I just came across this terrific chart (below) that clearly illustrates the impact choices of F stop (aperture), shutter speed and ISO makes on the photographed image. For camera people this is all fundamental stuff that must be grasped in order to shoot, but for many, it can be confusing and opaque. So for non […]
‘The cameras, lenses, cranes, batteries, tripods, drones… the ‘kit’… will not make you a great filmmaker.’ That was one core message I shared at BVE onstage yesterday, and if the organisers find out, it’s likely I will never be invited back! Taking action now, making stuff now, learning about story now, working with actors now… […]
Having post produced ‘50 Kisses’, seen it through DCP production and finally premiered in a world class theatre, it’s now 100% apparent to me that we have, within reach, EVERY SINGLE TOOL NEEDED to make a movie (as an example, ‘Neil’ above was shot on a 5D and is part of ’50 Kisses’). Of course […]
This afternoon I headed into Soho to watch the final DCP (Digital Cinema Package) at SDC for ‘50 Kisses’, alongside a journalist friend who writes for, and reviews films, for the broadsheets. His reaction? ‘50 Kisses significantly exceeded my expectations…’ I won’t say more till reviews begin to appear. And I have to tell you, […]
If there is one truth about film making, it’s that there is never enough money time or light… Following on from the podcast with Leilani Holmes last week when she discussed renting lights that are just too big for the team to use, I thought I would expand on that comment. Electric power for your […]
Not long ago I had lunch with David Webb, one of the head honchos at Kodak – he wanted to discuss the changes in the independent film sector and digital film making with someone who was working at the coal front. I was subsequently invited to speak with the European heads of Kodak and present […]
Last week I posted about the camera tests run by Zacuto that I was asked to comment on, and how from my perspective, and certainly for indie film makers, shooting on film opposed to digital) looks like it has had its day. You can read that post here (and watch the fascinating video). The picture […]
Is film dead? Earlier this year I was invited by Philip Bloom to come and watch a series of camera tests that compared a bunch of cameras that are available to film makers today. At the bottom end was the DSLR family, at the top end Alexa and film. The footage was screened from a […]
Great news! We just found out that we won both Best Short Film and Best Actor (for Bill Paterson) and the Staten Island, New York Film Festival. That, along with the PGA Award from last Sunday night, takes us past 30 international awards. Wow! So I promised I would do a round up of the […]
I spent most of yesterday planning the 1 day course that the £100 ‘Gone Fishing’ contributors will receive, some time in January 2008. I have also been cutting a trailer which I plan to put up on the site in the next few days. I have decided to make the course a kind of chronology […]
I spent yesterday driving a van around London collecting camera kit and lights – I love that moment when normal life ends and you step into the world of movies – that for me was yesterday when I collected the van. Cameraman Steve Brooke Smith camera along for the ride, and thank god he did […]
Gone Fishing looks absolutely amazing. In large part this is down to Vernon’s photography and his insistence that we wait on the sun. We were very lucky in the main shoot and managed to shot mostly in bright sunshine, which Vernon then filled the harsh shadows with a whopping great 15k light and bounce boards. […]
A few hours ago, the camera truck arrived and I took a pic of the contents for this blog. Blimey! Look at it all. Two 35mm cameras and all the bits. Not much like an HDV camera and tripod is it! Ok. It’s 11.30 and I will be up at 5.15 tomorrow morning. Breakfast at […]
