Osman Arslan

Hi Tyler, Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it. So I will need to receive the hard drive which the original media is stored from the editor as well. Is that right? Or receive the original files in some way, so that I can link the files in Davinci. It sounds scary. I hope it will work. Thanks again.

Hello everybody, I was just given my first feature film grading job. I need some help. What’s the typical or best way to receive the timeline from the editor? The editor is using Premiere Pro. I will be editing in Davinci Resolve 16. I have only worked with original source files. Mostly on my own projects. So I don’t know how colorists receive and deliver the timeline from the editors. Any tips and advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi Larry, Thank you for the comment. That’s what we ended up doing. One of the shot was set at the beach. I set up the camera on the sand. Then placed cactai in the foreground spreaded as if they were in a deserted area. Then I had the singer walk behind the cactai at a distance making the cactai looking like trees, taller than her. It looked really cool. We don’t see the ocean, we are looking at the opposite side in that shot. We used the same technique with the cookies but that shot was set in a warehouse. I will post some images and my experience with the shoot after the singer releases the song. There were many things challenged me. Especially working with a director who knows exactly what she wants. There were shots I was like oh no it’s shaky, or out of focus etc... she was like no I love it like this. I have been worrying that she will just release it with all the imperfections and mistakes. However since she has been extremely happy with what she got for the images I started to think that it’s ok. She is the director and that’s what she wants. There weren’t prep time at all. Anyway I’m the end it was a great experience for me. I’ll explain it later. Thanks again for the comment.

Thank you Phil, I completely agree. I will keep the post for sure. I will post the finished video here. Hopefully it will turn out good.

Hi Robin, thanks for the reply. I actually thought about photographing the cookie wall and composite it to the beach footage but I feel like it will take a lot of time and effort. Considering it doesn’t really serve the story I’m happy it’s ditched. We will only have 1 day to edit the whole thing. So instead of stretching ourselves too thin I think it’s better to get the best out of what we can. I will check it out now to see if it is doable in a short time. If so we can try that if any time is left. Thanks again.

Thank you very much for the reply. I think your comment just opened up my mind and realized that I was setting myself for failure just to avoid disappointing the director. However after your message I just spoke with the director and convinced her that using the shots like that won’t even add to the story but take away. If it’s done very well it could be used but even then I believe those shots were not necessary. She also told me that she was worrying that it was going to be more like cookie commercial than the singer’s journey in the story. I was feeling horrible but after sharing my opinion with her and seeing that we were on the same page made my night. Thank you so much for the reply. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t post here a lot. So I don’t know all the features. Should I delete this post or not. I feel like keeping it so that beginners like me can see and learn something from this experience. Sometimes you have to accept the circumstances and you shouldn’t be afraid of sharing your worries or concerns. This I believe will save me from failing on this project.

Hello everybody. I just got my chance do a music video for an accomplish singer. I will be the cinematographer. There are two shots the director wants to get. Fortune cookie is the main element in the video and the story. The director wants to see the shore line filled with fortune cookies as the waves are bringing them to the beach. As an alternative we can use a mountain of fortune cookies at the beach. Since we don't have permit to shoot at the beach and throwing the fortune cookies in the ocean is not possible I am trying to find a way to achieve this by using practical effects. The biggest problem is that we need to shoot it this coming Tuesday. Not much time. I already rented a Laowa 24mm macro probe lens to get some of the shots we need. I was thinking of using this lens and forced perspective to get the effect of mountain of cookies. I am thinking of using a table covered with the same sand from the beach we will shoot. Then make a mountain of cookies on the table. By placing the singer in a distance place I am hoping I can get that shot. It would be better if we had smaller scale of fortune cookies but in this case it will look like a mountain of giant cookies. I am assuming that I can get this shot. How would I achieve the cookies hitting on the shoreline by the waves? The director herself will edit the video and I don't think she can do it in post. I can help her maybe if I can get some advice on how to shoot it. I was guessing that maybe we can do something with greenscreen. Maybe have them swim in a small pool in front of a green screen and some sand. I don't know. If anyone has idea please share it. I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

It is true. Also This time I used a different lut which lowered the exposure compared to the first lut I used which was Agfa Portrait lut. When I added the Agfa film lut it was much brighter and the highlights were pushed to the max. Then I tried this Leeming lut and I liked it at the time but you are right. I should've tweaked it after adding the light. I haven't finished editing the actual video. I just cut this for instagram. So I will tweak it to make it right. Thank you. Edit: Sorry I just got what you meant. Yes it is true I am not happy with the super shallow depth of field on this video. I liked the previous video better. That's exactly what I was telling my wife. It was a mistake but as I said I am learning. What matters actually is the food and I am ruining it with this shallow depth of field. Live and learn. I will keep that in mind next time. Thank you.

