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Vincent Aalbertsberg

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  • Occupation
    Student
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    Paris
  1. Thank you David, very helpful answer. It does change my idea of lighting and practicals, because (as a student) i used to really separate lighting and set/props, and even though a practical emits light, to only use it as decoration and a little for lighting the set. And even when a practical was very obviously supposed to be lighting the subject in the film, I'd always want to light it with a fresnel or whatever powerful unit to 'override' the light of the practical, being afraid of blown out parts (I guess that's partly because I generally shoot on lower-end cameras, meaning less dynamic range and uglier overexposure). I think I'm going a little off topic here, but anyways, thank you.
  2. I have a question about this "bounced on the table" technique. In order to get enough light on their faces, it seems to me that the power of the light would just completely blow out the table, but here it is barely overexposed. (however you can see clearly on the faces that the light is coming from below, so i guess it's really coming from the table) How is that possible ? Is it just linked to the camera DR that allows this ?
  3. Well that's unfortunate (I can't give it back, shipping costs + import tax I already paid would be more expensive than the camera)... The thing is, I might be waay overcautious since I just got it... Since the first post, I already went a lot further than before with the winding stick, and it feels stronger (I'll have to try with film). Also, maybe the film is the problem, because at some point it got completely stuck, and manually removing the film from the camera actually immediately unblocked it (the film does have a few creases, I don't know if it can impact it, or maybe I just did not put it right). Also Tyler, I think you did not understand (or i didn't, which is more probable since english is not my native language), the thing is, without film it's super smooth, and with film it has problems. So maybe I did not wind it enough/the film's shape doesn't allow the camera to work fine/a little bit of both ? (I won't know until I try brand new film) And Mark, are you sure about the single perf ? Because I read all over the place that they were originally double perf, and some were afterwards modified (and although I'm not familiar with this stuff, it really looks like it has two ranges of "teeth", one on each side of the sprocket...)
  4. Hello, I just received my bolex H16 non-reflex today (still no lens though hehe, still a week or two), and I have a few questions about it : The first thing that bothers me a bit is that (although it sounds quite fine when empty), when I load it with test film provided by the seller (I don't know if it's actual film, it's all black, and some stuff is written on it with small holes), the speed seems to vary... Starts well, and then after a few seconds, it gets a little slower, or significantly slower and then up again at normal speed. Is there anything (I'm thinking oiling maybe) that could help with that ? The second thing is about rewinding the motors, I'm pretty scared of breaking it (first day, so, you know), so when it gets a little hard, I stop, should I go further ? Last thing, it seems like there is much more single perf film than double perf, and that it would be easier to have a single perf camera if I need to buy some out of date film for cheap... I've read everywhere that's it's pretty easy, even to do it alone, but no actual method, any one of you already did it/know a way to do it ? I guess that's it for now (although I'm sure trouble is only starting)... If you have any advice on using this camera, it would be great as well, thank you all, Vincent. PS : I am no film guy (yet), this is the first time I ever own or actually even touch a film camera.
  5. Thanks for the very quick reply ! And I guess I will go Jessica Jones style, that's what I had planned anyways and I don't really have time nor money to rent new lights, but I thought it was worth giving it a shot ! Thanks anyway, your advices will most probably be very useful on futur projects. Vincent.
  6. Hello, just a quick question here : I'll be soon shooting a video, and there will be some photography flashes in a scene. So I wanted to know if there was a way to avoid the ugly effect that flashes make on video, maybe by tweaking the shutter speed or something, or if real flashes are just not usable (i'll be using a DSLR so, you know, rolling shutter). Thanks !
