IronFilm

You must have very low confidence in your own ability to come out with this stuff.

My clients don't come to me because of my secret tools. They come to me because I put much emphasis into the ideas and for my very stylised, visual style. They come to me for MY vision and how I apply that vision. My tool selection is just an ingredient of that vision.

People who work with me share information, talk to each other, borrow stuff, debate, exchange skills, ask for advice - because we are collaborators who have strengths and weaknesses, and we help each other to make better stuff. This is simple, basic networking - you never know who you will need in future!

I have no issues writing a blog post telling the whole wide world of amateurs and professionals about my entire music video production structure - from style to logistics. I'll be happy sharing because they will never have the same vision as me, and most importantly they may have something to share too which I can learn from and apply.

The secret sauce is your very self. Your ideas, your style, your personality, your skill, your results - it is this that clients buy. Have confidence in this and what everyone else is doing doesn't matter.

If nobody shared, nobody cared ;)

I have to disagree strongly... Stop sharing? If you learned from the internet and now are at a place where you can contribute back then you should. I learned something a long time ago. If you are always worried about other people catching up to you then you aren't progressing enough.

I don't know which business you are in and I understand there is a big difference between someone who is a DOP for feature films and someone like me who makes wedding films and shorts. The latter is much easier to get in to.
 
But you have to understand that video production is a line of work many people would like to get in to, 'if only it wasn't so complicated / expensive'. And the thing is, with current technology and forums / websites like these, it isn't anymore!
 
And the more people will realise 'hey I just need 2000 euro's and I can start a wedding video business?', the more people will do it.
And of course, talent plays a big role, so 90% of those people will stop after a year or 2 because they either suck at it or they can't get their business running. But 10% will continue and have succes in some degree. And 10% of an ever rising population can add up to a lot of future competitors.
 
And I'm not saying we should keep everything as a secret, I'm just saying that the more tips and tricks we share, the more we improve our competitors work. Being a good film makers is hard and requires had work, talent and dedication. I know that. But being a pretty good cameraman requires much less time and effort and with all these tutorials and easy plug-ins like filmconvert and simple tricks like 'use a 35mm 1.4 on a GH4 with Speed Booster' enhances someones work in a short period of time.
 
And I prefer my competitors to shoot an 5DM2 with a kit lens at standard ISO 3200, who has never heard of a ND filter or plug-ins to make your footage look better in an instant. Why? Because my footage will look better anytime, even if the other guy has the same or more talent for composition than I do.
 
Let me repeat again that this indeed only applies for 'easy entry businesses' like wedding films, corporate films and commercial stuff. But I guess that's where 80% of the enhusiasts aim for or are in at the moment anyway.

If Rembrandt could have made a video how he made his paintings and tell you what paint brushes to use it doesn't mean any beginner can just copy his work, there is still something called talent and that is something you can't teach.  

Here's another pro tip: Never make gear purchases this close to a shoot. You never know what hiccups you can run into.

g6 is your best choise then , the EVF and peaking are essential - I can not work without them .

If you live somewhere with a decent film school which is free, or at least low cost, then sure.... go for it!

But if it is an option of spending several years at uni while you get deeper and deeper in debt vs....  working for even very low pay (but not getting in debt) while gaining several years of experience, then I'm skeptical if uni is the better choice here?

as with most schools, the people teaching are quite often the ones who never made it in the real world.  If they had done, they'd be on set rather than taking the money from people who don;t know better.  Obviously this is a generalisation, but unless you're being taught by someone who actually has some proper background, don;t pay a penny! 
 
put the money in the bank, and live off it while working for free in the real world in a decent place with real people.

Academic education is paramount in filmmaking. Any of those names that supposedly didn't go to film school actually did. Just, not the kind of school that gives you a degree in the end.
 
Many succesful directors and cinematographers have built a career without going college or any "formal" film school. You can skip it if you read tons of books, attend seminars and experiment a little. You need to crawl before you walk, let alone run... Nowadays you can get the education without going to school (the Internet has made available many study programs an bibliographies that can serve as a guide), but you need to get the education anyway!!
 
Making a feature with that money would probably a waste of money (one that I've seen more than once). Taking time to study and learn, and then spend money on some film (preferably not a feature) would be more sensible. I've been working for almost 20 years and you can easily tell the difference between the formally trained professional and the self-taught through experience. The latter is a one-trick pony, effective in his/her task but easily confused when taken out of his/her comfort zone.
 
You see, the thing is that not only should you know HOW to do a task, but also WHY is that task performed in a specific way. The phrase "because it's always been done that way" or "that's way everyone does it" is sadly quite common and reveals a professional with shallow knowledge and little ground for improvement or evolution. Some gaffers will always be gaffers and some get to be DPs. And it's not beacuse of their "talent", that's a made up word which means "lots of hard work, perseverance and continuous study".
 
Get some vast base -not basic- knowledge, either going to school or by your own means, watch and analyse as many films as you can and then go on screw up some minor production. If you've done the former, you'll be able to know why you failed and learn from your mistakes instead of repeating them systematically. And ten years from now you won't have to watch the expensive pile of crap that you shot when you were not ready. I don't mean to offend anyone or be patronising, but I've seen that mistake made so many times... and not once have I seen anyone spend their "college money" on a feature that was even watchable. And the worst thing is that not even they knew why it was so bad.

