James Brown

Thanks for the replies, appreciated. What if, the XL1s had a adapter on it and you put a variety of different lenses, would it be worth it? Would the recording quality be overall better on the DV500 comparing to the XL with a better lens? James.

Hi, This year i am DOP on two films, each with a 7 day shooting schedule and a duration of no longer then 15 Mins. My question is this, Should i use a JVC DV500?, this camera has been put through the runs as expected for a schools cam but has a nice lens and creates a pretty good picture, or should i shoot with the XL1S, which is only about 6 months old, great condition and i know it very well. Although the DV500 and maybe could be un-reliable i feel that i should be using it because of the fully manual operation compared to the XL. Any thoughts would be appreciated James.

Thanks Kevin, Appreciate It.

When trying out the gels Kevin, do you find yourself picking the most effective from trial and error using a swatch book, or do you know the look and mood your going for and therefor know what gels will give you that feel.

I recently was discussing Lee Filters with some guys at Panavision and i am wondering what are the most used for you guys. I mean in terms of which ones you find yourself getting out of the box the most. On the catalouge there is small details about the use for every filter, But which are the pro's fav blues and oranges for converting 5600 to 3200 or vice versa, Which are your fav for backlighting outdoors or to bring out the skin tones indoors. It's just I am in the process of buying a set of about ten to play around with and would love to know what the pro's are using, if using Lee filters at all.

Flogging a dead horse : aka, Film starts, Sunrise- or, wait for it, Sun Setting at end of movie.

The reality of it is that films are adapted frequently and if the writer's name is 'Jo Blow' it will not ever be titled "Jo Blow's walk along the road" . Seriously, when was the last time you saw a film introduced by the writer, never. The director will always get the most credits at the start and end of a film and that will never change. The Bourne Trilogy's were never introduced by 'Robert Ludlum' , 'The Pianis't never by 'Wladyslaw Szpilman'.......i could go on for 20 pages. But as much as i cannot stand so many of Spielbergs films why should the writer get the credits, they didnt put it on the screen, screen writers dont even get the credits, 'Taxi Driver' is still 'Martin Scorcese's' not 'Paul Schraders'. Anyway i thoughts that article was ridicules . James.

Cheap and easy in camera option is the XL2, I created a scene with a man sitting completly still at a train station with people and trains racing past blurred. Came out really good.

Thin Red Line & Days of Heavan all the way.

Hero - There is 5 seperate scenes that make my jaw hit the ground.

In Australia the Film Industry is in absolute crisis and the junk that is coming out at the cinema is not interesting people. The only films that people go and watch in Aus is American Films, and what has came out this year? Not Much. At the moment Mr and Mrs Smith- Are we kidding ourselves? and The Longest Yard, a remake of The Mean Machine but with Adam Sandler. We have to ask ourselves, why arent we going to the cinema's as much these days? We are the ones that are in the industry and should be supporting it. If there is not films that makes us go "cant wait for it to come out" then why go and wast our money on watching commercialised crap. There is always hope in the industry but with new modernisation of home theatre systems people are staying home with their plasma screens and surround sound. To sum up, Better Films - More Viewers. James.

Loved the Clip you surely must have more out there. Get it on the site and let everyone see. The stills were great too i'm a huge fan of sunsets . Keep on charging. James.

Excellent work on the Reel, I think you should grab your best 2 minutes worth of footage and make it short and sweet. There is some great material there but also some shots that didnt interest me. Overal, great work, hope to see more. James.

I thought i would be critical as its the only way you can get anything out of these comments. Dont think you need your intro at the start and becasue it is more a montage of your work i really think having the titles on each short/feature/commercial jars the vision. I feel it would run a lot smoother without. Also your good work is at the start obviously, you have to make a decision if you are going to take out the work towards the end or mix it through because you when you walk away from something it's the last vision you remember. I think the black and white short is your best piece and i think your feature needs some small color correction to bring up the quality. After the feature it begins to go downhill, i dont like the short with the girl mainly the look is a bit flat. It has potential to be geat, but short is sweet. I think that is about as critical as i can be, hope i helped, feel free to disregard anything that was said James.

Good work on the Reel, start is great, excellent lighting and camera. The audio throughout is the one main problem. It works for the first part but then becomes slightly irritating to the ears. Bit shorter maybe and not so split into segmants. Besides that, great work loved it and hope to see more. James.

Most influential DOP on certain films - in no particular order Chris Doyle - In the mood for love/fallen angels Ellen Kuras - Eternal Sunshine on a spotless mind John Toll - Thin Red Line Conrad Hall - Road to Perdition / American Beauty Roger Deakins - Kundun Peter Pau - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Nestor Almendros- Days of Heaven Pawel Edelman- The Pianist There is too many to try and put into a logical list without going to your DVD collection. But at the moment Chris Doyle has done so much for me and is at the top for a reason.

Thanks for everyone's reply, the industry night was great thanks to your help Regards James Brown

Hi, i am currently studying fiilm at RMIT in Melbourne, We are in the process of ogranising an industry night, i am in search for proffesionals to come in on one evening and share some of their knowledge with students. There is a real need for cinematography knowledge within the school as a large amount of the teaching is focused on writing and directing. There is a whole bunch of wanna be DOP's that thrive on the art but without the sufficient resources and teaching these people are starting to lose focus on the area of cinematography. I hate to see this happen, as like you, my passion is cinematography. This and that is why i am reaching out to a pro in melbourne, anyone would be grateful and much appreciated. The industry night will be around 45 students and 5-6 teachers. Anyone in melb's would be great, DOP's, Cam Op's, Directors, anyone with a passion for Cinematography and the knowledge to share. Thanks. Kind Regards James Brown