It’s not the budget, it’s where you put the camera!

Equipment doesn’t make the image; people do. I proved this on a music video recently where we had more people than equipment.

Maelstrom - Preproduction

About a week ago, Tim Blackmore and I learned that we were providing tech support for Rob Nilsson’s upcoming film, “Maelstrom”, a Direct Action workshop film with four actors. We knew it was going to be shot with an EX1 (which we have), handheld (EX1, handheld? hmmm), with the wide-angle adapter if at all possible. Cool, sounds like fun, what’s the schedule?

The Debut: Wii Spec Spot, shot on RED, now online at PVC

Wii Spec Spot, 1k version

Here it is, finally finished. Phew! Now I know why I’m not in post production. I’ll write a blog entry on my stupid post mistakes later; for now, enjoy!

Details that may be interesting to the reader:

Shot 4k 2:1

Edited in 2k on Final Cut Pro

Redcode 36

Color correction applied to RedLog-exported footage from RedCine, using Colorista

Zeiss Ultra Primes, mostly at T2

Schneider True-Cut IR filter used on every shot except for the TV (16mm Ultra Prime saw some off-angle cyan vignetting)

All shots daylight- or 4500k-balanced (the TV had to be shot under a daylight balance, for proper color, so I shot everything else daylight for consistency) except for the ceiling shot, which was done at 3200k to keep the light bulbs from going too warm

There’s one shot that was done on a Lensbaby. See if you can pick it out.

More soon.

My first RED shoot: The training wheels come off!

Okay, I have to admit it: I now like this camera more than I thought I would.

NAB 2008 - Take-aways

I spent NAB 2008 walking around, looking for gear for our production company and getting a feel for where things are headed in general. I took away several strong impressions about where the industry is going—as well as a couple of interesting toys.

Snapshots - NAB 2008 Day 3

Panasonic AG-HPX170

The Panasonic HPX170 is a P2-only update to the HVX200 (The HVX has been updated to the 200A and remains in the lineup). The HMC150, which records to AVCHD and lacks many of the 170’s advanced features, looks much the same.

Snapshots - NAB 2008 Day 2

Codex Digital Portable and disk pack

Highlights of my walking around the show floor on Tuesday…

Codex Digital showed working versions of their Portable digital cine recorder. $44K gets you the lunchbox plus a three-hour drive pack, and the superb Codex user interface.

Find Me at NAB

For a bit over a year now I’ve been consulting on a new broad-spectrum LED light for the motion picture industry. The idea is that this light, with six different LEDs, can change color temperate with a simple turn of a knob and dim without changing color temperature. The spectrum on this light is much better than current LED lighting products that use only one LED.

In order to see an object’s color accurately you have to light it with light containing that same color. Single LED lights typically use phosphor-based LEDs, which have a little spectral spread to them but not much. They only produce a very narrow range of colored light, so they are good an illuminating but not good at all for color reproduction. The Element Labs Kelvin Tile (the product I’ve been working on) has one phosphor and five dye LEDs mixed together, creating a much broader color palette.

I’ll be working the Element Labs booth at NAB, so come find me if you have a chance. Sunday I’ll be setting up, and Monday/Tuesday I’ll be giving product demos and showing off the new Kelvin Tile “paintbox” control system. Wednesday I’ll be wandering NAB in search of juicy new products.

Here’s where I’ll be:

http://elementlabs.com/nab.html

Come on by and say hi!

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