Jay Young

This statement may be true, but it doesn't explain why "multi-million dollar productions" use them as expendable crash cameras. Where before they used Canon, now GoPro and the BM Pocket is used. I am continually impressed by the pocket camera from BlackMagic. I also hate rolling shutter, but I haven't seen better color from a Canon. I have seen great Rec.709 Video color. The Panasonic GH5 also makes a very nice pretty picture, but I wouldn't want to grade it. I can push Blackmagic footage as far as I want, cut it with Alexa footage, grade it, and it looks great. There are many shows who deploy PL mount Blackmagic cameras along side their Alexa cameras with no problems. I find it hard to believe that a cheap Canon camera without the capability of RAW output can exceed the color depth of RAW 16bit data stored in a 12bit log file.

The other problem is Feature length films shot digitally in 14 days with a crew paid less than $100/day. Never cutting creates time issues. More feature films want less days and less budget but more footage. Producers need to understand what they are asking, just as much as directors.

I agree. I cut cameras myself if this starts to happen. If I even think I hear anyone on set say "just keep rolling" I just walk over and turn the camera off. After about an hour, things get back to normal, and no one questions cutting any more.....

Wait, there is an EXTENDED version of Die unendliche Geschichte? I must research this! That film is one of my favorites - on my very short list of things I might like to remake as a Director. However, given the shortcomings of the time period, I understand the changes made in the film over what the book describes.

'19 (500T) is just about the most amazing stock ever made. I have seen it underexposed and pushed two stops, looks fab. I have seen it overexposed 2/3's stops and this generally is the preferred method, producing a very nice, dense, negative. Some people prefer '13, 200T pushed over 500T. I suppose that might lessen the grain present, but I have never seen this projected. I know it was tested for Saving Private Ryan but I don't know if they used that process in the film. 50D looks gorgeous just about any way, as long as you have the light. I would love to see this overexposed, but I guess I'll have to do that test myself.

Why are you thinking you will need such heavy ND? The Aputure LED fixture will not give much through any sort of window. A 1.2K HMI PAR would be much more useful. I feel like some of your questions could best be answered by your professors. Knowing that an 8x8 foot frame is generally standard equipment on a small grip package is one thing. Knowing how to use and deploy that frame with particular rags is best left to a mixture of guidance and experience.

For week No.3, we were all indoors in a real clinic/hospital type place, and the head Doctor/Owner was fantastic to work with, really gave us the run of the place. The director wanted a Super Secret Futuristic Hi-Tech clinic look, and flares. We opted to go Anamorphic for this shoot, as the previous had been shot spherical and they wanted a completely different look. We had been talking about this particular shoot location for a long while and always knew we wanted to go Anamorphic here, however I suspected when the producers saw the footage, they would want to keep the anamorphic, so I framed the first week of spherical shooting so we could crop if needed. The electric team really enjoyed lighting the clinic location, as we had a bunch of LED sources of various types and a few small tungsten fresnels (never leave home without them). We also had three S60 Lightpanels. These things are very cool. The 10-blade Decagon iris made its appearance every now and then, which was cool. Because of budget constraints, and location issues, we were on house power only. Luckily the rental house had made a mistake and did not have the lenses I requests, so they sent us a set of LOMO SuperSpeeds which opened to T1.6. The 35mm in the set is just about the most complex lens from the 70's I have ever seen. I didn't even know there was such a thing, but this allowed be to shoot around T2.8 for the whole week which was fantastic. It's not my ideal situation, but it worked out in our favor. I had requested the original round front LOMO anamorphic set, as I felt the flare characteristic and skin tones would lend itself well to this story.

I was aware of the 4K requirement, but I did not know they also required digital acquisition. I was thinking, politically, that someone might be able to have original camera negative other than Netflix, and might down the road be able to utilize that in some way which may be a reason to require digital camera only. But I understand the need to be consistent about their goals and marketing. I'm glad I know that now!

I wonder why it matters for Netflix acquisition to be in the digital realm. Surely they could have shot on film and scanned in at whatever range they wanted. I smell politically motivated forces behind this.

Great resources, thanks! I already own the Malkiewicz book, but perhaps I should seek out the first edition, as I have the latest printing. I've been reading up on Doug Slocombe, Geoffrey Unsworth, and John Allcott as they lit some of my favorite films. I'll look into these other books as well.

Yes. I read that a few days ago. Then I told the sound recordest we were switching to true 24. All is well!

Yes, there was visible banding at normal speed, rolling up. It was being powered off mains, and I am not positive there wasn't something else on that circuit. Who knows. I did not solve the issue with the fixture, but rather opened the shutter to 180-degrees which allowed us to continue.

I am having a frustratingly difficult time finding resources about classic lighting techniques involving large tungsten units. One would think in the last 100 years of cinema that someone would have written something down. Every search about 10k fresnels brings up an article about the new Mole-Richardson LED, which is lovely, but not what I am after. Does anyone have any recommended reading about lighting techniques before the HMI was invented? I've got plenty of resources from the 1920's forward, which are very interesting, but nothing about techniques in the 50's - 80's. I'm more interested in the techniques of making hard light look soft, from those masters of lighting we have lost in the past several years. These resources seem the most difficult to find. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I see my last post never made it for some reason... The ballast was electronic, and ARRI brand. I solved the issue this time round by renting 10k's..... I have nothing but problems out of HMI's - personally. Although the Joker 200/400 is nice.

