Just got back from a location scout for a documentary I’m shooting in early December. We’re doing a number of interviews and we’re thinking the camera of choice will be two Red Epics and possibly a 5D. Looking forward to shooting with the Epic again, especially now that the firmware has had several advances since the last time I used one for the “Annoying Orange” pilot.
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Now on sale…
Key Grip and friend Dwight Stone has made available an awesome piece of cinema tech. If you’ve ever had to mount a hi-hat to a ladder you know it can take some time, often need more than one person and a fair amount of gear. He designed a clamping system that does it all very easily and won’t stymie the operator with clamps, c-stand arms and the like. After several jobs using the prototype it’s great seeing the market version now ready for sale. Congrats Dwight!
Here’s a link to check it out in action as well as more detail.
http://www.gripnerd.com/1-step-Laddercam/
Who knew Dwight could be so good on camera!?
Spot meter scope cover
I once had a Minolta Spot Meter with a flip open rifle scope cover to keep dust from collecting on the glass. With the press of a trigger, the cap flipped open and most times it would be the talk of the set for a brief moment. Then I sold the meter and that was that. Filmtools still sells the cover for Minolta spot meters but I’ve got a Sekonic now. Tired of cleaning the front element of my spot meter, I got my calipers (yes, I have calipers… actually I have two… small and large… ’cause you never know when you might need them) …and proceeded to measure the barrel. What did I find? My L758-Cine at the widest part of the barrel is 36.6 mm (1.44″) and L608-Cine is 36.8 mm (1.45″).
Then it’s off to Amazon after a visit to Butler Creek the manufacture of the rifle scope covers I like. They sell two that interested me, the one like I had before with a trick red trigger, the Butler Creek Flip-Open Scope Cover No. 5 and another called the Butler Creek Blizzard No. 3 Scope Cover
↓ The Blizzard. You can line up the sight before opening the cap. Good during rain, snow or sandy conditions. Might be a good idea to have one also over the eyepiece.
↓ The classic. So awesome to have it back on my meter.
If you have a different meter, you’ll want to visit the Butler Creek website to find a scope cover that works for you.
Magic Bullet Suite 11 & Premiere Pro CS5.5
Just ordered the latest version of Magic Bullet Suite 11. Looking forward to using it as I update my demo reel this weekend, with hopes of having it done this week. In leu of recent developments with Final Cut Pro, I’m seriously considering editing my reel in Premiere 5.5. We shall see. Just finished selecting the music, tomorrow I’ll start editing and decide then. Can’t wait to see what’s new with Magic Bullet. More later…
2011-07-17 So far, so good. The first cut is done, now time to evaluate. I’m using Premiere as mostly a straight cuts system so, as can be expected, it’s working just fine. No crashing, it’s fairly easy to get around and, uh, yes, I chose to do it on Premiere. While I’m still tempted on using FCP7, I’m reminded of something I heard on a recent podcast by the RC’s Mike Seymour about why he switched from Aperture to Lightroom. He commented on the continuity of software made by a software company (Adobe) versus a hardware manufacturer (Apple). I love Apple and their products but long term consistency and stability are winning out.
Magic Bullet Suite 11 is also working out very well. Loving how fast things render. I’ve used almost everything in the suite except for Denoiser – it’s been doing unexpected things so I’m going to research that tonight. Cosmo, the plugin that softens faces, is fantastic. Not trying to make anyone look younger, just need to take the edge off of some wrinkles. Works great, easy and the results aren’t distracting. Colorista II is as good as ever. Looks has been well redesigned. The only, only, thing I feel it’s missing in Looks is that when you make an oval vignette, there isn’t any way of rotating the oval. It’s a little thing that makes a huge difference on vignettes.
Should be done tonight. More later…
UPDATE: It seems that with Cosmo, when you leave the “Show Skin Overlay” on, it renders it into the video. Opps. Still a great plugin though.
