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The title is "Camera PA", from what my friend said who offered the job theres a bit more to it on this shoot. Sounded like it might be a union shoot that cant afford a 2nd AC so its hiring a glorified Camera PA Thanks for the tips, Ive had my head buried in manuals all night. Might be able to get a run through during check out.
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Apr 30, 2012 08:15
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If you are subbing as a 2nd then get introduced to your batteries and chargers. If they are bauers read up on what the LCD readouts mean. Always be charging.
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Apr 30, 2012 08:31
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AccountSupervisor posted:
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Apr 30, 2012 08:55
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It's sorta lovely that they can't pay for a proper 2nd, thus forcing you to take on (some) of the duties without the pay. As Mozzle said, get ready for brick changes. Also, food/coffee runs, running cable, moving cases/carts and (maybe) the paperwork. Get familiar with the slate, slating techniques and proper slate etiquette. Though if they make you slate, you should really be bumped to 2nd AC. Good luck! Have fun, ask questions (when the time is appropriate) and soak up as much as you can. EDIT: Check out https://www.theblackandblue.com Evan has lots of great articles and advice on being an AC. Some articles are better than others, but take a minute to read through the Alexa guides and other stuff. ogopogo fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 22:01
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This thread isn't Alexa specific and is more about 1st AC, but there's some decent info within: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?219838-1st-AC-tips-and-tricks
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Apr 30, 2012 22:58
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You may place yourself at the bottom of the totem pole by doing this, and people may disagree with me, but I think you should ask your AC's about the Alexa. Let them explain it to you, thank them for the time they take to teach you, and do anything/everything they ask. If you don't know anything, don't fake knowing something by reading the manual the night before. That's a formula for a nightmare. Just ask, "Hey, is there anything I can get you guys? What would you like me to do to make your jobs easier? Cool, and if we have any downtime on set, do you mind teaching me a little about the Alexa? I'd love to get your impressions and a hands-on education about the camera."
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May 1, 2012 02:28
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Tiresias posted:If you don't know anything, don't fake knowing something by reading the manual the night before. That's a formula for a nightmare. Just ask, "Hey, is there anything I can get you guys? What would you like me to do to make your jobs easier? Cool, and if we have any downtime on set, do you mind teaching me a little about the Alexa? I'd love to get your impressions and a hands-on education about the camera." I totally agree, but I don't think anybody said he should fake it. Reading the manual and other resources beforehand will give him a good basis to understand what the people on set will further explain to him.
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May 1, 2012 09:43
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Read the manual, goto the checkout. Tada, now you know the Alexa. When sony or RED make the camera you pretty much already know 90% of the menu functions and layout since they tend not to change things up that much. I'm sure there are ac's out there who work all the time and fake their way through everything. Now that it's rare you'll be threading 35 into something youve never seen before, its way more doable. Also talk to the onset editor or DIT if he/she is more then just data card bitch. It's always good to understand workflow of different cams even as an AC. I would ask for a rate if they have me doing 2nd ac poo poo under the "camera intern" title. There's a difference between running gear to the acs and learning, and working for free. gently caress that noise.
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May 1, 2012 16:26
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Never be afraid to ask on-set. Especially the 1st AC if they have some free time. Always look like you're interested in learning and taking on more responsibility if you can. The Alexa is still a really new camera, so it's not to be expected that everyone knows it inside and out, and if the 1st AC, cameraman or whomever has a particular way that they'd like things done, they'll share that with you and it'll make them happier if you're doing it their way. Always best to look up as much as you can in advance, but I'd rather have someone on-set who will ask about what they don't know rather than fake it or do it half-rear end.
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May 1, 2012 17:24
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FLX posted:I totally agree, but I don't think anybody said he should fake it. Reading the manual and other resources beforehand will give him a good basis to understand what the people on set will further explain to him. That's true, I guess I amend that to if you read the manual before you work the job, use it to comprehend what they're teaching you. Don't use it to try and show you know more than you actually know. BAD- AC: The onboard battery delivers 12v power, but the power port takes 24v. PA: Yea yea, I know that, tell me about the low voltage warning system, where is that in the menu? AC: I don't know... I'll find it when I need it... go get me coffee, slave. GOOD- AC: The onboard battery delivers 12v power, but the power port takes 24v. PA: Ah, cool, is that standard for all Arri cameras? Is there a way to set it to accept 12v over the power port? AC: I believe there is, but most cables are wired up to accept 24v, so we just run off that. Then, if it goes on Steadicam, we don't have to convert it back because their cables are pretty standard 24v. PA: Interesting! Do you like the camera? AC: Why yes I do, it has some problems with the outland defibbly RX9-er matrix, but I just like that the accessories all work yada yada blah blah making friends and poo poo... Ya dig?
