Liam

Some House of Cards crew, and star Robin Wright, made a six minute short film, set in one location, shot in two days. I guess the crew volunteered their time and resources. And they still ended up crowdfunding $50,000 to make it happen. So just a bunch of millionaires not willing to put a cent of their own into a film they call a "passion project". From the stills I've seen, I have no idea where $50,000 would have gone. And it sounded like they got accepted to CANNES before they were even finished. For Wright's directorial debut. Just because it looked pretty and had a big name. (My source was an interview on Colbert, if you want to look it up, sorry for not posting it here)
How is that okay? And how far back in time to you have to go to see Sundance and Cannes as the home of brilliant films that don't fit Hollywood's bill? (Sundance appeared to be a mess this year too. Apparently Nick Offerman and Kristen Stewart are the great talents of our generation)
Let me know if I'm just being a dick, but wow

There's capital and then there's cultural capital. People will leverage their names to get cheap labor. It might not be right, but it's their right to do so. I also strongly doubt everyone worked free. No one is being forced to donate or forced to work. It's all voluntary, even if it's frustrating. 
I hear you, though. I have worked on high profile festival projects for cheap mostly because I wanted the credit, thinking I could exchange cultural capital for actual money down the line. We'll see how it works out. It definitely really sucks but I only have myself to blame if it doesn't.
If anything, it should inspire you. If you can get better results for free than the House of Cards crew can get with $50k and tons of favors, you'll be doing so well soon enough that you needn't be jealous of them. Let it inspire you! Whenever you see something made by high end pros and think "I can do better," the only injustice is that you're not giving yourself the chance to prove you can. It's not like anyone involved in this had upsetting you in mind, they don't know who any of us are and don't care. So maybe it's not that their work is sub-par for the money, maybe it's that your work is better than you realize and you already have the skill to be in that upper echelon.
If you do, then you owe it to yourself to prove it. Or admit to yourself it's not your priority. If you have the talent and want to do something with it but don't, that's the only injustice, you being unfair to you.
(The Cannes shorts program isn't very competitive, either, but yes, nepotism plays a major major factor in the festival scene. Think of it like a social club trying to maintain an image and a guest list, with the films as the entertainment for the club. The social and branding components are more important than the quality of the content. But it makes sense, each festival represents a brand, and a brand is cultural capital.)

Yeah that is really lame. But that's how rich people stay rich... they use other people's money. If you want to feel better, go over to the shooting section to see a feature film shot on a t2i. 

Alex Buono is a guy to search for if you're curious about some of this.
They've used arri and RED and canon 7d's. Sometimes a cast member shoots something with a friend on a dvx100 and Lorne lets it in. Since they've been going for a hundred years, and don't care if the official crew is leading the way (and even they experiment), they've used everything.

Yeah Alex Buono was the DP for their shorts for a long time. I think he left last season to co-direct Documentary Now. He used to show BTS stuff on twitter. They used everything from 7D's, C300s, Alexa, RED, and actual film. The intro of the show from 2010 to 2015 was shot on a 7D. They also made custom aperture mattes to put in the camera that turned bokeh into the letters SNL.

Alex Buono is a guy to search for if you're curious about some of this.
They've used arri and RED and canon 7d's. Sometimes a cast member shoots something with a friend on a dvx100 and Lorne lets it in. Since they've been going for a hundred years, and don't care if the official crew is leading the way (and even they experiment), they've used everything.

I modded a set of Conax Zeiss lenses myself. Wasn't without its challenges as this was my first time tackling something like this, but 100% worth it. The set includes 28/2, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, 85/1.4, 135/2. Mods include:
1. seamless focus gears from Helicopter Sean
2. bolt on Canon mounts from Leitax
3. knurled step-up rings to 82mm from Breakthrough
4. 82mm push-on lens caps from Kaiser, Canon brand rear caps
5. and most importantly, I custom-made 2x fixed aperture cut from a .4mm thin sheet of stainless steel

After sourcing all the lenses from ebay (all are mint or near-mint condition AEG or AEJ), I opened up each one and took measurements for the aperture discs. designed them in adobe illustrator (making alternates that were smaller, and smaller still). When I received the aperture discs I auditioned the different sizes, selected the one i was happiest with, and finally mounted them inside with a semi-permanent adhesive so i can remove them later if i want to re-sell the lenses.
Haven't been able to shoot with them too much yet (busy at work). But I did take the 50mm pictured above for a spin. See below.

