Eric Gesualdo

On 9/2/2023 at 11:23 PM, Jeff Bernstein said:

Congratulations. Your first independent feature appearing in cinemas recalls Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now (1966).

 

Are you upset with that comparison?

 

Best wishes.

Means a lot, Jeff. Thank you! Coppola is one of my favorite directors.

6 hours ago, David Mullen ASC said:

Congrats!

Thank you, David! 

Wanted to follow up on this (better late than never, right?) 

This film ended up premiering in London at the 2021 Raindance Film Festival and then had a limited US-city run in Regal Cinemas. My first feature getting into legit theaters was a dream come true. 

I am currently in neck deep in the next feature that is to be shot next year. 

What are some often overlooked but essential items that y'all professional DPs keep in your kit you take to set? No item is too small! 

9 minutes ago, AJ Young said:

Have a great time with the movie! Share your experience when you're done!

Thanks so much! I absolutely will do.

Hey gang! Some press regarding my first feature film is starting to come out and I'm really excited to step foot on set. We have been in pre-production for the past few months and some amazing actors have been cast such as Ty Simpkins from Iron Man 3 and Jurassic World and Anneliese Judge from Netflix's Sweet Magnolias. 

Here's a neat write up from Comic Book: https://comicbook.com/horror/news/iron-man-3s-ty-simpkins-to-produce-and-star-in-horror-film-where/

And if you're interested in learning more about the film/would like to invest and help out a talented group of young and hungry filmmakers, go to: https://wefunder.com/wheresrosefilm

Thanks for all your support! A lot of your tips and guidance truly have helped me out of some jams. 

I have a few night exteriors that take place in the woods. For my tracking shots, I was thinking of having a large soft source be kissing the trees in the background, while having my gaffer (low budget indie!) hold a china ball with an LED inside of it on a boom pole to light my actor while I track back with him in a medium shot. This method popped into my head because we don't have the units at our disposal to light 30 yards of this tracking shot. 

Does anyone have any experience with this method?

Just now, Brian Drysdale said:

On a properly funded production DPs don't usually get a percentage of a film, they receive a fee for their work. You may get a percentage if the producers don't have the funds to pay you, however, don't expect to see anything if the film is sold, there's a lot of clever accounting that goes on.

That's what I had assumed, just wanted to make sure I wasn't being cut out of anything I would normally be entitled to. Thanks for the reply!

I have a contract that doesn't mention I will receive any back end on upon the selling of the film. Is that standard or should I argue for it?

Apologies if this isn't the right forum for this particular question.

I was wondering if there were any tips for maintaining a consistent exposure of an interior shot where you can see directly out a window into the outside? I have played with the thought of placing a double net or ND gel on the window but I'm not sure if that's the best method. Thanks for the help.

1 minute ago, Feli di Giorgio said:

CML just did a test. Tungsten vs various LED. Very interesting results...

https://cinematography.net/LED-Camera/LED-Camera-Index.html

 

I love the look of tungsten. It's very lush. But heat and power draw are big issues. You can't run anything bigger than a 2k on house power. 

Tungsten has gotten something of a new lease on life with digital camera being able to shoot at higher asa settings that film and still deliver great IQ. You can do a lot with a few of 300w/600w/1000w lights and a sensitive camera.

But sooner or later you're going to run into the problem of not being able to run anything bigger than a 2k on house power or maxing out the amps available in your shooting location. Or the heat overwhelming the A/C.

If I had the money I would shoot tungsten/HMI etc, simply because I like the way it looks. But if you are on a tight budget LED lighting is the miracle we all dreamed about for years. The reduced power draw of LED can make a production possible, that previously would have never happened due to the need for generators, A/C, permits etc.

 

Thanks for passing those tests along! Incredibly helpful. 

Thanks for all the wonderful feedback everyone, all incredibly helpful and will weigh my options. David, the second series of samples you provided are very much in line with the look I am trying to achieve. Do you remember if those had any filtration? Looks like some pro-mist happening there. 

I'm in the process of putting together a lighting style for an upcoming horror feature that I am shooting. Will we be on the Alexa Classic.

Question: When shooting interiors,  are there perks to using a blue-gelled Maxi Brute rather than an HMI when it comes to simulating daylight? There will be tungsten practicals in the shot as well.

Also it was lit using Astera Tubes and 1 Litemat Gemini for the interior stuff, and the exterior is all natural light.

Hi there! This is my first music video as a working DP in LA and I'd love for your feedback. This was a 2 day micro--budget production shot on an Alexa Classic with Vintage Russian 'faux anamorphic' glass. I had to operate and pull my own focus which made some shots challenging at times. 

On 7/14/2019 at 8:01 AM, David Mullen ASC said:

Yes that would work. Some singers have a hard time lip-syncing to sped-up playback however.

Thank you David! Big fan of Maisel, by the way. Your work is wonderful.

19 hours ago, Phil Connolly said:

If you want things like bottle smashes to be really slow and awesome looking 48fps might not cut it. 

Slowmo starts too look cool in the 150 to 200 fps bracket for thinks breaking if you want to see the particles clearly. 

The other problem with the performer learning to lip sync at high speed means her motion will look strange as well - they will look slowed down as well, even with lip sync and a 2X speed up as David said is really hard to do. 4x or 6x to get more slow mo even more impossible. 

The other approach would be shoot it in two passes. Lock the camera off and shoot the background action in slow mo.

Then shoot the shot again at normal speed with the singer in position. You could use a portable green screen to comp the two together or use  the roto brush in after effects to cut round the singer so you can comp him on the slow background. You could shoot the singer in green screen in a studio but its easier on location to match the lighting. 

In terms of light levels you'd want to put ND in for the normal speed, rather then stopping down - so both show happen at the same f stop. 

 

Thank you for your thoughtful response! This helped immensely. 

Hey guys! Trying to pull off a practical effect where the lead singer in a band I'm shooting is lipsyncing the song at normal speed, while things in the backgronud (ie. bottle being throwing against a wall and smashing) happen in slo-motion. Is it really as simple as just having the lead singer sing the song twice as fast and film in 48fps? Thanks!

Hey all, I was wondering if any of you had some reading recommendations for growing DPs. Doesn’t necessarily have to be purely technical; I love some good theory/personal stories too.  Books, magazines, helpful blogs, etc. are all welcomed! Thanks.