New Hope

My repleacement ae-1 program. The last one was stolen in Peru right before Machi Picchu. I set my bag down inside a travel agency and I turned around only to find my bag, a broken headlamp, and my Ae-1 program with a 28mm f2.8 gone.
Unfortunately the criminals will get nothing in value for it so both parties involved lost I say.
Regardless, what dissapoints me the most is, well, the roll. I can't replace that.
Although I got a really nice deal on a limited edition model. The black does not change the quality of the picture although it is a nice upgrade.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:So Pasadena

Bon voyage to sticks!

I have just successfully pawned off the sticks to a local camera shop. The Matthews m-25 tripod is a good video tripod. It could easily hold an Ex-3 or comprable video camera. Unfortunatley just the 7d proved to be a bit too light as pans became a bit jerky.

Mixed with the fact that our style of filmmaking is run and gun all the time, setting up sticks is not an option nor is carrying them around with me at all times feasible.

The only tripod based equipment I have is my gorilla pod for dslr's which I highly recommend.

It's nice to shed some weight and make some cash so we can get back to te states!


-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tech Blog: Dane-Elec Card Review

The Dane -Elec proline udma 300x cards are a good alternative to the expensive Kingston rated brands if you are willing to accept their shortcomings. You get what you pay for. Each Dane-Elec card was $60 rather than $300 a piece for a 16 gb card.

First and foremost is that they only allow for 10min takes which is a few minutes shorter than the Kingston brands cards. Who knows why fat32 was used as the hd format with a maximum of 4gb a file... For most narrative filmmaking puposes, this is not that big of a deal. Keep in mind within 7-10 seconds, recording can continue once the buffer clears in the camera.

Secondly, buffer freezes and stoppage of recording happens fairly frequently. Mostly at the beginning and end of each card. The little meter icon will show up and become full at which time the screen freezes and stops recording. This can be quite frustrating especially if you're in a very important moment that can't be done again or when in the middle of a take and your talent is in a very emotional scene where having unnecessary takes is detrimental to the production.

As far as the high speed photography goes, I am allowed 15 8fps shots. I'm unsure how many you get with other cards but it's quite adequate especially compared to the 5dM2's fps rate.

Overall with the budget I have been working with on No Lands Too Foreign, it is a great cheap alternative to buying expensive cf cards.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Mini bus in Thailand

Tech Blog-The Reality of our Filming Style

It has come to my attention within the last month or so the perception of how we must appear to the people we interact with. As the film school mentality begins to fade from my mind while on this project, we embarked on a journey that has us doing many decisions very un-Hollywood. Everything we have done thus far is real and un-staged. It is merely our journey through our eyes. It is not a presentation of a city but a small percentage of what a city has to offer to 2 young travelers.

Along with this, is our equipment and how we are perceived. With this HDSLR revolution so many are talking about, not only is it incredibly affordable to get an HD quality pictures, but portability becomes incredibly easy since it is a DSLR that happens to shoot video. These facts have been well stated for however what does this mean for the reality of the content itself?

We run around with a small camera as two young recently graduated students and people perceive us as if we are making a home video. Our subjects act more natural and are more inclined to be real. This is exactly what we want. The locals have seen a DSLR before for the most part yet they haven't seen an EX-3 or an F-900. Even if they have, the connotations that those cameras bring is the label of "professional" or most importantly "really expensive". Thus giving those who use the camera and the entourage with them as a big time production. They are less inclined to be real and more apprehensive to being on camera. Having a boom operator/mixer, camera operator, AC, producer, director and whoever else is on the team gives the impression of something completely different. More people crowd around to see what the bustle is rather than two kids with a camera shooting stuff around their hometown.

This revolution everyone is ranting and raving about is very much a point that will change the flow of where the industry will go on the independent level however not just with the technical side of things but also on the content side of things and the perception/psychological way production is perceived. For us, the reality of what we are doing and the people we meet is the most important thing. It seems like we hit the perfect time for the HDSLR revolution and this project.

Istanbul

The ride to Istanbul was a bit unbearable. We've decided the conductors on the train were running some sort of side game. We got onto our sleeper with a nice french speaking women. My broken french allowed me to deduce she was on some sort of important family matter. Either way it was only Zach, the woman, and myself on this particularly cold cabin. About an hour into the trip, the conductor informs us that there is a "heating" problem and that we can upgrade to a really nice sleeper in the next car for 25 Euros. Zach and I decided to tough it out. As the ride went on, he lowered the price and it did get unbearably cold. We eventually opted to get our own private car for a few more euros. It made the trip exponentially better except for the fact that there was no food car!

