George Lekovic

Thanks Steven, I was unaware that digital sensors (as Mitch pointed out) are actually not an evenly flat surface... I thought that it had something to with the size of the recording surface, not the shape. But thanks - although it does not help much, since I did want to use my (eventual) RED with these lenses... Cheers/george

I shot my last movie entirely on that Zeiss glass. A lot of it was wide open, shot on 3-perf, with what I believe was a S35 gate and I saw no problems in post. You can check the trailer out here, although you can't really tell much from this small of a file: www.kinokamera.com/polycarp/polycarp.mov Cheers

James, it was by a low budget project, but we managed to pull it off by putting all of our resources together. The money was raised privately, but on such low cost it did look promising (and it still does) as far as returning investment + profit goes. The top level staff was all deferred: producers, director, dp, editor, sound design... Everybody else was paid a fair rate. It really was a result of meticulous preparation and planning. It was all done on a tight schedule, w/ almost no overtimes and no pick ups. Every location was scouted several times. Every scene was storyboarded and blocked in advance. The lighting was planned in advance as well. That is what really helped keep the cost withing the available budget. Hope this helps.

Thanks Brad. On some screens the trailer comes across dark. We also shot the film in a way to preserve deep blacks, so most frames do have large black areas. I'll double check how the trailer shows on other screens and correct the issue if possible. Cheers.

he. thanks. finishing a feature is indeed a small miracle in itself. the problem comes when you are itching to do your next project right away, but instead it turns out you have to wait and wait... for things to happen. cheers/george

hello everybody, most recently I directed and shot a 35mm feature. We expect it to be released around the AFM, as we have already made few successful steps towards distribution. I never asked for any feedback so far, but would love to know what the forum's professionals think of the trailer, the cinematography, etc... That is quite different than getting notes from the general audience. You can see it via: www.kinokamera.com/polycarp/polycarp.mov Thank you.

Hi, recently I completed my first feature as a Director/DP. It was a low budget horror w/ name actors and a great producer. I think it came along nicely. I wondered what impact does the trailer have on you. You can look it up here: www.KinoKamera.com/polycarp/polycarp.mov (it might take a few minutes to load up) Time spent watching the trailer + feedback appreciated. Thank you. George Lekovic george@KinoKamera.com KinoKamera @IMDB

I would like to add that if your project is a feature film, you want to find somebody with feature film experience, somebody who can give you constant output throughout the whole shoot (sometimes several weeks or months). I like to say that that it is not your best shot that will get you hired again, but your worst shot. A bad set-up can do more damage to a project than a great set-up can improve upon. These are just few thoughts, and this presumes that you have seen the reels, found the one that suits the mood, feel comfortable communicating with the person, etc... Consistency is something that comes with experience. A lot of young DPs will go after that one great shot. Good luck.

Hi Amitabh, as of now I split my time between Europe and NYC. More inf about me, including my reels you can find at: www.KinoKamera.com/lekovic.html Cheers,

The only advice I could give is that you should be careful, thorough, meticulous, and persistent. If you can manage that, it will amount to something. Other than that, and as David Mullen has suggested, as you make your way along the directing path and you encounter specific tasks and problems, ask specific questions and you will be more likely to gather answers. Good luck.

In efforts to further promote our film, we've just produced a short 3 minute trailer. You can watch it via: http://www.kinokamera.com/POLYCARP/Polycarp.mov or at: Any feedback is very very very welcome... thanks/george

Hi Nicholas, as I said I'll post more about the process when I get a spare minute. Right now we're talking too sales agents + dist companies, putting together a trailer, art, etc... Distribution and getting your film seen is as complex of a process as making it... it takes consolidated effort and time. I'll post the trailer too. Cheers,

I don't think this language is appropriate or necessary. Russians are no bastards, nor are Chinese - everybody would agree, correct? Stephen, kindly moderate this. Thank you.

Thank you Richard. Self promotion is very important in this biz as well as in any other. (I also did not get "Your trumpet must be worn out comment.") I wanted to stress that I (objectively) see this film as a good example of an independent 35mm production, made happen purely within the constrains and circumstances. By saying this I am not labeling the film as good or bad - I'm not even getting into that. As far as it pertains to this forum (from which I drew a lot of useful information) making this film was an experience I learned so much from that it would pity not to share it with others. That is why I plan to spend some time and give more details about it, from planning to execution to posting. I also want to post few screen grabs + on set photos... etc... Looking forward to it.

