AJ Young

Matthew Allard, ACS did a really great break down of the camera, costs, and what it can do. https://www.newsshooter.com/2020/09/14/achtel-9x7-65-megapixel-motion-picture-camera/ Spoiler alert, the price tag: $143,000 USD

I mean, just kidding! ?

All good!

(in the US) Practically speaking, it's a good idea to assume an older house have 15a circuits, so an M18 will be too much. Always check the breaker box to see what the amperage for the circuit is. (in the US)

I'll toss in one too: opal!

These are pretty old cameras and Alan Gordon only considering the S35 versions of the Alexa, but the LF/65 won't work with the optical. Plus not every digital sensor is the exact size while a phone app can actually take that into account. I highly recommend going the route of an app. ?

You might be better off with a viewfinder app for your smartphone. Artemis is pretty popular for iOS users! Personally, I really liked this one: https://www.artistsviewfinder.com/

As the sun gets closer to the horizon, the atmosphere begins to warm it up. You'll notice warmer hard light. Immediately after it sets, the sky is now providing all of the light (known as magic hour, which ironically is usually only 20 minutes or so). Most, if not all of those shots are during magic hour. There's really not much grading being done on these shots outside of adding more cold or warm tones. Judging by how soft the light is, but without actually seeing the sun clearly in one of the shots, I'd say those were filmed on a day when the sun was setting behind a thin layer of clouds effectively acting as diffusion. However, you can replicate that with magic hour and either warming up the image with white balance, in the grade, or both. ?

PA life is hard. More often than not PA's are given a working lunch and barely have time to rest, at least in the US. My wife was working towards joining the DGA as a PA on a number of large budget projects for years. The producers would sometimes allow one meal penalty a day, but the general culture for PA's on those large budgets was that you were working from call to wrap and were required to take an hour off on your timecard regardless if you had an hour break or not. She would seldom get a full meal because PA's always ate last and almost all the food would be gone. The reality of the PA culture is that PA's are viewed as easily replaceable on big budgets and if any PA objected to the aforementioned problems, they simply wouldn't be called back. In the US, the whole show is union except for the PA's who have no representation. It's a hard, thankless, and, at times, demeaning job.

Sounds like a job for the Kino Wheels! https://www.kinowheels.com/

Why would it be suspect? It's the original, and still to this day, business model of IMAX: screens so large that they extend beyond your peripherals. Because those screens are so massive, they needed a format to ensure the proper resolution and thus IMAX cameras were created. Distance from the screen and the size of the screen are major factors that need to be taken into consideration when selecting your capture format. It's why TV shows don't shoot on 70mm; what's the point?! ?

Ah, allow me to clarify. What I meant is the viewer's distance from the screen and that screen's size. That distance determines how much resolution you need for displaying the image. There's no magic number, but at a certain screen size, it's visually imperceptible to see the difference between a film shot 480p and 16k. Yedlin covers this in those links I shared above. ? It's a good 2 hour watch, but well worth it!

I'll also point out that the resolving power of the final output display (ie theatre screen, TV, phone, etc) and the distance from that screen is an inherent relationship you can't discount. If most indies will only be viewed on a TV screen, then why shoot in IMAX? This chart below shows the relationship between resolution benefit and distance to screen: https://www.rgb.com/display-size-resolution-and-ideal-viewing-distance

Steve Yedlin, ASC talks about the myth of a different optical look from format to format: http://www.yedlin.net/NerdyFilmTechStuff/MatchLensBlur.html He also talks about how, given post production technology today, any camera can match any camera: https://www.yedlin.net/DisplayPrepDemo/index.html Here's another from Yedlin on resolution: https://www.yedlin.net/ResDemo/index.html

Ah, I believe I misunderstood the numbers. I'll just see myself out:

Gotcha. If it's just $65k for camera, though, then that's still a lot.

You're already on the right track! I'd recommend testing out looks in your bedroom. ?

I've shot a $500k feature and money was tight. The larger a budget grows, the more gets spent on ATL, locations, and crew before rentals, in my experience. If it's a million dollar movie shooting in 20 days, $65k could be your entire camera, grip, and electric package.

