cineBlog

Shooting With The Sony EX1

Bill Dill, ASC — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:03:46 -0700

Sony EX1

I'm shooting all over Europe this summer with the Sony EX1.

The title of the film is The Red Tandem. You can find out more about the production here.

We shot some in LA before we departed for London. The LA shoots gave me a chande to experiment with the camera a bit. The director David Gibbons and I also had to work out how to get the look of the movie with this little camera. We did tests in advance of production, of course, but we needed a couple of easy shoots to determine a working method that would work for us for the rest of the shoot.

Part of the look of the movie was figuring out how to achieve a kind of stability of the image yet keep it playful, youthful, somewhat naive, yet keep a feature quality image integrity. We settle on a kind of hybrid feature, verite style. I added the idea of shooting time lapse photography to convey a sense of playfulness. We tried to establish frames and let the action happen in the frame.

Another element of the prodiction was that we needed to shoot in vehicles a lot. I started out shooting this material handheld. Then I tried stablizing the camera with the back of the front passenger seat. Yesterday, as we left London, I settled on mounting the camera on a tripod situated between the passenger and driver's seats.

I'll talk more about the look as we mover forward.

So far we've shot in London and entering Paris. I'm in Paris right now on my day off.

I have to write these entries in the lobby plus I'm stil a little burnt out from the shoot. I'll try to write more later.

Been A While,?

Bill Dill, ASC — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:43:37 -0700

Wow, it's been while, Huh?

Life can get in the way of things can't it?

I'm going to start working on the blog again this summer. I'll start with CineGear Expo. I'll post some reviews of things that I see next week.

Also I'm going to post some observations on Final Cut Studio 2 (FCS2) now that I've had a chance to play with it for a while.

Related to this, I'm also going to start posting observations about the reel making process. It's astounding how powerful the new tools that are out there are. I've had a chance to do some work on Avid Media Composer and I'll talk a little about how I worked with it to do the finishing on a film I short a while back. I've had a chance to work with it in the Color program of FCS 2, so I'll have some thoughts about that to publish.

There's so much going on that I feel I need this as an outlet to formalize some thoughts in my head in prep for writing the book I've been putting off doing for a while.

One final thing, let me suggest that you link to the RSS feed of this blog. This is great for keeping tabs on what's going on without having to explicitly point to it unless there's actually something new happening. Just press the "syndicate" link in the upper right-hand corner and you'll have in in the address field of your browser.

So, during the next couple of weeks wish me luck in getting my hands on an iPhone and stand by...

Konica Minolta Flash Meter VI

Bill Dill, ASC — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:34:30 -0800

The Flash Meter VI is the worthy successor to the wonderful Minolta Flash Meter V. I guess most noteworthy is that it's both a spot meter as well as an incident meter. This is obviously a response to the highly successful Sekonic line of incident/spot meters, most notably the L558 Cine.

My main reservation about this meter is that it doesn't read foot-candles. Also it doesn't directly compensate for filters though, as on the FM V you can enter a stop offset which I've found works just fine. It has an analog T-stop scale that runs all the way, top to bottom covering the entire length of the face of the meter. That's an obvious nod to the old Cinemeter. I have to admit a sincere affection for the Cinemeter with all its flaws.

There is an exposure range function that, though not new, makes good use of the combination of luminance and illuminance features of the meter. The users manual is available on-line. It's broken into parts one and two. You might want to take a look at it before you seriously consider this complex meter.

One advantage of the Flash Meter VI over the L558L is that the Konica Minolta meter uses a single AA battery as opposed to the CR123A used by the L558 Cine.

Film School According To The New York Times

Bill Dill, ASC — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 18:59:52 -0800

There's an interesting story in the NY Times about the practical/impractical (depending on your perceptive) nature of film school.

LaCie d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe

Bill Dill, ASC — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 01:16:22 -0800

I saw a Lacie external DVD drive that I thought would be perfect to burn reels on. Besides the fact that it's extremely fast (16X) and double layer (8.5GB) you flip the DVD over and the burner prints your label design on the other side. It uses the same laser that it uses to burn the data on the DVD to burn the image you want on the other side. This makes for a professional looking presentation of your material.

It also comes with Toast & for the Mac.

On-line Sun Position Calculator - Isitinthecan.com

Bill Dill, ASC — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 14:39:51 -0800

I've discovered an on-line sun position calculator that is a great alternative to SunPath if you don't already own that program. It can be found at Isitinthecan.com.

I corresponded with Mike Brackenridge, the designer of the site. He's obviously worked hard to create a well designed tool.

The displays are both thorough and clear. The site is fast with a clean user interface. The printouts (below) are as good as anything else on the market.

There are lots of locations available whose calculations are absolutely free. However, for $18.00 For A Year subscription, you get full use of the site. That fee gets you the printer friendly output you see above as well as an extensive database of locations. I consider this an extremely reasonable price. For a professional cinematographer, this is nothing less than a service to the industry.

