» Posts Tagged ‘cinematography’
A little while ago I posted a RED SCARLET torture test (so-called because of subzero temperatures and other limitations of the shoot) that I shot on some 35 year-old Canon K35 prime lenses. A couple of commenters asked why I would choose to buy lenses that have been on this earth longer than I have, instead of getting new Canon glass (for which RED has an inexpensive mount) or something else currently on the market. For one, I like the idea of older lenses combined with the new ultra-sharp imagers, which are sometimes too sharp for my tastes. The K35s won an Academy Award in 1977 and have been used on several features over the years (Aliens being the best example I could find on IMDb), but I doubt they hold up to modern CAD lenses like the Cooke Panchros in the sharpness department. I don’t recommend this approach for most people, and this remains an in-progress experiment, but if you’re interested in the thought process, feel free to read on. More »
Say what you will about Shane Hurlbut, but there aren’t too many professional Directors of Photography who take the time out of their crazy schedules to try to give back to the community. Shane’s most recent work that we’ve covered here was the Canon-sponsored film “The Ticket,” shot in 4K on the Canon 1D C. While I saw that film at NAB (and wasn’t too crazy about the quality of the footage coming out of that camera), it doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a professional DP who knows a thing or two about lighting. In his newest blog post, he gives a good run-down on how to use smoke to achieve different lighting goals. More »
Two Interview Lighting Tutorials That'll Kick Your Footage Up a Notch
So you’re getting ready to interview that expert for your short documentary, and you want to review your interview lighting technique. Or maybe you’re just looking for an introduction to lighting in general — where do you look? Check out these two interview lighting tutorials — not only are they a great review of the basics, but they each do a great job of illustrating just how every light can help shape the subject and tone of your footage: More »
Jeff Cronenweth, ASC, has worked on a number of big Hollywood films, notably Fight Club, The Social Network, and more recently The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – which we’ve talked about here before because of its interesting post workflow. Besides feature films, Cronenweth has also shot and directed quite a few music videos and commercials – which is where his collaborator David Fincher also got his start. He shares insights about digital filmmaking and his working relationship with notoriously take-heavy Fincher in this four-part Oscar Q&A provided by Creatasphere. More »
If you’re like me, you probably weren’t at this year’s SXSW festival — but through the magic of the internets we can still reap some of the knowledge shared there. Filmmaker Magazine’s blog covered two filmmaking related panels, “The Great Cinematography Shootout” and “Making it Happen: Financing an Independent Film”, and boiled each down to 10 ponderable tips. The first panel looks at how cinematographers handle low budget constraints while the second provides insight into what independent producers face while putting films together: More »
The KineRAW is a Chinese digital cinema camera that I called (perhaps too harshly) a “knockoff” of the ARRI ALEXA and RED cameras. This is a guest post by Wentao Marvin.
As China is celebrating the Lunar New Year (the Year of Dragon), Kinefinity KineRAW development has entered the final stage of internal user testing, and public testing is scheduled to roll out in February. This update focuses on the S35 (Super35-sized sensor) and S8 (Super8mm-sized sensor) model as they are being developed back-to-back. More »
UPDATE: B&H has posted official U.S. pricing for the C300, and it is $16k (ships “after January 30″). Thanks to everyone who commented on my post about the Sony F3 versus the Canon C300, I have a clearer sense of the C300‘s strengths (that post was largely about its weaknesses). As I said in a comment, for a documentary camera (especially of the cinéma vérité variety) the C300 may be the best option out there. Several years ago, for example, I shot a short doc in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle, and in that setting the recording time — both in terms of storage space and battery power — was a chief concern, as was low light ability (there was no electricity for 200 miles and night scenes were candlelit with no other option). The C300 would be the absolute best camera in the world for this. In the below series of videos, Rodney Charters, Lan Bui and Drew Gardner weigh in on the C300. But first, since we’re talking about documentary use, here’s Dan Chung’s picturesque short C300 doc: More »
This is a guest post by director/DP Alex Mallis.
