Jump to content

Mark Allen

Basic Member
  • Posts

    592
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Mark Allen

  1. I got a very fast download at: http://www.redusers.net/ I'll be curious to see the footage with faces. I'll be even more curious to see footage shot outside with skies and faces as this is where HD has it's biggest struggle.
  2. Personally I suspect that 33 to 50 percent of the reservations will go through with their purchase. I suspect the price will go up to $25k. Why do I think that? Honestly, just seems like if you decided to sell a camera for 25 and then were discounting it for early adopters, 17.5 would be the number you'd come up with. It's a 30% discount. 30% is a common discount level for "family and friend" deals. but if they did do this, I'm sure a lot of owners would be tempted to sell theirs for the quick profit. I'm probably wrong about all this, but felt compelled to share my theories anyway and I like that this thread has been all in a nice friendly tone. BTW, Eric, welcome to the forums. If local to LA production people haven't checked out www.indierentals.com - you should, it's a good rental house. I found them to make the extra effort, much appreciated.
  3. We actually ended up doing a shoot with the M2 and nikon lenses (because that was the only system I could find which was rentable for the days we were shooting) and I have to say the light loss and focus softening really turned me off from the whole 35mm adapter concept. Before I ever used one in a professional realm again I woud really have to see a different system working better in action.
  4. This shouldn't be taken as advice.... just observations.... I'm not a lawyer, insurance agent, or door to door salesman... Most indie productions for short films simply pay the rental house a fee (like 10%) to be covered under their insurance. All the rental houses I know do this. For location - Most indie prods don't get permits and don't get insurance for their locations (as long as it is not required). Smart? No comment. For people - again, it might not be legal, but if you're not paying people it's sort of hard to pay them workers comp etc. Most indies seem to just ignore this whole thing. Smart? no comment. If you are trying to get full production coverage, one thing that indies do is partner with an existing production company and then use their insurance package. Insurance paid by year might be like $10k while by weekend it is $3k. Six months maybe 4k. It's the price of admission which is the hard point. So, production companies who carry their own insurance will work with indies often and the production is run under their production banner for the purposes of production - they don't try to own or brand your film. That company has to be the one writing all the checks, but with a good production company, you actually can hire them to set up all kinds of deals and such for you and it works out well for about a third the price of the insurance direct. Note that I said the production company partners with you and not that you rent their insurance - the latter being illegal and also very frowned upon in the industry. The former being perfectly acceptible.
  5. Good point... I was looking for something in the under 10k price range ideally or less. Basically something I could use (assuming the camera ships yadda yadda) - with the camera at a moments notice. If I ended up needing to use something much better on a bigger shoot, I could rent, so this would be the back up lense. My thinking was that a zoom would be a good choice (on the scale of affordability). Am I right to think this? Perhaps I'm totally wrong... would buying a set of primes (like 28, 50, 75, 120) be less expensive? Any recommendations on those if so. It only occurs to me now that this might be the case. Most of my stuff finishes HD and not Film. Thanks Jan and Emanuel for the initial recommendations, will research all of that.
  6. The RED camera comes out long before the RED zoom. I am wondering if I could get some recommendations on lenses which could be purchased (probably used not necessarily) that would work well in the mean time (or indefinitely). I'm looking for specific make and models I could look up. Thanks.
