What if RED...

[Mark Phelan]

Why make them wait? Because learning RED now is overkill for what they need to learn now.

A lot of creative people I know start his or her career thinking that you need the best equipment to learn to make content. Even when they read ‘Rebel without a crew’ the only thing they take from it was that in the end Robert Rodriguez shot el Mariachi on 16mm film.

What used to be 'If only I had a HD camera' is now 'If only I had a 4K camera' and will be 'If only I had a 28K camera'. If only I had a billion dollars.

It’s a trap! Your mind will create barriers of why you’re not good enough to learn to shoot. And most of the time it will be either equipment or money. Then you end up either not doing anything or making a movie and feel bad about it because it doesn't look like a billion dollar movie. It’s a struggle every time until you accept the struggle or until you quit.

I learned early on to accept that struggle of reaching for perfection and I don’t feel bad about making some mistakes, because it is necessary to learn your skills. I even believe that if you don’t have that struggle, you probably won’t learn the skill.

So go out and make some content with the stuff you DO have and learn from the mistakes you WILL make.

I don't think we are talking opposites here, just different vantage points. I, like most everyone, started with a basic camera, when I saved up enough money when I was 15 to buy it, a Nikkormat. All manual, learned the basics about composition, lighting, exposure, etc. I still recommend that everyone learn the basics before moving onto zoom lenses, auto focus, yada, yada, yada. No disagreement.

I do think that a camera like a Scarlet could be a great tool to teach with since it is a manual camera that requires the same sort of focus and concentration. It just happens to be digital versus film or miniDV, et al. I also think that RED, being the standard bearer here is in a unique position to expand the knowledge beyond us gearheads, myself included. I don't think it is overkill, just a new way of working.

 

[Christopher Barrett]

I couldn't agree more strongly with Wouter. My current still kit consist of an Arca Swiss Rm3d, 7 digital lenses from Schneider and Rodenstock, a Phase 1 P65+ digi back and various accessories that price out to about $70k. Twenty years ago I started making photographs using a Konica T4 that my sister gave me with a busted meter and hand rolling Tri-X into reusable canisters. My point is, learn with whatever you can get your hands on. If you spend all day wishing you had this or that, then that's a day you didn't spend making films. No matter how good your gear is your work is going to be shit if you don't put the time in to develop your vision. And it's so easy for students now-a-days. You can grab a Canon 7d and make really decent looking films. And you can make as many of them and have them be as long as you want. When I was in Art School it cost me 600 bucks to get my first film printed and it was only 6 minutes long! You may not be able to get your hands on a Red, but you can easily get your hands on gear that is technically far superior to what generations of really superb filmmakers had to work with.

/rant

 

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

Another +1. It's not the gear that matters, it's having something to say. RED is revolutionary - but the internet is a millionfold more revolutionary, in terms of your ability to get what you have to say in front of some kind of audience and getting that feedback loop going. Buy what you can afford, and shoot and shoot and shoot. That's how you'll get somewhere.

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

So I was thinking about how I could get my hands on a RED (EPIC,ONE,SCARLET, it dosent matter) but as a young teenage I don't have the money And I came up with great idea, what if RED had some pros who use red teach the young filmakers/photographers to be the basics of digital cinema with red cameras at little or no cost to the young people. now why would Red do this you may ask? so that those young filmakers will grown up go to cinema school or collage and when they get out the will want to make movies, so who do they turn to for the cameras? the people who gave them there foudation, RED!

Why not just take an internship with a RED-based studio? I probably get half a dozen kids each year, maybe more, asking for internship opportunities. I have several working with me now. Showing a little initiative in this business is a really good thing and frequently pays off. Skate towards the puck, instead of waiting for the puck to come to you.

 

[Tonaci Tran]

Chandler, you and I are definitely on the same page. We both want to work with RED cameras! If I were your age, I would be thinking the exact same thing. We all want to work with the best of the best.

I'm sure given enough time, Red Scarlets will find its way into many video production/film focused schools. There are many ways to make things happen. You don't need money to get an internship at some local production house. Get a job as an assistant and try to get as close to the camera as possible. Make friends with cameras owners.. get a part time job to earn enough to rent the scarlet for a couple of days. Not sure how old you are, but when you graduate from high school, most community colleges have photography/videography type courses that don't cost an arm and a leg. Like others have mentioned, the camera is only a tool. If you want to be a daytona race driver, you don't necessarily have to start off with a daytona race car.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

So I was thinking about how I could get my hands on a RED (EPIC,ONE,SCARLET, it dosent matter) but as a young teenage I don't have the money And I came up with great idea, what if RED had some pros who use red teach the young filmakers/photographers to be the basics of digital cinema with red cameras at little or no cost to the young people. now why would Red do this you may ask? so that those young filmakers will grown up go to cinema school or collage and when they get out the will want to make movies, so who do they turn to for the cameras? the people who gave them there foudation, RED!

