Cinematography

Hi People,

Do any of you know of a good site that you can sell camera equipment on?

Thank you.

Marci as you are in Los Angeles, the easiest is Craigslist. Seriously. Buying or selling gear in a location where the industry has a large footprint can be easy. Lots of potential buyers and sellers. To reach a larger audience, with some added complications, Ebay is another likely suspect.

With Craigslist make sure to take appropriate precautions when completing the transaction.

try the letgo app

https://lensfinder.com and https://www.sharegrid.com

I'm betting this is just a lull before a cascade of good, mid budget, beautiful to the eye films comes our way in a few years. People are bound to get tired of looking inward. They'll need DPs to show them what's out there.

Remember the days of Dad and his brand new 8mm camera? History has a way of repeating itself.

Yeah but I wouldn't say "bad" necessarily. We're past that point now where lens adaptors would provide telltale signs of up-and-coming DP's. Digital Cinema Cameras now are almost idiot proof when it comes to exposure and focus. So rather than suggest it's bad, I'd assert that cinematography today is getting...awkward. Where the framing, movement and compositions seem off.

The overall image still somehow looks professional only because the sensors are great in low light and forgiving in overlit situations. So it's way more obvious when the camera placement is not conforming to traditional eyelines, continuity or coverage. But doing so in a sloppy way that distracts rather than helps.

M L. technology used has zero to do with professional results. A camera is as good or bad as the human behind and the lighting, subject and scene in front of it. All of those things are cinematography. It's about craft, and while there are more self taught talented DPs, operators, editors, and directors today than in the past, there are vastly more mediocre or worse people with very nice equipment making garbage.

Good tech won't save a badly written, horribly acted or poorly photographed/edited feature film. It's true. But what good tech will do is highlight the amateur hour in a way that confuses the audience. It all "looks" like a movie. So why does it suck? Well, that becomes all too obviously NOT about it's budget.

Right... since so many people these days assume that anyone who bought a cinema camera is a DP, and there are so many film festivals that will accept just about anything anyone submits as long as it plays, it's easy for people who have no talent to find people who will pat them on the back.

I saw one in a Thrift Store a couple of months ago but it wasn't worth the $20 they were asking to me. You got a lot more 'Thrift stores' in LA. I find costumes, props and all sorts of film suitable junk there - I picked up a 128gb class 10, 98mbs card for $1 last week.

Donate to a local film school or to a sound stage like Kaufman studios. They got flatbed trucks to pickup.

There are no schools in the NYC area (that I know of) where the students shoot anything on film. Kaufman would have no use for it, they aren't an editing house. Calling DuArt would be longshot.

JD Hartman My film school has hundreds of 16mm movies in their vaults and I know other film schools have 16mm libraries. Having a steenbeck is one way to view them.

Thank you to all who have made suggestions! I’m following all the positive ones. I know there is a place for it.

Andrew Sobkovich you rock, thanks a lot for all these details. What cam do you use for your productions? Besides BPCC, what camera would you recommend with fair prices?

My usual choices for main camera are Sony Venice, F65 or F55, Alexa, or Panasonic V35. Various other cameras for specific shots or scenes.

Fair price is a relative term. What whole camera system can give you the images you want for your projects at a price that is doable is probably the better question. Make sure to consider the whole system though, camera, lenses, record and backup media, brand support in your area etc. If you are buying for a specific project, is the camera the best for that project and might it be best on anything else? i.e. An ENG type camera for shooting documentaries, is somewhat compromised as is a full production camera trying to shoot quickly in unstructured situations. The right tools with the fewest compromises that helps you create your images is the sweet spot. Make a list of the things you want, then prioritize it.

Camera choices are based in very personal criteria. The reasons for my choices my not be relevant to someone else. The knowledge and experience to make choices that fit what you wish to achieve is more important than going with what others are using. Trendiness does not supplant actual performance just as technology does not overshadow art.

Lets not forget that lens choice is also very important. Not all cameras can easily take all lenses.

I own one and I love it. However. BMD just release a pocket 6K this morning for only $2500. It has a super35, does desqueezed anamorphic and has an EF mount. Gotta say I am thinking of selling my 4K.

