|
Can someone help me understand why the RED Epic looks so terrible in IMAX? I saw Skyfall in IMAX, which is shot on the Alexa and it looked really great. There were certain aerial shots done on the Epic that were of significantly less quality. They had the same splotchy looks Prometheus and The Amazing Spiderman did in IMAX. Also, the trailer for The Hobbit shown in IMAX looks pretty terrible quality wise as well. I know Skyfall was mastered in 4k, is that why? Or is it because of the difference in the way the photo-sites are on the sensors of the camera? I dont really know the tech details that would attribute to this difference in quality when going through the blow up process. It even looked better than The Dark Knight Rises non-IMAX scenes, which had resolution issues as well when blown up that large. AccountSupervisor fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Nov 9, 2012 |
#
?
Nov 9, 2012 01:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 08:02 |
|
|
Ghost Leaf posted:I'll be discussing what camera to buy this friday and will see if I can get some of the others in the group to put some money forward so we can see what other options we have. Could wait until after Christmas, I guess. But I want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. I've waited long enough lol Again I would stress that the smartest idea of the two would be to stick with a camera that's under $1000. I've been doing this for a little while and all I own is a Canon t2i and it's just fine for my little stuff. When I do big stuff I rent.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2012 06:51
|
|
|
Ghost Leaf posted:I'll be discussing what camera to buy this friday and will see if I can get some of the others in the group to put some money forward so we can see what other options we have. Could wait until after Christmas, I guess. But I want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. I've waited long enough lol Just to reiterate what other people are saying: the camera ends up being the least important creative decision you can make. It also ends up being insignificant financially if you're feeding and transporting people. Time and money spent on a sound storyboard/shotlist/lighting plan will be far more valuable. Also consider the final viewing platform: if it's going to be a webseries, realistically your audience will be viewing at 480/720p. Youtube or Vimeo compression artifacts are going to poo poo all over whatever you film anyway. I get gear lust with the worst of them. I see a feature list and some little reptilian part of my brain stirs with the possibilities. The fact of the matter is I'm able to put off doing real work and making real progress by clicking a button on a website and typing in my credit card info. Instead of looking at the problems with my script or my unrealistic expectations, I can point at a new jib or dolly and say, "Yep, I'm better off for purchasing this tool, so I'm a better filmmaker now." All that being said, you will need a camera to shoot your series. DSLRs are great if you recognize their weaknesses and prepare for them. They're cheap and give you a great look if you are patient. Borrow if you can, rent if you can't, buy if you absolutely must.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2012 18:22
|
|
|
Jalumibnkrayal posted:Just to reiterate what other people are saying: the camera ends up being the least important creative decision you can make. It also ends up being insignificant financially if you're feeding and transporting people. Time and money spent on a sound storyboard/shotlist/lighting plan will be far more valuable. Also consider the final viewing platform: if it's going to be a webseries, realistically your audience will be viewing at 480/720p. Youtube or Vimeo compression artifacts are going to poo poo all over whatever you film anyway. I think the DSLR is the one I'm going for. We won't be filming until after Christmas, so it's going to give me some time to plot/plan and story board the hell out of the two shorts before we even think about the web series. I'm going to do what was suggested above and go out with my phone/the Canon and do some filming on that first to get a feel for it. And yeah, the whole transport/food logistics is something I've managed to give to someone else lol
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2012 20:28
|
|
|
AccountSupervisor posted:Can someone help me understand why the RED Epic looks so terrible in IMAX? It may be their compression settings. REDcode uses a wavelet compression scheme like h.264, ProRes, DNXHD, etc. and there will be noticeable artifacts when you blow up your image that big. REDcode 3:1 is supposedly "visually lossless" but everything below that will show some degradation under scrutiny. ArriRAW, on the other hand, is completely uncompressed. The extra stop or so of DR from the Alexa probably would have helped too, since I'm guessing they were using available light when shooting from the helicopter.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2012 23:18
|
|
|
Something weird has happened and I wanted to share it with you. I work at a university and we occasionally film lectures and student presentations etc. So I left a camera today pointed at a table with students and lecturers having a debate, locked off shot, boundary mic on the table for sound. The debate finishes, the students leave the room. Two lecturers are still in the room, both in shot, so I can see them. I saw everybody else leave through the door (also in shot). And then... the camera zooms in on it's own while they wait for the next group. Spooky eh? I reckon it was a ghost. . .. ... Or a broken servo or switch, probably. Anybody else had anything weird happen like this that was seemingly unexplainable at first?
