What camera would be best for me when it comes to color grading?

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay. Well I was advised by a couple of other filmmakers I know that I am trying to be a jack of all trades, when I should just try to master directing and let other department heads worry about those other departments. Hire a good DP, instead of trying to direct and by worry so much about the DP's job.

Do they have a point? It was also said earlier on here to let the DP handle those problems, so should I then?

[Paul R Johnson]

You would learn more in working with a real professional in ANY field than you are able to glean from books. You lack the ability to assess the worth of statements in a book (or on line) and put it into context. You cannot learn properly this way. We work in a very context driven industry. This is why we have real issues with rules, but have looser guidelines. We break rules when our gut tells us we should. We can assess quite well how something may work from using our common sense attached to our huge list of things that worked (but shouldn't have) and things that worked really badly (but should have!). We react, but also are pro-active, planning in advance.

When I was teaching, we had inspectors coming in, and had been beaten to a pulp by the management with paperwork, plans, strict following of the plans, no rule breaking etc etc. I was filming a scene where we needed to lower a coffin into the ground - and we had built a raised set so we could shoot looking up at the people standing around the grave. It involved a complex cutaway and reversals to make it look like the coffin was being lowered. The inspector arrived for this very session. It wasn't going very well - we couldn't make it look real. One of the students suddenly said. Why don't we cut a hole in the plywood decking we were using. We could then lower the coffin properly - I screwed up the lesson plan, told the group this was a brilliant idea and we had a spare sheet of ply next door - and a jig saw. I pointed at the screwed up plan, mouthed "sorry" to the inspector and we got on with it, and half an hour later we had the shot, and it looked great. One of the students even suggested we did it again with a Gopro on top of the coffin - a great shot as it went down, but looking up at the mourners. When the report came out - I got singled out for being willing to change plans and follow a student's suggestion - I was very pleased indeed. My bosses were furious as they maintained it could have gone badly wrong.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay sure. I can try to use my gut instinct when it comes to breaking rules, it's just that in the past, if I tried to do shots in unconventional ways, it looks off to the audience, like something was cheated or not done right. But I can keep plugging at it, if that's best, instead of trying to follow procedures all the time.

I've worked with professionals in other fields. Is there something I should be doing specifically there?

[Paul R Johnson]

er, learning how they do it Ryan?

Frankly what amazes me is that instead of spending time producing work to get better at it, you spend your time planning, developing, comparing, copying etc etc.

Maybe it's me - but I am quite decisive, and quite impulsive. I have just been ordering some very expensive equipment. I researched and found a particular product range that seemed to suit me fine, but doing a little Googling I found loads of people saying how awful it was, or how complicated or this and that. None of these people seemed to actually have this kit, but were talking earnestly about it negatively. Things they rubbished for me were advantages. I read the specs. I read the few reviews I could find and picked out the ones done by people who clearly had the right vocabulary. I dismissed the comments of people I clearly was not on any kind of level with. Ten grand later, the orders are placed and I have actually touched the equipment once, on a beach, in Portugal having flown out there to do a single evenings work, and the local hire company had provided it. I tucked it away in a corner of my brain and when I got a contract roll in where I needed something a little unusual, I thought about this product.

I didn't come on here or other forums and ask total strangers if I should do X, or Y and was the angle in degrees quoted in the spec suitable to my needs.

This really is what I don't get with you Ryan. If you want this camera and lens combo because it will meet your need and you can afford it - just have the courage to buy the damn thing. Sure - you might have made a mistake and after shooting the current project you like say, the camera, but hate the lens, then sell it and buy another. Don't ask US if it will suit YOU - how can we tell? You're rather like the lion in the Wizzard of Oz - no courage!

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, it's just with the last telephoto lens I bought, I found it later it was fly-by-wire, as it was said on here, so I had to sell it and take a hit in money, instead of buying the right one to begin with. So therefore, I wanted to know if the camera I was buying was the right one, so I don't have to take another hit.

I thought that asking paid off in the past though. All the sound equipment I bought has been pretty good overall from asking, and that's cause I got good opinions from people online. So I just wanted to be sure with the new camera as well, so I don't have to take another hit possibly. I guess I just keep putting off producing work, is cause it costs money to get a DP, actors, and crew, and if the product turns out badly, then they loose confidence and don't want to do any more. So I wanted to learn more online first if possible, before spending a lot of money on a new product. But I can just bite the bullet and spend money on it and get a cast and crew, if that's best. However, I feel that the people in my community are getting really picky about what they want to do though. One actor I worked with a few times, even told me, that he doesn't want to do anything more, unless it's a really good script, and the production plan, is much more solid. So I guess I felt I just needed to really up my game before going in another project with everyone.