Your rental house will likely have a standard package ready to go. And, unless you have preferences for equipment, or specific needs, this may work well for you. I've slowly been converting myself over to Sachtler sticks, as the head comes with the package and is usually sufficient to take the weight of a basic Alexa package. Previously, and still when I rent large camera packages, I stick with the Ronford or Oconnor sticks and heads. You didn't say which Alexa you were shooting with, so I'll assume its not the Mini, or Studio. When you get the Alexa, in the box should be the following: Arri Alexa HS Camera w/ EVF-1 Electronic Viewfinder 2 vf cables (Long, Short) vf bracket Ext. Bracket Center Camera Handle w/ ext., 12v accs. cable., shoulder pad, bridge plate adpt., Lev. block, v mount adpt, 19mm bridge plate, dovetail, 2x - 24v power cables, Audio Y cable, Timecode cable Ethernet cable, 2gb sd card, 2 tools AB Tandem 150 ac/ps, If you plan on doing any filter work, you'll need a matte box which will come with its own accessories. I would go 6x6 personally, but I like big cameras. The MB-14 4x5 box is excellent too, and not too large. The rental house will provide you with a set of lenses, your chose based on availability. If shooting Anamorphic, there are 4:3 sensor Alexas available. A selection of 19mm rods Since you seem to be a 1st AC, you probably have your own preference about follow focuses. There are many, they all work the same. Always get a hard follow focus, manual - studio style setup. I can't tell you how many times the wireless follow focus has crapped out in the middle of a shoot. I've seen prestons laying apart in pieces with AC's and flashlights trying furiously to get them to work more often than they work. Arri FF IV with Whip will save the day. Better to have it than not. If you require a focus monitor, get one. SmallHD is not the only, or the best brand available. I ALWAYS carry Anton Bauer Cine VCLX Battery w/ chgr, chgr cable, accessories. This is the big blue box battery that weighs many pounds. My AC's love to change out those Gold Mount Cine 90's or whatever we happen to have, which is great for hand held or stedicam work, but when I'm on sticks, just get me the big battery - I hate changing batteries. Panavision sends THREE of these with each camera no matter what. Your rental house will likely include these by default. The rental house will also include plenty of mags - usually 8 or 10 media cards appropriate for the camera. Most of the Alexa line can be setup to use SXS cards, unless you have a different workflow - in that case please discuss your needs with the rental house. As far as LUT's go, if you want to go Teradek, they can load luts on the teradek and display them on the DP or Director monitor. I usually travel with a production monitor that can hold LUT's in and not worry about the Teradek because its menu is wonky. While you CAN do it, I'll recommend you go to Arri's website and look that information up yourself if you want the camera to do it - you'll need to know how to navigate the menus yourself anyhow.

I do wish he would have went more hard lit. It was always a noir film.

I have been trying to find a digital camera with a less sensitive sensor. Three years ago the D-21 was exclaimed to be "more film like" even against the Alexa. Perhaps the new SXT model has gone beyond that claim. Do those who used the camera feel it vould still be useful? Im shooting a show right now and lighting at asa 100 and 200 around T4/5.6. Mostly tungsten, with a tow plant its not an issue. The D-21 seems to check all the boxes for my personal tastes in a camera: 2K, optical viewfinder, spinning shutter, low base iso. I assume I could throw an SDI 2k recorder onboard and go? Im certainly not going HDCAM tape these days. I guess no one shootes like me, and I dont get hired to shoot like everyone else. I assume its going to be hard to find openminded thoughs pn the subject, but I figured I would ask here, where the experience is. When I first watched Downton Abbey, I thought it was a 35 millimeter show. It was not until two years later that I learned that it was a digital show, and it was not until last year that I learned that it was first shot on the D21. I guess the real question is, if I have the power and the lighting units available and the D21 gives me the image that I like, why not use it?

FotoKem still sends out carbon copy reports, just like they always have.

Well I learned some things today. Mostly that 23.98 is just simply not HMI safe. One can minimize it, but 24 fps is not the same as 23.98 when it comes to power and flicker calculations. I'll just shoot at 24 from now on and let post figure it out. I don't have time on set to solve these issues trying to keep post-production happy and efficient.

At NAB this year, the Panasonic guys were trying really hard (even with beer!) to get me to jump on board the 5000iso train. They had a beautiful black room and model lit with a cineo remote phosphor lamp. It looked ok. This was a great demo for 5000iso. BUT - for some reason I couldn't get them to understand that shooting in that style meant that actors were back to hitting exact marks, because if they moved even centimeters they would be a whole stop under or over. Personally, I tend to shoot at lower "film speeds" as the budget allows, but I am preping a feature where there is no budget and I need to figure out a way to shoot without a lot of light. Its all very interesting. On another note, I read an article that said a lot of digital archival work is being written out to film because it lasts a while longer.

The ETC guy told me they were not quite as bright as a 750, but they should be able to easily replace a 575.

This particular shoot a Blackmagic Ursa 4.6k with the new operating system. The black shading calibration tends to affect the blue channel far more than the others, which is something I didn't really have to deal with on the 4K sensor, which is my preferred chip. The only reason I mentioned the blue channel is that was being affected most by the HMI flicker. It would calm down after re-calibration on the black shading, but still was visible. I ended up just shooting those sequences at 180-degree shutter, which solved the issue.

Yesterday's office actually. Everyone gathered around my monitor for some reason - big stedicam walk and talk. First time with the new SmallHD 1703, and I quite like it. Very easy to use.

Lets just say that we had some green grips/electric - and when I went to the truck after wrap I discovered that all of the things I had ordered were in fact on the truck, including spare globes... AND TAPE.... they'll learn some day.

There is a new LED Leko that uses multi-color LED's and the lens to create white light. If you take the lens off you get what I like to call "party-mode" ! Then there are Daylight and Tungsten LED units, which are stronger in each respective color temp, but can produce each color. This really means that certain color choices are more saturated than others depending on the fixture. You're searching for the ETC Source 4 LUSTER or HD models.