  7. This doesn't make any sense. I'm responding because I feel you're talking to (and by "talking to" I mean to a degree "insulting") me, as someone who called up RED within hours of them announcing their reservations to reserve one. So, presumably, I'm one of these people you speak of. I'm a filmmaker, not a DP (despite one imdb credit as such I really only know enough to get by), so I hire DP's for my work. However, I also hire out cameras. Every shoot. Long shoots, short shoots. And NONE of them has as good specifications as the RED camera. And none of them are a perfectly elegant solution to the problem of independent filmmakers like myself who would love to shoot film, but rarely have the kind of budget that would require. So, why would this not be of use to me to have a camera system that I can use for everything I shoot? And if I didn't own one, I've already seen places wanted to position themselves as red renters (http://indierentals.com/cameras.html). The price is just over an SPX900, just under a varicam (depending on where you price). How could it not be an exciting idea to have a camera with vastly more lattitude and rersolution options for virtually the same price (depending on where and what you rent). So I don't understand where the negativity towards people who want to create better imagery for the same price would come from? You're going to need good acting, good story, good design either way. So, where is the downside? Where does this negativity come from? Are you trying to protect us in case the camera doesn't ever come to perfect fruition? Don't worry - we know it's "in development." We'll live if, like the kinetta, it enters the land of just a hope. We'll just keep renting inferior cameras and wait until one of the major names sees that there is a huge market for what Jim started. Frankly, the more people say it's impossible, the more I want it. Maybe the dissenters are an elaborate marketing scheme that I'm falling for. You know, the old con where the people in collusion say, "no way, that is too good of a deal!" and then buy the cheap way over priced stolen goods so that other people think "wow, this must be a great idea." I think I may be onto something here.... at least it would make sense. The constant forum torlling though with no discernable benefit to poster, vender, or consumer does not make sense though. Anyway, I sure wish I had a RED camera for the shoot this weekend... until then, I use what I have and wait. Mark Allen RED #89
  8. In the past I've shot: 1) directly to hard drive - one drive ended up dropping frames on us, never do this again, was a disaster. 2) directly to P2, then into P2 store - worked fine, for some reason the whole p2 store process made me nervous, but it worked without a hitch. Problem is that you have to have a computer near by and there is a whole process of having to load them in and delte them and with limited crew Ifound it distracting. However... 3) firestore - i've heard of people having problems, but for us this was the most elegant solution and the only frustration is that it divides up your shots every 2 gigs, sort of annoying for post purposes. So for now, in the pinch, we're going Firestores.
  9. Good to know for the future, we just settled our rental last night from a small rental place called "Sprout Project" - 323-855-6106 - they have the M2+HVX (plus lighting) for a good rate. I'll keep Abel Cine on my future list.
  10. I'm wondering if there are any pc card readers that would allow me to read P2 cards used in the HVX200 enough such that I could make disk images out of them and use them later. The production workflow I would like to use would be to shoot to p2, make a disk image onto an external drive, then erase the p2 and reuse the card. The verified disk image should allow me the chance to reimport should there be any import problems and would serve as my back up. I realize the powerbook G4s could do this, but is there any other solution with an external reader so that I could use a newer computer or powerbook?
  11. Since you don't have to break the copywrite, it's not too hard. On a mac you could use cinematize or handbrake. Cinematize probably has more options. You simply, select the range you want, select the format you want it in and extract. Do note that taking from DVD is adding yet ANOTHER layer of compression though. original to dv-cam to dvd to dv to dvd (for your output presumably) - lots of generation loss.
  12. So far I've only found www.indierentals.com to have this package (and they're a good rental hose, but they only rent the PS Tech one). I'm hoping to find another place who rents the camera with the movietube or brevis or other with lenses? thanks.
  13. I come to forums for information and exploring information. Max has provided many posts with actual information which wasn't wrapped in any strange package of unmotivated anomosity. Attacking someone's personality belongs in "Off Topic" or a Private Message, not the HD Only > RED forum. Let's not waste the time of people trying to follow up on information about Red's IBC footage with pages of bickering.
  14. I'm interested in finding options both for rental (3k+ ish) and for ownership (400ish). I like the idea of having enough to do something basic instantly and then renting lighter "to-go" elements a la cate. The interest in the smaller dollies is just in the size of productions I do, a fisher dolly can add so much extra labor ad require a very specific extra crew (i.e. very strong) with very specific vehicle to move them that it rules out their use on many smaller shoots. And I'd like the option to use them.
  15. These are all really good suggestions and I'm researching all of them. All that PD1 needs ia a foot pedal and an electric motor and you could do the entire move yourself. :) hmmm... actually...
  16. The moves would all be under 20'. Most likely under 10' (all of them). Mostly these are just meant for slow push-ins on dramatic moments. That said, is there any solution that I'm not thinknig of which would be even more elegant? The microdolly "seems" exactly right - but it sure does "seem" flimsy too. that's a tough one. (not as inexpensive a rental as I would have imagined too frankly). Is there some sort of tripod supported "push" system which would be more like an extension arm? (which again matches the guidelines of being a light set up. Thanks again.
  17. The only time I've used a dolly on a shoot it was a pretty heavy duty deal with a pretty amazing head full of springs of somesort which held the camera from bumping. However, I am going to be needing a much more portable, much lighter system IF (and I mean that IF) it can produce some good results without the jerkiness associated with some attempts I saw in the past. (all hand made by people who don't make them anymore.) Any suggestions with links are appreciated. Please share your experience with how well these performed. Thank you.