Dear Friends! I most recently directed & shot a 35mm feature film, titled Polycarp, starring Charles Durning and Michael Pare. It will open the Hoboken International Film Festival on June 1st, at 8:30PM. It's an outdoor screening, alla Bryant Park (almost a picnic premiere, so bring drinks + food). Following the opening celebration we'll screen the movie at sundown. It'll take place in Hoboken, at Pier A, right across Frank Sinatra Drive, a three minute walk from the PATH terminal. This is a FREE ADMISSION screening, so no tix are needed. This is (my humble opinion) a great example of a low budget production. Once the festival is over I promise to take time and break it down in more details, post screen shots + productions stills, and discuss the ways we went around things, for it was a great learning experience for me. Looking forward. george George Lekovic george@kinokamera.com www.KinoKamera.com

Yes, please do change your name, as per forum's rules...

What I did on my last feature shot on 35mm, bearing in mind that we might not be able to afford a full (or any) color correction session. Well... I tried my best to shoot every set up with a digital SLR. I would give it to the 1st or 2nd AC and ask them to take time before camera rolls and shoot the set-up. Digital SLR have almost exactly the same chip size as the #35mm frame, so with a, lets say, 20-40 zoom you can get a good reference for those wide and normal shots. All you have to do is adjust ASA/ISO shutter and iris to match your film exposure. These are also good as a rough reference for judging the frame, commmunicating to other departments, etc... Then, after the shoot (or every day) you go home and color correct them and attach notes. Now you have a pretty specific reference of how you want this to look. If you have a good printer/lab you can print the photographs, tweak 'em to your preference and then make a book with prints and notes that you will give to the colorist. Beleive it or not, colorists usually like when you make efforts to communicate to them. That gives them an opportunity to play with settings, meet clients in person, etc... We ended up doing just that, except that we managed getting the lab to have us sit with a colorist for a few hours and set up several important scenes, establish the rapport with the colorist, and give him more guidelines of what is the overall look we are going for. Hope this helps.

"Becoming a DP" is a lifestyle. "Being a DP" is a lifestyle as well. The two are somewhat different. I personally found the best route to becoming a DP to include the following: :: extremely low overhead/running cost - this means low rent & low cost of life :: persistance & perseverence - this means that even when the times are grim you must keep doing it :: blind faith - beleive in yourself and know that if you do whatever you possibly can to achieve your goals, you will have no regrets at the end of the road - because there was nothing else you could have done...

David Lynch's "Inland Empire" was shot entirely on a Sony PD-150. Have your students go and watch it. Lynch, if anybody, is known for his compelling visuals, but he is also a master of sound. And the two work great together even when shot w/ a PD150. So it's not about the camera (entirely) - it's about the story, framing, production design, actors, costume, lighting, sound design, etc... - a very many factors that determine the final outcome. Good direction means putting it all together in the best possible manner. Hope this helps.

David, thank you for the thorough report of your Super35 DI experience. I recently shot my first 3-perf feature on an Aaton 35III. Being a low budget one it did not allow for a DI and for "rough cut" purposes we went to DigiBeta, semi-supervised, and it looks surpisingly good. As a test I did a 3-perf to 4-perf blow up (or blow down?) via 2K to see what results to expect if we ever go that route. I will see that screened tomorrow. Your posts are always insightful, helpful and much appreciated. Thanks.

Yes, if you use only your camera's LCD for reference, without checking how camera interprets real values, (usually trough zebras on skin tones or on grey cards) then what you see is the difference between your camera's LCD and a properly calibrated production monitor. On the other hand, maybe your editor's monitor is not a proper production monitor, and maybe that is where the dark image comes from. Depending what editing program you're using, you might be able to look at the scene through a vectroscope and other scopes, which will give you an exact picture of how you exposed the scene... george

Yes. I like the revolutionary spirit in David's last post. Power to the people! :ph34r:

If it's of any consolation, I scanned a medium format negative on my then $500 Epson 4870 flatbed and printed a 25x25 w/ no problem. Again, it was a medium format negtive, but yes, consumer flatbed scanners haev come a long way. george

I have seen an early screening with a freind of mine from WGA about a month ago, and the movie is nothing short of excellent. I wish I had resources, brains and guts to make an old school B&W movie like that. As per your comment: I think it might look awkward to simply beacuse they were mimicking the old style, Classic Hollywood movies - but, with new film stock, new lenses, etc... so you get a very sharp and clear image, and all of a sudden the rear projection doesn't look right.

Interestingly, RED seems to have flunked this test, as curves show mere 7-8 stops of latitude. Or am I misreading the chart? George.