UPDATE 2: So my narrative demo reel is done. (click here to view) Next, update my commercial and music video reels. The whole thing was done with Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection. In all, I used Premiere, After Effects and Photoshop. The verdict? Well, in oh so many ways I much prefer FCS – better the devil I know, perhaps. If Adobe continues, as they’ve said they would, to support and improve these video applications, then yes, I’ll likely stay here using Adobe products. I’m not an editor, I don’t need do to this everyday and so for what I do need, it’s more than enough. It’s fast, worked with all the wacky formats I needed to drop into the sequence and most of what I need above and beyond the Adobe suite I can find in Magic Bullet’s Suite 11. Speaking of MBS11, I love it, period. My only gripe and I’ve already voice this to Red Giant (the folks who sell Magic Bullet) is that I can’t rotate the vignette. I’m not the only person to complain about this so I hope our voices will be heard and the minor improvement will be done soon. Other than that, for the level of color grading I do this combo is perfect. I will miss many of the plugin I have in FCS but it not as if I can’t still use it and will likely when the need arises.
Well done Microsoft, well done
I’m not usually a fan of Microsoft but I can’t argue with something good. I did a location scout recently and needed photos of places we were considering for later evaluation and planning. Whipping out my trusty iPhone, I started up the Photosynth app. It generates a 360° panorama created from numerous stills. You aim, it shoots, you move the camera a little to the right, it shoots a little more and on and on till you’ve photographed the entire vista you need and then you can watch it back as if yo were still standing in that spot. Here are some photos that might better explain the process.
I was in a rush so it could have been better but good enough for my purposes. Still you can tell what a good job it’s done where one photo overlaps another. Mostly very clean. Useful when having crew members review a location they couldn’t visit. Very handy little free tool. Kudos to Microsoft. Now if you can do something about your Office suite…
NAB 2011
After being sufficiently grumbled at on Facebook and elsewhere for not posting my thought on this year’s NAB, I took time away from my beautiful infant child to write a few impressions to ease the bellyaching lest the kvetching commence. (Besides, I understand. It’s not as if there aren’t 25,000 other site one could go to for such treasured thoughts. Although I have heard there’s this thing out there called the “internet”, hmmm…)
Like Justin Timberlake, Band Pro seems to have brought the sexy back. They showed off the Horseman TS Pro (below on the new Sony F3). It’s a shift/tilt system. I LOVED shift and tilt when it was all the rage in the first decade of the new millennium and I hope to make it fun again if I can just get a show that needs it. The unit below can be mounted on PL, Micro Four Thirds, Canon and Nikon and can accept a range of still photography lenses from various makers. Great for tabletop and architectural photographic needs where correcting for perspective skewing is a must as well as for just plan cool shots of stuff that’s out of focus. As a concept not really new, just awesome.
The ARRI Alexa with the Codex onboard data recorder. Compact and not too much of a rat’s nest of cables. Exciting workflow potential I’ve been spending too much time researching the past two months. Hopefully I can put that research to good use soon. Anybody wanna shoot? Generally, I have to agree with the overwhelming chorus of voices out there singing the praises for the Alexa image. But… (did you see it coming) I have to say that I’m still in agreement with RED that 4K is the way to go. While I will not shy away from using this camera, I welcome the day when I can also shoot 4K with it.
Mole Richardson showing off more LED product. I really like how bullet-proof this housing is. It definitely can take the abuse rental units get. DMX controllable, dimmable with no temperature shift, and 3200°K & 5600°K. Very nice design. I’ll take two.
Sony’s 4K camera the F65. It’s kinda ridiculously awesome and I look forward to hearing how very big shows will be using it. Shall we take a walk down Nerd Main Street? Let’s… 8K sensor, 8768×2324 single CMOS, PL mount, Super35 3-perf size churning 16-bit RAW output at 16:8:8 all with a very wide dynamic range and huge color gamut which based on specs is bigger than film. And if you read my last post, you see it came up again… the camera will support IIF ACES. Nice. The form factor is similar to previous designs, beefy but manageable in small doses. I image this will be the big Studio feature and television darling more than an indie fav.
