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Peacebone posted:I'm not sure if this should go in this thread but I'm shooting a short film that involves a scene in sort of largish room and I want the lighting to sort of be dimmed / have a hazy effect kind of like this apartment in Enter The Void I'm still pretty amateur when it comes to lighting too, but it looks like the lights outside the window are gelled to be teal, the white balance set pretty close to tungsten, and then the picture is underexposed. I think they might even be using practicals only inside, I can't tell if there's any lights behind behind the camera. If there are, they're flooded and diffused to hell and back. And those flashing lights are probably just a few gelled lights on a dimmer or flicker box. My school has those light kits too, in addition to some Arri kits. The Lowell's we have are kinda lovely, but that scene seemed like it was supposed to be poorly lit, so depending on how big your room is, you might be able to work it. That's just my semi-educated guess, though, so I'd get a second opinion and maybe do some sort of screen test before you commit to anything just yet. I would also love to hear from someone who actually knows what they're doing.
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Apr 1, 2011 05:48
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Flutch posted:To reiterate some of the points and add my own critique/advice:
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May 5, 2011 23:41
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Rogetz posted:I guess my point was that you're going to get harsh notes no matter what so they should be used as a jumping off point for improvement rather than a dissuasion from doing more work. It's easy to rip in to someone, it's not as easy to take it. Rogetz posted:All that said, you're getting some pretty harsh feedback, and it's easy to get discouraged and stop trying. DON'T! The point of feedback is to improve your work, so don't let a bunch of jerks from the internet keep you from trying. I guess maybe I didn't make it clear enough in my previous post, but I definitely agree with this. I didn't write all that stuff as a way of saying "gently caress off," it was more about taking the time to actually watch the piece and give some advice on how to improve it. Everybody sucks when they start, and no matter how much you've done or how good you are, it's important to hear feedback on how to get better, and I wanted to provide some of that as a way of saying, "keep going."
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May 8, 2011 04:05
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Yeah, in my experience independent studies are usually for bigger projects that you want to work on but aren't covered or are too extensive for an existing course. It's pretty much a way for you to use what you're learning in your classes on other stuff or to go above and beyond your classes on your own while still getting credit. I've heard of people using them to basically create a class for themselves that doesn't yet exist, but I didn't get the impression that they were a very good learning experience. I guess it might work if you know someone who has a lot of experience with one of those things and want to get credit for having them teach you about it, though.
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Nov 14, 2011 18:18
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A Steadicam-related question: I'm about to get a Steadicam Pilot setup a couple months from now as an early graduation present from my parents (and a congratulations for setting up an on-campus Steadicam workshop) and I was wondering if anybody had any advice for a wireless follow focus system. So far I've mostly worked with dSLRs and HVXs, if that helps. I'm looking at a Jag35 WEFF, which seems great since it's so cheap (though I hear it's pretty noisy), but it's not currently available and won't be for God only knows how long. I don't know that I really want to try operating on any shoots (even student film shoots) if I have to try to rig up a laptop and EOS utilities for an AC anytime I use it until Jag35 finally puts out more of those things. I've also looked at the Hocus Focus, which seems to get decent reviews but it says it's not approved by the FCC for use in the US and is also significantly more expensive, and the RTMotion Pro-Mk.2.5 which I hear lots of great things about, but is also expensive as hell. Basically, what would you guys suggest? Are there some good wireless systems I don't know about yet? Should I just hold out for the Jag? Should I bite the bullet and get the RTMotion?
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Feb 20, 2012 07:13
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SquareDog posted:Bartech, it's what most of the pros use from what I've observed. I got the impression that a Bartech or a Preston would be a bit big for the Pilot/dSLRs. Am I wrong about that? Also EOS Utilities is definitely poo poo for pulling focus, that's why I want to avoid it as much as possible. I'm reading that redrockmicro was going to release a wireless follow focus last year, but I can't see anything but announcements and an entry in their store with no links to buy it. Is that a dead end or has anybody heard anything about it? (also thank you guys for your help!)
