Rick Wise
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COW Coin
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Shoot a test. You’ll soon find your answer.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
For $500 more than the $5,000 budgeted, I’d sure consider the new version of the Canon EOS C-100, the Mark ll. It seems to address many of the shortcomings of the original version. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?N=11086125&InitialSearch=yes&sts=pi
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
So true! First of all, it’s the story. As we all know, one can make fantastic pictures with a Kodak Brownie, and fantastic movies with any damned camera there is, provided you know how to use it. Given a choice, I would always opt for the camera with more pixels and more reach into highlights and shadows. But if the choice were between shooting with camera X and not shooting at all, I’d choose camera X and make it work as best I can.
It seems to me that is exactly what the makers of Tangerine did. Had they a choice of a better camera, they’d have chosen it. But they didn’t have the choice and they mastered the situation. Geoff Boyle’s comments seem to me to remain highly cogent.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Mark, I don’t think I quite understand your “squaring” comment. The filmmakers used:
“We came across two things that elevated the look,” Baker said. He used a Moondog Labs anamorphic lens and an app called Filmic Pro to get the film’s grainy and sophisticated look.”
How does that not square with either what Geoff Boyle is saying or the use of FilmConvert? There is never just one way.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Also see this fairly long piece by Phillip Bloom on FilmConvert:
https://philipbloom.net/2013/08/16/filmconvert/
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
As Mark points out, context is everything. What “look” best reinforces the message?
When we play with shadows, we are adjusting a couple of parameters: direction of the shadow, and the hardness-softness (“quality.”) In the first posted query and examples, for the kid on the right, the key is at the same height as the kid’s face, so the shadows go straight screen left. Usually (but not always) it’s more pleasing to raise the key so that now the shadows are driven down at an angle. Note for the Rembrandt-patch look, the key is approximately 45 degrees above horizontal, and 45 degrees away from the direction the actor is facing. Much depends on the shape of the face. When done correctly, the shadow side of the face is mostly in shadow with just a patch of light into the eye on that side. If the actor is looking into the lens, the key can be on either side of the camera. If the actor is looking camera left, the key is 45 degrees further to the left. Etc.
After deciding on direction, the cinematographer can dose the hardness-softness of the key. For talent, a very soft key is far more pleasant than a hard one. Most interviews (but not all) look best with a very soft key. Sometimes (but not always) an angled slash or three of hard light across the chest works well. Etc.
After deciding on direction and quality, the cinematographer goes on to how much fill? backlight? lights on the background?
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
As usual, there is absolutely no “rule” to answer your question. Everything depends on the story. There’s a wonderful series of “slider” (actually dolly) shots in the movie, Road to Perdition, which tells in a montage fashion the story of the two major protagonists robbing banks. Every move is left to right. But one could easily fashion a different story where each dolly move was in the opposite direction.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
If you want a book, Digital Cinematography by David Stump is a good place to start.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Some beautiful shots. I would recommend you cut this down a bit. Once we see a character, unless we are going to follow him/her for a while, we don’t want to see him/her again. Ditto for the street car. Use it as open and close, perhaps. I suggest your next purchase be a better tripod/head so that you can smooth out your pans. Very nicely shot and the music works well. Possibly add some ambient sounds such as children’s laughter, the sound of the street car, etc.?
What city is this?
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Thanks, Todd. About the fan: there are some online threads about changing out the fan for a noiseless one on the 100 watt version, for those who want to tinker. I suspect this light will work fairly well, but without finding someone who has actually used it, I’m not going to risk the bucks since returns are prohibitively expensive. I’ll probably end up paying 2-3 times the money for a reliable Mole-Richardson LED, probably a Baby, though what I’d really like is the 400 watt version of their LED Junior. All pricey.
I don’t need battery power since I’ll be using this light for still food photos for my wife’s blog (http:wisekitchen.com)Up to now I’ve been using the sun with diffusion and some hard light from a mirror as this photo shows: https://rickwisedp.com/studioi.html But in the winter the sun is often just not there, so I need to replace it.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com