The place to discuss, share content and offer advice and tips on all things lighting, framing, cameras, lenses and technique
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Do you like to film outdoors when the sun is low over the horizon? I mean, when the sky is deep blue.
As an astronomer, I know that the longer from the equator you move, the longer the sun remains low over the horizon.
The best place in the world should be the northern part of the Nor...
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The Wall Street Journal put together this great in-depth look at the projectors, cameras, and other tech behind IMAX movies, to better explain why it's such an expensive process. The company is currently developing a new film camera that they hope will be ready in the next couple of years.
https://w...
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Me too, Sam Sokolow! It's going to be really interesting.
Thanks for sharing, Ashley Renee Smith. No wonder IMAX is such an expensive process! I think the new IMAX camera is gonna be a game changer for filmmakers and cinematographers.
Thanks for sharing Ashley Renee Smith . IMAX is a magical and complex beast of its own. I love it. More options for filmmakers to tell stories. Except this one is only available to the few productions...
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Wow. That's cool, Ashley Renee Smith. IMAX is such a special way to experience film. I've only seen one film in IMAX before, but it was one of the best experiences I've had at the movies. I loved hear...
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It's definitely wild, Dustin Richardson!!
I love seeing what others consider their favorite scene or shot in a film, whether it was a technical aspect or a visual aspect, I'm curious to know!
GREAT list Ashley Renee Smith!
Thank you, Nick Phillips!
So many to choose from... hard to beat the opening shot of Orson Wells' A Touch Of Evil. Or any shot in Mad Max: Fury Road. Birdman was so groundbreaking. And totally down with Ashley Renee Smith on t...
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@Sam I’m a fan of Vintage Noir black & white with dream sequences, odd or distorted camera pans & bold visceral close ups on innermost sanctum of character. Vertigo/The Third Man/Casablanca. Hall of m...
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Debbie Croysdale - love so many of the films you mentioned!
Somewhere around 1980 my family got a VHS video player/recorder. Near us was a video store called Flicks & Pics that soon became one of the best on the west coast. I rented thousands of movies from there over a number of years, especially as I became aware of both film history and world cinema. I sa...
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Incredible share, Tucker Teague! I never knew ratios were such a big part of filmmaking and cinematography.
Great share, Tucker Teague. Fascinating to hear this perspective from side of such great filmmakers.
Tucker Teague I love this share, Tucker. When I visited the US, an American friend of mine, many years ago, he joked that NTSC stood for Never The Same Colour!
I love the fact that James Cameron think...
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Hi all,
Recently, I have been slowly upgrading my lighting kit. I am currently researching and looking for advice on building a good and solid general lighting kit for small indie features, documentary shoots, and occasional corporate shoots.
Erik Baczay, I recently saw this video praising this newer brand's unique kit and it seems like a pretty great choice for an all-around on the go option: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdiGmnQDb_s...
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I still like the kits that Lowel makes for indie interior shoots but they're "classic" bulb kits -- if I was starting over I would build an LED kit. - GVM and Nanlite have some great lights for indie filmmaking.
Stage 32’s founder and CEO, Richard “RB” Botto, shares two videos in today’s blog.
In the first video, you’ll learn about the finances that go into marketing a project in hopes of winning an Academy Award.
In the second video, “Ferrari” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt breaks down how he worked on...
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Wow! An incredible article for DPs to study! Thanks for sharing, Nick Phillips.
Loved this article, thank you Nick Phillips!
The following video shows how one highly accomplished cinematographer gets fantastic images while shooting on an iPhone. But there's a lot more is this video than just that. Lots of valuable info and wisdom from masters of their craft.
https://youtu.be/yFbz1h29sE4?si=zpI1DYKenpA-enOr...
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Great share, Tucker Teague! They kept talking about lighting in the video. I hear a lot of directors and DPs talk about lighting. It seems like lighting is really important no matter what camera is us...
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Maurice Vaughan I learned a long time ago that if one focuses on lighting, people will say, "Amazing shots, what camera did you use?"
Crazy news! RED will now be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon. What are everyone's thoughts on this?
Hahaha, I love "Nikonian" Gareth Taylor.
Jed Power, RED is a very popular and established cinema camera company.
I take this as welcome, or at least very interesting, news. My wife and I have been shooting still photography with Nikon for decades. I love the brand. My hope is this means Nikon has hopes of becoming a big player in the feature film cinematography space.
Another small but mighty fish gets swallowed by the giants. Should be a good connection if done correctly.
Has anyone else seen this flick? Looks really good. And they used a Panasonic GH2 with mostly natural light and I believe Voigtlander lenses. I remember filming my first projects on a Canon 60 D with a vintage 24mm Nikkor lens. The camera would always overheat and it was a pain in the butt to nail focus with it.
I haven't seen "Upstream Color," Stephen Folker, but I just looked it up on IMDb. It reminds me of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
I LOVE Upstream Color, mainly for the way it was shot but also a big Amy Seimetz fan, glad to know others have seen the film!
Stephen Folker I don't, but I plan to watch it.
Great post John January Noble! yeah that type of subjectivity can be powerful depending on the scene and how it's used. Love this discussion!
Sam Sokolow Well remembered!
Nick Phillips Great ! It was a hook after your penultimate post that talked about INARRITU AND TOM. It was next door.
wow this was such an eye opening read thanks for sharing this John January Noble
Sam Rivera your welcome !
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Göran Johansson I would love the opportunity to film in Scandinavia and have long been an admirer of Scandi-Noir. What’s your favourite film or TV Series produced there?...
Expand commentGöran Johansson I would love the opportunity to film in Scandinavia and have long been an admirer of Scandi-Noir. What’s your favourite film or TV Series produced there?
2 people like this
Dear Sam, nice that you like the far north. My research field is ancient astronomy. So I have thought about creating something similar to "the Da Vinci code". For example. And I have multiple ideas fo...
Expand commentDear Sam, nice that you like the far north. My research field is ancient astronomy. So I have thought about creating something similar to "the Da Vinci code". For example. And I have multiple ideas for "sword and sandal" movies. Or time travels back to the past. In multiple cases I have identified astronomical events in old tales. So I know what was seen, and when. I hope to post more about this later, in the lounge for screenwriting. I also have ideas for future space travels.
Dear Geoff, nice that you like my part of the world and what we create here. But I hardly watch television myself so unfortunately I must disappoint you. I mean, if a film is great, it doesn't give me any ideas. Only films which disappoint me give me ideas. But it is not fun to watch poor movies. So I read non-fiction.
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Göran Johansson I can't wait for you to post something about that on the screenwriting lounge. Write about what you love and it seems you are doing that.
We are selective in what we watch. Many Britis...
Expand commentGöran Johansson I can't wait for you to post something about that on the screenwriting lounge. Write about what you love and it seems you are doing that.
We are selective in what we watch. Many British dramas can be so cookie-cutter in their style and story elements, that they become predictable fare. It's a big turn off for me.
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Goram - I’d also recommend Estonia right nearby. They have incredible filming infrastructure and they offer decent tax incentives at 30% - https://filmestonia.eu/
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Amanda, I understand what you mean, Sweden's tax incentive is 25 %, and bureaucratic.