My feeling is you should either go to film school, or spend those 3-4 years crewing on films, gaining experience and working in the industry.

I have never been a fan of this 'don't go to film school, just shoot a feature!' mindset, as without some basis of training (whether that's learning from those better than you by being on a set, or in a film school environment), you're making a film blindly, and whilst you will learn some things from it, I see it as much more of a waste of money than film school itself.

Very much thank you for the review. I skipped GH4 because of the many quirks. The Sony FS7 is hell very expensive, no Sony APS-C/FF cameras below 2000 with in-body 4K video. Today NX1 is really the best bang for the bucks, you are right (although you wrote "could be", which could mean anything). Sony seems to be trying to protect its high-end video camera products by avoiding 4K from affordable camera models. Maybe they have a deal with Atomos? I am not in a rush, and Sony is a serious player in videography whatever the others do.

Looks crisp. Liking the colors i'm seeing from this camera. Just wish a speed booster was possible. Ah well, for video it's shaping up nicely. Can't wait until you can natively edit h265

I don't know for people here, but for me I prefer Nikon putting its money in actual film makers than a flurry of techno geek bloggers that don't even have some short movie to their credit. I am actually talking about real short movies, with a story line, actors, props etc not just some random street shot assembled with some copyrighted music. The story style or plot might not appeal to many here but it is a mammoth task compared to some random shots.
 
Nikon Europe also have the Nikon film festival where the winner gets a d810 and a trip to Cannes short film festival. For me I prefer that they put their money in actual film makers like in this film. It might not be to the taste of many, but it is ten time more constructive and creative than flying a bunch of bloggers to some exotic location to shoot some random flicks.

For those criticising, try to shoot a movie on a shoestring budget.  Film making the indie way is a huge amount of work and stress typically done by a very small crew of highly dedicated folks.  Most good 10-second commercial videos these days have much higher budgets and crew than the average micro budget indie feature.
 
Great job OP.

More info with video of the firmware.
http://www.newsshooter.com/2014/11/20/panasonic-gh4-v-log-picture-profile-spotted-in-the-wild/
 
quote from newsshoter
" By technical editor Matt Allard:
A GH4 on the Panasonic stand at the Inter BEE show in Tokyo today was running beta firmware with the V-Log picture profile. This Log profile is similar to the one in the much more expensive Varicam 35. This would be a very welcome enhancement for anyone trying to get the best possible image from the GH4, and a huge advantage for colourists trying to match the GH4 with other cameras.
 
I spoke to a Panasonic representative who told me that the V-Log Picture Profile was only being tested at the moment and isn’t confirmed for the next firmware release. Interestingly enough though I did run into a Japanese shooter who had V-Log operational on his GH4.
Lets hope that it is indeed scheduled to be included in Panasonic’s upcoming firmware update."

Yep pretty much nailed it. I might suggest having two reels. One promoting your artsy personality and projects. The other promoting yourself as a videography business, satisfying that need to excite people to work with you.

I was wondering why some of those shots looked so muddy. Turns out they were done with a Canon rebel :)

Looks pretty cool Matt ,first run through I felt it would be more effective editing it down to perhaps three minutes
Glad that you are open to doing community shoots ,they are a great way to extend your video /audio skills
and try different shots and mic placement etc.Our suburb has a custom car and motorcycle show in the
park each year which is good fun to film.

Let's see how far Nikon have taken video since the D90 shall we!
 

 
In contrast to Canon who have only fixed moire on one model, and taken high quality video off DSLRs altogether, to put it on Cinema EOS cameras.

To read part 1 of my Sony A7S review click here

A long time has passed since part 1 of this review but I've been spending a lot of time with the A7S. I am really under the skin of this camera. That's a good sign because somewhere along the way, the A7S became my main filmmaking tool. Perhaps surprisingly for me, a huge Panasonic GH series advocate on EOSHD over the years, I have been using the Sony A7S more often. The GH4 still has many advantages the A7S doesn't have, like longer battery run-times, a better screen, quicker boot time and of course an internal 4K codec though.

Read the full article here

There will be coverage of the Shogun when it is out. It isn't released yet.

One little detail seemed to be missing, or at least discussed quite briefly, namely the shooting with the Shogun part.
 
So will there be a part 3 at some point, or perhaps an epilogue for this one?

Tokina 11-16 2.8 is the obvious and probably most favoured option. I've seen a lot of nice stuff shot with the 11-16/BMPCC combo.

Well, the obvious answer for you then is to get the Sony A5100. 

Though personally for a newbie I'd recommend they get the Panasonic G6 as their first camera (if they have the budget for it, otherwise a Panasonic GH1 or Sony NEX-5N is the way to go). 

I wouldn't worry about the sensor size of APS-C vs m4/3, you often have to stop down anyway to get enough usable DoF, so that cancels out any benefit there of having APS-C. Plus, once you use a cheap RJ Lens Turbo (it is great, I use one!) on your m4/3 camera, you've got Super 35mm / APS-C FoV now. 

Canon releases a new camera line called MEH. Canon's chief architech Mishiku Opportuntzie speaks about the product development of their MEH line of cameras. "Canon is strong on two paths the first is Imposible and the second is MEH. We listen to our customers needs and offer to them the choises of MEH1 and MEH2.