[John Sharaf]

But if you intend to also dvd publish, there’s every reason to shoot in 1080!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Teri,

Greg’s answer is correct; always use progressive frame rates for media purposed for the web or dvd as the repeated frames (in 24 or 30 fps rates) are much easier for the compression to take place. In practice the compressor has the time period of two (or with 24p on some frames three) frames to do its work vs having to do it 60 times a second with interlace. That’s why. As regards dvd’s they are always de-interlaced to progressive anyway, this way they are able to fit as much as twice the information in the same space.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Formatting clears the directory, allowing you to now overwrite other data on the card. Erasing also clears the data, preventing anyone from recovering your media.

Essentially erasing is provided so that cards used in a rental environment can be properly purged so your precious media is not returned to the rental company for others to see or mine.

As a camera rental vendor I am shocked when I look at cards that are returned from Alexa jobs that have neither been formatted nor erased. The Alexa creates a new filename (and number) each time a card is formatted in the camera, doesn’t the Sony cameras do the same? If so, the answer to the question is simply format the card when you return it to the camera as a reload and erase the card before you return it to the rental company or give your camera to someone else to use.

JS

[John Sharaf]

The narrowest seamless paper rolls, used in still photography for portraiture backgrounds is 9′ wide, plus some real estate for stands to hold it up, although you can also wall mount it. You really need more width, especially if you intend to light the backing properly.

JS

[John Sharaf]

The only HD tape format that Sony supports is HDCAM and HDCAM-SR. The HD XDCAM Disc (Professional Media) is more trustworthy then either of these tape formats, although HDCAM-SR is a better format, being 10bit, although this is really overkill except for high end commercials or theatricals where extensive color correction (unusably because of shooting in S-Log Gamma) is required.

Panasonic still supports DVC-PRO100 tape with their 1400 VTR, although it’s not really designed for portable production and will not accept true 24psf from a Sony camera, only 24/60 (I’m not sure what the 350 puts out), but again, you’re not gaining anything in terms of robustness or quality.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Here’s link to one of several products that do what you ask:

https://www.vfgadgets.com/EyeDirect-16x9_p_133.html

JS

[John Sharaf]

Jason,

There are many types of keying software (and hardware). I’m told by several editors (I’m a cameraperson) that After Effects and Ultimate are the best, and from my own observations of keying sessions, there is a wide ranges of skilled technicians in this world, and I believe that is the ultimate determinant.

Finally, I’ve always lit my screens to be a stop under the key light in the foreground. This minimizes reflections too, and I’ve had very few complaints over the years.

JS

[John Sharaf]

That’s exactly what I’d recommend. You’ll be very happy and sleep better at night too!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Eric,

While the interchangeable lens mounts might sound like a good idea, they are really for the convenience of the manufacturer who can now sell essentially the same lens to many different lens mount users.

For the user who wishes to change the mount for different cameras, it’s another story. To do so properly, meaning to preserve the accuracy of the backfocus and therefore the lens focus marks, means you need skill, the proper equipment (collimator) and patience, as it can take quite some time to do so correctly. as I have said before, it’s not for the faint of heart, especially when your precious project is at stake. Remember that to be perfectly accurate (and I think you know this already) both the lens and the camera’s mount must be nominally correct, this requires two different calibration devices which might cost as much as the lens set itself.

For camera assistants, who are definitely required when using 35mm imagers (or larger) where critical focus is required, having accurate lens markings is an absolute must. Without them they cannot work as fast or as accurately and the work product will definately suffer.

Finally I think it’s a fallacy to think that any two still camera mounts will match. It is not common practice in still photography to measure focus with a tape, nor are the focus marks on the barrel of a wide enough range for such a process to be useful, so I don’t believe the manufacturers pay much attention to calibrating their lens mounts to match camera-to-camera. For this reason I would not recommend using Nikon or Canon mounts on all your cameras (like Red, Alexa, Phantom etc.) to eliminate the need to remount lenses. For my own piece of mind I have purchased all my lenses in non interchangeable PL mounts to eliminate one of the many possible pitfalls.

JMHO,

JS

[John Sharaf]

Paul,

If I were lighting this scene I’d consider what the practical lighting in the jail cells was and try to show it early in the scene on a wide shot to establish to the audience what the light source is. Then try to keep subsequent shots “honest” to the direction and quality of the “natural” lighting.

It seems to me that the practical source would be a small fluorescent or maybe a hanging bare bulb enclosed in a protected housing. I think I’d look a little further into what type of lighting fixtures would be most common to the type and era of the prison in your story.

I definitely would not take a large 1200 and pound it into the ceiling, this will only create an uncontrollable overlit scene and will not put the portraiture lighting you’d want in the peoples faces. If indeed you decide to source light from the ceiling a Chimera Pancake or even a specially constructed box light using photofloods would be appropriate, as the most important thing in maintaining a dramatic and ominous look is to control the light off the walls. I’d then use a tiny light like a Dedo, Pepper or Mole Mini, controlled on a dimmer to cleanup and fill the faces in closeups as they will also provide the eye light that shows the character’s inner self.

JS