Before requesting to have your film reviewed, please make sure to read the Film Submission FAQ in the Submission Info section and then contact the editor to request the review and get the shipping address.
Rogue Cinema is always on the lookout for new writers to join our regular staff of volunteers. If you would like to join the Rogue Cinema team, check out the Submission FAQ and then contact the editor to discuss your proposed submission(s).
Joined: Jun 06, 2004 Posts: 131 Location: Louisiana, US
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2004 5:45 pm Post subject: Camera Questions
Now this should be an interesting forum. Being that I've never made an independent film, nor took a class on cinematography (or went to anything of the sort), my knowledge of the subject is pretty darn low. Something I hope to some day cure. Basically, if anyone ever reads this with some knowledge of the subject, I'm just curious if there's a website that could possibly explain the very basics on the subject. The difference between camera lenses, an explination of the various aspect ratios, the differences between film (35mm, 8mm, etc.) and pretty much anything else concerning the topic. Stuff I've always wanted to know but have never been able to find simple answers to. _________________ Josh Samford
Webmaster - Varied Celluloid
Staff Writer - Rogue Cinema
"I've thought about things that Kings and Queens cannot spell." - Gary Busey
The best thing you can do is to take your video camera and make a short movie. Edit it, mix the sound and put music on it. If you want to pursue this path, you might want to get the tools. These will give you excellent results:
Camera - Panasonic AG-DVX100A or Canon XL-2 for video. For film, check online. I use a Canon Scoopic, which is a 16mm camera that is very easy to use. I record sound to a video camera. You can also get a dual system, crystal sync setup.
Microphone - Sennheiser ME66
Editing software - Sony Vegas , Premiere or Final Cut Pro. (The Vegas 5 Production Suite includes DVD authoring tools)
Easiest way to explain aspect ratio is to say that it means the ratio between the width of the picture and the height of the picture. Normal TV's aspect ratio is 4:3 (1.33:1), HDTV's aspect ratio is 16:9 (1.85:1) and CinemaScope movies' aspect ratio is 2.35:1. For examples, click here:
Some cameras, like a 16mm Bolex or a Canon XL-2, can switch out lenses. Prime lenses come in specific sizes. They are not zoom lenses. They have specific focal lengths, like 25mm, 50mm, 75mm, etc. The shorter the length, the less mm.
Wide lenses are short. These can be used in small shooting areas, like the room of an apartment, and they can make the room look bigger. The wider the lens, the bigger the room will look. If it's really wide (short), you can get the effect of looking through the eyehole in a door. Your actor's noses will stick out, farther, with one of these lenses. These lenses require less light than others. They can also smooth out any movement, especially if you are walking with the camera.
A medium lens, like a 50mm, is common on 35mm still cameras. They are fairly neutral and don't exaggerate people's noses. This focal length is good for general imagery.
A long lens, say 200mm, will do the opposite of making people's noses stick out. They will flatten the actor's face. They compress space. Did you ever see a shot of a man, running toward the camera, but he doesn't seem to get closer? How about the shot in BLUE THUNDER, where the cops are on the bridge and the helicopter rises up, right behind them? It appears to be right next to them, when there is actually plenty of distance between them. These lenses require a bit more light. They exaggerate your camera movement - if you bump the camera, the whole frame will shake wildly.
A zoom lens, on a camera like the DVX100, can fill most of your needs, but they usually can't get super wide angles, unless you use an adapter. Adapters are screw on lenses that will give you a wider angle or anamorphic wide screen.
For film, there are 3 main sizes - Super 8mm, 16mm and 35mm. There are other specialty sizes, like the special 70mm stock that IMAX uses.
8mm is the smallest of these filmstocks and supposedly has over 1,000 lines of resolution. This astounding capability needs to be seen in a properly exposed print, on a good projector, as the video transfers usually suck. The film guage is small and hard to transfer.
16mm is considered student and semi-professional stock. Super 16mm is even larger and blows up well to 35mm prints. Early seasons of XENA and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER were shot with this stock. The movies, EVIL DEAD, CLERKS, THE BROTHERS McMULLEN, EL MARIACHI and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE were shot with this stock. Certain videos of these movies are grainy because they were telecined from the 35mm blowups, which exaggerated the grain.
Film grain is made up of light sensitive silver halides. Filmstock at an ASA rating of 50 has much less grain than a 500 speed stock. The 50 speed is good for daylight, while the 500 speed is better for night shooting. A lot of people used the 50 speed on Super 8mm films, even for indoor shooting. They had to put a lot of lights on the scene. The purpose was to have a smooth look and avoid the graininess that was typical of Super 8's small film size. Of course, a lot of music videos took advantage of the grainy look of faster Super 8 film.