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May 2, 2012 02:14
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BeavisNuke posted:I think it's awesome schools are still shooting on film. I'm so glad I got to work with it. It really makes you slow down and consider everything methodically while shooting, even if you move to digital straight away. When I did my film degree in the 90s, we couldn't touch film till the final year. My second final year was the last year the did film. They where using 16mm. So instead we had to shoot on SVHS. I mean gently caress, they could have used betamax, or god forbit Umatic or whatever that thing with the telephone-book sized video carts was called again, aka "good analogue video". So I loving submitted mine on 8mm and the uptight cunts failed me for not doing it on SVHS.  e: Oh thats right then a couple of years later after I graduated they reverted back to film for final year projects because jesus loving christ video was NOT up to scratch for doing proper films with yet for anything other than TV. e2: And they wouldn't let me retake the unit because "Duck, why? You already passed that! [after I appealed and the department relented then complimented me for being inventive] tl;dr gently caress film school. All it taught me was how to be anally retentive about black balance at lecturers who didn't know what the gently caress they where doing. duck monster fucked around with this message at 09:09 on May 2, 2012 |
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May 2, 2012 09:03
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duck monster posted:When I did my film degree in the 90s, we couldn't touch film till the final year. My second final year was the last year the did film. They where using 16mm. where'd you go to film school? I'm 28, they started us on SVHS in high school. I still remember with a great hatred having to black out the tapes before the edit on the stupid media-1000 with it's giant rear end jog dials. Mark in, mark out, rewind master, program the edit, repeat for hours I've had the fun of editing on both video and film LE's..thank loving god for NLE.
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May 2, 2012 14:43
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That sounds godawful. They showed us the edit bays where you razor and glue the film in film school but luckily they had our 16mm footage transferred to a DV tape for final cut editing. Supposedly Spielberg still edits in a bay because that's what he is most comfortable with.
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May 2, 2012 16:00
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Ended up not getting that job due to my lack of experience, but all of the stuff Ive learned from reading manuals, articles and your advice has been great. Thanks very much. In the meantime, I would really like to get some legitimate cinematography critique on a short I recently directed and shot. I love this thread and as much I got some critique in class, nobody is as experienced as some of the people in here Im a sophomore(going into 3rd year) at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and this was my final project for this year. Its a prologue to a dramatic sci fi web series Im developing. We shot this for $500 on a sound stage/set at my school with a 7D. What Im looking for is technical critique on the cinematography end, its not my focus at all, Im much more into writing and directing but Im slowly working on my DP skills so that I may better work with them as a director. I already know and am aware of some of the smaller issues in other areas but any and all critique is welcome. Im especially aware of the lighting inconsistency in the first shot with the rest of the film(reshoots were a nightmare due to some problems with my schools studio). To get a better sense of what the production looked like there are some behind the scenes photos on the vimeo page that show you what our lighting set up was like. We had a 5k fresnel in the corner of the stairs as the moon light, a Leko, 2 Kino flo 4 banks with a mix of daylight and tungsten bulbs on the ceiling grid creating ambience in the living room, 2 tweenies on the grid as practicals for the lanterns(although one you never actually see), a 1.2k HMI for the bright green light and some various flags/bounce set ups. We also had an old as poo poo spider dolly with a jib. Hope you enjoy https://vimeo.com/41411274 AccountSupervisor fucked around with this message at 20:55 on May 2, 2012 |
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May 2, 2012 20:52
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Got my hands on the RED Epic over the last couple days -and have experience of the RED ONE Pro: Much much much less of a faff than using the RED ONE by miles, especially with the touch-screen monitor. Super easy to use (practically the same as a DSLR but with a few more buttons) and light enough for handheld shooting, very nice Canon lens mount works a treat, got my Tokina 11-16mm on there no worries and it looked the business 300FPS 2K is really a beaut, falling blossom = sex If you have the card space for it HDRx is an awesome feature that will save your butt repeatedly (Most) the RED kit we already owned works with the Epic Con: The side-handle battery bay lasts for all of 15 minutes with the monitor plugged in -not counting when recording- and the RED brick system for the RED ONE doesn't fit the Epic without an adapter. The default button setups are really a pain when you're trying to learn how the thing works, half of them change important image/colour values that it isn't immediately apparent how to change back REDCine won't let you view 5K content out the box on our Mac Pros. Pain! Everything came with american plugs, even though it's been sent through RED's UK base in Pinewood -another bit of faff. DaveP fucked around with this message at 14:28 on May 3, 2012 |
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May 3, 2012 14:25
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The more I play around with this nifty loving camera on my iphone, the more I'm tempted to write some prosumer grade video recording software with some tweaks like applying color luts and a waveform monitor and poo poo. I don't know if I could talk my boss to let me have time off for it. I just loving love the deep DOF on it. The video quality is pretty so-so, but sometimes It really impresses me. But that crazy DOF makes it like the anti-dslr for no budget filming.
