Albion Hockney

Just did a shoot mixed em. went great. I like the standards more almost. Unless you are looking for a really fast stop/soft image effect the t1.3 is not really useful. Standards also go nice and long I had super speeds up to 85 and then 100/135/180 standards as said depending on the sets age and care you can run into different stuff though. btw they are the same size. both are 80mm fronts as far as I know.

Yes! "A Most Violent Year" is fantastic. It feels like a modern rebirth of Willis's work on "Godfather".

I just saw Selma the other day and was curious others opinions. Bradford Young's work I found super daring for a commercial film like Selma. One scene in particular in a jail cell was so dark you were just making out the outlines of faces...but remarkably beautiful. He also shot on vintage anamorphic on wide stops the whole time.You could see aberration's and the focus softening into the edges of the frames. It really sold well for the period feel even though it was shot on Alexa. Another thing to note was the camera moves, Very subtle and beautiful. So often camera moves feel forced to me and way too grandiose but Young seemed to handle them very delicately. I generally have harsh words to say about commercial period films cinematography, but this film I felt handled its subject matter very honestly and was a pleasure to watch.

I think the answer to this is pretty simple. The original post seems to confuse 4k resolution with image quality. There are a lot of factors that go into a camera making good images from a technical stand point and most camera don't deliver despite 4k resolution or high latitude claims. The Alexa especially makes really great organic images, the RED does a good job too. Every other camera on the market is coming behind those two. Even the higher end c500, Sony F55, etc (although those cameras have been used to great effect as well and I'm sure some people will argue that the F55 or C500 are as good as the RED...but that aside! ). The lower end cameras like Sony A7s, Blackmagic, etc are not quiet able to deliver the color fidelity, tonal range, etc of the higher end cameras. IE even in this digital age you pay for what you get and there is a reason beside the market that the Alexa costs 50K + and a Sony a7s is 3K. the gap is getting smaller and smaller, but it still matters.

Great work David, way to stick to your guns and go for it! I second what satuski said, I think a lot of shooters would be afraid to dive in this far. It really feels authentic.

That looks light a soft key coming from the left side. It could be done a hundred different way depending on the locations and many other variables. most likely large frames of diffusion were used.

HI I was just curious how easy it is to manual zoom an old cine zoom lens for a clean slow zoom in. are these effects usually done with motors/servo systems? it will be a slow zoom over 5-10second going from about 85-150mmm

if you want something with that narrow of a beam it will have to be the maxabeam or similar as that is not a normal flashlight that is a search light

I Really enjoyed that directors previous film "prince of broadway" that one was shot on low end DV I think this film looks pretty interesting visually. cameras are tools... I think you need to question what an "acceptable" image is and what is "good" what is "bad" its all up for debate. that said I donno how much of a marketing plan it was, that part of it I think is kinda silly.

yea I shoot stills. always have something ....right now 35mm SLR has been the choice.

what does "from a shows point of view" mean exactly. generally to simulate sunlight you just use larger lights farther away. if all you are doing is lighting on person, if you can shoot at a reasonable F stop 2.8/4 and have a modern camera shooting 800ISO you could probably get away with something between 2000 and 5000w or something like a 1.2K HMI Par would work. you also need to factor in the fact that there is natural fill light from the blue sky and the sun bouncing off other objects like white/grey cement on the ground. generally the way people do this in studios is with a grid of overhead space lights that give a general ambiance and then use one big strong light for the Sun

YES! watch lots of movies ...look at art ...go see things anything.... and then think about them. What did you like? why do you like these certain things? why do you like shooting movies even? what is it about it? the more to the core of questions like this you can get the more you start to understand your taste and preferences and why you have those preferences. A style will develop naturally out of this practice over time, and yes of course it is heavily influenced by your contemporaries and the current "movements" but don't worry about that too much just do your thing. I was OPing for a successful MV/commercial DP not long ago and talking him up for advice and he just said two pretty simple things 1. take risks and 2. have a unique perspective....that you need to have something to say...your not just a technician, develop a voice.

