Neumann Films

6 hours ago, Ed_David said:

I obsess over image fidelity, skintones, and motion cadence.

That is a political act.

Because im an upper middle class white guy so i am allowed to do this.

So are most of you.

Its called white priveliege.

And we are not in a vacumn

The president of the united states is a white nationalist and is wrecking havoc.

And where are we? Defending a photo company that discriminates against women and race.

Classy.

https://www.workplacefairness.org/sexual-gender-discrimination#2

Ed, I appreciate you man.  I do, I appreciate the fire and the passion.  But at a certain point you realize, all it does is further cement, the people you're trying to change, in their own views.  It's a lost cause and an impractical strategy.

It's cheesy but...love and understanding. Even to Trump.  Don't let your perception of people dictate what you actually know to be true.  What are people like in reality vs the PERCEPTION of them that is created through media?  We are all pretty good.  A few bad eggs.  Mostly good.

Keep the faith man.  Trust your eyes.   

4 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Did you post this at RED User as well? I hope so

They will be... ahem...GREEN with envy and cancel their pre-orders

Does it have an 8K module coming 2047?

Hehe, no I haven't.  

Modules are all TBD.  It will have them but you have to trust us that they will be worth it.

52 minutes ago, jcs said:

Built-in DMT dispenser included, LSD & Mushroom cartridges available as accessories (Amanita Muscaria available in September along with Super Mario AR). 

 

 

$3,500 accessory pending approval from the Beckley Foundation.

Had to...

Love it.  There are only a few instances where another camera could do a specific job better.  For 90% of the projects that 90% of us are shooting, its a steal.

The 180fps with 5 axis stabilization has been such a breath of fresh air. Anamorphic mode if that's your thing (which in 6K Photo Mode gives you the same resolution as a RED Epic W in Ana mode btw). The 4K60 is nice, I hardly use it.  Use the 10bit constantly.

It's replaced our RED just from ease of use alone (trying to sell it now).

We simply aren't losing enough image quality to warrant the extra hassle. 

20 hours ago, mercer said:

If we could get a GH5 for his 7-800 dollar budget, I'd buy 2. 

Ahh, I missed that part Yeah, that's a bit over budget for sure.

GH5, Lumix 12-35mm f 2.8 IS, a Rode Video Mic with Windscreen, and a Tiffen Variable ND.  That's all most people should ever need.  Amazing quality, ability to go handheld with 5 axis stabilization, good enough audio.  So liberating.

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

Having a hard date to sell items happen over and over would be too scary for me.....   and it might force you to sell it for less than you'd like to sell it for! As you can't hold and wait for a better offer to come along :-/ 

I get it up for sale earlier and give myself at least 5 months.  

15 hours ago, mercer said:

Pretty smart if you can make it work. I assume you can just finance another Epic and then constantly use newer equipment without using a major upfront investment. I imagine if you shoot with the Epic, the GH5 sees little use these days? What's the upgrade path after an Epic... could you be sustainable and profitable with an Alexa?

Yup, find another no interest card, close the current one and do it again.  I actually use the GH5 as much as I can.  It's more than enough for my own personal tastes and I always prefer the smaller form factor.

The trick for doing this with an Alexa would be finding somewhere that takes credit card for a used camera.  If you could, the same system should work (maybe even better with an Alexa since they hold value more/longer than RED)

Lenses are the most sure fire bet.

7 hours ago, Oliver Daniel said:

Why are you selling the Epic-W? Is the GH5 experience that significant? 

Because the sky high APR kicks in October 1st

1 hour ago, mercer said:

I think the more interesting question is... did you get an Alexa Mini?

No, RED Epic W.  We got a Battle Tested Scarlet Dragon for $11,500 direct from RED.  Then they gave us $15,000 in credit towards the Epic W upgrade about 2 months later

The 8K has opened up some financial doors, so we have been pretty happy with that move.  Trying to sell it now though...then start the cycle over again.

1 hour ago, silvertonesx24 said:

Right but what I'm saying is that there's a cost in ownership and that it isn't necessarily the best idea for anyone to go get a 0% interest CC and max it out with camera gear planning to sell it just before the term expires. Even with insurance you can still be screwed over.

Used $30k Maseratis also look nice but can you afford to maintain a $120k car? If not, then it's not a smart idea to buy one.

Well there's always risk involved...but like I said, we have done this for years and the worst thing to happen is we lose a couple grand in value.  It makes much more sense from a numbers standpoint if you're an owner/op.  Renting only ever makes sense if your client is paying for it.

2 hours ago, silvertonesx24 said:

Yeah that kind of works, but you're not factoring in an insurance policy for your new gear. Or at least be prepared to cough up for an expensive repair or worse the loss of the whole thing. With certain pieces of gear you can just sub to a rental house to defray the cost.

You need that either way though...makes no difference how you pay for your gear. Also, there are cheap options out there for insurance that cover gear like that.  

I have always prefered keeping my funds intact, so for the past 5 or 6 years we have just opened credit cards that have no interest for x amount of time, use the gear, and then sell it to pay off the card as the kick in date for interest approaches.

This allows us to stay current while not ever really breaking the bank.  It also keeps our credit score extremely high (bonus for self employed people).  If you choose cameras and gear that hold their value AND shop for deals, you can almost break even at the end.  We have done that a few times.

The CitiBank card is 21 months @ 0% and we have a 30k limit.  Lenses keep their value, so they are a pretty safe buy. Cameras are tricky so it makes a little more sense to go Alexa if you're looking to sell, as they hold their value a lot longer.  If you get a great deal on an Alexa or Mini, you could conceivably make a profit at the end.  It ends up being (if nothing else) a super cheap 21 month rental.  Shoot like crazy, then sell.

