Would using a star filter for cinematography be too weird?

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Ryan Elder

Okay thanks, I read those 5 characteristics. Good to know! Thanks.

I also watched the video on the making of The Dallas Buyers Club. So in the video they said that the whole movie was shot with the lights on the locations, and no artificial lights were used. Is that do-able though? I keep being told that I need a better DP but is shooting with the lights of the location and no other lights, even do-able? I feel like that movie got away with it, because Matthew McConaughey is in it, and people are willing to watch a movie he is in, no matter how the cinematography looks. But can just any filmmaker shoot with the lights in the location, and nothing more and still have it look professional to others?

When it comes to how I am with cast and crew, I was told before that I am too flexible with some of their suggestions and use their decisions too much. Should it be more of a collaborative process, or do I need to put my foot down more maybe?

As far as lighting you can't jump to conclusions just from watching one video. In this example you would need to watch Dallas Buyers Club and see if you like that look and whether it fits with your project. I for one would want lights. If you could plan out a location that didn't need them it would obviously save you money. This goes back to what we were saying about fast lenses. Also remember they are shooting with ARRI. So you can't just copy paste ideas without testing them out with your equipment, location, and subject.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay. Well for mine, I wanted more of a film noir lighting look ideally, if I can find a DP that is more familiar with that style, but I am willing to be flexible as long as it looks good in the end.

[Paul R Johnson]

Time lag. As in Brian posted at 11.30 last night and I’ve just woken up and it’s 7.00 am here. We’re talking across time zones.

Ryan -it’s your money. If you can afford to lose it and not feel bad. Then carry on and spend it.

What are you like communicating face to face? We struggle via text but how would you fare on YouTube explaining your project to potential investors. Maybe you come across much better with your friends? Perhaps that’s why we struggle?

I got confused about your script to shooting ratio? I’ve never thought about pages vs time because one wordy scene on the page could be a doddle to shoot vs one descriptive page that takes forever?

[Brian Drysdale]

Regarding half an hour per page. this is pretty much a soap opera shooting rate, it's not a feature film shooting rate (I don't now how much time you're allowing for lighting etc). Given how inexperienced your actors are, you probably won't get consistently good performances and you're limited to talking heads.

Rodger Corman used to shoot features very quickly, one film ( The Little Shop of Horrors) was reputedly shot in two days and one night, using three cameras reusing sets in a studio. However, these days it's more TV than cinema.

THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) Official Trailer - YouTube

[Ryan Elder]

I think I am pretty good communicating face to face, and definitely don't think I am difficult in any way before.

It's just shoot time is real tight with the schedules of location availability, so I have been trying to knock out a page per half hour. This isn't the same for every page of course, and plus the set up time, but if I take the time of a days' shoot and divide how many pages were covered, so far it's been a page per 30 minutes that it divides out too.

Perhaps if I have more rehearsal time with the actors before hand an set more rehearsal dates, then we can go and and do it just as fast but better, when the real shoot begins?

However, when I say 30 minutes per half hour, that's only a scene with two actors, that I have been timing off of. For this next project, a lot of scenes have more than two actors, so it would probably take longer I am guessing, depending on how many I decide to give close up shots to individually, or if I have time for single close ups for each.

[Brian Drysdale]

I don't know how good you are at communicating face to face, although you did indicate this being one of the reasons for your storyboards.

Going too quickly may explain why you've got continuity errors in the filing cabinet scene. you didn't notice the cane being up instead of down and the lighting being different.

More rehearsal is always worth having.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I don’t believe a lot of what he says but not our time or money so carry on.

[Brian Drysdale]

Yes, he keeps going in circles.

[Paul R Johnson]

The mark of a good director is turning scripts into completed scenes - which involves delegation of some rehearsing to the actors themselves, unsupervised, or the actors with somebody to read in missing people, or for the director to lead through step by step. The best directors size up the actors very quickly and easily determine the best and most productive sequence. One I worked with always did the thing backwards. He'd look at a busy scene where at some point lots of people would be involved and he'd do that section of the scene first, and once done, he'd let those actors go, so concentrating time gradually on fewer people. I find this odd, because you'd often be going back in time, but the actors benefited.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, that's an interesting method.

