Jacqueline Donaldson

Thanks David, I just shot with the V1U, and relised that I guess all the Sony's are very similar in their operating systems, look and functions etc... I'm having a bit of a hard time now - I am a big fan of the HVX-200, but the director of the company that has the money isn't convinced - i think we're silly to consider buying a sony HDV - probably the Z1P as opposed to DVCPro HD that the Panasonic offers. I have experience with both, and I feel better informed than my counterparts, but not enough to be an expert on the subject. We have US10,000 to spend. What's your view? I've also considered the JVC GY-HD100, it's a bit out of our budget - but it looks sexy which helps sell our film programmes. Jacqueline

That sounds cool, I'm going to give that a try. The director really liked the test footage I shot - so i think I'm sorted, but i would love to see the effect Thomas is talking about for future ref...Thanks guys, jac

I've managed to shoot some tests all on my own, at this moment I am DP, singer , cam operator, playback and editor! LOL!! Anyway, it seems like a good combination is playing back at 150% and then bringing that back down to norm in post and slowing the video to 66.65% - it syncs well and looks good - It may just be a little on the slow side for us - I think we may want a little faster - can anyone suggest another combination of playback and vid speed that would be a little faster - I also tried the playback at 133% and reduced vid in post to 75% - wierd, i expected it to be around 66%, but it wouldn't sync at that. Is that to do with shooting on vid and it being 29.97 fps rather then 30fps. JAc

Hi, I'm shooting a music video soon and I want to create that slightly slow feeling- not full slomo like 50% slower, but just noticeble - I'm planning on shooting at normal speed with faster playback, lipsync and slowing in post - does anyone know how fast we should playback the music to create this effect? Were testing but would like alternate opinions on what has worked for you. Also should I be using a higher shutter speed if I'm going to slow down in post - all our shots are left to right tracking shots - I just read something about this? Thanks, Jac...

Scrap that - I've been told to buy Camera & Laptop for a buget of US$10,000. What would be your preference?

Hi everyone, What would you buy if you had been given US$10,000 for equipment. Reguarly shooting shorts, music vids and educational programmes - need Cam & lights. Thanks Jacqueline

Hey Mike, I got my letter - rejected again. How about you? Far from being discouraged, I feel invigoured to work even harder this year on continuing to learn the craft, i will apply again next year, but there are so many routes into this career that I'm looking for every opportunity I can find to work and apply my skills. Hope your news was good, if not - just keep doing what you love the most and you'll succeed somehow. Jacqueline

Hi Mike, this is the second year I've applied and I've heard nothing yet - I reckon by now (end June) I musn't have gotten an interview as they are held in July and they surely would want to give a fair amount of notice as it's a 3 day workshop - last year I did get a letter telling me I had not been successful and no - not sure when it came as I was working out of the country and it was directed to my parents house. Jacqueline

Hey Phil, Not sure where they've lived, but I've lived all over the world, New Zealand, Hong Kong, India, WALES! So I'm sure I would manage somehow... Just hoping to get an interview at the NFTS and then we'll see what happens. Morgan, when did they send notice for your workshop/interview placement when you applied? And how are you doing, you're just graduating, right? Jac

Hey Phil, well, not really looking forward to the prospect of living in London, but I have friends that say it's great. I'm currently living in Hong Kong-it has it's good points and bad, but the industry here as far as I can see is awful - I'd never get a foot in the door, simply because of the language prob. I really want to get my hands on film cameras, I'm currently using HDV & P2 and I want to be in an atmosphere of learning with support- I've been involved in low budget/experimental film-making for a long time, but have been teaching myself cinematography for the last year and I'm at the point where I want to go further but it's prohibitively expensive equipment & production cost wise. The NFTS looks like a good option. There is a very small community of people here who are shooting independant shorts, we pool our cash, beg, borrow and steal equipment, it seems people in Hong Kong are not interested in getting involved unless there is a good deal of cash involved, therefore I tend to be DP, camera, gaffer, production designer etc... I want to start doing just what I want to be doing - Cinematography with the support of other crew members who know what they are doing and really collaborate. I'm ready for a step up and I figured it'd be nice to live in the UK again - mind you the public transport system Hong Kong is fantastic and it'd take some getting used to travelling in London. Yikes! I've also applied to FT2 - Clapper loader traineeship - any thoughts? I have also considered doing some intensive courses - for example the Film workshop in Maine - USA . Any opinions on that? Jacqueline

