Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

Gordon 'Godfather' Willis was not only the man who shot the Godfather. He was the godfather of bringing chiaroscuro to modern movies. They had chiaroscuro back in the noir days with their beautiful BW films. But Willis brought it up to date with color.

That is one of the problems with digital. It tries hard to make sense of the shadows it can't reproduce well and it = noise. That is where film had an advantage. All you can do is to do lots of experiments to see what works best. OP, your sample is flat, no deep black's or even half ass blacks. See what you can do in post. As I said, do all sort of experiments. The late Robby Müller said he did weeks of experiments before shooting Down By Law. But post can only do so much. It has to be a balance with camera and post.

My Sony cassette broke today. Looked for a new one. Seems only a handful of low grade junk is being produced nowadays. And the analog devotees are grateful even from junk. Really sad how things have turned out in the analog world. Big demand for old, expired film on eBay. But it is not due to trying to get special effects or lo-fi looks. Old film is the only choice for many of the type of film being sought after. And it is not just film. Projectors, reel to reel tape recorders, bulbs and parts analog related are all highly sought after. Although not from cine' gear, here are 4 untested used bulbs for a Zeiss microscope on eBay. Price $39 + $9 shipping from Germany with no guarantee they work. It is similar for projector bulbs, editor bulbs, etc. I was lucky to buy a batch of a dozen used bulbs for my Zeiss 16mm viewer. Got them for $2.50 each, no guarantee. They all worked. Some lasted a few hours, others are doing better. Internet Photo: Fair Use ...off to eBay to shop for a new (used) cassette deck.

Didn't know what a geared head was. Pretty cool.

OK, thanks for the replies.

I sometimes feel sorry for the camera people that have to shoot some of these projects. It is a ton of work shooting a film. Do you accept them because of the $$ or pass on them? What keeps you going to do great work other than $$ if you feel the film is not going anywhere or story / actors / direction is subpar?

If so, what is a good gimble to buy? I've read reviews on them and seems they have trouble with setups that weigh a few pounds. Thanks

This is the debate that never ends...is it the camera or photographer? Some equipment has benefits over others. But just having a sharp pencil does not make you a great writer. All my gear is old. But if I come into some $$ I may upgrade. And if I don't I produce fine with what I got. Sometimes the new is not as good as the old. Take touch screens on the cam. Sometimes you just blow on them and you settings get screwed up. Hate em. Amazing how the old timers produced such iconic work with just a few manual controls.

OK, the high class digital cine' camera look intimidating with all the bells and whistles. But from my basic work needs, digital is pretty simple.

Yes, I know. The movies tend to be more of the invisible HDR, but it seems to be kinda contrasty from what I've seen. And in reality, I can't say for sure if they were HDR, they just seem to be in that direction. But maybe they were just victims of turning up the contrast and saturation. They have invisible HDR in still photos as well. Invisible in the respect that it does not thumb its nose at you as much as the more extreme HDR. How do all you feel about HDR in filmmaking? I've never used it. Only because my simpleton cameras don't offer it. And can't do it with my video software. I've only used HDR in still work. And it is generally single image HDR that is done in post not in the camera / scanner. Are there any films out there that have been shot in HDR that you are enamored with?

https://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/6795-netflix-now-requires-its-films-to-be-made-in-hdr I knew it would just be a matter of time before HDR was mainstream. But where does that leave film? Will HDR film scans be good enough for them? Faces of Gentrification - D.D.Teoli Jr. (low res image) I guess Netflix wants invisible HDR. I wonder how a film done in painterly or grunge HDR would look?

I've got a pretty big pile of DVD's and CD's I've been building up over the years. The problem is it is not in a pile, but spread out. I tried some plastic boxes from Walmart and Staples but they are not very good. Bought some archival boxes from BH that hold about 55 thin cased jewel cases and will try that method. Now need to figure a inventory method for finding things. How do your organize / inventory your data - footage DVD's?

I don't like chemicals, so go with water. They got some systems on Amazon with proprietary non disclosed chemicals. Who knows what it is they use?

That is helpful advice. I will look into it. Yes water is filthy nowadays. Here are the water test photos from around the country. Also are photos of test results from water filters. https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/6035/ I never gave much thought to water on the records. But if you want the best, then distilled is cleanest. They do sound better once they are cleaned for cracking and popping noises.

I just got a copyright claims notice from YouTube on some ancient country songs. 1930s - 1940's.

