Brian Drysdale

You used to be able get a magnetic head that was mounted on a post arrangement that you could set on or off the mag film. I suspect a full track 1/4" head might do the same job. There were special amps for amplifying the output from the head, however, we used to use the mic input on a tape recorder to do the same job. With the set up you've got, the belt drives for driving the film through the viewer used to occasionally slip, causing lose of sync between the picture and sound.

I'd also put tape around the edges of CP mags once loaded, the latches can pop if caught accidentally. They're very easy to load. However, be careful when unloading the exposed film, sometimes the core catches and drops out of the centre of the roll if you rush.

I wouldn't even consider buying a Steadicam without attending a workshop. It's very different to traditional operating and there are quite a few techniques to learn - never mind knowing how to set up and balance the rig. The workshop will also give you information on the various Steadicam models available and different market sectors.

I know script writers want to hear the bits that work and don't work during the development. It's not taken as personal. However, directors can take it as personal, although sometimes they already know the bits that don't really work, but just don't want to admit it while still close to the project. Comment on the good bits, however, if they want to hear the bits you don't like, go into it in carefully considered detail, so that it's useful feedback. It does have to be done in a positive manner. However, best not getting into this unless you know the director really well.

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Certainly film lenses are marked in T stops, however, I've never seen a standard video lens having T stops and only f stops are usually given in their spec sheets. Although, the Canon HD Electronic Cinematography lens do have T stops mentioned in their specs. However, the ENG/EFP versions have their aperture given in f stops. For example the Canon HD 11 x 4.7 EC is T2.1 and the ENG/EFP version is f 1.9.

The manual gives it as F 11 standard ( 89.9% reflectance chart, 2000 lux). I assume this is the standard measurement method used by all the camera manufacturers. I expect it doesn't include the transmission losses you'd find on a zoom lens.

Most people recommend that you don't shoot cineframe on the Sony The frame rate will depend on what your post production facilities can handle, usually in PAL countries either 25p or 50i are preferred over 24P. Are you planning to shoot 720 progressive (this isn't PAL) or 1080 interlace? The HVX uses DVPRO HD, not HDV, so there may be some confusion with the JVC HD 100 which shoots 720 progressive on HDV1. Some editing packages can't handle certain frame rates on HDV1 without third party plug ins. For a film look you're best shooting progressive, the HVX 200 and JVC HD 100 shoot 720P. However, you can deinterlace 1080i in post to create a similar effect with reduced vertical resolution. If you're shooting reasonable amounts of material each day you'll need to be able to download your P2 cards on location. This is something you'll have to plan for in advance and budget for any extra equipment (including additional P2 cards).

Sounds like there's gain on somewhere, usually these cameras are around the 320 ASA range. Is the S Gain or DS Gain on?

Using foot candles is a good way of planning out a lighting plot or the size of lights you require. All you need to know is the number of foot candles required for a particular stop using a film rated at a certain ASA. Knowing the lighting throw requirements of a location/set and the transmission losses of the gels enables you to pick the lights you may need from the tables supplied by the light manufacturers. Keeping the same stop helps the photographic continuity of a scene. The stop is dependent on the placement/light output of the lights, not on how close/far the camera is from the subject. If you move the camera and the lighting stays the same you keep the same stop. However, you may want to adjust the fill lighting to maintain the same contrast ratio and tweak the other lights for best effect. ND gels or scrims can be used to control the output of the lights. How much you want to use the same stop through out a film depends on how you want to tell the story, but keeping it the same in each scene helps tie things together. Although, sometimes you do need extra depth of field on a particular shot (E.G. an extreme CU), so this can be a judgement call.

Good to know that the extra speed is there for SD projects. Using the two cameras, the Z1 seems to have more aperture ramping than the HD 100. On the surface, I wasn't aware of the HD 100 stock lens being any worse in this regard than your average ENG lens, whereas it's extremely noticeable on the Z1.

That ASA rating is a lot higher than any I've seen for any HDV camera. Did you have the shutter on or off? Having it switched off or at a slower shutter speed will allow the camera to operate in lower light levels. I haven't tested the amount of aperture ramping on the HD 100's stock lens, however, when I checked the ASA it was at the wider end of the zoom around 10mm. Although, I gather (according to one review) the HD 100 is about a stop faster when in DV mode as against HDV mode.