Here are my thoughts: Don't pick up smoking and try to quit if you already smoke Engage your core when lifting anything Always lift with your legs Wear gloves Drink a lot of water Wear sunscreen Know your limits. Tell your boss when you think you're too tired and you can hurt someone. Ask for help if you need it when lifting things If you feel sleepy, DO NOT DRIVE. Stretch when you can Eat right. Sets notoriously have bad food, but they also have the option for healthy food. It may sound so delicious to pile on the tasty yet unhealthy food at lunch, but trust me the salad with meat is your best friend. You won't feel tired AND you're treating your body right. Consume less alcohol. Only drink coffee when you need it - this is a mental health decision. Most psychiatrists will tell you that drinking too much coffee and contribute to anxiety Wear comfy shoes like sneakers or hiking boots; shoes that were designed for long walking. You can get a great workout on set naturally, especially when doing G/E, but continue to exercise on your downtime. I can't remember where I saw it on Roger Deakins's forum, but he mentions that on his off time he would run five miles a day. Okay, I've rambled enough. ?

I stand corrected! ?

A fluid head set to the stiffest settings helps with fast whip pans. Of course, the heavier the camera + head, the stronger the legs need to be; otherwise, the tripod would move! A geared head can help a lot with this because you can control the "sensitivity" of the gears. The key with a stiff fluid head is the ability to stop the camera almost instantly. The stiffer it is, the faster it'll stop...of course, you'll have to push harder and really nail the landing. (Also, Ari Robbins, SOC [the operator in the video] is a legend)

I don't think we should conflate an audience's enjoyment to a film with the cinematographer's style. Most audiences like a film because it's a story that they can connect with or want to see, not a style of cinematography. Cinematography style comes and goes with fads, technology, and budgets. The stories are what get audiences in the door (and coming back). The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel proves that a show can use long, on shot sequences stuffed tightly with fast dialogue. Audiences love the show. (Kudos to M. David Mullen, ASC for brilliant work on the show!) Most importantly, though, is the context of when a film is released. Easy Rider is a counterculture film that came out in the 60's; it's a low budget film for sure, but it was hugely successful because of when it came out (middle of counterculture in the USA). Fast forward to the 90's with Clerks and everything starts to sound familiar. Cinematography is only one piece of the puzzle for a film. Amazing cinematography can't save uneven editing, brilliant production design can't recover weak acting, and no amount of editing can fix a bad story. Most importantly, a film resonates with audiences within the context of its release.

It's personal preference, but we both agree that a color chart is the more exact way. ?

Did you just graduate? If so, congrats! There's a lot of strong work here. The song you chose is excellent and the overall length is perfect. (The sweet spot is 60 secs to 90 secs) I'd cut all dialogue and do just the music. Believe it or not, dialogue during a DP reel turns away producers/directors. Here are some major cut ideas: 0:00 - The slate bit is a nice flair. I'd cut right when the sticks slap ~0:02 - Immediately after the sticks slap, you should cut to your strongest shot. In general, a reel is a losing battle for the viewer's attention. Most producers/directors are viewing hundreds of reels at a time and are essentially giving you 7 seconds to convince them to either watch another 7 seconds or convince them to interview you. With that in mind, you need to front load your reel with the best shots first, regardless of some sort of chronological order. You've only got 7 seconds and even that is generous. Here are what I think your strongest shots are (it's my opinion, take what you will): 0:06 - silhouette of lighting incense 0:08 - zoom in on guy with binoculars from exterior 0:23 - no dialogue version of this shot. great for music video directors 1:01 - push in on man in beanie 1:15 - woman opening door 1:17 - cut on action of this shot to connect 1:15 --- Here are other notes: Even if you remove the audio, people talking still looks weird on a reel. I recommend choosing parts of a shot where the character(s) aren't talking. It's an off-putting psychological effect for most viewers Don't put any sort of a year on a reel because it instantly out dates you. You want them to think this is recent work, even if one of your best shots is a decade old Do you have a website? I'd also put that on the reel with your email/phone Like the s8/s16 scans where you see the sprockets, the VHS footage is interesting, but only for a specific crowd (ie music videos). If you are going to have VHS footage, make it look really interesting. Maybe shoot a BS sunset shot? As is, the shot you've chosen doesn't reflect how strong your work is. Some shots are good but too dark (ie 0:26 of the John Wick looking dude). If you have the OG files, I'd working on them. ? Strong work, keep it up!

I'd say it's justified to have both, but a color chart (like the datacolor SpyderCheckr) is better for correcting any white balance issues in post. Honestly, a white balance card could just be a white piece of paper. Not that one is better than the other, I prefer to use a grey card for white balance because it's a neutral color at proper exposure rather than the top end of the exposure (white). If RGB values are correct at proper exposure, then I believe it's a more accurate white balance. BUT, we're splitting hairs. A white piece of paper for white balance is just as good as a grey card...and it's cheaper haha Of course, in the narrative world, I seldom use auto-white balance on the camera. ?