Michael Collier

People said the same thing about the HVX-200 from panny. it turned out to be real. The footy, I understand. Why show footage when you have yet to nail down the final aspects of the product. Obviously they do have a working prototype (they would not release as much info as they did) and on their site they said tests on the imaging sensor came back good. They would not release a price if they were not far along, but also they wouldnt show the prototype if its not ready to show (would you show a rough cut of your movie to an audience like that?)

I know there are other red threads, but now that its out (on paper at least) I thought I would start a new one on here and see if anyone thinks they hit the mark. The numbers look damn good. 4520x2540 sounds great. Option to record everything from 720p to 4K sounds great. They talk about dynamic range, but give no figures to back it up, thats kinda lame. The body is weird looking but we will see if its functional. 120fps at 2K!!! thats awsome, i dont care who you are thats awsome. I even like the fact that you can window the chip (although you are cut down to a measly 2K raw 4:4:4 resolution.) this means that you can attach old 16mm lenses you already have, and they will cover the sensor. It says varible frame rate, but they do not specify weather its in steps, like the new panny, or if you can dial any speed you want down to the frame. oh, and by the way.....17,500 a peice (less lens. It has a PL mount and they have their own lens availible for under 5K, probably not the best zoom, but decent for anything up to HD resolution. past that get the absolute best glass you can, because at 4K resolution, you might actually need it. (I still want to see a working prototype and a film shot and lasered onto a projection stock. that will be the true test for me, but for 18K, maybe its worth taking it for a spin)

But there is a different technique. Yes we should talk in skin tone but the point is made to get accross. How you light a skin tone will change as you would change how you light a white wall set and a mahogany color set. In my experience with darker skin tones you have more leway in color light. If I have someone with darker skin, I open up to new colors and saturations I would not use on a caucasian. Green lights look really good on a darker actor, where on a even medium toned skin looks bad with saturated greens. They do take warm light better than lighter skin, and you have to completely rethink contrast ratios the darker the skin gets.

I have always prefered digital for feild recording. Its so much more robust than anyformat, the sound is worth it. True its a bit more mechanical, but you will find thats because of its amazing clarity (there is no noise induced by the recording method, only by the preamp and A-D converter) if you want the analog sound in post (Which I feel strongly that is only the hiss and pop that magnetic tape introduces that people find comforting) you can always put out to tape and then put that back to digi. For my next film I am getting a fostex solid state recorder. 1200 bucks new I think is cheaper than a Nagra (havent really checked) and there are a lot of user features that can help you fly through production. You can hook up a keyboard to the recorder and type your scene and camera number, and it will automatically incriment the number at the end for take one, take two etc. That would help in post. They record to solid state Compact Flash, so you never have to worry about transport flaws during recording or playback and you can archive an entire movies worth of audio onto a couple DVDs.

hows this for a bad experience (its an american school, but i think all schools are the same) I had come in with several feature length videos all ready under my belt. I started making student projects long before the course allowed, but profs were eager seeing a title sequence I made. They got some producers to help us work around the rules of the school (basicly the producers checked gear out in their name and we did all the work) First I ended up teaching a lot of the classes. Both showing profs in private tips and tricks I had learned, and walked around and gave advice and help to all the other students. Then when our project finnished up and had a good reception, I found out weeks later that the producers who had only checked equipment had put my work on their reel, claiming director credit. Yeah. That was about enough for me. I dropped out of that school and within a few weeks some of the people in the department were paying me to DoP their projects. So I learned a good lesson, people are shady and will screw you over if you dont watch it, and I learned how to sell my experience and talent. Maybe a bit round about, but I think I learned the true lessons needed for the film industry

I always try and start preping my next film just about the time I get to color and audio correction on my last film. It helps keep me from feeling that way. If you ever feel your creativity lingering, pick up the new script, thumb through to your favorite part and in just a few minutes you will feel better and be very excited for the future. It has always worked for me, and lets me keep up a good pace turning out an independent film every year or so.

