Patrik Ingvarsson

I think it really all does come down to an each their own (and to a certain bit, perhaps a higher bit, what they director is comfortable with and would like to do). But hey, if it works for you, do it! One of the nicest things about film is that there are myriad ways to do every single thing, which makes each thing you do a chance for exploration and experimentation.

Wise words, I agree :)

Artemis, if my memory serves, puts the lens mm at the bottom of the taken photo, along with other information, well worthwhile investment (though honestly I don't use it too much). Personally I don't much like working in that rigid of a manner, since I feel it limits the opportunities which arise when production is "in swing," however I can see the merit.

 

Something you might be interested in, in future, is good pre-viz software where you can make the whole film in CG before you make the film; which also helps get camera movement down.

 

Artemis sounds like a great choice!

I understand what you mean regarding this rigid of a manner workflow, but I feel the opposite way. It's like the saying "You have to know the rules in order to break them". I'm much more creative knowing that I have a solid plan to go back to if I get too creative on set. I look at this kind of storyboarding as a DP's first draft. They might be far from the end result, but they give you an idea how to execute the shoot and it makes you finish that "final draft". But then again, maybe it's just me...

I'll definitely look into the pre-viz CGI, thanks!

To be honest, I've never seen the focal lengths given on a storyboard. The only document where I've seen this used is in the old shot plans used on multi camera TV dramas, which would give camera positions, shot sizes and sometimes lens angles. These great if you've got limited time.

 

With a good storyboard artist you can often tell which lens to use from their artwork.

 

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Neither have I, but for the sake of efficiency on set I think it'd be a great idea. I like to be well prepared, and I feel it gives me greater room to be even more creative in situations when you need to act fast. Shooting starts this October and I have this summer at our disposal to storyboard the shoot, but since we already have access to all the sets, why not go there and figure out how we're going to shoot this, think things through shot by shot, before we arrive on set in October? I would be a great relief to know that all the shots have already been planned out in great detail, instead of coming up with those decisions in the heat of the moment. (even though such moments will be inevitable).

Maybe it's just me who's a control freak? Anyway, I appreciate your input!

Hi,

I've recently entered pre-production on a low budget feature I recently finished writing, now storyboarding awaits. I'd like to shoot the entire storyboard on set. Been looking into the Artemis app. It would be great to use the app to find the right focal length for each shot and add that information to each storyboard picture. Does anyone know how the metadata is stored in Artemis if you sync it to dropbox? Would be great to add the pictures and metadata into something like studio binder or shot lister, so that you know exactly what lens to use for each specific shot. It would be a huge timesaver, which would suit us perfect considering this'll be a run & gun type production.

30$ i a cheap investment if you use the app a lot, but it's expensive (for me at least) to just try it out, so I thought I'd check in with you guys before I decide. How would you go about storyboarding a low budget feature as a DP if you had access to the set and actors in pre-prod? Drawing the entire storyboard would be nice, but I don't think it'd be the most efficient approach, and I also feel that being able to go through the entire script on set with the actors when doing the storyboard would be great for both me as DP / Director and the actors.

Any thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Patrik

Well that's most certainly photoshopped-- but perhaps something like a Fog Filter on the top half combined with an optical flat and vasline/ky to blend the edge of the fog towards a clear bottom. This isn't something you'd use a lighting gel for @ all really.

It certainly is, but it sort of givs you an idea of what I'm trying to achieve (almost). Regarding using lighting gel, I really do think this might work! As I said, I'm just experimenting, but I have gotten close with normal white diffusion film, but I'd like to try with something less white but equally diffusing.

I really appreciate the input! :) I guess the picture was a bad example, I'm not trying to achieve the fade between frost and clear, just the frost effect (commonly scen in films with shower curtains ;) ) Like this one:

It's kind of hard to describe this since I don't really know my self, I'm just looking for the right material to experiment with and I think this rosco gel could work excellent! I have this nightmare dreamlike scene in my head that I want to visualize.