Google Earth

Bill Dill, ASC — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 11:47:16 -0800

Google Earth is an invaluable tool for location scouting. It is now available both for the Mac

as well as the PC.

I've been playing with it for a while now on the PC. It just dawned on me what a great way to look at potential locations. In addition to the obvious, which is getting direction to locations, (it will actually drive the route for you), you can get an idea of possible conflicts with traffic noise from freeways. You can look at elevations that might effect sun times as well as possible problems and solutions for lighting night exteriors.

The amazing thing to me is that it's all free of charge. Download a copy today and see if it might be useful to you.

If you've been waiting for Google to take over the world, they already have.

Soderbergh's Release Schedule of Bubble

Bill Dill, ASC — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 22:38:23 -0800

I read an interesting article in the LA Times about the simultaneous release of his new film Bubble theatrically, on cable and on DVD all at the same time. This is an interesting and important development for young filmmakers in general and cinematographers specifically. What will we concider to be medium of highest impact in the future? Will it continue to be the theatrical release of our films?

New Version of FrameForge 3D

Bill Dill, ASC — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 13:55:05 -0800

FrameForge 3D Studio Version 2 has been released. I consider FrameForge the finest previsualization software I've ever seen. The new version has some remarkable new features.

The interface has been substantially improved. It seems a lot clearer, more intuitive.

A major new feature is a simulation of depth of field which they call TrueOptix™.

They say "This is not a Parallax simulation, but is true Depth of Field based on the optical properties of the frame, its circle of confusion, the f/stop and point of focus."

I'm not so sure about the value or accuracy of the DOF tool because I don't know how it could take the powerful influence of psychology into consideration. However,

I consider the new distance measuring tool a major improvement for the cinematographer.

Unfortunately the new Room Builder feature is not yet available to the Mac OS version. They say they will provide this feature as a free update as soon as it is finished for the Mac.

I haven't had a chance to look at it yet but as soon as I do I'll do a review of it here.

Eastman Kodak's Cinematographer's Field Guide

Bill Dill, ASC — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 14:32:16 -0800

The Cinematographer's Field Guide in its printed form has been a wonderful source of information for years. It's available as a PDF from the Eastman Kodak website.

Terrific Article On Color Space

Bill Dill, ASC — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:37:39 -0800

The ASC web site has a terrific article on color space which was posted in its January 2005 issue. It's full of great graphics and lays out the subject in an extremely clear matter and in real depth.

There is also a part two that was published in the April 2005 issue.

MacWorld 2006 -- Strange Days

Bill Dill, ASC — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 01:59:53 -0800

Steve Jobs' keynote speech at Macworld 2006 had lots of surprises for the Mac faithful. It seems, though, that the speech had plenty for rest of the computing world too. Both Apple (in the form of Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing) and Microsoft (in the form of Scott Erickson, director of product management and marketing for Microsoft’s Mac business unit) have been quoted by MSNBC as accepting the possibility that the Microsoft Windows operating system will be running on the new Intel based Macintosh hardware.

Anyone who has hung around this story for a few years should have his/her head spinning at what happened this morning. Microsoft, Intel, Apple -- all nicy nice and cozy together. The one nice reminder of the old days was the new knife edged commercial Apple will be running to promote the new machines.

PC's -- "Dull little boxes, performing dull little tasks." Now that's the old Apple we used to know and love. Let's hope the Mac doesn't become just another of those dull little boxes.

HMI Safe Speeds and Shutter Angles Spreadsheet

Bill Dill, ASC — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 11:19:37 -0800

This is a spreadsheet that helps to calculate HMI Safe Speeds and Shutter Angle combinations.

Bill Dill, ASC

JVC HDV Camera Demo

Bill Dill, ASC — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 17:16:08 -0700

Yesterday we received a demo the new JVC GY-HD100U 24P HDV (DV) camcorder.

This was an impressive little piece of gear. The clear design idea was for the use of this camera in ENG applications and education. The camera can be configured with a full studio setup.

The camera has interchangeable lenses. This is the key feature of this camera. We screened the images from this camera through a high quality high def direct view monitor. The image from the camera, even in the standard institutional lighting of a hallway in Demille Hall at Chapman University was impressive. The big problem came when we screened material that had been recorded on the on-board HDV recorder. This recorder records with MPEG2 compression. The reduction in quality of this recording from what the camera itself can produce is considerable. The recorder can only preserve 19 Mb/sec of data. Standard definition DV is 25Mb/sec. The image uncompressed from the 1/3" chip of the camera is already a reduced 1280X720 progressive image but was impressive. The recorder is a real problem.

The other drawback with this unit is that the images can not yet be edited in 24P. There's no facility for editing the footage from this camera with either Final Cut Pro or Avid. With the quality of this little camera I'm sure this will happen. The price of the camera, as we saw it was in the vicinity of $7,000. Amazing

Kung Fu Hustle: Enter the poor promotional campaign

Bill Dill, ASC — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 00:58:07 -0700

The Kung Fu Hustle I saw is not the film I saw promoted in it's trailers. This is a hard core, Hong Kong action pic which brings it's funny side above the surface. The trailer simple promote the slapstick aspects of the film. This is not Airplane. This is not Caddy Shack. This is closer to Jackie Chan, John Woo, Chow Yon-Fat. I enjoyed it, but then again I liked Airplane and Caddy Shack too.

