Red Scarlet X #316 "Skully"

[Phil Holland]

Thanks Danny. That might be a bit larger than what I'm looking to have in the truck. Like super large.


Just a wee update. Tremendous night last night. Big congrats to all the winners (who still shouldn't be awake yet in my opinion). Big win for Life of Pi in some difficult times. Huge win for Ben Affleck as well.

I'm knee deep in starting a production company at the moment. I've pushed a chunk of shoots aside to get us up and running. Meetings with advisers and investors has been very busy work. Hoping to lock everything down within the next few months, but we're still a long way out. I literally have meetings lined up everyday this week and already a few scheduled next week. This is pretty much the next step for me in my career and I'm really excited that there's a good amount of interest in making this happen. Just a matter of who and when at this point. Can't wait to share with all of you what's planned. It's going to be tremendous.

In the mean time, here's a shot of Falls Lake over at Universal. Still one of my favorite places to shoot out there.

200x50 feet with 2.7 million gallons of water.

 

[Phil Holland]

Just popping in to say heya. A bit of shooting, a bunch of meetings, and a bit of "wordsmithing" in the last month. I have a couple shoots lined up. Second part of a video game cinematic that I'm really excited to be working on, a commercial, and something experimental I should have done before April. Really looking forward to NAB around the corner.

I was recently reunited with Lucent Dossier and did some motion and still work for them. Couple grabs from that. Low light, fast glass, wide apertures.

Also, in case you missed the "Harlem Shake" internet thing (and I kinda wanted to), I put something together with some of my students over at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects. A neat way to actually mark this semester's students in the timeline. This was all a bit tongue in cheek with some aspects being done well and some done not so well. If you're a VFX person you'll hopefully laugh. Certainly geared towards a few specific post and production houses. Something I should point out about this is that I keyed off the house lights which spike a "gnarly" green. Being able to key off of that not so perfect screen is pretty damn impressive.

One last bit, in case you missed this thread, but I am so very fascinated about how different my life is shooting on Red compared to film. Love this image.

Off to race to a meeting. Cheers y'all.

 

[Paul Harb]

I really dig your posts Phil.

Just popping in to say heya. A bit of shooting, a bunch of meetings, and a bit of "wordsmithing" in the last month. I have a couple shoots lined up. Second part of a video game cinematic that I'm really excited to be working on, a commercial, and something experimental I should have done before April. Really looking forward to NAB around the corner.

I was recently reunited with Lucent Dossier and did some motion and still work for them. Couple grabs from that. Low light, fast glass, wide apertures.

Also, in case you missed the "Harlem Shake" internet thing (and I kinda wanted to), I put something together with some of my students over at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects. A neat way to actually mark this semester's students in the timeline. This was all a bit tongue in cheek with some aspects being done well and some done not so well. If you're a VFX person you'll hopefully laugh. Certainly geared towards a few specific post and production houses. Something I should point out about this is that I keyed off the house lights which spike a "gnarly" green. Being able to key off of that not so perfect screen is pretty damn impressive.

One last bit, in case you missed this thread, but I am so very fascinated about how different my life is shooting on Red compared to film. Love this image.



Off to race to a meeting. Cheers y'all.

 

[Kemalettin Sert]

Thanks Danny. That might be a bit larger than what I'm looking to have in the truck. Like super large.


Just a wee update. Tremendous night last night. Big congrats to all the winners (who still shouldn't be awake yet in my opinion). Big win for Life of Pi in some difficult times. Huge win for Ben Affleck as well.

I'm knee deep in starting a production company at the moment. I've pushed a chunk of shoots aside to get us up and running. Meetings with advisers and investors has been very busy work. Hoping to lock everything down within the next few months, but we're still a long way out. I literally have meetings lined up everyday this week and already a few scheduled next week. This is pretty much the next step for me in my career and I'm really excited that there's a good amount of interest in making this happen. Just a matter of who and when at this point. Can't wait to share with all of you what's planned. It's going to be tremendous.

In the mean time, here's a shot of Falls Lake over at Universal. Still one of my favorite places to shoot out there.

