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Dan Adlerstein

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  1. So ... having just recently joined the union and the elections for national executive officers and board here, I was just wondering what fellow local 600 members on this board think, not only of the candidates, but of the importance of the elections and of the issues. From the inundation of mail, it seems like a pretty fierce competition with no love lost between Steven Poster and Haskell Wexler. As a newbie, just interested in hearing peoples thoughts. Cheers. Dan.
  2. I think this would be a logical and great idea for the next installment of thier somewhat ridiculous - yet fun debate inducing - series. To try and come up with specific rankings is of course an obsurd pursuit, yet the 100 years 100 films list did, i think, turn a lot of people on to some classic movies they may have otherwise not checked out. And all the clip shows have been fun to watch. So here we go, the criteria: the shots have to be single, uncut shots (super-imposition could, i guess be ok). And they have to be from American films (because its AFI and that's what they do). Obviously all things that make a shot great, memorable, classic, etc. could and should be factors. Quality of cinematography a factor for sure, but not be all and end all. The weight of the moment, direction, everything ... iconic images and great shots. I'll go first with some suggestions - in no particular order. - The Searchers - last shot John Wayne walking away in door frame. - Wizard of Oz - Dorothy walks from B & W into color. - Sunset Boulevard - William Holden Floating dead in pool from underneath (the one they used the mirror for) - Psycho - Optical zoom out of Janet Leighs eye at end of shower scene - Goodfellas - The steadicam shot - Lawrence of Arabia - Mirage telephoto of Omar Shariff riding towards camera - The Graduate - Under Mrs. Robinson's bent leg of Dustin Hoffman - Touch of Evil - Opening crane shot etc., etc. what do you think?
  3. well, i think we discussed this once before on these boards, but there is a HUGE bias for period films in winning the best cinematography oscar. i think, and correct me if i'm wrong, there's only been ONE non-period film to win in the last 25 years or so (american beauty). So basically, if you want to win an oscar these days, shoot a period film. also, anybody ever do a comparison between best cinematography winners and best production design winners? i bet they usually go to the same film. i don't belive the academy neccesarally votes for the film where the DP did the best work. but rather, which movie looked most impressive, overall.
  4. Ok, assume the following are the parameters/restrictions/nature of your shoot .... You will be shooting a 20-30 min. short film over the course of one week on the Greek island of Ios. Almost all of the film will be daytime exteriors around a secluded classic Greek white home on the beach. There will be no dialogue. There will be a lot of movement (dance) by the characters. You will have no true camera assistant. Your lighting control will consist only of planning out where and when to shoot based on the location of the sun, and possibly some homemade bounces, flags, and diffusion (think bed sheets and shower curtains). You will not have access to electricity most of the day. The budget is obviously modest. Now, assume you want the following asthetic ... You want it to be 16X9. You want to embrace the contrast to an extant but want to be able to read both the faces and the background lanscape when backlit by the sun (sure, you can use low-con or ultra-con filters). You want the character movement to appear dynamic. You want high textural detail. You want saturated colors -- especially in the blues. hopefully this is enough detail for you to choose a camera you would prefer to shoot this on. I've done my research on all the cameras listed in the topic description. Not suprisingly, none of them seem to me to be PERFECT for this. They all have their benefits and drawbacks. I think I'm close to a decision on one of them, but curious to see what you all out there would choose and WHY!! Could make for some interesting debate as all of these cameras seem to better suited for various situations. So, which would it be for THIS situation. Thanks!!!!! -Dan
  5. John and Dan, Thanks so much for the replies. Good info. Appreciate it.
  6. Hi, I got right into cinematography in college and don't really have any experience with still photography. I'm working now as a camera assistant and sometimes very "small-potatoes" DP in LA but I really want to get into still photography -- not as a profession, but as a hobbie/training. I have a good 35mm SLR, and I obviously have a pretty comprehensive understanding of photography (framing, composition, lighting, contrast, shutter speed, exposure etc.). I also understand the ways of manipulating the image in post with proccessing and devolping. Bassically, I want to learn how to use a darkroom, how to develop my own stills, both B&W and color. I'm sure there are various darkrooms around LA where one can rent time. But does anybody out there have suggestions about the best way, or place I could go about doing this? I feel I'm beyond a basic photography class, say, at a local community college here in LA. My search on-line has thus far been unsuccesful. Thanks a lot, -Dan (also, as a side question, is it true that Kodak in West Hollywood will give free rolls of their motion picture stocks, in stills rolls, to DP's for tests?)