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Feb 20, 2012 08:13
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SquareDog posted:(At this point at least) If you want a camera to perform like a big rig then you have to make it a big rig. That's the problem with DSLR's because in order to make them truly cinema-worthy you have to slap so much stuff on them that you might as well have bought a real cinema camera. Not to knock your purchase, I own a t2i, just saying that you can't squeeze blood from a turnip. I'm definitely not opposed to a bigger follow focus and especially don't want to be limited to dSLRs, I mostly wasn't sure if they were too big for the Pilot in terms of weight. I'm actually hoping to be do some stuff next year with a Red Scarlet on some school projects, so if the Pilot can handle that and a Bartech I'm all for it. I just want to make sure I don't have any more suitable options before I spring for the Bartech and M-One.
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Feb 21, 2012 08:23
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SquareDog posted:Something like a bartech is a good investment because it works on all cinema cameras for years and years from camera to camera, an EOS wireless follow focus, not so much. However I should warn that it can be difficult to mount to the lens without some very sturdy support on the DSLR itself, what with it having only one single 1/4 20 screw hole in the bottom. Putting it in one of those cages or some kind of rod support that will stop it from rotating at all will work. A cage like this: I've got the 15mm rails that I was planning on using no matter what, so I guess this is the way to go. Thanks so much for your help! 
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Feb 21, 2012 19:00
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zer0spunk posted:I've been taking a bucket light with me on a lot of jobs lately. I picked it up from a dp I gaffed for late last year and every gig I gaff since has found a way to use it somehow. That is amazing. I'm gaffing on a short in a couple weeks, I am totally building one for it. Thank you!
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Apr 16, 2012 06:45
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Steadiman posted:Quick update from sunny Cannes. Having a blast here, I'd never been to Cannes before...it's an absolute madhouse! Especially when you're filming there! It's like Vegas only with more expensive cars and less casinos, I love it. So far I've had the privilege of working with people like Polanski, James Woods, Jessica Chastain, Robert DeNiro, Scorsese and a bunch of others who all have awesome cameos. And Thursday I get to chill with Bertolucci That looks like a blast! I wish I were on that set. I just had a shoot where we rented a C300, but I didn't get to play with it much since I was gaffing. In a tangentially related question, are there photos of you in the Steadicam Operator's Handbook? I was reading it (again) on the plane back from a shoot, so it's fresh in my head and I swear you're in there (assuming that it's you operating in the pictures you posted).
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May 22, 2012 19:10
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Tiresias posted:He's the sexy beast on the cover. whaaaaaaaat My mind is blown.
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May 23, 2012 22:30
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FLX posted:Why isn't there a Kindle Edition of this book?! Isn't there an ebook version of it? I could have sworn that I saw it for sale somewhere but it was $50 instead of $30 like the print edition. And yeah, it really is a great resource into the motivation behind camera movements in general. I'm TAing a couple production classes next semester and the SOH has given me a ton to think about. Having camera motivation phrased this elegantly and concisely would have been a Godsend when I took the class.
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May 26, 2012 22:17
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I've got some traveling coming up, where I might need a break from my planned digital cinema and color grading reading.
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thehustler posted:Question for Steadiman, I guess! I'm also tossing in my vote for it being you leaning forward while wearing your rig, that'll definitely give you back pain. If you're serious about Steadicam, you should go to a workshop--it's hard to tell if your stance is off when you're in the rig if you don't know what the proper stance is, so having someone tell you to straighten up when you're slouched over will help. At the very least, get the Steadicam Operator's Handbook and/or the EFP Video Training DVD. I'm still working on saving up the money to head to a 5-day workshop, but the SOH and DVD have been invaluable in figuring out the very basics as I work with my school's Glidecam.
