[Leo Ticheli]

Goodman’s Guide has no equal.

You can get one from Panasonic: https://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11201&catalogId=13051&itemId=86637&catGroupId=14430&modelNo=VARICAM-BOOK&surfModel=VARICAM-BOOK

Never leave home without it!

Good shooting!

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

In most cases, video shutters work differently than motion picture camera shutters; film cameras typically use spinning mirrors which may or may not be adjustable in angle to a certain degree. Some high-end HD cameras also can use a spinning mirror, but most are simply electronic switches that control the duration of exposure which is the equivalent to a mechanical shutter angle.

There may be an extraordinarily small difference in the effect of an electronic shutter and a spinning mirror shutter because the spinning mirror exposes different parts of the frame earlier or later depending on where the spinning mirror clips the frame. This might be detectable shooting past vertical lines with a moving camera.

Naturally, a film camera cannot operate with no shutter because of the time required to transport the film from frame to frame. Video cameras can operate with the shutter at any “angle” including “off.”

Of course you should use the electronic shutter if you wish to achieve the film look; typically 24 fps with a 180

[Leo Ticheli]

Are you talking about color correction or painting with light?

A color meter will tell you which gels to use to “correct;” to use gels artistically, it’s a matter of personal taste and vision. Just as tubes of oil paint don’t come with instructions, gels are decided by the eyes of the cinematographer. Just experiment until you find what suits you.

Good shooting!

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

In the real world, things can be complicated, but I do have a pretty simple rule of thumb; if you have to think about whether or not something is ethical, it probably isn’t.

The most erroneous homily every coined is, “nice guys finish last.” In point of fact, nice guys usually finish very near the top, if not first.

Best regards,

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

Thank you for that post, Ron!

I’ve found that ethics do count. We have never called on the clients of someone who brought their work to us, nor will we ever.

Over the past twenty-five or so years, we’ve “lost” some business to former employees of my company; so what? If someone else can better serve a client, they deserve the business. In most cases, we retain our clients because we do good work and we’ve developed a good relationship with them in many areas. Most clients need all of our services and enjoy working with several people on our staff, so it’s difficult for a new boutique shop to serve them as well as we can.

By the way, we don’t use non-compete agreements; I really don’t think they are enforceable in our business and I would think it’s a mistake on many levels to prevent someone from earning a living from a client who wants to hire them. What good is that? Short-term gain against your most precious commodity. Just seems petty and small to me. It surely won’t make the client in question have warm feeling for you and I doubt they would be bashful about letting the community at large know about it.

The people I know in the production business are good and ethical people; those who care only about “business at any cost,” don’t seem to stay around long. In my market we have a sense of community; there’s not a doubt in my mind that I could call on any of my competitors to borrow a critical piece of gear in an emergency, and I believe they feel the same way about us. For certain we are all very generous with business advice and technology sharing.

Am I harmed by helping a competitor? Is my competitor harmed by helping me? I think not.

Thanks again, Ron.

Best regards,

Leo
Director/Cinematographer… OK, I also have a little piece of a production company.

Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

I agree with most of what’s been posted on this thread, but I do have a comment about employees breaking off to do their own thing.

I’ve had many good people train at my shop and then spread their wings; it’s just the natural order of things. Usually, they are very successful. Sometimes, they come to realize that the “business” part of the business is not nearly so attractive from the captain’s chair, but usually they are successful on their own for the same reasons they were successful working with me.

I am a supporter of everyone who’s ever labored here; they’ve all worked hard and deserve whatever rewards they can earn after they move on. True, they are competitors, but they are also colleagues and friends; we rent gear to them and help all we can. I definitely tell anyone inquiring that they are in business and recommend them when I can.

I’m actually hired by a few of them from time to time and that’s always very gratifying. When you become an old dog it’s nice to be treated like a favorite uncle!

Best regards to all,
Leo

Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

Try a simple search in the VariCam forum here at the Cow and you’ll find a site that has some nice scene files.

Good shooting!

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

BE CAREFUL! I’m not so sure that Panasonic condones this and, if you break anything, you’re on your own.

You are about to enter the Cam Service Menu, a dangerous place to fool around. Don’t even touch anything else there!

To enter the Cam Service Menu, hold down the Shift and + buttons in the timecode section while pressing the Menu button on
the side of the camera.

In the Film Main Menu, use the front jog wheel to cycle through the Main menus past Main Menu 4 to reach the Cam Service Menu.

Go to the Service Option sub-menu and change “EXT. FRAMERATE” to “ON”.

You will now have access to frame rates 1 through 60. For the light streak effect, you may wish to turn the shutter off when shooting 1 fps to give the maximum possible exposure of one second.

Good shooting!

Leo

Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA

[Leo Ticheli]

If you own the camera, you need to get some hands-on work with an experienced VariCam assistant. If you are renting, the rental house should give you a lot more information.

For the most film-like effect, start with a 180

[Leo Ticheli]

I’ll wrap up my comments with this.

The electronic shutter is interactive with the frame rate to produce the desired exposure duration, and thus the amount of motion blur. Unlike a film camera, the shutter can be turned off, eliminating the blanking period entirely. Material captured with the shutter off has the same temporal effect of shooting interlaced, 60i. Of course there is no odd/even line flicker with progressive.

For most story-telling purposes, audiences prefer 24 fps. In my book, and certainly to my taste, that makes it better. I’m curious about your early tests for your show; did you prefer the look of 60 fps over 24 fps, or did your post process influence your choice? What is the content of the show? The effect of the frame rate is more or less obvious depending on the amount of camera/subject movement. For example, there’s little motion blur on something like a talking head and a great deal in rapid action.

There are zero problems editing 24p VariCam footage, either as SD or HD; we’ve been editing with it ever since the VariCam first appeared. It’s entirely straight-forward. I’m happy to help if you are having some work-flow problem with it.

I do look forward to seeing your show; please give us a heads up so we can watch it.

Best regards,

Leo
Director/Cinematographer
Southeast USA