200x50 feet with 2.7 million gallons of water.

why bluescreen? in alexa vfx pdf it says green screen gives better results for digital cameras..is it true? thought only you shoot blue screen with negative film.

 

[Phil Holland]

I really dig your posts Phil.

Cheers. Can't wait to share some stuff come June

why bluescreen? in alexa vfx pdf it says green screen gives better results for digital cameras..is it true? thought only you shoot blue screen with negative film.

If we are talking most digital cameras, general speaking green is better to use than blue. That's usually due to the green channel being cleaner than the blue on most cameras. However, certain subjects that may have green or blue in them may sway your decision. Or if you know that your are putting your element against something like a blue sky or a green wall. In the past we've even used red to key on some miniature shoots. It just depends. You wouldn't shoot your element for a blue jeans commercial against chroma blue if you could avoid it.

I would say about 85% of my VFX work shot in the last few years have been green screen. I generally prefer to use it over blue. Not just for the channel noise benefits, but also typically I'm lighting my green screen about 1 stop under, sometimes up to 2 stops under to make a luminance pull easier. It was previously asked in this thread where a light meter is "necessary", there are very distinct advantages of having a light meter on hand. Especially for precise exposure readings and also checking if your screen is evenly lit.

There's no real one answer here. Blue in general with the Mysterium-X sensor works better under daylight/daylight balanced light. I used a CTB glass filter in my matte box when shooting this image:

I feel you can shoot green more "ugly" and still key off it. Notice that Harlem Shake video. Those house lights are terrible for keying as they have a green bias, but that didn't stop a decent pull from happening. Although, it was sort of tongue in cheek to do that poorly though

If you underexpose your blue screen it's going to cause major headaches for the most part.

 

[Phil Holland]

Ahoy there mateys. A little pre-NAB update.

I've been hired to shoot the Coachella Music Festival. This will be my third time shooting the event and my first time shooting it on Red. I'll be finding out in the next couple days if this will be an Epic shoot or if my Scarlet will be the weapon of choice.

It's an interesting juxtaposition against narrative or VFX shoots that I've been up to lately. I'm also the director, editor, and dp on what I shoot there. Pretty much everything is my call on how to cover the performances. The net result will be three produced videos and a bit of extra inserts shot for the festival. Overall it's a bit of a marathon. I've had a bit of time to think about what I can do differently from my past outings. I'll be on sticks and shoulder for a good chunk of the event and I've just picked up something that will make the whole thing a lot easier.

The CLUTCH.

Above you can see it's configured for shoulder and tripod use. The dovetail quick release is going to make it super quick to lift off and get out there. My goal here is not to have much wasted time configuring the camera. I'm pretty smitten with the Red quick release system in general when combined with LWS 15mm rods. I can configure my camera and drop it onto another Quick Release Platform and be good to go. Coachella is a live festival with bands playing at multiple stages. Gotta move quick and setup quick. On top of that I have full access, meaning there will be moments when I'm on stage and I'll need to be fairly nimble. Currently investigating a bit of water protection as I know one of the stages is water themed. The only bit that's not on here is the front support, which I'll clamp onto the 19mm real quick for longer shoulder runs (likely 1-2 hour durations). You can also see I've positioned the battery near the rear. That's a bit of a weight offset and due to the ability to put the Accesory V-Mount anywhere, that means I can literally put the V-mount battery anywhere, even further back on the bottom of that Accessory Attachment Bracket. I've added a quick release to the 5.0" LCD Touch so I can quickly position it near the top or rear of the camera via 100mm SWAT rails. Still piecing the final bits together, but it's almost there. I'll be operating the follow focus from the "dumb side" while on the shoulder. You'll also see the DSMC Side Handle in there, which I can easily grab, adjust, and check focus/exposure with. Gotta be a ninja at Coachella and that's what this rig is all about.

I've had previous experience with the CLUTCH and to me it's the best shoulder rig out there. That ability to have the camera hang off of you while you are free to adjust settings or pull focus is amazing. My rigs are somewhere between 15 and 30lbs usually and this guy is going to help my body out loads during these long shooting days.

I'll do my best to grab some BTS shots along the way.


