joshua gallegos

I know about the clothing and how black isn't photogenic, I've seen that in a lot of behind the scenes of Hitchcock films, to me it's really the technical things that involve the creation of black and white, you mentioned turning down the saturation on an external monitor, that's a great idea, the problem is how is the image manipulated in post production to convert color to b&w without introducing noise to the image, but then again maybe so grain wouldn't be a bad idea, when I said authentic, I suppose I meant something that wasn't picked out a 'monochrome' preset, I think by authentic I meant something that is created and not a picture style with the b&w preset. I was watching this master class by Josef von Sternberg and he lights a scene in b&w, the light is very directional, I wouldn't know how to describe lighting, but I think I may have a feel for it since I've seen so many b&w films, I know what's right and what isn't right, so I think with an external monitor I may be able to pull it off and do some tests. But again, I don;t know much about what happens in post production to create a successful image, it's the place I wanted to begin, I've read how most cinematographers do lab work to decide on the exposure and know exactly how certain prints will be printed, but I know very little about manipulating an image in post to make it successful, I'll try to read more on that first before anything else. Josef von Sternberg master class! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DX7sll9Gug

I have a feature project that I'm making into a short film first, I wanted to do that to get a grasp as to how I'm going to film the actual feature before I make it. Realistically, I wish I could afford to rent a C300 or a C100, but I'm afraid I will have to settle for the Canon 5D Mark iii with EOS lenses, it's an upgrade to the t4i which I started off with. My main concern is not knowing how to expose for black and white films, for instance, depending on the picture profile on the camera that will give me the best dynamic range, I will most likely have to expose with color images. I recently did a short film and I've unsuccessfully managed to convert colored clips to black and white, they just don't look right. I wanted my short film to look like a 1940s RKO production, but I would do it in a widescreen ratio like Robert Wise's 'The Haunting'. I need to know where to begin in terms of how to create an authentic black and white image on a digital format, I know for a fact most black and white films were filmed in studios with amazingly built sets, that's part of the reason why they look so good in the past. I guess the most recent black and white film I've seen is 'Too Much Ado About Nothing', but most of that film was actually filmed on the Red camera, with a few scenes filmed on the Canon 5D Mark iii, and there's also 'Nebraska' which they filmed on the Alexa, which hasn't been released yet. The film is in a remote location, to give you an idea this is what it will look like. For night scenes I plan to shoot on a clear day with an infrared filter, Robert Wise used a similar technique, which turns the sky black and the clouds white. When it comes to lighting for black and white movies, is done the same as if it were being done in color? Here's a few films that I've been researching http://bookofenoch.tumblr.com/

i see what you mean, I turned them off because the lamps didn't, match the 32k tubes on the kino that I put on the desk out of frame, I ended up aiming it to the ceiling to get enough footcandles, even when I changed the color temperature on the camera it didn't match with the other lights. I didn't have time to get practical bulbs I remember, poor excuse I know, but oh well.

I've been thinking of a similar scenario for a new short film I'm working on, it's going to be in black and white, and normally in a densely forested area there would be very little light, even when the sun is out, there may be some shafts of light seeping from the tree canopies, but if you place the scene near dusk or dawn you can very simply use an array of inexpensive lights such as the Dino or Moleno lights which have up to 36 lamps that you can switch on and off, point them in the direction in which the sun is shining, since the light will be shining from the side and not the top, that way you don't have to rig any lights, you can just set the color temperature on the camera if you were to film in color and wouldn't have to worry about adding gels. Since, I will be filming in black and white that wouldn't matter, you can easily diffuse the light with 12x12 white griff for soft fill. I never have a budget to do things, so I have to think of ways to make it work, You can easily line up a few Dinos, depending how you're blocking the scene, but I intend to film all the night scenes in the daytime, which is an affordable solution when filming in black and white, that way I won't have to spend money on big lights or any HMIs, expensive generators and crew. There's always a way to make things work with little equipment. Scouting is of great importance, Sven Nykvist would spend hours photographing the behaviour of light; it's how he ultimately accomplished such masterful use of natural light in the film Winter Light.