I have always thought it was racist not to take into consideration skin tone. Yes there are other races with similar tones. yes black people do vary in actual tint. But at least these people have an interest in making them look good. I look back to old black and white films of the 30s and 40s and I cant find one good example of lighting for african americans. I live in alaska and any chance I get to film an african american actor I look forward too, becuase I dont get a whole lot of opppourtunity, given our population. Skin color doesnt matter until you want to photograph it. then what harm is there in exploring the differences that ultamatley lead to equivalent looks on both actors? (or to put another way, would you want all you hard work emoting and acting wasted because the DP refused to learn or explore the options when photographing a darker skinned individual.)

so to any who followed my one and only posting on BeeKeeping, it has had its first test screening and got great reviews. It actually got 78% of comment cards came back marked 'excelent' which I was astounded by, being a comedy with no name actors (my understanding of comedys are only names make comedies, and you can see most comedies are sold on their lead actor) anyways. i digress (I have been very sick all week, and when I am sick my ADD kicks in and I become half a retard, very prone to mistakes and digressions.) 'Isotac' I am very excited about. Same writer, briant mainord who wrote beekeeping. It shows amazing reach in his righting, going from a comedy that was very funny to a drama. It is sort of a cross between 'constantine' and 'boondock saints' (focus more on the later for themes) It follows two guys who work for a secret orginization in the vatican whos sole purpous is to protect the secret chapters of the book of revelations (it is said that those pages describe the millenia long proccess of armegeddon, and he who possesses those books can control the events and tip the ballance towards hevean or hell....I digress again) they are exorsist, assasins, angels and love arbys (we are still working out a deal with arbys to use their food on screen) They run into trouble when Diggs starts to question the system and finds the system has evolved past him. very hard to explain. Give me 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours and I could explain it (arent the good movies that way? they should) Ok, since production is very hectic, I have a full time photography job to maintain (they are all very supportive of my work) and I am basicly DoP, Director (though there is someone to coach actors while I work), Producer (hey, i wont have anyone hasling me to wrap, but I have to be on top of things), uh, i am also editor and just about any other job that pops up. I will thank god have help on set (no pay, but bring food and people follow) So first and most important part of producing. Money. I figure I need between 30-40K to make this film. I have a deal on a camera (its a CP-16, not too advanced, but its sturdy, has been serviced recently and is crystal sync, along with modest overcranking capability) I have saved about 3K myself. not a whole lot but a good start. A lawyer in las vegas has expressed such interest in this project that he is actually pitching it to some of his friends. That was a godsend. We also have meetings with business owners around town looking for funding, and anytime I find someone who may have more than 1K to invest I always ask. we shoot in about 2 months, so I hope all cash is there when everything else is. I have been mulling over the script and storyboarding. I want to refine the look now, becuase when we get to set we will only have a 6:1 up to a 10:1 ratio, but I feel I can figure out my cutting style before we shoot to help minimize coverage and make sure i know what take I want the actors to hit. I am not the best artist, but from those I have asked people respond well to the boards. I am hoping once they get to set the boards will help guide my eye. I am a very in the moment sort of person, but when I change a shot, they are direct replacements of other shots, and have the same intent, so boards help start things and focus things on set for me. Its a daunting project. I have never worked with so much money before (I suppose that should be a good thing) and I have never worked with film for motion picture before (I have a lot of experience on stills, but still a little anticipation i think will keep me on my toes) I am just a bit tired from the last film (hahaha, try dead tired after 2 solid months of editing and endless shoots, but its done) Since my first movie when I was 10, I have never rested too much. If I rest or become complacent I start to fear I will never make another movie, then I cant enjoy movies I see because it reminds me I am falling behind. I dont know if this is normal, but whatever. I have obsessed about making real films my whole life, so I might as well do it right? we are hopping to make our money back in Anchorage, but if anyone out there is an independant and would like to help set up a local premiere there we are definatley looking for different markets to get the name out there. and we are also hopping to get acceptance into sundance and have a great showing (any awards would be awsome, but just getting a deal, making back that 40K will ensure I can get investors next time.) It seems there is so much involved here with going to meetings, writing contracts and setting up budgets, I have little time to get the movie ready to shoot. Fortunatley since nobody is being paid except on differred status, we will only shoot weekends. So I only have to get half the money up front, half the scenes planned, etc before the first shoot date. If we have that in place we should be ok. We are shooting super16 (the cp-16 will be converted in exchange for 4 months of weekend rentals) on Kodak 200asa film (I believe its 200T, 250D. I dunno, maybe i reversed it, I will have to check my notes again) but we will be overexposing by 1/3-2/3 a stop (depending on tests) to further minimize grain. most of the film is B/W but for grain consideration we will shoot color stock and desat later on down the line. To finnish the project we will edit the DVCPRO video dailies on adobe premiere pro and get to a final cut, then cut our negative with long handles and send that to back to the telecine to be scanned in HD uncompressed to hard drive. we conform that, finalize color and send that out to a post house to be put on HDCAM-SR (or DVCPRO HD or HDCAM) we arent sure yet, all depends on what film fests will accept. Wow, in 2 paragraphs that almost sounds easy dont it? well lets hope for the best. Hopefully we can pull some kind of a profit down and open the doors to make another movie. You have heard of living paycheck to paycheck, I live movie to movie. I will probably post one more preproduction journal and then I will have one per weekend (there will be 15 2 day weekends. Stay tuned, I hope your interested, because I love the feedback I get from these forums. .....also if anyone wants to help financially....private message me...had to throw that out there.

