Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
  • 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 :)

Best (and fasted way) to learn the basics of how to shoot with the Epic W?

B

Benjamin May

Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2011
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I am a director (not a DP), and I own an Epic W.

I usually hire a DP to shoot, but out of necessity I need to do some doc shooting on my own.

Can someone recommend some resources to learn the basics? I'm not looking to win any cinematography awards, but I'd like to be able to hack my way through a few days of shooting if need be.

Thank you for your input.
 
Reducation is worth it's weight in gold, even for a director who doesn't actually shoot all the time.

Curtis
 
Just do it.

It's actually a very simple, basic camera.
 
Do you want basics for the camera itself (pure technical) or as a cinematographer creatively?

My tip would be to dive into the use of negatives. To take away light.
 
Benjamin May said:
I am a director (not a DP), and I own an Epic W.

I usually hire a DP to shoot, but out of necessity I need to do some doc shooting on my own.

Can someone recommend some resources to learn the basics? I'm not looking to win any cinematography awards, but I'd like to be able to hack my way through a few days of shooting if need be.

Thank you for your input.
Click to expand...

If we're talking fast, like one day fast, I'd recommend signing up for one of the REDucation events if one happens to be close to your location:

http://www.red.com/reducation

That will give you general knowledge, hands on with working professionals, and shooting time with current camera tech to understand what's up pretty quickly.
 
Benjamin May said:
I am a director (not a DP), and I own an Epic W.

I usually hire a DP to shoot, but out of necessity I need to do some doc shooting on my own.

Can someone recommend some resources to learn the basics? I'm not looking to win any cinematography awards, but I'd like to be able to hack my way through a few days of shooting if need be.

Thank you for your input.
Click to expand...

Quick start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVQxbImK7Lk

Basically, Set ISO to 800, expose to the right but don't clip. Use the exposure 'Stop Lights' as a guide - ok to have one channel clip but unless you know what you are doing or a stylized shot keep the Stop Lights from lighting up. The vertical bars on either side of the Histogram shows Noise in the Shadows (left bar) or pixels being clipped (in the right side bar). If there is a Sofie's Choice to be made; protect the highlights and take the noise in the shadows. If it's skin tones you are shooting, then preview in Video Exposure mode and get them in pink zone which I believe is 70IRE.

Shoot at the highest resolution and frame rate possible for Post Flexibility. EZ breezy Japonezee

Then attend REDucation when able
 
If you have the time and it works out, like Phil said Reducation is probably going to help you the best but.... If you know of a DoP, AC or operator that is very familiar with the camera and can give you a few hours of their time,,, get them to come to you or go to them and have them do the basic hands on setup and use it for an hour or 2 with taking it in to RedCine to see what your results are on different setups and how much you can get away with on things like exposure, focus etc etc etc..... Other wise just browsing videos and reading post can leave you short of the small things that will make you understand how to get what you need for your project.
 
Phil Holland's Red DSMC Field Ops guide is very useful:

http://www.phfx.com/store/

Whatever you do, test and shoot color charts whenever possible at the beginning of each location change. It helps to take the material through color correction to know where the limits are.
 
Many thanks for the suggestions-- this is a great start!

Cheers!
 
Zeb B said:
@Akin
Look over these sheets Phil put together a while back. Scroll down and you'll see the interface explained pretty darn good. Not much has changed since these were put together:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?92999-Red-Dragon-Info-and-Data-Sheets
Click to expand...
giphy.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top