Well..

SCHOOL of DREAMS, or SCUOLA di SOGNI, in Italian, will be open soon in our new Studios in Italy, and as part of
Ketch Rossi Humanitas, a non-Profitt Organization, we will offer this and more. much more

It so happens that I have not only the Passion for the Arts of StoryTelling but also for teaching, mostly wish to
give back my knowledge to any one that wants it

I have spent the better half of my life educating my self and following my dreams, but if only would I have had
help from the Pros, and or many that were in the position to do so, I would have achieved my Dreams much long ago.

The purpose behind our SCHOOL of DREAMS is simple really, give the tools and the opportunities to any inspiring
Artist to join us and learn while working on real projects under the supervision of Pros.

Forget about years of Film School, this program will offer SIX MONTHS of INTENSIVE HANDS ON experience, can't wait for it my self


Not too much more I can say now, but soon in off all details wil be announced at our Site: http://ketchrossistudios.com/

A Preview of our Site.. Work In Progress

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

I like "School of Dreams" - that's really nice, Ketch...

 

[Tonaci Tran]

This is great to hear Ketch!

 

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

I don't know if I agree with that. A cinematographer must be a good technician to know how to achieve their artistic vision within the limits of the equipment they are using.

I think that the best cinematographers are usually great artists and great technicians. But of course, the problem a lot of people have is that they focus too much on the technology and not enough on the art. But you definitely need both.

Mastering technology is easier. I've been there.

Well..

SCHOOL of DREAMS, or SCUOLA dei SOGNI, in Italian, will be open soon in our new Studios in Italy, and as part of
Ketch Rossi Humanitas, a non-Profitt Organization, we will offer this and more. much more

It so happens that I have not only the Passion for the Arts of StoryTelling but also for teaching, mostly wish to
give back my knowledge to any one that wants it

I have spent the better half of my life educating my self and following my dreams, but if only would I have had
help from the Pros, and or many that were in the position to do so, I would have achieved my Dreams much long ago.

The purpose behind our SCHOOL of DREAMS is simple really, give the tools and the opportunities to any inspiring
Artist to join us and learn while working on real projects under the supervision of Pros.

Forget about years of Film School, this program will offer SIX MONTHS of INTENSIVE HANDS ON experience, can't wait for it my self


Not too much more I can say now, but soon in off all details wil be announced at our Site: http://ketchrossistudios.com/

A Preview of our Site.. Work In Progress

Ketch, I've always wondered about a no BS hands on film school. Best of luck!

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

A half decent student should be able to learn the technical skills of a manual operation camera in about a day. After that it's just going to come down to practice and framing/cutting.

The cold hearted bastard capitalist in me also says "Those teenagers would find out about RED the moment they start looking into cameras anyway. They don't need any more advertising."

I disagree with the notion that good kit can't raise the quality of your work and as a consequence improve the learning process though. If you want to learn framing, focus, exposure and such then yes a 7D or 5D works great. But the jello-cam is so obnoxious to me for handheld that I wouldn't ever want to shoot anything hand-held which would severely limit an aspiring film maker in quickly learning camera movement without a jib or dolly.

Also the less money I have, the better gear I often want. If I had a huge lighting budget I could light for a cell phone camera. If I have no money--enough stops to bump up the fill in post and just having a small reflector is going to be much more helpful.

But again... cold hearted rationalist says that there is no profit in this for anyone. If anything would be good advertising for RED to young film makers it would be shooting The Hobbit on Epic. And I doubt they're getting free cameras.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Why make them wait?

Because getting all over night screws up development.

 

[sergio arguello]

So I was thinking about how I could get my hands on a RED (EPIC,ONE,SCARLET, it dosent matter) but as a young teenage I don't have the money And I came up with great idea, what if RED had some pros who use red teach the young filmakers/photographers to be the basics of digital cinema with red cameras at little or no cost to the young people. now why would Red do this you may ask? so that those young filmakers will grown up go to cinema school or collage and when they get out the will want to make movies, so who do they turn to for the cameras? the people who gave them there foudation, RED!

the title you looking for in the industry is called a PA...and set education far outways rededucation for the mere fact that RED is constantly re-inventing RED education. you miss one page and you could fall behind in a matter of weeks.
Now set knowledge is paramount to a career in movie making. IMHO

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Thanks for the support on this concept, Meryem, Tonaci, and Pietro

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

There is a lot of antagonism to this idea.

I find that the biggest single problem with film school graduates is a lack of practical knowledge in favor of theory.

I had a colleague tell me a story recently about a new hire. He asked them to grab the barn doors... and the kid went outside to look for an actual barn.

That's admittedly extreme, but I'm sure you've all had similar problems. I often argue that film school teaches its students how to be film critics as opposed to film makers.

I seem to remember lots of 8mm and 16mm photography in undergraduate film schools back in the day. The cost of buying developing and printing all that film dwarfs the costs of shooting RED.

