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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

David Mullen ASC said:
It all depends on how much it matters to you. I try to not get too mechanical about these choices, what matters more is the feeling of the shot. Yes, I also tend to use the 50mm for OTS shots.

Sometimes if things start to get confusing, just stick to the actual distances between the actors rather than cheat them too much, because it can affect their performances -- it makes a difference whether you are standing 2 feet from another actor or 4 feet in terms of the emotional connections so you want to minimize cheating too far.
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Yes, I'm just afraid of how much the impression can change the shot. Similarly to how much camera height can impact the meaning of a shot in OTS when shooting actors of different heights. Even though the shorter one should be naturally looking up to the taller one on the OTS I don't want to have too much of that and change the meaning of the shot and undermine the shorter actor, you know what I mean?
 
David,
Can you articulate what you like about this new 129 gel? How do you prefer it over 216 or Opal? In what situations and with what type of fixtures are you inclined to use it?

I've never used it, but just judging by the description it's maybe 50% more intense of a diffuse than 216 (which I already thought intense) so it'll just produce super soft light, which will take a ton of juice, so I guess I'm not sure why it's better than 216.
 
David:

I'm about to pick up a silk to diffuse light during outdoor shoots. I'm attempting to get my mind around how much diffusion I will need. Is 1/4 stop enough to take the edge off direct sunlight? What about size? Is 8' x 8' large enough? Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks for this forum. I've learned a great deal.

Nick.
 
If you just want to take off the edge, I'd use Half Soft Frost. For much softer light, a normal Silk.

You only lose a half-stop under a Half Soft Frost, whereas you lose about a stop under a Silk.

How big just depends on how much area you need to cover plus allow some movement on your actors, and how many actors need to stand under it, etc. An 8'x8' is fine for diffusing the sun on a close-up to waist-up shot, but for a head to toe shot, a 12'x12' would be better.
 
David hi this is the first time i will ask you . i always read this thread it is
Like An Academy

my question is about camera shutter speed :
SHUTTER speed QUESTION please


i am having some scaning waves across the screen of (LCD ,Hdmi, R3D FILES) Something is moving from up to down or via reverse

I tried changing shutter speed from 1/48 to 1/50 . afterthat those lines went out.

The other day and with different color temprature i had them again even
with 1/50 shutter I change it to 1/32 . and it went out again , i tried 1/48 or 1/50 linesshowed up again

MY question is : IS the shutter speed related to :
1- focal lenght of the used lens ? ( when changing lenses did shutter
Supposed to be changed)
2-f stoops
3-color temprature

3-Lighting (frequency of the electric were used )

Do i suppose every time in every location , and with every used lens check for that lines or change my shutter speed ?
 
I'm sorry if this has been asked in the thread before, but I have a small 'film school' level question.

Re: The directors relationship with the DP.

I have an average technical knowledge, in regards to the camera/lenses/lighting package etc, and I've directed a couple of small indie-music videos with different student/semi-pro DP's.

When I'm describing the shot I want, I tend to know the composition/framing that I want but not so much the lighting. I tend to say things like "need to emphasize lonliness." or "the shot needs more texture to it. Play with the shutter speed. Make it like a dream."

This has resulted in two of the DP's (older than me by about a decade) rolling their eyes.

My question: Do DP's prefer it if a director simply says "Frame it this way and shoot it with lens X"? Is superb technical knowledge the key to being a good DP's director?

I'd love your professional perspective on this.
 
You probably should work with DP's who show more respect to their director...

It's not that DP's want to be told what focal length to use, it's just that they also don't want extremely vague poetic descriptions -- a middle ground is nice. Talk to them about practical ways of achieving the mood you desire.

It's OK to start with generalities, but immediately after that, the two of you quickly have to break it down into specific things like color, direction and quality of light, light sources, timing of camera movements, how the scene will be cut, etc. It's a collaboration, a dialogue, between the two of you where you bounce ideas off of each other.

Trouble with only using vague poetic descriptions is that no two people will have the same interpretation of some of these concepts, so DP might wait until the director gives them a more specific direction. Even saying "I want this to look dark" is open for a lot of discussion, dark as in shadowy, dark as in murky, subject dark or background dark, high-contrast hard lighting, soft but dim lighting, etc.
 
MY question is : IS the shutter speed related to :
1- focal lenght of the used lens ? ( when changing lenses did shutter
Supposed to be changed)
2-f stoops
3-color temprature

4-Lighting (frequency of the electric were used )
Click to expand...

Forgive me if I answer your question instead of David. First of all, I believe you should learn as much as possible about the basics of a camera, because you don't seem yet to understand very well what a shutter is...

To answer your questions: the shutter has nothing to do with the focal lenght, the iris (f-stop) or the color temp. In some cases, you might indeed have to change the shutter speed in order to synchronize it (the shutter speed) to the flickering of the lights which is related indeed to the frequency of the electric current on your location. But that's all...