  7. benji - i have yet to recieve a call or letter as well. as far as i know, this means that it's not looking too good for us. i believe that Mr. Lighthill calls everyone who is accepted and seems to have already made those calls last week. the only thing that i am not sure about is the fact that they need to have exactly 28 cinematography students. and i'm a sure a number of those accepted will decide not to enroll. so there must be some sort of waiting list, or back-ups who find out that they get in later. for those of you who are accepted, by when do you need to tell them if you are in fact going to enroll???? does anyone else have any insight? is all hope completely lost (for this year at least) for those of us who have yet to be contacted? i'm just beggining to come to terms with my heartbreak. but who knows, maybe there's still a sliver of hope??? take it easy. -dan
  8. wow, great news guys!!! congrats!! you must be on cloud 9!! unfortunately i have yet to recieve a call. my fingers are still crossed, but i guess the fact that people were called, and i wasn't among them isn't too good of a sign for me, huh? should i still hold out hope or is it basically a done deal? anyway, don't let me rain on your parade. i'm happy for you guys, you seemed to really want it badly, so good work!!!!! take it easy. dan.
  9. hey guys, so this is the week we'll find out our fates, huh? am i right in that if we do get in we will get a call on saturday the 15th (or will it be friday the 14th??) and if we don't, we won't get any call and the rejection letter will just arrive the following week? pretty nerve-racking. i want this so badly it hurts. when i went for my interview i asked one of the guys in admissions and he approximated that there were maybe 40 - 50 applicants who were interviewed. my interview went well, i think, but they did have some serious questions/concerns about my reel. for the most part i actually agreed with what they had to say. but hopefully i was able to alleviate their concerns, somewhat, and they will see my potential. i'm pretty sure they saw my passion and hunger though. so we'll see. it's going to be a long week. anyway, good luck to everyone out there!!! -dan
  10. congrats mayrock! i too got the call today for an interview!!! i was on set when i got the message, gave my 2nd a huge hug, and needless to say the rest of the day flew by. i wasn't able to call them back, so i don't yet have a date for the interview, but i'll be calling first thing in the morning. wow this is getting exciting. my heart is still beating ridiculously fast. but it ain't over yet. on to the next step. good luck to you all in the interviews! and thanks for the advice jayson. dan.
  11. maybe they just do the directing and writing interviews first, before they even start the ones for cinematography. i guess it's a good sign that no cinematographers we know or have heard of have gotten a call. i'm hoping this all means that they just havn't called anyone yet in this discipline, and interviews will be later in march. wow is this nerve-racking! waiting for a phone call that could be tomorrow, could be in 2 weeks, or could never come. well, i'm pulling for us all. good luck. dan.
  12. hmmmm, interesting. they probably do call people for interviews based on certain regions. but i wonder if each discipline is seperate in it's setting up of interviews. i guess there is no reason to start to panic about not getting called untill we hear people from our region in our discipline have been called. but yeah, mayrock, i'm with you on how ridiculously badly i want this. i was able to tour the campus as well as sit in on a couple of classes. obviously, i thought it was pretty great. the highlight was bill dill's class where they picked apart their first films, basically shot by shot, talking almost exclusively about character and story. ok. gotta go. fingers crossed. dan.
  13. alright. so March has arrived and i guess that means it's time once again for those of us who have applied to AFI to seek each others moral support and to share any news. Josh and Mayrock, i see you've applied, anybody else? my understanding is that it could be any day now through the end of March that we could be called for an interview. and if called, we have a great chance. if not -- no chance. wow, will be pretty nerve-racking every time the phone rings with a number you don't recognize. good luck to everyone! how do you feel about your chances? heard anything about how many applicants they got this year? let us know if you hear anything. cheers. dan.
  14. I was really looking forward to the event but was working so i was unable to make it. I would love to hear about who people got a chance to talk to, what they had to say specifically, and what their impressions were. At last years event I was fortunate enough to talk to Robert Elswitt who was so cordial and so kind to really talk about his process in creating the look of Punch Drunk Love with P.T. Anderson. What a great opportunity to talk to some many great D.P.'s in one afternoon. Lets hear some stories!!
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