There's the Kino Flo single 12' inch that runs on the lighter socket, but that was 80 dollars to rent for one day, it was inordinately expensive, I initially wanted to have a 650w tweenie to bounce as the key and a 200w midget to light the back of the car in the opening scene, I would've added some 1/2 CTO and a 013 straw to get the yellowish look of an sodium vapor lamp, but getting a generator was the issue, so all of that went out the window. I don't see a light at 8:07, did you mean 7:07? That wasn't the lamp, it was actually one of the ceiling halogen lights from the diner, I set the kino further on the right, you can see the falloff on the woman's hair,

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've been thinking of trying to get work as a "cinematographer" in student films, to further my understanding and knowledge of the craft. I've actually come to like it so much I don't think I can just let go so soon. I really didn't have any tools to create a look, it was just the 650D and a flimsy tripod that I borrowed and a 2ft-4bank with 56k tubes and a 90 degree louver attachment. I think my composition will be a lot better in my second opportunity, if it were up to me I would've made an elaborate lighting scheme to light it properly, I would've also have liked to film at 400 ASA most of the time to retain richer contrast, in the opening I had to film at 1600 ASA and opened up the lens to f/1.8 on the 24mm and it was still about a stop underexposed, I rated the camera too high for that reason, which inevitably introduced too much noise, but I had no choice. I think if I would've had the tools I could've done a much better job, but I'll let it go and just learn from the experience. The next one will be much better, I know I should be concentrating on the storytelling aspect of it, but I feel I still need to learn so much about the technical aspects of filmmaking, primarily in lighting, which is of great interest to me.thanks for the encouraging words everyone.

I recently did a short film, it was really my first short film and I'm really ashamed of it, to be fair I was filming at night mainly with a rebel t4i and some Canon lenses - I know a lot can be done with that by someone who knows how to actually use it, but mainly I felt it was such an incompetent effort. To begin with I had to shoot in the interior of a car without any lighting equipment, because I couldn't get a generator, etc and the result was a grainy mess, I finally finished a cut of it and I wasn't happy at all. I was looking at some cinematographers' careers and their first work and trying to see if I had any semblance of ability, because I do believe cinematography is a talent, and it requires a technical ability to really make your vision flourish before the screen. Granted, I only had one light that I managed to use at some point, it was a Kino 2ft - 4bank, but it's been nagging at me, if I should quit or attempt it again and concentrate more on the writing and directing aspect of filmmaking. I love cinematography, but I it's really hard to know if I have what it takes to do it. Since I don't go to film school I hope I could get some constructive criticism, and I hope you can be brutally honest, since I know I f-ed up a lot. To begin with the H.264 encoding introduced some more noise to the image, more so than what should really be there; perhaps I'm expecting too much from an entry-level DSLR, but I've seen other people do interesting things with it. The thing that I hate most is the doubt, how do you find the confidence to carry on, knowing your next project won't be as horrible as the last, is it really something that takes years? I might as well show it. I don't think I'll be able to do much with it, except learn a valuable lesson. https://vimeo.com/78866429 password: Bette Davis

Just found out my editing file is corrupted, I believe it happened when my laptop ran out of battery and turned off in the midst of editing. It seems I will have to do the whole thing again. I'm doing it on CS6 this time, not Adobe Pro CC. I will forever hate digital because of this, oh well, get busy living or get busy dying.

I'm using Adobe CC to edit, I was exporting a file that is estimated at 4363MB, the first time it fully exported the video was completely scrambled. Second time i tried it, half of the video played well, but around 9 minutes in the images began to flicker and then completely scrambled. The audio works fine, but i have no idea what's going on. The format is H.264 codec, Preset: HD 1080p 23.976 fps I filmed with a Canon SLR at 24fps; MOV. files

I needed them in 4 days, since you live in New Zealand, I don't think i'll get them on time, plus eBay's international shipping is quite expensive. I'll be looking into photography rental houses instead, they should have those specific filters for the EF lenses. Thanks everyone, I would've messed up my whole scene had I taped an ND gel.

The lenses use 72 and 77mm Tiffen filters which would amount to 50 dollars plus shipping, I guess I could just get one and film primarily with the 24mm lens, since I like it better than the 50mm. Thanks everyone, good thing I asked! The wonders of the internet.

