John Sharaf
Forum Replies Created
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Hollywood Lite is rated at 16 lbs in literature, maybe you know better vis-a-vis the 26 lbs you mention. I doubt that you’ll get the Varicam, battery, downconverter, lens, FIZ unit, etc. to “fly” with such a unit.
I’ve mounted both my Varicams and Cine Altas on full sized Steadicam rigs and the operators struggled with the weight as the day went on. A lightweight camera head (like the film Arri 435 which was specifically designed for such use, or in video the Ikegami HDL-79) is a much better choice with with an ultrathin fiber cable (like the Telecast Copperhead Cine with Tac2 cable) running to a seperate deck. Obviously there will be a few limitations with this rig, but it would probably fit in the 16 lbs!
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Thomas,
I would definately NOT use an auto iris for a sunset timelapse; to do so would defeat the transition form light to dark. I would slightly underexpose the beginning, before the sun actually comes into the frame in anticipation of its brightness, and then when it disappears, volia, night!
The alternative of manually adjusting the exposure is a reasonable alternative because you would probably do so in a much more subtle manner than auto iris. Perhaps you should consider using the variable shutter as a way to feather the exposure in a more manageable fashion with smaller and more acurate increments than you could accomplish on the lens iris. This is also an old film trick!
Of course your best chance of success would be to do it twice, with the first twilight as a test. I’m not sure if you own your own camera, if so, this would be easy, otherwise pick up your rental the afternoon before your shoot and return it the morning after, this would allow you two chances.
Good luck!
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Tom,
Tony is absolutely correct. There is no simple way to light a scene at the beach at midday, except to go au natural, which unfortunately is usually not very becoming because of hard overhead sun light creating deep shaddows in the actors’ eye sockets. If anything orginize your shoot to work in the morning and late in the afternoon to take advantage of the lower angle of the sun.
As he mentions, if price were not the ultimate consideration, a grip and lighting crew would have the benefit of a large grip truck package ( which only rents for $350-500, but you’ll need insurance and a qualified driver), which usually carries a 20×20′ overhead silk. This gear effectively takes the “curse” off the direct sunlight, but in doing so also lowers the exposure under it, so additional key lighting is required by large HMI sources (don’t forget the generator and cable) or large white, silver or gold reflectors. All of this gear requires an adequate sized crew of competent, skilled and experienced operators if only for safety reasons.
Most beaches are public property, so a location permit is almost always required and this opens up another kettle of worms with insurance, police and fire jurisdictions.
The most bang for the buck can be found in 4×4′ reflectors, but even these will require some kind of truck (pickup is ok) to transport the wooden box they live in, the stands and heavy sandbags to keep them from flying away. The next best alternative is a grip truck owner operator. I don’t know where you live, but check the yellow pages or try mandy.com for referrals.
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For lightweight, nimble location HD shooting a 8.4″ Panasonic LCD is an excellent accessory. Not only does it provide a very lightweight and compact monitor, but it also has a useful built-in waveform feature, which some folks (me included) find very useful in setting exposure. This unit is very helpful in checking white balance as well.
Good shooting!
JS
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Michael,
It’s actually a matter of treating it correctly when you shoot! As I said the camera can be setup to imitate the gamma curve of film stock and in combination with the 24p frame rate and careful “film style” lighting and camera operation, believe me, you’ll fool a lot of people.
Post production, especially, the sophisticated Da Vinci type of color correction is the same for both film and video, and frankly should be avoided when cost is an issue (as it seems to be with you). This is another aspect where the WYSIWYG nature of HD production can actually save you time and money, and help you get the look you want right from the GITGO. Of course, some skill is required to do so, but the same is really true with lighting and exposing film.
JS
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Another option is a “gimbal head” which mounts on a tripod and compensates for the pitch and yaw inherent in boat movement. Such an item can usually be rented from old-line Hollywood rentals sources like Birns & Sawyer or Alan Gordon Enterprises.