GoPro cameras have seen quite a solid two years. Hell, I used one to document my wife’s delivery of our son. This little trick is impressive just on looks alone. Would love to see how it handles in the field. The footage they showed looks great (as show footage always does). While I don’t see it a viable option on a big screen feature (unless it’s a drone on the hunt), for commercials, television, and music videos its maneuverability and compact size would make for some very cool images.
It might be hard to see, but this is a jib that telescopes out like a shaving mirror. It was great seeing this in action right next to the Technocrane booth. I didn’t get to play with it as I was mesmerized new and slightly diminutive Technocrane that’s now available. Still many blogs and podcast have had good things to say about it. I’ll reserve judgement for now.
Sans pictures…
Thunderbolt is finally out! I’ve been waiting for this for more than five year. It’s twice as fast as USB 3.0 and 3 times faster than eSATA which is often the de facto transfer method for data wrangling (personally, I hate eSATA). It’ll be great to see onset transfer speeds boosted significantly but software makers are also expressing significant speed boosts with footage playing off of Thunderbolt drives. The cable will carry not just data but also has a dedicated line for display. My dream of only needing one type of cable to run any type of peripheral is slowing coming to fruition. Amen.
Also worth mentioning, the ARRI Alexa in all three flavors is impressive and now that it has the blessing of Deakins, suddenly it’s worthy of use by young filmmakers who might have otherwise dismissed the camera. Beautiful images without a doubt and amazing dynamic range but still a big boy toy. In the age of HDSLR, the camera is heavy. To quote Ferris Bueller, “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”
Sony also recently unleashed the F3. It has a similar form factor to the EX series of cameras but sports a PL mount and the new EXMOR sensor that is the size of Super35. The new firmware upgrade will allow for S Log and RGB output via the duel link SDI spigots in the back. I can see this camera being the go to camera for low budget shows that can’t afford the RED but also see it making strong in roads into television as a B-camera.
After reviewing other people’s reviews of the show, by and large we all saw the same stuff and liked the same stuff. To be frank, this year I really only focused on gear that I could see being useful in my upcoming projects. The rest, I’ll dig into as projects require their use. It was a good show in that I saw more that I liked than not and can see more significant technological steps forward than not. One thing that became apparent at this show is that clearly the tide (pardon the pun) is turning toward tapeless acquisition and distribution. The recent tsunami in Japan left Sony’s tape manufacturing facility practical afloat on it’s way to California and brought many a sleepless night to post-supervisors wondering how they were going to deliver their shows to the networks. No consensus on a solutions but people are actively talking about it now. Also, the push to 4K and RAW is strong (as the folks at RED predicted – please gloat, you deserve it, but also please less whining and smugness). Still lacking, safe, reliable, and abundant in storage archival products specifically for the prosumer or independent markets. Recently, while running the math on the amount of storage needed for uncompressed HD, it’s not unlikely to be shooting 1TB an hours! On a feature that’s more than 25TB of footage of just raw footage. On top of that are duplicate copies, editorial versions, FX, sound files, etc. There are bloody few options of where to safely store all this data that isn’t going to break the bank much less idiot proof. LTO technology is fine for documents but, for me, always seems like it’s 5 years behind the current storage needs. It’s not as sexy as lenses and sensors but someone has to step up.
That’s what I got. If you find it useful, great – I know I did. If not, well there’s a host of folks who spent the week there doing this, getting paid and writing a whole lot more than me. The best part is seeing and spending time with old friends, hearing what they thing is a great find and getting those gems of information from the source. Till next year Las Vegas.
Latest version of Gamma & Density…
I finally found the time to upgrade to the latest version of Gamma and Density software, 3cP/SL. I hope to put the software through its paces on a feature I’m scheduled to start in March. Till then, I’m gonna give it a go with the files I have on my computer and drive and will write my thoughts later. First impression are, I like it. The real benefit to the upgrade is what the software can do for dailies and post. Let the testing begin…
UPDATE: 2011 Jan 12: I was sent a survey by Gamma and Density about using 3cP and it gave me a chance to tool around the new version of the software. Thoughts so far are that it just keeps getting better. Backed up and verified Red MX, P2, and Canon 5D footage flawlessly and love having the ability to checksum in either MD5 or SHA1 with Red footage. Love the grading reports the software generates, producing dallies is easy and the optional ability to add slate information at the head of each dailies clip is well thought out. On the survey I add a about a half dozen idea for improvement but overall I think it does a great job. Look forward to using it on a regular basis for a feature film I’m shooting in March.