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Aug 22, 2012 05:58
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 That's about how you should be standing. Your common center of gravity is between you and the rig, so if you lean forward instead of standing like in the picture, then your back has to do a whole lot of work to hold up both you and the rig since your CG is way out in front. I think having a light rig may make it a bit harder on you too, since it's harder to feel the difference between a bad stance and a good one. If not a workshop, I still suggest the SOH/DVD for what you want to do, especially if you want information since those are the best sources of info that aren't workshops. You'll at least be aware of all the techniques even if you're not using them all the time. Good luck!
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Aug 22, 2012 17:49
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Steadiman posted:Oh and CaptainViolence...
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Aug 23, 2012 10:23
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Steadiman posted:Ah gotcha! Well then that dude needs to change his grip. Also, the dude in that picture is actually not in very good form. You'll notice his shoulders are leaning pretty far back over his hips. If he leans back this much with such a lightweight rig then, once he puts on a big rig, his shoulders will have to be even further back because that is how he's used to adjust his balance. Straight is Great! You should be able to have a straight line from the center of your shoulders to the center of your hips and that should remain as much as possible no matter how far you have to lean back. Steadicam 101 Stuff like this is why I need that workshop! Thanks for the tip! thehustler posted:Well whaddyaknow? Set up a camera to shoot me standing there with the rig, turns out I was leaning back a bit and over-compensating for the hunch forward that I know I have. I tried to straighten up and it helped and I was able to shoot for a bit longer before it started to hurt.
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Aug 23, 2012 21:45
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You shouldn't be leaning to look down, you should only be moving your neck. Having the monitor actually makes it much easier to operate if you're wearing the rig and standing properly. If you have the viewfinder in front of you, you have to hold the sled further from your body in order to see it, which makes it seem heavier, which makes your operating suffer. What rig are you flying?
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Jun 17, 2013 16:14
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Mister Beeg posted:Anyone have experience with using Bolex? What's the best price I can get for the Super 16mm compatible camera? The only actual film I've shot was super 16 on a Bolex H16, it seemed like a robust little machine. A local artist who does a bunch of animation uses an old Bolex of some sort for his (it might be 8mm, though), and he's animating a feature right now. I don't know about pricing, but you can definitely do some great stuff with it. thehustler posted:Glidecam 4000 pro, not the best rig in the world. I will have another go and see if I can correct my posture. I do have some lower back issues anyway which stops me doing a lot of other things like skating and jogging. I think the most important thing I need to do is make sure the vest is nice and tight. Ouch. How does the arm connect to the vest on that one? I used to use a Glidecam V-2000 and it was like wearing some sort of medieval torture device because there was no real socket block to speak of and it was drat-near impossible to stand properly while wearing it with the sled attached because of that.
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Jun 17, 2013 22:06
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thehustler posted:Forgive me, I don't know the terminology that well. It has two prongs on the arm and they slide into a big metal bit on the vest  with a socket block to receive it. If you look at the whole assembly, like in this picture, you've got a series of screws that let you adjust the way the sled's weight hangs in balance with your body. You don't have that. As far as I was ever able to tell with the Glidecam I used, it was difficult (if not impossible) to operate with a proper stance because of that. I'm still pretty new to operating, so I bet someone like Steadiman would be able to give you much better advice, but I know that once I got an actual Tiffen-built Steadicam I stopped having to fight with the rig. Of course, then it became painfully obvious where my own weaknesses were as opposed to the rig's ...  Mister Beeg posted:Thanks for the info. I'll check it out. I remember hearing they were in the $500-$800 area, but I didn't realize that ours were converted. They were all school equipment, so they had been purchased many years before, but they all took super 16. I had no idea the H16 wasn't like that from the factory until right now.