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2012 18:11
|
|
|
You mean aside from RED cameras mysteriously crashing or corrupting data for no reason while nobody is near it(ooooooooh)? The crash was coming from inside the camera! Well I had a Angenieux zoom lens that would mysteriously start to zoom by itself between 40mm and 85mm. Had to keep one finger on the barrel to stop it from doing that, was consistent too. Had me stymied for a while, though it was probably just a balance problem inside the barrel but that doesn't sound nearly as spooky as a zooming ghost with a very strong opinion on what lens this shot should really be on. That's the first thing that came to mind anyway. Spooky enough for ya'?
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2012 23:26
|
|
|
So I'll be honest: I'm kinda excited about the Sony F5 and Sony F55 cameras. The F65 was a strange camera, amazing acquisition capabilities and images but poorly engineered. Well, the F55 and F5 seem to fix most of that. Definitely looking forward to playing with those boys.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2012 18:32
|
|
|
I'm going to a special Sony event in a week or two and I'm pretty sure it's to show off and demo those cameras, I'll let everyone know what I see.
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2012 21:07
|
|
|
I've been working with another DP so I can direct my senior project. He's working on his FS100 and I'm pretty happy with what we have so far, and seriously impressed with it's low-light capability. Worlds better than the 7D.   It was at something like 19dB on this shot. I thought we were gonna have to push the location back another day because my dumbass forgot portable lights, but the little bit of grain looks fine to me. We're shooting for the next couple weekends and trying to clear blank-firing pistols with the city of Tacoma, who doesn't seem to have a problem so far. Anyone have any pointers to shooting blanks? Is the rolling shutter still going to be a pain in the rear end?
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2012 21:47
|
|
|
Don't do purple. Unless it's inside a cheap strip joint of something it never renders well against anything.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2012 01:16
|
|
|
Slim Pickens posted:Anyone have any pointers to shooting blanks? Is the rolling shutter still going to be a pain in the rear end? The muzzle flash/flame itself probably won't give you trouble, but if you're shooting in dark enough for there to be major light reflections from it, you definitely will. You might want to light accordingly. Not so much a cinematography thing, but you should treat the blank guns with the same respect and safety measures you would a real gun. Ear protection is a must for pretty much the whole crew, and if you're indoors, for the shooter as well. Those things are loving loud. Don't leave the gun loaded between shots, remember trigger safety, etc. Otherwise you'll end up having some PA or actor picking up the gun and loving around with it while you're planning the next shot, it goes off, and you won't hear poo poo for the next half an hour. If it's the type of blank gun that unloads through the muzzle instead of from the top, you don't want to point it at people. Even though there's no bullet, there's still poo poo coming out of the muzzle.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2012 11:02
|
|
|
My 12-year-old brother has really gotten into video production/editing lately. He's been making a lot of fairly impressive stuff for youtube lately. It's something he's really passionate about, and my parents are trying to encourage it in him. He's saved up his money and wants to get a professional (or as much as he can afford) camera. He currently shoots with a Flip Video HD, but he wants to upgrade. He as about $250. What do you guys recommend? the fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Nov 24, 2012 |
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2012 20:20
|
|
|
SquareDog posted:I'm going to a special Sony event in a week or two and I'm pretty sure it's to show off and demo those cameras, I'll let everyone know what I see. Any room for a +1?
