Rob Featherstone

hello all: I am selling some film stock that has been in my fridge a little while. On Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=STRK:MESELX:IT and http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=STRK:MESELX:IT Maybe you can put it to good use!

I am going to Berlin at the end of a January to shoot a few days on a no budget documentary. It's a friend's Master's Thesis for the New School so there is very little money. It's an interesting project on the American artist Adrian Piper who is currently residing in Berlin. I need a light weight tripod and a small interview lighting package. Can any one recommend a rental house geared (is that a pun?) to students or maybe rent us the above mentioned equipment. I will be shooting on an hvx200 so the tripod can be small but I want to do some pleasing pans. Thank You!

Thanks for the info! I have a shoot coming up and I think I'll go with the 7219.

Olivier: Very nice work! How did you find working with 7219? Did you need to crush the contrast in post to get those nice blacks? (Especially the "bus" pov) Did you transfer to HD? Was there any "graininess" in the hd trasfer? What did you rate the film? thank you.

aaton 400 foot ;)

thank you!

Hello: I am wondering about peoples' working practices when they rate a stock at a lower ASA than the manufacturer recommends. Specifically in regards to to the shoulder and toe of the characteristic curve. Say the stock is rated at 500 ASA and the characteristic curve says the stock approaches full density at 5 stops over middle gray. I decide to rate the stock at 250 ASA. Normal processing. When I point my spot meter at a window and it is 5 stops over middle grey would you consider this full density/ no detail or would you think there is an extra stop there because you have slid down the curve by re-rating the film at 250? In other words do you disregard the manufacturer's characteristic curve or consider that you are moving down it? I know the real answer is to shoot comprehensive tests and judge for myself. I am just curious about other dp's working practices. Thank you!

I am looking for a PA/ Tech to help with a small shoot in Dallas. October 5 thru October 8. We would like someone who can provide an HVX200 package with a small interview lighting kit and a small audio package. I think the rate is decent, especially if we rent all that gear from you! It is shooting interviews during a conference so it is quite easy. To talk numbers please contact the producer, Dina Pace at dinapace@aol.com and mention you saw this posting. I am the dp, Rob Featherstone Thanks!

Thanks everyone! I have a somewhat more firm grasp on this now! and some more homework to do! -Rob

Can any one explain exactly why a smaller lens opening results in greater depth of field? I imagine it has to do with less scattered light hitting the target. Thanks!

I used to think the asc manual should have a check list for mistakes in the back pages. Make a mistake, check it off the list and move on! (focus buzz, nailed that one! flashed mag ... well i won't say anything about that!) When I was an assistant, a dp once told me a mistake was ok if you learned from it and didn't do it again. As for people being critical of your work, you really need to believe in your vision. Take the time to make sure that you feel you have the best you could do in that situation. "hate me now, love me later" also Confidence seems to be contagious!

Plus everything looks so nice and friendly when you shoot through an 85! (at least in the viewfinder)

It's a great camera! and really easy to assist on. It has a little allen key that is the "key" to its configuration changes. I believe its the same movement as an Arricam but it is very easy to load etc. Have fun! -rob

Hi: I always found focus pulling to be a combination of experience and intuition: tricks and and techniques. On the job training and working with cine gear is obviously the best, but I found being able to judge distance to within a quarter inch an invaluable tool. So I would say using an slr and a tape measure and setting up objects and guessing their distance then checking would be a great exercise. I was always assisting a lot of hand held situations so guessing on the fly was really important. I leaned the distance from my sternum to end my finger was exactly 3' and that was really useful if silly. Another trick was to think of nothing but the distance between focal plane and subject. Almost trance like I would chant the distance as it changed 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch (85 mm at t1.3 yikes) Any how definitely practice any way you can even without a full on cine rig! -Rob

Hi I think you are right. Nothing like a good controlled test to sort these things out. I should have some time next week to set something up in a studio. Thanks

This question is somewhat prosaic compared to the discussion above but.... I have recently been experimenting with a letus extreme adapter on an hvx200a and olympus zuiko prime lenses. The images shot with the adapter appear noisier (especially in the shadows) than the images shot solely with the on camera zoom. I would have thought that a correct exposure is a correct exposure. The noise does not look like the artifacts of the ground glass, but definitely more like a compression issue. The zuiko is an f 2. One image is at www.robfeatherstone.com/Blue.jpg the other is www.robfeatherstone.com/green.jpg The blue-ish image is the straight lens. The green background is the letus rig. How could the letus increase video noise?

Hello: Putting this out there. My friend has been working on a documentary about the American Artist, Adrian Piper who is now living in Berlin. It's his thesis project for grad school and a labor of love. Adrian is really an amazing person. She is a conceptual artist/ philosopher and yogi. My friend needs a dp in Berlin for a few days at the end of November. Maybe someone has some time to help out. Thanks here are his words.... Looking for an experienced cinematographer with own camera for 2-3 days of shooting in Berlin. The movie is a documentary about a famous American artist. The primary work will be to shoot interviews with the subject indoors, though if the weather is good there could be some outdoor shoots as well. Basic lighting and audio equipment a plus. This is a great opportunity for someone looking to gain some experience working on a documentary. While I can't offer much in the way of remuneration for this labor of love, the film is likely to gain pretty wide international exposure due to the subject matter and the stature of the artist. And I promise, the subject matter will be interesting! Dates: November 28, 29, 30 Location: Berlin If you're interested, please e-mail me at godots2@gmail.com

Hello: I had a similar issue on a feature where I was focus puller. One day the dailies came back and they had little white arcs that came across frame in a rythmic pattern. It was eventually determined that the rollers in the lab were dirty. Something on the camera end is usually black on the print because the film ends up being not exposed. Well we had to do an insurance claim and a reshoot. Maybe in this digital age you can paint it out. -Rob Featherstone

I've been using an artists portfolio case I got at pearl paint. It works really well. -Rob Featherstone

Hi: Try talking to Ed Walther at Mind's Eye Media, 212-905-6463. - Rob Featherstone

An LCD screen shouldn't have any phase issues. It's been while but I am pretty sure you can just film it without worry. You can run the camera without film in it and see the results in the viewfinder! -Rob Featherstone

Part of a project I am shooting in super 16 (24fps) was accidentally filmed at 30 fps. I know that for ntsc this is not a problem but I am wondering what might happen down the road. If we want to finish to HD are we now limited to 1080i? Is this currently the best HD format to finish to for festival projection? Do festivals ever project 720 P (24 fps) Or do they ask for 1080i? How about a film out. (thinking di not optical-especially now) Would we transfer all the film to 1080i and print out to 24 frame film? Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. Thanks -Rob Featherstone

There is a great program dvdxdv http://www.dvdxdv.com/ which is not very expensive that can convert dvd files to quicktime. There is also mac the ripper for other reasons. But if it is something you shot I think dvdxdv should do what you want. -Rob Feathersone

Hi: I'd recommend spooling off 60 feet or so and seing if the lab will process it and check for fogging. I shot a short film with 7245 push one stop and it looked great. I imagine 5248 would handle a one stop push just fine.

Producer: "Can you shoot available light?" DP: "I can shoot avaialble light.... I'll use whatever lights are available on the truck!" Rob Featherstone DP/ NYC