Never seen or handled them. Only 8mm and 16mm reels. This one is from eBay. Last reel from Devil in Miss Jones. I'd like to see the 70mm reels. They must be monsters! Photo: eBay

After cleaning records I get lots of static. I've been using the Robert Crumb method of washing records with clean water on a damp cotton rag and drying with soft rag. Although Crumb uses lots of soap on his records as well as water. (as shown in a vintage video of him.) After cleaning I touch the edge of the record to the refrigerator handle a few times until it stops sparking. Seemed to help greatly reducing dust magnet syndrome.The anti anti-static brush does very little as far as I can tell to remove static. (other than finish dusting after the static is removed.) The brush must be designed to not add more static. I test removing more static when flipping the record and brushing, but have not found any buildup from playing and brushing once static is previously discharged. You got any static removing tricks? Lets hear them.

Yes, that. But didn't know they were so pricey. Thanks for the help.

B-W filters are very hard to clean. The advanced lens coating makes them murder to get clean. I sometimes have to finish them up with some breath fog and lens tissue. But with the filthy places I shoot, I can humbly say I am very experienced in lens cleaning. I sometimes would get doused with soda and could hardly get a lens clean. Every time I would clean it, more soda would ooze out of lens joint where it was mounted to the ring. It was just a little, but enough to foul the edge of the lens. It was a full-frame fisheye so could not use a filter. I've tried many, many brands of lens cleaning liquids and lens tissue. Like most everything BH had to offer. The tissue varies. Some leave lint. But Kimwipes are the best from my tests as well as ese of use. Alcohol wipes are the best and beat out all other lens cleaning fluids. I can't say what effect they have on the lens coating over 20 years. I've been using for 6 or 7 years. No effect on coating from my limited use. The lens discussed above got ruined pretty much from the soda treatment. The elements were OK inside, but the focus ring was almost frozen. Very hard to turn. Camera also got messed up. On-off switch was hard to use and shutter button sticky. But you test it all out for yourself, try all the other options, then give alcohol wipes, Kimwipes, a Rocket blower and soft Giottos retractable lens brush a try. If you can use a skylight / UV filter that keeps the actual lens cleaning to a minimum. Although I like the build of B-W filters, I use Tiffen filters. They clean easy and are inexpeisnive. The B-W filters, as mentioned above, are very tough to clean perfect due to the coating. If I ever get a junk camera ready to trash I will experiment cleaning a sensor. As I've said and said again...I never clean the sensor. Never have had to and try to not ever have to with safe sensor practices.

If so, what would be an affordable video screen to buy? Thanks

Yesterday's office...

Looks good. I don't have a iPhone, smart phone or Dick Tracy watch. I just have a dumb Walmart Tracphone. But if someone wants to prepare for a blue or red hour shoot it seems like a useful tool. Or even to know where the sun position may be for a shoot. I would think the landscaper still photogs would love it too.

I use compressed air, upside down, to remove skin tags / skin growths. You have to mask off skin real good or you will get a big blister. Do at your own risk, I'm no MD. Dermatologists are unaffordable, so it is a $10 can of spray for me. I don't use on camera though. Just rocket blowers and alcohol wipes. Tried all sort of lens cleaning fluid, all terrible. Alcohol wipes are best. Have cleaned lenses many, many hundred of times with them. (PS compressed air is often times some type of gas, not air. That is why it gets freezing cold if sprayed upside down.)

Cleaning sensor is good way to ruin it. I use rocket blower and alcohol wipes on the lens with Kimwipes. Sometimes would have to clean lens a dozen times a day or more. For sensor it is rocket blower. Never had to clean a sensor, but I don't change lenses if the shooting gets rough. If the lens is attached, very hard to get the sensor dirty. And even with rocket blower, I seldom use on a sensor. Very, very seldom blow it off. I just shoot. I keep body opening down, change lens fast. I try to keep dirt out. I shot these when I was in my 60's. I've had my flash broken off at the hotshoe and all sort of physical attacks. You know the deal, generational war against the 'OK boomers.' I only bring this up to question...why do you have to clean your GD sensors so much??? Are you shooting in worse places than I do?

Did you have any issues? And I am talking about art films, not commercial films. (Although if you used some ripped music for commercial use, feel free to chime in.) I was wondering if using old punk music would be a problem? I acquired a collection of old punk handbills from obscure groups. Wanted to make a video of the bills and thought punk music to go with them would be apropos. I'm thinking music copyright must not be valued as much as visual copyright. Why would they make audio rip programs mainstream, yet copy programs to copy movies are illegal? Thanks