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2012 20:58
|
|
|
Tiresias posted:Any room for a +1? I can see if I can do that, I think it's Wednesday evening in the culver city Sony studio. Pm me your email?
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2012 21:06
|
|
|
A smug sociopath posted:The muzzle flash/flame itself probably won't give you trouble, but if you're shooting in dark enough for there to be major light reflections from it, you definitely will. You might want to light accordingly. To add onto this, Most of the time you will not see the blast. If you do, it will be a band because it is faster than the cmos sensor can read from top to bottom. You will have to add in the smoke and flash in post. Also, keep your blanks and weapons away from all actors, crew, whoever until it is time to shoot. Have one or two people (depending on how many weapons) dedicated to keeping an eye on the weapons and ammo. When they are not used. Nobody is allowed to play with them. When they are in use, they are only for the scene. Nothing else. Actors and crew members are stupid and they will do something stupid with the weapons. It happens every single time.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2012 03:21
|
|
|
Gun safety tips rather than cinematography. Is this a dedicated blank firing pistol or a real pistol shooting blank rounds? A real pistol shooting blank rounds can kill or severely injury someone and should be treated accordingly even if you're using a blank adapter to ensure cycling. Ideally, you should have someone designated as an armorer who keeps track on the guns and ammo and loads the guns and controls their use.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2012 05:15
|
|
|
I'm using two dedicated blank-fire pistols and a pump shotgun with blanks. I've got the safety issues planned for, but was curious if anyone had a basic idea of what the key light should be at to look the best for a night shot or anything like that. I think the DP and I are just gonna have to head out somewhere and figure it out, especially if we're gonna overcrank.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2012 10:56
|
|
|
the posted:My 12-year-old brother has really gotten into video production/editing lately. He's been making a lot of fairly impressive stuff for youtube lately. It's something he's really passionate about, and my parents are trying to encourage it in him. Probably try to find a used T2i with a 50 mm prime lens - although that might be a stretch at that price.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2012 13:25
|
|
|
Slim Pickens posted:I'm using two dedicated blank-fire pistols and a pump shotgun with blanks. I've got the safety issues planned for, but was curious if anyone had a basic idea of what the key light should be at to look the best for a night shot or anything like that. I think the DP and I are just gonna have to head out somewhere and figure it out, especially if we're gonna overcrank. Hard lights will show off the smoke more than a soft one. Also, since you said it is a night shot the guns will be next to invisible since they will be black on black. The best way to show them is to cleverly turn the guns or a light so you get the long reflections of the metal parts of the guns. Here are examples. With positioned light:  No light:  And the shotguns spew out a LOT of sparks, gunpowder, and bits of paper wadding. Be especially careful with those. And shameless plug. This is my uniform/prop rental company. http://www.facebook.com/bulletexchange chimheil fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Nov 26, 2012 |
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2012 17:38
|
|
|
the posted:My 12-year-old brother has really gotten into video production/editing lately. He's been making a lot of fairly impressive stuff for youtube lately. It's something he's really passionate about, and my parents are trying to encourage it in him. He might just want to keep saving for the time being; it looks like the flip is actually serving him pretty well and I don't think $250 is enough to get something enough better to be worth dropping the money on. Maybe if your parents want to encourage it they could kick in a little?
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2012 18:25
|
|
|
SquareDog posted:I can see if I can do that, I think it's Wednesday evening in the culver city Sony studio. Pm me your email? Prepping for a pilot starting tomorrow, forgot to check back in this thread. Sorry, enjoy the event!
