Zacuto Zwing-away Review

In our coverage of CineGear 2008, FreshDV got a peek at an early mockup of Zacuto’s Zwing-away adapter, a 15mm rods accessory that converts a standard mattebox into a swingaway. We’ve finally gotten a chance to look at the production model, and posted a video review. Watch the review below or by subscribing to FreshDV’s free audio/video podcast feed.

Lowel EDU - Free Lighting Tips and Tutorials

On the off-chance that we haven’t mentioned this resource before, you definitely need to check out Lowel EDU. It’s a free collection of high-quality lighting tutorials, tips and tricks. With lighting diagrams and excellent step-by-step instructions, this is a wonderful resource that is not to be missed. The instructions obviously center around Lowel’s fixtures and products, but the lighting concepts taught transfer seamlessly to other applications. For instance, the Components of Interview Lighting tutorial is a great interactive introduction to not just the mechanics of classic three-point lighting, but the artistic reasons for this style of subject illumination. They also demonstrate simpler 1 and 2 light setups.

If you are just dipping your toes into lighting for film and video, or simply are in need of a refresher course, I recommend this site highly.

FreshDV Reviews the Zacuto follow focus unit

In the fall of 2007, FreshDV released an extensive review series of 5 popular follow focus units. We’ve continued to update this video review series in the following months. To date we’ve tested units from Chrosziel, Cinetech, Redrock Micro, Petroff, Indifocus, Shoot35/SGPro, and ARRI. Today we’re adding another review video for the Zacuto Z-Focus flippable follow focus unit.

The Z-Focus flippable is one of a family of follow focus units designed for HD camcorders and adapter rigs. 2nd from the bottom in price point, it offers a reversible configuration and many professional features.

Watch the Zacuto follow focus review in the video playlist here.

The Top Frames of 2008

Here’s a fantastic resource for cinematographers and film buffs alike, In Contention blog has posted their Top 10 iconic shots of 2008.

FreshDV Reviews the ARRI MFF1 and FF4 follow focus units

In the fall of 2007, FreshDV released an extensive review series of 5 popular follow focus units. We’ve continued to update this video review series in the following months. To date we’ve tested units from Chrosziel, Cinetech, Redrock Micro, Petroff, Indifocus, and Shoot35/SGPro. Today we’re adding two more review videos for the new ARRI’s MFF-1 HD follow focus, and the heavy-duty production-tested FF-4.

The FF-4 follow focus needs no introduction. The precursor to the FF5, it is one of ARRI’s flagship units and is considered by many to be an industry standard of quality. The new MFF-1 is ARRI’s entry into the lightweight HD camcorder accessories market, and is part of a kit that also includes 15mm short rods. baseplate and a mattebox. Designed for the PMW-EX1, it is equally at home with 35mm adapter units and other HD camcorder rigs.

Watch both reviews in the following video playlist here.

Enterprising coder hacks video capture from Nikon D700 DSLR

Gotta love the DIY spirit! This enterprising coder obtained the Nikon SDK for the D700 DSLR camera, and managed to hack up a way to capture 30fps video from the Live View. Bad news is that it’s not quite 480p, and Nikon’s handling of the sensor information is less than helpful to image quality. Still, it’s an interesting development in the convergence of still/video cameras, and may be of interest to the folks trying to drum up support to hack 24p into the Canon 5D MKII.

Composing a More Dynamic Frame With Depth

By now we are all aware the filming something confines a three-dimensional reality into two-dimensional medium. So just by our choice of medium we begin with a contrived sense of reality. Now two-dimensionality is not inherently bad and in fact it can be a visual tool to convey a specific meaning. Depth is not inherently the right answer but as far as dynamics, a frame with depth is more dynamic than a flat one. Its all about taking control over what you want to convey emotionally to your audience. If that is what your script calls for then great use a flat space. However, many times finding ways to create depth will enhance the dynamics of your frame and increase the feeling of a three dimensional world. Look for ways to ad depth cues to your composition. Depth cues are any visual elements that provide the illusion of depth in the frame.  There are many types of depth cues that can either ad to your frame to increase depth or removed from your frame to create a flat space. We will examine three simple depth cues you can use to ad depth to your frame.

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