Max Field

Like the title says: Do you care if your grips/gaffers/ACs have extensive film theory knowledge?

It feels like in the vast majority of current film programs teach far more film study and film theory than anything else. But this presents the question, if you're a seasoned cinematographer (this being the minority of jobs on a set) and know where to point people, do you really care if they know every little aspect of film theory?..
Do you want them challenging your decisions as a result of this extensive film theory knowledge?

I don't mean knowing the basis of 3 point lighting, I mean which lighting array does what to tell the story.

At the end of the day, where do you slide the percentage scale for general gear know-how versus storytelling?

Honestly it feels like Youtube has more free film history and film theory than any other aspect of filmmaking, might not need to spend a cent.

It really depends on the look you're going for, but when shooting something with the intention of slowmo playback you generally want to crank the shutter speed to a smaller proportional fraction. Frame rate plugging into the equation of shutter angle could possibly keep the angle 180 for all of these but another thing that affects where you want to put it is how rapid the motion in front of the camera is.

Power grid could also affect light flicker if the shutter speed isn't proportional to the frequency.

5 hours ago, Stuart Brereton said:

As far as I can tell from the user manual, 6k is first windowed down to 5.7k (5744 x 3024) then scaled down to 4K, so it sounds like you lose a little of the sensor area initially. This assumes you are shooting 4K DCI. If you’re actually shooting UHD 16:9, it’s scaled directly from the 6k

Thanks, I have another question and I can't seem to find the actual user manual via Google or the BM website.

Do you know what shooting modes are blocked off when recording with only an SD card?

Hey could any Pocket 6K owners confirm how/if the 6K crops when shooting in 4K? Or does it scan the whole imager and downsize? Or do the every other section thing?

I really want to get as much footage as possible and don't really need 6K or anything.

Thank you.

I remember getting a bunch of gunshot samples of Detonation Films way back like 12 years ago. I use them in quick projects every now and then. No one notices the low res when it's only there for 4 frames, though I have to put some filters on them to really get a nice pop.

The angled flash suggested by @David Mullen ASC is great if you want actual control and a super crisp look (whether the effect is added in post or on set). I'm just wondering if something that's only a couple frames fast would need a global shutter to be captured.

Wouldn't rule out that effect being done in post entirely, I know some After Effects guys are super meticulous with adding spill light.

And with the instagram era, people thinking they're the best DP of their own face has exploded exponentially.

What was it shot on?

Have you ever used an F900R before and it didn't have the menus?

I recall asking someone about the R camera in 2017 and they might've mentioned it also needed a Miranda converter for a truly clean capturable signal. Stating that none of the 900s could go straight SDI out

Shane Hurlbut might be the best free resource on Youtube:

Also some shorter ones out there:

12 hours ago, Larry Stone said:

This is a small one person crew, I'm only looking to light one person for Interviews or Short Narratives Shots. 

As someone working similar shoots most of the time. Tungsten is a good investment given how cheap it is. You can always ditch them for a quick buck later on and upgrade to something fancier.

The heat is a complaint for some talent (usually when they're in coats or overweight) but 650s or 1Ks still pack a nice punch even through very saturated gels. It can be annoying to have lights you need to be careful with especially as a one man crew, but you quickly learn to adapt.

Shane Hurlbut actually had a good piece on this when it came to shooting height differentials for The Greatest Game Ever Played (child and adult actors in one scene). Picking an aspect ratio of 16:9 as opposed to cinemascope can really save you when trying to keep all the characters in frame.

As for the close up stuff, have your shorter talent stand on an apple box or have your taller talent widen their stance to land a bit lower. People aren't going to thoroughly dissect little height difference cheats if your script is engaging. You'd be surprised how much stuff you can get away with that the lens isn't pointed at.

10 hours ago, Ben Ericson said:

Here's a good example. Newest Drake track, Shot on 16mm with with the Arri 416. 184 Million Views. Does it get more Gen Z or Millenial than that?

Yeah I love scrolling through the comments to see virtually no one commenting on what the video was shot on. They could've shot this on an iPhone and the feedback would be identical. My point is in the ROI margins.

