Ed_David

Looks amazing. I love the look of RED with grain added as you've done.

Check it out guys - Red loaned me a Red Weapon.  It was amaing.  For director Anh Vu.

Check it out guys - Red loaned me a Red Weapon.  It was amaing.  For director Anh Vu.

Agree totally Ed (or Banned User). 
We had a meeting based on gear today. Overall we strongly agreed that lighting was our key investment. The idea was to make most of our lights operational by battery power, using some Lupolux LED flood/spotlights, Scorpion Lights and good ol' reflectors. The purpose of this is so we can light anywhere we want, not lose precious time over spiderwebs of cables and boost creative possibilities. Technology is here and we can do it. If I didn't think it would boost creativity I wouldn't bother. 
The Blackmagic URSA Mini cropped up too. The Director mentioned he wants to reduce the "video look" to minimal amounts in all videos we produce, and was really enthusiastic about "organic film" looks. He said "Clients want that edgy, grounded vibe these days... I want to soak our style in pure cinema aesthetics going forward". Of course, the URSA Mini (on paper) would be an ideal tool to get closer to this creative decision. It would be a lot harder to make that possible on a GH3/4. Not impossible, but much more challenging. But we will still try and accomplish this even if the Blackmagic Ursa Mini didn't exist and we downgraded to 550ds. Sod moire, might as well give it a go!
I'm an ideas man really. I pickup whatever tool I have in the bag and do my absolute best with it. I'm also patient with technology. Certainly not a GAS patient. But if I see something that I really think will compliment the style and ideas of future projects (like the BM Ursa Mini and battery powered lights) I'll click pre-order and live on cheap instant noodles for a month or two. 
 

Excitement for new technology can certainly manifest into creativity.  I'm pretty sure we've all experienced it.  You can do a lot of fun NEW creative things with light  (if you know how) using something like an A7s.  You wouldn't have that particular opportunity until that camera was released.  But let's also not lose sight of the fact that you can still do a lot of fun creative things with light (if you know how) using something like a GH1. 
I do think buying a new camera will also highly motivate you to shoot stuff if you're a camera geek and enjoy fiddling with knobs, just like getting arbitrary shots, and worry more about the best IQ than story.  If that's you, then great.  The camera/lens manufacturers are going to keep your playpen stocked with great toys.  Pull out your camera charts while you're at it.
The reality is, and we all know it, some people clamor for the latest and greatest, acquire it, and then don't really do a heck of a lot with it... random motion picture city shots backed by a music cut from some indy band is fine and dandy if that gets you going.  Congratulations.  You'll be able to do that all over again when the next new camera goes on sale. And again.  And again.
Just talking for myself --I'm kind of over the technology arms race.  I'm concentrating on making stuff for clients/myself and using whatever tools I have access to within my budget to solve my problems; real or imagined.  I'm grateful that clean flexible imaging tools are cheap and easy to get and use.  I don't want for great IQ anymore.  It has arrived.  I do want for a deeper skill set at impactful cinema, and the ability to nurture my creativity in other regards --not necessarily associated with cameras.
But, if you have a job where you're tasked with comparing and reviewing the more and more subtle nuances that exist between new cameras, then by all means, do that.  Nothing wrong with it.  Do it.  Make it work for you.
There you go.  Thoughts from a somewhat hypocritical corporate video guy served with more than a few grains of salt.  Got my daily procrastination all taken care of.  Now, back to work... Once I check out M43rumors....

Right on Oliver.
I use the Red Dragon and Alexa a lot - and it's really no different than any other camera ever made.  Expose right, get good frames, use good lighting - and it will look good.  It's strengths are more minor- highlight handling, skintone rendition, post workflow, frames per second capability, audio, timecode, etc - but renting a 80k camera isn't immediately going to make your stuff that much better than figuring out how to work best with a camera system and try to overcome its flaws.
About to release a film shot on the Red One MX that through coloring no one will notice if it was shot on the red dragon or alexa or anything - it's just a matter of really figuring out how to color and light and compose - that's the biggest thing.  
 