Gnomon

Finished up another semester at Gnomon and during our last class we had a bit of a demonstration and conversation about modern digital cinema cameras and on set workflow. I had an actress come in an play out a small scene. Many of these students will end up in post and pre-production, but it's nice to for them to see how the whole thing unfolds from blocking through pre-light to shooting workflow and final image. Had some fun mixing and matching ambient sources with practical lighting. Showed off my weird infatuation with Opal diffusion and demonstrating harsh versus soft lighting too.

Pretty much ended that whole conversation with some "future talk" about working in 4K and beyond. We just got a bunch of Alienware systems delivered to the school to help out with some of those hurdles. Next semester we'll be doing a bit more of a focus on bringing productions together from conception to completion. Should be fun!


Haun Solo Project - Addicted Music Video

I found out last week from the producer of this music video that it's won Best Music Video, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Overall Best Cinematography at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood. Pretty cool actually. Festivals are a fairly new concept in my life. They have been submitting it to a few other local festivals that are coming up, we'll see if there's positive results from those as well.

I might have one other surprise before NAB to post up Wednesday if we can pull it off. It's lens related, so stay tuned for that. That'll get it's own through for sure.

If that miracle doesn't happen, I'll be shooting a few stills of some of the highlights of NAB, including the Red booth and news as well as other production gear that catches my eye (just like last year). I'm really, really looking forward to see what Red has up their sleeves this year. Can't wait.

 

[Paul Ellington]

Keep killin' it!

- E

 

[SeanBrown]

Phil,
You are the man. I know that's an understatement but it's true. So I won't be at NAB this year but I hope you have a great time. Looking forward to one day working with you.

 

[dennys bisogno]

You just made my day! LOL

J

Off to race to a meeting. Cheers y'all.

 

[Brad Crawford]

Hey Phil,

For your hand-held work using the clutch, I assume it balances well enough to allow you to use your (looks like Right-hand) to focus? That's always the worst part about hand-held for me is the balancing act in regards to trying to keep things in focus and keep a level horizon etc.

Have you looked into any of the options that move focusing down to one of the handles? I just got an RTMotion wireless FF and i'm hoping they release an option similar to the RedRock Micro FF where you can attach a wheel to your handle. That seems like one of the best inventions ever for hand-held shooting.

 

[Patrik Kisucky]

Hey Phil, just finished reading the whole "Skully adventures", and wanted to Thank you for all your hard work, and for your attitude about sharing your exeriences, and your growth. Hope to meet you / work with you one day. I live in Boston, let me know, if you'll have things to film on the east coast. Cheers, keep'm coming, and good luck with setting up the business. How is it going btw?

 

[Phil Holland]

For your hand-held work using the clutch, I assume it balances well enough to allow you to use your (looks like Right-hand) to focus? That's always the worst part about hand-held for me is the balancing act in regards to trying to keep things in focus and keep a level horizon etc.

Have you looked into any of the options that move focusing down to one of the handles? I just got an RTMotion wireless FF and i'm hoping they release an option similar to the RedRock Micro FF where you can attach a wheel to your handle. That seems like one of the best inventions ever for hand-held shooting.

For the Clutch, at least how I use it, I'd say it's not so much about balance but more about weight placement Brad. I know some folks who offset the weight, but I use that front chest support pad and have the Clutch grab onto me. It's nice to be hugged while shooting I can take both hands off the rig just fine, which allows for precise focus work. That's exactly why I like it actually.

I've checked out some of the on handle solutions, most recently the Zacuto "horn", which is interesting to me. There's a bit of slack in the one I used. For me I like to get at least two or three fingers and my thumb on the follow focus and that's where some of the "on handle" designs seem to have issues, not all of them though. It's not something I'm crazy about finding solutions for as the Clutch pretty much solves the problem and I can comfortably reach the follow focus with my whole hand.

Hey Phil, just finished reading the whole "Skully adventures", and wanted to Thank you for all your hard work, and for your attitude about sharing your exeriences, and your growth. Hope to meet you / work with you one day. I live in Boston, let me know, if you'll have things to film on the east coast. Cheers, keep'm coming, and good luck with setting up the business. How is it going btw?