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Jun 19, 2013 21:58
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Mister Beeg posted:Ah, okay. Thanks. Good luck! I haven't shot a ton on film, but what I did was really fun. Sorry I couldn't be more help! thehustler posted:Thanks CaptainViolence, much to think about! I don't think I'll ever get to use a proper Tiffen vest in my life. Got any of your stuff online so I can have a look, by the way? Nothing I've shot for has been released yet, but I've been meaning to cut together a reel. I only have a few clips of what I've shot but I can toss them on YouTube or something. And I would definitely recommend at least trying on a real Steadicam at some point (possibly at a workshop!) even if you don't plan on buying one. It'll help you understand the forces being exerted on your body and how you're interacting with them, and if that's not true then it's still really really fun. edit: Here's a start to a reel. I've only been operating for about 6 months so it's nowhere near Steadiman-quality or anything, but I'm pretty happy with the progress I've been making, especially compared to how I started. CaptainViolence fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Jun 20, 2013 |
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Jun 20, 2013 03:37
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I usually shoot in color and make it monochromatic in post. On set I have an external monitor around with the picture desaturated all the way so I can see how it'll look.
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Feb 25, 2014 07:10
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thehustler posted:This is probably going to make me look like a massive amateur/stupid, but lenses are still magic and fairy dust to me sometimes, despite me having done filming and editing for 5 years or so. Sometimes I just do what works, and it'd be nice to start thinking specifically about things in order to get the shot that I need. Our cameras have fixed lenses so we're limited to whatever they can do, hence I don't get a chance to learn I don't know what cameras they're using, but smaller sensors also increase depth of field so that could be a factor as well.
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Mar 3, 2014 10:24
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I worked on a friend's thesis film last year where almost the entire budget got blown on a couple of actors, and the director & producer wouldn't shut up about how professional their set was going to be compared to anything any of us had ever seen because they actually had something resembling a budget. Within the first week, the lead actor commented how it was the least professional set he'd ever worked on in his life. He meant it as a compliment because we were inventing a bunch of crazy poo poo that would fit in perfectly on ShittyRigs and he liked being around it, but it totally took the wind out of their sails. It was a nice bit of shadenfreude because they were being egotistical shitheads, but (at least in reality) the producers I've worked with loooove it when you can make something from nothing. It's a great skill to have. Edit: and I just found out my friend that gaffed that shoot died in a motorcycle accident last night. Wear your helmets, kids. 
CaptainViolence fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Jun 30, 2014 |
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Jun 30, 2014 14:01
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I would suggest China balls as a good, cheap lighting solution.
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Aug 10, 2014 01:35
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Steadiman posted:Amira stuff Does anybody know how the Amira compares to the Sony F5 balance-wise? My company has been looking into upgrading from their old-rear end Panasonic ENGs, and the one they seem to be leaning toward is the F5, but I feel like all of the camera operators here are waaaay more interested in something like the Amira. I've ACed with the F5 once, and maybe it was the kit we had but it seemed closer to having a DSLR rig with the weight all out on your arms than it did to having an ENG cam on your shoulder.
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Oct 16, 2014 16:39
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Yeah, the F5 setup on that shoot wasn't the greatest, I don't think, but I figured I'd see what everyone else thought. The DP didn't want to use the shoulder pad, so he just had the rails on his shoulder. No raw recorder, either, just a Titan transmitter and hops, and it was not balanced well at all, but I wasn't sure if that was because his preference was weird or because it was not easy to set it up so it had decent balance. That was all before I started working for this company, though, and they seem to be leaning toward those. They've rented them for a couple shoots already to test them out, so I'm hoping this isn't going to be a painful (for my back) transition if they go through with it.
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Oct 17, 2014 06:15
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The first thing is to not shoot on a Powershot. Affordable, but doesn't stand up to even a DSLR, which is what I think of for shoestring budgets. The small sensor means it doesn't do low-light very well. I'm not sure what makes the recording darker than the preview, though. I'm not really sure how to explain the lighting, and there are a ton of different ways to do it. I'd pick one practical light source (like a street light) and use that as motivation for my key light, then use a little fill to bring out some details and maybe a slight rim light to cut them from the background (as long as it's motivated). Honestly, I think the hardest part of night shooting on a budget is the background ... unless you get some sort of light in there, you can lose all the detail and your characters are just in a big void. Audio-wise, I'm not sure what to tell you if you have no budget. Maybe get some cheap lavs with long cables and run them into the camera or a Zoom? You want the mic as close as to the person's mouth who's speaking as you can.