I'm using Lee filters http://www.leefilters.com/lighting/colour-details.html#210&filter=tf The single full sheets are very affordable, just under 7 dollars. I'm using a 24mm f/1.4 EF lens and a 50mm f/1.2 . I guess I could simply tape them on the lens itself. Since I 'm filming in the daylight, I will have to stop down to f/11 maybe, since it will be a partly cloudy day, which won't look very sharp if I don't use them... is there a difference between an ND gel or filter? the gel is for lighting fixtures and the filter is strictly for placing on the tray that fits the matte box, yes?

Wow, that's great! Everything is perfectly understandable when it comes to footcandles. So if I wanted the fill light in a scene to be 3stops under the Key exposure, then I can merely look into it in terms of footcandles. If I'm filming at 400ASA at F/5.6 for the Key, that would require 100 FCs, so I could set my Fill light the same way at 400 ASA at f/5.6 and stop down the light to f/2, which would be 13 footcandles. Something I would've never figured out, I suppose the cinematographers with experience can do it by eye, but I can just do that with a light meter and see how it looks whilst knowing the exact number of stops its set from the key.

Can I tape it over the lens hood? the lenses come with lens hoods, I think I could live with the loss of sharpness and be able to stop down a bit, but then again the only scene I'm filming in daylight is a monologue which ends the movie; I guess I could look into Tiffen NDs that you can screw on, but last time I used a Tiffen UV filter I got a terrible ghosting effect that wasn't noticeable until I played the video on my computer.

Hello, for those who cannot afford a matte box; has anyone ever taped some ND filters on their lenses, and if so, were there any problems you faced when doing so. I plan on using painter's tape, so that there's no residue on the lens itself. I am filming with a Canon DSLR with some EF lenses. I already ordered some ND9 and ND6 full sheets from Lee Filters, and I planned on using an ND9 or ND6 depending on what works better. Also, could I add a Polarizer over the taped ND filter if I needed to?

LEDs seem like the ideal choice but they are inordinately expensive to rent, plus I prefer to match the sources that are within the location (fluorescent with fluorescent, etc). I suppose I could just get a generator with a couple of stingers so that the generator is far away from the actual scene, so that the noise is minimized completely.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could recommend an affordable battery pack to light fixtures that are 120V, I plan on doing some exterior night scenes with minimal lighting and a generator would be out of the question, since it would require ADR, something I don't have in my budget. Are they more expensive than to rent a generator? Another possibility is perhaps using a generator and using a 50ft stinger so that the noise isn't so close. I also wanted to use the battery pack outside a hotel location, and it's especially important to use ith there since there will be people sleeping while we shoot, so a generator would be out of the question there. Also what type of device is used to power a small 12v Kino or (mini-flo), I plan on using the mini flo for moving shots and for closeups, I planned on adding 0013 and 1/2 CTO gels to the miniflo with a 56k tube to film under sodium vapor lamps. I have no idea where I can find the battery packs and most rental houses do not rent them. Thank you.

I figure it's the same as a cinematographer knowing all there is to know about manipulating film in a lab, they even go into a film knowing how they will expose the film and manipulate the film to finally achieve the look they were after, I always read about it in articles with cinematographers who shoot on film.

Film looks great!

I should just learn this myself as opposed to asking on a forum, it's such a lazy thing for me to do. I'm certain technique can't be learned from a book.