I reached a similar conclusion with the GH5.  Sold our RED Epic W and now use the GH5 exclusively.

Cameras like the Alexa and RED kind of spit in the face of progress, when you really think about it.  They are overpriced and the form factor is geared towards a system that is stuck in the past.  Big, overbloated crews where 5 people are needed to do the job of one person.  As digital moves forward, we shouldn't just see IQ improvements, how about taking advantage of the usability improvements as well?  Big/expensive cameras just don't make sense anymore.  It is 100% a status thing.

Loving that look, Andrew! Nice find.

1 hour ago, silvertonesx24 said:

Frankly at this point anything you read from the motivation guru industry on social marketing isn't worth much at all. Books on how to become "known" and the like. The authors know damn well that the way things worked for them won't work for you (technically they will, but nowhere near as well) which is why they're willing to tell you all they know for a $9.99 ebook. Also the internet is the great haven for survivorship bias as for every Andrew Kramer making huge money with the internet and social media there are tens of thousands doing the same things and seeing zip

So basically, if everyone else is instagramming their way to great gigs, then don't expect anywhere near their success starting from scratch. Learn to manipulate Google and Youtube because I'd bet 99 out of 100 filmmakers don't know jack shit about search engine optimization and you can sweep up a nice audience there (and then make real money selling "seo for filmmakers" books and seminars five years later)

Personally, you won't find me on any social media, because I don't have time to do it halfway, and unless you're willing to go all out (and become the aforementioned D list celeb instead of a filmmaker) your time is better off face to face networking and building referrals from that.

I've built a creative career with zero percent social media presence, 20% web presence, and 80% face to face presence 

Yup, face to face wins out when it comes to landing jobs.  For the most part.  Some people hire based on social presence alone but its rare.

Important and not important at the same time.  All depends on what you do with it.  We have always opted to build it a bit slower while trying to maintain some sanity and our personalities.  No Vlogs, not a ton of face time, no trade shows.  We live pretty normal lives on a day to day basis. 

You can build it really quickly by just playing the game (being fake, like you said)...but those people just end up being D League Celebs.  Know what you want to do, if being a D League Celeb is your goal...go for it man.  You won't be the only one.  If you want to do something unique and different...just do it.  There's no right or wrong way.  Build your own image and show people what you want to show them.  Generally you can't force it, if I tried to do Vlogs every day they would be horrid.  I'm not Casey Neistat and there's no point in pretending that I am.  Do you because there are other people like you and they will relate because they can tell you're being real.

25 minutes ago, mercer said:

Way too hard on yourself. The opening shot with the light effect works brilliantly. I really thought it was a moon time lapse. Very interesting stuff, with some great low budget pointers I'll be stealing. 

Yeah, I was happy with how that effect turned out!

16 minutes ago, Fritz Pierre said:

Hi Luke....just looks fantastic!!...a question....how did you attach the Lume Cube to the Inspire, and how was flying it with the extra weight added to the front of the aircraft?

There are two adapters that Lume Cube makes for the Inspire 1.  It seemed to do fine, I took the camera off just as a precaution though.  That might have helped a lot.

Here is a little BTS/commentary: 

52 minutes ago, mercer said:

@Neumann Films That's great, looking forward to it. I almost bought a used one last night, but I'm too happy with my 5D3 right now to justify another big purchase, but I do predict a GH5 in my future one day.

Any chance you'll be getting one of those new fangled cine cameras, under the Shroud of Turin, to test?

I honestly haven't heard a peep, with how big of a company they are I imagine the guys I'm dealing with are in a totally different department and pretty much don't deal with it. Who knows, I might ask though

12 hours ago, mercer said:

Hey Luke, just watched this video again and I must say I may be more impressed than the first viewing. Were your opening shots a time lapse or were they done in post?

Also... any chance you and the wife would consider making a director's commentary for this video... would love to know the details. 

Ha, small world! I literally just uploaded a similar video that will go live on Monday morning.  Kinda of like a commentary mixed with some post workflow insights and other stuff.  

10 hours ago, j.f.r. said:

Definitely the GH5 footage I was looking for...... Greta location. Art Design and "Mood" created. Watching on a 2.5k Monitor and looks LOVELY, very good job and definitely would recommend this camera based off of this footage (if this is any indication of what is capable , Panasonic has something Special here).

Thanks  

39 minutes ago, sandro said:

Since the NX1 came out I used proxies, then Adobe added H.265 support but where you actually able to work with 4K H.265 files? Me never, so proxies are still needed. So what is so horrible in the meantime for GH5 to use proxies? They will add support for sure. 

Is resolve actually good on Windows?

It won't even create proxies at this point, I would be happy just to get the files into Premiere.

Just now, mercer said:

I think it was Minolta. Because I went out and bought the 50mm 1.7 because of the video. I wasn't aware the adapter needed corrective glass to reach infinity... I probably didn't know what infinity was to be honest.

Yeah, I remember we had one for a bit but it didn't seem like for very long.  Yup, back before the online barrage of "10 ways to be a better DP" from a 100 different YouTube channels.  I didn't know what moire or aliasing was and it didn't bother me one bit   Now my head is full of these little details...which are fine but at the same time a little distracting from trying to be creative!  Mental clutter.

1 minute ago, mercer said:

Really nice work Luke. It has a very nice modern Alexa look. It kind of reminds me of "The Witch." 

I have been a fan of yours for years. Right after I got my first DSLR for video... the t2i, I saw one of your Oregon videos shot with Minolta lenses... or was it Yashica? Anyway, I remember telling my girlfriend that I hope to make videos that look as good one day. After seeing this piece, it looks like I'll still be saying that. 

Thanks man

Yeah, we used those for a bit, wasn't a huge fan if I remember correctly.  Was it the Nikkor Ai-s primes?  We used those for a long time.