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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, imagine the following scene: a person enters a dark room with a certain area illuminated by a spot from above; there is also a fill light and a backlight somewhere. Ther person walks through the whole room. So we see him walking in the dark and into the light. You want to track the shot later for CGI work. How would you do it? Would you light it brighter and darken the dark areas in post (after tracking) or would you use glowing tracking markers?
Thank you for your patience and help in advance!
Fx
 
Felix K. said:
David, imagine the following scene: a person enters a dark room with a certain area illuminated by a spot from above; there is also a fill light and a backlight somewhere. Ther person walks through the whole room. So we see him walking in the dark and into the light. You want to track the shot later for CGI work. How would you do it? Would you light it brighter and darken the dark areas in post (after tracking) or would you use glowing tracking markers?
Thank you for your patience and help in advance!
Fx
Click to expand...

Sort of depends on how much of the original shot will be used versus replaced? I mean, you may not want any tracking markers and let the CG artist use objects in the room, if the frame itself is mainly going to remain intact. Or just put a few green X's where they can be seen and removed easily. Not sure I'd light the room flatter only for the purposes of seeing tracking markers that have to be removed in post. Light bulbs as markers might be a problem if they glow onto the walls and other objects, unless dimmed way, way down. Perhaps there is some sort of 3M reflective tape material that can be used that would pick up a weak front light near the camera.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
Sort of depends on how much of the original shot will be used versus replaced? I mean, you may not want any tracking markers and let the CG artist use objects in the room, if the frame itself is mainly going to remain intact. Or just put a few green X's where they can be seen and removed easily. Not sure I'd light the room flatter only for the purposes of seeing tracking markers that have to be removed in post. Light bulbs as markers might be a problem if they glow onto the walls and other objects, unless dimmed way, way down. Perhaps there is some sort of 3M reflective tape material that can be used that would pick up a weak front light near the camera.
Click to expand...

First off: the damage is already done. We shot a tracking+crane shot in a big ballroom following the actor and are having trouble now to track the shot to insert a stationary object to which the actor walks up to. We had used tape crosses on the wall and wanted to use (unlit) lamp fixtures on the wall for the tracking as well. Unfortunately, the shot turned out to be to dark to track. We have to match it by hand now.
I just wanted to learn as much as possible from that mistake, therefore the question. :)
Fx
 
Jon Chema said:
Hey David,

2 Part question here...

I'm a DP thats starting out and I'd like to invest in a couple of good useful lights. I've debated off and on about just renting 100% of lights for shoots but I think having 2-3 lights on me at all times could serve as useful. Regardless, I'm curious to hear what you feel would be the most useful. Orginally, I was going to invest in a 400w HMI Dedo and then a Kino 4bank, but then discovered a company called "Cool lights."

Part 2- Have you heard of a brand called Cool Lights and for the money are they any good? I've heard numerous positive reviews about them and was thinking of getting this light...

http://www.coollights.biz/clmf0575-cool-lights-fresnel-p-64.html

OR

http://www.coollights.biz/clmf0150-cool-lights-fresnel-p-63.html

Huge price difference but once again i don't know where to start. I don't have a lot of money right now but I think a couple lights could pay for themselves over a couple years. I'm shooting mostly lower budget music videos and corporate spots.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Click to expand...

We have used our Coolights on $100 000 30 second commercials without issue. There is no visual compromise compared to more expensive vendors, it's just that they don't make everything - for example Kinoflow has larger panels, a Parabeam, etc., and Jokers have many accessories that only work with Jokers.
 
Dear David,

I am trying to submit video from compressor. Should I import FCP sequence to compressor or I can export video from FCP and then use compressor?

What I need is to make NTSC format video, my footage is PAL. I should indicate it in pixel aspec ration right? I am doing so but video seems squized ugly. it changes dimensions

Please advise what to do
 
fx777 said:
Dear David,

I am trying to submit video from compressor. Should I import FCP sequence to compressor or I can export video from FCP and then use compressor?

What I need is to make NTSC format video, my footage is PAL. I should indicate it in pixel aspec ration right? I am doing so but video seems squized ugly. it changes dimensions

Please advise what to do
Click to expand...

Dude - real name forum!
 
fx777 said:
Dear David,

I am trying to submit video from compressor. Should I import FCP sequence to compressor or I can export video from FCP and then use compressor?

What I need is to make NTSC format video, my footage is PAL. I should indicate it in pixel aspec ration right? I am doing so but video seems squized ugly. it changes dimensions

Please advise what to do
Click to expand...

I'm a cinematographer, these are all editing / post questions better answered by people who do that for a living. Yes, NTSC and PAL have slightly different pixel dimensions.
 
going for it

going for it

I am planning on doing a major career shift this fall, and I am hoping on getting some feedback on the plan.

