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Rick Wise
July 28, 2009 at 6:38 pm in reply to: Lighting with Black Background

I couldn’t agree more with Mark. Black Formica makes a terrific background for table top. There’s only one problem with it, actually two: every spec of dust tends to show up so you spend a lot of time just before rolling blowing/brushing away those specs, and it scratches easily. One of the reasons it looks so good is that it acts like a mirror (though that also means you have to be careful of any reflections.) Place or drop a product on it, and you get a slick, darker mirror reflection.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Rick Wise
July 24, 2009 at 5:51 pm in reply to: need help for choosing right camera

I hate to disagree with one of my esteemed colleagues, but I am going to do that. You do not “need” 4:4:4 or anything else of that level to make a great movie that can be turned into 35mm film. Agnes Varda shot “The Gleaners” with a consumer SD camera (VX2000) and it came out just fine on film. Many others have put out brilliant looking films shot with similar cameras.

What you do need is the ability to make a great movie. Only way to get there: do it.

Now, if you want the best LOOKING movie possible, then you “need” 4:4:4 etc. But you also need the ability to light and shoot brilliantly.

Concentrating on the technical gear first is not the answer. The first thing to find is a really terrific director — maybe it’s you. The second thing to find is a really terrific DP — maybe it’s you. The third things to find are a terrific production designer, and a terrific wardrobe person. And then, a terrific editor. Etc. Getting key people on board your project is where your energy should go at this point. The choice of gear will follow.

Oh yes, and then there’s that bothersome thing called a script. That’s really the first thing of all.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Rick Wise
July 23, 2009 at 7:30 pm in reply to: need help for choosing right camera

That’s pretty much an impossible question to answer. Have you sent your Z1 in for focus check? I’d start there. As for recording formats, Panasonic has gone over entirely (?) to AVCHD, and many other cameras use that codec as well. This causes all kinds of problems in post unless you have a very, very powerful computer and the latest version of your NLE. Workarounds include converting your files to other formats. Do a GoogleSearch for AVCHD Problems and follow the threads and ideas. There’s a very complete Wikipedia article on the subject.

If you cannot fix your Z1, then obvious choices include:
–Sony Z5
–Sony Z7
–Sony EX1
–Sony EX3
–Panasonic 200a
–Panasonic 170
–Canon equivalents

Go to the BHPHotoshop website and track down each one for prices and user comments. Do GoogleSearches for reviews.

It is never the camera that makes a great “film.” It is the mind and eye behind the camera. You could get a Canon HV40 (tape-based, single chip) for $830 and make a great movie, or a pile of garbage. You could get a Sony EX3 for around $8,000 and make a pile of garbage, or a great movie.

Since you think you will have a film-out for theatrical release, contact the lab that you want to do the conversion and ask their advice. But first, do your homework. Work up your list of potential cameras with the good reasons you might want each, based on everything you can find out about each one. If you go on another fishing expedition with the lab, they will not pay you much attention.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Rick Wise
July 21, 2009 at 6:39 pm in reply to: Shooting People – How do you go about it?

You can try “tricks” such as using a mirror. However, I strongly suspect that the way the shooter of Sofia’s People got those results are by they way he/she interacted with each subject. The shooter had the charm and the verbal patter to relax subjects. This is a skill some people seem to have naturally, and many others of us have to work to acquire. Practice, practice, practice. Above all, start out relaxed yourself. Don’t look for some “end.” Instead, adapt to what is happening in front of your eyes and lens. Think of this as an exploration. You are out on a human adventure.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Rick Wise
July 17, 2009 at 7:25 pm in reply to: Same Day Edit – Wedding

My understanding of AVCHD is that post is very, very difficult unless you have a very powerful computer equipped with the latest NLE. So I’d go for the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro and make sure your software is up to date. Do let us know how this all works out.

Doing a same-day-wedding edit will be quite some feat!

