[Todd Terry]

Cool… it’s not just the motor-to-shutter drive train, but you’ll want to make sure the film movement hasn’t had its lube dry up as well… and also the servos that control the lens.

One thing I wanted to note… I did find that on very long sound takes (takes that were a couple of minutes long or longer) that my camera’s speed wasn’t dead-on accurate 100% even though it was crystal-controlled at 24fps (you’ll want to make sure the little 24 or 25 plug is installed in the battery box). The good thing is the speed was constant, it didn’t waver… it just wasn’t accurate.

I mostly produce television commercials where takes are short so it didn’t matter one bit, but the few times I needed really long takes it did. So… whenever we did long takes we would do a tail slate as well as one on the head. With the two slates, we were able to adjust the speed of our audio track so that the length between the two clapper marks was exactly the same as the film, and then everything stayed in perfect sync. Hopefully that was just an anomaly of my particular camera, but it is something you might have to watch out for. It might be that our 24fps audio recording was actually 23.976, whereas the film recording was a true 24fps… or maybe the film was shot at 24fps but the lab telecined it at 23.976…. I’m not sure where the problem was. But if you do long takes I’d definitely do tail slates as well until you know how accurate your speed is.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

That’s great, Anthony…

Loved the old Bolex Pro, I still miss it…. and the one you’ll be using has the better of the two lenses that were made for it, which is a bonus.

It is a massive beast, but you will enjoy using it.

One note though, any film camera that has been “sitting for over a decade… untouched” will very likely (in fact, I’ll say “definitely”) need a clean-and-lube (especially lube!) before you pull trigger at all. The lube in the motor and bearings and such has probably gone by the wayside.

If you can manually inch the motor (I think there was an inching wheel somewhere, but I honestly don’t remember) and everything seems like it’s moving freely and silky smooth then you might get away without needing the C&L, but pleeeease do that first, don’t just power it up and hit the trigger without making darn sure nothing has seized up over the last decade.

One slightly sad note, looking back over this very old thread I saw where at the time Rick mentioned the Digital Bolex… which was a very cool camera. I was sad to learn just this week that the company didn’t make it and they stopped producing and selling the camera last year… a shame since it was a cool thing.

Happy shooting!!

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

For something held so few times and with such a small number of students, I don’t think you could ask for much… maybe a couple hundred bucks.

Any more than that and I think the instructor would balk, considering it is just for a small private educational thing. They might even think that is too much, but it’s a starting point.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

I usually like buying stuff (I like owning things) and don’t really love renting things (our colleague Mark Suszko here is often the opposite)… but for an event that is only two times a year, I would say definitely rent the lighting gear you need.

You’ll get so much more bang for the buck, and I see that you are in Honolulu where I suspect there are a number of camera/grip/lighting rental houses (and a quick Googling proves that). Even better, maybe there’s a place that specializes in rental of theatrical lighting.

You won’t get much for a grand, but if you can budget just a couple multiples of that (far less than the $10K) I bet they can light you up like crazy. One of them might (even likely) would have someone on staff who could visit your venue, check things out, look at power distribution etc., and recommend exactly what you need (and that they have) much better than we could remotely here. They’d probably even do the setup and strike for you.

And being a university, they’d probably give you a “scholastic rate” or some such….

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Mostly the synergy of interoperability within the dynamics of vertical integration.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Hey Craig…

No I didn’t look at samples… I’m directing on location today so while it is easy for me to type, I’m not where I can see screens well enough to judge any footage.

Nor do I have any handy links to C300 Mark II samples, but I think they should be easily Googleable.

One reason I haven’t moved to the Mark II is lenses. I love love my lenses (have used them for years though several cameras now) and don’t want to give them up. Yes I could use them on the Mark II, if I got the PL mount body (which I have now) instead of the EF mount body…. but…. one of the reasons to go Mark II would be to take advantage of all the good things like focusing aids that would require EF lenses. So I’d have to get a whole new set of cine primes in EF mount. That’d be several tens of thousands of dollars in new glass (probably easily $100K to get what I really wanted), so that’s a roadblock. I could sell my cine primes to help fund that little excursion, but that’d made me cry. The only upside is that the lenses have appreciated a fair bit. Cine lenses (especially those of a certain type and vintage) are just about the only piece of hardware in our business that doesn’t plummet in value the second you drive it off the lot… so I could sell them for a fair bit more than I paid for them… but I reeeeaaaly don’t want to do that.

I think glass is one of the reasons I’m a hardcore Canon guy and not a Sony guy (aside from all the buttons!). Sony makes really good cameras… but they do not make very good lenses (which is totally understandable… they are an electronics company, not an optics company). Of course you don’t have to use Sony lenses, but a lot of people who shoot with Sony bodies simply do. It’s a hard thing to define, but native Sony lenses just look very clinical and sterile to me, they definitely tend to run on the cool side and are very contrasty. Contrasty lenses are a good thing, but there’s a fine line between contrasty and too contrasty and I think a lot of them cross that line for me. I like Canon lenses a lot better…. but then again I don’t shoot with Canon lenses either…ha. I’d be happy with a Sony body, but it would certainly depend on the glass I put on it. It definitely wouldn’t be Sony glass.

