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Daniel Reed

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  1. I took several classes at all of the major institutes of learning in the bay area over a 4 year period. Unfortunately in all classes save one, I found the focus to be painfully dialed into the lowest common denominator. In my experience, I learned more about cinematography in a screenwriting class! (no longer avail by that instructor) Unless you have extremely limited knowledge, akin to waking up and deciding to make movies having never held a camera, I recommend a DIY education approach or going to another city - NYC has some amazing programs! If the desire is to stay in the Bay and pursue film, consider getting inland marine insurance and going to rental houses instead of "film" school. The staff at DTC grip and VideoFax are SOOOO Smart and extremely willing to share knowledge! Get a hold of Larry Walsh for insurance at: Hammond Martin Walsh And Smith Insurance Brokers Inc 3749 Redwood Highway # A San Rafael, CA 94903 - View Map Phone: (415) 472-3151 Web: www.entertainmentinsurance.com Also read these two books, this forum, get a sub to American Cinematography, and go shoot till you figure it out! Lighting for Film and Digital Cinematography 2nd Edition by Dave Viera (Author), Maria Viera (Author) https://www.amazon.c.../dp/0534264980/ Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting Hardcover – November 25, 1997 by Robert McKee https://www.amazon.c.../dp/0060391685/ THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS http://www.theasc.com/site/
  2. loupes when used on the back of a DSLR add a surprising amount of stabilization. Apparently our necks are good at doing that for our eyes! Here's a short I shot six years ago w/ a loupe connected by rubber bands to a 5D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj8k3H0McU8 Compared to most of the wheeled dolly shots, most of the handheld stuff required less/no post stabilization It was on older hoodman loupe and worked similar to this:
  3. Thanks all for your input; my team is moving forward with this visual effect as narrative tool! I'm pretty excited about it! I'll try to post stills and maybe even a private video of some of the shots late in the year! We won't be shooting this scene for at least 2-3 months from now; Please do feel free to contribute any additional ideas! :)
  4. Hi Shawn, thanks for the note on circles. Maybe I can phrase my question better. Can haze be used when doing front projection VFX shots? ie Will front projection create a usable image on a background screen in a haze filled room? Image talent sitting on a couch while parts of a room are on fire:
  5. Greetings again, What are the effects of a haze filled set on front projection VFX techniques? Before I test myself, I'm reaching out instead of re-inventing a mistake :lol: The haze is meant for adding depth and the illusion of indoor smoke. This is for a static/locked shot meant to create the illusion of a living room on fire, with talent on a couch (think Syndoche NY, Barton Fink). My thought is: Since the projected light is in parallel to the recorded light, the evenly dense haze will appear brighter/more dense by reflecting light, will not create the appearance of light pillars, but will reduce the power and effectiveness of the Scrotchlite screen. My expanded question comes down to: Will haze defeat too much light, block the subject, and make the screen unusable? Perhaps a balance can me made employing minor amounts of haze. My recent post regarding filming the illusion of fire, got me thinking about front projection as one of several "tricks" to use at once: http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=71850 Thanks for all advise and feedback! Recommendations on a "good-enough-and-under-a-grand" digital projector are welcomed. Or any recommendations on where to rent a better-more-pro projector in the SF Bay area.
  6. Satsuki, I have a crate full of Tiffen glass filtration, but no smoque. I've thought about adding a plain fog or double when we test - in addition to physical haze I'll look around for a smoque, for enhancing the effect will most likely also test digital filtration as well, both in terms of tiffen DFX filters and keyed smoke/fire vfx such as: http://www.detfilms4k.com/fire.html http://www.detfilms4k.com/smoke.html (their smoke may be too fast moving for an indoor fire)
  7. FYI: I called Reel EFX and they said there should be absolutely no problem in terms of combustibility with either their oil or oil-less fluid when using the DF-50 - I specifically also asked about flamebars, and they report never hearing of any problems with fire when using the DF-50 with their oils. The only issue with fire might be a flamethrower, but only because its flame thrower, which is just crazy dangerous already in and of itself. Looks like we can chalk up compustion/fire concerns with hazers as an urban myth
  8. Stuart, do you have a link to the datasheet you're refering to? I'm looking at the reel efx DF-50 one sheet and data sheets for fluids and the only reference I can find for "flame" is in the long term storage section for the oil based fluid. DF-50 diffusion fluid (oil based) data sheet: http://www.reelefx.com/app/v/product/pdf/df50_diff_fluid_2016.pdf The oil-less version doesn't mention "flame", and has no warning at all (that I noticed) for combustibility DF-50 oil-less fluid http://www.reelefx.com/app/v/product/pdf/df50_oil_less_2016.pdf I suppose i'll just give Reel EFX and DTC a call and see what they say
