Gabe Agoado

Thanks for the info. Did you get a Bolex H8 modified or one of the smaller models?

Thanks again. I checked out the website. Hopefully I can pull it off :)

Hey, just found this post and I am curious about this format. Forgive me if my question is stupid, but a lens that works for the reg8 or super8 frame will not work for the widened gate because the frame is 2x as large? So a lens at least made for 16mm cameras or 35mm still cameras would be needed?

Sorry that I did not specify: This is what I thought I was referring to, but what I meant was more like building up the front half of a foreground model and gluing it to a piece of glass. Searching through threads on this forum I found one that referred to that as like a "3-D Matte". What you say makes sense though, I will probably be better off blacking out part of the frame and then double-exposing in post. Dan, I don't have anything against cgi when used in the right application, I just have very little experience with it, and I think I would do a poor job. Imo a bad cgi job 9 times out of 10 will look worse than a bad practical effect, a la Sci-Fi channel original movies.

I would like to cover up some parts of a sci-fi set that aren't built in, and I want to use cgi only as a last resort. Matte paintings are typically for exteriors or very large interiors, does it make sense to shoot matte shots for a small-ish interior? The space is about 35 x 20 feet and the set walls are between 7-8 feet high, but the space itself has high ceilings that I want to cover with a matte. These are some demo walls I made when I was considering doing the whole thing with miniatures and animation. I was going to make some more of them, cut them to fit the mattes and then shoot them in forced perspective and soft focus so they look believable. The second picture is a rough outline of a matte shot. The purple border is the boundary of the set, the camera will be slightly above where the actors are standing. The actual shot will be taken farther away, from ~25 feet away from the actors using a normal lens. The area shaded in red is part of walls/ceiling that I want to matte out, part of the ceiling actually slopes down on an angle between the camera and the actors. Do I have to use glass or can I use acrylic?

I've visited that page before, unfortunately there is nothing there that refers to what I could use help with. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Hello, I have the Beaulieu 2008 Reflex Control model with the single contact in the center and the ground contact on the side. It was supplied with a wire to connect it to a battery. I'm not sure where it's from, but it does say "Made in Germany", so I'm thinking it could be an old model from Chambless or Wittnauer. The other side of the wire has a 6-pin DIN connector with the center pin broken off. There are a red and yellow wire each soldered to a separate contact, and a green and blue wire soldered together to another contact. I'm wanting to make a battery pack for this, either by using a female DIN plug or cutting off the DIN output and connecting the red/black wires from the battery pack directly. I've already figured out that I need two separate 2.4v packs, with 4.8v going to one contact and 2.4v going to another. What I need help with is figuring out what each wire from the dummy battery represents. I am thinking that the green and blue wires soldered to 1 contact are for 4.8v, and either the red or yellow is for 2.4v and the other is ground, but I can't find any corresponding information when I'm looking up wire color codes for Germany.

I ended up buying a like new Canon EOS M with lens, flash and battery for $200. Spent another $30 on lens adapters and extra batteries. Bought an audio XLR adapter/preamp for $25 and an EVF. In total spent under $400. Couldn't justify spending more than that when I'm not being paid to shoot anything atm. Nonetheless it takes very nice footage which doesn't look too perfect, which is perfect for me.

I'm not sure you understand my post. I am in the final steps of developing my thesis film, and the reason I asked if people have seen good student films is to get inspiration and motivation. I'm sorry, I didn't realize the predicament of low budget creativity that I myself am having to deal with. Go read the second post I made, because I do clarify that I'm not criticizing others on the basis of budget or time, just what they chose to do with their budget and time. Honestly I love crews full of people like me, we spend the whole shoot arguing, but the movie comes out better and we all go out for drinks and laughs afterwards. I would love to, but if I actually want to do anything besides being a PA, I need a resume, and student films are great resume builders. A bad movie is just a bad movie, no matter what level of budget or experience. I don't want to be sheltered from criticism because I'm a student, and I don't try to shelter others. If you've got some good student films to post about then please do, otherwise if you post something insulting me or making assumptions about me again, I'm just going to report it. Capisce?

From what I have read, these cameras are basically the same except for Mega Pixels and AF. Since the M can run magic lantern and the M2 cannot, does that make it more useful as a video tool because of higher bitrate video, being able to shoot raw, focus peaking, etc? If there are any M2 owners out there I would be happy to know their opinions, because it seems that it has great image quality with a lack of internal settings.

Thanks!

Are there any adapters available to adapt a cheap old EVF from something like an XL2 to work with a HDMI port? Like a 6 pin DIN to hdmi or something like that?

I was told by the guys at Du-All that my Nizo 6080 needs a new drive belt for the motor to run. I took it apart until I could get to the belt. The belt seems fine other than the fact that there is some slight slack when I turned the motor by hand. If the belt has stretched out and the slack is the reason it's not working, does anyone know of an accurate length measurement for a replacement belt? Does anyone own a service manual for this? I can't seem to find one.

If I am connecting a mic that needs phantom power, do I need a passive adapter that just provides phantom power or an active one with a pre-amp inside?

