Brian Drysdale

In the UK you'd just about manage to dry hire a HDW 750 kit (with standard & W/A zoom) for $1,500 - the F900 is even more expensive.

An interviewing technique that a couple of producers I worked for used was to do an audio interview and a shoot much shorter film interview. The filmed interview established the interviewee, while the audio material was used as voice over on the action material - the interesting stuff. Getting good interviews tends to eat quite large quantities of film stock, recording an audio interview means you can spend time getting the good material without blowing your budget. Thinking before you press the button tends to cut down on the shooting ratio. I seem to recall there being a 10 to 1 shooting ratio on these guys' films, which is low for a medium end doc - 18 to 1 wasn't unusual on an average shoot with interviews. Although, some current affairs programmes tried to keep it down to 5 to 1. Getting the interviewee to say exactly what you want them to say sounds pretty uninspiring stuff. I've been on shoots where they try this and they are the worst interviews. Interviews tend to be interesting when they say the unexpected. Of course, usually that happens when the camera isn't running. Good research helps avoid this.

Absolutely. Although, when I used the 85B for both reversal and negative stocks, on the negative I found the print tended to be a bit warmer than I liked. I know one cameraman who used to shoot with the 81EF instead of the 85 for correction - this was one of the older stocks. Then did the final correction in the grade.

If you're in a PAL country it's easier with 25 fps, US would be easier with 24 fps.

If you want to use tungsten film in daylight you'd use either an 85 or 85B. Usually, the 85 with neg and the 85B with reversal, although you can use the 85B with both - it just seems a tad warm with the neg, but it's a personal taste thing. On the Bolex cameras I've used the internal filter is in front of the viewfinder prism block, so that will cut the light going to the V/F.

That's the type of filter used, just be careful when cutting it to size. Although, don't use an 85C for conversion to tungsten.

Here's an article on HD lenses which outlines the differences. http://broadcastengineering.com/aps/acquis...omers_focus_hd/ Better lenses always make a difference, some people even use the HD lenses on their SD cameras.

The 85 gel that fits into the camera's filter holder does the same job as using a 85 filter in front of the lens. The gel filter is extremely high quality (it's not a lighting gel, it's a high quality photographic filter). The down side is that's delicate, easily marked and this can show in the frame. BTW Always have a filter holder in the slot (even if a filter isn't being used), otherwise you'll get fogging.

The CP16 has a fixed shutter, so you can't change the shutter angle.

They don't make them any more, the Zeiss T2 10-100mm replaced it. You should find used examples on e-bay or perhaps dealers selling older equipment. They were pretty good lenses for shooting regular 16mm, if a bit slow. Much better than the Angenieux zooms of the period.

You're safe with the Fresnel lens closed. There's a safety switch that prevents you from firing up the HMI with the lens open. The small HMIs are dangerous as well. You need protective glass to reduce the UV to a safe level.

Might be worth checking the actual Knee Point and Knee Slope settings in the menus. The standard manual settings are 85% and 50 respectively.

That's also the conclusion we came to.

I had a conversation with a film editor friend about this. It centred on how the electronic shutter (when shooting progressive) seemed to be a bit more prone to giving a strobing effect during fast panning camera moves compared to the mechanical shutter used on film cameras.

Try ICE FILM, they're the UK agents. www.icefilm.com

No, it was a Minolta Color Meter II - it was great for those greens.

You should send the camera back to JVC for calibration. The odd camera seems to slip through their quality control.

I haven't shot there for a while, but they shoot 35mm commercials and had an experienced gaffer (British when I was on a shoot) and local camera assistants.

What format are you shooting on?

Renting a HMI would be a lot cheaper than buying, unless it's a long shoot. A 2k Blond tungsten light with a CTB or dichroic is about the cheapest - perhaps not as punchy as a PAR. I'm not sure how common they are in the US, also needing a power tie in is a bit of a problem in the US - you can just plug it into the wall here.

Shooting 2nd unit or on a documentary, I'd sometimes load on Super 16. It just depends on on the production and the material being shot. 35mm tends to always have at least one assistant. It's not unusual to shoot video without an assistant, although it's much better to have one on dramas or other productions which demand more precise work.

The camera in the example given for the HD 100 is actually the new Silicon Imaging camera's RAW output intended for grading. You can't tell the final colours from that.

The film inserts on BBC dramas used to be shot on neg. The reversal was used on news and current affairs, lower budget documentaries and the location inserts on the "magazine" programmes that are now shot on video.

If you're using film lights why not just buy the 240v bulbs for the lights. Seems a lot less messy and could work out cheaper in the end.

The LCD image would be flipped electronically, the camera image itself would be uncorrected. You'd correct that in post. Using the LCD, you'd operate normally.