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Rick Wise
July 16, 2009 at 2:58 am in reply to: Reprinted at Rick Wise’s request

Norman,

This thread is a classic example of why it’s important to post on the Cow, and not try to contact one of us directly. You received all kinds of expert advice I could never have given you. And most likely this thread helped untold others with similar problems.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Rick Wise
July 14, 2009 at 3:05 am in reply to: Reprinted at Rick Wise’s request

[Norman Willis] “I don’t mean to whine, but Boris does not support RED on VP9x64, so now I am looking to work with VP9x32, and see if I can get RED to work with that. Also, last week I could get Cineform NeoScene to work on VPro9x32; but then I tried to install the 64 bit Beta, and now I cannot use NeoScene either on VegasPro9x32 or VegasPro9x64. So far the old QuadCore is cutting it (and my main workflow dilemma is DSL upload speed of the finished product to Vimeo), but does one have these kinds of hardware/software compatibility issues with Apple?”

Well, you are certainly far more advanced than your earlier post indicated. In fact, at this point I suspect you know much more than I do about computer issues. I’m sorry that you are having difficulty with Red footage. Do you have Vegas version 9? That version is, I am told, supposed to work with Red. Boris is another matter. Why do you need Boris?

As for FCP, it too currently has problems with various cutting-edge footage.

You don’t speak to the ultimate need factor I posted: do you want to freelance as an editor, or are you working more or less on your own or with a group where you can set the NLE?

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com
Rick Wise
July 14, 2009 at 12:14 am in reply to: Reprinted at Rick Wise’s request

[Norman Willis] “I got steered towards Vegas because I was using PC. The more I get
> involved with it, the more frustrated I get.
> I am hoping to align myself with the ‘winning’ hardware-software
> combination, because it would be nice just to learn ‘the best’
> hardware-software combination, and then not have to re-transition later.
> I was intrigued by your post (of a few days ago) about Mac being the
> most professional platform; yet you also use Sony Vegas. Why?
> Also, do you see Vegas ever ‘growing up’ and becoming a truly
> professional tool, if Sony were ever to decide to get behind it? Or
> are there inherent hardware/software limitations in the Vegas/PC
> package that will always make it inferior?”

So let’s answer the questions, one by one:
the “best” hardware-software combination: There will be endless debate on this topic. Best for whom, for what, etc. Let’s put that one aside for now.
Vegas “growing up”? It is and has been grown up for a long time. Many of its features are better than the main competition, FCP. As for Sony “getting behind it,” Sony seems indeed to be very much behind Vegas. Unfortunately, it appears that we have one of those marketing in balances such as the market war between VHS and Beta formats. Although Beta (another Sony product) produced superior pictures, VHS won out and Beta died. (Both are mainly dead now, replaced by other formats.) As I posted earlier, if you want to freelance as an editor, you are far better served learning to edit with Final Cut Pro than learning Vegas. 99% of job posts require a FCP editor.

Bottom line: if you aim is to become a freelance editor, switch to the Mac and learn FCP. If you are editing your own work or working in a small house where you can decide the platform and NLE, you will find Vegas far easier to learn and eventually easier to use. Which is not to say it is “easy” to learn right away. You seem to be frustrated right now learning Vegas. I’d suggest you download for free for 30 days a copy of Vegas Movie Studio 9 from the Sony web site and start cutting with this consumer model. The reason: it is full of tutorials and how-to’s and that makes learning the program much easier than the full-up pro version which skimps on these helping hands. Use Movie Studio a lot for free for those 30 days, and then switch to the full-up. Everything you learned will be there, and so much more.

After that, if you are still having trouble, invest in a book and some video tutorials.

If, on the other hand, you decide to go the Mac/FCP route, then your costs are decidedly higher, though your future more open. Again I’d start with the consumer version, but alas there is no free download, no free trial basis.

If you have more questions, respond to these posts or start a new thread. There are no bad questions, other than not doing a little bit of research in the Cow archives for the topic that troubles you.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com

Rick Wise

July 13, 2009 at 9:15 pm in reply to: student entry camera — another choice?

Thanks for all your input! All good notions.

Rick Wise

July 12, 2009 at 11:34 pm in reply to: grouping does not hold

Thank you, Theo! I knew I had done something stupid. You found it.

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