Todd Terry
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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I can’t speak with a ton of authority since I’m not a Sony guy (I shoot Canons), but are you saying that the “normal” Sony recommended and default ISO is 2000??? That is high. Not just high, but sky high. For most of the Canon EOS pro line (such as the C300 which I shoot) the optimal ISO is 850, and I think that is fairly in line with most flavors of cameras these days (and just a few years ago even 850 was considered astronomically high).
If you are shooting at an IS0 of 2000 and having grain/noise issues, I’m 99% sure that is the complete and total source of it. Unless you are shooting in extremely dark environments, have very slow lenses, and are shooting at high f-stops, there’s no reason to shoot with it that high. Aim for shooting with the lowest ISO you can, and I think your images will be much cleaner.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Bill is right, its your wide iris that is causing your focus issues due to the shallow depth of field.
Me, I’m personally usually an uber-shallow DoF guy… I’ll typically shoot f/1.3 or thereabouts, and yep depending on the distance or focal length that can give a DoF as shallow as an inch or less (fortunately both my usual AC and I are both reasonably good focus pullers, but it can still be a struggle). The key is eyeballs… if a subject’s eyes are razor sharp in focus, then it gives the perception that the entire subject is in focus. You’ll often see sharp eyes but soft noses and ears, but it still looks “right.” But if a subject’s eyeballs are even the tiniest bit soft, then that throws everything off.
But here’s the thing, even if you like shallow depths of field like I do, usually there is no reason or need for them in most greenscreen situations. In fact, the opposite is true… the higher your f-stop and the deeper the depth of field, the sharper your edges will be on things like shoulders and hair and everything else you need to composite, giving you much cleaner keys without having to worry about edges and fringing and such nearly so much.
SO… just crank those f-stops up to at least f/.5.6 or so, and I think you’ll be happy.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Yup.
And since this is front view I can’t tell how far from the drop the instruments are positioned, but obviously they need to be a fair distance in front of it to wash the backdrop evenly.
Also, remember that you don’t need any more green than is needed to cover your talent. Even if a wide frame is the completed shot, unless your talent is walking around and taking up all the real estate on the frame you don’t have to have green any wider than will cover them… the rest is just garbage matted out. Ergo, you could put your side instruments in a lot more, if that helped even the lighting, as long as they don’t interfere with the talent’s blocking. Heck, in probably half or more of my greenscreen shoots you can see a lighting instrument (or two) in frame if you look at the raw footage… it’s all removed in post.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Actually I also usually put a couple of instruments (on C-stands on the floor) positioned vertically on either side of the actor. Sometimes I will add one or two horizontally up in the grid like your drawing shows, but usually I really just use the vertical ones on the floor. Now, I’m usually not shooting head-to-toe including the floor, so with a bigger setup like that, yes, I’d probably use those above as well. And might find I need some sort of little special to hit the feet area to illuminate it enough and kill shadows as much as possible.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I have to say, food shows seem to be on the TV in my house a lot (not my choice, I couldn’t be less interested in cooking), but I have to say that I have watched them just from a directorial and production standpoint. I honestly can’t say I can remember ever having seen a slow-mo shot in a food show. Ever.
Maybe I need to be watching more closely, instead of just imaging Giada De Laurentiis cooking for me….
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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There’s absolutely nothing wrong with guerrilla style gear. I’ve been doing this for 25 years and while I have a lot of the very highest-end toys you can buy, I’m not afraid to go the cheap or homemade route when that’s the best or most economical way to do it.
For wallwashing or greenscreen washing without breaking the bank, I would not hesitate to recommend hitting Home Depot or Lowes and buying 4′ florescent shop fixtures, which you can get for about $15 or so. I use these on stage here in our studio ALL the time because they are fast, easy, cheap, VERY low profile, and actually put out very pretty and nice even light.
If you want to get fancy you could put real Kino tubes in them (or even the green tubes), but honestly for greenscreen work since high CRI is not at all a factor, the off-the-shelf tubes from the hardware store would be just fine… you can grab either daylight or tungsten balanced ones, depending on what the rest of your lighting plot is (but then again, since it’s just for the greenscreen even that isn’t super critical, it’s ok to mix color temps). You might have to shoot with a clearscan shutter speed to make sure you don’t have any flickering, but I think I got lucky in that the ballasts in the instruments I have don’t flicker at all, so I can shoot at “regular” shutter speeds just fine.
SOMEwhere on the COW (years ago now) I posted quite a few pictures and DIY instructions on how to turn cheap shop lights into very usable and mountable instruments. I’ll try to look for it when I get a chance, or feel free to search yourself. It was likely in the Lighting Design or Cinematography forum.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Robert Bengraff] “Googling “Reality Food Show Production Budgets””
Well, I think you can take “food” out of your search… just based on the little bit of description you were able to give us, unless I’m missing something, the fact that it is a food show wouldn’t likely really differentiate its budget from any other kind of out-and-about reality show. I would think that if it were a reality show about people who collect classic cars, or fly model airplanes, or go to gourd festivals or collect potatoes that grew in the shape of presidents’ heads, or whether it’s Guy Fieri dragging his fat loudmouth homophobic self around from one diner to another… production is production. I think you might have more luck researching budgets if you don’t limit yourself to just food shows.
Good luck!
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Robert…
Sorry you’ve had a bad COW experience.
The COW has not changed… it’s still full of nice, polite, and helpful people. Please don’t have your opinion of all of us colored by one experience, or shy away in the future.
The thing is, Bob Zelin has not changed, either. He has always been a horse’s ass, and always will be. I say that without any fear of offending Bob, because he not only knows that but PRIDES himself on being seen that way and will probably take it as a compliment. He’s a smart guy so I’m not sure why that’s his M.O., but it is. It’s sort of his hobby, I guess.
I wish I had some thoughtful advice about your cooking show, but that’s one genre that I’ve stayed away from like poison. But… I do think your guess of $50-$150K a show is probably in the ballpark for something like a Fieri-esque show. That’s about what a typical mid-to-slightly-higher range cable show would run per half hour.
Good luck, and don’t be scared off from the COW.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I actually thought that was very beautifully done.
SO much so that I’m really hard pressed to find fault with it. Ok, I’ll force myself… I wish we couldn’t see the subject wearing a mic. But then again, you really have to look for it, so even that is an uber-picky thing.
Very very well done.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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You have responses to your identical post in the Canon forum of several days ago… the general consensus being that it was a somewhat confusing question….
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
