PPNS

prepping a no budget feature.

here's some stuff that i like somewhat from the past year and a half or so:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

prepping a no budget feature.

here's some stuff that i like somewhat from the past year and a half or so:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

prepping a no budget feature.

here's some stuff that i like somewhat from the past year and a half or so:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

i mean the fairly obvious answer to the question is quality of light. other than the second to last set just generally being too dark and contrasty, you can just tell by the highlights hitting the road and the sharp shadows that you're dealing with very hard light. during sunset, the sun becomes a way softer source, which is why everything suddenly looks way nicer. 
compare your references:
Perfect Days (which is btw set in Tokyo lol): the first still has fairly harsh sunlight, but that creates that fun tree shadow on the toilet. all of the other stills you chose from the movie are during overcast weather where the sun is  naturally diffused and gives you a more low con look. 
The last medium close still from Kill Bill is a great example tbh. Do you think it looks natural? Because to me that super harsh light hitting the background dunes and car certainly doesn't, if the light that's hitting the actor is modified to such a softened and bounced back degree.
the matrix: tiny bits of hard light as edge lights around the character, but everything else is lit super soft, and some intended contrast ratio. same thing with the killer. Super soft first still, the virtual paris background has some harshness but our character is in silhouette in the second, and the last one is mainly soft, but has a hard edge light on the side. 

i like this one, but i dont like how hot the highlights are on the right side. i would either try to power window the exposure down there, or use a diffusion filter for blowing these highlights out and making them feel a bit magical. you can see some great examples of that in wong kar wai's films. 
up the exposure and lower contrast slightly on that second to last set, try to power window whatever's distracting to curate the viewer, and they'll look pretty decent. this is what i can do with about 10 minutes of work by putting your thumbnails in resolve. basic fixes for legibility, but still going for contrast:


 

hmm to be fair this theory of “everyone who is involved and interested in this clearly terrible product is a pedophile” makes more sense than anything i can come up with

i mean the fairly obvious answer to the question is quality of light. other than the second to last set just generally being too dark and contrasty, you can just tell by the highlights hitting the road and the sharp shadows that you're dealing with very hard light. during sunset, the sun becomes a way softer source, which is why everything suddenly looks way nicer. 
compare your references:
Perfect Days (which is btw set in Tokyo lol): the first still has fairly harsh sunlight, but that creates that fun tree shadow on the toilet. all of the other stills you chose from the movie are during overcast weather where the sun is  naturally diffused and gives you a more low con look. 
The last medium close still from Kill Bill is a great example tbh. Do you think it looks natural? Because to me that super harsh light hitting the background dunes and car certainly doesn't, if the light that's hitting the actor is modified to such a softened and bounced back degree.
the matrix: tiny bits of hard light as edge lights around the character, but everything else is lit super soft, and some intended contrast ratio. same thing with the killer. Super soft first still, the virtual paris background has some harshness but our character is in silhouette in the second, and the last one is mainly soft, but has a hard edge light on the side. 

i like this one, but i dont like how hot the highlights are on the right side. i would either try to power window the exposure down there, or use a diffusion filter for blowing these highlights out and making them feel a bit magical. you can see some great examples of that in wong kar wai's films. 
up the exposure and lower contrast slightly on that second to last set, try to power window whatever's distracting to curate the viewer, and they'll look pretty decent. this is what i can do with about 10 minutes of work by putting your thumbnails in resolve. basic fixes for legibility, but still going for contrast:


 

i mean the fairly obvious answer to the question is quality of light. other than the second to last set just generally being too dark and contrasty, you can just tell by the highlights hitting the road and the sharp shadows that you're dealing with very hard light. during sunset, the sun becomes a way softer source, which is why everything suddenly looks way nicer. 
compare your references:
Perfect Days (which is btw set in Tokyo lol): the first still has fairly harsh sunlight, but that creates that fun tree shadow on the toilet. all of the other stills you chose from the movie are during overcast weather where the sun is  naturally diffused and gives you a more low con look. 
The last medium close still from Kill Bill is a great example tbh. Do you think it looks natural? Because to me that super harsh light hitting the background dunes and car certainly doesn't, if the light that's hitting the actor is modified to such a softened and bounced back degree.
the matrix: tiny bits of hard light as edge lights around the character, but everything else is lit super soft, and some intended contrast ratio. same thing with the killer. Super soft first still, the virtual paris background has some harshness but our character is in silhouette in the second, and the last one is mainly soft, but has a hard edge light on the side. 