Nah, I believe they have some HDV cameras already and as our company are running the programme, we can use the equipment for our own projects when it is available - so we def want to keep with the HDV. I think they have Z1U's that's why the question - they gave me a budget to buy more equipment-so I need to know if the Z1U's are like the Z1P's, if the quality of the Z1U's are not as good as Z1P's then I will consider buying the HVX. But if they are like the Z1P's which I quite like then I will spend the money on Portable lighting kits and some grip equipment like dolly etc... Thanks, jac

Hey, I just sent in application/showreel to the NFTS and wondered if anyone knows when the people at NFTS start sending notices for the interview/summer workshop? Jacqueline

Hi there, What is the difference? - I've used the Z1P several times and thought that the Z1P was PAL and the Z1U was NTSC, but upon looking on the net I see that they both record both PAL and NTSC. SO what is the difference between these cameras? As far as I can see they look/perfom the same. If you had the choice would it be Z1P, Z1U, FX7 or HVX-200. I think I'll go for the HVX-200, but I'm buying for a school film programme so I'd like some opinions. Thanks Jacqueline

Hi Joesph, Thanks, I'm going to use a friends Mac & FCP. I'm not a student, we are independent film-makers that pool our monies to shoot short films to build our skills & experience & showreel. Wish we were students! Jac...

I'm really in a muddle & feeling kind of queezy! I just found out that the Premier Pro 1.5 software my friend has is copied and she cannot upgrade it - typical Asia! SO now I'm really in trouble - I'm trying to edit together my showreel for my application to the NFTS, London - it needs to be sent by next Monday and I have material from two films currently on a friends computer, but we have no way to cut it together - I don't have a computer of my own, so i'm completely dependent on others at the moment. I'm trying to figure out how I can down convert the HDV files to SD files using the computer as the Camera we filmed on was NTSC and is now in the States and we can't access another NTSC camera here without it costing a fortune. Another problem we may have is that I also have material from the HVX-200, we have Raylight and can watch the files - but not sure if this is going to import into PP1.5 just by converting the MXF files to AVI's, waiting to hear from friend about that. If it's doesn't work, can we also down-convert these files to SD, we do not have access to an HDV camera or deck at this time, so it must be done in computer. Is it possible? I hope someone has some advice... Jacqueline

Thank you Michael, I think that's what it is - but I just found out that the Premier Pro 1.5 software my friend has is copied and she cannot upgrade it - typical Asia! SO now I'm really in trouble - I'm trying to edit together my showreel for my application to the NFTS, London - it needs to be sent by next Monday and I have material from two films currently on a friends computer, but we have no way to cut it together - I don't have a computer of my own, so i'm completely dependent on others at the moment. I'm trying to figure out how I can down convert the HDV files to SD files using the computer as the Camera we filmed on was NTSC and is now in the States and we can't access another NTSC camera here without it costing a fortune. Another problem we may have is that I also have material from the HVX-200, we have Raylight and can watch the files - but not sure if this is going to import into PP1.5 just by converting the MXF files to AVI's, waiting to hear from friend about that. If it's doesn't work, can we also down-convert these files to SD, we do not have access to an HDV camera or deck at this time, so it must be done in computer. Is it possible? I hope someone has some advice... Jacqueline

HI, We recently borrowed a friends FX7 (NTSC) to shoot a short film here in Hong Kong, we filmed to tape and also recorded straight on to a hard drive. We can't get the footage to open in Premier Pro 1.5, I thought maybe the programme couldn't handle it and we should upgrade to 2.0 (we can't afford it), but I just remembered that we've previously shot on the HVX-200 and digitized and imported that footage to the same computer using the same programme, we've even tried using Raylight to convert and open, but nothing. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem may be? Everything appears to be there. Anything at this point would be helpful , Thanks, Jacqueline...

Hey Danielle, You should look into European & Asian film schools. Many of them are cheaper, some have international schools that teach you in English and often all your production costs are included in your tuition fees, and ofcourse you'll be exposed to the european art of filmmaking. I've heard about all the competition Luke is talking about within courses themselves in the US, in the UK we weren't competing with one another for anything - everyone had the right to film their own project & select their own team and everyone came together to make sure that each project was the best it could be - fantastic experience and camraderie that I will never forget. Thanks guys. Check out the International film school of Paris for example : http://www.filmschool-eicar.com/VA/presentation/index.php Their undergraduate fees are around US $14.000 a year. The National Academy of Theatre & Film Arts in Bulgaria has BA, MA & PhD programmes for around US$3500 a year, international students make up about 10% of the current students. I don't know if they teach in English or not. http://natfiz.bitex.com/ The APA here in Hong kong is supposed to be good and they teach in English- they offer BFA course for around US$5,000 a year, and even thought you're not supposed to you can pick up some part-time engish teaching work on the side to give yourself pocket money it's very well paid here averaging around US$30 an hour. http://www.hkapa.edu/asp/film_tv/film_tv_p...mp;mode=gui#bfa The Beijing film academy is supposed to have an excellent course in Cinematography, but I can't get onto the English website - I think they have quite a number of foreigners there. Also think about short intensive courses that will be cheaper and give you that knowledge and confidence and then go out and make films - as Luke said the degree itself is not worth much in this business. Hope this gives you some ideas as to how many options there are out there for you.

