ochopatas

Hello all, I have an interesting situation on my hands. While I've done a lot of live sound and studio production, I've managed to get myself doing sound for a film set. Fortunately, it's in a studio so I won't have to deal with extraneous, unwanted noise. However, not being extremely familiar with professional protocol on film sets for the audio, I was wondering if you all could shed some light onto it. My role will be the sound mixer, and I will have my own boom operator. 1. What are the typical commands that will be said to me/I should say to others? 2. What should I be doing, as well as what should I NOT be doing? 3. Equipment-wise, is it better to record sound separately, or onto the camera? 4. Most importantly, however, is what brand of DAT or any kind of external audio recorder that can take xlr or 1/4" inputs from a mixer would you suggest within the price range of 100-300 dollars? I don't need timecode as we'll probably mark it via slate clapping. I definitely cannot afford the $1k tascams that everyone recommends. Do you think inputting the sound into a laptop through a standard 1/8" mic input would sound good, or will there be a noticable degradation of sound?

Not really moving the discussion along, but I want to point out that I just shot on Kodachrome and got it developed and pushed from a local guy in Michigan. So I think there are more than 2 in the whole world. :)

I live in Michigan - the lab is in Florida :S This is the first time I've worked with kodachrome as well - I've only used Black and white reversal before. I think I will take your advice and call the lab first and have them do the "snip test," and maybe have the lab tell me what they think. this is why getting film developed locally is the best. Sigh. (And there is an urgent deadline, but we'll survive.)

The compromise in contrast is fine - our excuse is that since this scene we shot is a "dream", that it's allowed to be a little unusual/surreal/weird from the rest, which is properly exposed. I think I'm going to request a push processing, but I guess my question is, do you think one stop will be enough, or should I go for two?

X-posted under 16mm. Hi, I need a little advice. Today was a very sunny day. We shot scene on Kodachome 40, a color reversal film, with a wratten daylight filter, lowering the ASA to 25. On top of that, we used a Neutral Density filter which opened the apeture up by 3 stops. However, the AD was foolish and took readings off the light meter as if we were using an ASA of 100. So essentially we underexposed the film by two stops. what would you suggest we do? Do you think pushing the color reversal film by at least one stop will help us, or do you think that it will be fine as is without push processing?

Hi, I need a little advice. Today was a very sunny day. We shot scene on Kodachome 40, a color reversal film, with a wratten daylight filter, lowering the ASA to 25. On top of that, we used a Neutral Density filter which opened the apeture up by 3 stops. However, the AD was foolish and took readings off the light meter as if we were using an ASA of 100. So essentially we underexposed the film by two stops. what would you suggest we do? Do you think pushing the color reversal film by at least one stop will help us, or do you think that it will be fine as is without push processing?

fantastic! very helpful. Thankyou.

Hi, I'm not sure how to phrase this, so bear with me... When shooting a film, what kind of things do you say during and after...for example, what are some standard commands that are shouted, and what do they mean? What kind of things do YOU say? Everyone has different ways of saying things, and I'm just curious what the "professional" commands may be... For example, when shooting film, do you say, "Standby...roll film, action!" or whatever? Some people say marker, and I have no idea what that means... I know this is a silly dumb question, but sometimes at a filmshoot I am at a loss what to say, because I am so used to television and not film. We say roll Video, so I feel silly saying roll video when shooting on film, but roll film just sounds wrong.. Anyway, thanks for your time.

Not ebay, it is my university's camera. But they haven't used it for 10 years or so. I noticed on the speed dial that someone etched a line into it between the 18 and 16. I just thought it was some kind of...I dunno...marker, but it ends up that that is the correct 24 fps setting. What I did to test it is like you said, except I reset my frame counter to 0, and ran it for 1 second, see where it ended up. And lo and behold, it was approximately 24. I read someplace on the internet that a bolex improperly stored (that is, not wound down) will really ruin the spring motor and since it's more costly to repair the spring(?) it's better to just adjust by resetting the marker on the speed dial. Thank you for your advice.

I don't know if it would help to add that running at 18 fps, which is marked in red, is 28 seconds.

The h16 Bolex runs for 28 seconds at 24 fps, from what people tell me and from the internet. My camera runs for 20 seconds at 24fps. Does this mean that my camera is actually running faster than 24, even though the setting is at 24, or does it just mean that...well...it runs for 8 seconds less than the average?

Nevermind!

Kind of a dumb question... Recently acquired 10mm Switar lens. To those that own them or have experience with them: the minimum focus in feet is marked 8 feet, but the focus ring turns past that. It seems like when I move the focus to infinity, the back-lens is in the right position... Does my lens need servicing, or is this normal? Should the ring be stopping right at the 8?

Additionally, it has, etched into the barrel, "VS" I assume for variable shutter? I know there was a line of RXVS lenses, but I don't think this is what that is. Arg. I really hope that my 3 rolls of film turn out somewhat decently. I've never worked with film before, and this hasn't been a great start. I blame my professor for not listening to me when I told him that something was wrong with the image.. :angry:

I've never heard of the maker of this lens before, this is all it says: "Kinic Anastigmat 1 inch f/1.5 " No place does it say whether it is a rx lens or not. Not sure how I'd find out! Even if it were not, do you think it would affect the film? Or does the kind of lens only affect the ability to see an accurate focus through the viewfinder?

Hello, I have a 16mm Bolex H16 reflex camera, with one 1 inch/25mm lens. Very simple. My problem is that when the lens is attached tightly onto the turret, through the viewfinder, nothing is ever in focus. It is NOT a problem with the diopter. Everything is blurry regardless of the focus ring settings. HOWEVER... When I loosen the lens two to three turns, everything is now in focus through the viewfinder. 1) What do you think is the problem here? 2) What should I base my focus on? The measurements on the ring when correctly attached to the turret, regardless of what I'm seeing through the viewfinder, or should I leave the lens unscrewed a bit and trust the viewfinder? I am going to try and get my film developed this week, but this is making me very nervous, because I don't like wasting film. Too expensive.