Reggie A Brown

Thanks for the feedback guys! Stuart, you mentioned having someone that has nothing to do with filmmaking stand by the monitor and give feedback, what kind of feedback should I be looking to get from them? David, it's interested you mentioned no filters because I always thought those programs looked "soft" and usually have a slight glow around the highlights; are those nets on the lens perhaps, or just the softness and of the glass that the DP's are using? And if you were shooting one of those movies with today's modern glass would you use any filters?

Are there any cinematographers here that shoot Lifetime or Hallmark movies? I have a few questions. Shooting on a super35 sensor shooting for 16x9 on spherical lenses, what are the typical focal lengths used for wide interior shots? From my examination it seems to be between 24mm & 35mm. Am I in the ballpark? And what are the typical focal lengths used for close ups? To me it looks like it's anything from an 85mm to 200+mm. Is there a common distance the camera is placed from the talent vs the focal length used? Ex. Camera is placed 15' when using a 135mm. When lighting actresses for a flat/bright frontal lighting on those programs, how are they typically lit? Ex. A big softbox behind the camera...? And is there usually a light on the camera used for catch lights? What's usually the difference in stops between the talent and the bg? I have a Christmas short I'm about to start shooting and we're going for a Lifetime/Hallmark feel. I have a general idea how I'm going to shoot it, but conversations always make me think about things I hadn't thought about before. Thanks for any feedback I may get!

Here's an interview with the DP, just in case anyone's interested in reading it. https://filmmakermagazine.com/106187-our-entire-moon-was-lit-by-one-single-lamp-dp-linus-sandgren-on-first-man/

Reason for using an external recorder is, you'll get a better recorded codec (4:2:2 instead of 4:2:0). And you'll also get things like false color, the ability to add custom luts, a bigger screen for composition, better color accuracy to see what your image really looks like, etc...of course that depends on the recorder you choose. C-log causing artifacting? I'm not sure I know what you mean.

I use the c100ii and love it, it's been a solid camera and my clients love the footage I provide them. As many times as I thought about getting rid of it to purchase a 4k camera, I just can't bring myself to do it. I generally shoot everything in c-log into an external recorder at the native iso and expose for the highlights (just a personal preference). When going into an external recorder the footage is "...just ...better"! And I also noticed lenses play a HUGE part of the image quality you'll get out of the camera. Invest in some really good glass. And the sensor loves light so light it up!

I use the pouch that came with my 858. Haven't had one problem with it.

I find it a lot easier using the crank or the whip when using a follow focus. It makes it much easier to turn. But like everyone has been saying, practice, practice, practice! I have some mannequin heads that I put on light stands to practice with. And also, don't be afraid to ask for a dry erase marker and mark the follow focus or preset the hard stops on the follow focus.

This is a pretty good documentary and in it he talks about the lighting and how scenes were lit.

Although my shoot was an outdoor shoot, there are still similarities in lighting that you could use. For the rim light I used a 1k tungsten with a blue gel (I can remember the strength) and it was about 50ft away from the subject on camera left. On camera right I had a 650w tungsten on a dimmer about 15ft from the subject, no gel, as a key light and to illuminate the bg and grass. And back to camera left, close to the subject I had a gold reflector on a stand as my fill to fill in the shadow area on her face. Camera WB was set to 2600K. For your shoot, if your subjects are close to a window, the blue backlight can add a really nice touch to give the impression of "moon" light.

That first pic looks awesome! I like the contrast with the colors.

I just recently had a night shoot where I was using some 1k lowel tungstens with a blue gel on them (although I can't remember the strenght of the gel, but I do recall it being a light strength). I set my camera WB to 2600. It looked great! And this was a shoot around a campfire. The fire kept it's orange color and the skin tones looked good too.

Maybe it was color graded that way in post...

I've been interested in owning a blackmagic camera for some time now. I think I'll pull the trigger after the first run of stock and see all the reported bugs. Blackmagic is pretty good about listening to customer feedback and correcting problems pretty fast. I just hope they ship in Sept.!