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May 3, 2012 16:56
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My favourite saying is, "The best camera is the one you have with you." I've captured some amazing stuff on my iPhone camera just because amazing stuff was happening and I had it with me. I'm currently finishing up a project where I filmed with my T3i, then ran the footage through a rotoscope/cel-shading app on the iphone that's giving me a really unique grade on the footage. Getting a lot of compliments on it. The thing is, these cameras may not be Alexas or REDs, but they still shoot some drat nice footage, and in the end, content is still king. I guess I find myself tilting away from the latest technical stuff, in favour of a much more laissez faire sort of approach with destructive quality, where I'm just letting things happen and jumping around the action with whatever I've got, and dealing with how that comes out. The shots I get wind up being a lot more intimate, and the quality is still pretty fuckin great. Not an approach that would work for others, but I'm pretty happy to see where it takes me.
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May 3, 2012 17:35
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bassguitarhero posted:I've captured some amazing stuff on my iPhone camera just because amazing stuff was happening and I had it with me. I remember thinking how much I liked HDV footage the first time I saw it on an NLE, and coming from shooting a lot of SD I thought "Wow, that's gorgeous". Lately, I've been shooting for a TV show coming back on air, and I find myself relaxing about the technical (they picked the camera) but focusing instead on making their technical work. That being said, if you're going to be involved in the decisions that impact the exhibition, you'd better know enough about the technical to help your career. If you're shooting HD for a webseries, maybe low budget rules before all other decisions, so the best DSLR is the route to go? If you're shooting for TV or broadcast on anything with a budget, you'd better make sure the camera gives latitude, not just exposure, but safety. Personally, I familiarize myself with vectorscopes, histograms, dynamic range, available data for color correction (whatever lets me grade the footage), etc. Many factors transcend all cameras, and they should guide your selection moreso than what's en vogue.
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May 3, 2012 18:24
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AccountSupervisor posted:What Im looking for is technical critique on the cinematography end, its not my focus at all, Im much more into writing and directing but Im slowly working on my DP skills so that I may better work with them as a director. I already know and am aware of some of the smaller issues in other areas but any and all critique is welcome. Im especially aware of the lighting inconsistency in the first shot with the rest of the film(reshoots were a nightmare due to some problems with my schools studio). 0:30 the practical (lantern) screen left of the subject casts practically no light onto his face. The light coming down from the other side is much more blue so it feels like moon light coming in through a window. 0:45 the character's face looks like a skull. Audience can't see the eyes so it's hard to connect with this character. 1:10 the lantern is not a convincing source for the light on that side of the frame. This shot definitely looks like a stage play caught on film. 1:31 up until this shot I assume the room behind them was a white kitchen with a window on the right hand side. But we get a new angle and there's a staircase there with dark brown trim. I'm sure that's how it was, but it was a visual shock for me. 2:00 this exchange has eye level issues. Both characters are sitting up, but you have a high camera angle on blondie and a low camera angle on redhat. This makes redhat seem much taller than blondie. 4:00 the sound effects here are too intense. I had to turn my audio almost all the way down, and I won't be surprised if you lose a lot of your audience at this point. I think the special effects go overboard at that point. The unmotivated lens flare across the screen is weird, but I guess the world of the film gets weird at that point. The drag away doesn't have a whole lot of impact for some reason. Enjoyable (until 4:00), but the whole thing felt flat, like a comic strip. I'd like to see more foreground elements and over-the-shoulder/reverse two-shots.
