe you could create the effect of a lighthouse nearby (although im sure that in reality, light from lighthouses are designed not to interfere with anything on land). this probably isnt very helpfull, just trying to think creatively! I know, how about Kryptonite! (now im being daft) best of luck mate!

Hello every one. I havn't been on the forums for a while as I have only just come off a 5 month job as a camera trainee. It was my first job since graduating from the surrey institute (where I studied cinematography). I had a great time, but found the whole thing exhausting - I guess this is normal when your tring to start out! Anyway, Im going to be dp'ing a short film in march (probably on mini dv - either a dvx100 or xl2 with pl mount and primes) which involves two men in a boat (one being death) heading towards a tunnel at night. I havnt discussed the exact lighting requirements with the director as yet, but I do know that he wants to shoot the whole thing using green screen. I have spent all day reading all the related posts on the forums, and I must say that I have learnt so much from you all! this really is a fantastic place. What does concern me though is working knowing that the commpositer is very inexperienced with this being an almost no budget production. keeping the camera locked off when shooting, I guess, would make things alot easier for the digital artists and compossiters as they dont have to work so hard with creating background movement to match that of the cameras. However, if the story so requires a fluid style of camera, then how do I make that compromise? Is there anyway of making the compositers job easier if I am required to use movement? I know im pretty inexperienced my self, but I do understand the importance of communication between all areas of a production. Ive noticed people mentioning shooting empty "plates" for the compositers etc. Im afraid I dont understand this, so some explanation would be wonderfull. Aso, there is the possibility of shooting on HDV. does anyone know how easy it is working with HDV from a compositers possition? I read that people experience problems because its mpeg2. is this true? ;) Thankyou all for your time in reading this, Ben Jones (winchester - UK)

Hi everyone! Im about to shoot my grad film in two weeks. It is set in an office, and I wish to utilise the existing office lighting which means possibly using the over head florecents. I have done tests, but could only afford to do use the stills cassettes that Kodak offer (which you load into an SLR camera). I was wondering if there was a danger with the floros flickering on screen. If so, is there any way to determine this without shooting some test footage - eg, indications on the bulb itself etc? I am shooting on an sr2 using 7229 Thanks, Ben Jones - surrey institute (U.K)

Hi! I know that it was used on lost in Translation. I am using the film as a visual reference for my graduation film which im shooting in two weeks (7229). Ive only recently started learning about the stock, and have watched the kodak test dvd where they put it through its paces - its really amazing stuff! regards, Ben Jones (England)

Hi Craig. Thanks for your advice on the computer monitor problem! If our producer pulls his socks up, I think I may be able to get a fleet of TFT monitors which seems like the best solution. I am not entirely sure if an Arri SR2 has a phase button. I have only used an older sr before, and an AATON XTR production camera. Regards, Ben (not as worried as before) Jones

Hi every one. Im a student cinematographer about to embark on my graduation film. We are shooting in an office with a mixture of CRT and TFT monitors. Im shooting super 16mm (7229) and the camera is an sr2. Will I end up with lines on the screens due to frequency differences? If so, How can I over come this as cheaply as possible? Also, I want to shoot using as much available light as possible (tight budget!) so im going to incorporate a lot of practicals. I also wish to utilise the existing office floros. I have done tests using the stills cassettes that Kodak offer, but the labs managed to missplace them. Im shooting in a week and am slightly worried about what colour they will read. Can anyone suggest a suitable method of correcting conventional floros and if not, how easy is it to correct in post? Cheers, Ben (Surrey institute of art and design - England)