Guy Meachin

Ooops, the link to the film is on the Feedback post, a few posts down in First Time Filmakers. Cheers! Guy

I'm trying to write my evaluation and it'd be great to know what people's opinions are of the film I helped to make. Bad comments are as welcome as good one's! If you could look at the film from a visual perspective and let me know I'd be really gratefull. I'd even offer to make tea on a huge million $ Hollywood shoot. :D http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...?showtopic=4580 :unsure:

I think talent is a big factor here, maybe at 22 you need someone to tell you whether you have it or not so you can make that all important decision! Where is that person by the way cuz I'm 22?!

Any other comments would be great!

Yeh I agree totally, it doesn't work, I tried to do my best with the job I was given. I think we all had different ideas and so it ended up being something totally different to what origonally set out to make. What technical info would you like? Shot on XL1s in Southport, Merseyside. Used a polariser for the daytime shots. I edited it in FCP 4 HD. Used the custom gradients also in FCP quite a bit, what do you think, OTT? Also I boosted the constrast and brought the brightness down slightly. I also added a little gaussian blur to take the crispness (is that a word?) of the video out. For most of the shots I boosted the oranges and browns using the 3-way CC, to try to keep a colour consistancy throughout. Guy

Hi, we've just had some of our work put up onto the internet for people to look at, if anyone has the time could they give me some feedback on our film in terms of colour, composition, light etc. Unfortunately the film doesn't add up too a great deal but be patient, some of the shots are held a little too long and some perhaps unessacery. It was meant to be a kind of an experimental short. My job was Camera Op and DP (if I can call myself that). Click on Delph at the top left of the screen to view our film. http://www.media-arts.mmu.ac.uk/filmhome.html Cheers Guy

I was reading AC today and I suddenly thought, how does a certain Cinematographer get chosen for a film and who chooses them? There must be hundreds of brilliant DP's out there.

Does anyone know of anywhere on the internet I can see what a lighting plan/diagram for a shoot looks like? Thanks

In the dramatic scene towards the end where Mike Sullivan (Hanks) massacres John Rooney's (Newman) henchmen - how did they get the colours to look like they do? What sort of filters if any were used? There's like a turquoise look about it. Cheers Guy

The shoots I've been on I've only been asked to shout e.g. "Slate 1, take 1" The scene no. can be found in post using the logs. I think the sound usually listens to the A.D. as to when he needs to roll sound e.g. "going for a take", I could be wrong, prob different for film. Also end boards - prob done differently in different places - place the board, upside down in shot when asked "board in", clap first and then shout slate and scene no. think that's mainly for film though - you might want to ask the camera op./ camera assistant what lens they're on - or alternatively look at the monitor - to see how far you need to place the board for it to be in focus and visible. As in the previous post don't clap the sticks too hard, for the sound mixer (what's the proper term for a sound person?) and also not too hard in front of an actors face should you be in that situation, they get p***ed also! This is based on my experience with video not film, and it certainly aint gospel! Good luck!

At the beginning of the exterior scene as the film climaxes there's a crane shot revealing the whole street. Any ideas what lenses, stocks, filters, apetures etc Conrad used and for what reasons? Thanks Guy

Is it possible to get this effect on video? Mini DV 3CCD.

Road to Perdition- In the dramatic scene towards the end where Mike Sullivan (Hanks) massacres John Rooney's (Newman) henchmen - how did they get the light to look so white? Is it possible to get this with a redhead or blonde on a smaller scale - or would I need a a light with a Halogen bulb? Slightly out of my depth here so take it easy!

You can add these in post but I'm not sure it's as good quality as doin the real thing - you can do them in FCP HD also as custom gradients. As Phil said you can effectively make a flat shot look quite nice. Hence what they do in Top Gear.

I shot a wedding about six months ago with exactly the same intentions as you - to pay off my XL1s. We had 2 XL1's (2 cameras a must really)shooting a freinds wedding, we offered to do it for free so we could produce a sample dvd to send to potential clients. It went well but like the others said - it's hard work and very, very uninspiring!! On the upside - most bridesmaids like a man with a camera! Needless to say the rushes are on my shelf gathering dust waiting to be edited. Who know's if it will ever happen! If you're still interested I'd recommend doing some simple market research before you do anything. Send off from other companies who do the same and watch their sample DVD's. Depending on where you live you'll prob find they're utter garbage! One camera and 3 hours of dull, boring editing. O and let's not forget some shockingly cheesy transitions and typography! If you leave all that out and cut together no more than 30-45 minutes of some good stuff then you'll have found a niche, believe me! You don't even need to contact companies to become part of their team - just find a freind of anyone you know of and ask them if they want a video made. Emotional blackmale comes in handy in this kind of work. Find the bride and ask them, do they want a 'special' video of 'her' day she'll 'remember forever?' And do use those words! 'Daddy?..." You might be suprised to find - despite what Phil says that people are amazed by what you've made. People generally are too obsessed with seeing themselves on the tele to take notice of the quality! Also I'd recommend sitting down with the client and telling them exactly how you do things - why it's better than others and why you make 30 min vids rather than 3 hour ones! Quality not quantity. We were going to use a non-linear narritive (I bet that's never been used in the same sentence as wedding vids before) technique - kind of like a documentary but a more personal one - to break the vid up and make it more interesting. Also break it up with some photographs an what not! Work with the photographer maybe. One more thing, as soon as you've shot it, get it edited - it will plague you unitil you do! To make wedding vids you must be very efficient! Hope that helped some... prob just a load of old rubbish!

What do people do about servicing their cameras -XL1/DVX etc. Where's good to send them for a service (U.K.)? How often should you do it? Any advice?

Can anyone tell me how to use the exposure lock - on the XL1s, what it's for and when it's meant to be used? Thanks Guy

Thanks Tim I'll make sure I do that.

Just cleaned the heads again - fine now!

Hi When I switch a tape to playback mode, the camera doesn't read the tape or even the timecode! Just a blue screen appears! I have cleaned the heads and tried numerous tapes but still the same problem! Any ideas what this might be? Prob have to send it back. Cheers

Yeh 'barrell distortion' is that but I thought 'barrelling' was different, obviously not!

Has anyone seen the Machinist? Any thoughts?

Sorry I heard someone refer to it a s 'barrelling' I expect there's lots of different terms for the same thing around! The strange thing is that with the standard 16 x lens the XL1s comes with you don't get the 'breathing'!

What I meant was that when you pull focus with the 14 x (at least with mine) the lens zooms in/out slightly - presumably because the elements are moving inside! This effectively creates a new shot! Apparently this is a good way to tell a good lens from a poor quality one and you don't find this with film lenses. I've noticed it on the larger canon lenses aswell - such as the lenses used for DigiBeta not sure of the model - Canon J8? Or is that the wide angle - cant remember. Bit of a pain really!

That's why I said it was quite a well respected 'prosumer lens'!