i like this one, but i dont like how hot the highlights are on the right side. i would either try to power window the exposure down there, or use a diffusion filter for blowing these highlights out and making them feel a bit magical. you can see some great examples of that in wong kar wai's films. 
up the exposure and lower contrast slightly on that second to last set, try to power window whatever's distracting to curate the viewer, and they'll look pretty decent. this is what i can do with about 10 minutes of work by putting your thumbnails in resolve. basic fixes for legibility, but still going for contrast:


 

what people who are not in the industry (and that is not to say that i'm some bigwig or whatever), is that this is just not a concern in the first place. the arris work fine 99% of the time, but for this gimmick show, the dji was going to be more efficient to work with, as you can see in the BTS where a bunch of specialised crew members all carry the camera in some specific silly way. which brings me to my point:
- a mini lf or a35 rent for about a 1000/day without any discount (and if you're shooting 20 consecutive days at least, you're getting a big ass discount per day). multiply that by 3 and thats the your camera package with lenses accessories, a van, a magliner, etc. 
- now look at the imdb page for adolescence, and look at the camera and electric dept, look at the quantity of people in there. those people don't get discounts, you will probably have to pay them overtime, and can they ask somewhere between 300 and 1500 per day each. 
- now look at the quantity of the rest of the crew. 
if you do a bit of math it seems to me like that camera package is fairly insignificant on the budget of an 'industry' production. 
 

who gives a rats ass

1) good directors who actually know what they want and are flexible if whatever they want is outside the scope.
2) as many good crew members as you want who are better at the technical minutae than you.
3) realistic planning and budgetting from production

Bzz wrongo
 
thats very nice of you, thank you. the reason i posted these is because just looking at the end result, i wouldn’t know which camera was used for what, and i get paid to be a dp (at least from time to time).
i would consider myself a bit of a hack tbh, but i have some rules/logic that i try to adhere to
- limit the color palette
- avoid white. Walls, clothing, props, etc. Off white fixes the issues with white in clothing and props, but off white walls still feel like theyre white. if you’re stuck with them anyway, try to get the art dept to cover them up or go for a color wash.
- i like trying to use as much hard light as i can get away with
- i try to frame for depth, looking for layers and shapes. If there’s multiple shots being shot per scene, theres a million slight positioning adjustments happening to get optimal looking distances between subject and camera. 
- visual language: per project i ask myself, what kind of lensing is appropriate? Is this a piece that feels more wide, medium, telephoto? What are the exceptions to the language/when am I able to break the rules? 
- when theres a limited budget (in my case almost always), i prefer the budget to go to art, locations and lighting. what’s the point of lomo anamorphics if you’re in a tiny ugly white walled room?
- i like the combo of a strong contrasty lut + slightly softer glass + strong diffusion filter

i don't think they necessarily do.
not to suck my own dick too much, but here's some stills of work I've shot that I mostly like (and one i dislike). some pocket 4k, alexa and fx6 in the mix. some still have a lut on, some are graded by me, and some are graded by someone else with my intentions as a DP taken away. feel free to guess which is which and why, since i feel like you guys love doing that.

 

Bzz wrongo
 
thats very nice of you, thank you. the reason i posted these is because just looking at the end result, i wouldn’t know which camera was used for what, and i get paid to be a dp (at least from time to time).
i would consider myself a bit of a hack tbh, but i have some rules/logic that i try to adhere to
- limit the color palette
- avoid white. Walls, clothing, props, etc. Off white fixes the issues with white in clothing and props, but off white walls still feel like theyre white. if you’re stuck with them anyway, try to get the art dept to cover them up or go for a color wash.
- i like trying to use as much hard light as i can get away with
- i try to frame for depth, looking for layers and shapes. If there’s multiple shots being shot per scene, theres a million slight positioning adjustments happening to get optimal looking distances between subject and camera. 
- visual language: per project i ask myself, what kind of lensing is appropriate? Is this a piece that feels more wide, medium, telephoto? What are the exceptions to the language/when am I able to break the rules? 
- when theres a limited budget (in my case almost always), i prefer the budget to go to art, locations and lighting. what’s the point of lomo anamorphics if you’re in a tiny ugly white walled room?
- i like the combo of a strong contrasty lut + slightly softer glass + strong diffusion filter

