Adam Paul

Oh, OK. As you didn't mention an arm and vest before I thought for a minute you were handholding the 4000 for that long. Maybe if you were Arnie :D Good job still.

Aha, so you used the Pro35? That may be why it looks soft. But for DVD it?s actually very pleasing, very filmic. Did you see it on the big screen? Did it look too soft? Was the Pro35 used for all the shoot, even for the landscape/panorama shots? How about lenses? Was it shot with Zeiss Super Speeds? Really nice job.

Just saw Soldier of God on DVD. The cinematography is very good and the images are just gorgeous. Very good color and tonal range. This is the 1st feature I see that was shot with the Varicam. I like the colors way better than the F900 for what I have seen in this movie, although it's noticeably softer. Not really a bad thing at all, at least not for DVD. But I can imagine it must have looked really soft on the big screen. Probably too soft. Maybe they used some sort of filtration to soften the image? You said you worked on it. Do you have any ideas of what kind of budget they had to work with? It looks really good and it doesn't really feel like a low budget film.

Wow, that's a pretty long shot. The HVX200 is quite heavy. Did you have a smooth shooter vest? How much did the whole rig weight?

He would even like to have a AD, but this is a small town and he just can?t find one and to bring somebody from the next bigger town would cost too much. It would probably mean having to let 2 people go to hire an AD. Maybe 3, because you would have to factor in a hotel etc for the AD for the 30 days. The reason for the 30 days as I understood is because he really thinks less than that isn?t enough. I mentioned we could maybe shoot it in 20 days and maybe add 2 more crew people, but he doesn?t think 20 days is enough, even with 2 more. Because you have to know that we are not talking about a big town with professional crew people available on every corner. From the whole crew, besides me, the script supervisor and the sound person, the rest are just people who have done work with video, but never worked a feature. So adding 2 more of those people wouldn?t really improve things up more than having an extra 10 days. But he seems to be a pretty competent guy and I truly believe he can do it. Since the crew is not big, he may be able to pull it off as long as he prepares very well. Actually, I?m the one doing the lighting and also operating. Documentary style is exactly what the Director doesn?t want. They are not going for the extreme shallow focus look. The Director wants to shoot everything with a T4. That?s to make the AC?s and actor?s life easier. Remember it?s a 1/3? chip camera. I don?t think lighting will be the problem for the style he wants. He owns a pretty decent lighting package actually. Tweenies, Babies, Juniors and a Senior, plus a mighty-mole, couple of Mickeys, a Blonde, a Redhead, a couple of broads and an array of reflectors, flags, a couple of softboxes, china lamps and grip gear. Power for all locations is sorted out too. Thanks again for all the input.

Yes, 4-5 including sound. The crew is DP/Op, 1st AC (who is also working as a PA when he has time) sound person(boom and mixing) , a script supervisor (Directors wife) and a PA/grip. No AD. The Director would be doing the AD?s job. I don?t think the budget allows for more people really. What I understood is that budget doesn?t allow for more people or more days. If pick ups or re-shoots are needed they will be done on weekends with a crew of 3 volunteers. But I?m trying to convince them to get an extra crew member. It?s really more of a thriller than action movie. The action is basically a couple of punches, some shooting and a chase through town (on feet, not car chase). What I?m worried about is that the Director seem to be planning using a dolly and a jib quite often. The Director seems to be pretty organized and really looks like he knows what he wants. It?s actually a Mini35 rather then the Pro35. I?m aware of the ground glass problems but the Director is bent on using the adapter because he wanted to shoot it in 35mm with an old Arri, but budget didn?t allow it. So he wants to at least get the 35mm dof. The Director?s is doing the AD?s job himself, but the plan is to have it all prepared, storyboarded and broken-down with shot lists etc all before shooting. Locations are all practical locations so not much to prepare there. Thanks for all the inputs. It?s really helping to clear the picture and have a realistic idea of what could happen.

That's the thing. They can't get anymore people. Budget won't allow for it. That's the reason I wanted to ask if 30 days is "enough" to shoot a 100 pages script with a crew of 4 or 5 + the Director.

Well, the Director wants the 35mm adapter no matter what. I kind of agree as it's nearly impossible to get selective focus with a 1/3" camera . Yeah, I was worried 30 days would be way too short. But I'm starting to get the feeling it may more than just doable.

I just thought I would mention it in case it made any difference. I somehow think shooting HD can go a bit faster than shooting film all things being equal. You don?t need to re-load every 4 or 10 minutes, you don?t need to check the gate, the camera is much lighter, so tripod and everything else is much lighter and so faster to move around. These may be just small things, but in my opinion, in the end of the day it adds up. May be just my impression though. Well, I was shown a 100 pages action/thriller script and the production can only afford a 30 days shooting schedule with 4 people on the crew plus the Director. That would be about 3 and ½ pages a day. I was just trying to figure if it would be enough to do a good job or if it isn?t worth it because it would be too much pressure and too short time. The crew would be ?D.P?., soundman, 1 AC/PA and maybe one more PA. No AD. The Director would be doing the AD?s job. There would be a script supervisor but it?s just the Director?s wife. I was offered to shoot it. I was just trying to get a picture of what it?s possible on a short period of time and at the same time trying to see what?s realistic to avoid setting an undoable schedule. Yeah, that makes the 30 days shoot sound not so bad. How many were there in the crews? I would be interested in hearing more about this ?detailed shot breakdown? in detail. Did the footage match ok? I have the impression the footage wouldn?t match very well. That sounds like more trouble than it?s worth for me. Shooting that way could throw all the performances off, not to mention would be very confusing too. I can see that working with simpler projects though.

