Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

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 :)

New Reel Scarlet/Zeiss Standard Speeds

Looks fucking great. Not seeing any of the famous "portholing" that is supposed to a minor, tiny concern with Standards (most DP's that own them say in practice you never notice it, except on Green Screen, and love these lenses with abandon).

And seeing your footage, I can see why. Pin sharp, that great "look" I love from that Zeiss era. And in capable hands (yours!) they look bonkers to me. Awesome flares, skin tones, and texture.

Now in terms of your edit of the reel, the producer in me wants to tell you you have it all backwards. All your best shots in lost in the end. And the top is too slow. You have some amazing shit with celebrities (one of the Coreys, a dude from Entrourage, who's that rapper -Kid Kudi?), you have great fashion in the desert (wanna see more), great macro eyes beauty shots. I wanna see more of this stuff that looks EXPENSIVE. And less of the more indie narrative stuff (and Doritos stuff) that while fine, doesn't sell you as well as the rest, and looks lower budget.

Start with the hot sell stuff. And finish with some hot sell. Put some of the indie narrative work in the middle so its there, but I'd hate to see it cloud your talent too much (though clearly the narrative seems important to you, which I totally get and support at the same time).

Basically the producer in me wants to see your expensive stuff that says you can work with a budget and have handled bigger projects. Win me with that first, and then sprinkle in the things you also want to say along the way.

Best of luck.
 
Nick Morrison said:
Looks fucking great. Not seeing any of the famous "portholing" that is supposed to a minor, tiny concern with Standards (most DP's that own them say in practice you never notice it, except on Green Screen, and love these lenses with abandon).

And seeing your footage, I can see why. Pin sharp, that great "look" I love from that Zeiss era. And in capable hands (yours!) they look bonkers to me. Awesome flares, skin tones, and texture.

Now in terms of your edit of the reel, the producer in me wants to tell you you have it all backwards. All your best shots in lost in the end. And the top is too slow. You have some amazing shit with celebrities (one of the Coreys, a dude from Entrourage, who's that rapper -Kid Kudi?), you have great fashion in the desert (wanna see more), great macro eyes beauty shots. I wanna see more of this stuff that looks EXPENSIVE. And less of the more indie narrative stuff (and Doritos stuff) that while fine, doesn't sell you as well as the rest, and looks lower budget.

Start with the hot sell stuff. And finish with some hot sell. Put some of the indie narrative work in the middle so its there, but I'd hate to see it cloud your talent too much (though clearly the narrative seems important to you, which I totally get and support at the same time).

Basically the producer in me wants to see your expensive stuff that says you can work with a budget and have handled bigger projects. Win me with that first, and then sprinkle in the things you also want to say along the way.

Best of luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much Nick I really appreciate your feedback, I am by no means an editor haha I am mostly trying to do go for the Indie narrative market with this because everything on my website is all music videos. I will try a re edit and post again I have a few more "fashion" looking shots I can add. But thank you so much again I really take this stuff seriously and because I'm a young guy I always listen and take in as much advice as I can get.
 
Mike McMillin said:
Thanks so much Nick I really appreciate your feedback, I am by no means an editor haha I am mostly trying to do go for the Indie narrative market with this because everything on my website is all music videos. I will try a re edit and post again I have a few more "fashion" looking shots I can add. But thank you so much again I really take this stuff seriously and because I'm a young guy I always listen and take in as much advice as I can get.
Click to expand...

Haha no prob. I figured you were pushing the narrative. Don't forget when making your reel to focus on the music and cut on "the beats". Makes a big difference.
 
Great stuff. It's so odd to me that I see such a huge difference in Zeiss footage... there'll be great-looking footy like yours, then I see some that looks like "video". How would one screw up a Zeiss image? It honestly makes me shy away from using them, kinda going toward Cookes or anamophics. I think some Zeiss footage looks way too 'crisp' but yours manages to have that warm cinematic look to it.

Do you stick with 1/48 shutter?
 
Jason Honeycutt said:
Great stuff. It's so odd to me that I see such a huge difference in Zeiss footage... there'll be great-looking footy like yours, then I see some that looks like "video". How would one screw up a Zeiss image? It honestly makes me shy away from using them, kinda going toward Cookes or anamophics. I think some Zeiss footage looks way too 'crisp' but yours manages to have that warm cinematic look to it.

Do you stick with 1/48 shutter?
Click to expand...

What your seeing is the difference between NEW Zeiss, and OLD Zeiss. IMHO.

OLD Zeiss coatings generally look warm and cinematic (the more gentle, flaring, glowing T* coating found in Super Speeds, Standards, Contax and Hasselblad).

NEW Zeiss coatings (ZF/ZE/CP2) etc are generally crisper, more saturated, cleaner and exacting. More prone to a video look especially when paired with digital sensors, IMHO.
 
Last edited:
Yea the big difference with the zeiss glass I think is the contax and compact primes dont have the cinema coating which in my opinion make a huge difference but a lot of people seem to be shooting with those these days. for 23.98 shots i stick to 1/48 shutter and for the 3k 47.98 i use 1/96. Thanks for the input though I really appreciate it

Jason Honeycutt said:
Great stuff. It's so odd to me that I see such a huge difference in Zeiss footage... there'll be great-looking footy like yours, then I see some that looks like "video". How would one screw up a Zeiss image? It honestly makes me shy away from using them, kinda going toward Cookes or anamophics. I think some Zeiss footage looks way too 'crisp' but yours manages to have that warm cinematic look to it.

Do you stick with 1/48 shutter?
Click to expand...
 
Mike McMillin said:
Yea the big difference with the zeiss glass I think is the contax and compact primes dont have the cinema coating which in my opinion make a huge difference but a lot of people seem to be shooting with those these days. for 23.98 shots i stick to 1/48 shutter and for the 3k 47.98 i use 1/96. Thanks for the input though I really appreciate it
Click to expand...

Actually I got myself confused (and this thread w/ another). What I meant to say is that Contax DOES HAVE very similar coatings to your STANDARDS (and to SUPER SPEEDS and Hasselblads). That's why Contax glass is becoming so popular right now. Contax glass (especially the AEs) are from the mid 70's and 80s. Same era as Standards and Super Speeds.

We did a test a couple of months ago and at F4 you couldn't tell the difference between Contax, Standards and Supers.

CP2, ZF and ZE lenses have much newer Zeiss T* coatings from the new millenium, and that look renders a more modern, clean image that on digital can come off more exacting and precise.
 
Mike McMillin said:
Yea the big difference with the zeiss glass I think is the contax and compact primes dont have the cinema coating which in my opinion make a huge difference but a lot of people seem to be shooting with those these days. for 23.98 shots i stick to 1/48 shutter and for the 3k 47.98 i use 1/96. Thanks for the input though I really appreciate it
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Yeah, it looks very fluid without being blurry. Beautiful, organic stuff.

Nick nailed it I think... I'm so underwhelmed by CP2s, honestly, or any of the newer Zeiss glass. I have yet to see something where I really dig it. It's the same problem I've always had with the Red Primes where they just look too "crisp" or something, never looked cinematic to me. I think soooooo many people I work with assume this is because of the camera, not the glass... they think that Alexa gives it that look, not the lens you put in front of it. Hell, "Act of Valor" looked amazing due to Panavision glass in front of DSLRs... and no regular viewer noticed the difference;

http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/05/turning-still-cameras-into-pl-mount-movie-makers/
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/05/act-of-valor-workflow/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top