Surprisingly, I've taken some flack when i mentioned this project in various facebook groups because these lenses are highly regarded (and pricey). I don't know, maybe they see me as either incredibly stupid, or reckless... maybe I'm both. But I can definitely say I'm also completely happy with the results. 

liam i think you already answered your own question if i may read between the lines here
well lets see, do you WANT to be a poser, who people think is full of shit?? is it somehow WORTH IT for what youre doing rn???
the answers are no and no, and thats that.
heres my advice: build a social media following to whatever degree, organically, and small as it may be itll be there for you in the future, when you produce great work and you actually want lots of followers – active followers lead to more active followers. but just let it happen
i think its normal and very contemporary to have Follower Anxiety™ but its just media noise that makes us feel that way!!! its a general malaise... and the creative mind does not function well when we're under stress!!!
also: give yourself a break~! youre putting WAY too much pressure on yourself for no good reason!!! let yourself develop, and as that happens, and you make more and more stuff and find your voice as an artist, your vision of how you want to portray yourself online and in the world will become crystal clear. it happened for me~!
now i want you to stop stressing out and chill so u can have great ideas...!!! ? if this doesnt make any sense pm me lol

For the small time filmmakers, sometimes I feel like popularity is the only thing that matters. literally posting a lot about filming, and becoming a personality, is said by many to be very important, even just for submitting to a festival.. like it's not just about the quality of your film.
I feel really weird about advertising myself, especially to friends and family, and pretending I'm interesting
I'd rather slowly build up a following on vimeo by making films I'm proud of maybe.. which is obviously possible, but yeah.. do any of you do this? Thoughts?

Concerning that... here's a silly test set-up with a perfectly fine Angenieux:

Here is one with a fungus (or something) infested Tokina:


It even has bokeh with a texture to it:

 

Hey Lens Geeks, 
I went onto Mr. Gale's website and saw that his DSO Trump lenses have been removed and replaced with these really cool looking APOGEE lenses. They come as set and cost a significant amount of cash.
I congratulate Rich on making these lenses so awesome and sought after, but I don't have the funds for that set, even though they look perfectly featured. 
I'm looking for any other type of well constructed, modified vintage type lenses that portray unique flare, artefact and bokeh in the images. I understand there's loads of olds stuff on eBay, but I'm really looking at something more polished and solid to work with. Maybe also some people who change the bokeh look in Helios lenses (but not shit). 
Also, I'm wondering if anybody knows of any accessories that also add an effect, such as any lens filters. 
 
This is what I know of so far: 
Lomography - they have some cool looking lens sets, like he Petzval, and have a Kickstarter on this portable Neptune set. 
MotionSix - they have tinted and anamorphic flare filament lenses on offer. I've used a 29mm from them with a fixed 3.5 oval aperture. Flares are very nice, but lens was difficult to focus and extremely soft. 
LensBaby - never used their products, so can't vouch on the quality and features. 
VidAtlantic - they do lens filters and anamorphic oval mods. Don't know what they're like. 
MeyerOptikGorlitz - they are making modern versions of their legendary soap bubble bokeh lenses, like the Trioplan. 
 
Anything to share / know of / blah blah / etc etc ??

It's very important now unfortunately. Don't expect to get picked up or noticed by someone simply browsing vimeo or spreading your work. Starting a youtube page myself this week on top of my instagram just to get more attention drawn to myself.