Coming from a primarily documentary background, my style and approach are often dictated by what’s happening in front of me. I like to work handheld and shoot on the fly -– following the action as it happens (or doesn’t). I’ve long assumed this antithetical to the more controlled approach of narrative filmmaking. You tell the actors where to go; they go there. You call action and the action starts. You repeat scenes dozens of times until you get that one golden take. And yet, I felt right at home working as a cinematographer on WELCOME TO PINE HILL. More »
This site has covered light meters in the past (here and here), but this video by Ryan E. Walters is too good not to share. In the video, Ryan elucidates very well how and why to use a light meter (his pick: the Sekonic L-758C). People pay good money for tutorials of this caliber, so thanks to Ryan for sharing this video for free. Very helpful stuff for DPs: More »
Last week I shared a “blind” shootout between seven sets of prime lenses. Viewers of the extensive test were instructed to pick their favorites and wait for the answer key to find out which lens was which. Now the answers are live with the videos, and downloadable .R3D files (it was shot on a RED EPIC) are also available: More »
What have we here? A nice addition to the roundup of lens options for the new breed of Super35 cameras. Indent Studios in Oregon hosted a shootout between seven different PL lens sets: the Cooke Panchro /i, Luma Tech Super 35 Illuminas, Red Pro Primes, Unique Optics Kenji Suematsu Series, Leica R Cine-Mod, Schneider Cine-Xenar II, & Zeiss Compact Primes v1 & v2. Shot on a RED EPIC at 5K, they’ve released the tests initially as a “blind” test — meaning, go ahead and watch them and pick your favorite lenses. Then, a week later, they’ll label the tests so you know which is which: More »
Zeiss’s popular Compact Primes are getting some brothers and sisters. To their current full frame, interchangeable lens mount lineup, Zeiss is planning on adding new Compact Prime CP.2s of wider than 18 mm and longer (or equal to) 100 mm, a compact tele zoom lens (70-200 mm, possibly), and a complete set of Anamorphic prime lenses — with a 2X squeeze, which at first I found a bit odd. More »
One of my more embarrassing on-set moments happened when, years ago, I had been hired as a camera operator on a multi-camera shoot. Sometimes talking your way into a position can you get you into trouble, and I wasn’t really qualified to be operating a full size camera, which I discovered when the backfocus was off. I didn’t know how to adjust it, given at the time I’d only shot on Sony DV camcorders, and had to call on another camera operator to do my job for me. The horror! So here is a tutorial for setting back focus from The Complete Guide to ProHD Volume I, which applies to many videocameras (not just the JVC on which it’s demonstrated). But first, what is back focus? More »
This is a guest post by cinematographer Angelo Lorenzo.
Maybe you’re an army-of-one indie director. Maybe you’re a cinematographer who has decided to step up your game or reinforce your fundamentals. Whatever the case may be, the cornerstone of video capture is the control of the light that hits your lens and knowing the limitations of your recording system: the camera. More »
Film is beautiful. It’s going to be around for years to come. Plenty of feature films and TV shows are still being shot on film, and used film cameras will remain a viable rental market for a long time. But in the last several months, the major manufacturers of motion picture cameras — ARRI, Panavision and Aaton — have all ceased production of film cameras. Celluloid, you’ve had a great 123-year run. So long, and thanks for all the fish! More »
There are a number of slow motion sequences in my script for Man-child (only 8 days left… !), which makes a RED appropriate. Otherwise I would probably try to shoot it on a Sony F3 with the S-Log firmware (if the campaign is successful, that is… ). All the footage I’ve seen to date shot in S-Log has been beautiful, with very film-like highlight renditions and gorgeous colors. A common misperception with S-Log is that you need an uncompressed recorder to take advantage of it. Not true! DP Timur Civan recently ran some tests with a Ki Pro Mini: More »
In addition to the free official Technicolor CineStyle picture style, there is now a paid picture style for trying to get a narrative film look with Canon DSLRs. The CINEMA picture style is priced at $19 and promises to retain highlight detail while providing a more “analog” aesthetic than the default settings. Here are its selling points: More »
Results from the Single-Chip Camera Evaluation Conducted by Robert Primes, ASC
One of the highlights of NAB’s “content theater” screenings was the Single-Chip Camera Evaluation, the result of an exhaustive camera shootout conducted in February by Robert Primes, ASC and a full crew (totaling what was estimated at over 5,000 man- and woman-hours). After seeing the terrific half-hour presentation at Zacuto‘s booth, I went back for a second look at the full presentation. While the images — which should be released online in the future — are far more important than the charts, here are some key results from the screening, which featured cameras ranging from the cheapest Canon DSLR to cameras costing hundreds of thousands. More »
While I was catching some Zs at NAB, the guys from Next Level Pictures and a number of shooters who have appeared on this site in the past (Vincent Laforet, Jared Abrams, Timur Civan, Tyler Ginter) were off testing the Sony F3‘s S-Log firmware upgrade. This is the first time the uncompressed outputs from the F3 were enabled outside the walls of Sony (in this case, they were recording to a Cinedeck), and the footage should demonstrate greater latitude than the default F3 settings. Here’s the test: More »
A thread popped up recently on DVXuser that claimed the Panasonic AF100 had a serious design flaw. The sensor would exhibit unacceptable flare when a bright light was pointed into the lens, the post claimed. I can’t like to the thread, as it’s since been deleted — because Panasonic is trying to keep a problem under wraps? Not at all. It was deleted because, in the words of moderator/author Barry Green, it was simply FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). So what’s the deal with the sensor flare on the AF100 — and on other cameras as well? More »
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