The place to discuss, share content and offer advice and tips on all things lighting, framing, cameras, lenses and technique
Film makers, what is going on?
Please tell a simple viewer, why you don't use tripods or steady-cams anymore?
Why wreck perfectly good scenes with shakey camera work. Krikey, I wanted to vom watching The Victim (BBC). I was a victim of motion sickness. That, and most stuff, is really expensive and wel...
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“The Only Time You Get To Read A Screenplay Is The First Time” – Bruce Logan
And watch other videos there from this multi-talented Emmy-winning Director-Cinematographer-Writer-Visual Effects expert....
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Truth! When I worked at the studios we would read the scripts straight through to "see" the movie. After that when we went through it it was a part of the film making process/planning..
Thank you for posting this link Pamela. Anything Bruce says is certainly worth considering.
https://vimeo.com/105187081 Here's some more from the north everybody. Comments welcome.
Business tool - I like that!!
Typical Yooper propaganda film to antagonize the Trolls.
It's actually in the lower P.
Welcome to the lowlanders club.
Awwww Yisssss! I grew up in Waterford/Pontiac. I miss home bad.
Any crew members in the Orlando/ Central Florida area that would be interested in working on a comedy short?
Hi, Alana. Any call for crew is best placed on the Jobs board: https://www.stage32.com/find-jobs. Paid or not paid. You could also utilize "Browse" found in the upper menu bar and search our member da...
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Colin. interesting learning material. Then again (generally speaking) you could also say watching a feature that is set up this way is made for a 'lazy' audience. And if I remember correct, in most co...
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Totally correct, but what Wes Anderson does is lead the viewer's focus with track and dolly, job or panning from one side of the screen, or top or bottom, to then stop with the main subject dead center. It's always been his signature style and is always fun to see what he comes up with next.
Ok, I get it! It is "part" of his shot(s)! :)
Loved that. Thanks for sharing it.
LOVE this comparison! Same location, two different lighting setups, the "how to" and the "why", all in one! Also, it's with my girl Valentina Vee, so you know it's fun and informative!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fWbx0FMrJFg&...
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Does anyone else here follow Valentina Vee?
A peak into another side of our industry, really enjoyed the video. Thx for the share!
You are most welcome, Jackie! I love Valentina Vee's work, and this one for me was just so fun because of the comparison and the breakdown. Mmm, detailed BTS! LOVE IT!
Richard Teodorczyk, who's been a key grip on countless films and TV shows like THE BOYS and LOCKE & KEY is leading a discussion on the camera, gripping and electrical department, how to break in, and how to transition from these roles to DP or director.
This is our first webinar on then camera depart...
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I am too! See you tomorrow!
This is great to hear. I hope a lot of people catch these webinars. They’re super important for many different folks regardless of the depts they work in. Everyone should not only be on the same page on set but know why certain things are being done.
I'm wanting to do a series of scenes set at night in the woods, with lighting motivated by the moon yet want to shoot during the day and grade it in post. Are there any tips on how to make it look better during filming, or anything to avoid doing?
During filming you're at the mercy of the sun. You don't want a partly cloudy day with clouds moving across the sun. So go with the sun, or go with overcast (great big diffuser). Harsh sun means actor...
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Is there a reason you're trying to shoot during the day instead of at night? I'm assuming there is a wide shot involved?
Also, I found this recent video on DFN filming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
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Yeah, quite a few wide shots. Want to explore that option as it would be better for budget and scheduling to do it in the day time. If I can incorporate it into the style and give it a good look, think it'll be a win-win. Also thanks for the link, will look into filters too
Day for night is workable, but there are a number of pitfalls that end up being problematic. With the software we have available it is easy to replace the sky (try to avoid shooting the sky if you can...
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Here's another interesting vid about compositing. Now I want to watch all these films! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvLQJReDhic
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, composition really is a fantastic marriage between a director's vision for expressing the emotion or theme and the DP's vision for including as much of that emotional informa...
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What fantastic information about a KEY role in production (pun intended LOL) did you learn?! What's up next for you now that you have these pearls of wisdom?
I just checked out a couple of articles that mentions Stage 32's Education Services in the No Film School newsletter. When I clicked on the links below, I was offered a free eBook on How to Write a Screenplay during Quarantine:
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Thank you for posting this Pam, it would be hard to agree with you more. Would that we could find those Film School "teachers", with no experience in the industry, who espouse the idiocy that this cra...
Expand commentThank you for posting this Pam, it would be hard to agree with you more. Would that we could find those Film School "teachers", with no experience in the industry, who espouse the idiocy that this crap adds immediacy and action and intensity to a scene. Vomit inducing is rightly more accurate. I do think we might start seeing less as on set monitors grow in size. The larger the screen the more magnified the horror. The example I usually use is the first 3 Jason Bourne movies. The first, directed by Doug Liman, was a great thriller that was beautifully told. The next two "directed" by Paul Greenglass, went from awful to watch and then utterly unwatchable in theaters. I'm sure it looked vaguely acceptable on the 17" or at largest 24" monitors that were used for video taps at the time but how it would have made it through rushes screening is beyond me.
Sadly my wanting to be able to actually watch the movie and stay in the story is shared by you, but few others. We can only continue to fight this junk.and those who are exponents of creating new and wretched lows in production standards.
On a television special where we were shooting 35mm except for a few sequences that were to have a different look that would be shot in 16mm. My first assistant came to me with the next day's call sheet. She pointed at an item part way down, to be hot in 16mm, and said WTF is this? The sequence was tagged "shakey-cam BS". Wish I had kept that one.
Style was once described as something so awful it had to be changed every few months. This handheld style is well past its sell by date.
Andrew Sobkovich whew! Thanks for the explainer, and the admission. I thought I was the only one suffering movie-sickness. Nice to know there are filmmakers who still take the craft seriously. I was u...
Expand commentAndrew Sobkovich whew! Thanks for the explainer, and the admission. I thought I was the only one suffering movie-sickness. Nice to know there are filmmakers who still take the craft seriously. I was under the impression, stylistic crap was there to hide incompetence. Especially camera shake. But it's going on with really expensive productions. I completely agree with WTF - a little attention getting shake in a chase scene, but filming every scene with dialogue (worried the viewer might get bored if there are actually words being spoken) with something twitching, or moving, or losing focus, is absolute bollocks.