I know you can use diopters on anamorphic to achieve close focus, have you looked into that?

I haven't really used zooms very much and I'm curious what are the standard differences in how they flare/veil. Is there a major difference? any examples maybe?

Great, thanks much

Anyone know if there is a PL mount 1.4x or 2x extender that works with this lens?

Any tricks with the flares? are you holding the lens off the mount? 0:48 is what im most curious about

a production company I work with a lot has a Light Red Package and a FSB 8 which is rated for up to 20lbs. I will tell you anytime the shoot is more then running around doc style I rent a 100mm Satchler (usually a video 20 I think) and it is much better. It's just a bigger stronger head, if you are doing any kinda precise moves the FBS8 is a little of a stretch to work I think and the legs and stuff are super light and crappy (atleast what they have). That said the FSB8 setup is super small and I actually do like it for the run around doc stuff. A lot of people accustomed to a more traditional cinema setting would scoff at it for sure, but it's not bad. And the price difference is crazy to go 100mm. if your a one man band I'd go FSB8 with a reasonable set of legs. I would never one man band 100mm sticks, that is too much for me.

I would start reading photo theory which is pretty much the same subject matter. or art theory for that matter......at a certain point your just into aesthetics. I think the general consensus is proximity to truth ....but there a whole lot of social factors in the way.

I would just rent that stuff till you can buy the good stuff. I have never used knock of brands like "shot 35" ...assuming made in china? It might be ok? but there is a reason there is kinda "industry standard" brands I have learned that over the years being on sets with the crappy stuff. Again, just be careful and If the item is something you don't need every time you go out or you are really getting something cheap I would just rent it for now.

I think the biggest thing I have learned and always learning is that don't think you need to do a lot to make "High end" or really good looking images. A lot of the best stuff you will see is done very simply it's just about making the right decisions. ....so sometimes you can leave the 12x set on the truck!

As Satsuki kinda implied I think a lot of the look comes from Fincher rather then the specfic shooters. Fincher has a pretty specific way of working. I think a lot of the look is the composition/PD as said. The other side of it is the fact he keeps thing very "Natural" lighting is never really super stylized and if it is the stylization is found in contrast ratios. IE Silhouettes or something.... Sources are very rarely shown strongly at all. I also think part of the look is the RED camera itself which he seems to really show its face. I always feel you can very obviously tell his films are shot on RED. Can't really point to the specific details of why, but I know I'm not the only one to feel that way. Maybe it's just the minimal lighting and pushing the camera a bit.

^Cool Idea, post examples if you ever do it!

I don't think any diffusion was used in either of those references actually. You can see both have hard shadows. Fill light on the first for sure and the 2nd still is either the sun at a low angle or large HMI's I was in the same place a couple years ago and hadn't dont many if any day exteriors and I had read Roger Deakins say he never cuts the sun with diffusion really and if anything just use's fill light. Changed my approach for sure, its hard to cut the sun and get a look that feels realistic at all especially if your background is being hit by direct sun. It can work if your shooting up against a shaded area sometimes I think but other then that I now try to use the sun as much as I can.

A large percentage of successful artists come from upper middle class or wealthy families. Of that group many also have parents/family who work in the world they become successful in as well.... or at the very least are connected to some liberal/art leaning crowd. Half of my friends who are interesting/successful come from worlds like these and it is no coincidence. I myself have some of that, although not quiet as much as many others. That's how things are. Its called privilege, welcome to society haha. That is not to say you can't get in from the outside, but its of course gradually harder depending on how far away you are from that world to start with. If your a poor kid and no one you know is interested in art that gap is going to be a lot bigger for some kid whose upper middle class and has a mom who does theater and a father who was a camera operator for 30 years or something. that said regardless of your starting point eventually comes the day you need to "put up or shut up" and if your no good your no good, but I think its important to note that very little of this stuff is some god given natural talent. It comes from having a very strong passion for making movies and wanting to learn how to do it. People coming from a place of privilege with art/culture around them are much more likely to develop those skills. the larger point of all of this is that Connections and Skills usually coincide. They are not mutually exclusive at all.