Anchorage, Alaska. I doubt you have many reps comming up here (our major film productions per year can be counted on less than one finger) But I will call the hollywood rep.

well....their website has a countdown and nothing else. hmmmm.....seems to point to NAB. I hope this isnt a lame cop out, like they show up with a non working prototype prop.

Dave, you mentioned recording color bars without desaturation before recording. Is this to calibrate the system in post? I understand the need for color bars in an analog based system like beta SP etc, but in a digital format, are color bars nesisary? Or is that advice more to avoid confusion during editting?

I downloaded movies from the net when I was young. unfortunatley I saw traffic for the first time this way and missed out on the wonderful cinematography. I felt so bad a few years later I ended up buying every movie I downloaded. However, I wanted to be a film maker, so I figure thats where the guilt came from. I believe anyone who downloads movies arent the type to go out and buy the movies. I wasnt at the time, now that I have a good job and steady money I buy way too much. Its a fact of life. Its overhead, LP whatever you want to call it. It will happen. The key is to prevent it where it starts, with the downloaders. In time the whole copywrite issue will be worked out. There are several very profitable companies which have a huge stake in the issue, and they hold influence over those who produce the technology to play the movies back. With HD dvds I think we will see much better copy protection, and we will see less downloading. I think that one day, however, internet will replace DVD distrabution for SD material. Just like the ipod and itunes effectivley mittigated music theft, so will a good IP video server and internet site help tide the downloads. Maybe the reason people are download is not because of the cost savings (what is 10 or 20 bucks for a good movie) but how difficult it is these days to get out of the house and get to a store. (come on tivo, im looking at you) I think the whole issue maybe seems more pronounced than it is, because the general populous does not know how to download stolen movies, and really dont have the time to wait for a 4hour download (with broadband)

I am producing a feature on a very meager budget (around 30K) and am finding it difficult to plan, knowing that everything will have a maximum of 4 takes. This is my first film shot on actaul film, and so in that sense I am a student (arent we all) and I will have PAs from the local college doing internship, so they too will be students. I am sure this is not enough to get a student discount. The question I have is who can I talk to to get som sort of discount on the film. even if its a meager discount. I would be buying up to 100 400ft reels of 16mm film, so the order is large. I was quoted 140/reel, but that was through the main sales of kodak. I dont want to do short ends or buy backs, as instability in the films performance is completely unacceptable. So my question, and Im sure that john can answer better than most, What options are there for me to save a bit of money. (its not actually saving money, I have a set budget for film, its more like how can I get the most reels for the money) Is kodak interested in extending discounts to first-time film makers? would they be interested in doing a partnership in the film, whereby they can recoup the cost of the discound and a bit more, assuming we can make a profit (what movie cant make 30K?) would kodak be interested in giving discounts in exchange for advertisement at premieres and public showings (IE, during the premiere we put up kodak banners everywhere, and do media interviews with the kodak logo promently featured at the junket) I know a lot of media types, and given the level of production in alaska, this will get a lot of attention in town, and those would in turn be seen by tourist visiting, who coincidently will need to choose between kodak and fuji when they go to the keni fijords. I know these questions cannot be answered fully, without kodak knowing the full scope of my project, but is this worth my time to seek out. I have heard john talk about several departments who would be responsible for giving discounts like this, is there a department or a person in particular I can talk to and see what can be done. Even a $10 discount per reel would mean I can order 5 or 6 more reels. Any ideas?

