Victoria Sagady

Aputure 300x LS with the Fresnel Modifier is my pick. It will never be the same as a tungsten fresnel but it comes close. They also have fresnel modifiers for the 600x that are a bit better.

Do a search on here for Love Witch. @David Mullen ASC was the cinematographer and did an incredible job of creating this style of lighting and look with modern gear. He did quite a few write ups and discussions on these forums about it.

I am constantly teaching younger camera ops the advantage of operating with a viewfinder. It’s not something that is easily explained but it gets your head into a different space and creates a more physical connection to the camera. Monitors are great and very useful for pulling focus or quick references but when the camera is rolled I will always try to have my eye in the viewfinder.

Athos is great. Have my whole kit insured with them year round. For value they want you to enter what it would cost to replace with new or used gear.

I think it’s worth noting that one of the biggest threats to using film is not the age of the cameras or cost of repair, but the institutional knowledge that is slowly fading away as less and less people are apprenticed/trained in on using these cameras and maintaining them. Beyond manuals and instructional videos many of these cameras have personalities and quirks that can be very difficult to work with if you don’t know them or the best ways to work with them. As each lab closes we have less and less people who know the ins and outs of the development process and how to maintain that equipment. We’re going to hit a point where all that experience retires or passes away without being passed on to enough people to keep working with film practical. We’ve seen this with many industries as technology advances and while there has been a good effort to keep film alive I beleive it’s sadly a matter of time.

I dont even fully understand what Flutter is so no clue!

Its used to calibrate flutter measuring equipment, so likely testing sound playback set ups in theatres etc. Guessing its an optical track with the 3000cycle flutter. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7237347

Just for awareness most of the higher end cameras with the features you want are going for 15-20k so you are a ways off. Best path might be trying to get an old SR2 or Aaton that has not been converted and paying for a conversion to super or ultra 16. Its a tough market.

Love the cables coming off the vest. How much our world has changed.

Greetings! I am working on getting all the bits and pieces for my Alexa Mini kit. I have a UMC-4, Cinetape 1, and Paralinx Tomahawk 2 TX I need to mount and I have been bouncing around between a lot of potential options to mount them to ARRI Cine cage on the mini. I thought I would come ask if anyone has a favorite method for mounting these. Currently thinking about mounting the Cinetape sensor off the front of the top handle. UMC-4 from some kind of small magic arm or quick release on the side of the cage, potentially arming the TX off the back of the cine arm over the battery, and I guess finding some point to velcro the Cinetape Readout... Really appreciate any insight!

There is a VERY VERY good reason to use Green screen, and one of the correct Chroma green color. Most codecs compress the red and blue channels so your data in those channels will be far less usable when it comes to extracting a good key, where as all codecs leave the green channel as humans have more receptors in line with green (comes from evolution and avoiding things in jungles and plants). Lighting is going to be a huge factor, not only the quality of lighting on the screen and keeping it as even as possible, but also lighting your subjects to be able to match them to the scene lighting they are being composited into. To avoid major green spill you will want to keep the subjects a decent distance from the screen so unless you are sticking to medium/tight shots that screen will not be big enough for much movement while dancing. There are any number of lights that would work to light the screen, but in general you want to set up lights so they are soft and even using diffusion or some kind of soft modifier, and try to avoid hitting the actors or casting shadows onto the screen. There are literally hundreds of tutorial videos and articles about lighting green screens, I suggest starting there. RE: Backlight from the post above, rim lighting is actually very useful for green screen work to help counter any spill and sepparate the actor from the screen. This of course also needs to match the scene you are trying to composite into. Are you shooting the plate of the first dancers not on green? If so you will have a lot more control and info to match the lighting and framing. (lens focal distance and stops are important too so the perspective matches)

it was shot to tape so likely 1" or 2"

Spotlight or elipsoidal with a sharp focus. Haze in the room. Camera is on an axis where there is more particulate in the air between it and the source so all that particulate is lit up and back lit. Would be visible from the audience but not as starkly. The angle makes all the difference

Don’t mean to necro but I have to say that keeping your eye in the eyepiece and operating the camera as an extension of your body will always provide superior results to a more disconnected method of operating. There is always a time and a place for remote heads and gimbals but I can’t imagine replacing basic sticks moments with them. Get in close and feel the action.

Its listed as Sold on their website unfortunately. Had my eye on it as well but financing is delayed.