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Tim Pfautsch

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Posts posted by Tim Pfautsch

  1. 19 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

    Lenses from the old stills world much below 24mm tend to be rare, expensive and not wonderful. I have a Tokina RMC 17mm f/3.5 in Nikon F mount - hardly a speed demon and nor are they cheap.

    If you're using cameras with a suitably shallow mount, such as Sony E or Micro Four-Thirds, you might consider a speed booster, which will effectively shorten the focal length of whatever you're using as well as recover some speed. Optical performance can be variable but it doesn't sound like you're particularly bothered about sparkling corner performance! Put a booster on that 17mm, and if the operator's got big ears, they're in shot.

    That said I'd take a fairly cautious view of home detuning. Removing coatings is not something you should attempt outside a facility set up to polish lenses to their precision curved finish; it's not like stripping paint. They're hard to get apart, and harder to reassemble without including dust and hairs. The iris mechanism is very delicate.

    You might try what IronGlass do with the coloured coatings inside the barrel, for tinted flares, or shaped apertures for interesting bokeh, or threads for linear flares. There's also nothing stopping you using filtration, including putting things on bits of glass to see what happens. Some of the filters people sell for big money seem a little fanciful, sometimes:

    https://www.ibe-optics.com/en/products/cine/artistic-tools/effect-filters/ibe-effect-filters-10563

    Ha! I own the 17mm 3.5 and shot this spot on it (and Speedbooster plus Pocket4K)

    I now own a BMPCC6K Pro which I would want to shoot the upcoming project on, so no Speedbooster which is why I thought about using the Tokina 11-16 2.8 to get wider and faster.

    But maybe you are right, before polishing of coatings I am gonna order a couple 4x5.65 Clear filters and try to do what they did on with the ibe optics filters.

     

     

     

  2. Has anyone done lens modifications themselves?

    I am shooting mainly EF S35 cameras and it's hard to find funky (vintage) super wide angles as most vintage lenses are Full Frame from the film days.

    I thought about scraping the coatings off of a Tokina 11-16 and add some filtration. Ideally I'd love to mess with fall off and bokeh, but I don't even know where to start that. Any hints on how to start my custom lens journey is welcome ?

  3. This is going to be the location, hopefully.

    @David Mullen ASCthanks for taking the time! I would like to refrain from bouncing, puts stand into the wides, also the beams become visible through the haze. - at least in my mind.

    Did some thinking, I will convince the director to only show the wide as an opening shot and try to modify the chandlier so it's bright enough. Rest in mediums or closeups with toplights.

    @Christopher Santuccithe closeups are for sure toplit with a menace arm! No doubt about that!

     

    download.jpeg

  4. Hey people :-)

    I am looking for advice to light a quite big ballroom with a overhead chandelier. How to get a good room tone, how to pepper the frame in the wides.

    Its a lowbudget commercial so no fancy ballons sadly. 

    My first instinct is to use the existing chandeliers in the wides, change bulbs for maximum output. Haze the room. Add some practicals to the mix to get some interest on the walls.
    I'd love to install somekind of big toplight, but time and money won't allow for that...

    Anyone who has some ideas?

    Greatly appreciated,

    Tim

     

     

  5. Hey,

     

    I have a K3 that I have not yet successfully used. At some point the bottom reel always becomes very loose and produces spaghetti.

    I narrowed it down to the following: 

    I can not reproduce the problem when the camera is opening. But whenever I put the lid on the camera and I let it run for a few seconds, the film is wound loosely around the bottom. I feel like the bottom spool can not spin freely or smoothly because it gets stuck between somehow by the lid.

    Anyone know of such a behaviour?

    I already ruined two 100ft rolls of film. Its becoming expensive... Please help.

  6. 17 hours ago, Max Field said:

    You should shoot fashion commercials, it had that in-your-face look to it.

    Thanks man. Appreciate that. The director had a very strong vision, I just had to do what he had in his head. Really enjoyed this project.

    16 hours ago, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

    Nice work, especially the lighting. But titles kinda fuzzy and too fast to read.

    Put some nudity in next time. That is always a boost, even if implied. 

    Hey thanks for the compliment!

    Not really a fan of nudity for the sake of nudity but thanks for the advice!