"90" Screens at the Newport Beach Film Festival

Bill Dill, ASC — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 00:38:41 -0700

The Newport Beach Film Festival is in progress right now. I have a group of students with screenings in the festival. The film is entitled "90 ". Jason Wise is the director and writer. Jake McCurdy did a brilliant job as cinematographer and editor. The film screens:

Wednesday April 27 9PM
Edwards island 3

Tickets are $10.00

To buy tickets call 866-NBFF-TIX
The film plays in the Getting Your Shorts in a Twist program.

It's a fine film.

Where Are All The Comments?

Bill Dill, ASC — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 23:47:11 -0700

I've noticed that there's plenty of traffic on the site but almost no comments. Much of the value of the blog is lost without active participation on the part of readers. If you have questions ask them. If you have questions about the info published here ask about it. If there's something that you'd like to know more about, ASK. If you just have observations that you think others should know about post a comment. I may be able to augment your comment with a post of an article to follow up.

The other thing that would be helpful would be to post reviews of recent films you've seen.

Lite Panels

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 17:12:28 -0700

I've been enamored of fiber optics HMI's for years for lighting in tight spaces. I got a terrific demo from a company called Lite Panels. This is one of the first uses of a technology that we're going to see more of in the future, solid state lighting. These little units are just beautiful. You have a lighting source which is extremely efficient from a power standpoint. It remains cool in use and creates a lovely quality of light. It's also dimmable from 0% to 100% with little change in color temperature.

Microdolly Hollywood

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 13:50:29 -0700

Microdolly Hollywood makes a line of clever little camera support gear.

Film And Digtial Times

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:44:54 -0700

I want to call your attention to Film And Digital Times. This is a new newsletter published by Jon Fauer. I spoke with Jon at NAB. The inaugural issue is due out for May/June 2005. The first issue is full of great info. It's beautifully written and design so it's as visually pleasurable as you would expect from Jon if you've seen any of his previous offerings. There is a PDF sample available of the first issue. Their phone number is 877-445-8301. Ask about their educational discount. Tell them Bill Dill, ASC referred you.

Don't Forget The Varicam

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:21:29 -0700

One of the things that comes out of NAB for me is the sophistication of the PanasonicVaricam AJ-HDC27F. The way theVaricam handles data it allows for the manipulating of frame rates in a sophisticated way (4-60 FPS). With tape, when recording slower frame rates there is lots of redundant data. Now that we have solid state recording we’ll start recording data only as needed by the actual frame rate. This is possible because the Varicam has the capacity to record 60 progressive, unique frames of data persecond. Keep the Varicam in the mix when you think about shooting a film in digital.

Online DOF Chart (by Guy Livneh)

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:32:34 -0700

Since my palm started acting up, I felt PCAM-less so I found this online depth of field char t .

I have not tested it's accuracy yet.

Skater Mini (by Guy Livneh)

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:17:33 -0700

Another interesting device was the "Skater Mini" which seems to work very well for smooth small camera moves:

J.L.Fisher have it for rental.

Venom use on the Arri D-20 (by Guy Livneh)

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:14:29 -0700

There is another bit of news i got from the Arri tech at their booth.

Apparently they are striking a deal with Grass Valley for the "Venom" flash mags to be used under a different name for the D-20. I think the images shown at the Arri booth were recorded using HDCAM SR so it can only get better.

Lowel Ego

Bill Dill, ASC — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:01:59 -0700

The following info came to me from a fine cinematographer Guy Livneh.

In the Lowel booth there was a silly looking tabletop light named "Ego". In itself it was not impressive (could be an interesting prop) however the bulbs were interesting.

They were 27W daylight balanced fluorescent screw-in bulbs which could possibly be used in other instruments such as china balls etc. The color temp was better than BCA's et al. I hope to find a more inexpensive source for these bulbs.

Great Little Monitor

Bill Dill, ASC — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 16:51:29 -0700

I bumped into an English company called Hamlet Video International.

Dedo Attacks Soft Light At NAB

Bill Dill, ASC — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 16:47:46 -0700

There were a few things I saw at NAB that caught my eye and I'll try, in the next few days, to comment on them.

NAB: Almost Done

Bill Dill, ASC — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:21:25 -0700

Today I tried to focus more narrowly than on previous days. I decided to concentrate on cameras, projection and post production systems.

NAB Report For Tuesday

Bill Dill, ASC — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 21:21:48 -0700

Panasonic spoke a lot about the future possibilities of their systems. This was interesting. It was as if they were more enthusiastic about where theyre going than where they are. I was not overly impressed with the AD-HVX200 camera.

NAB Report

Bill Dill, ASC — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:00:00 -0700

Today I did my first introductory session at the convention...