Semi-OT: Really Officious Pro-Video Article Attacks Film

[tfunch24]

http://www.bigwoofilms.com/tools_gear.html

A Vidiot wrote:
Just thank your lucky stars you weren't stupid enough to shoot on film, and cough up the $7-10 for each good tape. Don't bother with 'chip' tapes unless you have a real need for that feature.

The above quote is only the tip of the iceberg. Read on only if you want your blood pressure to crest at dangerously high levels.

Tom

[mattias]

Read on only if you want your blood pressure to crest at dangerously high levels.

well, i'd tend to agree with them when they say that film is usually too expensive for making low budget features. they even implicitly agree that film looks better but they say the story is more important, which i also pretty much agree with. what makes the article silly is that they recommend buying a dv camera, lights, a "g4 computer", final cut pro and more, after just having dismissed film as too expensive. you can shoot several hours of super-8 using a $50 camera, transfer it to video and edit on a used imac with imovie for the same money. it's all a matter of priorities, like everything in filmmaking.

/matt

[tfunch24--lazy]

Those are all good points, but the whole "count yourself lucky you're not stupid enough to shoot film" tone comes off as arrogant and abrasive. Maybe it's just me, but at times the author sounds like he's trying to pick a fight.

Speaking of lights, I bought a Radio Shack 300-watt DC-AC inverter today. I plan on using it to shoot some interior low-key nighttime closeups in my car this weekend. Film stock is Tri-X, camera is Leicina Super, and I'm using two 125-watt photofloods. That should be enough for closeups, correct?

Tom

[Lucas Lightfeat]

Hey Tom, that's enough light, but where will you position them. It's an interesting one, car interiors at night. I've seen it done many times without blinking, but when I watch the film again and study it, I have often noticed that the first time i was totaly cheated - the footwell is lit up like a torch which makes no sense at all, but as I say, I didn't notice it first time around. It's a toughie alright! I think you have to cheat and be unnatural, or else drive through a bright Vegas street and use Vision 500 :lol:

Let me know what you are planning - I'm fascinated in this.

Lucas

[mattias]

Maybe it's just me, but at times the author sounds like he's trying to pick a fight.

yeah, it's an age old strategy for tightening a group around something: creating an enemy. the harder it is to find a real enemy the more evil this enemy has to be. try it. it's a lot of fun. ;-)

/matt

[tfunch24--lazy]

The camera will be positioned in the passenger seat, aimed towards the driver--I'm filming the driver as he drives down a highway. I was planning on putting one light in the footwell and using it as a kicker. As for the other light, I'm not sure where exactly I'm going to position it. I'll figure something out.

Tom

[Lucas Lightfeat]

So you're cheating it too. No-one will notice if the drama is good enough. ;)

I wonder what the more "natural" alternatives are, if there are any.

Straight through the windscreen might work - Oncoming traffic? Passing lights is perfect of course, but impossible without a huge budget, unless you go somewhere busy and use what occurs anyway. I must examine more films and see how they've dealt with this problem.

Lucas

[Lucas Lightfeat]

I would use the headlights of oncoming cars, expose for them, allowing the close up to go dark between cars - naturalistic style, but then, I don't have any lights - just one with no bulb at present.

Lucas

[tfunch24]

Okay, here's a photo depicting the POV of the camera setup that I plan on using:



Not perfect, but just pretend you're sitting in the passenger seat of an American car (steering wheel on the left side of the car as opposed to the right side of the car) and looking at the driver.

The white arrow indicates the direction in which I want the kicker to shine. I'm using the kicker to illuminate the face of the driver. Basically, I want to dimly illuminate the driver and his immediate surroundings--the steering wheel, the dashboard, etc. As for the second light, I'm considering bouncing it off the ceiling. My big concern--reflections on the glass. The right side of my face should block most of the light, but a few errant rays could still strike a window.

I'm not that concerned about the passing headlights. The area in which I'm going to be filming is a big strip--lots of traffic, lots of light but not enough, I'm sure, to illuminate the subject on its own.

I used a Logitech USB Quickcam to take the above JPG.

Tom

[Guest]

I'd like to add my two cents to what this fellow has to say about power, a less emotionally charged issue.

Although I'm not a licensed electrician I did completely wire a house a couple of years ago and the electrical inspectors did pass my work and give it their blessing. I'm located in the U.S.A. where electrical codes vary from state to state and even from town to town.

A bathroom socket with the "Test" and "Reset" buttons is usually on a line of its own, or a line with other bathrooms. This outlet is usually good for 15 amps.