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May 3, 2012 19:47
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:0:30 the practical (lantern) screen left of the subject casts practically no light onto his face. The light coming down from the other side is much more blue so it feels like moon light coming in through a window. Awesome, this is exactly the kind of stuff Ive been wanting to hear. Regarding the lens flares, there were actual flares in those shots but they were just splotches of light so I put in those anamorphic flares to dress them up a bit, although I would have liked there to be no flares at all. Thats me and my camera ops fault though for not noticing. Also I agree with everything about that first shot, it bothers the hell out of me. That was from a reshoot we had to do and we got screwed because somebody took several of the lights out of the studio they belong to and didn't put them back so we tried to make due with what we had and we definitely didnt pull it off. Anyways, thanks again for taking the time to give me some real critque. This is the first time I have ever lit a film and the typical "i liked it" film school critique doesnt help me at all. Edit: oh and regarding the sound effect, youre the first person to feel that way. Ive shown this in several of my classes and I definitely didnt lose my audience at that point, judging by what they told me. AccountSupervisor fucked around with this message at 23:28 on May 3, 2012 |
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May 3, 2012 23:15
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AccountSupervisor posted:Edit: oh and regarding the sound effect, youre the first person to feel that way. Ive shown this in several of my classes and I definitely didnt lose my audience at that point, judging by what they told me. Were any of them listening through headphones?
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May 4, 2012 15:38
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Is it cool to ask for camera recommendations in here? The project I'm working on just lost part of its budget and we're switching from 8mm to digital. I am directing and currently doing camera research for my DP who is tied up on some other work. I need something that is capable of high contrast, low light like these stills:       The most affordable option I was suggested by a local camera rental was the Canon C300 but it's still out of my budget at $450 per day. Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, I just need a starting point.
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May 4, 2012 18:40
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Play with the contrast in post, find a camera with the right latitude so the information is there should you wish to play with exposure and decide just how much contrast you like.
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May 4, 2012 21:50
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Wax On posted:Is it cool to ask for camera recommendations in here? http://www.ikonoskop.com/a-cam-dii-pancromatic/ No idea if it's just a gimmick or if it's available near you OR how expensive it would be to rent. But you have to admire the balls it takes to release a B+W camera.
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May 5, 2012 01:38
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Tiresias posted:Play with the contrast in post, find a camera with the right latitude so the information is there should you wish to play with exposure and decide just how much contrast you like. If budget is an issue rent a canon DSLR and load the technicolor cinestyle picture style onto it. Shoot everything flat and low contrast and then you can practically make the footage look like Sin City in post.
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May 5, 2012 14:04
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I've been really happy with the technicolor cinestyle. It's given me a ton of latitude in post and allowed me to push the picture harder than I ever thought possible.
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May 5, 2012 15:55
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Thanks guys, I'm meeting with my DP on Sunday and we'll make our decision. It looks like DSLR would be better than HDV for low light and the smaller camera means it will work for all of the special effect shots we have planned. Sorry if I'm sounding like a camera noob, I'm directing and editing and this part is usually something I leave to people with the know-how. Thanks again for the help, I'll post my progress in here once we get to shooting!
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May 5, 2012 21:11
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Wax On posted:Thanks guys, I'm meeting with my DP on Sunday and we'll make our decision. It looks like DSLR would be better than HDV for low light and the smaller camera means it will work for all of the special effect shots we have planned. You could get that look with a under 200 a day DSLR and 100-200 worth of lighting and grip electric. Granted everything is going to be hard lighting (which you want anyway for low key) so just make sure you scout the power situation in your locations so you don't gently caress yourself over. These are things your gaffer and dp should be discussing. You don't need 14 stops of DR for what you're trying to do. Hell most of those looks are single source with some return on a bounce or floppied negative fill... Contrast is way easier then lighting the world evenly. Have fun!
