squig

1 hour ago, kaylee said:

holy schnikes! i finally have time to try some 3.5k, whats this all about? i dont wanna brick my camera and im scared of a1ex ?

He's a puppy dog. It was only a problem with that one build. Try a build a few weeks old, the latest one is always a bit risky.

I made this one alone, the budget was $20 (pork dumplings)

This one cost me $1200; I needed an assistant to flicker a light outside in one scene (lightning)

2 hours ago, mercer said:

How often do you update to newer builds? And even though I haven't had any issues, do you think it would make sense to update my build?

Depends, I usually update to test new features that I may want to use, but unless you really need those features there's no compelling reason to update.

9 minutes ago, mercer said:

Shit, I am running the April 4th build as well but with 1.13 Canon firmware. I have not uploaded any of the experimental builds, only the basic 1080p. I have not had any warnings or errors... should I be concerned?

As far as I know, it's only an issue with the experimental build.

16 hours ago, kaylee said:

i feel like the creative writing part of my brain is very much separate from the nuts and bolts production/budget side.... like they need to have a meeting to reconcile

writing something you can produce frugally is extra tough for this reason imo

i feel like: Kaylee, since you dont have the money to produce your feature yet, if youre such a genius why dont you write a little no budget short to get attention?

easier said than done

On the advice from the head of my film school I went nuts on my first screenplay: naval battles, pussy grabbing, cock biting, aliens, nuclear war. It ended up being a $10-20 million dollar movie . And then I thought to myself: nobody's gonna be crazy enough to give me $10 million to make a movie (that was before Trump). So then I wrote a prequel with a budget of $100-200 thousand in mind. It was a lot harder to write, but in some ways it's a better film; more character development, deeper meaning etc. The hardest thing for me to write are shorts; I'm not a big fan of shorts, and I tried to avoid making another one for ages, but no awesome short, no money . So I finally came up with a short version of the GAMMA prequel that works. Now I just have to shoot the damn thing The budget is $3000, but I'm gonna make it look like $30,000.

House in a mountain town is a good start; locations I know often end up as inspiration for my writing. In fact I wrote the GAMMA prequel based on ideas that came from a derelict house I'd been shooting in.

Our first project at film school was to create a narrative with 10 Polaroids. My partner and I were living in a mountain house at the time. I made a 10 frame horror film: stalker outside in the foggy night. girl in the shower. stalker breaks in and stabs the girl in the shower. Everybody was blown away because it looked so damn real. It worked because the location was perfectly creepy and it was a simple idea well executed.

I don't know if you're thinking of doing horror; most horror films are shit, but they're very profitable and can be made well on a small budget, which makes them a good way to break in to the industry. The GAMMA prequel is psychological horror with a kind of a Shining vibe in a post-apocalyptic world.

To date I've worked with a maximum crew of 3 (including me) It just takes a bit more time to get things done. Being writer, director, producer, cinematographer isn't easy, but you can do it if you're fierce. Planning is key; I'm going to light and pre-shoot most of my short with my kids standing in for the actors. Lighting, blocking, framing, and camera movement are crucial story elements.

The biggest limitations are self-imposed.

I'm gonna stop now before this turns into a jcs essay

2 hours ago, Rcorrell said:

hey guys, I'm having trouble with the april 4th null pointer bug with the new build. I get the error message every time I install a newer 4k build after the april 4th (which is now known to have these bugs). I need someone to walk me through the process to remove the error. I've dumped my rom, I've formatted cards, I've cleared canon settings, I've done the battery pull... I still get the error message without fail.  If I install the normal nightly build it works fine. I've read through the forum on ML but it is still unclear to me how to resolve it. I've tried contacting them on IRC like it says to do but have not got a response from anyone on the ML side.  I'd love to start testing this new build but my camera won't allow me to do so...  If anyone knows what process I have to go through in order to get it up and running again I would be very grateful.  Thank you in advance.  Running a 5D3 1.2.3.

You need to talk to a1ex on the ML forum. It's a very serious bug and could brick your camera.

