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I Have Experienced The "RED Shooter"


Max Field

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Had to get BTS on a music video shoot. Planned all week expecting the team hired for the music video would be showing up with a grip truck to light the large studio.

 

Instead it's 2 hipster twenty-somethings with literally just a glidecam, RED Epic, and Canon lens.

 

My exposure was impossible due to working with only 10 stops of DR in a giant windowed room. I swear to god if they also let the windows clip with 16 stops I'll be livid...

 

Where's Robin with the RED hipster comments when you need him??

 

Very demotivating when the guys getting paid more lack basic exposure education.

Edited by Macks Fiiod
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But maybe they shot it all silhouette.. might have looked good ?

I caught glimpses of the viewfinder and it didn't look like they were going for that look... unless RED footage is really flexible in post.

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So they had no lights what so ever .. and shot directly in front of a massive window.. front on the whole time.. ?.. either they dont really know what they are doing.. or they are very experienced and confident.. and know exactly what they are doing and going for a particular look.. I guess you cant judge till you see the final footage.. please tell me they were not wearing flannel shirts though ..

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Mark.. I don't know you personally .. but I feel some sort of camaraderie with a fellow forum user from the UK.. you have entered a very dangerous period in your life.. you are shopping at Sainsbury,s.. eating Avocado toast..and started wearing a beard.. have you been getting unsolicited emails from RED.. noticing RED flashes on your TV/Computer screens.. do not go anywhere near any flannel material.. even pajama,s .. or black thick rim glasses.. this is a very critical stage.. do not go too Cornwall and reject all thoughts of Pirates .. be strong.. you can fight this Mark.. you are not alone.. !

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Well, I've had the beard for 30 years, only got the Ben Sherman second-hand a few years ago and don't wear it that much because the top-but-one button is oddly high up, OH buys the non-organic avocados, Gmail spam filter is pretty strong and last time I stopped at Minehead, but I'll be careful.

ps. Did you mean Pilates?

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Ummmm, maybe these hipster dudes are really good? With enough enthusiasm and native talent they might produce something a whole lot more interesting than the perfectly exposed video mediocrity predominant today - just by not knowing any "better".

 

As a fine DP friend of mine directed me when I was shooting a second unit for him: "Just F*** it Up!" ie., don't do boring normal stuff.

 

And. . . . it was a Red Camera. Silhouette (or close to it) might be the best thing a Red Camera can do.

 

Neal Norton

DP

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Yeah. Film is a rich man's thing. Like archaeology. Of course there's always exceptions. Mel Brooks got so poor he was scrounging around at one point virtually penniless. But he made it. Talent, perseverance, and all that .....

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Well, I've had the beard for 30 years, only got the Ben Sherman second-hand a few years ago and don't wear it that much because the top-but-one button is oddly high up, OH buys the non-organic avocados, Gmail spam filter is pretty strong and last time I stopped at Minehead, but I'll be careful.
ps. Did you mean Pilates?

 

 

 

Pilates would no doubt apply.. my reference was more the skull and cross bone (Pirates) nonsense they have going on..

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did you at least ask them if their camera surely had all the latest updates and sensor technology to "obsolescence obsolete"?

because cameras HAVE TO BE updated every couple of months, otherwise they would be rubbish and not competent and would need to be thrown away :lol:

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I'm sure they had fun time grading the footage afterwards, power-windowing everything and testing every of the million raw debayer settings separately on each shot and trying to mimic the lighting effects which they forgot to add on set :lol:

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The isn't really a "Red" thing. But a film/video production thing - when you have an industry thats perceived as glamorous its going to attract a lot of people of varying skill level. The frustrating thing is a lot of these guys only focus on the gear and having the correct (expensive) gear is the short cut to success. Clients also don't know any better and will assume because a person rocks up with a shiny 6k camera, they must know what to do with it, otherwise why would they have spent all that money. Red cameras do play well here.

 

Production is increasingly a rich persons playground. Clint's want high end gear, they don't want to pay for it. Unfortunately there are too many trustafarians spending 100k on gear and then working for free (because they don't actually need an income - parents will be paying for the east London pad). It gets very hard to make a living in many film production fields - you cut you price to the bone, even though you've got 15 years experience. Only to loose the job to an idiot Red user working and providing the gear for next to nothing. If the client can't tell the difference in quality any many will prioritise cool drone shots over a video that makes sense. Your kind of stuck...

 

I kind of gave up. I did a behind the scenes for a Ben Sherman shoot and it was very depressing watching a bunch of "Nathan Barleys", cocking it up because they were clueless but in the right set.

 

But as others have said the hipster dudes could be really talent - I'm not against talent and don't want to discriminate according to background. Its difficult making it even if your rich. But the Red effect is a problem, that it devalued production work. Too many people working and giving gear for too little. It makes a hard job harder.

 

My frustration has always been that I've always had to have a day job. I make films but that have to fit round paying the bills. I have friends that were at film school at the same time as me. The ones that were independently wealthy were able to focus only on film, work on building a reel - maybe doing full time unpaid jobs for a number of years. It was still tough for them - but they are a lot further up the ladder then I am. My career is in slow motion in comparison.

 

Still thats the way the world is, but I think the best way to try and level the playing field is work against unpaid internships and unpaid production in general. It does give those that can afford to do it a leg up, thats not wholly to do with merit

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An old school photographer (been doing it for 30+ years well before the digital revolution) I used to assist for said to me a few years ago, "I'm not worried because the cream will always rise to the top".

What are you all doing talking about giving up and losing faith because of a couple hipsters got lucky and found themselves on a proper set? If they did great, great! If they did a poop job, great! That'll probably be the last time they're on set. I come from a small town with no film industry and look around to see nerds charging $$$ for poop colored music videos and trendy ass concepts. Beards come and go, but talent and professionalism will always remain.

 

Speaking as a thick rimmed glasses wearing flannel shirt draped millennial, I'm not scared because the cream will always rise to the top.

 

PS: Sorry about your experience Macks

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If they did great, great! If they did a poop job, great! That'll probably be the last time they're on set.

No actually they'll keep getting on set because clients see a brand name and think it reflects talent regardless of the final outcome. They'll tell all their other potential hiring friends "oh yeah they shoot on RED"

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I agree with Matt. It's a well-known thing in the arts and everywhere else. Just keep on going. The one thing that will get in the way is yourself - your own attitude. If you want to do something, keep going and don't give up. Day jobs and all.

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