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What are the scariest things you face as a cinematographer?


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On 1/4/2020 at 5:52 PM, Robin R Probyn said:

2 Having to borrow money from a sound recordist ..

 

LOL!
 

On 1/5/2020 at 11:45 AM, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

I would have thought that there is no time better to be in that biz. With all the media, series, Netflix, channels, films and all. What you say sounds very similar to still photography.


It is indeed very much like the still photography world. The film/video industry is just lagging behind by 10yrs or so, as it takes longer for technology to catch up. 

The early DSLRs cut the market costs down lower for a lot of film photographers and made it more competitive. Used to be simply knowing the black art of how to get well exposed photos from a film DSLR could get you some jobs. Just like before, simply owning an expensive video camera and knowing the basics for how to work it got your jobs. 

Then as DSLRs became better and better, cheaper and cheaper, and more widespread then photographers either had to slash their rates to remain competition or up their game and become more high skilled beyond what the casual hobbyist "professionals" could do. 

Now the photography world is flooded with "photographers", and the low end is completely disappeared with people with just using their own cellphones or the likes of a Canon Rebel DSLR

To survive as a full time professional photographer you have to be very very good. Of course the high end will always exist, and people will always be happy to pay for "the best". But it will be harder and harder to hold onto that position of being "the best".

The same is true in the video world. The low end has largely disappeared, or done by kids with DSLRs undercutting, the middle end is under attack, eventually only the high end will remain.

 

  

On 1/5/2020 at 1:26 PM, Max Field said:

I'm not saying this to come off as brash towards you (just to contribute to discussion), but I am sick of people saying that Netflix and Amazon Prime are just handing out distribution deals left and right. It's still an extremely connection based industry, like it's always been.

If the floodgates were really that open I would've been producing my own show on Netflix years ago.

That's right. Plus the standards / gatekeeping of what Netflix will accept gets tougher and tougher every year. 

Not as easy to get your film purchased by Netflix today in 2020 as it was ten years ago. 

Edited by David Peterson
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On 1/5/2020 at 4:45 PM, Samuel Berger said:

I feel being paralysed by the fear of not buying the right camera.

Don't be paralysed.

If you can't make up your mind between two cameras, the the differences between them is probably smaller than you think,so just buy the cheapest one of the two and go for it!!
 

On 1/5/2020 at 4:45 PM, Samuel Berger said:

In other words, I end up not doing anything because I can't make a decision on which camera to buy. I've been in this position for three years now and it's not fun. The Canon C200 still hasn't gone down in price.


Wow. 3yrs years of wasted time is a loooong while.... what have you been doing during that?

The likes of an URSA Mini 4.6K, ARRI ALEXA Classic, Sony FS7, Sony PMW-F5 have all dropped in price on eBay by a LOT over those 3 years! Just go for any one of them instead. 
 

On 1/5/2020 at 4:45 PM, Samuel Berger said:

If I could shoot my project on my Canon EOS R I would do it. 

Why couldn't you use an EOS R??
(although I personally would go for a Nikon Z6 / Panasonic S1H / Fujifilm X-T4 / etc over an EOS R!)

 

  

On 1/7/2020 at 2:57 PM, David Mullen ASC said:

Confidence doesn't increase with time, partly because if you are any sort of career trajectory at all, there are new challenges in everything you shoot. 

Also because the more you learn, the more you realize how little you truly know! ha, the irony.

 

  

On 2/1/2020 at 6:41 AM, David Mullen ASC said:

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/02/sundance-2019-documentary-cameras-lens-equipment-canon-sony-arri-1202036323/3/
 

“Honeyland” racked up all these award nominations and won the ASC award for documentary cinematography, and it was shot on Nikon DSLRs. Meaning there are a number of affordable cameras that are good enough, ultimately it matters more what you shoot than what camera you shoot it on.


Not even the best Nikons for shooting with!

The Nikon Z6 is streets ahead of what they used, a much better camera to film with ? I'd like to get a Z6 myself one day soon. 

Or even back then when they were filming, with what was available, the likes of a Nikon D750 (which was already out) has a nicer 1080 image than the D800/D810 that they used. Guess they just used what they had at hand.

Edited by David Peterson
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