I have been shooting for years, and have just gotten more "serious" about it. Essentially that means being more artistic with it. I received a grant last year to attend Alice Brook's Adv. 2010 Cinematography course at The Workshops here in Maine. I realized that I'd like to do a bit more there. So here is where the plan comes in...

To take the 3 month Cinematography Residency ( 6 days a week for 13 weeks ). Then ride that wave, and move to either NYC, LA, or Vancouver put myself into a situation to work in the industry.

Advice, thoughts?
 
fx777 said:
Dear David,

I am trying to submit video from compressor. Should I import FCP sequence to compressor or I can export video from FCP and then use compressor?

What I need is to make NTSC format video, my footage is PAL. I should indicate it in pixel aspec ration right? I am doing so but video seems squized ugly. it changes dimensions

Please advise what to do
Click to expand...

Just because you CAN ask David Mullen anything doesn't mean you SHOULD.
 
OK, guys let it go. He at least put his name in his sig and yeah, this isn't the right place for that question. He has been instructed to put in his name change request.
 
dean merrill said:
I am planning on doing a major career shift this fall, and I am hoping on getting some feedback on the plan.

I have been shooting for years, and have just gotten more "serious" about it. Essentially that means being more artistic with it. I received a grant last year to attend Alice Brook's Adv. 2010 Cinematography course at The Workshops here in Maine. I realized that I'd like to do a bit more there. So here is where the plan comes in...

To take the 3 month Cinematography Residency ( 6 days a week for 13 weeks ). Then ride that wave, and move to either NYC, LA, or Vancouver put myself into a situation to work in the industry.

Advice, thoughts?
Click to expand...

Alice Brooks is a great DP, you'll learn a lot from her.

"Fortune favors the brave" -- I'd say go for it. Everyone has to start somewhere, usually at the bottom. Constant self-education and artistic advancement is crucial, but it is also within your own control, unlike getting jobs. So you basically live a two-track life, the self-development part and the career-building part.

Just keep a low overhead because for the first few years you'll be taking whatever comes along, whether or not it pays anything useful, just for the contacts and experience, and the material for the reel. It's like a snowball rolling downhill, one job leads to two, two leads to four, etc. but it can be a very SLOW snowball, but generally gravity is a given as long as you can hold out and put in the time and effort.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
Alice Brooks is a great DP, you'll learn a lot from her.
Click to expand...

Thanks David.

I did learn a lot in her class last year, and had a lot of fun at the same time. I'm sure this summer will be equally exciting.

Thanks again for your time.
~Dean
 
photo.php
HI Sir David, let me introduce myself to you.
Im an aspiring DP someday, so when i discover this site i felt like being your student while reading all of yours inputs. Thanks for that. I registered to have a closer in touch with you. thanks
 
dean merrill said:
Thanks David.

I did learn a lot in her class last year, and had a lot of fun at the same time. I'm sure this summer will be equally exciting.

Thanks again for your time.
~Dean
Click to expand...

It will - but one small aside, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal would require you to become a Canadian citizen or apply for proper papers for you to be able to work here legally.

Anyway, Vancouver is not really much of a director or D.P. town, most jobs there are below-the-line, servicing American jobs who bring in their D.P.s and directors from wherever (after getting them proper papers, and paying legal fees). Toronto and Montreal are where most of the above the line jobs are. Vancouver has nice mountains, but the city itself is quite ugly - just row after row of identical modernist blocks. Toronto and Montreal are not half-bad, with Montreal being by far the prettiest major city. Vancouver has an awful lot of violent crime, Toronto about the same as New York, and Montreal is extremely safe - statistically only Geneva and Tokyo are safer than Montreal.

All that said, I do not regret any education I have gotten - I think no wise person regrets learning more from great teachers
 
Felix K. said:
David, imagine the following scene: a person enters a dark room with a certain area illuminated by a spot from above; there is also a fill light and a backlight somewhere. Ther person walks through the whole room. So we see him walking in the dark and into the light. You want to track the shot later for CGI work. How would you do it? Would you light it brighter and darken the dark areas in post (after tracking) or would you use glowing tracking markers?
Thank you for your patience and help in advance!
Fx
Click to expand...

Motion control...
 
Hello again David,

If one was to shoot macro fluid imagery, like some of the great cosmological
shots seen at the end of "2001: A Space Odyssey", with an Epic, using high frame
rates, what lens would you suggest they use?

In the early 1980's I used a bellows setup to extend a 25mm lens on a 16mm Bolex,
but other than that I am not aware of the modern choices today.

I wish to shoot an area the size of a postage stamp.
 
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