Matt Lazzarini

Depends on your budget, ofcourse. With a few grand, I'd get a quad-G5 or one of the newer MacPro's with Final Cut Universal. Ideally, a 20" or 23" Apple Cinema Display along with it. For post-'film look', I'd invest in Magic Bullet.

Maybe Vancouver has stringent rules, but in Toronto you don't need 'permission' so to speak to become a P.A. You just ask around and eventually someone will hire you. I've never heard of a 'P.A. Helper' position around here.

I know several issues of American Cinematographer include lighting plans/diagrams. Perhaps you can try their website, ASC Magazine, and wade through their archives?

I find I have the most trouble coming up with a creative and interesting lighting plan for the dreaded 'basement apartment' scene. For some reason I've had to shoot a lot of scenes in such locations, and they always have white walls! Ugh :angry:

Heh it just reminded me of picking up the Tetsuo dvd in a store and doing a double take when I looked at the credits :P

The credit list for this film is quite humourous. It lists Shinya Tsukamoto as: director, writer, producer, dop (along with Kei Fujiwara), editor, and art director. He also acts in the film :blink:

Interesting. I was looking at this very same question the past few days, and from what I gathered through online research, capturing through firewire is virtually identical to sdi capture. Firewire should just be an exact transfer of bits from source to computer. For example, these links: Capturing DVC Pro50, FireWire vs SDI SDI vs Firewire at dvcreators HD for Indies

Beautiful trailer. Can't wait to see it projected

Wow, footage looks great! Good job! Now I'm even more excited about getting my Kinor :D

I'm not holding too much excitement about RED, but I am definately pulling for it to succeed at least in some of its goals, so that the 'big dogs' of the camera world will be forced to provide a competitive alternative.

True, it would only be useful for closeups or medium shots from far back, but from my limited experience with swing and tilt lenses, they work best as closeups anyway. Plus there's a Raynox .65x converter for it that'll change it from 50mm to 35mm, so there is that option.

I wonder if anyone's ever tried using a Lensbaby on a K-3 or other 16mm camera. There's a version available with an m42 mount. All lensbaby focal lengths are 50mm from what I can gather. I've heard conflicting comments about this lens. Detractors say it's cheaply made, but for every negative comment I've heard positive things. And some of the stills I've seen look pretty nice. Maybe these could be used as a cheap alternative (and let's face it, if you're using a K-3 as I am, cheap is the operative word :P ) to swing and tilt lenses? Don't know, could be a useful item for music videos. For those interested in this lens, check out this website for info and examples: http://www.lensbabies.com/

Have you tested the Canon XL H1? The lens is superior to the HVX, and from what I've read online in terms of comparisons, the picture quality is superior as well. I've been using it on doc/ENG type shoots and am really impressed with its quality (gotta love HD/SDI out!) though the infinity focus of the lens gets annoying quickly. I have heard though that there's supposed to be a manual 16x HD lens coming out later this year.

As evidenced by the posts here, basically some people have gotten work, others haven't. My own experience, obviously up until this point I've gotten work without owning a camera, however I've also seen quite a few jobs going strictly to people with their own camera (be it film or video). As someone who is just beginning like myself (shot about 5 shorts, 1 feature, 1 music video) one is often required to shoot for little or no pay on small budgeted shoots. And if owning a camera helps me get that job, then all the better. Again though, that's not why I got my K-3, or the Kinor. I see it as a potential plus, that's all. I will note further though that almost all the d.p. interviews I've gone in for, one of the first questions I'm asked is what gear (usually camera, but also lights) I own/have access to. That's the nature of the low budget indie world right now, and since I'm just beginning, that's where I find myself. As for the sunset comment, that was meant more as a joke than anything else, but let's face it, I've seen tons of reels where there were shots in that same vein - ie. looked like they may have been snatched rather than as part of a project per se. Sometimes a pretty shot is a pretty shot, and if it impresses people ... ;)

I'll throw my own 0.02 into the mix, even though I'm far less experienced in the matter. I've recently acquired a K-3, and am on my way to getting a Kinor 16 as well. Both are reg 16 for now but I may upgrade in the future. The main reason I picked up these cams were for my own projects. To experiment, to shoot some interesting/experimental things that I wouldn't try on a commercial project unless I had done them before. In that sense I think a film camera of any kind (Super8 included) is definately beneficial. And who knows, grab a few nice sunset shots and add them to your reel :P Another point is that since I've told former employers that I have a K-3, there's been some definate interest in shooting projects. A music video may be in the early stages pretty much as a direct result of me having this camera. Basically it boils down to this - if you can afford it and want to use it, get it.