Many low budget folks us phones now with stuff attached, been meaning to look into that. I would guess the Black Magic has better lens/shutter options..

Thanks to everyone for Techie info here. I'm marking thread so I can come back to it later.

Check your state's and city's film commission, check your city's theaters and university ...

Online posts to local actors groups or online film board listings. Also as a Director/writer as well as cinematographer I find it helpful to take acting classes to get better at what I do and I meet them there.

There are casting websites, used by casting directors, where actors post their profiles, including headshots and resumes and usually clips and/or reels of their work. The most well known in Los Angeles are Casting Networks, Breakdown Services [Actors Access], and Casting Frontier. There are other casting forums as well - do a search for "casting sites." Casting directors post breakdowns of characters for their project, and actors or their agents will submit if they see a match for the actor. Here is a recent blog: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/best-free-casting-websites/

Shots fired...lol

Good reminder-thanks!

I did see and interesting dynamic range test between digital and film. Film was outstanding in over exposed situations but digital had better low light performance. I know it depends on the camera and the film stock. But I think it would probably hold true as a basic rule.

The film stocks of today are very dynamic and have a lot of range. In a lower light situation, I was able to pull more image out of the shadows than I have seen pulled out of digital. With the B&W Tri-X, you can get really cool saturation and range in the blacks! Really cool stuff! Tried and true! Fun stuff!

Tri-X has been around, unchanged, for a long time. For good reason, nice film stock.

I recall measuring in excess of 5 stops of latitude on 7266, the 16mm version. This is backed up by the Kodak published H&D curves which indicate 6 stops at most. While this is great when compared to colour reversal stocks, it is not anywhere close to the over 15 stops of total latitude from current digital production cameras, or even the 12 stops or more of less expensive cameras. The underexposure latitude of the Alexa, Venice, or V35 is easily 8 clean usable stops. Sorry, Tr-X does lots of nice things, but pull more info out of the black areas of the image? Sadly, no.

Other than for very specifically degraded images, when shooting film the choice of shooting Super 8mm to insert into a 35mm or even a 16mm picture was just not done. Resolution and grain were the first BIG differences that kept it from being even considered. Sure it was done by a very few, but not with any regularity and rarely by the same people twice.

As much as I miss the process of shooting film, I doubt that I will ever shoot another foot. Knowing exactly what the images would look like when watching dailies was something to be learned as part of becoming a DP. Finding the little unexpected visual treasure in the images was a wonderful bonus.

Enjoy shooting film, love the feel that the process gives the images you create, but do so while being realistic about what it is.

Occasionally I do some S-8 film for the effect, but it has been years now! Not sure where I would get that processed anymore. I did copy "film style" shooting recently by doing an "in camera edit" short at an art show. No editing allowed, just point and shoot clip after clip and use all as the film. Have not had a chance to look at it yet.

One thing one could do regarding this "The cost & editing simply got out of reach" is shoot in film and then look at the footage and only transfer the best segments to digital for editing.

Re my ranting on Worms eye view. Apart from obvious POV of onlooker, a kind of fourth dimension can occasionally be achieved, in that the person or thing the protagonist is looking at becomes a character also. These three camera pans are three different takes on exactly the same moment in a film. YES they look completely different, but they are exact same moment from a different angle. Just an example of how well worm's eye view works in horror/shock. Happy July fellow Horror makers.

Thanks for sharing this!

Debbie, your "worm's eye view" shot falls into the category of a "subjective shot". As delineated in many places, there are 3 shot types, objective, subjective and point-of-view. Mascelli's very worthwhile classic textbook "The 5 C's of Cinematography" explains them nicely. Of course these are very broad categories.

Hi @Andrew I agree about text book terminology. But some shots do not fall into a written formula because of the “thoughts and feelings” surrounding a take. If a baby was being smothered and this is what their little eyes see, I would say POV from purely a psychological viewpoint.

I do love your "worms eye view" description :-) Certainly evocative.

Mascelli had a specific approach when describing, over many pages, what shots are. Worth reading and then moving on.