AJ Young

In theory, yes. However, they lack any input for HDMI/SDI (even with USB-C). The closest you can get is with the FieldMonitor App, but it only works with DSLR/mirorrless cameras (and not all of them). https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fieldmonitor/id1101913786

@Jae Solina I see that you're in Texas! Depending on where you are in that state, constant sun light may actually be plentiful. I've shot a lot in AZ/NM/LA deserts and mirror boards were incredibly useful. This above shot is from a feature I did in 2017. We used a mirror board shooting through a 4x4 frame of 216. We had to "shake it up" every few minutes, but that only took a few seconds of work. TONS of light from mirror boards & the sun; I was able to balance the interior exposure with the exterior with little effort! Mirror boards can save a lot of time and they can also eat it all up. Keep and eye on the weather and be prepared to shoot a light into it if clouds start rolling in.

I wouldn't be surprised if big productions budget and schedule more pre-rigging days to keep G&E sizes down.

Practically speaking, measuring from the Φ will work for more than 99% of your shots. Additionally, if you calculate depth of field and double check everything on the monitor (assuming you're shooting digital), using Φ will be quite accurate! @Gregory Irwin: Great breakdown!

It's just guidelines, Florida says that they'll still defer to the studios and unions, neither of which have issued guidelines themselves.

Actually, the quarantine is showing how successful PVOD is for studios: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trolls-world-tour-breaks-digital-records-and-charts-a-new-path-for-hollywood-11588066202. Trolls World Tour has been rented 5 million times and so far grossed $100 million in three weeks, far more than it's predecessor, Trolls, earned over five months. Universal has decided to release select films as PVOD (also known as Day and Date release): https://www.indiewire.com/2020/04/universal-vod-releases-trolls-world-tour-success-1202227793/ This could create a domino effect, so the two biggest movie chains drew a line in the sand (AMC and Regal): https://www.indiewire.com/2020/04/amc-universal-movies-ban-1202228026/?fbclid=IwAR0Vj5ezPM-cpV49AGjjgWJQPvTIESwWDryCX0PP0xZ6ezDhEOqCmN4cXh4 They've banned Universal movies. The last time theatres did this was, ironically, with Universal when they experimented with a shorter release window for Tower Heist. At the time, Universal backed off. Now, however, there's data to prove that PVOD is profitable. Will this destroy movie theatres? No! They'll still be around, but they'll begin to offer services and experiences that you can't get at home (ie Tenet, Avatar, etc). Tent Pole films will still be a huge draw and studios would prefer to double dip on audiences for ticket sales and VOD rentals. Even Universal would do this. --- My opinions: Universal is an easy target for AMC/Regal. It's a different story with WB or Disney who historically have a larger market share of the box office. Someone will blink and this time it may be the theatres AMC is actually in an excellent position to profit of PVOD because they already have their own streaming service. Combine this streaming service with their theatre subscription service and they actually could profit from this all. I managed a movie theatre for 6 years and I've always said that theatres need to offer more than 4K projection and amazing sound. Alamo Drafthouse is a fantastic example of a theatre that offers more. Theatres will not go away, but they will become more like sports games. Sure, you can watch the game on TV for free, but people still love going to the movies. Even Universal knows this: "researchers at Universal found 51% of people who rented ‘Trolls World Tour’ said they would have ‘definitely’ seen the movie in theaters. About one-fifth said they rarely or never rent movies from digital services" ~ From the above Wall Street Journal article

LA County is now offering free COVID testing to any resident now, regardless of symptoms. My wife and I are scheduled to get our test on Sunday. Testing and contract tracing are the next steps to reopening the economy and I'm hoping the availability of free tests can eventually lead to some productions starting again.

Skin tones are phenomenal when you shoot in vLog on the GH5, so I wouldn't worry. ?