JS
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Michael,
Because I work mostly with video tape now, I must admit that I am not familiar with current lab prices, but I can tell you that in my student days at UCLA film school, Fotokem was a favorite lab because of their low prices, student discounts and favorable credit terms.
As I recall they allowed me the better part of several years to pay off the 1st trial and release print of my thesis film, which I was required to submit in order to graduate and get my degree.
I think most labs are open to negotiate a discount for first-timers in the hope that they’ll cultivate a career long loyalty which can payoff big time when you bring them a long form project later. Give it a try!
Of course, this is one of the main reasons why the DVPRO100 and HDCAM formats are ploriferating so quickly. I think even in the case of your 1200-1600′ film job, if you get a good one day rental price on a Varicam you might find the savings significant as opposed to film stock, developing and telecine. With the 24p function and electronic imititation of “cine gamma” the resulting image, especially when viewed on a CRT or other monitor (as most music videos are) is very similar.
Good luck,
JS
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Best bet is an inverter to 120v AC and Kino Flos. If your marine battery is 12v there are many commercially available inverters; you can extend the service by wiring several batteries together in parallel. Mole Richardson used to rent a battery set with 10 @ 12v deep cycle batteries (like marine or golf cart cells) wired to provide 120v DC so you could use conventional lights like 750w or 1k babk softs. Kino Flo also markets an inverter set (probably rental only) that’s very capable for the type of use you mention. check their website for more info.
JS
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It’s true that the F900 camera requires a fan for cooling that can be heard in quiet environments or when the camera is close to the subject and mike. It’s also true that some transports that are aged or out of adjustment make an even louder sound that the fan, and undoubtedly can be picked up on the track.
It seems to me that it would be obvious if this were the case as you hear (as was mentioned) the noise more when the on-board deck was turning, and a logical corrective manuever would be to use a heavy coat or jacket as a “barney” to deaden the effect where and when its required. There are no commmercial barneys made for this camera that I know of, unlike those which we used to use on our Eclair NPR’s (which really cound put out a noise including an occasional squuking sound) and again logic would require that you remove the makeshift barney to let the camera cool when you’re not rolling.
By contrast, the Varicam is dead quiet, which can be equally disconcerting because sometimes you’re not sure you’re actually rolling (except for the tally).
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For those of you who are following this saga, Bruce and I did get together and managed to “fix” the problem. It was the ECU save setting. Bruce is pretty knowledgable about this camera and its menus, so this situation does reveal the complexity of the menu tree, the need to know all the functions and confussion inherent in changing between the different camera models and manufacturers that we are all called upon to use and master!
The ECU save “on” setting is risky, but used correctly can be a powerful tool. Normally the default position is “off” but when “on” the camera remembers the settings that are made with the controller after it’s disconnected. The dedicated switches: shutter, gain, AWB, and ABB still work, but other settings remain. Otherwise in the ECU “off” setting, the camera reverts to what is often referred to as the “proc set” which is the standard setup when the controller is disconnected.
To put it simply and in practical terms, if you prefer to navigate the menues with the ECU attached (as I do) then you should probably set ECU save “on” if you don’t own or us the EC3 or prefer to use the rotary switch and menu toggles leave it “off”.
One landmine/trap however is that if you’ve changed the master ped while your EC3 is attached from a normalized setting (where the capped black overlies the 0 ire line) and you disconnect, no amount of auto black balancing will change (normalize) it. The only way to restore correct black level is by the ROP menu or the master ped control on the controller itself and a waveform monitor (of course the 8.4″ LCD waveform function will do). On most other camera brands, invoking the ABB will restore master ped to normal in addition to normalizing the r & b peds. It’s very difficult to see that the black is “crushed” in the viewfinder, especially in daylight scenes, but when you shoot in the shade or inside you’ll have a problem!
I’ve spoken with Panasonic several times and written letters asking for a “bug” fix on this, but there has not been any movement. If you’ve been bit by this “problem” you should write or email your concern too and perhaps if enough of us do, they’ll fix it in the next upgrade. Thanks!