Cheers Patrik. Hope you're well over there. I have a friend who was nearby when the blast happened. My thoughts are certainly with the folks that went through that. Really horrible tragedy.

Business stuff is moving. It's been actually an interesting journey meeting with investors. I first approached folks who pretty much don't have anything to do with entertainment, but I wanted to work with them for one reason or another. I'm meeting with a women this week who will likely be my first partial investor and that will get me moving towards what I'm trying to setup. I'm not trying to build a huge production entity, just get enough gear and ability together to execute efficiently for my clients and also assist with our own productions. Think production ninjas. I have two more meetings this week with other investors. I basically made a small list of people I thought I'd like to work with and that's have I've been setting up the meetings and what not. Hopefully I'll have news on this front in the next month.

 

[Phil Holland]

It's been a busy few weeks. Some meetings, testing out the new Schneider Xenon FF-Prime Lenses, NAB, and shooting Coachella. I'm back home now and doing some "business" stuff this week.

NAB was pretty great this year. I wrote up my thoughts about everything at Red's booth here in case you missed it:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?97944-Phil-s-NAB-Journal

I was pleasantly surprised with some of the new accessories coming down the pipe. Dragon landing (and being installed right at the booth) is pretty big news and I think the Motion Mount was probably one of the show stoppers this year.

Besides everything Red had to offer I'd have to say what really stood out at NAB was just how many lens options there are out there now for S35, FF35, and anamorphic shooters. Blew me away actually. Can't remember another time when so much new glass was shown. There seemed to be a lot of octocopters everywhere, hard to turn a corner without seeing one. Also, there's a lot of great new lighting tech out there and a huge variances when it comes to price point. Some neat new support stuff.

For OConnor O-Box WM owners, one thing that I caught out of the corner of my eye was their new Universal Rings. I'll have to pick up a couple of those. It's really easy to miss stuff like this on the show floor.


Shooting Coachella

I thought I'd share some BTS, notes, and images from shooting Coachella this last weekend. Did some interesting stuff I haven't done before. This was my third time shooting Coachella and I knew a bit of what to expect. Usually extreme heat, dust, and water. Also, Coachella is rather large, so getting around is something you have to make time for.

First up I'll show you my cart backstage center field. This is a Multi-Cart that I packed with all my gear needed for shooting:

Basically, my Scarlet, glass, follow focus, matte box, accessories, chargers, laptop, drives, ladder, support, the Clutch, and a few other odd bits like cables and what not. You notice I clamped on some red vinyl fabric. It's serving mostly as protecting from the elements and sun, but also I could wipe it down when I needed to do some DIT work and a clean surface.

I didn't need to do any color work or transcoding, but did need a download and review station. Here's pretty much everything I was using. The Red Station was hooked up via eSata and offloading to duplicate Western Digital USB 3.0 drives. These are actually some of the drives I use to deliver files to clients in town. A neat thing I like and learned about them while at Coachella was I can plop two of them comfortably on top of the Red Station, which helps tidy up some space. Data management was done with a program I made to verify data. Plug in the REDMAG and it automatically dumps to your defined paths and verifies everything. Nice and quick. Also on the cart, you can see the Manfrotto Super Clamp I used to rig my lantern and umbrella. Needed shade during the day and light at night for building rigs.

When I was building my camera rigs I flipped up the red vinyl to reveal a gray soft blanket. Just a different work surface, it's a bit nicer to have something soft when working with lenses and components. That's the Clutch there with the follow focus mounted on the dumb side, which I prefer operating from when on the shoulder. Take special note of the 5.0" LCD Touch location.

For moments that I didn't have the Manfrotto 536 legs at 7 feet and operated from the ladder or working from the shoulder, I sometimes operated over my head. Placing the LCD low allowed me to monitor properly while getting those shots with the crowd's hands and reactions in frame. This is one of the ways I shot "in the mess of things" while still staying fairly mobile. I used a whip sometimes and found myself operating via the Clutch's handles and pan/tilt bar of the 509HD's head.

