halfgrain

Posted on by

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • in reply to: Indie Film-Making Project [HELP] #216246
    halfgrain
    Participant

      If I may give my 2 cents:

      Movies are all about collaboration. It sounds to be that you’re aspiring to be a director? But in this you also want to be the cinematographer, audio guy, in front of the camera, editing it and grading it? That paired with (from what I can gather) very limited knowledge in all of these fields seems a little too much to handle and hope for a great result. Why don’t you get friends and young film enthusiasts on board that can help for free or little pay? Try to find a camera person that will help you with all the camera and lens questions. Find someone who wants to become a colorist and might want to practice grading your film. Don’t seek to do everything alone and only use the internet as a tool. That’s not what it’s going to be like going forward and (in my humble opinion) a recipe for frustration..

      in reply to: The “Look” of ‘Hail Cesar’ #215885
      halfgrain
      Participant

        Interesting, shotdeck shows the same still for this movie. Wonder what the quality control when scanning is, though I would have thought it being run by Lawrence Sher, ASC should speak for a high amount of accuracy…

        in reply to: LUTs #215185
        halfgrain
        Participant

          Hi,

          I hope it’s OK to answer part of your question, since this is something he has talked about in numerous interviews and the podcast. Usually, a LUT is developed for the particular movie beforehand and Roger uses this LUT for monitoring during the whole shoot of the whole movie. I’m not sure if he ever had multiple LUTs for different scenarios, though my guess would be most likely not.

          As far as testing beforehand, I would think once you developed a color palette with the production designer and maybe already have set pieces and wardrobe to test it on, you can just develop the LUT to your liking and tweak it until you’re happy.

          in reply to: Skyfall Scotland drive scene #215159
          halfgrain
          Participant

            Thanks, Roger! Did you have a Plan B in case there hadn’t been any overcast conditions or would you have just rescheduled?

            in reply to: Skyfall Scotland drive scene #215130
            halfgrain
            Participant

              in reply to: Bounce light challenges on Bladerunner (Sappers Farm) #215107
              halfgrain
              Participant

                That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

                in reply to: Pushing light through windows #215106
                halfgrain
                Participant

                  Thank you so much, Roger! Those are great insights and it all makes sense. Can’t wait to build my own experience with those setups, since I’m sure any theoretical knowledge just can’t compete with figuring these things out as you build your experience as a DP. I just haven’t had the chance yet.

                  in reply to: Recovering the Old Forums (need help?) #215101
                  halfgrain
                  Participant

                    Hello everyone, I feel like the personal back and forth between a few members have distracted a little from the core question, if there might be a way to recover the old forum or not. I’m curious if Magneticat could be of any help and/or if a recovery attempt is maybe still in progress?

                    Just curious and would love to read a quick statement from anyone who is or was actually involved in trying to recover.

                    in reply to: Different camera tint between Sicario and Prisoners? #215072
                    halfgrain
                    Participant

                      The overall look of the movie is generally developed before any takes are shot and include the planned color grading, often developing a specific LUT for the movie. Therefore the decisions of color tint and “feel” don’t really need to be dialed in in-camera, but can be solved by using an according LUT in the DI.

                      in reply to: High Key Lighting/The Commercial Look #214740
                      halfgrain
                      Participant

                        I agree with Andrew, that a few stills of your work vs. the look you’re hoping to achieve would be really beneficial. Tiny spaces create a lot of challenges. If you light from within all the lights have to be very close to the walls or subject and therefore the fall off is pretty quick as well. I think that’s what creates a more sourcy look and potentially harsher shadows. In this setup two things would help in my opinion:

                        1) A large top light. Lots of commercials are sets and instead of a real ceiling they have a huge soft source overhead, often stretching out to the entirety of the room. This makes for a very evenly lit room and lots of level everywhere (that’s how the typical high key look defined, I guess)

                        2) Use blocking and placing the light to avoid such shadows. Similar to the point above, try to light more from above so the shadows naturally fall on the floor more than walls, also maybe block in a way that there isn’t an empty wall behind the actor?

                        A third idea, if you have a window in the room is utilizing the window as the main light source. Since you can place one or more lights further away outside, the falloff in the room will be less and it’ll spread around more evenly.

                        Hope this helps a bit or at least gives you food for thought.

                        in reply to: Lighting dark space for TV cont #214704
                        halfgrain
                        Participant

                          I know this is a super late response, but have you checked out music videos? I think this is a genre where you might find more simple and cheaper lighting setups as well as maybe more bts footage. Just my guess…

                          in reply to: Very minimal lighting #214692
                          halfgrain
                          Participant

                            I love the shot in the trenches , beautiful composition and depth. Also love the composition of the last shot. My only constructive criticism would be that the few backlit shots inside look a little too much like “highlight recovery” to me. The clipped areas in the curtain look a little digital and the shadows very much lifted throughout the frame. Wonder if that was your decision or what happened in the DI without your watch? All that being said, bravo to this piece of work! I’m impressed.

                            in reply to: Very minimal lighting #214691
                            halfgrain
                            Participant

                              great work! Is the film free to watch somewhere online?

                              in reply to: Sicario #214557
                              halfgrain
                              Participant

                                Let’s stay respectful here, will we? It’s hard for me to fully understand the OP’s point and question, because of the language barrier. But my assumption is he/she feels like it was a bold choice to tell the story through Kate and leave out the beginning scene with Alejandro, therefore wonders if there were any worries during shooting that telling the story from a more “passive” viewpoint would create the need for more “action” in other departments (camera work, editing, sound design)…?  Or I might have misunderstood the question all together. Either way, let’s not intimidate and blame other forum users. I don’t think he/she meant to be disrespectful.

                                In regards to the question though, I would be very surprised if Dennis had any doubt in his choice of telling the story through Kate. He’s a fantastic director and I’m sure he knew her viewpoint is a very strong and interesting way of telling the story, that doesn’t need any “make up” through other aspects of the movie.

                                in reply to: Lighting Ratios #214540
                                halfgrain
                                Participant

                                  I’m not sure what exactly your question is. Using  a light meter or false color will make it fairly easy to adjust your ratio as desired in every shot. So if you want to stick to the same ratio in every shot, that’s how to do it. But I don’t see why a DP would want to stick to such a hard rule. Every shot is different and might need a different feel and therefor lighting and lighting ratio.

                                Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)