I try and make sure they will know their lines. You dont have to babysit them the whole time (unless they are completely unproffessional) Before the shoot I find its important that they understand their character, not so much memorize lines. have discussions on the abstract of the charecters. The more you talk about their drive and backstory (make a backstory up for them, since you know the story better then them in their first week of prep) Once the shoot starts I make it known that you must have lines memorized (to a decent degree) but most important is to talk to the actors about the MEANING of the scene. if they are just working for natural inflection on their lines, they are hitting about 10% of what acting is. As for speileberg, while he isnt my favorite director, I have seen what he means on set. In my experience the first take is a bit shakey. take two and four are good. 3 is a repeat of 2 and everything after four is the same as take 3. (this is in general, but the point is actors loose the ability to keep things fresh after a while. try saying beekeeping 50 times fast, then see if you can say and have it feel normal. they get into a loop and cannot get out. also in emotional scenes, they may be spent) Very emotional scenes its best to start at 1/4 emotion and work up from there.

DVCPRO-HD, as I understand it is scalable, IE, if you shoot 60fps at 100mbaud, then the picture will just be more compressed. If you scale down to 24fps, then you are still capturing at 100mbs, so the compression per long-GOP will be significantly higher. however, I am only sure this applies to the p2 cards, if I understood the sales reps who came by and demoed their HVX for me, as well as their P2 ENG cameras, the camera can only record standard def DVCPRO25 if it is going over a firewire.

no, it offers no better image quality, since the difference is in the tapes robustness, but does not affect the compression, so color and image quality will be identicle between tapes. the ONLY advantage may be in drop out protection. I just finnished a feature on the zu1. we shot 30 tapes and not one drop out. all standard mini-dv tapes. I figure drop out protection is more aimed at long term storage, not recording and playback for cutting.

I have heard of festivals that take DVCPRO-HD, but I think the standard is either HDCAM (sony) or HDCAM-SR (again, sony) This of course is for HD showing, I am not sure of any festival that accepts SD tapes, though I am sure they exist. Your best bet is to find the festivals you want to enter, the ones you think your film will play well at, then find their format. You may very well have to hire a post house to make multiple dubs onto multiple tape formats.

The concept is good, but I would look to a higher quality machine. The numbers are good. 24bits, 96Khz, but that says nothing to the mic amp, proccessing effects loop options, etc. Audio tools are the hardest to select, because what genuinly affects the quality of the audio is never revealed. They wont tell you what op-amps the preamp circut is using, they dont specify the A-D converter chip, its usually a big mystery. I would go with a bigger brand name than microtrack, though if its all you can afford, its probably the best recorder you can hope for at that price. That said, I too am looking at these devices. I found one for 800 bucks on B&H and another model for 999 that even generates/jams to timecode. It has unique features that can really help in the edit bay. Look for a model that can have a ps2 (not playstation 2, but the input port that was used before the advent of usb) keyboard input. This will let you name the track something usefull, so you dont have to listen to the audio slate you leave before every take to find the right clip. You can even leave notes for yourself and hooked up to a digital timecode slate you can sync your film and audio very quickly. Check out all the models of recorders. But I definatley like the concept. A 2gig solid state card is probably a lot cheaper than any mechanical tape spooling mechanism, and much more reliable. Once you have the sound on your comp you can make backups and edit without worry about digitizing or anything like that. make sure if you do get the recorder, try and spend some money on an effects loop. A simple compressor and EQ may be all you need. To ask a quick question: I have heard of bi-level recording. For any of you who know audio better than me, can you tell me if this means running the same mic into two channels at different attenuations (IE one track is leveled for wisper to mid voice level, and the other records the mid to very loud/shouting dialoge.) is this technique usefull or wise or? I have just heard the name, figured thats what it means, and generally i find I only have one boom mic, and a wasted recording track. would a simple distrabution amp or mixer be all I need to set that up?

you dont have to black the tapes, they work fine out of the box, there are two main problems however with not doing it. first if the tape were to inch forward a few seconds into blank space, then likley the DV timecode would start all over at 0:00:00. second if you have a shot you want to capture, if there is no pad then an automated capture software would likely flub that capture. I like to black the tapes to put some form of TC there, then I make sure not to record on the first 10-20 seconds of tape

If you want a cheat to a smooth pan, place a rubber band around the control arm of your tripod and pull on the rubber band. I say this is a cheat because though it does smooth the pan, it makes everything else much more difficult, namely your ending frame might be up in the air with that technique. I dont use this technique, its much better to hold the control arm and 'pan the camera with your body' but that has taken me years to learn how to do it smoothly everytime. If you need help the rubber band is there for ya.

