Abdul Rahman Jamous

A director told me once a TV show is like a magazine, you casually read it once and that's it. But a movie is like a book, you read it with full concentration. And even after you finish it you feel like reading it from time to time. Perhaps this is why movies are made with more care and attention to details. Even though nowadays we live in the golden era of (TV), the mass audience still value movies more than TV series. for example Oscars get far more attention and discussion than Emmy awards.

WHAT A TREASURE! Thank you Daniel!

Like you I'm a beginner, but I had the opportunity to do my internship with a legendary cinematographer called Eric Yeong. I attended 3 of his shootings, He shot them by Alexa mini and actually he never used the things that you did mention. As Bruce Greene mentioned earlier "If you're shooting RAW or LOG, for post production color correction, there's no need or desire to match the cameras on set using the charts. The colorist will match the shots during color grading. " and actually you may even set your white balance to "auto" and in post the colorist will (fix) it for you. Digital Cameras are very forgiving. When you shoot Raw or LOG, the image appears very flat looking, very grayish. So cinematographers use LUTs to have some rough color grading while they are shooting on set. Actually LUTs are super helpful tool to help determining the look of the thing that you are shooting. Here is a video that actually explain LUTs and hope you find it helpful

I did write a wrong information and you corrected me. No worries, love you!

I did write a wrong information and you corrected me. No worries, love you!

Yes using a shorter focal length will give you a larger field of view. But it comes with the cost of changing the "characteristics" of your image.

Sorry, larger sensor gives less depth of field. that was a typo. Thank you

Oh my dear friend, you cannot be more wrong.... There is no such a thing as best camera, best lens or best sensor size. Yes, The super 35 sensor are becoming pretty much the standard. But actually sometimes using a camera with a different sensor size is more suitable for you. For example Epics like "Avengers: End Game" or "The King" are shot in 70mm and 65mm because these sensors sizes give you more field of view. "1917" was shot by an ALEXA Mini LF that has a full frame sensor instead of ALEXA Mini that has a super 35 sensor because a larger sensor gives more depth of field. But the TV series "Biggest and Baddest" was shot by using cropped sensor cameras for the purpose of getting less depth of field. So yeah, your choice of sensor size depends on what you are about to shoot, and the 35mm sensors are not always your best choice.

Well, In 2018 I saw the movie "Hanuman Vs Mahiravana" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llXo_d0UKZw) and I liked it because watching it felt like watching a walkthrough of a video game. But yesterday I watched "Dragon Quest: Your Story" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANB1TBs6RRA) and actually I fell in love with it. For me these two movie have a lot in common, first in both movies there is less story and more action, the plot is kinda like a quest after the other, the protagonist is getting new equipment along the way and he is discovering a new abilities as the journey progresses and the antagonist is a one dimensional villain, and also visually the characters are very distinctive and very special looking compared to the world that surround them. I know that the two movies I mentioned are basically 3D animation. But you got "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "spirited away", both are 2D animation, but one is Animation and the other is Anime. so can RPG movies become a whole new genre?? and become the answer to how video games should be adapted to the silver screen??

May be you do a comparison between "The flash" (1990) and "The flash" (2014)

hmmmm. If I were you I would start comparing between the TV series nowadays and the TV series that were released (I don't know) in the nineties and then talk about how digital cameras and the aspect ratio of 16:9 has made TV today compete with cinema.