UPDATE: In California, for those who haven't been able to receive any unemployment benefits yet because they are considered self-employed and haven't worked any W2 jobs, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program is now open as of 4/28. https://edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/pandemic-unemployment-assistance.htm --- STIMULUS CHECK: Additionally, if you haven't received your stimulus check, you may need to enter your direct deposit info via the official IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment

Fun test! Shooting in the snow with overcast creates quite a challenge for cinematographers and cameras, so this was a great idea! You should try different color grades to see how far the URSA and RED can go before "breaking". I'd be interested if the URSA can still hold its own against the older RED Epic. (Maybe??)

The GH5 is phenomenal. vLog behaves a lot like LogC in my experience and the 10 bit internal was revolutionary at it's release. It's a quality camera! I've shot two features on it and countless shorts. Plus, it's a native 4:3 sensor, so it's perfect for anamorphic. Focal reducers (aka speedboosters) give you the depth of field of larger sensors with the added bonus of an extra stop of light. The batteries for the camera last for a long time; you'll only need 3. In my opinion, the GH series of cameras have been fantastic. Upstream Color was shot on the GH2, long before 10 bit external recording was even an option at that price level. It's a beautiful film! --- If you've go the budget, the GH5s improves a lot on the GH5 with larger photosites and dual native ISO. It won't have the IBIS, but it makes up for it with better low light capabilities.

Damn shame, but if you've got the ingenuity, you can use VR controllers or a phone to record the camera's position in the virtual environment. (Matt did that with his Ursa and HTC controllers)

Good on you, Michael! The first shot on the couch is my favorite of the two. Bummer about the window light bleeding into the scene, but it did add a nice level of blue fill overall. You're definitely right, the light on the bottles is too hot. They're also dead center of the frame and my eyes go right to it. (Stop me if I'm stating something you know) Generally, I try to utilize visual contrast to guide the viewer's attention. As is, this set up regardless of lighting brings my attention to the bottles. If their exposure is darker than your subject, then my attention goes to the subject. The second scene looks great. Practicals are excellent to use in a scene, but they can sometimes look too bright. It's best to imply the lighting from the practicals so you can control how bright the practicals are. I've also discovered that if you're using the practicals to get an exposure, that they're best positioned behind the subject (like in your scene). I would express caution relying in practicals for lighting because they are quite limiting when it comes to shaping. Guy Holt has an excellent section about this topic here. I recommend taking a read!

Film won't go away, but it will definitely become an increasingly rich and fringe option for making a movie especially now. The unbelievable developments in Unreal Engine will push the industry to more productions that integrate real-time virtual production. The stuff that Matt Workman has been doing in his tiny home studio proves how cheap it is for even micro budget films to integrate this workflow. Fun fact, Unreal Engine is completely free for filmmaking. Virtual production will get easier because current digital cameras already have the capability to record gyroscopic and easily fit into the system's workflow.

Yesterday I celebrated Alien Day, 4/26. In about a week Star Wars fans will be celebrating May the 4th. I started to realize that fans of films, and cinephiles in general, are collectively creating anniversary dates in celebration of the films they love. Here are the few I've heard of: 4/26 - Alien Day in honor of the planet they landed on: LV426. Most people watch Alien and Aliens, but it's generally a day for the entire Alien franchise. May the 4th - Star Wars day chosen for it's pun: may the force = May the fourth. Fans alone have created this holiday and now Disney has embraced it October 3rd - Mean Girls day in honor of the hilarious line in the film: "On October 3rd, he asked me what day it is. 'It's October third'." (link) October 21, 2015 - Back to the Future 2, the actual date that Marty McFly arrives in the future. A lot of fans viewed the film that day and it has since kept its status as the day to enjoy the film and the franchise. 7/4 - ID4 day in celebration of Independence Day (1997) 4/20 - The stoner holiday, this date typically celebrates stoner films from Cheech/Chong to Half Baked and beyond. What are some dates that you've heard of or personally celebrate? What films do you think should have a celebration date?