  18. From the lierature I was gathering that they were trying to provide a lot of versatility in the attachments and I would not be surprised to see (if the camera takes off) custom attachments being made and sold by indies who have a better idea. Considering how many people jumped on board to engineer a DoF adapter for various cameras, I would imagine doing mounts would be a certainty. Also keep in mind they changed their original camera design a great deal from the first time it was shown. I gather that they like the idea of saying "Okay - here is what we are thinking." Then listening to the feedback and making adjustments. All of this is a hunch, I don't know anything secret.
  19. I'm not sure the price range, but the Dedo Kit is a great option. There have been several shoots that I didn't know what we were going to shoot and had just me and one crew person and I got a dedo kit and a 4x kino and it covered everything we needed. There are budget kino solutions, seen lots written about in the forums here.
  20. According to this chart you can: http://red.com/formatoptions.htm near the top left corner.
  21. I'm going to reiterate some of that: REDCODE (10 bit wavelet) = 27 MB/seccond @ 24 fps UNCOMPRESSED (12 bit raw) = 323 MB/s @ 24fps FireWire 800/400, USB-2 and e-SATA interfaces RED-DRIVE™ hard disk drive (40 – 160GB) REDFLASH™ flash memory (32 – 128GB) Where did you get the price quotes on the lense and drive? Is 10k a lot for a lense? Seems like a good cine quality zoom would be in that range, no? As for the 1k for 80 gig - if that means 160 gig for 2k... that's pretty cool. That's a ton better than the HVX storage solutions. So - using the red-drive and red flash you would get: REDdrive raw: 2 minutes to 8.25 minutes wavelet: 24 minutes to 98.76 minutes The RED flash would be about 3/4 of this The thing I've not visually grasped yet is how that shoulder mount works at the same time as the cage - just keeps seeming like the cage would hit your head. Would be curious to see that in use so I understand it. Not that I do much or any shouldermount stuff, but it would be interesting to see. And just to appease the masses. Yes... the camera is not built yet. It is purely an inention, a goal, a hope. It's a work in progress and everyone including the RED team themselves will not only acknowledge this but tell you flat out that it's a really difficult thing to do. Can someone explain what this means from an aesthetic point of view? Dynamic Range: > 66dB
  22. Well now I gotta know... do you know why they switched over to tungsten? was it because they needed more light? I remember that there was a time in the earliest cinema where sets were made without roofs so that they could use the sunlight - but I don't remember the era or specific movies - just a vague memory from a film history book like 15 years ago.
  23. Never seen Stargate, but often portal effects are done by shooting the person on greenscreen and then shirnking and screen as they walk though - the quick way. the longer way is rotoing them such that whatever would be through the portal is roto'd first. It's the old "how did they do that?" being answered by "a lot of labor." For any ripples there are 2D and 3D ways of rippling a cleanplate - neither is that complex. then add glows and flashes and viola! portal effect.
  24. It's not as much that the 3 act structure has been overdone, it's more that it has been overemphasized. First of all, a tremendous number of movies area actually five act structures. If you're really thinking about this subject I would very much encourage you to read the book "Stealing Fire From the Gods." In this book former WGA president shares his 20 years of research in the form of a new model. His model is based on a circular pattern instead of a linear pattern and I've found it incredibly useful to start thinking of things in this circular pattern. Now, interestingly enough, you can find these patterns in very successful movies - so they can co-exist, it's just that the structure is coming out of the drama and not vice verse. I found reading this book incredibly inspirational and useful as a tool. One should also read "Story" by Robert McKee as it addresses many important aspects of story. Also "On Directing Film" by David Mammet (a writer) is very good on the details level of where your mind should be at moment to moment - even when writing.
  25. It's not as much that the 3 act structure has been overdone, it's more that it has been overemphasized. First of all, a tremendous number of movies area actually five act structures. If you're really thinking about this subject I would very much encourage you to read the book "Stealing Fire From the Gods." In this book former WGA president shares his 20 years of research in the form of a new model. His model is based on a circular pattern instead of a linear pattern and I've found it incredibly useful to start thinking of things in this circular pattern. Now, interestingly enough, you can find these patterns in very successful movies - so they can co-exist, it's just that the structure is coming out of the drama and not vice verse. I found reading this book incredibly inspirational and useful as a tool. One should also read "Story" by Robert McKee as it addresses many important aspects of story. Also "On Directing Film" by David Mammet (a writer) is very good on the details level of where your mind should be at moment to moment - even when writing.
×
×
  • Create New...