Lav Bodnaruk

No problem Tim! I am glad I could pass on some info. The BL was my first film camera. I definitely invested a lot of time and money into her, learning much along the way. I am very happy with the images it is able to produce for me. The irony is that I rent SR2 or 3 for any job that comes my way these days. It is difficult to step in front of the clients with a camera they may not recognize. I am a huge fan of super 16mm although the project I plan to shoot in a week I am budgeting for 35mm, and I find that I do this more and more, for I developed a good relationship with a rental company here; I wish I was rolling more film through my BL and can only hope that all those that posted on this occasion, helping Rebecca through her dilemma (one way or another), do not let their beloved film cameras just sit on the shelf collecting dust. This post is making me re-think the ownership of my BL and letting it out in the world, so that it can make some pretty pictures; Tim, anytime you have an SR2 for sale, please make sure I know about it :D Thanks bud

Hey Tim, I have a BLE motor, which is not quite the same as the BLEQ nor BL. I use an external SYNC unit to keep my 25fps at constant crystal speed. At the moment I use German made Jensen 505 and it is brilliant. I have TWO of them. I also own a Minilock made in England, which is slightly different but still does the trick. I have put my camera through extensive research with one of the Panavision techs, who spent weeks figuring out this whole 'crystal' lock on BL. We concluded that the BLE motor varies in speed due to heat it produces. Not a brainer I know, but still, we produced evidence to back this up. When shooting with the BLE motor without a crystal sync 3rd party unit, you can get up to 45 seconds of film to go through your magazine without missing a single frame. Lets face it, that is pretty good... you can do takes that are 2min long and will only loose 3 frames... which is not enough to loose sync. Plus its an easy shift of wave forms in the edit if it was more then 3fps but never mind that now... You can adjust your BLE motor to be this precise by following few procedures (none of which I recommend for anyone here to do without proper tools). With the 3rd party unit added on, to keep it locked, you do not have to worry about this, and I am able to get through the entire 400foot of film without loosing 1 frame - therefore perfect sync. Tobin is very nice and a little more dear then Jensen or Minilock. It is also installed in the camera which makes it rather easier to use. Jensen 505 gives me 2fps - 48fps. Wish I could get up to 50fps but cannot. But here is the thing. I actually ENJOY having an add-on sync unit, for often I found I don't need to use it (if there is no speaking) and I need to reduce the weight of the camera. For those that claim this camera is not easy for hand held work I beg to differ, as I just shot a short (completely hand held) on Sr2 and found it more annoying that working with my BL. I was using focus myself as there was a lot of dipping in and out so the BL would have been OK for there was no need for focus puller to sit next to me. My BL has a swan neck viewfinder which makes the hand held easy. I use it with primes and if need it to be MOS i don't need to put the prime blimp on which doesn't add much weight anyways. I even used my 16BL on my Glidecam V20 for some steadicam shots. There is even a magazine that is meant for steadicam work for BL that I do not own - but would buy in an instant! Ok I said too much. Should have stopped typing after the motor answer... just got caught up, sorry; PS. I am not suggesting here that the BL is better or the same as SR... NO WAY... but it is a camera that you can shoot sync film with... make it work for you. PS2. On one project, I had the image zoomed in on at the telecine to 16:9, as it was shot on slow stock and was possible for me to do this. It was for DVD anyways.... and the image (after the zoom/crop) was great

Bruce, I didnt forget, I mentioned you in my post (page 1) :) Seems to me you are all taking it out on a poor old BL way too much. We all seem to know what the 16BL is capable of, the pros and cons, and comparing it to SR is crazy, so why do it... For that money if she buys the BL, shoots her project successfully, she probably would have saved on what else would have gone on rentals ... then Rebecca can put it on eBay and the full circle is complete. After all Rebecca seems to want the camera for a quick job with ZOOM only which suggests this camera may not stay around with her too long... I dont think she will loose any money on re-selling within 1 year of purchase (if she can prove she got good shots with it) she can even make a buck on a next guy that doesnt remember to address the purchase on this forum. By the way, I would not part with my BL (and all these fantastic accessories that took years to collect) for less then $4000 AUD - and that being border line after all negotiations... with PayPal and eBay fees I would list my camera at $5K AUD and if you live in Oz it might be a good deal to get it and save on postage from States or Europe. PS. The LTR that is on eBay at the moment comes from a good seller. I did business with him - never had any probs.