7 hours ago, Ed_David said:

Can make it better color wise and edit

Lulz. I think the same thing every time I look at anything I ever shot; then I think "fuck it" and get on to the next thing.

16 hours ago, Ed_David said:

Thanks - yea - was just comparing it with something my friend just shot on 35mm and it looked really similar!

Going to try to regrade it.

Why bother. looks cool.

10 minutes ago, Ed_David said:

Here's f65 vs Alexa vs F35.

F35 just has less room to play with - and a ton more noise.

Also learned:  I am not a fan of slog3 or sgamut3.  It's orangey.  Sgamut is much more pleasing skintones.  

Yea, f35 gets pretty noisy quickly.   this test doesn't show it, but it still handles mixed color so beautifully.  

i just go back and forth whether i like it or not.

I've always thought the F35 has the most filmic (35mm) look out of all the digital cameras straight out of the box; same goes with the D16. CMOS just looks too real without post processing. There's just something about the way CCD sensors capture light compared to CMOS I suppose; it's just too bad they suck in low light and there aren't many to choose from. Fujifilm have come the closest to making CMOS look like film out of the box, I wish they'd make a proper digital cinema camera. I'm a bit surprised with your Alexa tests, the Dragon did more for me (never been a Red fanboy), which was the opposite of what I expected, but there's tonnes of great looking Alexa stuff so like the 5D Mk3 it's just a matter of good post work I suppose.

I can see the color noise in the shadows, crushing the blacks a bit hides it. For projects without much of a post budget and minimal low light shooting the F35 fits the bill; the best bang for buck too.

14 minutes ago, jcs said:

Did you put a FilmConvert emulation on them?The F35 looks like a film emulation (black is not black, even so detail goes away much faster vs. the F65 as light drops: much less sensitive). The F35 frame looks like a "look" which could also be applied to the F65 frame, which looks more neutral.

Looks like FC velvia.

26 minutes ago, jcs said:

@squig for all we know it could be the same camera with random color grades. #itsajoke

Y'all better not be fuckin' with me Ed. I'll fly over there, hook up with some brothers, and whoop that gentrifyin' ass.

I liked C, F, then A for skin. B & E lacked warmth. Overcast?

In the street I like F, A, then C. C looked a bit too magenta. The sky was overcast for E, I think it could look good in the sun. B didn't do a lot for me.

I'm gonna guess F is either the Alexa or the F65, but fuck knows.

What's the asterisk on F signify Ed?

Ed (if you've got a 5D Mk3 handy) would you mind grabbing the skin tone shot @ 3k raw? A decent 50mm at f/2 will match up.

8 hours ago, mercer said:

Oh okay, you're using the experimental build for your establishing shots. Obviously not good for close ups with the liveview issue. Makes sense. 

Yeah, that's it. And until the film fairy delivers me a 19mm Leica-r ROM (over $4000 USD) it means mixing lenses.

23 hours ago, mercer said:

So for your establishing shots, you are able to get more resolution, for more wide angle detail? If that's the case, why not shoot everything in crop mode? Wouldn't that help with close up detail as well, plus open up some aps-c lens options? Btw, what is the total crop on the 5D3 with 3x3?

1080p raw has enough detail with Leica-r glass, and the widest Leica-r I have is 24mm. It's a 1.81x crop @ 3168x1320 (2.39:1)

11 hours ago, mercer said:

That seems promising. An 80D may be in my future. 

Also, I vaguely remember you saying that you only shoot in crop mode? If my memory is correct, could you explain the benefits?

Obviously, it's interesting to open up a few more lens choices.

I want an 80D too for the DPAF.

I'm mostly just using crop mode for establishing shots, the benefit being higher resolution (pixels plus no line skipping), the deeper DOF in crop mode is handy too.

Looks like Magic Lantern on digic 6 cameras may soon be a thing http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=17360.msg189584#msg189584

A lot of the events in a nuclear war screenplay I wrote in 2011 have come to pass, including Trump. A Gulf of Tonkin incident with Iran is the flashpoint.

17 hours ago, Ed_David said:

I think @Andrew Reid the reason I am in a huff is that a moderator's job is to keep the peace, not do as Don said - "deletes posts, locks threads, promotes or even posts personal insults and pushes people to leave the forum."

