Mark Lyon IMPOSTOR

Hi-- Getting a wide-angle exterior shot to have an out-of-focus background might be tricky with a XL-1 or other consumer camcorder. The combination of small chips and wide-angle lenses makes for enormous depth of field. Normally, you'd go for the largest negative you can afford to make this work (35mm), but one thought that occurs to me is that a shift/tilt lens might work. Canon makes them for still photography; I wonder if they will go on the XL-1? On the underwater shot, it sounds like you'll need a housing. Best of luck, Mark Lyon Mighty Max Films www.mightymaxfilms.com

While there are some people who shoot film at 30 fps for video transfer without pulldown, I think for most projects it's better to shoot 24 fps, so you get more of the feel of film. Because people watch telecined film all the time on TV, the 3:2 pulldown used to get the 24 fps film to 30 fps video is part of the look. Then you can simply set your DAT to whatever the telecine is set to (we always use 30NDF), and it lines up fine. Good luck, Mark Lyon Mighty Max Films

The Arri-S is also a great camera. One quick note on A-minima loading: the mags are incredibly easy to load (it takes about a minute, on average), but the threading is a bit tricky. So it takes a lot less time to load the mag than an Arri, but more time to thread. I'm not sure if overall film-change time is faster or slower. When we have to reload our A-minima and our Aaton LTR at the same time (including loading the LTR mag), the A-minima takes about half the time. Cheers, Mark Lyon

I agree with most of your post, but would like to offer a different perspective. First, there's nothing wrong with doing personal work in Super16---it's all about what you're trying to achieve. For me, the A-minima is a good choice because it's small and light, like a DVX, so it suits the spontaneous shooting style that I prefer. In keeping with that style, I've found it much easier to get good results in film. The DVX is certainly capable of making good SD images, but it takes tremendous care in lighting and contrast control to get there. Shooting from the hip with the A-minima results in some beautiful images out in the real, high-contrast world. It's easier and, yes, it feels more soulful in some way. Finally, a funny thing happens on "real" sets with the A-minima. It starts out as the b-camera, but we've found that people gravitate to it, so some of the best shots end up being made on it. We recently shot an industrial for an HD finish. The a-camera shots were in super35 on 200ASA and 500ASA Vision2 stock. My A-minima filled in crucial b-camera shots on 100ASA V2 film. They cut together perfectly. A bigger, more "production worthy" super16 camera wouldn't have made it out of its case with our tiny crew. On another recent commercial job, I got priceless "real people" interview footage on the A-minima. The people were comfortable around the little camera--they didn't freeze up like they would've in front of a big 35 or HD rig, and the timecode capabilities were a big asset. Cheers, Mark Lyon

Hi-- I've owned an A-minima for a few years now--it's a terrific camera. I went with the PL mount, and have cobbled together a collection of prime lenses (Optex, Zeiss, and Optar) that work well. This approach makes it easy to rent good lenses when the need arises, plus you can take advantage of motion picture lens accessories like follow focus. Also, as another poster noted, if you go Nikon you're severely limited on the wide end of things. I do have several Nikon lenses too, and use them with adapters that I got from Les Bosher. One is a simple Nikon-to-PL adapter that results in cool macro effects with Nikon lenses, but doesn't work for general purpose use (no focus on infinity), and the other is a Nikon-to-PL adapter that does a 1.4x teleconversion and loses a stop of light. That one is handy for extreme telephoto use, but does add a little bit of diffusion to the image. With all of that said, we do use Nikon still lenses on our Aaton LTR, which can use Nikon lenses with a simple adapter. The image quality is excellent. I think a "normal" lens on super 16 is about a 16mm. The 12mm feels a little wide. That's just a subjective judgement. Enjoy your new camera! --Mark Lyon

I've run double-perf film in my A-Minima with no issues (except of course that you only get the standard-16 area). I did it so I could use b/w reversal (something I really wish Kodak would release in A-Minima loads). Best of luck, Mark Lyon Mighty Max Films

I enjoyed it. I liked the flat retro look--it seemed to suit the rather disaffected storyline and old-school song really well. Great performance too. Very comic. Carry on! Mark Lyon Mighty Max Films

Thanks for the help! As a newcomer to this forum, I have to say I'm quite impressed by the quality of the discussion here, and I hope to be able to give as much as I take. --Mark Lyon

I'm directing a TV campaign in October which will feature frank interviews with real people, and I'd love to get the straight-into-the-lens candor that you see in Errol Morris documentaries. Does anyone know if his modified teleprompter "Interrotron" device is available for rent anywhere? We're most likely shooting Super16, with Aatons. Or do you have any thoughts about other ways to achieve what we're seeking? Thanks in advance for any help! Mark Lyon www.mightymaxfilms.com

One convenient way to go is to use a camera that records timecode on the film. Then sync the camera to your DAT. We use the Aaton timecode system, but I think Arri has a good one as well. The procedure is simple: when you want to shoot, you give the sound man a second to roll, then roll camera, without slating at all. Then you use a telecine equipped with timecode reading capability to sync the DAT with your picture in the transfer. It works well. You just need to have someone logging the shots. I hope this helps, Mark Lyon wwww.mightymaxfilms.com

I'm pretty biased, I guess, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better camera for run-and-gun shooting. Enjoy! A couple of quick things: to get 50fps, you'll need to have an external battery--there's a great Aaton clip-on battery that works well. The onboard lithium batteries will only run the camara up to 32 fps. Also, loading the magazine is really easy (and can be done in daylight), but threading the camera is a little tricky at first. I suggest checking out the QuickTime video on the Abel Cinetech site prior to getting your camera, unless you'll be working with an AC who knows it. Here's the link: http://www.abelcine.com/Products/frames/AM...techcenter.html Best of luck with the shoot. --Mark Lyon www.mightymaxfilms.com

I've never used the burst mode, so I called Abel CineTech to get an explanation. They confirmed my impression that for normal single-frame intervalometer shooting, you can set the shutter speed between 1/4 second and 255 seconds. For burst mode shooting, they said that the same exposure time ranges apply. I know this doesn't jibe with your experience (if you exposed for 1/50 of a second, and it was really 1/4, you'd think you'd be way overexposed, wouldn't you?). You might want to double-check with Abel or with Aaton.

Hi again. Not to come off as the big A-minima expert, but I just wanted to clarify that the exposure time for timelapse is 1/4 of a second. If you have the new software, you can make it longer, but 1/4 is the fastest it can go when in interval mode. Enjoy! --Mark Lyon

My experience with the A-minima is different. I've had one for two years, and shot a wide variety of stocks, from 7245 to 7218 (and even hand-rolled b/w reversal), and I've never had any issues with film loaded in daylight. In fact, I've never loaded in the dark, as we've never had any problems at all with fogging or light leaks. Sometimes I'll download in total dark if I want to save the last few feet of film. We also shoot a lot of timelapse, and have never seen light leaks. If shooting under bright sun, I might throw something over the eyepiece just because it feels weird to leave it uncovered. Best of luck-- Mark Lyon Mighty Max Films

Triggerstreet is pretty cool. www.triggerstreet.com. You have to review other people's work to earn credits for other people to watch and review yours. A good idea, backed by Kevin Spacey. While you're there, please check out my film "one." Best of luck, Mark Lyon

I would suggest getting 2k scans made. We routinely get them from the digital department at Fotokem in Burbank, and the results are great (we actually use this approach as a way to get clients to let us shoot on film instead of video). To get scans made this way, you do need to have the keycode value for the frame(s) you want. The prices are very reasonable--on the order of $10 per frame. I hope that helps. Mark Lyon Mighty Max Films www.mightymaxfilms.com