Don't joke about that making breakfast plot, I've seen it 3 times already. That animation is great. This is what a student film should be, find an interesting location, write a unique story, keep it simple but effective. I recently watched "Run Silent, Run Deep" and there's some of the brilliance of that movie in this. I show up on time and do what I am asked to do. If I am AC then I pull focus, set up the dolly or sticks, slate the shot, etc, but I'm not going to fix a bad script for someone or tell them how to do their job. I am very critical of other students because I am very critical of myself. And I know that I can do a better job because in my criticism I'm looking at what they could have done better had they spent more time writing, planning and researching. The bad student films I've seen are just downright lazy. ^This. I once sat through an hour long student movie that made fun of homeless people living in NYC. I would have walked out had I not been waiting to see my own movie.

I have crewed on a lot of student films in which the writing has been pure dog poop. Even if the writing is okay, a lot of the times the production ideas are very dull. "Lets make a movie about 2 characters falling in love and shoot it in my parents' house," that kind of poop. Then they go and shoot it like George Lucas shot the dialogue scenes in the Star Wars prequels. While I submit that a good director could make a good movie out of a dull concept, those are few and far in between. I've also seen my share of "avante-garde" student films that are cliche and stupid. The better or BEST student films I have been a part of have been action movies. Students actually seem to understand that a good action movie needs ACTION, but they don't seem to understand that any other movie also needs ACTION in it aswell. Science Fiction is often fun aswell, if anything for the incredibly low budget effects. Aside from a good script, what student films have you seen that set themselves apart from the pack by being fun, interesting or inspired? One of my favorites is Dark Star, which almost doesn't count because it had an actual budget. My least favorite is probably the one I'm shooting now LOL. The script is about a boy being bullied for no reason and there's no character development. Just trying to polish the turd with good camera work.

For sale I am offering my GY-HM170U which I have used on 2 projects and 1 wedding, shot about 12 hours of footage on it. Camera is in great condition, no problems with anything. I really love this camera, it's great for documentary style shooting or for corporate videos, but just wanting to trade up for something more appropriate for cinema shooting. Everything is in practically unused condition and I would be happy to provide pictures of anything included in the sale. The sale will include: JVC GY-HM170U (Camcorder + Top Handle with 2 XLR inputs) 12V AC Adapter (Also charges battery when battery is on camera) 7.2V 2200mAh Battery (Fully charged gives you about 1-1.5 hours shooting time) Lens Hood Lens Cap Porta-Brace Rain Cover Pearstone Camcorder Bag (Model # DVC777) Price: $1,175 If interested, please email me: gagoado@gmail.com

Not exactly sure what you mean there. The batteries were put in with the correct polarity, the adapter I used was a DC adapter, as specified on the recorder, just 1.5v over. I put in a tape with music on it, tried out play, fast-forward, record and rewind and it didn't spin. The lights on the VU meters didn't dim at all when I tried this. Are belts something that are easy to replace?

There was a very tiny amount of corrosion on the contact which I cleaned off with isopropyl alcohol. I popped in batteries and nothing happened. However when I plugged it into the wall with a 7.5V charger because I didn't have a 6V one, the VU meter lights came on but nothing else worked. I didn't think that much difference in voltage would be an issue, but if there is a blown fuse I will try to find it.

I bought a Sony TC-D5M in decent condition off of Ebay, it won't power on. I was considering returning it and just trying to find another one but it's a recorder that's been modified by "The Film Group" to run at crystal sync speed, which is something they charge $375 for (double what I paid for the recorder) so I figure I will hang onto it. I live in NY and there seems to be only 1 place that maintains analog equipment and their prices are high. I asked this same question on Tapeheads.net, but does anyone know a good place to get one of these things repaired?

In terms of DIY, you don't need to do any re-centering. You can widen the gate and then remove the lens mount and widen the square in the center to match what you did to the gate. The lens mount has a piece of plastic that you have to remove before you can get it off, it's a pain in the ass. I have no idea what you'd need to do for the viewfinder. It'd be a good idea to buy a cheap parts camera and practice on that before you do anything to your main camera. Ultimately you have to figure out how valuable the camera is to you. Du-All in NYC may be able to do a Max-8 modification for a better price then pro8mm. I've gone to them for a camera CLA before and they're prices are very reasonable. What Pro8mm will do for $1,300, they may only ask $200-300 for the modification and then $300 for the CLA if you want it. But definitely check ahead to see if it's actually something they do.

Compared to a Scoopic MS, another K3, and some Super-8 cameras. I got lucky with it because it's one of the "new old stock" ones with the dials in English. I've never had it cleaned, but even compared to an older one with Russian dials that I rented (which had been cleaned recently) it was 1/2 as loud.

In that case I will stick with my K3. It's surprisingly quiet.

Can an Arri S model be modified to shoot Super or Ultra 16? Also, I shot MOS with an Arri S before, I don't remember how quiet it was. Can these cameras be used to shoot sync sound with a heavy blanket or barney placed over them?

Not the sound, I liked the sound quite a bit, thought it worked. I think the color of the video you have works great for the cartoon. I was thinking of the typical quality I'm used to seeing in a live action movie on VHS. The analog sound has been something I've been wanting to try for a year as a stylistic choice, and it will have a purpose in the movie. I'm already shooting the movie in 16mm and going to scan it at at least 3k resolution though, so the VHS trick might be taking away the benefit of a high resolution scan imo. I do have a VHS player lying around though, so might give it a shot just for fun, don't want to do it if it's not going to have a purpose in the movie.