Nathan Walters

I'm sure someone can chime in who is more technically savvy than me. But my thought is this. Shooting on a RED Gemini, a sensor with dual native ISO, and limiting it to 250 ISO seems like an unnecessary hindrance. Wouldn't shooting at its native ISO of 800 or 3200 actually give it the cleanest images and optimal dynamic range? I would do some low light tests at higher ISOs and re-evaluate that decision.

Using a net (single or double) to control the light more precisely so it isn't just a blanket exposure over whatever it hits. I imagine this would be hard with MCs and may be easier with a larger light source. Notice in the Euphoria shot how it is significantly brighter over her nose and mouth than her eyes. Her mouth and just barely the bottom of edge of frame are the highest exposed parts of the image. Versus in your shot, the shirt, the pillows are the brightest and most attention grabbing and it pulls your eye away from his face. It also looks like the Euphoria shot has some interesting shadows which you can mostly see on the blankets around her, especially on the right. Which would be getting a good tree branch or some kind of gobo to put in front of the light and help break it up.

I've noticed film starting to make a very successful comeback in my market of Atlanta, due to some very successful efforts from KODAK Film Lab Atlanta. Primarily through heavy efforts to push practical education in how to handle film. The truth is, most people my generation or later (I'm 32) would LOVE to be shooting on film if there were better resources in how to do so. And it seems those resources are starting to catch up with the next generation.

What an incredible resource. I would love to see this grow further!

Glad to know I'm not the only one to overall prefer the RED look over some other sensors. I'm mostly shooting what I would describe as grungy science fiction, so I feel the RED's color science has been a better fit for what I look for. Even though most of my peers think I'm crazy. I have a friend who just bought a dragon about a year ago, and he's not able to rent it out that often. There's so many comparable REDs floating around the market at this point in time. You'll probably get significantly more rental revenue on the raptor.

Yes; 1/2 silent grid cloth has been my flavor of choice lately. I have found them odd to purchase but I found a pretty optimal place (in the States at least) to be BarnDoor. https://www.filmandvideolighting.com/search-results.html?query=grid+cloth

I'm sure a lot of others on here would have much better advice than me. But having a VFX background, I'll say having rain shouldn't be a deal breaker when considering green screen. It's possible to key and maintain a level of smoke when using green screen, so I don't see why rain would be different. Then as long as you're getting some good splatter on the car itself and some rain on the windshield, you could add the proper level/intensity of the falling rain using a VFX particle generator such as Trapcode Particular, and really dial it to tastes. Of course, then you're allocating budget to VFX and probably wouldn't hurt to do some thorough tests to make sure you can pull a solid key with the motion blur of the rain itself.

I remember coming here 8 years ago, early in my career, and getting some great advice from David Mullen and the rest of the vets here. Advice I still carry to this day. That definitely gave me a huge confidence boost like I had some inside knowledge from those at the top of the cinematography craft. This community has always been such a hidden gem.

I like to do what I call a "Cinematography Scheme" for each scene. Granted, I've never talked to anyone else who does this. But basically it is the logline for the cinematography of the scene. So that if someone asked me about the cinematography for a certain scene, I could almost just recite the "cinematography scheme." It covers: What's the color temp? Quality of light? Lighting motivation sources. Weird phrases to describe the feel of the scene (e.g. "land of the dead"). Will there be extra elements such as haze? Camera support. Color palette. Mood. etc etc etc.

I'm in the same boat, looking to soon upgrade my laptop for data wrangling purposes, or being able to edit smaller projects on the road when need be. I've been a Mac guy for a while now, and am a bit scared that they are going down the tubes. One thought of input. Aren't HFS+ formatted cards only compatible with Mac, and thus could have troubles when trying to offload onto Windows? Assuming you had an AC that assumed to format the card to HFS+ without asking first.

I started on a T3i but haven't used it in quite a bit. I may be COMPLETELY wrong, but I think those settings are in reference to taking photographs and not video. Video, you pretty much have 720p or 1080p. All of it is recorded to H264 which unfortunately, doesn't leave you much to work with in color grading, though you can still do a good bit in practice. The t3i cannot record Raw. Although I think if you install Magic Lantern, you can record raw as well as have numerous more frame rate options. Plus more option in audio. But installing Magic Lantern voids any warranties you may have. The biggest thing I can recommend is to install a flat picture profile. I always used Technicolor's Cinestyle, though there are a few others out there. It records a much flatter image and increases the dynamic range significantly. It definitely saved me in being able to get enough detail in situations that would have been unacceptably dark otherwise.

I was actually paid from a "deferred payment" gig a couple months. I had no real expectation of actually being paid, but was thrilled and honestly shocked when I was. The project didn't make any money but they decided to pay me out of pocket later, which was greatly appreciated. That being said, I think the safe bet is that when you see "deferred payment," to assume it means "no payment." Though maybe I'm just cynical.

I think virtual reality has huge potential. Obviously right now, it's used primarily for gimmick purposes. But people said the same thing about film. It will take a long time, possibly even decades, but I think it could be a viable new technology for story telling. Starting out, it will probably be used heavily in the gaming world. But upon maturation, I think it could be much more. Though the scariest implication for cinematography, I feel, is the lack of being able to frame an object, since the main point of VR is for the viewer to be able to look anywhere they choose. Will take some experimentation, I'm sure.

Very nice and a major congrats. I saw Kiefer perform music a couple weeks ago and heard something about this. Hugely excited to watch this.

I was looking into cameras on a similar budget and went with the Blackmagic side of things. Only thing I should note is it won't do nearly as well in low light as Canon DSLRs or from what I've heard, the a7s. Other than that, it's a pretty phenomenal camera for lower budgets. Note, I got the Blackmagic Production Camera 4k right before they announced the Ursa/Ursa Mini; so maybe they've adjusted things since then.