I had a few things always on me. The most important ended up being this Epic Myserium-X hat, a canteen full of water, and work gloves. The sun was always there. I probably drank about 2 gallons of water a day. The hat actually helped out with shading out the LCD Touch. The Hoodman sunshade did a good job, but having that extra brim was nice. As for gloves, I never move gear without wearing gloves. I operate without them, but you really can't expect to work without some sort of hand protection.

I was rolling long takes. Sometimes nearly 30-40 minutes. I am often frugal with battery life and shutdown the camera in between takes, however, I've found when working in real heat like this where the camera is in the sun that it's best to just leave the camera on and let the fans do their job. Because of that I didn't have a single overheating related shutdown.

It was interesting operating on stage and in crowds. Lots of folks took interest in the Scarlet from performers to attendees. I ended up giving about 5 demos backstage on how the Scarlet works. I was happily surprised when Whitney, one of the Bomb Squad Reps, spotted my Red from afar and jogged over to say hi while I was setting up to shoot. Even ran into a couple other Red shooters out there during the weekend. Pretty fun.


I'll be working on this material for a bit, but I thought I'd share some quick R3D grabs from the weekend.

Lucent Dossier:

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs:

How to Destroy Angels:

Puscifer:

The Do Lab Stage:

Righto. That's it for now. Gotta get cracking on making selects and grades for edits and all that.

 

[Phil Holland]

I love you Skully, but I can't wait to execute you and have you be reborn as a fire breather.

(yes, I am writing to my camera through this thread. no, I am not drinking.)

 

[Zac C]

It's okay Phil.

We've all done it.

She'll be missed, but I'm looking forward to your play by play when you get your hands on Dragon.

 

[Louis Maddalena]

I love you Skully, but I can't wait to execute you and have you be reborn as a fire breather.

(yes, I am writing to my camera through this thread. no, I am not drinking.)

Are you executing it to Scarlet Dragon, Epic MX, or Epic Dragon?

I'm going Epic MX on one in order to eventually go Epic Dragon on it, but I think on my other I might go Scarlet Dragon.

 

[robert browning]

Phil, you are a very generous fellow. As busy as you were on that gig, you still took the time to give a thorough description of your experience. I've read through your threads many times and have always noticed how thorough and passionate you are about your craft. Because of your passion, you will go far, my friend. Well done. Thank you for taking the time to let us share in your experiences.

 

[Phil Holland]

Are you executing it to Scarlet Dragon, Epic MX, or Epic Dragon?

It's a very hard decision. To me they are all good options.
Considering my love for two particular formats, S35 and VistaVision, combined with some of the high resolution capture work I do it became pretty clear that Epic Dragon is the path for me. Also, access to the higher frame rates is something I've desired for a while now.

I've got a decent memory and initially when Red first announced a "digital alternative to 35mm film" and the promise of a raw workflow they had me. That was before the first Red One shipped. But that idea is what I desired. If you know anything about my background in features it's pretty clear why that was attractive to me. In fact it was a concept that many wanted and many were terrified about at the same time.

I feel that all Mysterium-X cameras are essentially that, a digital alternative to 35mm film, and in some ways surpass that as well. However, Dragon on the other hand is a bit beyond what traditional S35 film was capable of as a medium. Added to that, it's encroaching on an 8-perf VistaVision frame size. A format I am very fond of.

Without gushing and slinging flattery everywhere, Red Epic Dragon is the camera I've been waiting for a long time.

I knew it a year ago when we caught wind of the sensor size, sensitivity range, and resolution; but I held my tongue on being too excited because it wasn't real just yet and anything could change. Now Dragon is landing really soon.

It's a weird thing. Epic Dragon seems targeted right at me. And that feels good. It's going to be my medium for the next several years.

 

[Phil Holland]

I wanted to update this thread with a bit of progress because things are moving pretty damn fast for me right now and a few of you have been following me during this crazy journey.

A combination of my efforts and an investor doubling my own funding I've reached an interesting financial position. Tomorrow I'm getting approximately 50% of my "gear goal" to further expand my abilities. I'll be seeking out one additional investor to help me get there, but I've raised a good chunk and next week I start purchasing more kit.