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May 5, 2012 22:35
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I hope this is the right place to ask about this: I'll be filming some stuff with a Canon 550D (T2i?) that I want to combine with audio from another source and some clips of screen capture from a computer. I'm trying to do this in Adobe Premiere with the intention of uploading it to YouTube in 720p. What I don't get is why I can't just select to work in 1920*1080 square pixels and output in 1280*720 square pixels. Is there something I'm not getting, or can Premiere simply not do this? (I've used After Effects a bit before, and if I remember correctly it should be fairly easy to get the resolution right there, but it's not as easy to work with matching the sound.)
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May 7, 2012 11:11
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noggut posted:I hope this is the right place to ask about this: I don't know where you're looking when exporting video from Premiere, but when I click File -> Export -> Media, it lets me set my output video resolution and everything else right there. :P
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May 7, 2012 11:22
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noggut posted:I hope this is the right place to ask about this: I have done what you are trying to do many many times. What is the point that is giving you trouble? The export? When you go to export, there should be an option where you choose the codec (H264 for example), then a drop-down menu that lets you choose some standard presets. I believe Vimeo HD is 720p square pixel, for instance. But you can forego that and just choose manual settings for what you want.
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May 7, 2012 19:37
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A question for the cinematographers here - If you were travelling to shoot in an area renowned for its beautiful landscapes and animal life, would you be more interested in renting a camera package with a 150-600mm zoom and a limited selection of CP2's, or one with the 150-600 and something along the lines of a Cooke 18-100 T3? I'm part of a budding documentary operation in way-north coastal California that's recently put together an Epic Kit, and we're looking to rent it out occasionally for some extra income. We have a Canon 150-600 5.6L for telephoto wildlife shooting and some old manual Nikkors that are mostly meeting our needs for wide/medium/portrait shots, but most people looking to rent out an Epic will want proper cinema glass (and hell, we do too). Fairly soon we'll have about $10-15K to spend on lenses, which would mean a limited set of cinema primes (24, 50 and 85mm) or a decent wide-to-portrait zoom. Which would you rather have with you in the land of giant redwoods, rocky coasts, roaming herds of elk and aquatic birds? Off topic, but here's last weekend's full moon through the newly-acquired 150-600: Moon Potato fucked around with this message at 08:59 on May 8, 2012 |
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May 8, 2012 08:55
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 Back to pulling focus...12x Optimo on an F3..hooray?
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May 8, 2012 12:56
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Moon Potato posted:stuff I'd rather have the fastest zoom possible shooting in the situation you're describing. Carrying a slow zoom AND a set of primes doesn't make any sense. Now if you're talking narrative, music vid, basically anything else, I'd go with the cp2 primes.
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May 8, 2012 13:04
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zer0spunk posted:I'd rather have the fastest zoom possible shooting in the situation you're describing. Carrying a slow zoom AND a set of primes doesn't make any sense. I'm leaning slightly toward the zoom for the sake of our documentary work, but people come through here to shoot commercials and narratives pretty frequently, too (and I have at least one music video project lined up for the summer). I should probably have a chat with the local film commission first to get a better sense of what their clientele is like before making a decision. As far as my own use goes, I'm really on the fence - the zoom would significantly reduce setup times and make transportation simpler, but there are some times when having a T-stop of 2 instead of 3 can really help make a shot, and I tend to enjoy myself more when working with primes.
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May 8, 2012 19:13
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About to drive 13 hours to Cannes to DP my first American feature! So excited I can't stand myself! Budget and everything! Had to share my excitement with you guys  . Full access to all the best parties and cameos from some of the biggest names in the movie industry, should turn into an awesome movie!
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May 8, 2012 20:03
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That's awesome, congrats and good luck!
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May 9, 2012 02:31
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Steadiman posted:About to drive 13 hours to Cannes to DP my first American feature! So excited I can't stand myself! Budget and everything! Had to share my excitement with you guys Tuxedo pics or it didn't happen!
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May 9, 2012 17:57
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Congrats, Steadiman! I hope it's an awesome experience for you.
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May 10, 2012 07:09
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Moon Potato posted:I hope it's an awesome experience for you. Like dropping acid in Disney World... or the first time he tried a cigarette?
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May 10, 2012 17:37
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