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Apr 19, 2015 18:08
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It's more a matter of how they operate--on dedicated video cameras you generally have 3 ISOs set to a three-position switch instead of hitting a button and scrolling through a list. Same goes for white balances, and you can save two or three of them so you don't have to dial it in every time, just knock a switch into place. A small difference, but it's one more thing I can put into muscle memory instead of breaking my focus on what I'm shooting. My office just replaced all of their DSLRs with Sony FS5s and it's made our B-roll days waaaaaay nicer.
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Sep 18, 2016 03:56
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If you lock off your white balance for a whole shoot instead of changing it to match your lighting, you're grossly incompetent (you're a huge prick).  Are you seriously advocating for doing an entire shoot in one white balance? What if part of it takes place outside and part inside? Or part during the day and part during the night? Edit: unless that's a typo and you meant mid-shot, in which case yeah, don't do that. But if you're, say, wandering through a museum shooting b-roll and the displays with track lights have a different color than the displays with in-built fluorescents, then being able to save a white balance for each of those and switching back and forth as needed is much easier and faster than pulling out your white cards every time you move four feet. CaptainViolence fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Sep 18, 2016 |
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Sep 18, 2016 07:11
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There's definitely some of us working in the industry in various capacities, even if there's not a ton of discussion going on. I'm kind of side-stepped from the actual film industry right now, though--I went to film school and when freelance PAing wasn't paying the bills I ended up landing a staff job at a production company that does reality TV and some historical re-enactment stuff. Not particularly artistically fulfilling, but I run camera on a bunch of house tour and travelogue-type shows and my rent is paid. I think the funniest story I have is from one of those re-enactment shows. My buddy was taking promo photos of one of the actors after he got out of HMU, and his character was carrying a shotgun for the scene that day. The actor gets into position and pops the shotgun up on his shoulder like a bazooka, and my buddy laughs, thinking it's a joke. He waits a second for the actor to stop fooling around, but the guy doesn't, so my buddy asks him if they can take the photo already. The actor looks at him kind of confused, and then gets all sheepish: "I've never actually held a gun before, am I doing it wrong?" We gave him some poo poo for it, but let it go ... right up until he accidentally shot the boom mic with a blank in the scene and melted a hole in the dead cat. He didn't hear the end of it after that. CaptainViolence fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Oct 21, 2016 |
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Oct 21, 2016 16:37
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Yeah, I don't know what kind of lavs you're using, but all the ones I've ever used (pretty much just Sennheiser and Lectrosonics) have all come with cables that let you output the receiver to either XLR or 1/8", so you might just do that. It should be fine as long as your DSLR has manual audio level control. It'll be mono instead of stereo, but that shouldn't make a difference. fakeedit: just realized you might be talking about hooking lavs directly to the camera instead of using wireless packs, in which case they should theoretically still work as long as you can match line or mic level outputs to whatever your camera wants. If not, then you may need a preamp.
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Oct 25, 2016 17:33
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powderific posted:It puts me in the weird position where I might have to spend enough on rentals over the next month and a half to make the price of a Varicam LT now about the same as an Ursa Mini Pro + renting till we're through this big push. The Varicam LT has been the main camera we're considering for a while so that wouldn't necessarily be a bad move, but the Ursa Mini Pro looked perfect for us and it's soooo much cheaper. I don't know if you've worked with the LTs much, but I've shot a ton with them and my number one piece of advice is to get a nice, big shoulder pad if you want to do much handheld. The ones the LTs come with are kinda hard and start digging into you if you're running around with them for too long. That said, I love shooting on them. The detachable top monitor/controller is surprisingly useful even if the swivel is pretty limited in range.
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Mar 12, 2017 01:10
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keyframe posted:That is what I was hoping for. I will see if there is a place in Vancouver that rents them before I pull the trigger on one. Yeah, definitely rent one first. I loved using them when I was shooting with ENG cams (especially when working with a producer whose OTFs ran for twenty straight minutes), but a friend tried to use one with a pretty barebones RED Scarlet and gave up three shots in. I've never used one with a gimbal, but I think you need an extender to keep it from holding things right on your shoulder.