This is a subject rarely discussed openly, but I kind of want to share this journey and thought process of where I'm going from here. Also, I'm still making a few decisions and I'm certainly welcome to feedback.


Camera Stuff

---

I'm upgrading to Epic Dragon. All of the upgrade paths are extremely tempting and to me good deals. However, for reasons discussed above, Epic Dragon is the way to go for me. Eventually once I get another backer I'll be picking up another body with components to match.

I'm finally getting a 9.0" LCD Touch. Kinda have been wanting that since it began shipping. I'm an LCD guy and really love that extra screen size to help lock critical focus and just get a sense of the "overall" picture. Finally.

I'll be getting a variety of other Red accessories as well. Got the Clutch and few components already. Time go further with that. Down the line, when it's available, I'm picking up the Motion Mount. Love that idea and technology.


Lenses

---

I've been doing some "skunk works" level lens and light testing recently. During the course of my career I often am shooting with my own EF mount glass, but I have to rent quality PL cinema lenses for damn near every production shoot. Same goes for shooting with Panavision/Panavised cameras. I'm trying to expand my abilities and solve some of that by adding a good set of lenses to my arsenal. Here's where I'm at:

Compact EF Glass
I currently have in EF mount 11-600mm coverage with a couple fisheye lenses in there. For full 6K Dragon coverage I have 14-600mm coverage in primes and 24-200mm in zooms. Might add the 16-35mm in there. However, EF glass doesn't solve a good deal of the cinema mechanics and feature, commercial, and other clients over the last year demand high quality glass.


PL Cinema Primes

Between the SALT III tests and some additional shoos and testing I've done over the last two months I'm 90% sure I'm ordering Schneider Cine-Xenar III Primes. I like these lenses. they are proper cinema lenses and have a unique flavor/character. They also really don't breath, at least not that much. Far less than most other cinema glass. I am choosing these over Zeiss Ultra Primes.

I'll be picking up a Red Pro Prime 300mm. To quote Jim:

The RPP 300mm is the single most under appreciated lens in the world.

I appreciate it and will be adding it to my kit. I'll also be picking up a PL doubler to go with it.


Fast glass is something I desire and know I want. I do have a bit of that solved in the EF realm, but I feel I'll need a PL solution eventually. If I had the coin I'd buy Leica Summilux-C Primes. Love those lenses. However, I can land a set of S35 Illuminas. I find them alluring and interesting. They can be used wide open with good results. This will likely be a decision I'm facing down the line once I get an additional investor.

I'll also be picking up the Schneider Xenon FF-Primes at the end of the year. These will likely replace some of my EF solutions and as more focal lengths are released I'll swap them out. I'm looking at the Zunow Super Speed Primes, but they are a long way from coming to the market, like 4th quarter 2013-2nd quarter 2014. Can't wait a year for glass at this point.


PL Cinema Zooms

This will likely be a purchase after I get another investor as well. Most of my work is shot on primes. However, I'll need some good zooms. I am mostly leaning towards the Zeiss Compact Zooms; 28-80mm T2.9 and 70-200mm T2.9. These are currently the only newly designed cinema zooms that cover FF35. Between that and their resolving power they are perfect for Dragon 6K. Can't wait to test them out further once I get Dragon.

Zeiss is adding a wide zoom in there probably by the end of the year too. There's some interesting stuff going on with Tokina and they are making PL zooms. I'll need to test those out when they land. Likely more affordable, but don't know the level of quality.

Additionally, once Zeiss fleshes out the range with the tech behind the 55mm f/1.4 prototype I'll be looking hard at those.


Support

---

I'm holding on to my Manfrotto 509HD and 536 legs as well as the other bazillion tripods laying around here. I'm am kitting up around 100mm bowls though.

I'm going with an OConnor 1030D and likely the 30L legs. Might swap out for some different legs after speaking to a few folks, but the easy buy is the kit. I've wanted a 1030D for over a year. I'm really, really happy I'm picking one up. Love my O-Box WM and it's treated me well.

