Cinematography

Thanks for sharing!

Geoff Hall Thank you for posting this. Metropolis is an amazing movie, with a story that is as relevant and thought provoking now as it was. The effects must have been awe inspiring when the picture was released.

This is the kind of picture that has the ability to drive home the impact that our medium can have. The strong mixture of social commentary with art creates an enormously effective experience for the viewer. Just watching this for the cinematic art is incredible but misses what the total experiences offers.

If anyone has not seen this picture then do watch it. Entirely worthwhile. I’d be very interested in the thoughts of anyone here seeing it for the first time. Might be that I am adding intensely rose colored glasses to my memories.

Andrew Sobkovich rose coloured spectacles? Never! I just wish I could travel back in time and see it in a Berlin cinema when it was released (January 10th, 1927) and also watch the audience’s reaction to it. I love the film and I also have the version with the extra reel found in Argentina.

Andrew, is this your favourite Lang film?

Geoff Hall The rose colored glasses view is mine, but I’ll share :-).

I’m very much a science fiction fan. The imagination, the visions, in so many books and stories is wonderful. A great escape that I’ve used since shortly after I learned to read. As such Metropolis is my favourite Lang picture by far, in a class all of its own. Certainly parts of his contemporaneous “Woman In the Moon” has some wonderful scenes and is apparently the origin of the now universal countdown from 10 when launching a rocket but as a movie it is way too long. Lang’s movies are worth watching because of the expressionist art that always sneaks onto the screen to varying degrees.

Great concept! Thanks, Stephen Folker

Absolutely! Interesting to see even big Hollywood movies use tiny, cheap cameras, for quick shots, mostly, but still they look good enough to blend in to the rest of the shots!

Love this site.

Nick Waters - that makes two of us!

Barry Lyndon is a beautiful movie. Wish people could see it projected again.

These video essays are usually quasi informative. The text and quotes in this one reminded me, a lot, of the American Cinematographer magazine article on Barry Lyndon. For good reason.

Thankfully the ASC is quite good at achieving articles. Please read the article which is mostly a great long interview with the DoP John Alcott. Much discussion of “natural” light as depicted in the picture. The magazine used to do long in depth interviews with the DPs and was very informative about cinematography, not merely trending toward being another fan magazine. The magazine was very worth reading as this Barry Lyndon article shows.

https://theasc.com/articles/flashback-barry-lyndon

Andrew Sobkovich, thanks for sharing the article. I'm going to give it a read today. :)

I LOVE THIS MOVIE! Thanks for sharing Stephen!

Makes two of us Nathan Woodward! One of the greats!

Barry Lyndon is a perfect movie. Beautifully shot.

Looking forward to this class!

While I’m not really a fan of these omnipresent video opinions, this one has enough of Roger talking that it keeps my attention. Listening to him is always a worthwhile use of time and utterly enjoyable.

I do wonder how many thoughts of his will be misinterpreted by some viewers.

Andrew Sobkovich Yes, I came across a lot of video reviews on what they thought Deakins was doing, or yes, seemed to lose the thread, listening to too many Chinese whispers.

Andrew Sobkovich, where is EMANUELLE LUBEESKI DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY?

Joao Janeira Nobrel. i’ve not spoken with Emmanuel Lubezki for a number of years. Sorry, but I do not know what he is up to at this time.

I understand. He last saw himself winning the OSCAR in 2016 and then disappeared. Thanks for the feedback !

This is very cool - thanks for sharing!

Cool stuff! With the right VFX people, the sky is the limit! Thanks for sharing!

Sydney. Crazy right. It's amazing what can be done.

Sam and Stephen. Glad you guys enjoyed it. I was super impressed.

Joia de curta ! Parabéns Ryan, pelo relato desse trabalho !

Cameras are cameras and the principals are always the same. But as far as computer workflow and post is concerned, be careful.

Educators probably want to stick with digital gear that's relatively current. Current file types and bit rates and lens mounts. Digital changes really fast and learning a 7D menu is pointless since nobody shoots on them anymore. It would be like teaching everyone to use the Digital Bolex or an AJA Cion.