They aren't the same company-- but the numbering is often the same for common materials-- and should be just about the same. I've never been "brand loyal" particularly aside from normally ordering from whatever swatch book I happen to have at the ready.

Ok thanks for the info! It's very hard to judge by only looking at those small thumbnails, but they appear to have the "same" characteristics.

Btw, I should mention it, I'm not going to use the film do diffuse the actual light source, I'm going to use it infront of the camera. I'm just fooling around with an affect similar to this picture:

Hm, guess I misunderstood the problem based on the examples he showed. I've never really considered how the diffusion affects the quality of the blacks.

I second the Opal, I personally haven't used it, but one DP I crew for uses it ALL the time and I'll probably pick up a roll for myself when I get my next paycheck.

No worries, my example might not have been the best ;) Imagine this Matte box flag lying on a white table with the diffusion film on top of it. I tried to illustrate it using photoshop, don't if it worked or not ;) I'm gonna check out the opal!

I am pretty sure he is talking about lighting diffusion, since he is mentioning Rosco. When I want a less "white" diff material, I normally go for Hampshire Frost-- but that's just me. Another nice mid between something like 216 and Hampshire is Opal (Lee 410) which I use very often to take the "edge" off a light without taking away too much from it's directionality.

Thank you guys for your replies! Yes I'm looking for a lighting diffusion film on roll. Tnx for your input Adrian! Is Lee and Rosco the same manufacturer? Rosco #410 is also Opal frost. Most rental companies where I live sell only rosco.

Regards

/Patrik

Hi folks!

I don't know If I'm in the right forum for this, but I need some help to find a specific sort of lighting filter.

I'm looking for a filter that diffuses the light but doesn't add that white color, more like a "clear translucent" / "non-white" frost / diffusion film.

Rosco has got a lot of different filters, for example:

E-Colour #216: White Diffusion

E-Colour #220: White Frost

E-Colour #480: Full Atlantic Frost

E-Colour #253: Hanover Frost

E-Colour #129: Heavy Frost

etc.

I've made two comparison pics in ps so it would be easier to explain, notice how the second example diffuses equally as much but doesn't add the white color to it.

For example (#1), this is a white frost film:

...a this example (#2) is a "non-white" frost film:

I don't know if such a diffusion film exist, but if you happen to know any please let me know, I would really appreciate it!

Best regards

/Patrik

also: we're shooting on Lomo primes, I believe they start at F2.2

Hi Carl and Joshua, thanks for your reply! I've thought about what you've said and we have decided to let the actors drive the car! The sound guy wasn't happy, but as you guys mentioned, letting them drive saves us a lot of time and trouble in post.

We are going to shoot this short on a RED Scarlet Mysterium-X and was thinking if HDRx would be a suitable option for me? Since we're shooting in a car, it will be dim inside and very bright on the outside thanks to the snow on the ground.

What compression would you recommend shooting in? 3:1 - 18.1? When shooting in HDRx, do you get double the amount of file size?

Thanks in advance

Best Regards

Patrik Ingvarsson

Hi folks

I'm shooting a short film in a few weeks and I'm figuring about a car scene with two actor having a dialog while driving, and how I should go about that. First of all, we don't have much of a budget, so a even though a car trailer would be the optimal choice, we can't afford it unfortunately.

Any recommendations of how to shoot this?

My initial idea was to shoot this infront of a green screen with tracking marks on set, to take advantage of the existing light. By doing so we could use a hand-held camera to add a sense of realism with the background moving (very slightly) in conjunction with the actors and the car.

AFTER we've shot infront of the green screen, we go out and shoot the background plates, at the same camera position we used shooting the green screen shots. I believe this could work.

Second idea is to shoot the whole scene in front of a rear projection screen. The problem with this I believe is to get a powerful enough projector and not destroying the black when lighting the actors. Also, lighting the car to blend in realistically would also be somewhat of a problem since we can't use any existing light.

Third idea is to let the actors drive the car. By far the easiest way to go, but not the safest. Also, they have to be focused on driving the car, so their acting might suffer from that.

Any ideas? I would appreciate it a lot!

Regards

Patrik