I know this is tremendously subjective, but I wanted to ask the more experienced people here what they think is a realistic shooting schedule for a low budget HD feature shoot with a crew of 4 or 5 plus the Director? I mean in terms of script pages per day of shooting etc. The feature is to be shot in HD with a Mini35 and a set of PL prime lenses. No zooms if that will make any difference. It would be great to hear your opinions. Thanks.

Thanks David.

Maybe you misunderstood me and forgive me if you didn't. But what I meant was, is there an equivalent to the Tiffen Smoque filters from another brand? I know Smoque is a Tiffen product, but maybe there is something similar in the market. I know glimmerglass has no equivalent for example, but promist and others do.

Thanks for all the input guys. I already have an American Cinematographer subscription by the way. Anything on the Cinematographer Style DVD? I already have Visions of Light. Are they any similar?

Thanks again David. So I think the fog is out of question as it seems to give you a different effect. Is Tiffen the only one making Smoque filters?

I'm looking for getting some more educational material on the art of cinematography. I already have Film Lighting and Cinematography by Kris Malkiewicz (I have the updated version with David Mullen), the ASC manual, 5 C?s of Cinematography and the documentary Visions of Light. I'm now looking for new stuff. I have just ordered The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook by Harry C. Box since I heard it can be useful for those who light their own sets. I'm now considering Reflections and New Cinematographers but I was told they are quite similar. Is this true? Has anybody read both? Which is more worth getting? I'm also considering the Cinematographer Style DVD. How good is it? Is it any similar to Visions of Light? I?m also wondering if I should get an AC book. Which is best for getting basic and all around knowledge in ACing? Elkins or Hart?s? Thanks.

Thanks David. I'm looking for a filter to help matching close ups of master shots with smoke/fog produced by a fog machine. Normally if you just use the fog machine for the close up it doesn't work very well because the fog is either too much or too little. I heard a filter helps but I am not sure if I should I get a fog or a smoque. But given your explanation, it seems the smoque would be the one? Also what grade? Thanks again.

I was wondering what is the difference between these two Tiffen filters?

I was just thinking about the flat spot problem with skate wheels. Would the U grooved ones have the same problem? They are steel covered in polyurethane type of material. Also, I just checked Modern Studio and I see their standard wheel set are soft and the luxury set are hard wheels. I thought soft wheels would be smoother and the only advantage of harder wheels would be no flat spot. But at the cost of smoothness?

Thanks for the very insightful reply Robert. My dolly is a doorway type of dolly too. Much like the Western dolly. But I have a pedestal where I can mount either a tripod head or a jib arm. So the load is not so light. In this case would you advise going with more than four wheels per truck? I don?t know how much a fisher or Chapman weights but I would think my dolly even with the jib arm wouldn?t weight as much as one of them. If I really go for skate wheels this is my plan. To make a tray where I can just sit my dolly on without taking the rubber tires off. It really seems to save time that way. By the way, are the skate wheels found in hardware stores good enough for this? Or should I go to a proper skate shop? Also, am I looking for harder or softer wheels here? That?s a good idea to have different diameters. Rocking the wheels sound very useful specially on a cold day I would guess. I was only going to use it for straight track as I don?t think I can build a round metal track and a PVC one doesn?t sound would be very stable, or? Anyways, the skate wheel tray will work on a round track? Or it needs to be pivoting trucks to work on a round track? Yeah, the main reason I was going for the U grooved type of wheels was because all the big pro dollies use them and because I thought the bigger diameter would smooth the ride more than the little skate wheels. I guess I was wrong. I was really surprised to see Panthers and Fishers on skate trays in big budget film sets. That?s a sure thing. I will post the results here when done. By the way, I see you are in Memphis. That?s a lovely city. I have been to Memphis in May once. Great place really. I love the Southern hospitality.

Well the two AJA boxes you listed seem to be portable enough actually. Although pricy. But I wonder why there aren't any other cheaper options. Are there at least cheaper ways to convert component SD to composite? It seems to be a pretty straight forward thing really.

Could anybody comment on this?

Do you mean Arri bayonet? If so, the asnwer is no. But your question is too generic. Basically every "modern" lens mount is a bayonet mount sort of speaking.

That would explain why I didnt have to go in the menu to change it. So, is there a simple way to convert component HD to composite SD?

No, I'm not 100% sure. I will watch it again and see if they mention the gate size. But I would think it was indeed 35mm since the widest lens was like 15mm. Paul, that's exactly what I have learned and the reason I was so surprised with the lens choices. Wide (estabilishing shots, master shots, action and the like) medium (over the shoulders, two shots, and so on) Long (close ups) Max, you really seem to know your stuff when it comes down to lenses and aspect ratios. You always shime in with great info on lenses. That could well explain why most shots were around 24mm-28mm. If 27mm would be the equivalent of a 50mm for 2.39 that would explain it. I didn't consider the fact Kong was S35 shot for "scope".

Yeah, that was the basically reason I decided on the U-grooved wheels over the flanged ones. The flage would touch the tracks. But given all you said it seems the skate wheels are a better solution than the U-grooved ones. I have been looking around online and there seems to be a lot of people using them. I even saw that they used some in King Kong. Funny because I would have never thought they would be better than the U-grooved wheels or the Fisher wheels because both styles seem to be more precise. Panther even have them and call them precision wheels or something. Go figure. Now it's just a matter of deciding between trucks of 4 skate wheels each or is there a need for more wheels per truck?