Bill Totolo

I really felt Ruby Dee (aka Mama Lucas) out shined them all. The movie could have been cut about 20 minutes for the story they were telling, I agree, some scenes did feel like a retread. I'm glad Harris went the straight route and avoided crazy slow mo and all the attention grabbing devices we've become used to in this genre. To follow that path would have been cliche, the characters were enough flash, I think. I much preferred "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead".

I think your pictures look great. If you're concerned about the lighting I wouldn't concern myself with the camera, I would concentrate on filling in the shadows with your lighting and enhancing the look to suit your taste. Whether that means edge lighting or back lighting or whatever you decide. I think it's a matter of lighting in this case not camera sensitivity. Again, I personally like what you're doing, keep it up.

Thanks Chuck, So as it stands, where is the focus set?

Thanks Ken, You can't see them all in this frame but there were about 50 practicals in front of her spread over 15 feet. There were, and I'm going to guess here, about 50 footcandles on her at about 2 feet from the mirror, which jives with your estimate since I was at a f2.0, I believe that means I rate the camera at 100asa (pretty close to 80asa). I didn't check the bulbs but again, I'm going to guess on this, that they were between 75 and 100 watts. Anyone ever shoot upstairs at Pier 59 at Bergamot Station?

Can anyone tell me why this lens doesn't require a focus ring? I'm sure it has something to do with being an "objective lens" but I can't find any info in the AC manual or by searching the forums. Thank you

Jian, Your inbox is full. Is there another way to reply to you? Bill

I've got one Jian that I just had completely refurbished. If you're interested you can PM me.

thanks a ton for the info, bill. now, at the risk of sounding naive, tell me what happens to the image when you drop the master black level to -3 ? and how does this choice delimit our options in post ? btw, the warm delectability of the image is finessed by your highly nuanced choice of 1/4 bpm ! good little national spot to begin with, bill. reminds me of giuseppe rotunno and all that jazz ! cheers ! rajkumar :P I dropped it to -3 as opposed to going further, that's all. We wanted to add some contrast to our shadows but not too much. And the 1/4 BPM went into the 900, not to warm it but to add halation to the practicals and soften it a bit. And you're much to generous with your compliments, but thanks.

Well that or Best Buy. I mean, really, you should own Citizen Kane already. Shouldn't you? Personally, I have three memberships: 1) Vidiots in Santa Monica (love all the pixelfest DVD's) 2) Netflix (watching "The Blue Kite" this weekend) 3)Cinephile in W. LA I also drop way too much cash in Ameoba. The Criterion section is a killer.

Yep, they're both under Alliance Group Entertainment. I also did the junket for "Hotel California" that day. Any "six degrees of separation" going on there?

I guess I'm referring to the distracting rainbow-like effect more than shadows. I get hit with this effect by the weave in the chairs and the shades they use in our show.

Check out Geardear I'm really happy with the versatility and the ease that I can reconfigure it for wide angle, etc. I haven't used it with the Redrock but I wouldn't foresee any problems.

Thanks Raj, just to be clear I was just B camera op. on this. Obviously we didn't need anything lighting her face than the practicals in the shot. I positioned an arri 300 over her shoulder to add some detail to her hair, our DP put a cosmetic gel over it. He hit her from behind with an arri 650 and a large Chimera. The DP, hit the clothes rack in the b/g with a 300. I suggested a 1/4 BPM for the A cam, I thought it'd be nice to get a little halation around the practicals. The A cam was an HDX900 and I felt the the image was a little "too" crisp by comparison. The BPM was a good touch. After we viewed the dailies (we had an editor doing rough cuts on-set) we all kind of fell in love with this setup. In fact I just found out that they're going to release the out takes to "Access Hollywood" for a segment on the actress. We shot cine V 720/24P, std. settings but I dropped the master black to -3. We didn't want to limit any options in post. The Redrock is a 35mm adapter, Raj. I used old Nikon AI primes. This was an 85mm wide open at F2.0 and the camera iris was set to "open". I was about 5 feet from the actress. As far as framing, I had a brief rehearsal and we were off. So I really had to decide pretty quickly how I wanted to crop her and how much I wanted to emphasize the lead room in the shot. I've always kind of liked chopping foreheads. The director was an accomplished photographer here in Hollywood. We really had to be on our game. I overlit a plant at one point and he gently came up and reminded me that we were going for a 'natural look'. Got it. A true gentleman, there's a lot to learn from him. I don't know if there's much art to shooting junkets but I just pulled a one man band for a couple that will air on MTV U. They should air next week in support of Horror Fest, so I guess these will be my first national spots:

Keep in mind that Cine D is the noiseist scene file on the Panasonics.

I've been stuck on more red carpets than I care to admit. I agree with Bob's post, I would add that it seems like Arri tungsten fresnels are the work horses for these events. Very rarely are they lit with HMI's, most outdoor events take place after sundown. Although occassionally, maybe 20% of the time, they are HMI. Lights are evenly spaced apart around 8 feet from each other and about 8 - 10 feet from the carpet. You could probably get away with a bunch of 650's at night. Just make sure they're high enough that reporters and camera op's don't cast shadows on the talent on the red carpet. Oh, and use extra sandbags on the units near the paparazzi, lot's of movement over there.

Does anyone know which pattern is least likely to exhibit moret in the video world?

Thank you. The footage belongs to the client. I had a few scenes left on my P2 card so I grabbed a TIFF before I re-formatted the card. Should roll out 1st quarter '08.

A few more images. I like these not only for visual impact but the history behind the images. Picasso's "Guernica" Rembrandt's "The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (cut-down), 1661-62" Georges Seurat's "Un dimanche de la Grande Jatte"

HVX200, redrock, nikons (85mm f2.0), cine v my 1st national ad (sorry for re-editing).

Wouldn't they would use a rail camera to cover track and field events at the Olympics? That's sounds like it's gonna be out of your budget. I guess I would grab a wide angle adapter on whatever I was shooting with to increase DOF so I had a better shot of making sure the event was in focus and I would definitely cover it with multiple cameras. Do a run through to make sure you get the coverage you want and don't shoot the other cameras. Can you choose the time of day of the shoot? The change in lighting can dramatically alter the mood of the event.

Anyone out there do stage/concert lighting? I'd like a good resource on the subject. Anything with illustrations and modern technique would be appreciated.

If you begin the journey allow yourself to be surprised by where it leads you. I think many of us on this board have adapted our career strategies and have survived because of it. As a result we find ourselves in places we could not have anticipated and that can be very rewarding. My experience leads me to believe that life in a cubicle really only leads to life in a cubicle.

I have seen quite a few. I've had filmouts of my own and check in pretty regularly to see what's going on w/ D.I.'s and film outs. This did not compare favorably to a digital projection. Am I criticizing the DP? No. The print I saw looked unsatisfactory in my opinion. As an HVX owner, I had hopes of using this workflow myself.

What can I do but add my two cents. I changed careers late in life as well. You have to drop yourself in whole heartedly and immerse yourself in the craft like you were just dropped into a foriegn land and were forced to fend for yourself. Save up at least twice as much as you estimate you need, keep your expenses low, say goodbye to any social life, to regular sleep hours, to financial security, to a healthy back and dive in. On the plus side, well, you really do get to meet some amazing people, see some amazing things and stand in places you never thought possible in your previous life.

I checked out the movie to do a comparison of the footage on the "Official website" vs. theatrical print. Unfortunately the reviews are right, it does look very miniDV. I'm dissapointed that's all the technoloy allows, I had high hopes (not a criticism of the cinematography, the lighting was very good).