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Brett Allbritton

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Everything posted by Brett Allbritton

  1. Brett Allbritton
    I went through a little bit of a Tarantino fanboy phase in college, but fortunately it waned. As such, I wasn't tremendously excited to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but it has become my new all-time favorite Tarantino film. Perhaps it helps that I had just been in Hollywood a week or two before seeing it (we even saw them setting up for the film's premiere), so it was partly just fun seeing all the places I had been to during my trip. Beyond that though, I found it absolutely captivating. I get why people would think it's boring; I even found myself thinking to myself "I should be bored right now...but somehow I'm totally engaged." I was just so in love with the vibe. The acting, production design, and cinematography stuck with me for days after seeing it. I think the best description of the movie compared it to the Hitchcock "bomb under the table" idea. We all know this is leading up to the Manson murders, so Tarantino could have the characters do seemingly unrelated or unimportant things (Sharon Tate seeing her own movie, for instance) and have the audience thinking to themselves "Is this really going to happen? Is it really going where I think it is?" The whole movie is a "bomb under the table." I also appreciate that this movie feels so mature compared to some of his other movies, and which is another reason it has become my new favorite (interesting considering my previous favorite was Kill Bill...) Frankly, my least favorite part was the ending, which I imagine most people will be drawn to since it's the most "Tarantino."
  2. Brett Allbritton
    I haven't invested in any cine lenses yet, just a handful of still lenses here and there. Generally, I've been looking for camera packages that come with a good zoom lens. I figure that will be sufficient for most of my personal projects.
  3. Brett Allbritton
    Thanks for the input, guys. That footage is lovely, Will! The more I've thought about it since posting this, the more I'm set on investing in a sound-sync regular 16 camera in the near future. The 4:3 aspect ratio really wasn't a problem for me in the first place anyway, and as you guys said, it can be cropped if needed. I tested this recently after I had some 200T and 250D developed (shot with my Krasnogorsk), and I think it looked pretty great when cropped to 1.85:1. I doubt anybody would notice the difference, and I can certainly imagine that if I had shot with some really nice prime lenses, then people especially wouldn't notice. I guess this raises the inevitable question then; what are your recommendations? Having just read Jon Fauer's Arriflex 16SR Book, I'm leaning towards an SR 1 or 2 at the moment, but I do find Aatons to be quite lovely, and Eclairs seem to be very affordable. My big concern is their longevity, though; considering these cameras are already old, I'd like to ensure that I get the most use I can from whichever I end up deciding on. Any guidance is highly appreciated!
  4. Brett Allbritton
    Point taken. I was actually thinking about this after I posted and regretted using the word "obsolete;" it's much stronger than what I meant. I was really just anticipating responses from the point of view that film is outdated and we should all move on. As for 4:3, I happen to really like it and appreciate when modern films use it. Too many young filmmakers seem to think that in order to look "filmic" you need to put Cinemascope letterbox bars on everything, so it's refreshing when I see aspect ratio being recognized as a creative tool. It's strange to say but I find myself occasionally having to remind people that some of the best movies of all time are in Academy Ratio. I'm also quite curious, why do you say that it's the most dynamic aspect ratio? This is another reason why I find myself considering a Regular 16 camera; 4:3 is just not a deal-breaker for me. I might add that my K-3 is regular 16 and I'm quite content with that. I've seen so many people insist on converting their K-3, but to me, considering the benefit versus the effort, that just feels like trying to make the camera into something it's not.
  5. Brett Allbritton
    I work in TV, so when it comes to 16mm I'm just an enthusiast, and all of my 16mm footage so far has been on my Krasnogorsk-3, which has served me well. Having said that, I would like to eventually shoot some more ambitious projects on film (requiring sound, longer takes, etc), but unfortunately the closest place I could rent a film camera from is about five hours away. Because of this, I occasionally find myself browsing eBay for cameras, and often Regular 16 cameras such as Arri SRs, Aatons, or CP-16s are available. I can't help but wonder how worthwhile buying a Regular 16 camera is though; Super 16 seems to be preferable in every way. I guess Regular 16 is good if you want a 4:3 aspect ratio, but it seems like most people would prefer to shoot Super 16 and crop the sides instead. Likewise, if you wanted a wider aspect ratio, you could crop the top and bottom of your Regular 16 image, but Super 16 would require less cropping and give you a bigger image area. It's also worth noting that many Regular 16 cameras can be converted to Super 16, but for the cost it seems like you might as well have just bought a Super 16 camera in the first place. As I said, I'm not a professional when it comes to film, so I'm not sure if I will ever be able to justify purchasing my own professional-level 16mm camera. However, the (generally) lower cost of Regular 16 cameras does make it a little tempting sometimes. What do you guys think, are Regular 16 cameras worth investing in? Note: Yes, I recognize that both Regular 16 and Super 16 would widely be considered "obsolete" these days, so strictly speaking they probably aren't worth "investing" in. I just mean this in the context of those who enjoy shooting celluloid.