Your problem description ("something is moving up or down") seems to indicate something else is happening. It might be a technical issue with your own camera. I would recommend you to try to reproduce the problem, capture it, send it (as a jpeg or a quicktime movie for instance) to the Red technical assistance team: they will let you know if there is something wrong or not...
 
THANKS Arkham ,no problem
i think you didn't understand me very well .
i am wondering why is that happened becuase it happened while i were changing my location and lenses .
i will try to check it again
 
i think you didn't understand me very well .
Click to expand...

That's always a possibility :)

i am wondering why is that happened becuase it happened while i were changing my location and lenses .
Click to expand...

You should NOT have to change your shutter speed because you changed your lens. Therefore, I maintain there is probably something wrong happening...
 
arkham said:
That's always a possibility :)



You should NOT have to change your shutter speed because you changed your lens. Therefore, I maintain there is probably something wrong happening...
Click to expand...

when i change my shooting situation , (lens ,iris, light), i didn't change my framerate
those waves show's up , that is what force me to change the shutter speed.
to get rid of them .
IS it because i was using normal light (sun light + neon lamps)
ARE neon lamps wave lenght will change during frequency change caused
those waves (difference in HZ frequency, or something)
 
ARE neon lamps wave lenght will change during frequency change caused those waves
Click to expand...

If I'm decrypting this sentence correctly, you still are not convinced of what I answered you 2 times already... Yes "neon lamps" do flicker! No: this should not _force_ you to change the shutter speed every-time you change your lens or your iris!

If you want to keep talking about this issue, maybe you should consider opening your own discussion because this one is already very long on its own and it is dedicated to David and the questions we could have relating to the field of cinematography, not technical issues like synchronizing shutter speed to flickering fluorescent lights...
 
Bassam,
I'll jump in here.
The colored bands moving up or down are a result of the Red One's rolling shutter. It's something we all need to be cognizant of.
You may, from time to time, have an issue with the Red One's rolling shutter and discharge lighting (HMI, flouro, neon) Yes, you will have to adjust the shutter. Yes, the bands can be subtle and colored, and move up OR down. You may notice them more depending on the lens (wider lens that renders the wall behind the actors more in focus and thus shows the bands from the HMI outside the window more readily) It's not that a particular lens itself creates the issue, just makes it show up better.
Arkham,
While I agree Bassam might have more appropriately posted a technical question elsewhere, the title of the thread IS "Ask David Mullen Anything" Give him a bit of a break.
David,
Sorry about my hijack. Please continue.
Cheers,
Harry
 
the title of the thread IS "Ask David Mullen Anything" Give him a bit of a break.
Click to expand...

I understand that and would like to apologize if my suggestion was rude, it wasn't meant to be...

The fact of the matter is that I thought I did answer Bassam's questions in my first answer... even though it wasn't as detailed as yours ;) The initial question was a bit puzzling though: how could the focal length or the "f-stop" possibly be related to the "need to change the shutter speed", especially to shutter speed values that are so different from the typical current frequencies?? But now, thanks to your explanations, I understand a little bit better where it came from.

I never faced this issue so far though...
 
Thanks Harry , now i understand what is happening .and sorry Arkham
If i couldn't explain what i am facing ,sorry again for David . it was mistake posting here .
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Hello David,
I really appreciate all your posts, they have helped me a lot over the years. I work in the seminar and workshop business and have a small studio in which we conduct live seminars and film the lectures (usually one main trainer and a translator). Since a lot of the workshops are very long, we have quite a challenge with the heat that our lights are giving off, so I am thinking of switching to Litepanels.
Since I am not very familiar with Litepanels, I am not sure whether it would be a good idea or not. Do you have any suggestions?
I know that LED's have some downsides, but the fact that they are cool may make up for that.
I have also heard that I can mix Litepanels with Kinoflo's/dedo lights (for background lighting etc.).
Is this a common procedure? I always thought that the color of the lights are pretty different, so I am not sure if it is a good idea. I would appreciate any help on that topic.

After talking to some experts, I came up with the following solution:

4 Litepanels (one key light and one fill light per person)
2 Kinoflo's & 2 Dedo lights (backlights & background lights)

All lights will be daylight. Does this make sense?

Thanks for your help.
 
Thanks, that is good to know. I am thinking of Litepanels and Kinoflo's. Any suggestions which fluorescent tubes match best with Litepanels (...and don't need a minus green correction)?
If I do need to correct them, how would I do that?

Also, do you have any experience with Litepanels? Would you recommend them or do you think it would be better to only use fluorescent lights?

So far, we have worked with tungsten lighting, but I don't think that it makes sense to use Litepanels for tungsten lighting since that will involve a filter. Do you agree with that?

Thanks for your help.
 
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