I generally use the black pro-mist. Through my own test I prefer to follow a rule I created for myself, the wider the lens the lesser the strength. For example, on a 18mm I may use 1/8 strength and on an 85mm I may use 1/2 strength, or even stack filter strengths if I really want to go soft or create more bloom around the highlights. Speaking of blooming, that's one of the things you'll want to pay attention to when choosing a diffusion filter. I was shooting a campfire scene the other night and I wanted to get a little bit of bloom from the campfire. I was using the black pro-mist 1/8 on a 20mm focal length. I had to remove it because I was getting some weird reflections into the lens from the fire. My 1st AC for the shoot is a college student who know what she likes but haven't been shooting long enough to understand why she like certain things (if that makes sense). When I removed the filter she said, "man I like it with the filter on, it really don't look different but it feel different". So like David said, it's subtle. You may not necessarily see a difference, but you can definitely feel it. One last thing to point out is, be cognizant of the reflections the filter can create when pointing them into lights or bright areas. I did a test to show the blooming effects those filter have. I hope it helps, it can be seen here...

If the story is good enough and Netflix feel like that can make a profit from it, you can record your movie on an android phone and sell it to Netflix, they don't care! Now if Netflix is producing it, you don't have to worry about "owning" a camera, they'll give you a large enough budget to rent what ever camera package that is on their recommended camera list.

I believe Children of Men used mostly 18mm; and Aliens 3 used mostly 14mm. *Correction* On The Conjuring (not the conjuring 2) DP John Leonetti ASC said he used mostly wide angle lenses and in some shots went as wide as a 10mm.

I believe Children of Men used mostly 18mm; and Aliens 3 used mostly 14mm. On The Conjuring 2 DP John Leonetti ASC said he used mostly wide angle lenses and in some shots went as wide as a 10mm.

Great idea David! I've struggled with green cast from grass hitting talents skin and it's always driven me crazy. I'll definitely be using your tip for future shoots.

They show a few behind the scenes of them doing some shots like that in this video. One in the beginning and another one at 2:18.

It should be fine on vimeo. There's a lot of naked art/video groups on vimeo. One in particular called Art of Nakedness that has some pretty raunchy stuff on there. It's visual art and thankfully vimeo don't discriminate.

I have a homemade built dolly and I used pvc pipes. Pvc pipes are a nightmare! They warp, they roll around easily, they're just too light weight (con and pro), and they'll shift. Those are my negative experiences with plastic pvc pipes being used as dolly tracks. On the positive side...they're cost effective, light weight for travel, and you can get some damn smooth shots when they're laid properly.

I'm not familiar with the positioning of the sun at particular time in Australia, but is the sun directly over head at 12p - 4p like it is in the States?

Read this article. The DP gives a lot of valuable information about lighting and composition; not that scene in particular, but you can get an idea on his thought process and techniques with lighting the show. http://filmmakermagazine.com/103768-dp-erik-messerschmidt-on-shooting-netflixs-mindhunter-with-a-custom-red-xenograph/#.WhSd_8tMHqB

Check out these links, there may be some very valuable information that'll help towards solving your problem. First check out this short, I think they accomplished the type of shots you're trying to get. Start at the 5 minute mark. https://vimeo.com/213754792 Now start this at the 28 minute mark and the cinematography talks about how he got those steady shots in the water. http://gaddisvisuals.com/episode82/ Daniel April may actually be a member here (or some members here may know him), so you may be able to reach out to him directly.

When you have big production companies and studios wanting their material shot in a certain format they'll provide you a budget for cameras that'll shoot in that format. Netflix have certain cameras that they'll accept, but they'll also provide you the budget to rent the camera package. If your current clientele isn't "requesting" 4k I'd say leave your options open to buying a camera that doesn't shoot 4k. But on the flip side, a 4k camera purchase can possibly prevent you from having to purchase another camera within the next 2-5 yrs. 4k tvs are becoming cheaper, and may become a household and office product soon; people will want to show off their videos in 4k on their 4k tvs. Decisions decision LOL