This is a guest post by Director/Cinematographer Andrew Wonder.

If you were at NAB, then you already know that 2013 was the year of the drone. You could barely walk around the convention floor without the risk of getting a haircut by someone’s spin on the aerial rig. Though they look like toys, it’s easy to forget that operating a drone is an art that should be carried out by professionals. Like a Steadicam, you can’t just pick one up and expect cinematic results. Understanding how to balance and control these crafts is the difference between that perfect shot and ending up in the river. (more…)

Things are moving fast in the world of digital cinema. Just a few years ago DSLRs were about the only affordable way to get a cinema quality image, but now we’ve got plenty of camera options under $20,000 that would have cost well over $100,000 just five years ago. We’ve already shared with you a rather comprehensive RED buying guide, and now we have a wonderful digital cinema buying guide from Ryan E. Walters. He covers everything you need to know about putting together a camera package, and gives personal experience about the package he is planning to put together.

This is a guest post by Cinematographer Ryan E. Walters. (more…)

Despite the recently reduced price of RED cameras, each model still requires a lot of (pricey) accessories. We’ve pointed this out from the very beginning, but now we’ve gone further and compiled some realistic shooting packages at three different levels: a “cheapest possible ONE MX” list by Aaron Rich, an “owner/operator SCARLET” package by myself, and a “full professional EPIC” package by Timur Civan. Our overall goal with this post is not just to introduce (potential) RED shooters to some accessory options and needs for the RED ONE MX, SCARLET, and EPIC, but to hopefully create a post wherein users can share what has worked best for them. Let’s get started, this is going to be a long one! (more…)

One NoFilmSchool writer happens to own a RED SCARLET. Now there are two. Ryan already discussed his purchase back in November last year, so if you came here from Twitter or somewhere else and you’re confused why this post is happening a year after he bought one…well…this is your answer. Back when RED had their one-time-only Battle-Tested SCARLET deal, I pulled the trigger, and have not looked back since. This post isn’t an attempt to enrage DSLR users or DIYers, or encourage RED-haters — because I’ve used and owned every brand that exists (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, etc.) and I can find positives and negatives about all of them. As a writer for a website with a very diverse audience, however, I thought I had an obligation to explain why I made such a major monetary decision. (more…)