hey hey, I think the 16BL is a great camera for a student. I bought mine from TV station in Sydney and then using eBay and few other places I bought all the extras the camera can possibly have, except that giant 1000foot magazine (Dont need it) - I think some of it I bought from Sweden like Hans, from a guy called Per (id: isellarri) awesome deals; I got a video tap put on it and thought of converting it to s16 (think that Aranda Group in Melbourne still do conversions) but decided against it as I don't use the camera as much. More precisely, I rent more often now, for every gig that has a decent budget gets a decent kit (SR3 or 35mm stuff). If however something needs to be done on no budget, my BL gets pulled out. I re-call a guy in States (that I bought my Jensen 505 Sync Lock from) shot his feature on a BL, and then sold it on eBay - making money on it. Can't remember his web now but I do think he had a 'behind the scenes' on his DVD which showed how he bought all the gear on eBay and sold it afterwards... Anyways, the point is, if you are a student, you want to make a film and are working on limited budget, then get this BL and shoot the film... HOWEVER, if you want to own a camera to get work with it, then you ought to get the super16 camera, most likely the SR or LTR. Thats my 2 cents. Each camera has its pros and cons that can be overcome. And yes, there are blimps for prime lenses on BL. Off the topic = I do re-call Tim selling his SR camera as I saw the ad for it a day or two after he sold it - I remember pulling my hair out when I saw the deal I missed out on :) Lastly, check out some info on Christopher Nolan... he shot Following on his BL! PS. I am always in a market for sSR2 :)

:) maybe sell it ? Id be interested :) Cheers,

Thanks David! I so would have done that had I had more lights for the job! I actually did pull out a 'redhead' and pointed it in the flowers behind the blond guy, merely to add yellow tinge to it, since I wanted that 'yellow/orange' look. It works to a degree where it suggests its late sun coming down, whilst really at that stage (when we were doing shots on the blond guy) it was pouring heaviest rain. Another redhead was used to hit the side of the face on the main actor (brunet guy), which I think could have been stronger but I was afraid to pull it in any closer since 'the sun' was meant to be behind him (hence the shadow in that one shot of him). In reality the sun was meant to set directly behind the brunet guy's head, which here in Oz is really yellow or red, depending on the day... and it gets quite low before it disappears, so it would have been an awesome shot. I was left with 1.2K HMI, 3 redheads, 4x4 Mirror (that was no use since it was raining), 8x8 silk, blacks; this shot shows a bit more redhead on his face:

Hey all, thought i report on what I ended up doing. basically it was an outdoor shoot for which I hoped I would get a lot of 'yellow/orange' sun light for - as we intended to wait for the sunset. the sunset was going to be the back light for the main action. Of course it was overcast day and it rained (fortunately it wasn't heavy rain and the 8x8 foot silk I had put over the scene acted as an umbrella long enough to allow me to capture it all). I used 250D 7205 Kodak stock and was getting f11 on the meter. I put ND9 in, hoping to reduce the DOF as much as possible. Overall I shot with 'muddy' look in mind which allowed me to do a fair bit in telecine. The exposure for most of it was dead on, which was good to see as I stressed heaps about the clouds that kept moving around during the take... At the telecine we de-saturated and boosted the contrast as well as added some warm tones, taking some cool ones out. I am attaching few stills. Let me know what you think. I wish I could post the whole short movie, but the festival I did this for has funny rules about that, not allowing me to show it on the net before they get to check it out?! Cheers, 16mm SRII Canon Zoom Lens 11-165mm T2.5 due to the arm shadow this shot was dismissed...

did you just pick this up on ebay? i saw the same one sold today...

I reckon I could still reach over that :D being 192cm myself

In Requiem For A Dream they had a camera attached on the torso of the actor. Looked freaking great! Although it was front on, you could adopt that system to work?!? How about the camera on the pick-up truck on the sticks and the actor sitting on the edge of the pick-up truck pretending to walk?!? I may not understand what your desired shot is here, but sounds like you may only need to see the upper torso from behind and well, if there is room on the location for pick-up to drive through it this could work?!? Get an actor to walk the 'walking machine' - u know, the cardio gym thing, with blue screen in front of him/her?!

Hi guys, I am in the similar boat as Nadia our poster here. I am looking at getting a light meter, and after using friends spectra IV-A on the weekend, I am leaning towards it. However, I would like to know what the main difference between the IV-A and IV is? Just the averaging? Do you find yourself requiring that setting often on the set? Here are my options, arranged in the order of price. I would prefer not spending too much on a meter if a lower cost one can do the same... I guess I am asking for your opinions on the brand, price and personal comfort. My options are: Spectra IV Spectra IV-A CineMeter II (80s meter made by GDB Enterprises Burbank CA) Minolta V F Sekonic L358 Sekonic L508 (spot as well) Sekonic L558 (spot as well) Sekonic L608 (spot as well)

Hi Daniel, I am currently in the light meter market and was wondering how do I find out more about this particular meter? Is there anything you can tell me about it - pros and cons, how does it compare to spectra IV-A? Thanks!

Could you please explain the term 'nuclear' to me? Is it all about the halation? I played with some effects in AF just now, adding Colorize Glow effect (Boris plug-in) to the sample... to try and achieve the glow effect whilst adding 'warmth' to it (for the purpose of preparing for the short i want to shoot with CSI Miami look). before: After:

Thanks Peter! The shoot is scheduled for 15th of December and I cannot wait. :) I was thinking of using mirrors to backlight with? The zoom lens I have been offered by the rental company is 8-64mm T2.4 Canon which i dont think will give me the 'shallow depth of field' i wish to achieve, so i am re-considering it for a longer zoom or a large set of primes (incl long primes). this should be nutted out soon tho... Thanks again Peter!

