David Mullen ASC
Moderator
Generally there's no hard line where something isn't ready and then it is ready. There is only a period of integration into a wide variety of mainstream production and post-production systems and techniques, assuming the basic technical bugs have been worked out of the camera and recording technology. So it's silly to write-off RED just because of a technical problem. We're only in the first year of increasingly widespread use of the camera.
I hope a DIT isn't required with the RED because my two small RED features shoots can't afford one...(they won't even pay for a 2nd AC on B-camera) we have an experienced person with the RED operating B-camera and a separate data wrangler instead of a loader, but no DIT in the traditional sense. But then, I've shot eight HDCAM features with no DIT either.
Unless you are doing a complex multi-camera shoot with unusual shooting elements to deal with, like effects work, etc. -- if you are just doing a typical narrative shoot with one camera, or two cameras occasionally, then it's my belief that any camera, film or digital, that needs an engineer-type person on payroll to deal with it is not right for low-budget mainstream filmmaking, it's a specialty camera. I have nothing against DIT's because they serve a function, a valuable one when you need someone of that technical level on a shoot, but if you can't shoot a normal talking head close-up dialogue scene in some kitchen without the help of some technical expert (beyond the DP and camera crew) then it seems that the camera must be too complicated to use for normal run & gun filmmaking. I don't think it was Jannard's dream that the RED would require engineering-types to follow it around whenever someone hit the record button on a scene.
Not to say that I don't make some technical mistakes when shooting either film or digital, and perhaps some of those mistakes could have been avoided with another pair of knowledgeable eyes on the set double-checking my work... but philosophically, I think typical narrative filmmaking should be kept simple technically, and if a camera is so finicky or complex that a generally smart DP and camera crew can't manage to expose a shot correctly or record it correctly without an extra expert helping them, then it's not meant to be used on anything basic or simple like a typical small movie.
Of course, who's to say that I won't be seriously regretting not hiring a DIT on these small RED features I'm beginning, time will tell... I'm just hoping that the RED really is suited for indie filmmaking with a small crew.
I hope a DIT isn't required with the RED because my two small RED features shoots can't afford one...(they won't even pay for a 2nd AC on B-camera) we have an experienced person with the RED operating B-camera and a separate data wrangler instead of a loader, but no DIT in the traditional sense. But then, I've shot eight HDCAM features with no DIT either.
Unless you are doing a complex multi-camera shoot with unusual shooting elements to deal with, like effects work, etc. -- if you are just doing a typical narrative shoot with one camera, or two cameras occasionally, then it's my belief that any camera, film or digital, that needs an engineer-type person on payroll to deal with it is not right for low-budget mainstream filmmaking, it's a specialty camera. I have nothing against DIT's because they serve a function, a valuable one when you need someone of that technical level on a shoot, but if you can't shoot a normal talking head close-up dialogue scene in some kitchen without the help of some technical expert (beyond the DP and camera crew) then it seems that the camera must be too complicated to use for normal run & gun filmmaking. I don't think it was Jannard's dream that the RED would require engineering-types to follow it around whenever someone hit the record button on a scene.
Not to say that I don't make some technical mistakes when shooting either film or digital, and perhaps some of those mistakes could have been avoided with another pair of knowledgeable eyes on the set double-checking my work... but philosophically, I think typical narrative filmmaking should be kept simple technically, and if a camera is so finicky or complex that a generally smart DP and camera crew can't manage to expose a shot correctly or record it correctly without an extra expert helping them, then it's not meant to be used on anything basic or simple like a typical small movie.
Of course, who's to say that I won't be seriously regretting not hiring a DIT on these small RED features I'm beginning, time will tell... I'm just hoping that the RED really is suited for indie filmmaking with a small crew.
). ONLY truth!