Thanks Chris, the info was spot on what I was looking for - we are going ahead and shooting with the Sony. Jacqueline

Hi, I'm currently DPing on a project and we would like to get a washed out look to our film - I'm thinking something along the lines of "The Shawshank Redemption" I know we can manipulate the image in post to a certain degree, but is there anything else I can do with the camera to achieve this look? Any filters that might help? There is also the slim chance that we may get a Sony FX1? The smaller version of the Sony Z1P. I remember that this camera has some cinematic functions in it. Likewise any suggestions. Thank you. Jacqueline PS. Recently worked with the HVX-200, man was that a steep learning curve and we still haven't seen the footage yet! I'll post our experiences and how we managed our workflow from camera to PC on the site soon as I found there was almost no information on this site about workflow to PC/premier Pro mostly on the Mac workflow, I am saving for a Mac though - so I hope next time it will be an proccess.

Hi, I'm stuck - I can't decide which rate to shoot at - I got the camera this evening, but got no Computer to do some tests and shooting in the morning - I've heard that the 1080i on the Pal has more rez than the NTSC so I should shoot on that, but I've seen alot of people going for 720/25pN. Is there much difference? I'm looking to have alot of colour saturation in my picture as well as the filmic look. Argg my internet time is expiring - Yikes - hope someone can help. Jacqueline Sorry, I was kicked off the internet - pay as I go! I also don't understand about the editing process - if I shoot at 1080i - Do I then need to downconvert? Or is that done internally? Thanks, I know alot of people have asked similar questions, but I haven't grasped it yet! Jacqueline

HI Matt, Thanks for the info. Jacqueline

Hi guys, I'm probably shooting on the Sony Z1P (This is PAL) soon. I've used it before, shooting 1080i/50 and using the cineframe 30 function - the results were nice. I want to know how I can make this camera perform better. Does anyone know if the Adjustments menus actualy enhance the picture quality or just add to video noise? I'm talking about the Skintone detail, Cinematone functions etc... I'm afriad I don't have time to do tests before I pick it up for our shoot. I like to use a 1/4 or 1/2 soft F/X filter to soften the video look a bit. Any other Ideas? Thanks Jacqueline

Oh and I just saw that the P2 Genie web page states that the P2 driver must be installed - what is that? Does it come with the camera rental or do we have to buy it?

Hi there, I've been all through this thread and can't find anything that discusses the PC workflow using Premier Pro. A friend of mine has invested alot of time and money into a good laptop, Premier Pro 2.0,DV Rack and renting an HVX, but so far he hasn't had a successful shoot using this combination, lots of technical probs. NOW, I'm shooting on Sunday and will probably shoot on the Sony Z1P PAL with Cineframe 30 - it's pretty nice, i've used before - BUT I would really like to ditch that and shoot on the HVX - 200, but I'm not sure about the workflow, whether our comp and editing software can handle it. Questions : (sorry if I sound stupid - this is pretty new to me.) 1) The people I'm working with have a decent laptop - but only Premier Pro 1.5 - Is this usable? 2) If I shoot to P2 cards - should I download the "P2 Genie" software, I can't just put the P2 card in the comp and dump the files, right? 3) Do I still need P2 Genie if I shoot straight into Comp with firewire? This sounds great to me, but how do I set up the Comp to do this?- I'm so not comp lit. Do I open Premier and capture in there? Or does the Genie capture? 4) If I shoot into comp is it compressed or altered in anyway? 5) I'm shooting on PAL and I've heard something strange - that the PAL version shoots only in 30fps not 24? Whats the point of that? 6) What do you guys think is better - 1080/24p or 720/24pN? What exactly is the difference? Our whole shoot is static camera - so no prob with strobing etc... I hope someone out there will have the patience to answer my silly questions & I can go off happily into the sunset hugging my new best friend the HVX-200... Jacqueline