  9. Stuart/Satsuki, Are their alternative hazer fluids for use w/ the DF-50 that are safe for use with small open flames? I love the look of the DF-50 and haze in general, what alternatives besides making actual smoke could i employ to create the look of haze? (besides actual smoke - heh)
  10. Cool Tim; another vote for Magic Gadgets Looks like I found the "Magic" pages: Shadowmaker: https://www.magicgadgets.com/product/shadowmaker/ Flicker Dimmer: https://www.magicgadgets.com/product/flicker-dimmer/
  11. Awesome, thanks Satsuki, I didn't know about the Magic Gadgets flicker dimmer AND I use DTC (went to their Xmas party) Serious thanks for the hazer fire hazard tip, good thing to double check, I've used several light candles on a haze filled rooms before... and with a single DF-50 in fact - OOPS! I'll swing by DTC and inquire, I'm renting various stuff from there already for this.
  12. Apparently I have time-limited rights to update posts: Here's a few examples similar looks we're trying to achieve:
  13. Greetings, First off, my apologies for not writing a shorter and more concise piece. I will revise this post as time permits - Think of this as a living document. During a recent creative meet for an upcoming short, the idea emerged to simulate parts of a living room appearing on fire during a dramatic dialogue scene The thought is to simulate fire illumination and smoke and composite pyro physical effects plates in during post. We will be shooting this in 8K anamorphic at low compression ratios Think of the end sequence of "Barton Fink" and some scenes from "Synecdoche, New York" This is for a micro/no budget production by former film students & both semi pros and serious pros as a portfolio/fun/festival/creative piece. We are using our own camera and a lot of gear, and renting additional lights/grip/stuff as need WE HAVE NO INTENTION OF SETTING THE SET ON FIRE NOR IS ANYONE PAYING US TO MAKE THIS The idea we are kicking around is that during a sequence of a couple locked off shots, two people are sitting on a couch exchanging drama rich dialogue, and in the background(maybe out of focus) we see curtains and the wall on fire. additionally, we also want to have fire/smokes elements appearing in front of the talent. Think of the subjects as being sandwiched between fire elements. Something sorta like these, but as static/locked shots Barton Fink Fire scene: https://youtu.be/P_8O-iDvlmA Synecdoche's Burning House https://youtu.be/SF9yFCSICE8 How to set a living room on fire: https://youtu.be/yLqVmBeJre4 Our thoughts on how to achieve this look so far: 1) bouncing a 1K tungsten (maybe a couple of 650s) off a gold reflector to simulate the fire flicker - this would be similiar in application as using a silver reflect to simulated water reflection from moonlight 2) candles + incense in front and underneath the frame to provide heat warping and some smoke during principle 3) Make fire plates and luma map - Match and duplicate the angles/distance of the camera in relationship to the set, hang curtains in a dark area in front of black, such as in a cleared warehouse or on a paved surface somewhere remote (maybe at night), make sure they are similar in setup to the hot set, set them on fire - then luma map the fire in post as a layer effect for the backgrounds 4) purchase and use prematted green screen fire effects for additional layer/post work 5) shoot the scene with the actors on set with a green screed behind them, then shoot it again w/out the actors there, to more easily control the layer effects in post 6) Hazer to, well, add haze (we'll be using one anyway for depth/texture, but may kick it up a bit for this part) We may do the composting in aftereffects, as none of us have experience with Nuke. We absolutely welcome the addition of any interested nuke/fx compositor in the bay area who is interested in building their portfolio and/or willing to contribute to a creative project for a reduced rate. Push comes to shove, we are willing to work something out for payment, it just may delay our initial shoot, as this is all out of pocket and none of us are in the six-to-seven figure salary club. We will most likely not use a generator on location We are still a few month away before we can begin developing the shoot schedule/etc. We want to explore the possibility as a narrative component near the ending before finalizing the script (twenty pages) Thank you for any and all advise and guidance. It is very much appreciated.
  14. Daniel Reed

    Red Iso

    For MX, 320 w/ controlled lighting when shot, then push to 800 in Redcine-X gets good results. In terms of highlight roll-off for MX, a low strength LowCon works well, like a 1/4 or 1/8 Dragon is is a different animal and new territory; recently I've been shooting it at 500, then raise it somewhere between 640 to 2000 in Redcine-X. Make sure to use DEB and keep compression ratios as low as possible. When I stick to that, and keep compression at or below 8:1, I find there Is never a need for Noise Reduction.
  15. I find it hard to fathom I'm the only one to wonder about this. If Sekonic has calibrated their color meters to industry standard CC gels, why would Resolve use arbitrary values for their M/G "tint" slider? If i can match a color R/B shift via a meter and resolve, I suspect i should be able to do the same for M/G shifts. Perhaps this is an oversight on BMD, or they just wanted to get the M/G slider function in there and are still working on it. Its also entirely possible I am misunderstanding something in terms of colorimetry. Either way, I've asked BMD support to escalate my inquiry.
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