nofilmschool » digitalcinema

Noah Baumbach on 'Frances Ha': Podcast with Marc Maron & the Scene That Took 42 Takes

Micah Van Hove — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:57:49 +0000

Noah Baumbach is a filmmaker whose character-driven narratives often find great depth out of simplicity, and his latest film Frances Ha pushes that sensibility even further. Shot digitally in black and white and lensed by Sam Levy, Baumbach notoriously did thirty or forty takes for many scenes in the film, in the hopes of finding “the one shot that tells the story.” Marc Maron recently gave an excellent podcast interview with Baumbach, going in-depth about his previous films, his path to becoming a filmmaker and his approach to creating a contemporary digital black and white film with Frances Ha. Hit the jump for the audio interview and watch the scene that took 42 takes. (more…)

Blackmagic Joins the Micro 4/3 Barbecue: is an Active MFT Mount Cinema Camera Cooking?

Dave Kendricken — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:20:42 +0000

Just a few short months ago, it was announced that the Blackmagic Cinema Camera would be receiving a Micro 4/3 lens mount option alternative to its original Canon EF mount. Granted, for those of us still waiting on the BMCC to ship, a few short months is no stretch of time to merely shrug off — particularly when the mount announced was to be a “passive” or “dumb” one, meaning electronic control would not be supported for smart MFT lenses. There’s been speculation that this would change — and given Blackmagic’s recent addition to the consortium of companies aligned with the official Micro 4/3 standard, this speculation seems less outlandish than ever. (more…)

With Film Dead or Dying, Can You Still Get the 80s or 90s Wide Open Low Light Look?

Dave Kendricken — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 22:24:53 +0000

Film is going the way of other elegant, exotic, but evolutionarily condemned creatures such as the Tasmanian Tiger, the Dodo bird, and the Macarena. Somehow chart the decline of film use against the rise of digital and you’ll hear a lot about ‘how to make digital look like film’ in your research. It’s almost an existential crisis for shooters of our transitional generation, and the heart of digital’s identity crisis. If film is the look of cinema, what’s the key ingredient? Resolution? Latitude — or worse, light response curve? Motion transfer? Color reproduction? Or should we just let “the digital look” evolve into its own beast altogether? That’s a lot of heavy questions for a Sunday afternoon read, but ones unavoidably raised by a post from Art Adams of Pro Video Coalition about the wide open lensed and low light look of ’80′s and ’90′s films. (more…)

Digital Bolex's Lab-Style RAW Software Will Be Your CinemaDNG Workflow Workhorse

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:09:02 +0000

By coincidence or not, it seems like each camera announced to use CinemaDNG as its RAW shooting format is poised to change the world in its own way. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera and the ~$3K Digital Bolex D16 seek to put quality acquisition tools in nearly anyone’s hands, while the future-bound Aaton Penelope Delta and open source Apertus Axiom bear their own technical notabilities (and nobilities). Clearly it’s time to really start wondering about CinemaDNG. As of now, the license-free format is being adopted by way more cameras than NLEs, and workflow questions, concerns, and schools of thought and technique abound. There’s hope and then some, though — just over the horizon the RAW processing software shipping with the Digital Bolex D16 just might change the world in its own way, too. (more…)

IMDb's Technical Specs Not Technical Enough for You? Check Out the ShotOnWhat Database

Dave Kendricken — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:28:21 +0000

Ever wondered what format, camera model, lens type, finishing format, lens manufacturer, etc. was used to create a certain film? You may have found yourself punching in IMDb as your default movie trivia database, and you may have found some or all such information in the film’s technical specs page — or you may not have. While IMDb has a lot of other coverage to keep itself occupied logging (particularly cast and crew lists), you may find yourself wanting a more detailed and dedicated technical breakdown — enter ‘ShotOnWhat?‘ (more…)

Where on Earth is David Lynch? The Director's Hiatus from Cinema (and Film's Future) Discussed

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 18:30:52 +0000

If you’ve noticed off-hand that the world — and particularly that of cinema — has been missing a little bit of a beloved strangeness recently, there’s a possibility that’s because David Lynch hasn’t made a feature film since 2006′s MiniDV-shot Inland Empire. He’s been active (and acting, in several cases) in media of other kinds, and directed a 2010 promotional short for Dior, but I for one have found myself wondering what exactly has been stopping him from a return to the big screen. Thanks to a recent interview with Lynch by the Hollywood Reporter, we now know his opinion on the internet and the digital future of film, plus answers to the question my title poses both in the spiritual and literal sense. (more…)

The Future of Cinematography is Here, and It's Digital: But How Do the DPs Feel About It?

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 03:00:03 +0000

We live in a time of unparalleled choice. The number and types of high-powered tools of our trade has never been this great, nor have advancements and price thereof been in such aggressive opposition to each other before. We’re definitely at the midpoint of a truly glacial shift – that’s glacial in magnitude, not time elapsed — and we’re all pretty well aware of the technology available to us. Something we don’t get to hear about half as often, though, is what the men and women in the creative realm most directly tied to this technology, cinematography, have to say about it, or their view of the brave new world in which we all work and strive to remain relevant. Film and Digital Times has just posted some fantastic pamphlets of short essays written by a number of working cinematographers, and the perspectives within are a must-read. (more…)

Need a Black-and-White Digital Cinema Camera? Ikonoskop Announces the A-Cam dII Panchromatic

E.M. Taboada — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:52:55 +0000

This is an interesting item – Ikonoskop, the folks behind the A-Cam dII (a raw shooting HD camera previously covered) recently announced a black and white version – the A-Cam dII Panchromatic. By using a monochrome sensor, it aims to give folks looking for great black and white footage a new option with “an amazing range of gradations”. Want to see some sample footage? Check this out: (more…)