Graduate students often still shoot 16mm and some 35mm.

Again, they could shoot RED or Alexa all year for practically nothing by comparison.

With the emergence of low end video cameras with a ton of auto features a lot of disciplines are being lost.

We are all thinking of camera... but lighting is being lost as well. Again the camera auto exposes to very close to the same levels (you know because it has some technical criteria) that means that care isn't taken scene to scene or shot to shot to do things properly.

That cascades into production expectations. Film students often have inflated expectations about what they can achieve in a day in terms of setups or pages. That affects budgeting and scheduling.

It's all related, and when you argue for an el cheapo auto everything basis for students technical training, that's what you get on sets when you start hiring.

So for me RED One, or Alexa are fantastic options for film schools.

Scarlet and Epic... well they offer some auto functionality so I'm actually against those unless RED can make a special firmware that is "auto disabled" for schools. Then at least control is in the hands of professors.

As far giving students "everything" I disagree.

I don't think you can learn to see the difference between an HVX200 and an HPX3700 until you have worked with both. I learned a lot from working with a Canon 7D- because its defects made me aware of other issues I needed to look for in images- images I hadn't noticed before, but issues that are there on film and RED.

You can't learn to see the difference an extra quarter stop of diff makes without tools sensitive to that.

Real professional tools.

 

[Julio Quintana]

In my experience, students tend to use quality cinematography as a crutch for weak stories, editing, and acting. Technical proficiency is much easier to attain than originality of thought, which is why students often get caught up on trying to make a nice image rather than a compelling narrative. I know this seems odd to say on Reduser, but I think students need to focus on the basics of creative story-telling before worrying about professional equipment.

 

[Zakaree Sandberg]

I agree Julio..

we will see a crap load of shitty movies in the next few years.. they will look good (if they can light them right)..but story takes a backseat as these student drool over tech vs how to convey a story in light and movement

 

[Detlev Eller]

... there have always been a lot of bad movies around and somehow the good ones surface ... no need to pay attention to the ones not appropriate to our liking ...

i think that is the beauty of the social networks at hand ... word of mouth will become the currency of this decade, i think.

I just saw "Un altro mondo" tonight, from italian director Silvio Muccino, did not expect it ... but it actually brought tears to my eyes ... so, i will tell everyone to watch it ... like now!

 

[Tim Hole]

I don't have a problem with film school students shooting with RED/Scarlet. I have a problem with Schools shooting with scarlet. But even at film school I don't think first year film students should shoot with Scarlets. If its a three year course I think they should get training on the Scarlet in the final quarter of the second year, ready for hitting it into their 3rd year which is usually taken up with development of the final project. In amongst the work on the films they should (or at least the cinematographer in the group) should get extensive workshops using the camera/s.

The reality is that I went to what was meant to be an exceptionally good film school (one of the best in Europe), I have been to university twice, once for my degree, the other for my masters. Both prestigious but in the end all they really teach you is a basic overview of the process. I only went to film school because it allowed me to creative almost 24/7 and not work a full time job. Also it allowed me the time to work on set without getting paid. The other reason was to be around other creative people. I can pretty much guarantee that 95% of the experience/knowledge I have learnt has been either from research/experimentation/onset experience as an assistant or runner. I also worked as a projectionist part time in which was great, flexible and got to see not only a lot of films but the finger on the pulse of what audiences want and expect.

The other great thing about being a student is you can do things cheaper and get discount on kit and SW.

Ketch's idea is a dream come true and that person would get some valuable experience that would build a solid foundation into the visual arts. I think the wonderful thing about learning from Ketch would be his strong background in both still and motion. Two very different disciplines that cross paths on many levels. I think if you get to close quarters and live and breathe it for a period of time it because more of a short apprenticeship something that world no longer caters for.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

...Ketch's idea is a dream come true and that person would get some valuable experience that would build a solid foundation into the visual arts. I think the wonderful thing about learning from Ketch would be his strong background in both still and motion. Two very different disciplines that cross paths on many levels. I think if you get to close quarters and live and breathe it for a period of time it because more of a short apprenticeship something that world no longer caters for.

Thanks for the kind words Tim, young Inspiring Filmmakers and Photographers world wide will have something to really look forward very soon.

Mostly I hope to pass along my Passion and True Love for the Arts of Storytelling, both via the Motion frames of Cinema
and the Still frames of Photography, now with Epic and Scarlett even close together then ever before.

But there is so much more to why we are doing this, that I am so excited about even so few more months away form Opening

 

[Chandler Simmering]

Thanks everone for the comments. I have made a list of the new ideas for this. Okay here it goes

dont get RED involved they have cameras to make (and EPIC ones at that HAHA)

have a group of users teach and help with this

make it a large area thing ( then we could have alot of fun)

camera doesnt matter, people do

and yes I am a rabid fan!!!