I would set the knee slope a bit steeper, depending on where the threshold is. I like to keep a knee at around 85-90 IRE and compress after that. Its a bit low compared to the typical 90-95 setting, but I like my shots a bit more contrasted, and dont mind loosing a bit of dynamic range to get the crisp highlights. If your highlights are comming out to strong, turn the slope down just a tad. then start adjusting the threshold. dont go below 75 or so, you get into the mid-fleshtones at around 70, so keep the knee off those colors. In the end its a matter of taste that can change from time to time. You would be best served if you set it constantly to the situation. In overcast the knee can be off, but if you are in a hard backlight situation (IE, outside, sun to actors backs) you will find higher compression is needed.

Its impedance your looking for, not resistance. (a coper wire at those voltages, in theory given a direct current should have very very little resistance.) For regular video its around 75ohms, I am not sure If there is a difference when going to HD component video. I would imagine given the higher frequency signal you would need lower impedance. I would go out to best buy find the $300 monster cable that does what you want it to do, and look at the jacket of the connecter. Almost always monster cables prints the impedance on a band around both jack. Check all cables, there may be a different impedance between the lumanance and chroma channels, due to pixel subsampling.

You forgot to mention your acquasition source. if you take a 300w light and just send it through one frame of tuff-spun (by roscor) you will have enough to expose a 2/3" camera easily, but if you choose to shoot 200 asa film, or worse 100speed film that is overexposed, 300w will barley be usedfull for a spot kit. keep in mind that varying cameras, films, video formats require different light levels. Hell take a DVX-100A and you will need varying amount of light depending on the gama setting you use. Whoever mentioned buying this kit allong with shooting video is brilliant, listen to that person. Film is great, huge advantages in exposure latitude and color reproduction, but all this is meaningless if you cant light video well. To me, lighting video is very difficult because the difference between a god level and too hot or too low is very small. Add to that, you have to worry about highlights. Video does not handle these well so if you want your video to look good, you have to be careful not to blow the highlihgts. Shoot at least 10 films on video before your first film (I have 20 indepenedant and low budget shorts or features shot on video, and am in pre-pro for my very first film) that way you know that you know lighting and composition before you takle the problems of controlling an image that only exists in your head until you develope days later. 2500 will be more than ample for a lowell kit. dont buy more than 2 totas, you wont need them (they spill like crazy and are good only for bounced/soft ambient light. it takes a lot to control these lights. if you dont already know the difference between hard and soft lighting, that is what you should focus on first. essentially the difference is how big of a source is in question. imaging the curvature of a face and the size of an 8'x8' difusion grid close to the face. all the grid will light the un-obstructed area of the face (like the cheek structure closest to the light). but in the areas coverd by the curvature of the face and the nose will only be filled in by the far edges of the difuser. since less area of the diffuser can actually project lights into this area, the shadow will take a soft edge to it, very pleasing light under the right storyline. other scenes will call for hard light that emphasizes shadow and every fine detail of the face. almost like how focus affects detail, soft light affects the detail in the shadow. very important to understand. Other than color, I would call the softness/hardness of a light THE defining quality that most audiences will see. Lighting takes a little bit to understand, but decades to perfect. In the end its the application of an abstract concept (abstract because the mind abstracts it. in fact light follows set mathematical properties) That is why i recomend video until your talent makes the cost of film nesicary to push the limits of quality you as a DOP can provide. In the end the best attribute you can have is not your light kit, but your tenacity. I shot some CRAP when i was 13 and 14 (seriously crap) but to this day I will swear up and down that it is great. shoot everything like its your last shot, your last chance to pour your soul out into this and make your audience feel what the charecter feels. hard work and passion will ALWAYS triumph over connections and inside networking. (I hope anyways. in the end if you endevor to know more than anyone ever has known about light, and work harder than ANYONE on set, you will maximize your abilities, which in the end is the best we can all aspire to)

