In need of colorist at McDonald Meal Price :)

Cooldraft wrote on 6/7/2007, 8:08 PM

Trying to match these cams, but going to use Ult-s looks to24-p them. So should I go light/dark?

Think is too dark
Think is about right for later filter
Think it is too light
Think I should have used another camera :0)

You all have the expertise, so something just told me to ask and not spend two days trying to get it right.

Comments

Grazie wrote on 6/7/2007, 10:59 PM

Cools . . you have email.

Grazie

farss wrote on 6/7/2007, 11:08 PM

1) Yes
2) Still a bit dark
3) No, worry about the subject, that's what they want to see.
4) Yes!

They all look soft. Why convert to 24p?

I'll see if I can find a frame from some of the stage footage I post, must have some somewhere from last season.

farss wrote on 6/8/2007, 12:20 AM

Here is a frame from something a client shot a few years ago, it's been pulled from the DVD and de-interlaced so the res isn't what it once was. If you keep your exposure like this you'll not have too many issues matching cameras. I'm no expert on CC but from my efforts trying to up the levels and apply CC always causes me grief with noise. Moreso when the gain was up.

Grazie wrote on 6/8/2007, 2:01 AM

Well, yeah . .

But keeping the McDonald's concept going - I've gone Happy-Meal - LARGE! Kidding, not really.

What I've done, I think, is to dig-out MORE of what I can tell IS the narrative here, and concentrate on that.

I've used CC, but what I'm doing is not slavishly sticking with the rules.

. ..again, Cools, you have email from me.

In any event, I'm loving doing it!

Grazie

Cooldraft wrote on 6/8/2007, 10:41 AM

I love the framing, but the dance instructor told us that they are dancing and to limit the closeups.

Cooldraft wrote on 6/8/2007, 10:55 AM

What do you mean keep the exposure like what you posted, farass? How did you set the exposure, zebras? Quickly finding out that I am just a hobbyist wanna be. But I guess everyone has to start somewhere....But I seem to stay there, that can't be good. :)

farss wrote on 6/8/2007, 4:19 PM

Just to be clear I didn't shoot that material but I know this client very well and use him as a cameraman as he uses me for post work.

In general he sets exposure and white balance once, for the whole show, on both cameras. This can mean highly reflective white costumes might clip, if all the kids are in white satin it's a bit of a problem at times but we live with it, it means skin is still going to be fine. Dark scenes are of course left dark.

This approach seems to work very well when you've got multiple cameras and no comms between operature or the extreme luxury of a full OB type setup where exposure etc is controlled remotely. Even if you've got comms you'd need cameras with manual lenses so someone can call stops and everyone can reset exposure at the same time but even then you need to be very careful or you get a jump in exposure, not a nice look.

As for shot composition. Depends who the cleint is and why you're shooting it. All our material is hot for sale to the parents. The academy gets a decent kickback out of it too. Parents buy to see their kids, not to watch our creativity. Obviously we do our best to avoid any major technical stuff ups, get good audio etc. But we always have at least one tight pan accross the chorus lines in any piece. Every performers face is as cleanly shown as possible, the parents get to brag, "See THERE'S MY Jenny" or whatever and they'll pay good money for that. A years tuitition in a dance academy is costly

Of course what we're doing is a commercial business and we're very lucky to be working in the wealthier part of town. You might not be so lucky but even with relatively cheap cameras doing it for free you can still pull it of and produce a decent result. Know what your cameras need to get good shots. If you need x amount of light try to get the lighting guy on side, same goes with the audio side, I've had a sound guy solder up patch leads to help me out. In general get some tight shots from up close, unless you've got expensive cameras with big lenses working at the very end of lense's focal length means you're loosing a lot of light and the lens isn't too sharp so get in close. Try to shoot tight, it's those really wide shots that show up the limits of your cameras and possibly the ugly bits of the stage. And again, don't be afraid to tell others what you need to get your job done, what you're doing is going to be around for a long time. That's where I've gone wrong in the past when I've tried to shoot this kind of stuff myself (shudder, shudder...).