  7. This rather abstract short is really dirty, actors were young and supposed to have blemished skin, light is harsh on purpose. 
    We had two 4x4 Kinos, Aputure 120D,  Ice light, two 2x2 light mats.
    One AC, one gaffer. 
    Shot on BMPCC4K with Tokina 28-70 2.6-2.8 (great vintage zoom) for handheld/more gritty stuff and Sigma 18-35/50-100 for the more colorful studio (the director wanted two different worlds).
    Budget was 1K€. 75% went to camera and lighting rental, 25% food.

    Link: 

     

  8. 10 hours ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

    I agree with Bruce. I was an AC for 8 years, and while I was always shooting projects on the side, when I moved on to shooting full time after a two-year transition period it was like starting over again. If I had a do-over, I probably would have started shooting full time after 3 years of working on set. If you can do some B Camera operating for a more experienced DP between shooting jobs, you’ll still get the benefit of seeing them block and light.

    On the other hand, it has been helpful to have an established relationship with rental houses, line producers, and lots of crew members. But in order to keep getting work as a DP, you need to have a great reel and to be always networking. Without the hustle, relationships won’t help much.

    If you want to keep crewing for now, I think it may be a good idea to keep working in G&E. Lighting is so important to the job, and being able to drive the grip truck, build rigs safely, and operate the dolly could make a big difference in the production value of your early low budget DP jobs.

    Also, if you want to work as a gaffer for a young camera-focused DP, you will be a great asset and can work a lot by their side. Speaking from experience, it’s such a relief to have that one ‘Swiss Army knife’ crew member by your side on every project in those early years.

    That's great advice. Can't be bad to have a wide skillset. Also yes, I have already met some camera-focused DPs that asked me to light for them. I will stay on that!

    5 hours ago, Philip Reinhold said:

    Its not that easy… especially in Europe (where low-budged is big budged ? )

    The German market is one of the most oversaturated and special film markets. Even if you have been working as a camera assistant or gaffer for some years, it will take ages. We have 5 big (and some smaller) film schools, HFF Muinch, DFFB Berlin, HMS Hamburg, HFF / Filmuni Babelsberg, Filmakadmie Ludwigsburg… and all of them send at least 6 good selected cinematographers per school to the German & International market every year. Most of them worked as electricians / AC / gaffer a few years before study and the chance of being engaged in a Filmfond-sponsored television or Cinema production project without having to study there is very low.

    However, working in the lighting department is the most interesting you can start today. The camera systems change every year and are not that difficult to learn anymore. So there will be more opportunities to be hired as they usually require more electricians than AC´s per Project. So look for an Crew who will pick you up as the "Spark/Licht-Assi" / "Halber Beleuchter", and move on from that…

    Haha yes thanks for grounding me. I was at the open door event in Babelsberg last year and was really discouraged after speaking to two camera professors. They basically told be that most of these cinematographers end up doing something else than cinematography... 
    And yes, I have already made contact with some local gaffers and will try to meet all of them.  

  9. 14 minutes ago, Bruce Greene said:

    My gut feeling is that if you want to become a cinematographer, then you should just start selling yourself as a cinematographer. As someone who first worked as a Steadicam op for many years before moving to DP, when you make the change, it will be like starting all over again. At least that was my experience.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It's just that I am lacking so so many skills, I do not feel comfortable selling myself as a cinematographer... yet. I feel like I need to watch some really skilled people work, be part of that team and learn.

    • Upvote 1
  10. Dear Cinematagraphy.com community, 

    I need some guidance. Next summer I want to start my freelance career in the film industry. My final goal is to be a cinematographer (duh) in the narrative world. 

    I have been studying something very cinematography unrelated for the last 7 years and do not see myself working in that full time, because doesn't make me happy. Gonna get the degree nonetheless, if I fail in the movie business, I can always go back. But creating has always made be happy. 

    During the last 3 years I have been shooting small music videos on the side and worked as a spark during my holidays (been on my first feature this autumn - it was exhausting but I fell in love with the process)

    I plan on trying to get more work in the lighting department (for cash), but I am unsure if that's the right way moving forward. Even though lighting has become my passion, I feel AC's have a much more close relationship with cinematographers, which could get me in the right circles? Also, I feel like finding a mentor would beneficial, but as I have mainly worked in the GE department I have no valueable skills to offer a DP on a real narrative set.

    What steps would you take moving forward? I am willing to put in the work. I know that getting where I want will take years if not decades.

    I don't know if it makes sense, I am going to link some stills from projects I shot myself that turned out good in my opinion, maybe that is going to be helpful to assess my skills?!

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