Bzz wrongo
 
thats very nice of you, thank you. the reason i posted these is because just looking at the end result, i wouldn’t know which camera was used for what, and i get paid to be a dp (at least from time to time).
i would consider myself a bit of a hack tbh, but i have some rules/logic that i try to adhere to
- limit the color palette
- avoid white. Walls, clothing, props, etc. Off white fixes the issues with white in clothing and props, but off white walls still feel like theyre white. if you’re stuck with them anyway, try to get the art dept to cover them up or go for a color wash.
- i like trying to use as much hard light as i can get away with
- i try to frame for depth, looking for layers and shapes. If there’s multiple shots being shot per scene, theres a million slight positioning adjustments happening to get optimal looking distances between subject and camera. 
- visual language: per project i ask myself, what kind of lensing is appropriate? Is this a piece that feels more wide, medium, telephoto? What are the exceptions to the language/when am I able to break the rules? 
- when theres a limited budget (in my case almost always), i prefer the budget to go to art, locations and lighting. what’s the point of lomo anamorphics if you’re in a tiny ugly white walled room?
- i like the combo of a strong contrasty lut + slightly softer glass + strong diffusion filter

That's what I keep telling my brides...but they don't listen 🤪

i don't think they necessarily do.
not to suck my own dick too much, but here's some stills of work I've shot that I mostly like (and one i dislike). some pocket 4k, alexa and fx6 in the mix. some still have a lut on, some are graded by me, and some are graded by someone else with my intentions as a DP taken away. feel free to guess which is which and why, since i feel like you guys love doing that.

 

i don't think they necessarily do.
not to suck my own dick too much, but here's some stills of work I've shot that I mostly like (and one i dislike). some pocket 4k, alexa and fx6 in the mix. some still have a lut on, some are graded by me, and some are graded by someone else with my intentions as a DP taken away. feel free to guess which is which and why, since i feel like you guys love doing that.

 

i don't think they necessarily do.
not to suck my own dick too much, but here's some stills of work I've shot that I mostly like (and one i dislike). some pocket 4k, alexa and fx6 in the mix. some still have a lut on, some are graded by me, and some are graded by someone else with my intentions as a DP taken away. feel free to guess which is which and why, since i feel like you guys love doing that.

 

i don't think they necessarily do.
not to suck my own dick too much, but here's some stills of work I've shot that I mostly like (and one i dislike). some pocket 4k, alexa and fx6 in the mix. some still have a lut on, some are graded by me, and some are graded by someone else with my intentions as a DP taken away. feel free to guess which is which and why, since i feel like you guys love doing that.

 

I have worked with Red cameras all the way back from Red ONE, every Alexa camera except the 65 and Sony Venice 1 and 2. The reason that stuff shot on those cameras look better is because of the people using them. They're in a point in their career where working with reliable and professional customer supported camera-systems is necessary to deliver the expected level of craftmanship. If we're only talking about gathering data on the sensor, more than 95% of people can't tell the difference from a Pocket 6K and an Alexa Mini if handled by a professional DP. Yes rolling shutter, yes highlight latitude, but those are extremes.
One camera stands above the rest and that is the Alexa35 - i haven't been able to overexpose that camera yet, and it's built like a tank.

^ if you’re interested in seeing some more recent stuff ive shot on the p4k, one or the most recent posts in the stickied lenses thread has some links. 

^ if you’re interested in seeing some more recent stuff ive shot on the p4k, one or the most recent posts in the stickied lenses thread has some links. 

i still rock with it from time to time, wanted to mention that BMD has slashed the price to 1000, and thats still including the full resolve license.

all of these cameras look like shit with their stock r709 luts applied, just slightly differently. trying to shoot anamorphic without an external monitor seems insane to me

im in belgium and also affected. This makes the site mostly useless imo