If you want to teach a U.I. the Blackmagic pocket cinema cameras are a good place to start. Used ones are cheap. Also the Sony line is getting amazing these days. At least NLE's will recognize the files.

Hi there Frank; thanks for posting!

I can tell you that your Lenses are more important than your camera. That being said, that's a mighty fine camera.

Thank you for this critical perspective, M LaVoie

I heard that more often, Nathan.

Hello! I haven't worked with the BLACKMAGIC URSA yet, I would like to know if any of you have handled this camera. It has the PROS and CONS, but it's for outer planes.

My favorite camera is the one that lends itself best to a given project. I have no preference as they all have strengths and flaws. But I'll admit that I like Alexa and Venice sensors A LOT.

I personally own a Blackmagic Pocket 4K for smaller projects.

I work with lots of different gear but I own and operate the RED Epic Dragon 6K DSMC2 as well as a couple of BMPCC 6Ks and a 1 ton G&E package where I still like to use HMIs. LED tech is awesome but nothing gives a crisp punch of daylight like a mercury vapor globe. The 200 Silver Bullet is my favorite. I own a few.

Michael Fitzer - what's been your overall thoughts on shooting Red vs Blackmagic. Cool profile pic, btw.

Am still looking forward to Cinegear but I will not cross a picket line.

The WGA is currently involved with a labor dispute against the AMPTP. While Paramount Studios is a member of the AMPTP and owns the venue where the event is being held, attendees of Cinegear are not doing covered work (scripted television).

WGA has no contract with CineGear as an entity. Attendance can happen through the neutral gate.

Paramount is in the AMPTP. If the WGA is picketing, entering Paramount studios lot is crossing a picket line. Whether by the front door a, a back door or a double-nought spy-guy cloak & dagger super-duper top-secret entrance, it is still crossing a picket line. Only possibility will be if the WGA says it is ok to attend, and that seems highly unlikely.

The choice of attending is up to the ethics of each individual

It's a trade show and independent convention where people meet each other and vendors. There's no reason to think it would be an issue to attend. Regardless, last week the WGAW Assistant Executive Director stated that “the WGA has no policy or statement specific to Cine Gear."

Thank you for that clarity, Gareth Taylor! That's very helpful.

100% agree with E Langley. We shot on film for a century and made mistakes along the way. It's no different with digital. People make mistakes even when seeing the result immediately. Especially on green screen. It all comes down to experience. Having the right people onboard lessens the opportunity for mistakes.

I do feel your pain and frustration though, Nathan. That's a huge bummer.

Shot millions of feet of film. It is very dependent upon knowledge, skill and experience. Maybe initially, for each person, there was some little trepadation in rushes, but in reality there should be very few surprises. In the first decade or two of shooting there might be some chance of surprises. By the time the title of DP was earned, having tested the sensitivity, knowing the light and the exposure, the results are absolutely known before screening rushes. Surprises might be in the content but never in the images. If not, the "DP" should not use a title that is earned not taken.

While I haven't shot anything narrative on film, as a photographer, I started my career shooting 35mm film. And to this day, I still shoot 120 film. There's something magical about loading the film and thinking of the image and the anticipation of waiting to see how it'll look. Love it. But nowadays for filmmaking - I'm going for what's practical / easier.

This is such an interesting case and always fee that more choices are better for filmmakers and DPs. Thanks for sharing, Ashley!

Ashley Renee Smith I suppose that if you have developed the technology and have the patent, then you want to protect your product. My limited understanding is that patents are time limited anyway, so they could wait for that to expire? No/Yes/Maybe?

Andrew Sobkovich I’m intrigued by your answer, Andrew. No Red cameras on your set. Please educate me. Is that because of reliability issues, or quality of image capture, or the mechanics of the camera? I would love to know.

