Thanks Grazie.
Now if they only sold a matte box for the same price (instead of 2x to 3x the filter set), I'd be a very happy shooter ;-)

Mike

The performances in those videos are priceless. Nothing like asking a PA to play a director and that executive-anger scene in "Black Frost" section -- oh man! ANd of course we all use light metters with our cameras the way this genius does...

"Oh no! No make up!!!" l-o-l priceless. And the follow-up - And of course, this may not lead lead to further jobs! - Ah man! Is THAT where I've been going wrong all these years! NO filter!

But apart from that, the actual "sample" 101 on what these filters CAN do and I DO use filters - NDs and polas - might just push our chums here to explore further, get better acquisition, realise what you ARE doing anyway with on camera NDs and iris and might find that the use of filters is not JUST for gimmicky NON corrective work - it is about giving my camera a better stab at what I want.

Grazie

Very good!
A couple of observations. The skin tone enhancer also enhances the smogginess of the LA sky. And there was at least one shot of the camera lens with all sorts of light going down the barrel. Normally, a grip would be pushing everyone out of the way to get a flag into place to stop that since it's a garaunteed lens flare. The poor guy or gal must have suffered a stroke trying to stop himself/herself when they lit that shot.

Rob

I still use a light meter for some things, but generally only when I need to light before the camera arrives. In fact, I think that's probably the same meter, although I hope he got the later model that reads in FC.

I think if you've lit with a meter all your life then it's not unnatural to keep doing it, and a spot meter can quickly tell you just how much to take down or bring up a background element.

Not to make excuses. This was a dramatization from a company that has long serviced film shooters, and the video was aimed at people with film backgrounds who'd be inclined to want flats and a matte box. The experienced guys already know the value of this stuff but this was aimed at art directors starting new carreers shooting low budget HDV. There's tons of those guys in LA.

Rob

Well said.

One of the DPs I used to light for was notorious for renting/borrowing big sets of filters and shooting tests if there was time at the end of the day. Of course someone has to light the test and this would slow down the wrap precisely when everyone else could "smell the barn". But I have to respect a DP who actually wants to shoot some tests. It's their job, and a gaffer gets most of his aesthetic training from the DPs. This sort of thing separates the DPs from the Camera Operators, and most video shooters I meet are really just camera ops.

Rob

This sort of thing separates the DPs from the Camera Operators, and most video shooters I meet are really just camera ops.

That "woosh" sound you just heard was that of 100,000 (pseudo) DP egos being deflated :-)

Mike

You light your tests while u are still shooting (when the crew for the moment has nothing to do). Doing that after the actuall wrap is "salt"-up (Jay's request....) i would not be surprised if on some lower budget productions the crew "was booked" only because for lower rate they didn't want to deal with that non-sense.

Yea, just might hafta get me a set of these, though the Black Frost still appeared to soften why to much for my taste.

Anyone know what mattebox that was?

- Ray
www.undergroundplanet.com

Patryk, your language is getting a bit too salty, don't ya think?

I know light meters seem like yesterdays tools but one thing I learned recently is they're as vital in the digital world as they were with film. The exposure metering in video cameras lets us get the image exposed correctly but it doesn't tell us what's happening with the electronics to get that exposure.
The result can be shifts in noise levels in the blacks if not the whole of the frame. Doing it the old school way of selecting a stop, lighting for the stop and shooting that gives you consistant images across setups. Still use the in camera metering to check for blown highlights and then deal with them by adjusting lighting.

Bob.

Filters for cameras are just a reality for the "look", especially for outside work. The same can be said for the light meter. The simple fact is the camera is measuring reflected light off the targeted surface and if there are many different surfaces, the dynamic range can be become a problem. The light meter measures the direct radiated light energy, this can help determine the usable F-stops for a specific range of dynamic surfaces.

Well, it never quite worked that way. More like if we were able to wrap early then this DP might politely ask me if I wouldn't mind helping with some filter tests before we start to wrap. It would never have happened with a large crew or if we were going into OT, only among friends and only within the 10 hour day that we were billing for anyway. He could never get away with it if the wrap was big or it would tie up more than two people who happened to be tolerant old friends, but it was still damned irritating to have an early wrap snatched away.

And it wouldn't happen shooting film, you have to be more organized about the way you shoot tests.

But, on the other hand, working with so many operators who'd give you blank stares when you ask them about lighting, I have a lot more respect for shooters who do their homework. I don't expect them to know my job, but I appreciate it when they know their own.

Rob

There are more choices than what they were showing, so you could certainly get something more subtle than the black frost they demoed.

Come people keep collections of net or stocking to put over the rear element of a lens but I couldn't say what the advantage is. You can't do this if your lens is fixed to the camera body, of course.

Rob Mack

Although I found the "Performances" within each video less than stellar - I found the core information important since I'm still getting a handle on some of the technical aspects of shooting video.

I went with a Cavision 3x3 matte box earlier this year and use it for all my above water shooting. I noticed that the camera had not only a matte box on the camera, but also used a French Flag - I've been debating whether to get one or not from Cavision, but I'm not sure if it would benefit the kind of work I shoot (video journalistic work - mostly hand held, some small commercial video projects) - anyone care to chime in on this?

Cliff Etzel
bluprojekt

In practical terms, if I'm lighting a stage before cameras arrive, and I know the cameras run as if they were a certain ISO, then I can light the stage with a meter. You can walk through the space taking incident readings and then go back to the camera postitions to look for hot spots by eye and then with a spot meter.

You can also use a meter to measure the levels coming off a projection screen and then light for that.

You don't need a meter all the time, but they're still very useful. I often just light to a monitor but if the shot is complex it pays to walk through it with a meter (and it pays even more if the DP and Director will take the trouble to block out the shot.)

Rob

Get one and bring it. You don't have to use it all the time, but a french flag is helpful when you're working without grip support, and even with grips it might save you the annoyance of having someone bouncing c-stands around to shade your lens.

If you can try a few out first that'd be better because you may not like the way some attach to the camera.

A lot of matte boxes also support a brow on the front (I don't remember what they were using in the videos, brow, or flag) and these have the advantage of folding down to cover and protect the matte box and lens.

Rob

The Cavision French Flag that fits my 3x3 matte box attaches directly to it. It also seems to fold down over the lens to protect it.

Still amazes me how something like a Matte box and accessories are priced what they are...

Cliff Etzel
bluprojekt

It looked to me like the "before" picture was more an example of harsh bad lighting than a real need for a blurring filter, It seems to me like a little careful lighting would have worked greater magic than the "black forest" filter.

When I worked at a rental house I think we always called that a brow to distinguish it from a french flag on an articulated arm.

Rob Mack

<edit> I see they're calling it a "french flap". Same idea. The biggest diff is that a french flag can work as a sider, the flap is always a topper, but is a lot more convenient otherwise.

rob

Sorry to be redundant but, does anyone know what brand of mattebox they are using in the vids?

- Ray
www.undergroundplanet.com