With that said, it has nice motion, something you can't get with the rolling shutter of the nx1 unless you experiment with shooting in 1080p mode - and so its important to learn the ins and outs of any camera.  I wouldn't shoot a film on the nx1 unless I want to be quick and sneaky - but I would use it for crash cam shots and I have tons of times. 
That's the importance of knowing where a tool fits into your arsenal.
Like I just bought a DJI Phantom 3 which I'll use on jobs where we can't afford a real drone rig.  Because I know its strengths and weaknesses.  That's all it comes down to.
Now onto obsessing over the next new camera - it's not that useful - because until the camera comes out - who cares?  Unless you are saving up for the next camera - then I guess it matters.  But there are so many other things to buy that won't go bad after 5 years like a tripod or c stands or some lights or a lens.  And gear fetishing is a long, endless game - time that could be better spent on other things.
But as long as you know that forums like this are mostly for procrastination then you're good.

Single player games just are becoming a thing of the past. I takes too much work/money compared to multiplayer games. A csgo map can be done in two weeks and user will spent thousands of hours on it, on the other hand a single player chapter takes a lot more time and the user will play through it in 20min... 
I'm still hoping for hl3 anyways.

from http://www.eddavid.tumblr.com
 
Vimeo basically help me with my career- through a small camera test I did called, “Sexy S Log” where I tested s log on the f3 (new at the time) - an influential director and friend found me and got me into higher end commercial work.  And so did so many other films I worked on.  It is literally the best thing that helps me able to have a career.
With that said, I have watched it since 2008 - and since then, I have noticed more and more, that there are many things it can improve.  The biggest thing too is that it needs to improve, because right now, the video quality and playback is superior on youtube.  Vimeo was started as an alternative to youtube in that it gave higher resolution and less compression than youtube.  But youtube caught up.  So now more than ever there is less reason to use vimeo than youtube, except for the community that exists there.  Basically it’s a social network for filmmakers.
And I think they get that - with their “Staff” people always checking out videos and commenting - I love that.  You feel like you know them personally.  It’s so nice.
Anyway here’s a quick list of ways they could improve the interface to make it more successful as a film social network.
1.  have a “like” buttons.  so people can like comments.  or upvote or downvote a comment.  a la Reddit.  so there are also less, “thank you” short unnessicary comments
2.  the homepage should have a feed of all the videos of the people you are following.  like a news streams like twitter or facebook.  and allow you to hide or mute people you don’t want to follow
3.  allow users to quickly create “film festivals”  - playlists of content that inspires them.  like how spotify does it.  and feature the most popular ones.  Lilke curation - feature the most popular ones - the people with the most followers.  Or have famous filmmakers go on vimeo and find their favorite films, like spotify.
4.  improve the search function - it’s still very hard to search for filmmakers
5.  update the user page experience - so it’s more customized to the artist.  maybe more like imdb.  where you can quickly list films you worked on - resume style
6.  show location and other things that users have - what cameras, where are they located - do they want to meet up?
7. allow meet up events - film screenings, event invites - to build community - get a bunch of people together to watch films and talk about them.  maybe help create a film community in smaller areas.  connect people more globally
8.  vimeo pro - feature more vimeo pro films - it seems like vimeo pro is where a lot of the effort is going - monitization is always a good thing - but still - for non vimeo pro - maybe still create ads on the page, so that vimeo can focus on the free content as well.  
9. mobile friendly - still make it more social network like on the mobile browser.  
10. notifications - allow people to know when someone commented easier and your comment is responded to - like eoshd - this helps build community and discussions
11.  have a section just for discussion - have more forums - just for talking about filmmaking - again with minor banner ads, whats the harm, right?
12.  allow tags to work more efficiently - like twitter.  live and die by the hashtags - to quickly allow people to find similar videos
13.  like netflix - have other videos if you like this, you might love - to keep people on the site, to discover new videos.
the rest of my ideas is hardware based - having faster loading of videos - those are harder issues because that costs a lot of money. 
the ideas above is expensive too, but maybe a little less.
anyway let me know what you think of all this.  And I will continue of course to support vimeo - I love how there