Yeah, if I see another 'any filmmakers want to support eachother?' or 'hey, I saw you're into filmmaking, check out my channel, I've got lots of cool stuff going on there!' copy & paste forced desperation comment on YouTube, Imma smack a bitch!  But there's few filmmakers that can generate genuine excitement by just sparking your curiosity... of course crowdfunding has taken things to new levels, more than ever you're able to involve people and creating excitement and recognition for your work. Then there's Facebook. Like, the amount of housewives and Starbucks hipsters etc that will share your project pages... it's insane how many people you can reach. Just... get and keep them interested and hungry for more, that's the real trick of course. Like Oliver's saying, social media really has become part of business and it's an industry on it's own with its own professions, so of course it's easier said than done.

I can weigh in on this. 
About 18 months ago I was frustrated because I'd get a lot of very flattering positive comments and reviews about my work, but not really seeing the benefit of this financially. 
Unfortunately these days, if you're able to give yourself a great social media presence but you're work is mediocre (as compared to a poor social media presence with incredible work) - it's more likely the former will be more successful. 
I've been studying the "business" and "social media" side of things on a course, and although it would take me far too long to say everything here, the overall conclusion is that marketing does come before your art. Social media is the No.1 distribution platform, so if you're not bothering with it, it could be very difficult to get anywhere. 
I've only just now, this week, picked up my social media strategy. I'm not being false, I'm not doing monetised reviews or any of that crap, I'll just be documenting what I do in bite sizes, and what value I'm able to deliver and help out (in a very non-salesy, authentic, organic, real way). I'm just going to be myself. I'll show what I'm doing as it is. 
I'm also camera shy. So there's that too. 
The difficulty I've had is my creative side feeling starved. The benefit is, I'm hungry to create and the artistic side is about to receive a mighty, mighty push. 
I advise anybody to use social media to show your work and value. But be real and authentic, or the audience will see the "fakeness" a mile off. 

For the small time filmmakers, sometimes I feel like popularity is the only thing that matters. literally posting a lot about filming, and becoming a personality, is said by many to be very important, even just for submitting to a festival.. like it's not just about the quality of your film.
I feel really weird about advertising myself, especially to friends and family, and pretending I'm interesting
I'd rather slowly build up a following on vimeo by making films I'm proud of maybe.. which is obviously possible, but yeah.. do any of you do this? Thoughts?

Theres plenty of DP's who have gotten work through vimeo and instagram. Just listen to the wandering DP podcast where some of the newer players talk about hoe theyve established themselves. 
But its important to have good work to show before going wild with social media. 

It is better to get your stuff in front of ten right people that in front of 10.000 lurkers on Instagram. No one gives a damn what you publish on Vimeo, etc... unless you can make it seen. For this you need some kind of credible release plattform (film festival, fashion show, exhibition, features etc.... Collaborations with other circles work for us pretty well to get new people recognise what we are doing....

I subscribe to the theory that if you do good work, you get noticed.  Now, you can work it the other way, and many do, but how genuine and authentic is the result?  You have to decide.
(Of course, not many people know who I am, and might never know)
Now... that's for self promotion.  
As for FILM promotion, social media is a good tool.  Targeting info to like minded people that are inclined to enjoy and buy your creative efforts is a lot smarter than advertising to random folks who wouldn't care.

I have a friend that used to never want to have anything to do with social media. Then again, he also paid for everything cash, because who knows who's keeping track of the digital traces you leave behind. Now that he has started his own business, he's all about social media and without embracing it he probably would never have seen the growth he has now. Unfortunately you're better of being an attention whore than keeping faith you will catch your break eventually. Your content might be king, but if it doesn't reach the eyeballs of someone recognizing your talent because you're hoping they will bump into it magically, opposed to actively promoting your material... then maybe there's something to it after all. Of course, being true to yourself is a noble thing... so if you can manage to get by without selling your soul then by all means stay sane! In the end of it, it's all a matter of perspective... there's 2 things in particular you mention... 'popularity is the only thing that matters' & 'making films I'm proud of'. Which is the more important one? Of course you can do something in between... like just showing some natural excitement for what you're doing by sharing little bits and pieces, keeping people in the loop... rather than just having to come across forced and spammy.

