Joe Sexton

Yes I did it twice.

I just got done respooling some film. I had a 400 ft roll and my 400ft mag broke so I split it up into two 200ft rolls. My question is that I had to handle 200ft of it to do so, and I was wondering if this will ruin the film? I did it in a room that was completely dark and I wore some vinyl examine gloves. I thoroughly washed the gloves beforehand to remove any talc powder that was on them. Should I feel safe using this film or just write it off as a loss?

Look for a used 3 chip camera on ebay. I wouldn't worry about film just yet. It sound like your trying to do things on the cheep. I think you will get much more out of a decent video camera then you would by trying to shoot film. Save a little more and see if you can get a DVX100.

I have super 16 transferred to mini DV quite often by Alpha Cine here in Seattle and it looks just fine.

Don't take the chance its only 100ft. Is it worth ruining your shot to save such a small amount of film and money?

I need to contact this guy and see if he wants to help me with one of my projects.

I couldn't agree more. I fall in to this category. I started off shooting HDV when it was first released, then I moved in to 24p dv (DVX). I managed to make a short with the DVX that is now in a couple of festivals, but the DVX comes no where close to what I have done with s16. In fact when I attended the one screening that I have been able to attend so far, I was taken back by how poorly it looked blown up on a big screen. Anyone who claims that DV, HDV, or even the footage from the HVX is comparable to 16mm (especially Vision 2) is kidding themselves.

I have a ACL 1.5 (french) camera that is super 16mm. I love this little camera. First of all the one on Ebay is not super 16 sixteen so unless you plan to convert the camera to super 16mm yourself (extremely bad idea) your looking at another $1500 - $2500 to have it converted by a qualified tech. The ACL does run quieter then the NPR but accessories like additional mags are more expensive then for the NPR. If you want to learn all about the ACL use the link someone posted above. Personally I would never try to shoot a feature with an ACL, I use mine mainly for shorts or if I want to experiment with film stock, lighting, exe. For what it would cost you to buy, convert, and maintain an ACL you would be money ahead to rent a good Aaton or Arri, as it is a more reliable quieter camera. Also if you are shooting a feature keep in mind the lens option available with the ACL. I assume you don?t want to fork over a lot of cash for a good set of lenses. If you rent a cam you will also be able to rent a good set of primes, as the rental camera will no doubt have a PL mount something your ACL will not. If your planning to use the ACL as a learning tool then I say go for it, I couldn?t be happier with mine but if your in fact shouting a feature length film save your self some headache and rent. Just my two cents. Joe Sexton

Thanks Matt, I'm sorry I should have been a little bit clearer The reason that the window needs to completely blow out is that the window is boarded but except for a small section. Any time the camera sees the window the camera would theoretically be looking directly in to the sun.

I'm shooting a scene this weekend that will involve a couple of actors staring out a four inch opening in a boarded-up window watching a sunset. The room these characters are in is not supposed to have any power therefore it would be dark. My hope is to have the room under exposed but not black. The light coming through the window to be properly exposed on the actors faces, and the windows completely blown out. The room is 25' by 22' and I'm shooting this on S16 with 7217 stock. Here's how I'm planning to light this, but I would welcome any suggestions any of you may have. I am going to create a low ambient light throughout the room with a few Chinese lanterns with a 1/4 CTB gel. I'm planning on the ambient light be two stops under key. I'll be gelling the windows with full CTO and positioning a 500w tungsten spotlight outside the window. I will also have two 600w Arris outside the window for additional fill. The spotlight will be aimed directly at the actors. My choice of tungsten lights outside the widow with the gel is so that they cast a gold light on the actors faces much like what the light from a sunset would look like. If I shoot on a sunny day I think I'm about five to six stops over key so the windows should completely blow out, but the weather report says it is going to be mostly cloudy with a few showers, so I don't know what I'm going to be looking at. I figure that I need the windows to be at least three stops over key for them to blow out. If I don't end up with enough natural light I have been entertaining the notion of using a white back drop and lighting that with some Flos. Finally I am going to add a little bit of fog so that we can see the light streaming though the room. I have a standard party for fog machine I can use: will this work or should I rent a professional unit? Anyway I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions that you may have.

There is no way to know what kind of recording time 160 gigs will provide since we don't know anything about what kind of codec they are planning to implement.

Mean Creek is S16

The Micro35 from Redrock should be available soon as well

it uses pixel shifting in order to get 1080p.

I have a DVX100A and a JY-HD10U. If I'm going to work on a project that tells a story I always opt for the DVX, But if I'm going to shoot an event video like a wedding or concert the I go with the HD10.

My two cents, which are probably worth more like one, are if you know for sure that you need to finish on film rent a film camera and shoot film. I would use the DVX over the SDX, because the gain in quality to me doesn't justify the additional cost. If you have a budget to rent equipment, get your project though post, and are set on using digital technology then rent high def. If the DVX is all that your budget will allow them go with it. I own one and use it all the time. With most festivals offering digital projection now days why does the director even want to finish on film? You asked the question, "is this the right camera?" as with anything you should get the best that you can afford, but if it's good enough for Steve Buscemi's latest flick then it should do what you want it to.

I was using a DOF calculator along with my DVX100A when it occurred to me that I was using a CoC index of .011, which I understand to be correct for a 1/3" CCD, however with the anamorphic adapter there would be a slightly different CoC would there not?

Take a generator.

Here is a still of a shot I did with a DVX in a small apartment. The living room was about 12x12 with the kitchen in the background. I lit it mostly with fluorescent light.

Thank for the info I talked to Kodak and they were willing to send me out some samples to try. I got a couple of roles of 5218 200T and 500T. I forgot to ask if the negative is going to be 32x24mm or if it is going to be a motion picture standard.

I am working on improving my lighting technique by lighting various scenes and shooting them with both my DVX100 and an 35mm SLR. It is interesting to compare the results and I have so far learned a lot about how to light, but what I am wondering is if there are any 35mm stocks that have similar qualities to some of the more popular motion picture stocks? So far have just bean using Fuji 400 ASA color print film. I know somebody else asked this same question once before but I can't seem to find the thread.

Has anyone ever worked with Videssence lights, and how do they compare to Kino's? Also the lamps that come with them are 3000k instead of 3200k is this something I should be concerned with?

I have been, as many have suggested in this forum, lighting things around home. I have been setting up scenes and shooting them both with my video camera and a 35 mm SLR. I have concluded that my next step should be to get a set of professional lights that I can gain more experience with and also use in short films and videos. I was wondering if anybody have any suggestions as to what might make a decent kit to get stared with.

Check out Panavision.com click on Tools under the Technical Information heading.

To get scope out of the genesis couldn?t you just use a standard 2X anamorphic lens and then crop the sides using just the 1440 x 1080 pixel section out of the middle? Has anybody tried this and wouldn?t it transfer to film slightly better the cropping the top and bottom of the frame.