  7. Thanks for the responses ! So maybe find a practical that will provide some fill, use the LED's and gels to get your color contrast - maybe red key one of the people, and bring lots of cheap reflectors. I have not used the iPhone to shoot anything, but I find those types of cameras hard to light for. If you can gain control over the camera in software, I would choose an aperture that allows for the amount of light you have (lets say f/4 or whatever), and use a light meter to set up the stage, and allow the shadows fall off into black. I assume because of your want of chiaroscuro, you'll have the LED's more hard lit than defused. Shooting the conversation is all up to you for setup. Are you going to do over the shoulder? Are you going to shoot coverage/reactions... is this a one take... there are still a lot of questions you could think about. Just some suggestions. The thing I would be worried about is digital gain on the iPhone... There's one thing i'm not sure I understood : to "red key" someone. Does that simply mean to set a red keylight on them ? Otherwise, since the short film is mainly based on the plot and the ending, I was going for something pretty simple and not too distracting, one shot ore something close, maybe some over the shoulder, but since they have like 2 lines, i'm thinking some one shot could be best for the movie. For the digital gain, I was going for the lowest ISO setting i could, and then maybe add some fill (through practical or some LED panels), and then, if needed, contrast/draken the image to get closer to that chiaroscuro look... Yes of course, Blade Runner is the first reference I can think of, and I actually haven't seen it in a long time, so i sure will ! Thank you for the very organized questions :) I'll try to answer them all : as I said, I don't know where i'll be shooting yet so I don't know about the power outlets yet, but since it is unlikely I'll have access to some, I'll just assume I need some battery powered lights. I'll have probably 2 or 3 people in my grip crew. I have about two weeks with nothing planned, and I intend to use them for the location scout. You're totally right about the hard light, but the thing is the association that allows me to rent lights for almost no money doesn't have plenty of battery powered lights, and they are almost all LED's panels, so not extremely hard (although they can be pretty hard if not too diffused), but I can't really afford anything else... My shot(s) is (are) going to be quite close, so I don't need so much power... I do have access to some diffusion, and I personally have a reflector, and I guess i can build some cheap ones for almost nothing. And yeah I also thought about some discrete futuristic screen or "exit" panel I could add in post that could help achieve the look. It's a little complicated, cause if they don't look perfect, they will only break the look, so it's a pretty tricky thing. I'll do some research before the actual shooting, and see if I'm able to get something good. If not, I'll just pass...
  8. Hello everyone ! So I'm working on this (very) short film, and I basically need to make it look like one scene takes place in the future. I'll be going for a dark mood (since it's a pretty negative view of the future), chiaroscuro, really play with the contrast, some blue lighting overall (with some use of color contrast here and there). Now here's the tricky part : This film is written for a festival that has some specific rules, the main one being you have to shoot it on a cellphone. Now, for those who haven't left reading "shoot it on cellphone", I'll admit it seems pretty cumbersome (if that's the right word), but I guess it's pretty much the purpose of this festival to see what we can do without any professional gear (the first prize being 30 000€ and a producer to help you create your first short film). I intend to shoot it on an iPhone with some app, such as Filmic Pro or similar, that allows me to set iso, shutter speed and focus manually. All right, now that you have the main problem, here's another one : being a student, I don't have plenty of money. I guess at this point it looks pretty hopeless, but here's what I plan to do : where I live, there is this association that allows us to rent 3 lights (anything in the limits of available stocks, so LEDs, fresnel, kino, redhead...) for 25€ a day ; and i was going for a 3 LEDs pack (that i've shot with multiple times, so I know them quite well), mainly because i intended to shoot it in an underground parking (in a corridor, to give it some "futuristic hangar stuff" kind of look). In the next weeks I'll be doing some location research to try and find the best location, but it's still very challenging. So, to recap : I have to shot a futuristic scene, in a parking (or if you have some other kind of of places that could look good as well to suggest), with 3 LED panels (and gels), and the practicals, with an iphone. The good thing is that I don't especially need no some very wide shot to show the set, since the plot makes it obvious that it takes place in the future, and my goal is only to maintain the illusion, while giving it this dark, disenchanting vision of the future. So, since I've been visiting this website for a while now, I'm really looking forward to any good advice you might have, or some movie references, or anything :) One last thing, about the content of the scene. It's basically two people entering the corridor through a door and then talking, so it's mainly about lighting two persons at once. Thank you ! (hope my english is understandable)
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