Hi Ryan! Hope you find this video useful for you.

like you, I'm still in the very beginning of the road and I seriously have the same concern. Well, a cinematographer is the head of the departments of camera, lighting and grip. this is why being a DP is a very tough profession and I highly doubt that a fresh film graduate can be up to the task. I have read all the previous comments. you guys have answered my concerns and gave me a great exposure of how things should be done. But there is something I'd like to add. In my humble opinion (please correct me if I was wrong) the one who truly has the ability to evaluate the DP is not the director or the producer, but the Gaffer. Yes directors and producers are the one who hire you but the gaffer is your most important tool that helps you to get your job done. An experienced Gaffer has worked with many DPs before, and he/she may have a lot to suggest but most probably he/she will not bother himself/herself to say these suggestion if he/she sensed that the DP he/she is working with doesn't really know craft. What I'm trying to say is that before worrying about being hired as a DP you have to obtain a very strong knowledge (both theoretical and practical ) about lighting and griping. And perhaps the way to get this knowledge is to work under a very good DP for about a couple of years. and then you may confidently start your profession as a cinematographer. Cinematography is a craft, to learn it you must have a mentor.

Congrats. It look very decent. one thing I'm curious about. In the shot that we can see in 0:21, why you didn't make the face of the woman brighter? I mean this lighting gives me the impression that she is hiding a secret or she is not as excited as her beloved is. And yeah, may you please tell me how did you light the scene in 0:14? I absolutely love it.

Brilliant!

You are absolutely right. After the disaster, the 1st AC handed me a high quality slate and I absolutely fell in love with it. The slate was very convenient to use and it was very easy to clean. hopefully he will allow me to use for the next projects. But still, may you tell me the brand and the model of the slate you use?

like you I'm still a student, and lighting still a mystery for me. But perhaps what you need is that to discuss a reference with your director so you may confidently build your lighting based on a common ground. "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" (2018) is a terrible movie by all means, but it has a dancing sequence that might aspire you. also you may check the work of Matthew Libatique in the "Black Swan" (2010) you are in film school so I recommend you to also ask your friends classmates for a reference, hopefully they will help you and ou will ave something to build upon Good luck!

well... if your file is too large and cannot be posted here. Then I highly recommend me to resize it online. there are a lot of websites that allow you to do that

Hi guys! well, my slate got very dirty so I decided to clean everything by using dettol solution. The solution has created a chemical layer that lied between the surface of the whiteboard and the ink, so the ink has became permanent. I have watched some YouTube videos and the videos recommended me to use a 90% Alcohol solution but unfortunately such a thing is not available in Saudi Arabia. I managed to get a 70% solution but it didn't work. I tried using toothpaste but it also didn't work. the final thing I tried was using a solution provided by zeiss and it just added salt to injury and made things absolutely worse. may you tell me how to make it usable again?

Hi Marcus, may I know what you ended up doing? Just curious

"It is possible that the log formats capture beyond 110% but that's just where the graph ends. But they all clip at some point. Either that or they simply aren't allowed to hit 110% so at the clip point, the signal is grey-ish." "The V-log does also clip, but at a point beyond that which is pictured in this graph. So, imagine that this graph continues to the right further than is pictured here." Wow, I must admit that was a very clever commentary. I believe answering at what percentage does the [V-Log] clips requires some testing, but unfortunately I neither have the camera nor the money to buy it. So may be I i'll do these tests later. (hopefully) Thank you very much for answering my question.

is it safe to say that this graph is kinda like a waveform monitor, and when the output reaches 110% that means the wave is clipping and it is a total white without any details, and when we shoot in [V-Log] the output will never reaches to the clipping point?

The graph below is taken from the operating guide of the camera, and frankly I don't get it. also may you guys explain to me what is so special about the 18% input? I always see this percentage when people are testing light meters, filters or may be lenses. It seems to me the 18% is a standard for something but I never understood that standard.

a DP I know has also recommended me to do yoga, at first this recommendation didn't make that sense to me, but now I will highly consider doing yoga. also using resistance bands seems very useful for me. Thank you guys for these tips!

Well, you guys know how the craft consumes our time and you know how going to gym for us is a luxury that we simply cannot offer. I do push ups and squats at home, yes I see some progress but I still lack the physical strength that would allow me to operate cameras. so what do you guys recommend to do?? should I start actually practicing operating cameras while I'm in the studio during the days when I have no shootings? do you recommend me to do more exercises or do you think that I should be doing what I'm doing but give it some more time?