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James Steven Beverly

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David's last talk was amazing, I watched the online video several times over!

Was there ever any doubt?! :D Guy's amazing. EVERYTHING I've ever see shot by him seems perfect. I hope to get the chance to work with him soon before he gets recognized for the superstar cinematographer status he so richly deserves and is priced out the range these features I'm working to get financed are able to afford!! B)

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Just because someone is great at cinematography doesn't mean they will be any good at public speaking! Two different skill sets.

Tho in the UK we often seem to get people who aren't especially good at either!

 

I agree Andy I thought that video was great, lots of fascinating detail and it wasn't one of those talks where the presenter is getting high on their own supply! Friendly, matter of fact and let the images speak for themselves.

 

For those in LA, the talk is tomorrow it would seem and I imagine will be well worth checking out.

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I definitely agree with you that great talent doesn't necessarily translate to great oration or great teaching HOWEVER, David seems to possess all three. Just from our online discussions, I have learned so much about the craft. I saw some of the video clips of him speaking film and was duly impressed with his encyclopedic knowledge of all that is cinema but was particularly impressed with his technical knowledge of his craft. I'm headed out to AFM again this year but unfortunately won't be in LA for his talk, but I may be moving back to my beloved city in the near future so, we'll see what happens!

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My father has a great speaking voice; unfortunately I did not inherit that from him. What I bring to the table is just a nerd-like enthusiasm for the subject which hopefully (somewhat) makes up for my lack of oratory skills...

What you call "nerd-like enthusiasm", I prefer to call pearls of wisdom and solid, 24 carat gold wealth of knowledge expressed with masterful insight on the topic of film making. You are able to focus intently on a particular aspect of your craft and explain it clearly in simple terms that allow the uninitiated to grasp complicated concepts immediately despite the technical intricacies that might cloud a less skilled expert or tutor in the field. Setting aside you're honest modesty, you're quite good at this sort of thing.

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the thing is, that cinematography is a craft,. an "art" and i know quiet a few "famous" guys such as Cort Fey who was responsible for LOST and now is the CP at "Under the Dome". the guys i know are all very good cinematographers but none of them likes to share their secret. at least not for free. what david does is not to be taken for granted! to have an ASC DP here who spends a significant amount of time to share his knowledge here is a huge treasure.

ok, i went to filmschool, i learned a few things but i still consider myself very much as a "rookie". i know nothing! (ok not for the total beginner who does not even know what a camera is, for them i am the highly skilled professional).

i read davids post very carefully. sometimes i search his artcles, hope to find technical stuff or hints how he did this or that. a few things i even have printed out on paper and read them when i am in bed.

david is a great teacher. great guy.

 

thank you david for everything and i think i can say that in the name of all of us.

 

randy

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David, the trailer looks great! I was wondering about the shot at 1:13 in the trailer with the girl and the overexposed window. I have a shoot coming up where I am planning on doing something similar outdoors, in the afternoon with the sun backing a young girl, I want that hot overexposure from the background. Did you bring it up in post or did you get that in camera? I am shooting this on a red, I am wondering if I should play it safe and give myself some room in post.

 

Thanks

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My father has a great speaking voice; unfortunately I did not inherit that from him. What I bring to the table is just a nerd-like enthusiasm for the subject which hopefully (somewhat) makes up for my lack of oratory skills...

 

I think your speaking voice is just fine! I like your style the way it is, I think it's great! Personally I think if you sounded more like Thatcher or Hitler or Tony Blair or someone, then that would be quite off-putting. That's just me tho, YMMV.

 

Freya

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David, the trailer looks great! I was wondering about the shot at 1:13 in the trailer with the girl and the overexposed window. I have a shoot coming up where I am planning on doing something similar outdoors, in the afternoon with the sun backing a young girl, I want that hot overexposure from the background. Did you bring it up in post or did you get that in camera? I am shooting this on a red, I am wondering if I should play it safe and give myself some room in post.

 

Thanks

 

You must be talking about this scene:

bigsur33.jpg

 

 

This is a scene where Jack wakes up with a hangover and feels paranoid, and sees that his cabin is full of visitors. We lost the daylight by the time we got to this scene, so my solution was to make the lighting very harsh and surreal, and to shoot all of Jack's POV's with a Lensbaby. I put an UltraBounce or Muslin on a frame outside the windows lit with HMI's to blow-out the view. There were no curtains that I could pull to soften the effect of the white background so I just went with it.

 

I would generally say you should get the effect as close as you can in-camera.

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  • 2 weeks later...

the thing is, that cinematography is a craft,. an "art" and i know quiet a few "famous" guys such as Cort Fey who was responsible for LOST and now is the CP at "Under the Dome". the guys i know are all very good cinematographers but none of them likes to share their secret. at least not for free. what david does is not to be taken for granted! to have an ASC DP here who spends a significant amount of time to share his knowledge here is a huge treasure.

ok, i went to filmschool, i learned a few things but i still consider myself very much as a "rookie". i know nothing! (ok not for the total beginner who does not even know what a camera is, for them i am the highly skilled professional).

i read davids post very carefully. sometimes i search his artcles, hope to find technical stuff or hints how he did this or that. a few things i even have printed out on paper and read them when i am in bed.

david is a great teacher. great guy.

 

thank you david for everything and i think i can say that in the name of all of us.

 

randy

i am also finihed my film school.. but iam too learned nothing... can you give the great teaches david`s articales.. youngframes@outlook.com this is my id

Edited by A Vasudev Siva
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