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2012 03:12
|
|
|
Well I'm back from it now! The event was nice (free booze!) they had a malfunction during one of the short films they played and they didn't get to finish it. The night was all about 4K. 4K this and 4K that. Apparently the upcoming new 4K home entertainment standard isn't 4K, it's called quad HD which is almost true 4K but not quite. all the cameras do true 4K and you're just supposed to scale them down a bit to get them to Quad HD, if you're doing that. They had their big eighty-something inch 4K tv on display which they've had before at other places but this was the first time I'd seen 4K [30" (correction)] monitors. ridiculously crisp. They dropped a hint about something they wanted to tell us but couldn't until tomorrow, everyone supposed that it's some kind of 4K home media player. The two cameras are small and light, the bodies are 4 lbs. and change. They look exactly the same except that the lens mount is black on the F5 and silver on the F55. The real difference is that the F55 has a way better imagur and is twice as powerful. Similar to the difference between the Epic and the Scarlet. The Body has SxS slots in it and new SxS cards are coming out, SxS Pro +, they didn't mention if the old SxS cards will work in them but they are the same shape. It's a smartly made modular design: the raw recorder pops on the the rear, making it longer, it takes another new SSD card type, unique to this recorder. A battery module pops on the the back of that with new sony batteries that look almost like Anton Bauers. I'm annoyed with all the new media and new batteries, but you can't win them all I guess. each of these modules are powered by recessed 4-pin XLRs, so at least you won't need an adapter for that if you run off a block battery or whatever. There are also small and smartly placed modules that attach to the side of the body, one for two audio XLR ports and another for timecode and sync shenanigans, there was a toggle switch on it for TC IN or OUT, I liked that, no menu to futz with. Speaking of the menu and buttons it's a similar layout to the F65 or Alexa so its simple, clean and intuitive. The lens mount is a new mount called FZ, they have every kind of adapter to fit in to it, PL of course, all the way down to FD. They have a new LCD EVF and a fancy new OLED EVF; a problem we've been having with the F65 is that the viewfinder is up too high and hard to look in to if you're doing shoulder mount, SOLVED! The new EVFs are articulate and positionable. The OLED EVF was very hi-res and had very nice motion, no judder that I could see. oh and the body itself has 4 HD-SDI ports(plus one HDMI), I'm sure AC's will still manage to complain about there not being enough ports somehow, it's their job to do so it seems to me. They respectively don't do overcrank as high as the red or scarlet but then again it doesn't crop the sensor when you shoot 2K or HD, so you could argue that it's better, the F55 does [240 fps in 2K RAW, 60 in 4K Raw (correction)]. They also showcased their new cinema primes, they sound nice; metal bodies, gears in the same positions, all the same length except the 135, f2.0. We'll see, I guess. They look like they took a page from the Zeiss master primes book of design, which I like. In my mind these cameras are direct competition to RED's Epic and Scarlet (a day late maybe). On paper they seem very similar, but they are not. Their images look very different from each other as well as their capture options, form factor and functionality. Another couple of good tools for for the tool box. Edit: one more thing to add that I'd forgotten is that the Native ISO of the cameras is 1250 for the F55 and a whopping 2000 for the F5. SquareDog fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Dec 2, 2012 |
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2012 08:58
|
|
|
Oops. Wrong thread.
Ziploc fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Dec 1, 2012 |
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 00:50
|
|
|
Great writeup, Squaredog, thanks. The student film club had a professional steadicam op come in this past wednesday. We just put one of the HPX-370s on it, but it was pretty awesome to use and talk to a guy that's been doing it professionally for a while. Tried to keep good posture, but my lower back was still starting to bug me.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 02:40
|
|
|
Slim Pickens posted:I've been working with another DP so I can direct my senior project. He's working on his FS100 and I'm pretty happy with what we have so far, and seriously impressed with it's low-light capability. Worlds better than the 7D. Anyways, for some reason, this is my most favorite shot that i've composed. 
