Jay A. Kelley
member
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- Feb 2, 2007
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- Location
- St. Louis MO
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- www.dreamwelder.com
As many of you know I have been working on a DVD for the RED camera. It's been quite a journey.. Yes it's coming out and it's close, but I want to share something I discovered while shooting the last module.
I need to keep this cryptic cause I have not asked permission from the person involved if I can write about this BEFORE the release of the DVD.. He knows who he is and if he wants to pipe up, then I am sure he will.
What I experienced many of you will respond to by saying "yeah, of COURSE you can do that.. WTF?!" Well what's obvious to some, is new to others, and this is directed to those people.
I have been on a quest for an "electronic film camera" my whole life.. I thought we were getting somewhere with the Canon XL-1 when it came out, then the Panasonic AJ-SDX900 came along and did even better. Other cameras followed that path, but then, RED came to be, and it was the holy grail for what I wanted. I had a film camera, but with no film! Hot damn!! I was the happiest little kid on the block. I went after my follow focus, my matte box, and everything else I would need to shoot the way I always dreamed.
But I lost something along the way....
I went to the zoo one day to shoot the animals, I took a small cart so I could lug around the various accessories needed to make my pictures.. Matte box, follow focus, rods, filters, etc.
I had fun, but it was work.. And as time went on, unless it was a paid gig I found myself keeping RED on the shelf unless there was a commercial reason to pull it out.
Then over the weekend I had someone out to help me shoot a new module. His attitude about RED is completely different. I won't say he hates accessories, he doesn't, but he hates weight, he also hates anything that makes shooting more complicated than it needs to be.
He avoids matte boxes, follow focus units, and a host of other things. He'll put on an EVF, OR an LCD, but rarely both. He relies on screw on filters, and anything he can find to save weight. His entire rig sleeps in a pretty small backpack.
It took a few days, but watching him I began to think, "hell... Why don't I do that?' The simple truth is that I think I got brainwashed a little, and it happened here on REDuser (I am not assigning blame, I'm a big boy. My responsibility. But let's face it, how many of us throw up photos on here saying "Look how small and minimal my rig is!?! Cool!) I got so into the "Film" scene that RED does, that I forgot the fun and simplicity of just shooting stuff for the sake of it.
After watching my friend for a few days, I began to see RED differently.. I readjusted all my gear, stripping down my camera and only packing what I REALLY needed to get a shot off.. Buying some screw on filters (I use still lenses) and then I went out today, and had the camera with me the whole time I happened along two things I wanted to shoot. Pulled out the camera, hit record and got some footy, then put it back and went on about my day. I feel like I have a whole new camera now. I am so excited to have re-discovered this exciting way to shoot.
To anyone who needs to hear this I will say: The Hollywood style of shooting is fun, and has an appeal, but it's also very limiting and not the end all be all of creation for a visual medium. If you own a RED, and lots of cool accessories, but find you do not shoot with it as much as you feel you should, then strip it down, make it easy to carry, keep it simple, and have fun again.
I'd like to think a lot of us who own this thing are shooters at heart, so shoot.
Hope this helps someone..
Yes there will be something about this in the DVD.. I hope I can do it justice.
Jay
PS I still love my camera toys, I'm just pointing out an alternative.. It's what RED is all about.
I need to keep this cryptic cause I have not asked permission from the person involved if I can write about this BEFORE the release of the DVD.. He knows who he is and if he wants to pipe up, then I am sure he will.
What I experienced many of you will respond to by saying "yeah, of COURSE you can do that.. WTF?!" Well what's obvious to some, is new to others, and this is directed to those people.
I have been on a quest for an "electronic film camera" my whole life.. I thought we were getting somewhere with the Canon XL-1 when it came out, then the Panasonic AJ-SDX900 came along and did even better. Other cameras followed that path, but then, RED came to be, and it was the holy grail for what I wanted. I had a film camera, but with no film! Hot damn!! I was the happiest little kid on the block. I went after my follow focus, my matte box, and everything else I would need to shoot the way I always dreamed.
But I lost something along the way....
I went to the zoo one day to shoot the animals, I took a small cart so I could lug around the various accessories needed to make my pictures.. Matte box, follow focus, rods, filters, etc.
I had fun, but it was work.. And as time went on, unless it was a paid gig I found myself keeping RED on the shelf unless there was a commercial reason to pull it out.
Then over the weekend I had someone out to help me shoot a new module. His attitude about RED is completely different. I won't say he hates accessories, he doesn't, but he hates weight, he also hates anything that makes shooting more complicated than it needs to be.
He avoids matte boxes, follow focus units, and a host of other things. He'll put on an EVF, OR an LCD, but rarely both. He relies on screw on filters, and anything he can find to save weight. His entire rig sleeps in a pretty small backpack.
It took a few days, but watching him I began to think, "hell... Why don't I do that?' The simple truth is that I think I got brainwashed a little, and it happened here on REDuser (I am not assigning blame, I'm a big boy. My responsibility. But let's face it, how many of us throw up photos on here saying "Look how small and minimal my rig is!?! Cool!) I got so into the "Film" scene that RED does, that I forgot the fun and simplicity of just shooting stuff for the sake of it.
After watching my friend for a few days, I began to see RED differently.. I readjusted all my gear, stripping down my camera and only packing what I REALLY needed to get a shot off.. Buying some screw on filters (I use still lenses) and then I went out today, and had the camera with me the whole time I happened along two things I wanted to shoot. Pulled out the camera, hit record and got some footy, then put it back and went on about my day. I feel like I have a whole new camera now. I am so excited to have re-discovered this exciting way to shoot.
To anyone who needs to hear this I will say: The Hollywood style of shooting is fun, and has an appeal, but it's also very limiting and not the end all be all of creation for a visual medium. If you own a RED, and lots of cool accessories, but find you do not shoot with it as much as you feel you should, then strip it down, make it easy to carry, keep it simple, and have fun again.
I'd like to think a lot of us who own this thing are shooters at heart, so shoot.
Hope this helps someone..
Yes there will be something about this in the DVD.. I hope I can do it justice.
Jay
PS I still love my camera toys, I'm just pointing out an alternative.. It's what RED is all about.
), I see how they still appeal. They are small and lightweight. Casual shooting 
We have casual gaming with the Nintendo Wii. Now we get casual video production.