[Paul R Johnson]

Your actor was probably the most honest one of your friends and associates. You made a big deal about this servo controlled lens - but as you can spot lenses that use servos because the distance scale is missing, presumably it wasn't high on your concern list? You bought a cheap lens, and for a cheap lens, it's quite good - but of course, it's designed for stills not video - and that usage difference is something you should have thought about. I get confused between the Ryan production where you do everything and the others where you say you'll be getting a DOP or another specialist, but then they want to do things their way and don't want you interfering. Somehow you got into co-directing when you were just the director's assistant and this went badly. Your sound operating caused grief. Your directing and script writing seemed to have eternal issues and you have an unfocusable lens on a camera you now don't want.

That's a very strange career progression.

[Ryan Elder]

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

Your actor was probably the most honest one of your friends and associates. You made a big deal about this servo controlled lens - but as you can spot lenses that use servos because the distance scale is missing, presumably it wasn't high on your concern list? You bought a cheap lens, and for a cheap lens, it's quite good - but of course, it's designed for stills not video - and that usage difference is something you should have thought about. I get confused between the Ryan production where you do everything and the others where you say you'll be getting a DOP or another specialist, but then they want to do things their way and don't want you interfering. Somehow you got into co-directing when you were just the director's assistant and this went badly. Your sound operating caused grief. Your directing and script writing seemed to have eternal issues and you have an unfocusable lens on a camera you now don't want.

That's a very strange career progression.

Oh well I didn't know that distant scale missing meant it was servo controlled. I just thought they didn't bother to put the distance scale on it, and I would have to mark my distances with a grease pencil. I have the kit lens that came with the camera. The kit lens does not have a servo controlled focus, and the focus is manual controlled with hard stops. But there are no distances marked on that lens either. So I figured it was the same case, as that manual focus controlled lens, that they just didn't bother to put them on. I didn't know that it meant that the lens was this newer fly-by-wire technology, I never heard of, or come across before. It's not that it wasn't high on my list, it's just I didn't know what fly-by-wire was.

If the one actor is the most honest, do you think I should listen to him and take on a much better script then, and have a more solid shooting plan and budget then? This is why I am trying to plan this next project so meticulously, cause of what he said, if he has a point.

[Brian Drysdale]

It's best not to go over old ground about the lens you bought, that just confuses things,

Unfortunately, everything is confused, so it's hard to follow what you're up to.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, I was just using that as an example of how I want to rule out hidden catches on the next camera I I buy. I will stick to talking about the camera, just using an example.

[Brian Drysdale]

There are always things that don't expect and accessories that you need to buy. Usually buying gear that's intended for a particular job works, however, you still need to learn the skills to use it..

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, but I thought that if the gear has certain shortcomings, that you cannot use it for certain applications, no matter how good you are with it, if that's true?

[Brian Drysdale]

if kit isn;t suitable for a particular application you either buy or rent some kit that is suitable for the job. You're unlikely to use an Arri Alexa as a crash camera, even though it probably could do the job if you were willing to risk an wreaking expensive camera. You'd use a cheaper camera for the shot.

That;s where having the skill and knowledge comes into play. You usually won't go too far wrong using gear that's designed for video, but you may still need to buy accessories, such as an electronic viewfinder, to have a good kit that can do a wide range of work.

Your problem seems to be that you don't have the budget to buy a kit that can do a wide range of work. You could easily spend your entire film's budget buying a camera an some lenses and yet still not be in the top tier of kit. However, it could shoot your feature film and a wide range documentaries.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay. So for example, I was told before that I cannot use the fly-by-wire lens to pulls focus. But was the problem me, and I just need to find a focus puller who is good enough to operate such a lens, instead of getting another one?

Or when it comes to getting a camera, could using a high ISO to compensate for a deeper DOF work, as long as the DP, has the skill to make a high ISO look good?

[Brian Drysdale]

A fly by wire lens isn't suitable for use by a focus puller using marks on the lens. There's a whole thread on this, so not worth going into detail.

High ISOs are best used on documentaries, where you have no choice and the content can't be got any other way, not to get deep focus with a telephoto lens at night. A skilled DP can't work against the laws of physics, but they will know ways of getting the best image. .

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, thanks sorry, just making sure, there is anything not covered, from before.

Well I talked to another filmmaker I helped with on projects before, and he says that I shouldn't bother to get a faster lens cause at night during a chase/horror scene, I am going to want that extra DOF, and I should concentrate on getting brighter lights instead of considering a faster lens, cause the DOF will be harder to work with then, if more shallow. Does he have a point?