↑ Footage from a video I shot of my wife making her famous and award winning Truffle Bacon Popcorn. Mmmm… bacon!
GoPro Hero “birth-cam”
I mentioned to my wife, half-serious/half-joking, that I was going to strap a camera to myself to document the birth of our little one – aka, father POV. So for Christmas, she got me a GoPro Hero camera system. It’s a system because it came with additional ports covers, waterproof case, and head gear and more. Been having fun with it as a dog POV and will likely strap it to the car in the next couple of days (and definitely to the car on the ride to the hospital). Images so far have been great for what it is. It’s tiny! Looks great with evenly lit locations. Field-of-view is wide but not grotesquely so. Easy to use and to download footage. Will post some sample images in the next few weeks (Oh, and I promise, none from the delivery!). Looking forward to having fun with the camera and put it to use on a commercial.
Kind words online
Some very kind words were thrown my way on the Reduser.net forum. After principle photography wrapped on the supernatural-thriller “Box of Shadows”, I posted a quick update on Reduser’s forum page. Recently, one of the feature’s producers found that entry and posted a link to the updated trailer. Some of the folks who’ve watched the trailer chimed in with some very nice comments of the film and the cinematography. Thank you Vince for cluing me in on the post and thank you to the director, the producers and all involved for making the production something we should all be very proud of. Looking forward to when everyone can see the whole movie.
http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33772
Pony clips!
I was recently being ribbed by a certain Key Grip, who shall remain nameless, about calling a grip clip a “pony” clip. I said it out of habit and at the time, couldn’t remember the etymology of the term. Then, just the other day, while organizing our home’s tool shed I gazed upon my collection of #1, #2 and #3 “Pony” clips. Like Xerox and Kleenex, these grip clips were called “Pony” clips because that was the manufacture’s product name. The parent company is Adjustable Clamp Company (incorporated in 1903!). The number below the name is the series (3200) with the last digit representing the maximum opening capacity – 3201 is 1″ and in movie terms is #1. So, Key Grip who mocked me – you know who you are – take that! Never question the old one…
Made in the USA, thank you very much!
“Rust” screens at Raleigh Studios
Just got back from an wicked screening of a feature I shot about a year ago called “Rust” and directed by Corbin Bernsen. It was presented for the Los Angeles audience at Raleigh Studios off a Christie 2000 projector from an HDCam master. I don’t think we’ve ever seen the projection better – it looked absolutely stunning. For me, it was phenomenal seeing it on the big screen. As a testament to the hard work during those cold days and frigid Canadian nights, numerous people came up to me after the screening to tell me how they could literally feel the cold while watching the movie. Brrrr… Great job Corbin, Chris, and James and thank you to the amazing crew. I also want the say “great job” to Mike Post who did the score. I’m a big believer that a film’s body is in the visuals but it’s soul is the score. His score is as big as a whale – great job Mike and thank you.
“Rust” is distributed by Sony Pictures and available at fine retailers and through Video on Demand.
