matthew hendriks
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I invested a lot of time in Cinematography (but im not that good yet that I will trust on myself) , so far I did not have a posibility to shoot with a Red Camera and I feel I will need an experienced Cinematographer when I will start shooting my first serious production what I'm planning as we speak. It's not any luxury to have specialized people on set if want to succeed. I will learn from it. Ofcourse I want the best for my film I can do this just 1 time and It cost me a small fortune. I think the right place to ask for advise would be this forum and I hope you understand the underlaying tought of my question.
There is one specific thing what makes me very nervous. We all know how good a red camera is and what it can do and overall no matter what professional film we watch it feels FILM, the look is just right but I have not enough experience with Post production to tell if it directly has the right impression or additional steps in post make it look like what we consider as a film look.
What I use as a reference are shorts and reels from indie filmmakers who own a red "one, scarlet or epic"but shoot low budget indie film. Who probibly also know how to set up a lightplan or how to edit their footage. Ofcourse every individual video has a different approach and I have seen many shorts and reels (for example on Vimeo) what have an amazing image quality and certainly I can see that these filmmakers have passion and know what they are doing but I miss a very essential detail.
In fact none of these video's no matter how high the resolution, quality and working lightplan. It never feels like film.
What I personaly consider as one of the most convincing filmlooks is "The Amazing Spiderman" The first film. I Never saw this warmth and depth in a single film shot on red. "Maybe I missed it ? But this realy convinced me that digital film can look like that warm "real" film look I love so much. Every type of film needs it's own approach so beside this spectaculair look there are many different looks what all convince me as a professional film.
So How is it possible that so many red owners have the right camera, capture interessting shots and come not even close in any way to this same results as we can consider as a film look?
Do they use a red camera with cheaper lenses ? Is the lighting not good afterall ? Bad post production ? Settings what don't match to the environment ?
The camera i prefer to shoot on is the Epic-X, my other option is the Arri Alexa
Light = all from Arri
BUT ! the lenses what could be hired with it are from Zeiss (Ultra and Master Prime and Zoom lenses) and not from Red. These lenses probibly are more then fine but for these the same as a Red Camera, I need to hire and I never had any posibility to work with it. I can not afford to choose "wrong" I need to be a little bit safe with my choices I make. I feel the best lenses come from the same manufacturer who understands their camera the best but pure and alone based on my feeling. What do you think ? Can you mention examples of films what are shot on red with these Zeiss lenses so I can have a look at these films to get a right impression of it ?
Please understand I am a writer, starting producer and director, I will have a more experienced crew on set with me but I realy want to understand why, how, etc. I want to understand how Cinematography works and why a specific lense should be the best choice for a specific situation. Who jumps in the deep without learning to swim ?
Last question: Is there some kind of guideline to follow what type of combination between lenses and camerasettings (also based on environment dark / light in or outside) will probibly give good or less results and combinations better can be avoided to come as close to a film look ?
There is one specific thing what makes me very nervous. We all know how good a red camera is and what it can do and overall no matter what professional film we watch it feels FILM, the look is just right but I have not enough experience with Post production to tell if it directly has the right impression or additional steps in post make it look like what we consider as a film look.
What I use as a reference are shorts and reels from indie filmmakers who own a red "one, scarlet or epic"but shoot low budget indie film. Who probibly also know how to set up a lightplan or how to edit their footage. Ofcourse every individual video has a different approach and I have seen many shorts and reels (for example on Vimeo) what have an amazing image quality and certainly I can see that these filmmakers have passion and know what they are doing but I miss a very essential detail.
In fact none of these video's no matter how high the resolution, quality and working lightplan. It never feels like film.
What I personaly consider as one of the most convincing filmlooks is "The Amazing Spiderman" The first film. I Never saw this warmth and depth in a single film shot on red. "Maybe I missed it ? But this realy convinced me that digital film can look like that warm "real" film look I love so much. Every type of film needs it's own approach so beside this spectaculair look there are many different looks what all convince me as a professional film.
So How is it possible that so many red owners have the right camera, capture interessting shots and come not even close in any way to this same results as we can consider as a film look?
Do they use a red camera with cheaper lenses ? Is the lighting not good afterall ? Bad post production ? Settings what don't match to the environment ?
The camera i prefer to shoot on is the Epic-X, my other option is the Arri Alexa
Light = all from Arri
BUT ! the lenses what could be hired with it are from Zeiss (Ultra and Master Prime and Zoom lenses) and not from Red. These lenses probibly are more then fine but for these the same as a Red Camera, I need to hire and I never had any posibility to work with it. I can not afford to choose "wrong" I need to be a little bit safe with my choices I make. I feel the best lenses come from the same manufacturer who understands their camera the best but pure and alone based on my feeling. What do you think ? Can you mention examples of films what are shot on red with these Zeiss lenses so I can have a look at these films to get a right impression of it ?
Please understand I am a writer, starting producer and director, I will have a more experienced crew on set with me but I realy want to understand why, how, etc. I want to understand how Cinematography works and why a specific lense should be the best choice for a specific situation. Who jumps in the deep without learning to swim ?
Last question: Is there some kind of guideline to follow what type of combination between lenses and camerasettings (also based on environment dark / light in or outside) will probibly give good or less results and combinations better can be avoided to come as close to a film look ?
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