Hello Stephan, I just shot a new video with the same setup. This time I used the polarizer I had. I would love to hear your opinion if that made any difference. I believe except a couple of shots it clearly made difference. However I forgot about netting the close ups. That's why a couple of spoon shots have hot spots. Do you see anything bad caused by the polarizer? Color cast or anything? I would appreciate if you can answer. If you have time... Thank you. Here is the new video:

Thank you very much for the detailed comment Stephen. I really appreciate it. That helps a lot. I am new to shooting food. I always look for the reflections to see where the light is coming from or to determine the size and the type of the source etc when I’m analyzing a shot from a movie. However I didn’t think of doing that for this ?. If you realized I only mentioned the main light coming from the right side and said nothing about the other sources reflected by the things in the shot. I will always look for that from now on. Thank you for that. Honestly I had a polarized filter with me during the shooting. I put it on to see the effect. But I didn’t have a monitor with me. From the small lcd screen I couldn’t tell if it was degrading the image or not. So I left it out. I will check before the shoot tomorrow and use it if it’s good enough. I’ve had it forever and I’m not sure about the quality of it. If I’m not mistaken it’s a Hoya. However I will definitely use it from now on to eliminate it to reduce the reflections. Like I said I am new to this and learning. For the close ups. It’s the same principle as lighting a talent. You go softer as you get tighter. Thank you for that point too. I will keep studying. I really appreciate your comment. Thanks again.

I forgot to mentioned IRE values. What would be the ideal IRE values for dark and moody scenes. Is it something to consider. I thought it was. Any advice on that?

Hello, I just shot my first cooking video. I would appreciate some feedback. I will attach a link to a very short 1 minute cut of it for you to see. I am happy with it overall. However I think in some shots highlights could be kept at lower levels. Especially the shots of the onion. I am not sure though. It doesn't look that bad. I know the beginning and the end of the video don't seem completed. I just cut this to post to the instagram profile of the channel. The actual video is much longer and completed. Aside from your feedback for this video, I would like to get some advice on dark and moody lighting for my next cooking video. If you watch this video you will figure out my lighting setup. I will give references from this video to tell you what I have in mind for the next project. In this video I used an Aputure 300d with a 3'x4' soft box and I also added a white bed sheet 2-3 feet front of it. I positioned the light hitting from 10 o'clock to the chef and the set. I also added a bounce from the opposite side of where the light is. I hung black duvetyne behind and the sides of the chef to hide the setting which was my messy living room. For the next shoot I would like to create an image like in the attached photo. So for this one I am planning to use a honeycomb grid like snapgrid in front of the softbox. Get rid of the bed sheet and put black cutters to the both sides. I will also hang the duvetyne just like I did in the video. I will also get rid of the bounce I used and maybe add a negative fill instead. In my video light was hitting from a higher angle than this photo. I believe in this photo light is positioned very low from the ground. I believe my light in my video is much softer than the light in the photo. I will also have all the props dark colored. Please let me know if I am on the right track. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you in advance. Here is the link to the video: Osman Arslan

I was wondering how good Maine Media workshops are. If you knew in and out of cameras and lenses, if you didn't need to learn about cameras, lenses, framing, movement, etc and if you were more in need of lighting workshop, would you guys prefer Maine Media workshops or ASC master class. I live in NYC by the way. A two weeks workshop at MMW is around $2000. Then you'll have to pay $250 for the meal and around $900 for a basic place to stay. So it'll be more or less equal to ASC master class.

Amazing book! That's what I have been reading. I read the chicken coop lights part today. I'm loving it. Thank you for this amazing book. I was thinking of getting a color checker. Good to see it here. I'll definitely get it in a couple of weeks.

Thank you very much for your reply Bill. I think at this point I can only call myself a filmmaking student. Devoted for a life time. After attending to Illumination experience workshop I realized that in a single day I learned more than what I learned in film school in a semester. Based on my research and the previous attendees' comments about ASC master class I'm pretty sure it will be an amazing studying experience. It's not like I have lots of money and I can spend for something like this but I think it's worthed to save money to attend. My idea is this: I have really good amount of knowledge so if I attend to some cinematography class I'll be thought what I already know. A semester or two or even four can't teach me enough to pass where I am at as knowledge right now. Internet is full of content right now but whatever I read or watch right now is something I already know. Of course there is no limit in learning. That's why I'm on this site, and Roger Deakens' site all the time. These are the website's I learn most these days. Shane's inner circle is good too. In the end the best way to learn is to execute I think and make mistakes. That's why I will be shooting much more fro now on. And some assurance would be good. That's why I want to attend to this class. Do you have any other suggestions for a person like me to study more advance stuff? Thank you so much for your time and sharing.