Todd Terry
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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[Jon Barrie] “has half a second silence (no audio) at the start and the end.”
There are plenty of network spots that have wall-to-wall audio, starting at 00:00.00 and continuing right up through the :30 mark, even into fade-out (if there is one).
I’m not saying it’s “right,” just saying it happens.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I’ve never personally tried this, but am just passing it along…
[jon agnew] “There really isn’t any household or commonly found items that should be used for cleaning your lens.”
Pretty much true, but with one notable exception, at least from what I hear….
I know several DPs (one of them ASC) that swear by plain ol’ ordinary Glass Plus widow cleaner, the stuff you can get right at the grocery store.
But, they say, use only only only Glass Plus, and no other brand or type of home window cleaner. Apparently it has no amonia, abrasives, or other chemicals that can harm lenses or their coatings. One of these guys uses it on his set of Cookes that probably cost more than my house.
And yes, of course, never use bath tissue or anything like that on your lenses (if you value their coatings). Scraps of well-laundered 100% cotton cloth work well (now you know what to do with those ancient tee-shirts).
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Well… “Film Directing Fundamentals,” by Nicholas Proferes is a very good book….
…but I will warn that it gets into some fairly advanced stuff. It might be a good second book to read, maybe starting first with something on a little more basic filmmaking technique and perhaps after you’ve done a bit of experimenting and shooting on your own.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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The water seems to be getting a little muddy (or just hard to explain) here, so I whipped out a little drawing that hopefully will make it clearer…
Here you see the two actors sitting on the bench and a bunch of camera positions, seen from above…
Tradition and usual blocking theory would dictate that the “line” goes between the actors (shown by the dashed line)… and that you should keep all the camera positions on one side or the other. That is, you can shoot from any of the blue camera positions, or the red positions… but not mix-n-match. You can move from the blue area to the red area if you have a physical camera move (such as a dolly from the blue area to the red) which re-establishes the camera position, and then you would stay on the new side of the line until you have some other visual device to get you back to the other side.
But then again, rules are made to be broken… and the lines can constantly move… you see this a lot in big dinner table scenes where you have a bunch of actors in a circle… the lines are constantly being re-established. You’ll also sometimes see scenes in movies where the director pays no attention to the lines at all… sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Those usually work best in scenes with lots of action, lots of camera moves, and lots of general movement going on.
Other dramatic changes can allow you to cross the line as well. Lets say you started with a wide establishing shot from behind the actors (in the blue area). You could then cut to a closeup of one of the actors from the red area, and that would be fine, even though technically it is “crossing the line.” But you would probably want to establish a “temporary” line that is perpendicular to the other one and stay on that side of the camera line for that particular cut.
T2__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I agree… unless your contract stipulates otherwise (and ours usually do), even though you may consider it your “baby” the client pretty much owns it and can do with it as he/she likes.
That’s why pretty specific contracts are important… rights to specific elements (i.e., music, actors’ appearances) may be cleared for one particular project but not another… and if the client takes the project and cuts on it or re-uses elements in a different project they may be infringing upon some of the individual rights holders.
As for “I absolutely reserve the right to put my name at the end of it,” things may be a little different across the pond but here in the Colonies that would be a little unusual… I agree with Mike, it’s not really the norm for corporate pieces to have credits. We don’t ever put them on corporate pieces, and I don’t think our clients would allow them. Much like we don’t put credits on commercials.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Steve Wargo] “On your monitor, two people having a conversation will never look to the same side of the frame.”
Well, that’s true only if the people having the conversation are looking at each other… (the way people normally do when they talk).
However, in this instance, I think the conversation will be with two people both looking away in the distance at something… in that case, since the “line” is still between the two people… then yes often the two parties will be looking at the same side of the frame.
That’s perfectly normal, you see scenes like this all the time. The most common way you see it is with two people driving in a car. The line is between the driver and passenger, perpendicular to the direction of travel. If you shoot a CU of the driver or the passenger from the same side (which is perfectly acceptible), then they are both looking at the same side of the frame. What you wouldn’t want to do is move the camera position to, say, the back seat (without some device for getting back there), as would be “crossing the line.”
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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In this instance, the traditional line would be east/west… i.e., an invisible line connecting the two subjects and extending to infinity in each direction. It doesn’t matter that the actors are both facing north, the line is still drawn between them, which would make it east/west and parallel to the bench, not perpendicular to it.
Traditional directing theory would then dictate that you should keep all camera positions on one side of the line, which would basically be a position in front of or behind the bench… and not “crossing the line” unless you physically do a camera move that accomplishes that, or come up with some other device or cutaway to let you cross it.
BUT…
Rules are made to be broken, and I can see how you might be able to establish a north/south line (perpendicular to the bench) and still make it work… you would have to have much more careful blocking though.
It’s all just theory, ya know…
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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It depends on the type of lighting instruments that you are using.
Of course plain ol’ dimmers (i.e., rheostats, “squeeze boxes”, etc.), can’t be used on flo’ or HMI instruments, but they can be used on tungsten instruments.
The problem is, that tungsten blubs only maintain their color balance at full juice… as you decrease it with the dimmer, yes the intensity of the light will drop, but so does the color temperature. So as your instrument gets dimmer and dimmer, it also gets more and more yellow. If you dim just a little it might not be noticable or great enough to cause balancing problems with your other instruments… but if you dim way down there will be a very obvious color shift that you may have difficulty matching with other instruments (unless you gel those a bit warmer).
Of course, if you happen to be shooting B/W, you can dim to your heart’s content.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Was just curious about Gekko pricing, but there don’t seem to be any US dealers listed on the website.
Are there any?
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Yes, I believe the XLH1 has some compatibility issues with some devices controlled via LANC, especially third party devices that weren’t specifically made for it. I’ve never had an LANC problem with my H1, but I’ve only used it for remote starting/stopping our P+S Technik converter… I haven’t tried it with a remote zoom controller yet.
I seem to recall in the past someone having the same problem with VariZoom remotes… if I remember correctly some VariZoom models would work not work with the H1, but one specific model would.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with your camera, its settings, or your remote… I think they just don’t happen to be a compatible combination.
I think I would ask the remote manufacturer if your model is compatible with the Canon… and if not, whether they have one that is.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com