William Mckay

Everyone, I searched the forums and didn't find an exact answer. Apologies if I missed it. I have to film lots of car scenes to do on film. Mixing 16 and 35mm. There are three scenarios we are trying to prepare for: Exterior wide establishing shots of the car on a highway being filmed from a paralleled 2nd car. Interior dialogue done with process trailer POV of the characters out the window at passing terrain In regards to shutter speed and vehicle speed, what do I need to do be aware of for each of the three setups? We have two cameras, one is 180 fixed and the other is variable. I've reduced vehicle speed for interiors too much in the past, and it looked horrendous. many thanks WJM

Hello, Given that many of you have been in the business awhile - I thought I'd try here. I was hoping someone here might have either some experience to share or could recommend a firm or two. I just started an LLC expressly for a feature film. Liability insurance and proper payroll witholding were unavoidable. How does the IRS handle a film as a speculative business? In other words, the film, or product of the LLC, may or may not get sold. Are the pile of expenses a valid write off even though we have zero income for the year and then fold the LLC? Most of the feature films I've researched have production companies that are dissolved after a film is completed. So that seems standard fare. But what if it has no distributor? Can it be sold as a single piece of property in it's entirety to another party even if the LLC is log gone? Another LLC? Lots of questions.. can anyone recommend an experienced film attorney you've used, or an accountant to help me navigate through this stuff? Most of the folks in my neck of the woods advertise some mileage in film production, but they haven't a clue so far. Equipment Emporium has been helpful with the insurance questions so far, they seem to be reliable. Suggestions? Thanks everyone so much

Hello all, Still on a quest. Anyone know what companies are doing the compression, authoring, and bluray QC for major films? I have a 35/16mm film project that needs to eventually become a commercial bluray, and trying to create consistent bluray imagery has just become a nightmare. Months of coasters lying around with tedious notes attached to them. I'd just rather pay someone to do it. Most of the big distributors (Lionsgate, Miramax, Sony) and production company names on the bluray boxes have gotten me nowhere. The secretaries have no idea where to route the call. ModernVideoFilm in California is one name that keeps popping up, and I've talked with them. Deluxe in NY isn't sure what they offer. Really frustrated and was hoping someone here would know a name or contact of a person/company who has done these final steps with a Super 16mm film. Thanks

Hello everyone, I am finally getting great sharp footage back from my camera, lenses and 2k scans (dpx). Thanks to all the help here. : ) The ultimate goal is to get a feature to bluray, but the last several months in the straight-to-bluray testing has been an odyssey. Tweaking and massaging the final grade, sharpening, coloring, de-graining, denoise, adding or subtracting, contrast. In short - I'm exhausted and have an enormous pile of coasters. And enormous respect compression artists. On a few tv's and players I've tried, the image looks great, as it should. On most others, the discs are horrid with electronic noise and artifacts. Could it be that 16mm grain is really a dicey nightmare to deal with? I'm ready to call and get quotes from Deluxe and others, or pay someone to help. Anyone have suggestions/similar experiences? Thanks in advance for your time

Adrian thanks so much for the input. I'm going to try out several lenses on a projector and compare them. Haven't overexposed routinely but will do 2/3 to a full stop from now on. I've found the lenses start to really perform at 5.6 as well. And yes, it becomes very apparent in post how much tweaking/untweaking needs to be done with a digital image. Noise reduction seems to work up to a point. Hoping the FFD is slightly off from the Arri making a cross-country Fedex trip. Is this possible?

Hello, I have a few questions after months of testing in prep for a feature. I have an Arri SR3, a few Zeiss superspeeds, and an illumina lens in PL. I've had the camera overhauled and the lenses worked over by Ablecine. Have done many tests with fresh Kodak 200T, test shots w/ controlled lighting, etc. Have tried several 2k transfers at various facilities but convinced the Scanity has produced the best results for us so far. 2k timeline in Premiere/AE to bluray. However, still really disappointed in the footage even after extensive colouring and even some sharpening. None of the footage is coming close to the sharpness I'm seeing in Super-16 originated shows. The Walking Dead, for example. I know that they use an Arri 416 with a Canon 10.6-180 zoom as the workhorse. Moonrise kingdom used Superspeeds, and was still much sharper than what we're working with. I'm closer to super-8 with sheets of grain compared to these incredible films. Would the much newer Arri 416 produce a sharper image than an older SR3 IF the SR3 is adjusted properly? Could a late model Canon zoom be that much sharper than MKIII superspeeds or Illuminas in top condition? Are the scanner settings monitored more precisely for bigger ($) clients? Any help or suggestions would be really helpful. Thanks so much