I think what Liam means is that the "Shooting" subforum is for people who have a creative work to show, not a place for gear. The subheading for the Shooting subforum is "Screening room and the creative side of filmmaking - share your ideas / stories".

I've been using 5D3 Magic Lantern RAW for a few years now and it's my personal gold standard for image quality as I'm very familiar with it, can predict the results I'll get in various situations and have developed my own look that I like using in post. I do a lot of documentary and corporate stuff and wanted to do more handheld, so I got the GH5 for its IBIS, 10bit V-Log, 4K and general ease of use. Although the GH5's colour is an improvement on its predecessors, the 5D3 is nicer looking to me. So I wanted to see if I could tweak the GH5's VLog colour to be more similar to the colour I get from Magic Lantern Cinelog-C, processed via Adobe Camera Raw (other debayering workflows will give different results).
I shot a chart with both cameras, extracted the squares and put them side by side in Resolve. V-Log on the left, ML on the right:
 

 
I used Hue v Hue and Hue v Sat to line up the signal on the vectorscope:
 

 
Here you can see the effect of this correction.This is accurately white balanced V-Log (default colour) with a curve and saturation added:
 

 
And here's the same shot with the colour correction applied:
 

 
Skin goes from green-ish to pink-ish. Reds become more saturated, blues are pulled back. Foliage separates out into varying shades of yellow to green to blue-sh green, rather than being one big block of pure green. So next, I wanted to test this by comparing the same shots to Magic Lantern RAW. Would this correction really turn my GH5 into a handheld and more usable version of my 5D3?
I stuck the GH5 on top of the 5D3. I shot the 5D3 at 3520 x 1320 (the maximum resolution I can get that's both continuous and at a sensible aspect ratio) - this has a crop factor of 1.63x. ISO was 100, and aperture at f5.6 on the Canon 24-105. The GH5 was 10 bit V-Log, Cinema 4K, ISO 400, aperture f4 (roughly equivalent) on the Leica 12-60. I used shutter speed to control exposure, so motion blur is different between shots. It seems like the GH5 has around 0.66 stops more info in the highlights at the same exposure as the 5D, so I shot it one stop over to maximise DR.
 
 
First I corrected the 5D shots to the way I wanted them to look. Then I tried to get the GH5 to match. It's not a perfect match by any means, there are individual hues that tend to go awry a little, especially in the first shot. But for me the exercise is a success: the GH5 footage looks more like Canon Magic Lantern than it would straight out of the camera. And I would be happy to intercut the two, or to use the GH5 in situations that are more suited to its features. The take home message is that V-Log has a lot of grading potential - you're not necessarily stuck with Panasonic's colours on this camera.
A nice surprise for me was how much detail is in the 3.5K 5D files compared to Cinema 4K GH5, especially when sharpened. However, it's not very practical to shoot in its high resolution modes at the moment, due to the slow refresh rate of the LCD preview.
If you want to check out the files yourself, here are a series of matched pairs of 5D DNGs, and GH5 V-Log TIFFS.
FOLDER:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1exEpCRAfgFdi1FZ3hma09YZms
ALL FILES ZIPPED:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwzsbjMgrAwzTFJZby0xSTV6VmM

Plus then you could just keep stacking speedboosters and use the same lens for any situation (as shown)
 

Or cut back and forth and use a green screen when on screen at same time https://vimeo.com/cosmicflow/delta#t=426s (A7S I (on location + background plates), GH4, greenscreen).
 

Loads of tutorials on YouTube.

If you keep your camera locked off it should be fairly simple. If you're in a natural light situation make sure you film both takes within a few minutes of each other. Get a stand-in that looks similar to the talent to act out scenes for eyeline. Also if you need to do over the shoulder shots it helps to have a stand in that looks like your talent (back of their head, shoulder area).