Luckily, in six to eight weeks states like California are poised to begin reopening slowly. ? I believe SARS came from a wet market, which were banned for a short amount of time after the outbreak but then re-opened. COVID-19 also came from a wet market where scientists believe the virus originated from a bat and a pangolin. Wet markets are notorious breeding grounds for a zoonotic disease because numerous live exotic animals are stacked on top of each other in cages. China re-opened these wet markets after SARS because wealthy elites apparently enjoy eating exotic animals, but the country as a whole don't use wet markets. (link) What will probably work best are economic sanctions on the scale of the Iran nuclear deal if China doesn't ban wet markets. Given the gravity of this pandemic, it would be foolish of China to keep them open. I think the 19th Century belonged to France... ?

A green card makes a significant difference. You're be able to work in the US with little to no hassle, if I'm not mistaken. (Of course, anyone with a green card please chime in!)

I believe the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World did something like this effect for one shot. I can't remember exactly where in the movie, but it's pretty close to this I think. They used the effect for the character realizing something grave.

I definitely understand, but the liability factor scares productions and insurance companies. According to the Deadline article: This snowball's pretty quickly. If a production wants to avoid liability because of Covid-19, they'll turn to insurance. When insurance denies the production, they'll try to add a rider to cast/crew contracts that indemnify the production. However, that is shaky grounds for indemnity legally and socially; the unions, OSHA, and governments may place a moratorium on those kind of clauses. During all of this, little to no productions are shooting. If there's any take-away from the deadline article, is that no one has a clue of how to get the industry going again. There won't be an easy answer and whatever happens will be challenging.

@Phil Rhodes True, it's not pragmatic to assume a 100% effective vaccine will come out. But, I feel that healthcare systems and the severe personal health risk of covid-19 will be mitigated significantly a year from now.

@David Mullen ASC I never knew that about Cardiff on The Red Shoes! I'll throw some curve ball cinematography, animation: Wall*E Atlantis: The Lost Empire Ghost in the Shell April and the Extraordinary World The Lego Movie

I believe once a vaccine is globally available, the film industry will begin to return to some sort of pre-pandemic workflow. There will be some good hold overs that will stay in place such as pre-packaged lunches, better sanitation on set, and even staggered lunches. However, no industry will ever be the same again and what those changes will be are a big question mark to everyone. When will things start back up? That's the million dollar question. I don't think it'll be over night, it'll be a slow gradual process. @David Peterson I think you're spot on in government reassessing their tax incentives. We don't know which way they'll go. In hard economic times, governments actually spend more to keep the economy going through tax incentives. Maybe states like Georgia, Louisiana, or New Mexico will make their tax incentives better to keep their economies going. Or their overloaded social safety net programs will have drained their budgets and they'll will have to reduce/cut their incentives to balance the budget. (In the US, individual states actually can't operate on a deficit unlike the federal government) Overall, what we should expect is that everything will change, but not completely. There will be a new normal, but it we won't know what it is until we're well into it and that normal will keep evolving through the entire process.

I believe the top-of-the-top filmmakers would say "I don't think that can be done with that time and budget", but we're always surprised by the ingenuity of low budget filmmakers and the ever changing technological landscape they work in. The only thing that I don't think is possible is to fully bridge the uncanny valley effect. We're getting damn close, as evident in Alita: Battle Angel and Avatar, but it still isn't quite there...yet. I believe Avatar 2 will be pivotal in that aspect.* --- *Deep fakes grew quickly in the fringes of the internet, but are now quickly becoming the easiest and better method to circumvent the uncanny valley effect for faces. Instead of building a CG face, we can deep fake it instead. Plus, it's significantly cheaper. Yay low budget!

@David Mullen ASC Thank you for the correction! My mistake. ?

An oscar nomination and/or win is ubiquitous with some of the best cinematography in history. However, there's been influential cinematography that was never nominated such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller. So, what's the best cinematography in history that wasn't nominated for an Oscar? I'd like to pitch: Creed Ocean's 11 (Soderbergh version) Barton Fink