I really want Canon to succeed, it's for our own benefit. If Sony gets a monopoly on sensor design we will suffer eventually.
Imagine if Sony decided to stop working with Nikon. Where would that leave them?
Canon are dangerously close to becoming a Sony customer. Already are for some models. Canon have an innovative CMOS division and even make the machines to make the sensors. They have 4K on a full frame sensor (1D C) it just needs to go into a more innovative camera and at a price we can afford. Currently on dynamic range and sensor capabilities (both manufacturing and end product) they are behind Sony. Not good.
The joke about Taylor Swift fixing stuff at Apple is an internet meme. If you didn't get it, no need to say "EOSHD is off his meds again". But maybe join this generation.
I bet Canon found it funny... all 11 employees under the age of 85 that is.

I think we all forget that the whole Canon-video thing was really a fluke.  Canon is not a video company. They are primarily a STILLS camera firm.  As a company they are very conservative. I liken them to Rolls-Royce in the 1950's and 60s.. slow and plodding and selling things that are well-built but 10 years behind times.  I personally love Canon and feel the same pain.  I would love to buy a new Canon for my film productions but it seems that's not going to happen.  I think that when they introduced the 5D Mk3 (which was pretty underwhelming) it became obvious that the MK2 was not a company trend but a fortunate mistake.  I fully expect the 5D mk4, when it comes out, will be very modern, in a fashion of a few years ago,

The point is that if you like a brand in general, you own a lot of accessoires for that brand, and you know that a brand can do much better, it makes you angry if their politics unnecessarily create a lose-lose situation for the consumer and themselves.  It's also important to speak out against it in public, so Canon knows they are on a bad path.  I personally simply don't like the look, menus, mount, history etc of Sony DSLRs that much to switch for 1-2 years until Canon finally have their game together with swivel screens, focus peaking etc. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the future of VR is a cross between a CGI movie experience and a video gaming experience, perhaps in addition to pure CGI movies, and video games (in addition to video games for VR headsets).
 

Did Andrew go off his meds again? 

I hate to say it but who cares about canon? no really. who cares. They are just a company that makes tools, not a religion. This aspiring cinematographer you speak of doesn't hold a soul contract on canon, neither does shooting canon mean anything is going to improve for them all else being the same.
If canon can't keep up, that is nothing to cry over it. If canon does not want to keep up, that is also nothing to cry over. Let canon be canon. They are no longer the king of imaging, and haven't for some time, and arguably they have never been a force in the high end video market either.
These are just tools. use whatever works and just be glad you have choices.
stop the brand fanboysm. it is childish.

For anyone interested in checking out a cheap demo of VR, order Google Cardboard for $15. It works with your smartphone and is pretty impressive. Not 100% like Oculus b/c its all stationary, but you get a good taste of things to come.

Samsung's speed of firmware updates is quite remarkable and how much they listen to feedback - because, well, the NX1 is their first attempt to crack into the mirrorless world.  
I also think Panasonic is a little behind the times.  They led the whole indie filmmaking scene with the DVX100 and then the HVX200, and from there, it was downhill.
They released the AF100 which has horrible noisy shadows and a weird magneta color shift and a micro 4/3rd sensor when Canon released the Canon 5d mark II that soon changed everything.
Now they have the Varicam 35mm camera which is probably about six years late to the party and then the DVX200 which without a removable lens seems pretty weird - and it's just - well kind of sad I guess.
I would have never guessed back in 2003 when I started that Panasonic would soon lose out to Canon.
It's nice to see Sony doing better with their A7S and soon the A7R II if it catches on.  Sony needs to bounce back - and maybe they are doing just that.
And Samsung has been innovating a lot - so it's nice to see the NX1's capabilities and soon what's next up their sleeve.
I'm excited for the A7S mark II.