Tophereth fucked around with this message at 11:07 on Dec 1, 2012 |
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 11:04
|
|
|
How about some budget film making? I'm a fleet driver for a laundry company, so I average about $1200 a month, and I feel I'm ready for my first credit card and my first major purchase at this point in my life. I want to buy a digital film camera, but I still want to keep costs low for fear I'll gently caress everything up as usual and put myself into tons of debt, and at 24% interest something that costs around $1000 is a lot less hurt than something at $3500. Still, I want quality. I want professional. I want to be able to put my films in festivals without doing the "found footage" BS with a Hi8 Handycam. What are my options? What's the best deal? What would you buy if you could only spend, say, $2000? Is my budget for a camera too small? Normally I'd just research it myself, but for something so expensive I don't want to get screwed again. Reviews on websites are generally terrible. I've been screwed before by 5 star products on Newegg when buying routers and such and the feedback I've seen on cameras so far is fanboyish love for Canon and hatred for Sony so I dunno if I should trust them.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 20:35
|
|
|
Skunkrocker posted:How about some budget film making? I'm a fleet driver for a laundry company, so I average about $1200 a month, and I feel I'm ready for my first credit card and my first major purchase at this point in my life. I want to buy a digital film camera, but I still want to keep costs low for fear I'll gently caress everything up as usual and put myself into tons of debt, and at 24% interest something that costs around $1000 is a lot less hurt than something at $3500. Still, I want quality. I want professional. I want to be able to put my films in festivals without doing the "found footage" BS with a Hi8 Handycam. What are my options? What's the best deal? What would you buy if you could only spend, say, $2000? Is my budget for a camera too small? Spend nothing. Just borrow a camera or "hire" a "DP" who has one. Have a script in hand before you even consider looking at gear. Your camera choice will have jack poo poo to do with your ability to get into festivals. Just get that out of your head right now. Take the money you would have spent on a shiny camera and hire a publicist.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 20:45
|
|
|
Jalumibnkrayal posted:"hire" a "DP" who has one You know, that was a thought, except I live in the butthole of Tennessee (Chattanooga) and yeah, while there are probably some cinematographers around here they're either on drugs, psychotic, overpriced, or a combination of all three. Really, I'd just rather own the equipment myself so I don't have to deal with anyone else's bullshit.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 20:59
|
|
|
Film is a collaborative medium, you will never get anywhere trying to do it all on your own ESPECIALLY if you have no idea what you're getting into. I mean, the camera you're using is the least important thing needed for making a great movie. Even if we're restricting the argument to equipment, the sound and lighting are much more important than the camera.
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 21:17
|
|
|
1st AD posted:Film is a collaborative medium, you will never get anywhere trying to do it all on your own ESPECIALLY if you have no idea what you're getting into. I understand, it's just... most of the people I've attempted to film with in my area on their projects aren't the best people to really work with. If I owned the equipment and had the scripts and everything I feel it'd be a lot easier to get a project completed and in the can. 1st AD posted:I mean, the camera you're using is the least important thing needed for making a great movie. Even if we're restricting the argument to equipment, the sound and lighting are much more important than the camera. I've got okay lighting equipment, decent enough I feel, sound is a concern but I've got connections for purchasing that. Hence why I was concerned on the camera itself since I don't know anyone who isn't on crystal meth who uses this kind of stuff. So would I be better off just buying a good digital camera from Best Buy rather than plunking money down on, say, an XL H1?
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 21:32
|
|
|
Skunkrocker posted:You know, that was a thought, except I live in the butthole of Tennessee (Chattanooga) and yeah, while there are probably some cinematographers around here they're either on drugs, psychotic, overpriced, or a combination of all three. Recently I shot a commercial for a commercial contest for a Honda Dealer in Minnesota. I spent $2000 which was for renting the camera, equipment, and hiring people. We used an FS700, had a doorway dolly, two car rigs, two go pros, and a bucketload of grip gear. The FS700 body alone is $8,000. Just like everyone else is saying, it is better to rent than buy. Especially if money is tight. If everyone you know is cracked out, expand your search to find serious filmmakers. I obviously don't know your area, but a quick google search led me here. http://www.facebook.com/ChattanoogaFilmCommission They don't look cracked out to me. chimheil fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Dec 1, 2012 |
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2012 23:28
|
|
|
I found SVAD and their rates aren't too bad. There's also VERs in Atlanta and Nashville, and they'll have cameras + any equipment you'd need to fill in the gaps. Definitely rent before you buy. Figure out what you like to use or what feels comfortable first.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2012 01:22
|
|
|
Can anyone recommend a good LED light kit that can be battery powered for outside use? Or is it a bad time to buy these if they're in transition technologically / price-wise?