Also most Gen Zers kinda view Drake as a meme at this point.

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The two biggest features of 2020 are film; Bond and Tenet. Wonder Woman is 65 and a quiet place 2 is 35mm. Nobody is shooting a feature on the C500 Mk2, Ursa 12k, or the Sony FX9, but those cameras are able to exist. Maybe the market in general is bigger than you think. 

I'd like to think we're discussing productions that don't have the entire machine behind them? Billionaires can spend whatever they want, half a million is a drop in the bucket to them.

I fail to see the logic when everyone here seems to agree that regardless film or digital, it's all about the screenplay and production design for making a good movie.

So with that in mind, multiple posts here have stated that just producing a final feature print for projection is around $10,000+?
Why should we cling on to far more expensive methods when the majority of moviegoers won't even care?

1 hour ago, Simon Gulergun said:

16mm is still core curriculum at CalArts. Half our classes are film production on film (from A/B cutting to experimental hand-processing and contact printing) and half our screening classes are on film, from 8mm to 35mm.

Not arguing that but what percent of active CalArts students make up the total number of people in narrative production? Less than 1%? How many of them continue trying to secure film for their projects after the school is no longer providing handouts/discounts?

I'm getting at an economic issue. Rather than trying to save film we should be pushing digital companies into better color capture methods.

1 minute ago, Robino Jones said:

I have no idea.. you can call them they're in L.A.

What is "gimmick shooting" and why do you care so much about how many?

The average age on this forum is well above 40 trying to comment on what kids are doing. I'm on sets and productions with Gen Zers all the time and none of them even consider film for a second. Betacam and early CineAlta is the cool vintage scene to them. The only time I ever catch wind of someone under 30 shooting film is when it's for gimmicky skate-footy

1 minute ago, Robino Jones said:

At Reel Good where I purchase my film,  the owners always tell me that students and young people are the ones buying the most film - mostly 16mm.

For what purpose? Gimmick shooting or entire narratives? Do they say the amount?

On 7/26/2020 at 3:33 AM, Jon O'Brien said:

The number of uber-keen kids out there who love film, absolutely it is their dream, is huge. These young kids will be the vanguard of a whole new movement in bringing back cinema film projection

Please define "young" and "the number"

On 7/27/2020 at 2:07 AM, Tyler Purcell said:

from just the people I work with, the "film" movement is MOSTLY young people. 

Sorry but I need numbers on this. I exclusively work with young people and film isn't even a fathomable option in that demographic.

42 minutes ago, David Mullen ASC said:

Maybe 20 years ago I walked into the Navy Museum in Washington D.C. because it had a sign outside that said "70MM!" (for me, that's like a sign that says "GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS" for some other gentlemen...) So I watched this IMAX-like doc on aircraft carrier life that was projected in an aspect ratio between 3:1 and 4:1 on a curved screen for a pseudo-Cinerama effect.

I recall IMAX screens being a surprisingly regular thing at various DC Smithsonian Museums. Did you view any of the other IMAX screens on the mall?

On 7/19/2020 at 2:56 AM, Stuart Brereton said:

So anyone who disagrees with your subjective opinion is in denial of basic facts? That’s a rather arrogant and close minded stance for a student to take.

Rather arrogant to assume the earth is round, globehead!

On 7/17/2020 at 3:43 PM, Stuart Brereton said:

The year is 2249, and cinematographers gather for the annual Film vs. Digital debate, now in its 241st year...

Don't worry by 2065 the film fanbase will have died off.

Rolling my eyes kinda hard at this. Who's needing 12K for anything past a security camera? Who can run 12k on their computer??

Now let's look at the numbers of actual corporate ownership of people who aren't white..

Gonna find it much harder to find thick percentages in that, and look at the amount of people overlooking that issue from both sides of the political spectrum!

1 hour ago, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

As Donny Trump Jr. recently said regarding Instagram's 'Mute Whites' option, if it is against whites...it isn't racist.

Racist =/= Prejudice..........

I'm wasting my time, no way Tim Tyler let's this thread make it to August.