35mm is what is projected in most theaters. Hollywood moviemakers often use Panavision cameras to shoot this stock. You know what this looks like. ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO and ATTACK OF THE CLONES were shot on High Def video, but then transfered to 35mm prints for most theaters. A select few offered video projection. Tom Cruise's new movie, COLLATERAL utilizes mostly High Def video.
Film shooting is harder to learn, because unlike video, you don't get the immediate playback. You have to process it at a lab. You can keep it in film form and cut it on a large Flatbed with reels, or you can transfer it to video and edit it in your computer. A lot of people edit the film transfer in their computer, since they have the look of film, but the convenience of non-linear editing.
The advantage to film is latitude with lighting. Shadows and bright lights can be captured in the same shot, the way video often can't. Digital technology is improving, allowing moviemakers to closer emulate the "filmlook." A recent development, 24P video, immitates the movement of film, which is 24 complete (progressive) frames in a second. Before, video operated at 30 frames and 60 fields. Each field was only half of a frame and had to be interlaced with the other half to form the whole image.
Aside from the rich, vibrant look, the other advantage is high resolution on big screens. It will probably be some time before video is seen on an IMAX screen.
If you are going to make your own movies, give yourself an early advantage, by using lots of light and put your shotgun condenser mic on a boompole. Get the mic close to your subject. Use a lot of close ups and you won't see the mic in the shot. (Most beginners use too many wide shots because they don't want to break the scene up into several shots.) Good sound and good lighting is an excellent place to start. From there, you can work on continuity and editing. And, don't accept unrealistic delivery from your actors or friends.
Last edited by MikeConway on Mon Jul 19, 2004 11:40 am; edited 3 times in total
Joined: Jun 05, 2004 Posts: 628 Location: Boise, Idaho
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 6:33 am Post subject:
God Mike, what an awesome post. I'm going to have to re-read it several times to absorb all the info. Thanks very much for taking the time to post all that. _________________ Duane L. Martin Webmaster - B-Movie Central Editor / Webmaster / Staff Writer - Rogue Cinema
Joined: Jun 05, 2004 Posts: 628 Location: Boise, Idaho
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 1:04 pm Post subject:
You're right. The information you put in that post was just incredible. You should teach a filmmaking class or something on the side to make extra money. There's a couple of guys around here that do that but the class is too expensive for me. _________________ Duane L. Martin Webmaster - B-Movie Central Editor / Webmaster / Staff Writer - Rogue Cinema
By the way, the cameras and tools that I listed are just suggestions for people who decide to really get into it. Obviously, you can take a $500 Sony camera and shoot Mini DV or High 8 and still be able to get decent images. Learning how to put something together is more important than using nice toys.
Joined: Jun 05, 2004 Posts: 628 Location: Boise, Idaho
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:28 pm Post subject:
Yeah well if I can get a nice camera maybe I could do something. I just yesterday picked up a USB MIDI box so I could hook my synths up to the computer and actually work with them again. I shouldn't have spent the money, but talking to you recently about the synths got me thinking that I should work with it some. Now I need to remember how to use the damn software. _________________ Duane L. Martin Webmaster - B-Movie Central Editor / Webmaster / Staff Writer - Rogue Cinema
Joined: Jul 25, 2004 Posts: 31 Location: Bakersfield, CA
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 11:40 am Post subject:
Yea, Mike really knows his stuff. And I will agree with Duane "Awesome post"
Like Mike said, get the camera out and make a short. Experience is the best teacher.
I've learned alot from various sites (including indieclub.com) but the merging of knowledge and creativity happens behind the camera.
Mike, Unlike you, I'm not brave enough to show the shorts I've made.
During the Vegas IndieMeet Mike brought out some of his first short movies, it was really cool and the movies were great. The Dragon one was my fav. You should compile those on a DVD, at least for friends
Joined: Jun 06, 2004 Posts: 131 Location: Louisiana, US
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 3:30 pm Post subject:
Hugely informative post there Mike, very inspirational. Kinda makes one want to save up for a camera, and start hanging out with the kids going to drama classes
I guess the best way to find anything out is by first hand experience, first I'll need a better job that's for sure Excellent post though my man, I'll have to save it to my comp! _________________ Josh Samford
Webmaster - Varied Celluloid
Staff Writer - Rogue Cinema
"I've thought about things that Kings and Queens cannot spell." - Gary Busey
Josh, glad you liked it. Originally, I was going to refer you to a couple of websites and not write anything, but that would have been a copout.
There's nothing like getting or borrowing a cheap digital camera and an editing program and just putting both feet in the water. By the way, older versions of Premiere, Vegas, etc. can be found for decent prices on Ebay. I just saw Premiere 6.0 for a $30 bid or $89 "buy it now" price.
Here's a copy of Vegas 4, current bid $49. It's up until August 18th.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
Excellent post though my man, I'll have to save it to my comp!