"A bathroom socket with the 'Test' and 'Reset' buttons" is a "ground fault interrupt." Curiously, I was not required to install one of these in the bathroom. However, the single electrical outlet in the bathroom was required to be on its own circuit rated at 20 amps.

Kitchens are frequently chock full o' amperage. Wall outlets above the counter frequently have their own circuit (sometimes two!) and should be good for 15 amps.

I was required to place two outlets above the counter, each with its own 15 amp circuit and ground fault interrupt.

Finally, a stove with a power plug on the range is usually good for at least 15 amps. Remember to make sure the burners are cold before running your cables over them!.

The kitchen range required a dedicated line rated at 50 amps. In the utility room a dedicated 30 amp line was installed for an electric dryer.

I installed a 20 amp line in the utility room for the washing machine. The code inspector said only 15 amps was required but that if I wanted to go with 20 amps that was OK.

Worth remembering (in the US)

• Plugs of various amperages have different shapes to prevent their being plugged into outlets of higher amperage. E.g., one of the prongs of a 20 amp plug is 'T' shaped to prevent it from being insetted into the 'I' shaped 15 amp outlet. Do not try to defeat this.
• Make sure your wiring will carry the amps you require of it.
• If an outlet does not have its own dedicated line then all the outlets on that line are limited to the breaker for that line. E.g., two or more 15 amp outlets on the same line will all lead back to the same 15 amp breaker.
• A breaker will not trip at its rated amperage. The rated amperage of a breaker is the current it WILL carry without tripping. The amperage required to trip the breaker is somewhat higher. Don't try to take advantage of this by loading a 15 amp circuit up to 19 amps. Not only is it not a good idea safety wise but both the amperage and the time when the circuit will break is somewhat unpredictable. It may decide to trip in the middle of your shoot.
• I strongly advise against trying to take advantage the enourmous power available from 30 and 50 amp dryer and range outlets unless you have a qualified electrician working it for you.

[Actor]

I must examine more films and see how they've dealt with this problem.

Take a look at the "I could have been a contender" scene from On the Wasterfront.

[Guest]

I've got that film. As I remember, it's a rear projection studio shot. Very well lit - but it is black and white, where I think you can get away with a lot more interesting lighting set-ups, which make the use of lights look dramatic, but not "unrealistic" or "justified." Isn't it a stationary shot in a car, now I think of it?

The trick is to avoid an obvious single light source (which is impossible in a car at night, which has no internal lights normally.) Highly diffused soft key light with a few tiny randomly dispersed diffused lights highlighting specific areas might work. A white interior would help justify a car lit from it's own headlights, perhaps. I suggest you supplement the naturally occuring passing lights with a small, soft, diffused light through the windscreen (gaffer taped to the bonnet). Just don't let the cops catch you!

[Lucas Lightfeat in Libra]

Oh, that was me, in the library, by the way,

Lucas Lightfeat

[jean]

Thanks for the article, I found it not bad at all, ignoring that the guy is not really a fan of film. And it contains a very important truth:

The medium is not the message. No screenplay will be saved by shooting it on film and it will certainly never be ruined by shooting on digital.

Undisputably, he's absolutely right with that. I'm afraid that a lot of things we get passionate about tend to grow out of proportion :oops: and I found myself often trying to get things done with tools that were not really suited for the task, just because I "fell in love" with them some time ago.

When the action is predictable, I absolutely prefer film, and would even consider 16mm. Your own film should be predictable, and well prepared, since you're directing it, isn't it . Video might even lead to a sloppy working style, since everything can be re-done thousand times, at least in theory. Filmstock will be a part of the budget, but predictable. And for the cost of a decent videocam, you can do a lot of filming.

For unpredictable stuff, like an interview, or animals.. well, the infinite video footsage will be most helpful in that case, since you can never anticipate when the decisive moment will occur. Then it seems better to me to have the camera just ruinning, and edit later. The 15m s8 carts are just to limited for this. The best things use to happen right when the last m is running through the cam..

In theory, that works great. But I still have no videocam to prove it

[tim]

It is usually suspicious when someone attacks S8. Can it be that the latest video stuff isn't going so well? We know that S8 film sales have increased greatly over the last few years: this has to be at the expense of sales of the latest all singing, all dancing video kit.

It is to be hoped that the m,ention of S8 in these diatribes causes a few more people to say 'Oh, is S8 still about. I'll get the old gear out'. People have said this to me after shows of some of my R and S8 stuff.