Clark Nikolai

The camera was designed to be hand held with a pistol grip but I find that it's just so heavy that I can't hold it up for a long time (It's over 2 Kg) so I tend to use shoulder mount or tripod. My latest film I'm interested in camera movements because my last one was almost entirely on a tripod so it's a nice change for me to have movement. Vancouver is such a film town (and film school town) that you see people with shoulder rigs and gimbals often. There's always somebody shooting their student film or low budget indie or skateboard film (plus the big productions with their film trucks). It's not a big deal to see here. (Sometimes you wonder if there's anyone left in Vancouver who's not making a film.)

I'm using an Ulanzi & Coman Zero Y tripod with a Leofoto BV-5 video fluid head. For shoulder mount I have a two-rod shoulder rig that has no brand name. I got it on Craigslist for $40. It's been good. I added a bracket to hold a monitor. I've never used a gimbal but a few years ago I was thinking of one. Now I'm more interested in "imperfect" camera movements. I use the stabilizing in Final Cut for tripod shots where there was some movement (from wind or whatever), I don't tend to stabilize the shoulder mount footage. I just use it as it is and just not use anything that's very shaky. Like tends to happen in all types of art, when "perfection" is easily attainable then imperfection becomes desirable.

Apple has done the same with Final Cut Pro, if you bought it ten years ago you still get free updates.

Interesting. This is the kind of thing I was looking for last year. See this thread: I ended up getting a Kinotehnik LCDVFe. It's really nice overall and does the job very well. (There are only two things I don't like about it. One is that you can't have zebras and focus assist on at the same time. The other is that it takes 4 AA batteries. Wish it could also take a Sony NP-F battery as well. (I'm powering it from the camera and that's good but drains the camera battery. (I also wish it was a bit smaller in size.) For this V780H EVF, it seems pretty good for the price.

In Canada, at one time, electronics from Asia (mostly Japan in those days), had Canadian tariffs applied (to protect Canadian electronics manufacturing, yes we once had that). This meant many people travelled to the US to buy electronics. Shopping malls opened up close to the Canadian border to sell to them. At some point in the 1980s that changed and then the price was about the same.

I wonder that too but so far it seems to be over ten years without having needed to pay again. Apple makes their money off hardware so the software helps sell the hardware. (You could say too that about BM in a way.) The iOS version of Final Cut is a subscription. I don't know how that's doing. There are so many other NLEs for iOS out there that are a one time payment kind of thing that it's competing against, (including their own iMovie for iOS).

Yeah, I've been watching this for a long time, since at least the 1980s. That anyone who is educated is wrong and just observing things from your immediate surroundings is enough to know the whole world. I remember in the '80s visiting some farmer friends here in Canada, they were setting up a barn and had the walls in backwards which would cause it to collapse later. When this was pointed out by their son (who had travelled the world) one of them went on a rant about "the left wing professors who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground." In 2016, when Trump was campaigning, here in Vancouver there were three Americans from California on a visit. One was originally from Texas whose grandparents were Mexican. He was pro-Trump and went on about how dumb and dirty the Mexicans are and how we're lucky in Canada how we don't put up with any of that (He wasn't aware that Canada is full of Mexicans but anyway...). One other was also pro-Trump and was proud that he only had a Grade 3 education so was a real person and not brainwashed by the leftist whoevers in the education system. Somehow that made him smarter than someone with a degree. The third person was suspicious of Trump and didn't know what to think of his two friends cult-like admiration of him and the MAGA movement. It seems to be a thing with right wing parties now. A technique where when campaigning they promise a better life but when in power they do things so that systemic problems are not solved. If you think about it, when times are good people vote liberal, when times are bad people vote conservative. This means that it would go against their own longevity for conservative parties to improve things.

I'm glad I watched it yesterday before it got pulled. It's good though that they're doing this. It shows they care about quality. I hadn't noticed anything odd in the footage but then I was watching in 480p at the time. They say now that they'll redo the video and put it up.

It looks like a cool project. The images seem pretty nice. It's nice to see Cinema DNG still being used in new products.

It was great in so many ways. I watched it on VHS in the late '80s with a friend who had read all the books and knew the plot. I didn't so I had no idea what was going on but still loved it anyway. The sets and outfits were all very cool. I heard that Lynch was forced to have it edited too short for the story to fit it in to a movie time. It would have been great if instead of remaking it, they took the original footage and made a Netflix series, giving the scenes more time to breathe and maybe putting back any scenes or parts of scenes that had originally been cut for time. I have a friend who shortly after the film was out was in LA and went to a movie prop and costume sale. There were for sale the Freman outfits from Dune. He kicks himself now for not buying one.

It's really nice. It's a nice interest that maybe doesn't get much exposure on film. I think you combined the different types of cameras very well. There are film festivals that focus on nature and the environment. (Search FilmFreeway.) I think this could be perfect for these types of festivals. One thing they all want is a transcription and/or closed captions so be ready with that.

Yep. We've been their neighbour for a few centuries and know their tendencies (expansionism, etc.) We were fine for over a hundred years before we had a free trade agreement so we could do that again I suppose. I think it's okay for a country to protect its own industries, I just don't like the territory expansionism part. Like why can't they just buy minerals from Greenland? Why do they need to own it? I think Canada will be in this world longer than Trump will.

When I read that bit it seemed interesting but then thought about for myself what it would mean. I don't have time for my own projects as it is so introducing more seems like I wouldn't have the time for (even though the idea is exciting.) But one thing I can do is write a bit about the challenges I'm having right now in my own projects. That would be kind of interesting to others I think.

I just checked eBay. Yes, you can get an original Arri Alexa for less than CAN$5000 including the viewfinder. We live in the golden age of cameras, Kids. Go make your movie!

So true. I assistant edited on a feature shot with a 2K Alexa and they (for some reason) recorded to ProResHQ. I found the files to be some of the nicest, easiest footage to prepare for the editor. The show had a colour grader at the end but before that point, one of my tasks was to colour grade test reels and rough edits and it was so easy and fast to do as the image that it had, even in ProRes was amazing. The image is really nice and easy and quick to make it look good in post. This has budget advantages. Another thing the DOP told me he liked about the Alexa is that the viewfinder shows you beyond the recorded image. This way you could anticipate, say, an actor about to enter the frame. This was something he had missed from the film days. Film cameras' viewfinders would show more of the image than you're getting and would have a frame guide to show you what you would get but you could see more on the sides than that. He also said the menu on the side panel was fast and easy to navigate. Another time saving on set.