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Jun 7, 2017 00:41
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The Clap posted:Our production company has a couple of a7s2's that we shoot doc-style run n' gun footage on occasionally when the situation calls for it. Truthfully this is something we've been wrangling with for some time - my bosses are convinced that S-log is the way to go but as the one who ends up editing+coloring it, I'm not convinced S-log is that great. It tends to have more noise than shooting in a more traditional picture profile and results in a lot more work in post. I'd recommend just aiming for the most neutral profile possible and dialing in a custom profile from there - tweaking a custom profile's contrast, saturation, etc according to your needs. I've only used the a7s2 a couple times, but from what I understand, the key to s-log is overexposing by a couple stops so your shadows get brought down later, which takes care of the noise. If your shooters haven't been doing that, then that might help, especially since the a7s2 has so much more usable iso than something like the fs5. If they've already been doing that, then I will probably do a lot more investigation before I hand someone s-log footage again! CaptainViolence fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Jul 20, 2017 |
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Jul 20, 2017 15:33
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BonoMan posted:Or just get a camera that lets you get good footage by exposing properly  Look at this guy, with his cool hair and big city ideas!(I loved shooting on the Varicam LTs, and I miss them very much for this exact reason)
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Jul 20, 2017 16:51
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i don't know what exact tripod you're using, but when i was doing a lot of field work, i'd always bring a sandbag with me while shooting long lens timelapses. the sachtler sticks i was using (whatever matches the fsb 8 heads) had a hook on the underside of the bowl, and i found that hooking the sandbag to that dampened a decent amount of vibration from people walking nearby. i would suggest careful testing first, though, 'cause i've definitely used tripods that i wouldn't trust hanging that much weight on.
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Mar 21, 2018 16:58
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i learned it as the sound mixer is the master clock, you jam the slate to the mixer, and you jam everything else to the slate. whenever you change batteries in the slate, you rejam that, and everything else gets jammed every 6 hours or so unless you notice it's off. the only major difference i ever saw was when you were using a dumb slate you'd jam the camera directly to the mixer, but those two cases covered everything i did. this was in the northwestern US, so i don't know if it varies by country.
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Jul 18, 2020 02:06
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Mister Speaker posted:Awesome, thanks for clearing that up! it's been a while since i used it (and whenever i used the smart slate it was already set up by whatever friend i rented gear from), but i remember using a lemo>1/4" to put tc into the slate and lemo>bnc to send timecode. i don't think the cables themselves actually matter assuming they fit your devices where they are expected, because there's a switch underneath the battery cover on the slate that tells it whether it's in send or receive mode. if you want to jam to the slate, you set it to "read" and if you want to send timecode you set it to "generate." CaptainViolence fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Jul 21, 2020 |
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Jul 21, 2020 18:52
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yeah, that sounds super weird. the read/gen switch should do it, i would think. nobody dropped the slate, did they? i've never heard of this in particular happening, but a buddy of mine has all sorts of stories of trying to fix slates that got tossed around a set or dropped in mud or whatever. edit: i decided to rtfm, and apparently you need to close the sticks and press the brightness up button while it's being fed timecode, so if you haven't done that button maybe that's it? CaptainViolence fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Jul 23, 2020 |
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Jul 23, 2020 22:26
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Aix posted:besides the electrical synchronization already mentioned, professional cameras often have the ability to adjust the shutter speed at very small increments - like 1/60.1 or 1/59.9 - so you can fiddle around until youve got a stable picture. this was / is used in eng a lot (obv nowadays with lcds you have to adjust to whatever the monitors backlight is refreshing at, rather than the screen itself, which can be all over the place) yeah, the Panasonics i used to work with referred to it as "synchro scan" although i don't know if that is just their term for it or if it's the standard
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Apr 19, 2021 09:12
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