Jingtian Wang

I just watched Joker (amazing film), and looked up the camera spec on ShotOnWhat. One thing I found interesting is how they used Alexa 65, LF and the mini for the film. The Alexa LF and 65 parts were interesting to me, since considering with budget of 55 million, there shouldn't be a reason not to get another 65 instead of LF. Especially considering DP Lawrence Sher ASC also shot Godzilla II: King of the Monsters, another alexa 65 show, and should be able to negotiate the rate down quite a bit. Using the LF feels a bit odd, since there will be another crop ratio to consider, as we would need to crop in on top and bottom to get 1.85:1 in the LF, where as we can keep the full height on the 65. This leads me to wonder is there any advantage to shooting LF over 65 (besides cost and that it doesn't matter if you shoot anamorphic)? Jing

If you are talking about the top top guys, such a Roger Deakins and other "legends", it's really up to them how much. Anywhere from 10k up to whatever they negotiate per day. Feature rates are typically much lower than commercials because their longer shooting time. But if you are talking about top guys such as an ASC member, it could be anywhere from 5k-30k+ per day for a commercial. And maybe 3-5k per day for features. But I'm nowhere near that, so maybe an ASC member who feels comfortable sharing this info can elaborate here. If you go down from there, there are unionized/agent cinematographers, who is a part of a union (loca 600, 669 or similar) and/or represented by a agent. They can often charge from the mandated minimum 1k up to 5k for a day of commercial. But this can vary wildly by person, such as the types of project (a ASC member might work on a project they feel passionate about, but has very low budget. But a much lesser known cinematographer might work on a commercial and get a higher rate). Future more, there's often paid prep if you are talking about a project with proper budget, which can last for a month (or longer), which can also impact their earnings (let's say one month of shooting and 2 weeks of paid prep). I'm in no way expert in this topic, this info mainly comes from talking to other crew member and industry friends, so please correct me if got anything wrong.

I fully agree with this, from what i read from the internet and this forum, the whole packaging deal and more and more production companies taking their DPs in house. It feels like we are heading to a studio hierarchy mkii. And if that's the case, what's to stop production companies slashing union rates by half and stop hiring union members to force them out of business.

Hi all, I recently had a conversation with a friend about industry trend, that’s when I noticed how many new trends we are experiencing now; large format, high resolution, rise of Indy productions etc. My question is, what do you think will be the next big thing that sticks in the industry? Large format,high resolution, high frame rate, vfx (I know vfx is here to stay, what I mean here is if it will takeover traditional cinematography), smaller crew/production/budget films, virtual reality/360 video or any other thing I couldn’t think of. And why? Keep it to existing technology please. Jing

Thank you to everyone who replied..was not expecting this level of support from this forum. I left the project a bit after due to personal reason, but this was helpful experience non the less. The new DP decided not to use any lights at all. Just bonce with a 8by (biggest frame I can get for our budget) with 1/2 diffusion. Would have loved to have a 20by, it would allow quite a bit of movement around. 8by is pretty restrictive in this respect. He probably will use couple of 5 in 1 circulars to either bounce, diffuse or negative fill some natural light. These cheap reflectors are surprisingly good at this respect. And few battery led panels (the really small and cheap ones) will be there for the assist. Again, thanks for everyone who replied, all your advices were really helpful.

The only difference between 15mm and 19mm is the strength of these. 19mm is much stronger than 15mm. This won't matter if you don't plan to attach much accessories or a heavy lens (nothing heavier than Zeiss cp2 or Xeen). But if you plan to attach tons of accessories to the rod (often the case with Alexa Mini as it doesn't have many body mounting points) or attach a heavy zoom lens (like the Angenieux zoom lens). You should always go with the 19mm, it's simply stronger and usually the same price, it's not much heavier either. There aren't much beyond that, BP-8 and BP 9 (15mm and 19mm version of he same bridge plate) are just there so people with different rod support system can attach their camera to a tripod. They have different thickness to them, as different rod standards have different lens height requirements (http://www.ocon.com/inspiration/labs/rod-standards-explained/, you can learn more here) But be careful that the BP series only work with Alexa NOT mini series camera. As these have a higher native lens height, to use them with Alexa mini, which has a lower native lens height. You would need a separate adapter. Which would cost you even more money. I would recommend that you go with Arri's Compact Bridge Plate series. They are more expensive that BP series, but cheaper than the BP + Alexa mini adapter and also allow for shoulder mount.

Hey all! I'm doing a showreel shoot this August, and it will probably be really sunny and have a out door location coming up. Due to the limited budget and power available, the biggest light i can get is a off brand 2.5k HMI and a home made 6by diffusion from shower curtain. I was wonder if these are enough to make a impact? My indie rental house didn't tell me which model of HMI we are getting, but it's safe to assume it won't be as effective as the Arris (maybe matching output of M18 idf we're lucky) . I'm not diffusion the light, maybe a 1/4 or 1/8 cto max for some scenes. Any input will be appreciated as always. Jing