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2012 13:57
|
|
|
codyclarke posted:These guys are really good, and affordable: http://www.lensrentals.com/
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2012 16:12
|
|
|
Skunkrocker posted:I've got okay lighting equipment, decent enough I feel, sound is a concern but I've got connections for purchasing that. Hence why I was concerned on the camera itself since I don't know anyone who isn't on crystal meth who uses this kind of stuff. So would I be better off just buying a good digital camera from Best Buy rather than plunking money down on, say, an XL H1? For a little over $100 you can get 5 days with a Canon T3i + Tamron 17-50mm lens @ lensrentals.com. If you don't have a lot of experience with the different cameras, it's a great option.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2012 19:37
|
|
|
If you absolutely have to buy a camera, I'd say buy a canon t3i or t4i kit with an 18-55mm lens and make sure you have an audio recorder that can take xlr in. I won't hesitate to rent a better camera when big shoots come through but it's also good to have something you can just run out and shoot with when circumstances line up. I've had a Panasonic hvx-200 since it came out in 2005 or so, bought a t3i last year for a cross-country trip and have used that for more video (and stills photography) than the prosumer hvx. Shot a doc on it in El Salvador earlier this year, we'll see how that turns out whenever I sit down and start editing the drat thing.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2012 20:22
|
|
|
An amusing clip from Saturday night's live XFactor final here in the UK. A steadicam op takes a tumble... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jvp8m-mvUs Ouch.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2012 16:18
|
|
|
Smart rear end posted:Your comments have been really helpful. We want things to be as perfect as possible because we hope that people take our training videos seriously rather than perceive it as cheesy in any respect... which is hard to accomplish. I know this was some time ago already, but I wanted to address some of this from a VO talent's perspective. A VO talent worth his/her salt will be able to read your copy the way you want him/her to, and not make it sound cheesy if that's not what you want. Part of this is what one's voice naturally sounds like, but a far larger and more important part of it is the talent's training and ability to take direction. That being said, you will have a much more natural/less forced and overall more "comfortable" voiceover if you don't go the rough track route. If you record a rough track and say, "Match this", the VO will be able to bring less of his/her own performance into it and be more focused on keeping to the EXACT TIMES you're providing than giving you a good performance. The VO talent has a bit less to work with in terms of visualizations with which his/her voice will be paired, but if you can discuss pacing and tone and everything with the talent beforehand, and if you're directing the talent during the session you'll be able to tweak it as necessary as you go. If you do go with a rough placeholder VO, do it yourself with an iPhone or your computer mic or something. If it's a rough cut for timing, sound quality shouldn't matter, and the quality from the iPhone/iPad is perfectly fine anyway. Don't let the production company do this and charge you for what you can do yourself for free. But since this post was like two months ago and you might be done with this already, what did you end up doing? How did it go? Anyone else in here local to NYC? I already know Chitin and dorkasaurus_rex (hi guys!) and was wondering if anyone else in here lives/works in the area. I'm a SAG-AFTRA actress and VO talent and I've worked with goons on a bunch of projects and would like to do more of this! Feel free to PM or email me and say hello. You have the added bonus of me not being stupid so I won't play with your props or touch your equipment or complain loudly that the shot is taking forever and when do we get a breeeeeeeak
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2012 18:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 08:02 |
|
|
Whoa, good remembering - I don't have anything on my plate right now (my main job has a couple of go-to guys) but I have a bid out on a freelance gig where this might actually be A Thing so I'll keep you in mind. Thanks for the tips on working with VO talent by the way!
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2012 21:09
|
|