Of course, just my personal pref….

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

I’ll just chime in with one quick last thing….

I don’t like to over-obsess about specs too much… these days all cameras are technically great. The only worthwhile test instruments at this point are your two eyeballs… so that’s what you have to please. There’s definitely a Sony “look” just like there is an Alexa look, a Canon look, and so on. It just depends on what you prefer. I’m not a big fan of the Sony look, although I know many people are, which is fine. I am a huge fan of the Canon look, and my current and last three cameras have been Canons, and my next one will be too, most likely. Before that, I shot Sonys. Before the last camera or two I also shot a great deal of 35mm film, and to me the Canons are what come closest to giving me that organic look and feel. Totally just a personal preference… to me Sonys always have an electronic look to them rather than a more organic look, but that’s fine with some, and perhaps many people even desire it.

I’m a lot more concerned about the glass being used than the body it is attached to (the lens I use daily, and have for many years, are worth many times more – both emotionally and financially – than any body they are ever attached to). The lenses you use are the most important piece of the puzzle, and if you love the glass you have then whatever camera can happily use them will probably do you just fine, and that’s when you look at features, not “specs.” That’s another reason I’m a Canon guy… I’m old school, I like buttons and switches and Canon isn’t afraid to cram a couple of dozen physical buttons on the body, whereas many others make you dig into on-screen menus to control those things. I hate menus with a passion, ergo I’m a Canon guy. If that isn’t a factor for you, then certainly take that out of the mix.

The link to that FS7 looks like a pretty good package and is of course dirt cheap which is a huge bonus… but me being me the first thing I looked at was the glass. That zoom they have bundled with it has a very wide range, which is good… but it is slooooooow as molasses (largest aperature is f/4!) so if you shoot a lot of interiors, low light in general, or are a fan of shallow depths of field, you’re going to want to make sure you have a way to attach your primes instead.

But as I said, at this point, they are all great cameras though.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

I’m going to suggest something completely different that’s not on your list but seems like it would fit perfectly.

In my opinion (and yes, just an opinion). the Canon C300 Mark II is the camera that rivals the Alexa, probably much moreso than some of the others on your list.

I have used the C300 (not the Mark II) since they first came out and it has been my favorite camera ever. In all likelihood the Mark II will be my next camera.

Some plusses… it is a “real” video camera designed to shoot video… not a DSLR or mirrorless still camera that is being tasked to do something it wasn’t primarily designed for. DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are great tools, but to me a still camera is still a wrench when you really need a screwdriver.

Also, it’s well within your price point… due to competition Canon has really dropped the price, the body is now only $12K.

And biggest plus of all… you said you already had Canon cine lenses.

Another plus, it will record 4K internally, so you can save your money on those Atmos recorders.

And lastly in that line of plusses… the picture just can’t be beat. Period.

Now the negatives…

It’s a lot bigger than something like a little A7, but that just comes with the territory… if you want a “real” video camera, you’re going to pay for some of that with size.

The last contention is a zoom lens, which you said you want. You won’t get that body and a reallygood zoom lens for your $20K, no matter what the camera…if you are wanting a real cine zoom. In fact, you won’t even get the lens itself for that much. Really good and real cine zooms are going to be more expensive than that (the two that I’d love to have, but don’t own, are pushing $50K each… which is why I don’t own them). But you could get a lower-end or DSLR-designed zoom or two within that range which might serve perfectly fine depending on your needs… but they might not be super fast, and wouldn’t have the features that a real cine zoom has.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Hey Robert…

First of all, very good work… especially the compositing. Good job.

Since you were asking for comments/criticism, I’ll just give you one….

To me, compositing and motion graphics are two pretty radically different and disparate things (others may disagree). I’d personally probably rather watch a reel that is only compositing and one that is only motion graphics, rather than one that is mixed together. Or… if you do want to put them on one reel, I’d personally probably rather see one that has a compositing section, and a motion graphics section… rather than ping-ponging back and forth between the two.

From a reel standpoint, that’s about my only comment. With compositing reels I always like to see what the artist started with and finished with, and how all the bits and pieces came together… and yours does a good job of that.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Well I’m still going to reply because I’m intrigued and confused after reading both this and the original post.

How can an entire production have a “SAG/AFTRA rate” anyway? That union covers on-camera and voice actors only, has no jurisdiction over any other aspects of the production.

But the bottom line, for any existing completed production that you own outright, when you sell it you can charge anything you want for it, obviously. I’m assuming you’d pay your talent additionally for the extra usage, but how much you do so is dependent on whatever original agreements were in place with them. If the buyer is using that production to craft a new production and using a SAG actor, only the SAG actor is under the jurisdiction of the union.

And by the way, you can’t really depend on what SAG/AFTRA says anyway… as a producer they have absolutely no teeth to get you to do as they wish, no matter what they say… and they’ll say a lot. They are also one of the most difficult and ornery organizations you’ll ever want to deal with… and I say that as a card-carrying SAG/AFTRA member, myself.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com