  6. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everyone, I'm looking for old, expired 400' rolls of 16mm that I can use to practice loading. I'm planning to start shooting 16mm more seriously and don't want to have to worry about potentially wasting brand new film while I familiarize myself with the process. Thanks!
  7. Brett Allbritton
    To bolster David's point, alongside their political bias they also tend to publish factually inaccurate material: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/daily-mail/ Other than that though, I'm going to stay of out of this as I lack the knowledge, experience, and especially eloquence to speak any further.
  8. Brett Allbritton
    So a solution came to mind, but I really don't know if it would work in practice. The idea is to have rods come from my 15mm LWS baseplate, attach them to the LWS part at the top of a Studio to LWS Adaptor, then run some short rods out from the bottom Studio part and attach the matte box to those. Basically, the adaptor and matte box would hang from the LWS rods coming from my baseplate. My intuition tells me that professionals will find this needlessly complicated, but I figured it was at least worth consideration. My other concern is whether that would put some unnecessary strain on the system. Like I said, I'm not sure if this would work in practice.
  9. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everybody, I'm trying to find a matte box to use for an upcoming project (whenever that might be considering this pandemic), and in the process I was offered an old Super16 camera matte box for 15mm Studio rods at a good price. I've seen brackets available that allow you to use a 15mm LWS matte box on 19mm and 15mm Studio rods, but I'm curious if there are any options to use a 15mm Studio matte box with 15mm LWS rods. I imagine this is possible even with the offset, but I wouldn't know. Should I pass?
  10. Brett Allbritton
  11. Brett Allbritton
    Thanks, Dom! I figured I was probably being overprotective, but you never know.
  12. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everyone, I'm currently taking part in a 100 ft of film project and have an issue. I'm very close to the end of my roll and have to get a few pick up shots tomorrow. The problem is my Krasnogorsk is still somewhat wound up and if I allow it to wind down it will use up the last of my film. Will it damage the spring to leave it wound for 24 hours? The manual says to not store it unless it's completely wound down, but is this just for long term storage? Has anyone left their Krasnogorsk wound up for this long without issue before? I'm worried I have to choose between finishing the challenge or breaking my camera.
  13. Brett Allbritton
    Thanks, guys. With that in mind I'll likely overexpose a bit to be safe. I don't think anything is scratched or fogged, the camera and lens seem to be in really great condition. It's one of the later models (it actually says "Krasnogorsk-3" instead of using the Russian alphabet interestingly enough) and I even sent it to Bernie O'Doherty at Super 16 Inc shortly after getting it to remove the loop formers and check everything out for me. Granted, I am somewhat guessing that it's losing a full stop, I didn't use a grey card for this test because I was really looking at sharpness. Perhaps I should redo it with a grey card. My big fear is that maybe my light meter is wrong, but it seemed to work fine when I used it with another camera and lens.
  14. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everyone, I'm getting ready for a film challenge where our entire short will be made on a single 100 ft reel of Kodak 7219 and shot on a Krasnogorsk-3. In preparation for the shoot I decided to do a lens test with the stock Meteor 5-1 lens on my original Blackmagic Pocket Camera. Surprisingly though, my footage all seemed to be about a stop under exposed. I know that the aperture of a lens doesn't always let in as much light as it should and that T-stops are supposed to correct for this, right? So is this the case here? Have those of you that use the Krasnogorsk-3 encountered this problem? Does this mean that when shooting I should meter for 250 instead 500 to get proper exposure? Any thoughts?
  15. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everybody, I'm in the process of putting together a shoulder rig and thought it might be interesting to hear different tips and perspectives on building and using a shoulder mount. I'm curious about things like shoulder mounts where the camera sits in front of the face versus on the shoulder, rosette handles, balancing, shooting techniques, and anything else you think might be helpful or perhaps not so obvious to those of us with less experience. Thanks!
  16. Brett Allbritton
    Thanks, Phil! It was a pretty tricky space. This was actually made for a single-take film contest. I guess our approach probably was a bit odd. I think most people tried to do much more impressive long takes whereas we just shot an argument, but after the director had the idea for this she was really attached to making it happen. To be honest, there were times I was a bit frustrated and kind of wished we did it more conventionally, but I guess it served as an interesting experiment and the actors seemed to be really into it.