Unfortunately we did not think ahead of time to grab snacks so we had to ride on this train with no food and a small amount of water for 22 hours! Thus upon getting to Istanbul, I grabbed the first food I could find. The good ol McDonalds to the rescue. As awful as that sounds, it was probably the best Big Mac I've ever had.

Overall our time in Istanbul was fast but we did see some of the amazing mosques Istanbul has to offer. The Blue Mosque was very elegant both inside and out. Hagia Sofia was very nice however a bit more dilapidated than I was expecting.

We climbed to the tower that overlooks all of Istanbul and we realized how far we really had come on the first leg of our trip. Granted it is a marathon and not a sprint, standing upon the tower and seeing a panoramic view of Istanbul, it allowed us some time to reminisce and look to the future.

Tech Blog: Adorama FD/EF Adapter - The Verdict is In!

I have been waiting intently on a package waiting for me in Jerusalem with the following items:

1. Adorama EF/FD adapter for my 35 lenses to fit on the Canon 7D
2. XLR cord to 3.5mm jack so I may try to plug sound directly into the 7D
3. 2 more 16gb Dane Elec CF Cards (1.5 more hours a day of card space!)

The CF cards are self explanatory.

The XLR adapter is a bit disappointing because for some reason, the Auto Gain messes with the microphone and I get unusable sound on my clips. Further research will be needed but until then, the Zoom H4n plugged in works phenomenal for our run and gun style.

Now on to the adapter....

First off, I didn't intend to buy the Adorama version however the Ebay seller sold me this one since it had an EMF chip installed in it. I'm not sure if the Adorama one has one or he just added it. Either way, the chip allows for the circuits within the camera to work so that the reflective spot meter works, just not obviously the iris nob since it's all manual 35mm lenses.

Second, there are limitations I had read about and was fully aware of before purchasing the adapter. Since the focal flange distance is physically different FD to EF, there are some things that don't directly adapt without a piece of 1.2 crop glass in between the lens and the adapter. Thus causing a bit of cropping (although with the 7d it's not so bad I believe with the smaller sensor vs the 5d) and also because of the quality of the adapter glass(the adapter total was $40), you get some weird pro-mist filter like effects on your highlights while fairly wide open. (Note: without glass in the adapter, you will not be able to focus to infinite.) My 50mm f1.4 shows it alot. Although lenses during the day like my 35-110 f3.5 works fairly well. Although, certain breech lock lens mounts don't stop down all the way which is also frustrating. Have a good set of ND on you at all times if this becomes a problem.

Overall even with the limitations of the adapter, it allows me to use my FD glass on my EF mount 7D for relatively cheap. I brought my 35 AE-1 Program with me anyways and it does come in handy. Once you get over the finicky Open/Lock mount trick so the iris ring works, it works like a charm. It's not a perfect solution but if you're on a low budget and have glass laying around you want to work, it can do the trick. Use only for daylight situations or if you want that blooming effect on the white highlights. Good purchase but with it's limitations. If you don't want to deal with the hassles, then buy L series lenses from Canon. If you do that, you're probably not even thinking about saving money on lens adapters.

Further testing will be done but initial experience is a positive one.

Romania

Romania felt like another home to us. We spent quite awhile catching up on a few production items and definitely was a hard place to leave. After 5 days, we felt like we knew Brasov like the back of our hands. A quaint little town on the edge of a booming tourism curve with everything one could ask for. Their own version of the Hollywood sign, ski/snowboarding only 15 minutes away, and the culture of Transylvania to name only a few. Mostly the nice people were the main reason to go there. We met new friends and got to know a bit of history about Romania.

Our new friend Cornelius took us around Brasov and gave us insight that could not be researched or read anywhere else. He took us to a cemetery and told us about Romanian tradition. Then we moved on to the old walls of the city and the citadel up in the mountains of Brasov. Lastly we spent some time at a local bar with such interesting people ranging from artists, poets, and fellow travelers.

We also went up to the mountain to have some fun in the snow. Zach took the camera down the mountain once and I was able to meet the owners of the Florine Ski Shop. They were incredibly nice and I even signed the wall. So if anyone goes to Florine's ski shop, look to the right when you first walk in, you should be able to see my name written on the wall in sharpie!

There's way more to talk about in Brasov however those are best saved for the segment of the episode to watch! Until next time.