Hey hey, you didn't get your hands on the collectors edition DVD yet? The scene was a mix of live action, a dummy, and digital effects. With cuts of course. I think the fire extinguisher was rubber too... oh and most important - brilliant SOUND DESIGN :) watch it without it... takes about 80% from it; They also digitally added a penis to the rapist; For more Goggle: Le Rectum' special effects featurette great review: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/04/...reversible.html

Get the DVD, you can see how they did the whole thing in the behind the scenes secton! Really interesting stuff! I'm on the run now or I'd post all about it... See if you beat me with getting it out and watching it before I come back from the shoot and tell all about it :)

hey Freddie, Sorry for the misunderstanding. Perhaps all that stuck in my mind from your post was exactly that term "bleach bypass" and not the rest of the post as that was what I was unfamiliar with. I have since inquired about it a bit... Bleach bypass on its own definitely wasn't the formula for the signature CSI Miami look, but I see now you didn't say that mate... again, my apologies. Cheers,

HE HE HE was thinking the same thing when i saw that girl... Especially since one of the members recommended that all i needed for the "CSI Miami look" was the bleach bypass! If that would have been my outcome, I'd be shot! :D I think I might just stick to 'muddy' look, which gets worked on in post.

Thomas, that is a brilliant answer! I appreciate you posting! I am saving those pics, calling my post prod house and seeing that we can do exactly that! Thank you my friend cheers from oz,

Thank you guys! This has given me plenty to think about. I sort of see that my best option to getting that look is to change the stock I will be using, put a big silk over the scene and maybe see which filter (perhaps Pola filter as Andres mentioned or light Chocolate, Coral or Tangerine filter for warmth as Bernhard mentioned) might best suit the job... then leave it for heavy colour grade at the telecine. I might see what my mate from Panavision suggests too, as far as the filters go; Thanks!

hey Ken, Thanks for the post. The event in question has actually passed and the link in my previous post shows a clip from the actual gig. We shot on Beta SX and I was quite happy with it - ProCam did me a great price on all the gear which made it possible for us to do it; The lighting director turned out to be very flexible! As there were 5 shows in a row, I was able to watch the first few (we filmed last two) and give him my notes on how to best improve it for the sake of the video. Most importantly, the client is very happy with the footage! We have not yet commenced the edit of the Beta SX tapes, but I have been showing them the vision switch cut, and they are thrilled :) If you get a chance, do watch the video and let me know what you think. It is a bit dark at the beginning of the song, since they insisted on setting that kind of mood for that particular track... also the QuickTime is a product of BNC live vision feed and I am sure that the Beta SX footage will be brighter. Thanks! PS. It really helped that I had amazing cameraman/woman that worked on this project! Some of the shots are just sooo pretty :) PS2. Doing the event on HDX 900 would have been a dream!

Hi Dominic, Ill do exactly that! Mr Christiansen told me that the 'tap' on the table would definitely damage the stock, and that he thinks since the film was dismissed as 'uneven' it might be already unusable! I was given the film by him to perform tests; It would appear that none of my short ends stuff seems to be worthy of a shoot... thanks for your post!

Thanks for the input guys! I agree with Stuart and think that skipping bleach wont do the 'signature' CSI Miami look that I am after, but Ill definitely take the lighting tip that Freddie mentions. Overexposing by 2/3 of the stop and printing down makes sense, although I am still not certain that might be all that I need to achieve that 'signature' CSI Miami look. Plus, will I be able to pull it of with 500T? The still above is not quite as saturated as most of their shots are, but as I mentioned in the original post, I just wasn't able to find any better once... here is another I tracked down. Thanks guys! just found this one... great background and more of them here: http://www.kevingage.com/movies/csi-miami.php

hey hey, hope you can help me out with this one :D I've got a short coming up, set in the sunshine lit back yard (same as the back yard scene from my feature film's preview) you can view the preview here: http://www.translationthemovie.com No lights have yet been booked (but can get anything I need - as long as the budget allows). Got some short ends of 500T (around 600ft all up) and a can of 250D, 16mm Kodak. The 'look' I'd like to achieve is that of CSI Miami. I've been trying to find a photo that captures that look, but haven't found anything that hits the nail on the head. Basically, I am interested in utilizing what I already have (500T) in achieving that signature look... those saturated colours; Any suggestions, tips on which lights to get? filters? Thanks a bunch!

thats a great tip Vex (got a friend that is called Vex too... his nick name actually). I am shooting early December, so I'll attempt this bag removal couple of days before, in case it doesn't work out. Fingers crossed though :) Cheers,