Apps for desktop and iPhone
CURIO:
I love pre-production. It’s where the first draft of the visual script is drafted, followed by the fine cut during production and the final cut made during the edit, effects and color grading. Over the years, to codify my thoughts I’ve used text documents, spreadsheets, and index cards. Back in May of 2010, I was looking for an inexpensive flow chart app to help design a Red One post-production workflow diagram when I stumbled upon a program called, “Curio” . I tried the demo and within a half hour purchased the Pro version. I always find the software a bit hard to describe. The maker describes it as a “digital notebook” and “an innovative and visual application for brainstorming, notetaking, and project management”. That’s a great, broad stroke description. With the software I’ve made lists and checklists, virtual index cards, mind maps, production workflow charts and org charts, sketched drawings, used it as a photo light box, organized my tear sheets, produced lighting plans, kept a production schedules, and mapped out story character relationships along with notes about each character’s personality and actions. You can even upload the project online and share your thoughts and notes with other crew members (see link below). It’s flexible enough that you can make it into a tool that you’re not likely to see mentioned anywhere in the literature. That’s it’s brilliance – that it’s more than the sum of it’s parts. I’m currently using it for prep on a feature in March and it’s good to be putting it through it’s paces again.
Here’s an example of Curio at work from a recent project: Epson
HotDoors CadTools:
When it comes to making lighting plans my first weapon of choice is Adobe Illustrator with the CadTools plugin . I start by using Illustrator to create all my stencils of lighting and grip instruments. Then I use CadTools within Illustrator to draw the set floor plan to scale, place the instruments in the space and add notes and dimension lines for where the light is aimed. It also serves as a useful thought experiment apparatus. Looking at the set on the screen, you can visualize in your head… should the light go here or here, how high, what will the quality of light be a particular time, etc. I also use sunPATH to get sun rise/set data of a location and then place that information on the lighting plan. See link above under the section “Notes” to see a lighting plan made with the above software. I also have to say that I’m a fan of CadTools because it’s an Orange County company (It’s true, the OC was my stomping grounds).
For on set and some pre-production work, these are my iPhone app. Enough has been written about them online so I won’t go into it. Just wanted to share.
- Helios
- Keylight
- ASC Toland
- Pocket LD
- My Measures
- Intaglio
Since I’ve seen this on other website, I’ll include this note here that none of these software manufacturers paid or gave me anything for these kind words of praise (I wish someone had though – insert “wink”). Still, I think these apps are great and I hope you find some utility in using them like I have.
Ninja, Nun or Monk?!
Forgot about this one. A few weeks ago while shooting a commercial for Hotel Corque in Santa Ynez, we brought some China balls for lighting. To control the light we used duvatyne, wrapped around the ball and secured with clips so that an opening remains lighting our subject. That opening once is usually vertical or horizontal or simply exposes the bottom of the China ball. I don’t remember if it was me or someone else (let’s just say me since it’s my blog) declared that when the opening is vertical it’s a “nun” and when it’s horizontal it’s a “ninja” and when the bottom is exposed, it’s a “monk”. Funny right? It glows in the same epiphanic epithet as when make-up artist Nikki Smith (see earlier blog entry from this year) took to naming apple boxes pumps, wedges, or stilettos depending on how you orient the box.
left: ninja configuration | center: nun configuration | right: monk configuration
Dwight’s new toy
Key Grip Dwight Stone has been talking about making a cart that would slide out of the back of his hatchback for a while. It finally came true and it really is awesome. It houses a bunch of his personal rigging gear and it looks absolutely pro. We used it recently for a commercial for Hotel Corque in Santa Ynez.
We all got to take a shot at lassoing a steel steer. This is my favorite photo of our tries.
“Zombie Roadkill” world premiere
What a huge success.
Day 1
First night, hot dogs at Frank’s Hot Dogs (jackaloup and texalina) and local beer (Real Ale Fireman’s #4) at the Dreskill Hotel. Good food makes for a good start.
Day 2
Late rise – My wife and I both got about 10 hours of sleep. It’s the most she’s had since being pregnant. Soon realized that renting a car will make life easier to get around. Got the same taxi driver as last night – busy weekend in town because of the football game.
Lunch at Tacodeli. Known for their hot sauce and delicious tacos. It lived up to its reputation. Chicken, pork, fish, beef, it’s all represented. To wash it down, cantaloupe and watermelon juice drinks (jugo fresco). This was a recommendation from Zombie Roadkill writer, Henry Gayden. Good call.