Geoff Hall I do not use Red cameras. There are other choices, and I opt for those. It is a personal decision with the camera and company forged link by link like Jacob Marley’s chain. For me it started when a director demanded we test the RED One for a commercial even though it was still in Beta release (it was replaced before it ever came out of Beta testing). My crew was getting full rate for the test days, so sure I would test it. I was curious. Well, the 92 second start—up time told me a lot about the people who designed it. We shot color and resolution tests, were going to start into a full exposure test when the camera failed. Wouldn’t turn on. Calls to RED for help elicited an interesting response that was approximately like this:

RED - “can’t turn it on, okay, is it powered?” me - “yes as it was when it worked and power supply still has the correct output and we tried 2 different batteries”

RED - “what is the firmware version?” me-“Where do I find it?”

RED- “in the menu”. me - “I can’t turn the camera on”

RED - “OK, what is the software version?” me - “Where do I find it?”

RED - “in the menu”. me - “I can’t turn the camera on”

RED - “you need to update to the latest software”. me - “I can’t turn the camera on”

Utterly pointless waste of time. with a failed camera and failed support. No, RED was no chosen for the project.

The results of testing that we did get in the can showed that the “4K” camera could not see all of the colours in the REC709 standard. The dark areas were very noisy. The actual resolution recorded in the test was far far below 4K. It was simply not a 4K camera in the way I consider what 4K is. Before RED’s advertising campaign, camera resolution was what the cameras actually saw not the number of photo sites. Actual tested resolution was significantly less than the 4K I got from a 4K film transfer. For me that experience, product that had a terminal failure, poor test results, all with equivalent customer support, pretty much ended my interest in the camera. And made life annoying with “K’s” not actual resolution being discussed. That was just the first interaction with the camera.

On a shoot where the cameras were dictated by the producer (I needed the gig), I had 2 REDs shooting and 2 spare bodies. By lunch on day 1 we had 4 cameras that were overheated. Resorted to shooting with 2 cameras for an hour then swapping out to trying make the day. On the second day we were down to shooting with 1 camera and swapping it out every half hour in a rotation working through all 4 bodies one after the other. By the end of the second day we were way behind schedule. Changed cameras that evening and eventually caught up to the schedule. Producer never talked to me again.

RED brought out an extended latitude camera. At first they didn’t want to admit that there was a secondary much shorter shutter time exposure between the regular frames. At a presentation by RED of the camera I asked about the 2 exposures being at the same time or a different time. I was told “it depends on what you mean by at the same time” by the witty salesman. Obfuscation is the polite term for that answer, in the meeting I didn’t use any polite terms in the response.

Referring to the original post in this thread, I am very aware of some of the details of 2 separate actions (not against me). Both were counter to my ethics.

These are just a few of the incidences that kept piling up. Image quality, build quality and support issues just kept building up. The rare problems from other manufacturers were always fully admitted to and fixed. Almost from the outset it was obvious that there would be no point at which I would choose to use a RED because of a laundry list of issues. I know of projects that were done with RED cameras and everyone was happy. When approached about a project and I am told “we are shooting on a RED”. I decline immediately wishing them a good shoot with whoever made that choice. As I said, this is obviously a personal decision based upon my experiences over an extended period. A decision that I have seen no need to reverse. I’m sure nobody at RED is loosing sleep over this.

Andrew Sobkovich Thanks for your reply. That’s quite a catalogue of disasters. I will steer any DP I work with away from a RED camera. Low budget films can’t afford to drop days because of camera malfunctions. And overheating. Yes, I’d heard of that problem as well as the noise in low-light scenes. With such scenes, what is your weapon of choice? I’m curious and want to learn. Thanks again for taking the time to respond so thoroughly.

Geoff Hall As I said, my reasons are personal, wide-ranging, and built over an extended period. Other people may have different experiences. Respect that. The decision is up to the DP you are working with to deliver the images you want. Trust your choice or change. A simple discussion based upon “why?” should tell you the thought process. Trust your ability to listen and think, and your choices. The only caveat to asking “why” is from an owner/operator as other reasoning may come into play. I only know of the current range of RED cameras through others so cannot speak directly to the image quality. I’ve not seen anything that makes me wish to try again.