I might invest in an OConnor CFF-1 or an Arri FF5. I'm still making that decision. Everybody out here uses either of those. My RedRock Follow Focus|blue has been a tremendous value, but now I want my ACs to love me more.

I'll be picking up a full FIZ too. Likely one motor to start and I'll certainly be getting the Red Lens Motor because it's just rad and lovely design. Don't know about the controller just yet. Likely the Red Element hand unit and 3 channel receiver. I tested out the Arri WCU-4 and I gotta say I love that compact design. Dig the zoom wheel more on the Red Element controller though.

I am picking up a Libec JIB50 and the REMO30 head to go along with my FIZ. You guys know I've tested and used it a few times. It's got a bit more reach than the other jibs in this class and that remote head will actually hold closer to 19lbs fully rigged comfortably. They just rate it at 11lbs. My rigs with lenses usually come in at 15-ish lbs.

I will finally be adding a Dana Dolly to my kit. Love them. Everybody here knows why. Still holding onto my Kessler 3 foot Cineslider though. Mostly because it has the motor and I do a lot of "controlled work".


Lighting

---

I have been testing lighting units for about 2 years now. Finally I can pick up some additional units to flesh out my ability. I want to focus on low draw/high output fixtures. I've decided on Nila LEDs. I won't get into the specifics, but these do indeed produce lovely on screen color and believe me I've tested the hell out of them. They don't suffer from any sort of spike compared to damn near everybody elses units. I love the Hive lights and might add something like that to my kit down the line.

What's cool about the Nila lights: low draw, relatively cool operating temperature, hard light output, built like tanks, light panels last a long time and aren't terribly expensive to replace.

I'm focusing a bit on new tech on the lighting front. Love me some classic tungsten, but I can have an extremely portable and power friendly kit. I travel a lot for shoots and this is ideal for me. Also, as opposed to other LED panels, these are hard lights. Meaning you have a bit more flexibility on shaping the light. Between their "holographic plastic lenses", chimeras, and other types of modifiers I like what Nila has to offer.


The current headache I'm facing is picking up either 4x Nila Varsa (400w HMI equivalent ) or 3x Nila Boxer (800-1200w HMI equivalent) units. Once I land an additional investor I'll be getting both options and picking up at least one SL unit.


Monster Computer

---

I'm building a CPU that's going to be suitable for Dragon and 4K (and beyond) workflows. This is what I'm researching at the moment. It will likely drive a 4K panel, and probably a 1080p one too. Getting the Red Rocket-X in there. I have a good idea about Ram and some other components like GPU (likely the nVidia Titan).

I'm an Adobe user and this thing needs to be able to handle edit, color, and moderate DIT level work.

Currently I'm looking at storage options and this is where things get nuts. I'd love to have the ability to have a single feature's worth of material on this thing at anytime. Most of my jobs require less space than that and I find myself sometimes dealing with 5 jobs at a time. My current system is pretty much built to handle that, but I need a bit more flexibility.

The goal is to pack this up into a case or 3 and ship as necessary.

 

[Phil Holland]

Additional Chaos

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Tomorrow is a big day, however landing funding from another investor will provide a few more things. I want to add a Sprinter style vehicle that holds everything and makes all this local-mobile. Some additional lights, lenses, and another body all are part of that additional funding too. So I'm not done "selling myself" just yet. The goal is to essentially be a production ninja and be able to fly in and do work. I do a lot of one off element shoots, commercials, etc... But I'm gearing up and have some plans for doing more remotes and such. I lost out on DP'ing a good sized feature film last year and I have 3 on the horizon that all come up late summer for hire. Whatever that big job is going to be I want to be fully ready for it. I'm also building this kit to shoot my own IP. I will be having a presence on ODEMAX and will be producing content somewhat regularly for it.


There's tons of little things I didn't list here (stands, power, probably adding a Sound Devices 664 in there) but that's the major stuff for the time being and what I've been working on for a while now.

I've been busting my ass and I've been fairly secretive about it. It's finally paying off big time. However, tomorrow the real hard work and difficult decisions start.

If you've got any gear advice, career advice, or general zen concepts let me know. This is some rather new territory I'm in in reality.