To round out our lunch, we got some cupcakes at Sugar Mama’s Bake Shop. This was a Yelp find. Amazingly good. Especially loved the apple caramel cupcake that, apparently, is being discontinued. Very sad because it was absolutely delicious.
What would a world premiere be if not for having your own taco truck to hand out swag and free “roadkill” tacos. Big hit! The truck and food kept the tweeter-sphere a buzz for weeks. The night was a huge blast. Our webseries opened the festival – it’s good to be king. Everyone did a great job of fielding questions and telling stories of the shoot. I was especially pleased when during the Q&A, Thomas Haden Church thanked me by name for a job well done. Nice. I wonder if anyone has that on tape?
Day 3
Woke up, checked out of the hotel and picked up the director, David, and his lady for a meal at La Mexicana restaurant for some much touted “breakfast tacos”. They were basically unrolled burritos. Good eats but nothing mind blowing.
Then back to South Congress Avenue for some more window shopping and to meet up with Ryan (producer) and Henry (writer).
Oh and yes, more food. Mexican food for lunch at Guero’s Taco Bar. There we enjoyed Mexican/TexMex and most notably “queso”. “Cheese” you say? “No” I say. We found out that what the locals call “queso” (Español for “cheese”) is actually a melted cheese dip served in a cup, like a thick cheese soup, but not like a fondue. Into it you dip freshly made tortillas like you would chips. It’s – I’m a little embarrassed to say – good, really good. The corn tortillas are made by hand. The plates were good and portions not too big.
And the final attack on our arteries came from the aptly named “Gourdoughs”. Good doughnuts, great toppings, wacky combinations.
Maybe we should walk back home to work off the food we ate!
Stereography training
Had a chance to take part in an intensive 3-day training seminar at Sony Pictures through Local 600. Lots of hands on, examples, and experimentations. I’ve been to many, many training seminar in the past either at NAB or CineGear or what have you but this might just be the first seminar I’ve ever been to where I felt I got something useful out of it. I’ve been re-reading stereographic publications and it all makes sense to me know. Last step, need a shoot to really put what I’ve learned through its paces. Any takers?
A million thanks to the folks at Sony, Local 600 and the students from Hollywood Cinema Production Resources and USC.
Hand symbols with a woman’s touch
Any one who’s spent any time on set knows that Grip and Electric often have hand signals for various tasks and objects. On a recent shoot for Time Warner Cable a new nomenclature for the often used Full Apple Box positions – California, Texas, New York – was replaced by the Hair and Makeup Wonder Twins (Nikki and Mindy). The new terms are…
FLATS… WEDGES… STILETTO… (For my male audience, it’s a reference to women’s shoes, a reference Al Bundy would be proud of. For my younger audience that last reference was to a character on Fox’s “Married with Children” television show.)
These names are a follow-up to a discussion about “hot dog” and “corn dog” in reference to horizontal and vertical object placement, respectively. I like these terms over the potentially offensive terms Chinese and English (you get the idea).
What are your favorite terms?
Get to play with the new RED chip
No, not potato chips (Mmmmm… potatoooo chipssss) but the new MX chip for the Red One camera. Shooting a cosmetics commercial later this week and can’t wait to explore what the new chip can do. I’ve seen some footage and it’s time to get my hands dirty. Stay tuned…
New Tool…
I wish I got kick-backs from equipment manufactures, but no such luck. Still, if I like it, I’ll post it. My new toy for the set and home is the Guppie from Columbia River. It’s fits great in the hand, it’s light and it does a bunch. It’s very well thought out and can’t wait to show it off on set. (And if anyone wants to send me a little “somethin’-somethin’”, it’ll be our little secret.)
Ain’t it got a purdie lil’ mouth?!
Any press is good press…
Indie Slate (issue #59) did a cover story on Corbin Bernsen and independent filmmaking. I get a brief mention which is nice (better if they had spelled my name correctly in the article or actually used a photo with me in it instead of identifying me in a photo I’m not in). Still it’s a good read worth taking a look at.
As a side note, I’m currently reading a script Corbin sent me for a project this spring. I’ll share more about that script soon.