JVC have issued a warning about hot swapping the 6 pin firewire on the HD 100. They recommend powering down before connecting the camera to other devices because of a instances of blown circuits in the camera.

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Looking at the F900R brochure there seems to be quite a few changes in the menus, with new features like hypergamma (which look like different curves). You may find that you have to select the type of SD output in the menu. I know that on the HDW 750 you can select either HD Y or SD composite out on the camera test out. Chances are it's the same on the new camera. Also on the HDW 750 the rear BNC out can give SDI, however you need to select this in the OUTPUT SEL menu. BTW This is also where you may find the test out selection.

You could check with Avid, they've got an academic scheme, so you may get discount. I'm not going to knock Vegas, since I've got it for doing showreels, but it doesn't work in the same way as the other editing programs. So, if you want to learn how to use the programs commonly used in most editing facilities Vegas isn't really the one to go for. A good point is that it's not so demanding on computing power as the other programs. Unfortunately Final Cut only works on Macs.

This is what it's all about. It's not about having C stands on the course, but developing your eye and attitude to your subjects. It gives you references and the tools to find out the information you need. You don't even need to do a media/film course, one camera trainee on a production had a MBA. If you don't want to do 3rd level education at the very least pack back around the world or see how the world works. This will broaden your view and make you ask deeper questions. You should also remember that it's not what you know, but who you know that is important. Very often the people you meet at university/college are the people that can give you a leg up when you need it most.

Having shot films with sync sound on a Bolex, David sums up the difficulties extremely well. We mostly shot the films using a Bolex inside a barney and camera noise was always an issue. I also made a blimp for the Bolex, which makes it a large camera outfit, so you need a beefy tripod. It was also very awkward to use. BTW The camera had a motor, it wasn't clockwork I've also looped the dialogue and it's a time consuming business. BTW This was using 16mm mag film, so you could adjust it frame by frame to match the lips. If you're doing it, using a crystal sync motor on the camera gives you more options. You can record an audio guide track using a digital recorder. One possibly, once you've got the good take, is to then record clean audio by getting the actors to run through it again for clean sound. You can then use that recording and try and match up the audio to the pictures (assisted by the original noisy guide track). Another alternative is to play the guide track as a series of loops to the actors in a studio and get them to match the original and record this performance. However, you don't get a 100% match and unless you've got ADR, you'll have to make it sync up yourself. The best thing to do before starting a big project is to shoot a test roll and find out for yourself how you can deal with the sync problems using the kit you've got. You don't want to be shooting large amounts of material only to discover that you're in the middle of some audio/sync nightmare. I've also heard that it cost a large sum to sort the "El Marachi" sound in post.

Just make sure that you put this agreement in writing, so that the music cleared for use in your film. Studio people want to see the paperwork and films tend to collect a pile of the stuff. You can find model contracts online or at the very least a letter giving permission for the music to be used in the film, the use you can make of it and for how long.

A change from the days when they'd shoot on Vistavision or 65mm to create seamless effects shots.

If you're used to shooting film the HD 100 is much closer to operating a film camera than the other cameras. It has a mechanical zoom which will give you more control. The quality of the stock zoom is adequate for a documentary, but it's not what you'd call high quality glass. Having said that, it does ok in the prosumer reviews with the Canon XL H1 being the only one that comes out ahead in sharpness/resolution tests. All the HDV cameras have pluses and minuses, so best find the one that suites you. The DVX 100B is MiniDV

People do drop out for various reasons on shorts. It would've been good manners for the outgoing DP to give you a list of possible replacements. However, you should be able to find a good replacement.

I think cost, not time is the issue here. It's better spending the time developing a useful skill that you can apply to future projects.

On one job we used a 20" SD CRT monitor (I think it was a grade 2) using a SDI feed, rather than use the 7" HD LCD monitor that the rental company was offering. It worked pretty well and seemed to be better that the 9" CRT multi format monitor that was used on another job.

On HD you should check the back focus every day, every time you remove/change lens or if the temperature changes. You could end up checking it several times in a day. Camera assistants are always double checking it throughout the day.