your trying to compare 35mm to HDV??? are you serious?? if you expected any other answer than what I have to offer than you need more experience or schooling or whatever. Let me preface this: I have not shot film (other than lots and lots and lots of still) I have shot lots of HDV (my latest feature, beekeeping, was shot on the HVR-ZU1 sony HDV. The panny will have more quality than the ZU1 and be closer to a varicam, but bottom line their HDV cannot....CANNOT be better than the varicam. The varicam exibits video like tendancies on a film out, so I can only reason that the 200 will have similar artifacting. In its price range shooting DVCPRO-HD to P2 disk would be much MUCH MUCH better than HDV (which I consider better than DV, lesser than professional HD formats) but no where near 35mm. Most people would say there is large difference between S16mm so you got to figure that there is a huge difference between 35mm and DVCPRO-HD on a pro-sumer camera. That said: do it on cost alone. Consider cost. What is your budget. Film should factor in a certain percent of the cost, it should never cost more than half of the cost (and thats assuming guerrila style, where nobody is paid and only production costs are paid.) if its between paying real actors or getting real film, get the real actors. Plan what is best for the complete movie, not just the look. Most people cannot tell a real difference between 35mm and HD on an SD tele, so consider your likely market. If its for DVD most likely, than dont worry about 35mm. You can sink money into more productive places, like cranes dollys jibs actors lights sound post production set design and shooting days.....just ot name a few. Format choice is HUGE, especially on a small project. Consider all options. You have a 2 hour feature. that means that your likely shooting around 10-20 hours of material. So in HDV your paying around 10K for the camera, P2 cards and firestore. With 35mm your paying around 30-40K minimum on film costs. Plus 1000 a day for camera rental. Add to that the extra lighting you need and its easily a 50-100K difference. That said: Your plans for the movie will affect your choice. If you want to find a distro who will put it in theaters, 35mm will definatley set you appart and give you a good chance at getting the movie sold for that option. However if the planned distro is DVD, 35mm wont add a whole lot of production value in the eyes of a distrobtor. They would rather pick up an iffy movie on a great deal, which if you shoot HDV, proffits are easier to come by. Also check out super16. In almost the same situation you are in, I have opted to shoot my latest feature, In search of the Armegedon Chronicals, in super-16. Its only a 100min film, so shorter than yours, but film cost I have kept around 10K, and that includes stock for shooting a 4:1 film, proccessing of the negative, DVCAM telecine for editting, and the final spirit HD datacine for final HD output. The whole film will cost 30K. a great deal compared to what it would cost to shoot in 35mm. (and comperable to shooting it in HDV or DVCPRO)

No, sadly you cannot do a real ramp. A true ramp is built on timming of below 1fps. The varicam can do this, where it times itself off a varying clock. The 200, from what I understand can do ramps between 4fps and somehting like 60fps (not sure of the actual number) but thats in like 20 steps (more than 1fps varience between steps) and mroe importanly there seems to be no way to change it on the fly. Like the DVX-100A when you change frame ratest the camera goes through a lengthy (2-4seconds) change over, eliminating the possibility of an on-the-fly changeover. thats the bad news. The good news is that time remap in post has been possible for as long as I have been in the business (I am very young, I cant recall a time without computers) Time remap basicly selects which frames are used in the final output, and blends the rest. It does this based on a mathematical input that you provide. This lets you do ramps with infanantly variable presets. You can also time your remaps to hit certain points of action. If you want the film to hit full slow mo at a certain point of action (say a punch or explosion) it is possible to define down to the frame where that happens. (much more control than a physical camera timming unit) the problem is that since it is dropping frames, everything is shot somewhere at 1/60sec at full 360 degree shutter. that means that if you do a time re-map, in effect you are changing the shutter angle as the, something I dont think a proper ramp would have. Its not a big deal, but understand at the beginning of the remap you will have the effect of a 270-300 degree shutter and end up with a 360 degree shutter (of course this depends on your settings, but apparent shutter angle will change over time) as long as you understand and plan for this, you will be fine. use programs like after effects to do the remap.