Guy Meachin

Thanks All

Does anyone know of any good DVCam/MiniDV Clam shells suitable for playback? Preferably the cheapest!

Hi Does anyone know of any good links to sites that explian the different types of digital video formats i.e. MiniDV, Dv Cam, Beta etc and then any info on HD. I'm interested to know the main differences between them like compression etc. Why you'd use one over the other, things like that! Any links or info would be great! Guy

Daniel, are you really a DP at 16? That's quite impressive!

As far as 28 Days later is concerned I think it's important to mention the Mini35, and the lenses used! Does the dawn of the XL2 mean more features will be shot on this format? Why won't the Americans give in to PAL? It is far superior and NTSC is one of the main reasons most American TV looks so awful! Maybe all the eqipment an tv's would have to be replaced - not likely!

Cheers! Downloaded the brochure, v helpful!

I tried to send an Excel attachment I made earlier on and hotmail kept finding a virus on it! I assumed it could mean I have some sort of virus! Please excuse my ignorance on this matter! I know very little! :D

I've recently been doing some editing on my G5 and the system performance is quite poor! I suspect I may have a virus. What virus scanning software can be used for the G5? Aparently Norton is not compatible with G5's. Any ideas? Sorry this is isn't relevant to cinematography but the apple forums aren't great!

Why don't Canon give a B/W or a mono-chrome option in the viewfinder? I realise it wouldn't be as good quality as the proper B/W viewfinder you can buy seperately but it would be great to be able to see the image in B/W for contrast etc! Also - what Matte box is usually fitted to the XL2? Any good links? Cheers!

Thanks all! What's the cheapest VTR on the market for this kind of work. Preferably a DV/Cam.

This may sound like a stupid question but say I shoot something on an XL2 for example, then use a camera of much less quality for capturing (to save my heads on the XL2) would the overall quality of the picture decrease due to the lesser quality camera when capturing? Hope that makes sense? :blink:

Wow - you found a copy of the Conformist on DVD!!!!! Has it just been released? Where did you find it? Gold dust!

Pressumably the 14 x also works ok! What are the main differences between the 14 x and the 16 x? Guy

Hi Is it possible to buy the XL2 body only in the U.K? Would the standard XL lens from the XL1s fit onto the XL2? Guy

Unfortunately I don't have access to a TBC, though this is probably my only option by the sounds of things!

I'm currently transferring some VHS tapes - given to me by a client - to MiniDV. On one of the tapes the picture rolls vertically and no matter how much I try adjusting the tracking the picture still rolls. Any suggestions on how to solve this problem would be very much appreciated? Guy

With the Anamorphic (or is it the wide-angle) setting on the XL1s, I believe some of the chip is cut off and not used making the final image quality not as good since it isn't a proper setting! Does any of that make sense? Is this the same with the XL2? On a shoot yesterday and my XL1s blew over in strong winds, and just to make matters worse into a large puddle! The eye piece is battered and the tripod mount on the bottom sheared off! Ooooops! So I'm hoping my insurance company won't know the difference between the XL1s and the XL2 - though I suspect they might notice the £1000 difference!

Coppola's, The Conversation also has some great long lens shots.

I was looking at the Cinematography Course at the NFTS, what would I have to do in order to stand a good chance of getting a place, or scolarship? I can't really see a way of breaking into film other than doing this course. I've had a fair amount of experience on paid short films and I make my own stuff regularly. I've never worked with film before other than super - 8 and there's little chance of me learning it elsewhere, any advice would be much appreciated! Guy

Watch this, it should clear up any doubts you may have about which side of the fence you want to be on! Check those shorts! http://www.uriah.com/apple-qt/1984.html

> Phil, I can't believe with your technical knowledge that kind of blows me away > sometimes, that you can't get enough good work! Thanks, but my technical knowledge is nothing more than you can find out in half an hour on the web. Phil, I'd say there's one thing looking it up on the internet and another understanding it, and quickly! You must be looking in the wrong places - though I'm sure you've tried everywhere! I realise why you're so bitter about this industry! Getting back to the origonal point, I think young people by the sounds of it are heading into a poor industry that they stand little chance of breaking in2 - especially in the U.K. but personally there's nothing I'd rather comit my life to trying to achieve (apart from a pilot or a rally driver)! either of those look likely - though I'm sure some of you will tell me I've got a better chance doing that. But if I didn't dedicate my years to trying and went off to become something totally boring I'd regret it for the rest of my life! Where there's a will there's a way n all that. Like for instance I was setting up some lights today in a studio and basically took charge and told everyone not to touch 'my lights' and I thought this is such a cool job, I wanna do this for a living. Am I wierd? Maybe after many years of frustration my attitudes will change! Still I'm prepared to die trying!!

Yeh, kind of wanted it to be dark overall but maybe some are too dark. Thanks 4 watching it!

Why aren't there more women on cinematography.com? I've heard that in L.A. there's great opertunities in the film industry - not sure if this includes cinematography though - is there any truth in this? Would it be worth my while uprooting and moving to the U.S., how could I get a work permit for long enough to find out? Clearly there is little work in the U.K...Phil, I can't believe with your technical knowledge that kind of blows me away sometimes, that you can't get enough good work! Guy

Thanks for pointing out the dead link by the way!

Yeh I had this problem too, if you have quicktime go into Quicktime preferences and click Transport setup, click - Use this protocol and port ID, set Transport Protocol to HTTP and click other Port ID and type in 554. Don't be put off by this, it only takes a sec and it's really easy, any probs let me know! Cheers Guy