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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, following up on the zooms, A) have you had a chance to use the new Fuginons yet and, if so, how do they compare to Angenieux? and B) what is your experience using Angenieux's adaptors? You lose a stop+, but you go from academy to S35+ coverage. I'm considering the 17-80 to compliment my Rouge set (two Reds!)

You're a price for all the help you give to all us RedUsers.
 
Thank you Mr David Mullen sir for your advice of 2/3" sensor cameras benefits over 1/3" cameras in a nutshell, and quoting those related articals. Any way in future i want to buy scarlet base model for myself at all for independent film making.
i will contact you in future when ever need arises. thank you, with best regards.
 
Tim Duran said:
David, following up on the zooms, A) have you had a chance to use the new Fuginons yet and, if so, how do they compare to Angenieux? and B) what is your experience using Angenieux's adaptors? You lose a stop+, but you go from academy to S35+ coverage. I'm considering the 17-80 to compliment my Rouge set (two Reds!)
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The new Fujinon PL-mount zooms are amazing -- super sharp, fast -- I hope I get to use them someday on a show. Of course, a prime would still be smaller and lighter, and if a T/1.3 lens, faster. From what I've seen of the Fujinon's they are snappier (higher-contrast), crisper, than Angenieux zooms.

I recently used the 17-80 Ang. Optimo and think it's a great zoom too. Sharper than the 24-290.

These are all fairly expensive lenses however. I just did a Panavision show where I needed two Primo zooms but could only afford to rent one, so the other was the old Cooke 20-100mm, which is definitely a bit softer than the Primos I was using.

Haven't used the adaptors you mentioned.
 
Ramesh Jai said:
I have a very challenging shoot coming up. It has a lot of people running (outdoors, daytime) pushing and shoving each other through traffic and trying to get ahead. How does one handle lighting in this situation..? Do we light at all or use polyboards and silks? Any tips? Besides steadicam is there anything else I can use to get movement? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. (Using MX'd RED One)
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If you don't absolutely need to light, I wouldn't. There may be a spot in the chase where you need a light if the foreground is too dark, but otherwise, it's better to just run around with a bounce card or something, or silk what you can. Steadicam is a common choice for this, and handheld. Besides that, there are more low-tech and high-tech methods. The hardest thing when shooting people running is to move the camera ahead of them looking backwards at their faces, because it's easier to chase someone on a Steadicam than to run ahead of them at full speed and look back. Often you need to mount the Steadicam arm to a small powered cart or other small vehicle that can take a driver and a camera operator (and hopefully the focus-puller.) Or there are CableCam rigs, but those are much more expensive. But I don't think I'm telling you anything new, you probably have thought of all of this.
 
Again on the "lighting Soundstages" questions, I would really love to hear your Input on lighting the room we are building for my next Musicvideo.
I want to see the Window patterns on the walls, but it's supposed to be a dim wintermood, that the practicels I will add here and there still give some light to the space around them. The design has four Windows (Fenster) three at the front and one behind the table (Tisch). The Corridor with the Door (Tür) will get some wall fixtures.
As long as I won't be able to go bejond 100W bulbs in the Practicals what do you think how big do the Daylight faking fixtures need to be?
Would you take one 20K for the three windows at the front, or three 5K or even 10K.
Also how do you feel about setting three fixtures through the windows in different angles to get the patterns where I want them to be.
I think for the window behind the table a 5K would be enough as long as its not on the "sunny" side.
Because it's my first time lighting such a set, what else would you add?
Spacelights above the windows? How would you gell those and the Fill?
I really would appreciate your Input
Regards
KIM

 
I think the daylight should be cooler in color than the practicals -- the easiest thing would be to just gel the windows with 1/2 CTB if you want to use tungsten lamps through them. You'd want to have mostly soft light if this is winter and somewhat overcast. If the window is to one side of the shot, you can use a big light through a diffusion frame for each window. If the window is in the background, you probably would want soft light shining from each edge, cross-lighting, and a soft backlight hung above the window -- like a 10K with a 4x4 frame of diffusion mounted in front, or a 9-light with diffusion, etc. Yes, a space light or two above each window would help with the ambient light shining onto the window sill and onto the floor.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
If you don't absolutely need to light, I wouldn't. There may be a spot in the chase where you need a light if the foreground is too dark, but otherwise, it's better to just run around with a bounce card or something, or silk what you can. Steadicam is a common choice for this, and handheld. Besides that, there are more low-tech and high-tech methods. The hardest thing when shooting people running is to move the camera ahead of them looking backwards at their faces, because it's easier to chase someone on a Steadicam than to run ahead of them at full speed and look back. Often you need to mount the Steadicam arm to a small powered cart or other small vehicle that can take a driver and a camera operator (and hopefully the focus-puller.) Or there are CableCam rigs, but those are much more expensive. But I don't think I'm telling you anything new, you probably have thought of all of this.
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Thank you David. Really appreciate your thoughts. Regards.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
I think the daylight should be cooler in color than the practicals -- the easiest thing would be to just gel the windows with 1/2 CTB if you want to use tungsten lamps through them. You'd want to have mostly soft light if this is winter and somewhat overcast. If the window is to one side of the shot, you can use a big light through a diffusion frame for each window. If the window is in the background, you probably would want soft light shining from each edge, cross-lighting, and a soft backlight hung above the window -- like a 10K with a 4x4 frame of diffusion mounted in front, or a 9-light with diffusion, etc. Yes, a space light or two above each window would help with the ambient light shining onto the window sill and onto the floor.
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Thank you very much for your response David, but the look I'm trying to achieve is not an overcast, over all soft look, but a daylight setting like winter here in Germany, when the Sun doesn't get too high and it always feels a bit like dawn, even when the sun is shining. A dimm but yet direct light, that throws patterns on the walls.
I wont have the chance to try different lights, because up to the Budget I will need to rent just what I will use. Would you throw a 10K (1/2CTB) through each window to achieve that look or what would be your setup?
 