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

I don't know how good you are at communicating face to face, although you did indicate this being one of the reasons for your storyboards.

Going too quickly may explain why you've got continuity errors in the filing cabinet scene. you didn't notice the cane being up instead of down and the lighting being different.

More rehearsal is always worth having.

Well the cane continuity was poor editing on my part, I don't think it had anything to do with shooting, I just should have cut to show him lower it. However, doing so means that the reaction would have taken longer, but maybe continuity is more important than reaction time in editing?

With the storyboards, are you saying that I don't need them, if I communicate better? Cause for my first projects, I didn't use storyboards much, but then I was told I should use them to better communicate my shots better, so I used them there on.

For example, one time I wanted a close up shot, but I had some trouble having the DP understand the degree of the angle I wanted. So the storyboard helped more with the degree of the angle from then on. But even on other occasions, the DP looked at the storyboard and set the shot up faster, than me explaining it to them in words after looking. So aren't storyboards good therefore?

As for the lighting being different, I let the DP change the lights, but should I not let them next time, and say once the lights are planted, do not move them in between shots?

[Paul R Johnson]

If you were a good experienced DP, would you let this Ryan guy dictate what you should or should not use? If the DP KNOWS the lights need resetting, you would be stupid to interfere, and that is the problem. You simply don't trust people to do their job. You cannot resist tinkering?

I don't think Brian meant don't use storyboards if you communicate better, he just suggested that you use storyboards rather than explain what you're doing. This suggests your comms skills are a bit iffy? we get confused quite often, have you noticed? Surely by now you'd be able to predict how well we understand - and in reverse, you constantly so "so you mean ......" when we don't! You seem to miss the point all the time.

[Brian Drysdale]

If you didn't have the option of using another take it was poor continuity,a script/continuity person would have been across that instantly. It would've saved you that problem in the cutting.

The DP should be aware of their lighting continuity, it's not usual to adjust lights for a CU, but it needs to fit in with the surrounding shots. In this case the shot needed more fill.

You need to be extremely good at drawing storyboards in order to work out accurately the camera angle on a character by using them. No one is stopping you using storyboards, it forces you to at least think about what you're doing. .

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I think his dp is a guy holding a clamp light that’s sold at a home improvement store.

[Ryan Elder]

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

If you were a good experienced DP, would you let this Ryan guy dictate what you should or should not use? If the DP KNOWS the lights need resetting, you would be stupid to interfere, and that is the problem. You simply don't trust people to do their job. You cannot resist tinkering?

I don't think Brian meant don't use storyboards if you communicate better, he just suggested that you use storyboards rather than explain what you're doing. This suggests your comms skills are a bit iffy? we get confused quite often, have you noticed? Surely by now you'd be able to predict how well we understand - and in reverse, you constantly so "so you mean ......" when we don't! You seem to miss the point all the time.

But when I trusted the DP do what he wanted with the lighting, the lighting ended up being mis-matched though. So by not interfering, the lighting turned out poor.

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

If you didn't have the option of using another take it was poor continuity, script/continuity person would have been across that instantly.

The DP should be aware of their lighting continuity, it's not usual to adjust lights for a CU, but it needs to fit in with the surrounding shots. .

You need to be extremely good at drawing storyboards in order to work out accurately the camera angle on a character by using them.

I have other takes to use, but my instincts told to choose the best take based on acting. Even though the acting was bad, it was the least bad in that take. So shouldn't I choose based on performance, first and foremost? Plus I didn't think the cane was that big of a continuity error, cause you can clearly see him move the cane down before it cuts to the next shot. So since you can see him move the cane down in the first shot, how is it being down in the second shot, a problem then?

But when it comes to storyboards, all I know is, is that the projects I did use them, went a lot faster, compared to ones, where we did not. Plus the storyboard not only seemed to help the DP, but it was also good for my own reference, then I do not have what all the shots look like all in my memory, and I have visual reminders as to what they look like, compared to relying on memory all the time.

[Paul R Johnson]

Then the DP was no good. If he had been competent, he'd have sorted it. That's why you pay them large day rates or end to end contract fees. Or not, depending on your budget.

This bit is just madness!

Even though the acting was bad, it was the least bad in that take

That is NOT ever going to work, is it?