Okay, this is a very broad question, using lighting modifiers such as flags and scrims is really the heart of all cinematography, since it gives shape and emotion to the images. I should use this scene from No Country For Old Men as an example. Let's say Roger shot this scene with 500T at approximately T/3.4 There's a PAR 16 practical in the back at WF, maybe a 60W globe next to Javier Bardem, and I believe there's another practical next to the Woody Harrelson...So, when Javier is away from the lamp next to him, which is the key light, he should be just about 1 1/2 stop under the key? Anyhow, the real question is, when lighting a scene, such as this one, does the light require to be moved with each different set up? I know Roger is a master cinematographer, so I doubt he has to move the lights around, he places them in strategic areas, which would require very little modification, from set up to set up. I remember in the commentary on Fargo, he merely put a few lights up on the lamp post to augment the intensity when Buscemi kills the old guy in the parking lot, and that was all he did. I like the style of using minimal lighting equipment to help motivated lighting, but I suppose the real trick lies in the technique of using lighting modifiers and finding THE right place to put the lights, which would require very little time to tweak as the camera changes set-ups. There are literally no books on lighting technique, which I guess is kept secret, or else everyone would be doing it, I mean everyone can turn on a lamp, but giving shape to the light with modifiers is something else, I don't have the tools to learn much about this, but I guess I could experiment with a maglite or something. Could anyone give their two cents as to how this scene was lit? Normally, when you turn on as many lights, the whole room is enveloped with light. But the way there's shadow in the far right side in the background, and the separation of light and shadow is quite remarkable! Is there a very simple technique for a beginner like me? If I were to light a scene like this, what fixtures would you use and how many flags, and what sizes would you get? -- This post is not so much about how Roger did it, but how you would have done it, just to see the varying possibilities of lighting a scene. Depending on the wattage of the fixture, the beam angle, should that give you an idea as to what sized flags you will need to control spill, and highlight important parts of the scene? i know it's a broad question, but I need examples as to how flags and scrims are applied to lighting.

P.T, Anderson always films with anamorphic lenses,it's a natural element of his aesthetic. He is filming with a 35mm Millennium, which he started using when he made Boogie Nights, he's always used the same camera ever since, until the Master where he shot 65mm. I believe ,this is the longest dolly track ever built.

When there's clipping in the image, the camera will blink on the particular portion. I plan on using a Sekonic light meter, and the camera I'm using has very little exposure latitude, which means I have no room for error, my main concern is crushing the shadows, but I think I'll be fine if I have the right amount of footcandles to expose the image. I read Rachel Morrison disliked the Canon 7D when she was filming 'Sound of My Voice', she was using a PL mount with cine lenses, and had to rely on a Waveform monitor, because she found the histogram rather useless on the system. I've actually never used photoshop, so I have a lot to learn about color grading! I'll install the program and begin experimenting on photos shot on neutral. So, contrast and black levels, finally saturation. That's great! I plan on getting everything I want on camera, so there should be very little color correction involved, I hope. Thank you for the help, Mr. Mullen.

I'm going to be shooting a short film in about a week, 90% of the scenes are being filmed at night, in interior and exterior locations. I rated the Canon 650D at 400 ASA, it gives the best image quality in terms of noise levels, etc. I will be filming with a Canon 24mm f/1.4 Wide Angle lens and a 50mm f/1.2 Canon lense. I've been apprehensive about using other picture styles such as lightform or technicolor, because they render different results at night. The neutral picture style is in my opinion the best picture style for low light situations. I know very little about editing, so I have no idea how to bring up the look I captured on video. For instance, when something is shot on a flat Picture Style, it looks devastating! And all the test I've done I've failed miserably to bring back the image to how I wanted it, because I don't know anything about color grading. I'm going to be editing on Adobe CC, I've seen some color correction videos, which involve learning how to use Vectroscope and RGB Parade, and Waveform, etc. But my main concern is bringing back the look from a very flat image. Neutral picture style is like having a negative film print as opposed to the other picture styles which are more like reversal film, I did several tests with standard picture style and others, and when I tried to color grade, the noise levels were very bad. Neutral style is the only style that gives you a bit more room to make some quick fixes. MY Neutral settings -- Sharpness -- 0 Contrast -- -4 Saturation -- -2 So, how is a flat picture style brought back to what I initially wanted? I've seen some videos on youtube where they simply bring up the saturation, but it doesn't seem like they know what they are doing, so I hope there are some very savvy DSLR users who could help me understand the color grading process a lot better. I know how to assemble sequences, etc. But color grading/correction is something I really hate, because I can never use it right! Any suggestions/help is appreciated. Also, when exposing a scene in Neutral Picture Style, should I expose from that particular Picture style or should I create an LUT from other picture styles? I think with Technicolor you have to do that, so I am wondering if Neutral has the same principles. As, I said I will be shooting at night, most scenes will be shot at 400ASA, but I will have lighting equipment to give me the right exposure.

I believe Martin Scorsese was one of the first to originate the use of this camera technique in Mean Streets. Check it out