Please indulge us and make your "over and out" permanent! If you are so bored, start your own blog and see how that works for you...Easy to be a critic Jimmy, harder to produce. I for one am tired of your snot nosed, know it all or been there attitude. Oh, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

Even with a perfect global shutter the test videos still were pretty weak in highlight handling and moire and macro blocking in the slo mo.  I'm not optimistic for this camera.  I think by the time the A7S mark II comes, we'll have something better maybe.  But I could be wrong.
Also you can't knock Canon too much - they have skintones nailed down very nicely.  The new Sony S Gamut has a weird magneta shift to highlights and yellow-y skintones.  I'm rooting for Canon to return to glory.

Someone crashed the DJI Inspire 1 on yesterdays shoot. My response wasn't "Is it broken?", it was "Did you get the shot?" 
Honestly, my gear gets bashed to bits, literally. My gear is secondary to my vision, and I'll brutalise the gear to accomplish the best vision possible. 
 
 

It would be so much easier to be a painter or a writer. You don't have to have equipment. You don't have to do all the things. You're not at the mercy of gear. You're not here and you're not there. It's a terrible pain to be a filmmaker, because you not only have the creative problems, but you have financial problems that they don't have. You have technical problems that they don't have. You have machines that are breaking down in a way that paintbrushes don't break down. It's just a terrible thing to be a filmmaker. And if you are a filmmaker, it's because there is something in the sheer medium that seems to be able to make some sort of statement that you particularly want to make, and which no other medium to you seems capable of making in the same way.
Not my words, but I do like them.  As much as I go on about it's only about what you do with the equipment, not what equipment you have, filmmakers are tethered to the technology.  It's the blessing/curse.
If you're curious about from where and whom the above sentiment comes from:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH8FvTjESvU 

​That's not what I mean. I like it regardless of how it was made. I would love just the same if it was a billion dollar production by Michael Bay.
What I mean is that it doesn't matter what critics say, and it doesn't matter if people like it or not.
It would matter if the people who backed it on Kickstarter disliked it, but I don't think that's the case. I'm pretty sure 99,99% of the backers got what they asked for.
I don't necessarily agree or disagree with Ed's statement about "bringing down the movie business" and "turning it into art". To me, Kung Fury absolutely is art. And it is a good example of what can be achieved by an individual without the movie industry as we know it. So maybe Ed has a point.
But then again, I don't think it matters, because it doesn't pretend to be anything.

Kung Fury does connect with me. I get the comparison people make with something like Danger 5, but that doesn't connect to me at all. Can't even stand watching the trailer. Humor is difficult and very subjected to taste, Kung Fury nails it 9/10 for me.
Anyway, imo the whole discussion about this movie is pointless. The dude had an idea, wanted to make it. Went to Kickstarter, found a lot of people who wanted to see it. Those people paid for it, dude made the movie. People that wanted to see it loved it, so did million others. It's completely unpretentious. That's what I like about it.

yes I used it on this piece I shot - all flares are fake.
 
 

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Kung Fury said something to me. It said "tank you", when Kung Fury dropped a tank on someones head.

This is a inexpensive LED flare light option - super super powerful and $140 quid on amazon US - creates very nice flares and good color - I use this a lot now on a bunch of jobs.
 
Streamlight 75458 Stinger DS LED HL Rechargeable High Lumen Flashlight with 120-volt AC/12-volt DC PiggyBack Charger
http://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-75458-Rechargeable-Flashlight-PiggyBack/dp/B00BD9OKC6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433674358&sr=8-1&keywords=Streamlight+75458+Stinger+DS+LED+HL+Rechargeable+High+Lumen+Flashlight+with+120-volt+AC%2F12-volt+DC+PiggyBack+Charger