Please - Can anyone answer this? A professional DP or someone with a production that got multiple cans of film from Kodak by Air? Recently? I'd like to know as well. C'mon guys.

I'm planning on making a film and need to buy a fair amount of 16mm fresh stock. And I'm sure the answer is yes - but just looking for a reassurance. Is it safe to have fresh stock shipped across country from Kodak (in this case NY city ) via Fedex or UPS Ground without the film suffering from the x-raying or scanning? Kodak recommended ground by either, and that they would label it "do not x-ray". But I wanted to check with you DP's that actually have ordered film and had it developed recently. I was just wondering if it's worth the effort to drive up to Kodak NY. I don't mind doing that if it gaurantees a pristine unexposed negative. Anybody have any experiences? No problems? Is this okay? Thanks everyone

Hello, Looking for a sound barney for my SR3. But preferrably one with some weight to it of some sort, lead or otherwise. Anybody still have one they could part with? Thank$

I should have mentioned in my original post. We do have the choice between a zoom and Zeiss mk3 primes, but probably not both. We wanted the speed of a zoom. However.. Our focus puller is experienced but not a veteran. Would we be safer with primes and to stay away from zooms due to the fewer marks? Or they similar in terms of marks/rotation? Stuck in the south with no place to view/test these lenses. : ) Thanks so much for the guidance.

Dom / anyone, Does the 7-63 require support? I see it is a little bulkier than the 8-64, which I gather seems to be okay for many without a support.

Hello all, I've read as much as I can about super 16 zooms here and elsewhere for a few months. Prior to a purchase, I wonder if any film shooters familiar with the following zooms could chime in about shooting a whole feature on one. I just watched Leaving Las Vegas again, which was apparently the Canon 8-64. It looked fantastic. Walking Dead uses a 10.6-180, also great. That lens is hard to find. I've been looking at the Angenieux 7-81, which seems bulky and requires support. It's 5 lbs versus the Canon 8-64/7-63's, which are 4.5lbs. There's not much out there on the Angie. Does the Angenieux breathe too much too use as a main lens? Is it much sharper than the canons - ie, worth dealing with the extra weight and support? A little scared to brace a lens, or deal with diverting pressure from the PL mount. The Canon 7-63 seems like an improvement over the 8-64. Half of the 8-64's have numbers but don't have witness marks on the barrel, some do. Of the 7-81, 7-63, 8-64 which would you recommend for a feature? Thanks so very much in advance

Hello all, I've seen several posts on creating the illusion of police lights, but not much on how to expose for them.. I have two night shots, one exterior and one interior. For the exterior shot, I will have two real police cars w/ iights flashing in a driveway. The yard and house will have some lighting (Mole nine lights, not sure). How do I meter and expose for all of this? The interior will also be lit sparsely, a faux moon light through a window sort of thing. The walls will be bouncing the light from the police lights. I have no idea how to prepare for this, it is a rather large night in terms of production. Super 16, primes. 500ASA Vision 3. Thanks so much Bill

Hello, Noob here. I'm still learning thanks to this great forum, but don't have many professional productions locally to learn on first hand - so it's slow going! I seem to learn something every time my film scans come back, but it gets expensive. $ For wide shots with motion using a wide lens - cars, people, or an area of interest is coming into the frame - at what point would one switch to a hyperfocal distance? vs using marks? Is anyone using hyperfocal for making sure wide, deep masters are in focus? What about day exteriors, eg. a car pulling into a parking space in a wide shot? What about on night exteriors, with less light and a wider apertures? The lens marks get so tiny and hard to deal with at a point. Thanks to everyone here in advance Will