The sun is only dimmer if it's going through haze and/or cloud cover... on a clear winter day, it would still be fairly bright. If it is hazy outside, then the pattern would not be as sharp. I think a dim but sharp pattern would look theatrical... unless you are talking about the very beginning of sunrise, but if that's what you want, I would go with a warm effect, not a cold effect. Sure, a 10K would work but obviously the sun should only be shining through the windows that face the same direction.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
Zooms are generally a practical necessity, otherwise, it's rare would I would prefer using a larger, heavier, slower, softer, more expensive lens that breathes and flares more compared to a prime. Primes are generally smaller, lighter, flare less, and are a more precise way to shoot. However, I will go to a zoom when it makes sense to. I've had to shoot most of the close-ups on my current movie with a second camera using the 11:1 Primo zoom, it's sharp enough for close-up work. We don't get much rehearsals or takes so I need to be able to quickly reframe the tighter shot when something goes wrong, actors miss their marks, etc. Truth is that I think zooms lead to a lot of bad habits... such as grabbing a close-up while shooting the medium shots, just to save time. But if the production wants a lot of angles quickly for editing purposes, it is faster to use a zoom to get them.

The cleanest, sharpest, fastest 35mm zooms with the least breathing tend to be on the big side. I don't have a particular opinion about which zoom is better, the current industry standard tends to be the Angeneuix Optimos. Truth is that the most expensive zooms tend to be the best. But it really depends on what type of zoom you are looking at... wide-angle handheld zooms, zooms with a huge range, etc.

Technically, it's really the wide shots that I hate to shoot on a zoom. That, and shots with a lot of focus racking. Otherwise, it's not much of a technical compromise, the only problem is the sloppier filmmaking style it allows.
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Thanks! That was a great response. Have you used any of the Optimo DP series such as the 30-80mm? My DP used one on my latest shoot and I was super impressed with how sharp and clean it was.
 
David, thanks for your comments on Fuginon. What is your take on the lens market today? With all the Red cameras out in the field, there probably has never been a higher need for lenses of all types. But with so many companies making so many relatively similar lenses, I would think there needs to be a shake out pretty soon. What's the skuttlebutt amongst the DP's you talk to? I need additional lenses, but I don't absolutely have to buy today. I would hate to buy an expensive Angenieux, only to find out that Fuginon is eating their lunch and Angenieux lowers their prices, etc or a similar senario with ARRI and Leica, etc.
 
David, I was surprised to hear you say you combined a new Fuginon with an older Cooke zoom (for budget reasons). If you're shooting two cameras, how do you resolve the contrast in look before you shoot? Are you using one camera for establishing shots and the other for close-ups? What static do you get from the editor over cutting in the two looks in a scene? Do you try to hide it with contrasting backgrounds--or is this simply not a big deal? I've always gone out of my way not to mix lens resolution in my films.
 
I needed the option of using a zoom on two cameras but I couldn't afford matching zooms. The short answer is that I didn't use the softer zoom very much, I stuck to primes on that camera. Otherwise, I tried to avoid using the softer zoom in wide shots or wide-open. Most of the movie was shot with a 1/8 White Frost diffusion and a couple of times, I left that off the softer zoom when I had to use it. The only day it was a real problem was when we were filming action on a river, I needed a zoom on both cameras because of the unpredictability of the boat action, plus one camera was on a Technocrane over the river and it was hard to change lenses quickly, the other was on shore trying to grab moments at the long end of the 11:1 zoom, so I had to use the softer 5:1 zoom on the Technocrane after I got my widest shots on a prime.

Some movies you can be a lot more precise with the choice of lenses, other movies, you have to be less picky if you want to make your day and the director likes zooms and you are shooting unrepeatable action, like animals & stunts. Ideally, I would have had two good, sharp zooms on the package, but the production refused to pay for that.

It was the 11:1 Primo that I was mixing (rarely) with the older 5:1 Cooke.
 
Tim Duran said:
David, thanks for your comments on Fuginon. What is your take on the lens market today? With all the Red cameras out in the field, there probably has never been a higher need for lenses of all types. But with so many companies making so many relatively similar lenses, I would think there needs to be a shake out pretty soon. What's the skuttlebutt amongst the DP's you talk to? I need additional lenses, but I don't absolutely have to buy today. I would hate to buy an expensive Angenieux, only to find out that Fuginon is eating their lunch and Angenieux lowers their prices, etc or a similar senario with ARRI and Leica, etc.
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I don't own equipment so I don't think much about the issue; my only concern are rental prices and availability, and at the price of the Fujinon PL-mount lenses, I suspect the rental price is going to be high as well, and the availability low. Obviously there is a rising market for PL-mount lenses so it makes sense that there are more of them coming onto the market, at different price points. Many of these cine lenses are made with small orders in mind, so there is little chance that they will be sold cheaply. As for whether they are worth it when there are decent, cheaper options that are nearly as good, that's up to the individual to decide.
 
David, if I remember correctly you started your career with the intention of becoming a Director but got multiple requests to DP after people saw your work. Do you plan/want to direct a feature in the near future? And what type of movie would you like to direct the most?
 
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