That was my understanding during my time as a cinema5D and Magic Lantern mod. I quit Magic Lantern because another mod just didn't get it.

If this lynch mob is a microcosm of the world, we're all going to fucking die!

1 hour ago, jonpais said:

Remember, Emanuel - don't delete any posts unless they contain death threats or golf balls. That's rule #1 in the handbook. ?

As a former mod I can attest this kind of juvenile behavior was not in the handbook.

51 minutes ago, silvertonesx24 said:

And when you have antifa scum hysterically looting and rioting over him, it really makes you wonder who the real fascists are.

Yeah, totally

7 hours ago, mercer said:

I completely understand this because I think President Trump is an African American Woman because I choose to use a different definition of the words African and Woman. 

What in the hell are you talking about, Ed? You don't get to choose the definition of words to suit your narrative. I know it's a political tactic to do so, but this isn't a political forum.

You know... I also was trying to stay out of this conversation but after reading this nugget, I had to have my one and only reply...

Words have meaning and power.

People can choose to use words incorrectly, but that would make that person ignorant and subsequently make their opinion moot. Or it's deliberate for a very specific political motive. Neither reason is acceptable.

A major issue in our society is the misuse of words and the miscommunication of intent. If you're unsure of the proper definition of a word, look it up. Your argument may become clearer and your points not so divisive. Or maybe you know exactly what these words mean and this aww shucks routine is the character you play?

Trump is a lot of things, but a white nationalist is not one of them. It's a moronic argument used as a scare tactic to like minded people that don't think for themselves.

There are plenty of valid arguments to be made for President Trump or against President Trump, but that ad hoc attack just keeps the narrative and debate in the whacko realms of the Far Left and Far Right and I would rather hear discussions and points made by the rational center, where most humans reside.

Trump's dad was Klan.

Trump has a long history of racism.

Trump's policies appeal to white nationalists.

White nationalists voted for Trump.

Trump hired a bunch of white nationalists.

Trump's encouraged white nationalist violence since his election campaign.

Trump's a fascist and very dangerous.

8 hours ago, Nikkor said:

Your social activism is cultural apropiation, please stop doing it.

Given people of color are asking white people to stand up, that's ridiculous. A white mate of mine was arrested in Boston; Black Lives Matter paid his bail. During the Occupy protests I stood between an Aboriginal man and a cop, risking arrest and potential police brutality; that's not cultural appropriation, that's paying the rent. Quakers were hanged for protesting injustice 500 years ago, it's very much a part of my culture. Sure white people sometimes go too far and need to check themselves, they're only human. Pro tip: don't pick on Ed, he's human too.

P.S. Nazis suck arse.

9 minutes ago, Richard Bugg said:

Am I right in thinking it's the rear lobe of the shotguns that picks up room reflections. Perhaps the NTG3 might be a little better here than some others, with a wider pickup pattern and a smaller rear lobe, hence fewer reflective sounds indoors?

 

Sorry if I've contributed to the drift off the OP topic here.

You really need a hyper or super-cardioid mic to get good sound indoors, any shotgun is going to sound a bit thin and reflections are going to be a nightmare. The Sanken CS-3e short shotgun may be the closest to usable inside but I had a listen to some tests and it didn't impress me for indoor use.

6 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

For people not having a good experience with booming, this is an advantage. For me, soundman since 1999, I would prefer the 416 anytime. I used the NTG-3 for a couple of years when it was first out, and then I bought the 416 and never looked back again. Rode is an excellent brand, and I would recommend their products easily, but Sennheiser is my go to brand. Very serious about sound for a century now!

You need a different microphone for indoors, this is like the mistake 101 most people do, even if a shotgun sounds ok on 1 room, 8 out of 10 it could be a nightmarish experience. It is just physics.

Rode being Australian, I could buy 3 NTG-3s for the cost of one 416 here, so that was a purchase decision factor too. If I was working as a sound recordist I'd definitely go the 416, but for my personal narrative work the NTG-3 works for me. And yeah, there is no swiss army mic.