Bill Totolo

Starting to explore Rothko:

Here's a basic little kit I put together that serves me well. Of course I supplimment this with rentals when needed: Arri 1k Open face Arri 650 fresnel Arri 300 fresnel Arri 150 fresnel Lowel 1k DP Mole Rischardson 2k zip light OSH florescent shop light with 5600 and 3200 GE tubes stands/scrims/chimera/dimmer/porta brace soft case/flags/nets/cookie/barn doors You can put this together for around $2000 if you shop carefully and pick up a few of these items up used. I love the Mole 2k zip because it has (2) 1K globes, one of which I swapped out with a 500w so I have can toggle between both options or use both and run it off household electricity. This is a soft light to begin with but put a frame of 1/4 grid cloth in front of it and it's even better. This kit is perfect for most of the "little" gigs I book plus I like owning my own units when I want to test gels or a camera setting.

In the ENG/EFP reality world you have to be given 24 hours notice or you get you entire day's fee.

Anyone shot here? www.solarstudios.com I have concerns about stage 1. Huge windows, multiple setups. Continuity issues? Thx

I don't have the footage but as I recall there was just a little grain/gain in the moving image. Cine V is very clean. I think having bright objects in the frame helps to draw your eye away from that and gives the illusion of more dynamic range. Walter is right, you can't judge a book by it's cover but I'd say this is a pretty fair representation of the moving image. I think the TV ad campaign is on hold as this was for a diet product and the actresses keep losing weight faster than they can get the commercial to air. I guess that means the product works.

More of a character study than anything else. I liked the look but couldn't get it out of my mind that, as talented as Khondji is, he was put in a position to ape Doyle's style. I was absolutley blown away by several performances, particularly David Strathairn. Also notable were Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman. Norah Jones' casting is a bit of a mystery to me. But, really, Strathairn nailed it.

Sadly, the car was totalled, now it hangs in my office.

Just don't get in the car with him...

1st car, 1974 Chevy Camaro, ca. 1984 1985. Last license plate:

I've seen it, that really is Nash's ride.

Congratulations Illya and the Dalsa family.

I'm shooting three different projects at the moment, two of which overlap, one of which I'm directing. It helps to have people around that you can rely on to keep things organized so you only have to concentrate on very specific tasks.

I like the results. Looks great Milan!

This may be overkill but check out the Renaissance: http://www.renaissancehollywood.com/

The setup looks pretty straight forward, this is how I shoot all those "I love the 80's" style clip shows for E!, this is also how we've lit our "Breaking News" station. 1k's may be more firepower than you need but you can always net or scrim them down. I've been finding that not all green screens are created equal so take note of how reflective the material is. Obviously, the more refelective, the more potential for (green) spill.

I don't necessarily agree with point VI which says DV requires less light than film or point VII which says to over saturate your colors. Other than that it's not very technical. You can draw your own conclusions by playing with the camera(s) yourself for a couple hours in a controlled environment. Transfer the images into an NLE, write your conclusions in a notebook and create your own analysis.

I never received any offers to upgrade from my educational verion. Good for you, I'm jealous ; )

"Beckett" anyone!

By the way here's a shot without a pola or fill. Feb 29th: Harsh condition in the desert. Subjected to sand storms and overcast skies, we managed to get only a few decent shots off.

I've found that using a screw on 52mm pola (mounted on a Nikon) does great things for seemingly bland skies. Of course I'm using the normal tricks of the trade (nets, shiny boards, griff, flags, etc). I would err on the side of under exposure instead of over. As for exposure I use the zebras on the LCD exculsively. I set Zebras to 75 and just allow a rim of activity on a face. I don't even think of evaluating the quality of light when looking at the LCD monitor. For anything else I drape duvetyn over a 7" Marshall which I set up using the camera's color bars. Of course it helps to be in a place with interesting skies and backgrounds, right?

This might sound basic but don't forget to take the reflectivity of the table into account. I just shot an interrogation scene over a glossy black table and found the finish helpful to the look I wanted. If it were lighter it would have completely changed the mood. Also, I wonder how a matte finish would have looked?

I'd inquire into their post flow to see what they can handle.

Chris, Is that B Press with Cine Like gamma curve?

Dorian, You've probably already considered this but I'd put as much effort into testing adapter systems as lenses. You'll need the fastest, sharpest adapter out there.

I am finding the Letus much sharper than the other unit I've been using. Wish I had the opportunity to do a film out test.