  17. Brett Allbritton
    Hey guys, It has been almost a year, but finally my director made the short film I was referring to in this thread public on Vimeo. I thought I might post it here so you can see how it came out, I'd love to hear any feedback you might have. Thanks again for your help!
  18. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everybody, I'm considering investing in a 12mm cine lens for my BMPCC and while browsing I've come across the Kowa Prominar Micro Four Thirds lenses. They don't have geared focus rings, but do feature both F-stops and T-stops interestingly enough. Does anybody have experience with these lenses? All the footage and photos I've seen from them are quite lovely, but would they really be worth the extra money I might spend on them versus, say, a Rokinon or SLR Magic cine lens?
  19. Brett Allbritton
    Hey, is this still available?
  20. Brett Allbritton
    Hey, thanks, Bruce. I wasn't didn't know that Resolve isn't .icc profile aware, which muddies things a bit. I do have access to an i1 Display Pro at work that I might be able to calibrate my home monitor with while working on this project, but unfortunately, in this case, I am on a PC. I'll definitely take a look at DisplayCal. The editor hasn't finished working on the film yet, so maybe I have a little bit of time to study beforehand.
  21. Brett Allbritton
    Thanks, Frank. The Resolve Certification materials are especially interesting, I'm definitely going to look into that! I'll tell her I can do it then. I figured that would be the case, but having never owned a 4K monitor and not being a pro level colorist I wasn't sure if there was something I might be unaware of. So out of curiosity then, what benefits does a 4K monitor offer specifically in terms of color grading?
  22. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everyone, This might be a question that exposes my ignorance, but recently I was asked if I could grade a 30 minute documentary for someone. I happen to do a lot of color correction for my job as well as just for fun when I want to mess around in Resolve, so I was confident that I could do what the director was asking for (she said she wants it to look true to life, so mostly just primary corrections it sounds like). Then she told me that the footage was V-Log 4K shot on the Panasonic EVA1 and asked if I have a 4K monitor, which I don't. What I do have is an IPS 1920x1200 monitor, specifically a ProArt ASUS PA248Q, and a ColorMunki. I have graded C100, FS5ii, GH4, and even downscaled RED footage on this monitor with good results, but because she specifically asked if my monitor is 4K, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe my monitor wouldn't be accurate enough for her project. As far as I know, the only problems I would have are judging sharpness and noise, but as far as color goes it should be fairly accurate regardless of my monitor's resolution as long as I calibrate properly, right? Or is there something I'm missing here? I'd love to help with her project, but I also don't want to waste her time. What do you guys think?
  23. Brett Allbritton
    Hey everyone. I just bought a used original BMPCC, but need to acquire cards for it. Apparently, SanDisk has updated their Extreme Pro Cards and the new version isn't compatible with the camera, so I'm scrambling trying to find the old version. Even internet sellers who have it listed as the old version turn out to be selling the new ones. If anyone is willing to part with a 64GB or 128GB card that they've successfully used with the BMPCC or has the product prefix SDSDXP, please let me know.
  24. Brett Allbritton
    I agree about the flat look, I was having a hard time getting more contrast with the china balls. Tonight I'm going to try putting some black paper on the side of the china ball I'm using for fill and get it off the wall a bit. Bruce, what kind of LED lights do you suggest? I might be able to borrow some battery powered video lights from a friend that I can gel.
  25. Brett Allbritton
    Hey, thanks for the responses, guys. We ended up going with Chinese lanterns after some experimentation, the director even liked the idea of using one as a practical. Unfortunately the space is so limited I can't follow the actors with one. As for the wall color, the walls are fortunately already a warm tone. Now that I've had a chance to do some tests and get back to this post, I thought I would share the stills I took and get your thoughts (you'll notice the C-stand, just disregard that, I wasn't sure quite where I wanted the China ball it was holding to be yet. Also disregard the mess on the bed...) I'm a bit ambivalent, I kept having a battle with myself of whether to add fill or take it away. In particular I worry that in the shots where she is standing by the bed and sitting down (IMG_3222 and 3225) might be a bit too flat or dark. One thing we agreed on was to put up a few more decorations on the wall so that it doesn't look as boring. One thing I know I'll try is putting some black wrap on the lanterns like Giacomo suggested in order to minimize some of the spill, and I also want to treat the practicals with either ND or Streaks n Tips on the bulbs to take down the blown out look a bit. Does anyone have any critiques or advice for what I have so far? http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/brettz92/slideshow/Flags%20Test%20Stills Password: 123abc
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