Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
This is the same thing as asking what camera, lenses, tripod, filters, and lights you should use.We need to know what you're making. -Ryan
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Cooking.... What ingredients should I get?
- Thread starter Ryan Patrick O'Hara
- Start date
All I know is you need RED onions..... 
Alright I'll bite. This one is about lighting:
Over the last year I've been honing my craft by doing a mixture of narrative shorts, mini-docs and live theatrical recording (see here: http://vimeo.com/24506371). I didn't have a lot of start up cash initially, so I focused on what I and some people I trusted deemed most important (HMC150, t2i, decent tripod, AT897 mic, h4n etc.) and skimped on the lights. Something had to give so I went the worklight route and they work, but now I want more control and more lights to really paint scenes. It would be faster to have flags/barndoors and a proper gel frame and it would get better results too. But because it's so expensive (remember my salary is my financing) I'm taking my time doing research. So I guess I'm looking for more confirmation that my findings are right and I should spend the dough. This is the best I've found in my price-range:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/285925-REG/Lowel_DV_901LBZ_DV_Creator_1_Kit.html
Choose that kit because it has a decent amount of power and the lights vary enough that I would have a certain amount of flexibility (raw power with the Tota and specific accenting and such with the Pro). I would use them in addition to the worklights if needed. My question is: Is this the best I can do in this price-range?
Over the last year I've been honing my craft by doing a mixture of narrative shorts, mini-docs and live theatrical recording (see here: http://vimeo.com/24506371). I didn't have a lot of start up cash initially, so I focused on what I and some people I trusted deemed most important (HMC150, t2i, decent tripod, AT897 mic, h4n etc.) and skimped on the lights. Something had to give so I went the worklight route and they work, but now I want more control and more lights to really paint scenes. It would be faster to have flags/barndoors and a proper gel frame and it would get better results too. But because it's so expensive (remember my salary is my financing) I'm taking my time doing research. So I guess I'm looking for more confirmation that my findings are right and I should spend the dough. This is the best I've found in my price-range:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/285925-REG/Lowel_DV_901LBZ_DV_Creator_1_Kit.html
Choose that kit because it has a decent amount of power and the lights vary enough that I would have a certain amount of flexibility (raw power with the Tota and specific accenting and such with the Pro). I would use them in addition to the worklights if needed. My question is: Is this the best I can do in this price-range?
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
Well... no... To cook requires certain types of equipment, and as such, one can suggest a number of price ranges for such equipment. I personally prefer gas to electric, and I think most chefs do as well... and one can suggest getting a $200 knife set for a 'beginner' vs. a couple of grand for Cordon Blew action... and a basic cooking set would be a small fry pan, large fry pan, sauce pan, and kettle.
Alternatively... perhaps suggesting a Microwave and the grocery store freezer section would be better for some...
David W. Jones
Veteran
Have to agree. One of my favorites lately is on Reduser... "Just spent $58K on an Epic, now which three lenses should I buy?"
Chris Johnston
Veteran
PXL 2000 is the answer for those type questions. (If you've ever shot anything with one......)
Bruce Watson
Veteran
If starting from scratch, that is, starting from absolutely nothing, you can go a surprising ways with very little. You need at least a knife of some description. It's nice to have a sink and running water, but it's not an absolute requirement. To actually cook, you need a heat source, and something to hold the food while it cooks. And that's about it. A few more things (like a utensil to stir with, etc.) makes it easier of course.
Really, you can do a surprising amount with just a knife, a cutting board of some kind (a plate can be made to work, but it's hard on the knife), and either a rice cooker or a slow cooker. All of this can be found at yard sales for often very little money.
Think I'm crazy? Might be. But I've traveled across the USA and back again, living surprisingly well on food cooked in hotel rooms with just this setup. My wife is a genius, what can I say? And she's written a book called Wildly Affordable Organic about how to eat really well on very little money. As she's just pointed out (looking over my shoulder as I type ;-) she's compiled a list of the basic tools for cooking as part of her Good Start Program which addresses this point exactly. Scroll down the page to the section on "core kitchen equipment." There's also a section on "core ingredients" just above that.
I'm on this board because I'm her default videographer (such as it is) and I need all the video help I can get! But there's people here with all kinds of expertise and there's answers for all sorts of non-video questions. And I can answer this one.
Really, you can do a surprising amount with just a knife, a cutting board of some kind (a plate can be made to work, but it's hard on the knife), and either a rice cooker or a slow cooker. All of this can be found at yard sales for often very little money.
Think I'm crazy? Might be. But I've traveled across the USA and back again, living surprisingly well on food cooked in hotel rooms with just this setup. My wife is a genius, what can I say? And she's written a book called Wildly Affordable Organic about how to eat really well on very little money. As she's just pointed out (looking over my shoulder as I type ;-) she's compiled a list of the basic tools for cooking as part of her Good Start Program which addresses this point exactly. Scroll down the page to the section on "core kitchen equipment." There's also a section on "core ingredients" just above that.
I'm on this board because I'm her default videographer (such as it is) and I need all the video help I can get! But there's people here with all kinds of expertise and there's answers for all sorts of non-video questions. And I can answer this one.
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
Cooking as a metaphor for cinematography... interesting. Well, two things...
Experience and talent also mean a lot, a whole lot. I CAN cook fried chicken, but it ain't as good as my Mom's!! Yet, I am using the same ingredients. I have been trying for years to get it right and i am getting better at it, but I still have a ways to go. Ingredients are important but tools are a part of it and in fact, I am in the process of reconditioning my Mom's old cast iron skillet so I can use that, but it is trial and error over time that is going to make my fried chicken better.
There is another cooking metaphor that also applies to cinematography that I like.
"A guy is watching his wife cook a ham. He notices that she very deliberately measures and cuts about an inch off of each end of the ham. He asks her why it is that she cuts the ends off of the ham. The wife responds, "That is the way that my Mom did it". A while latter, he is talking to the wife's mother, and he asks her why she cut the ends off of her ham when she cooked one. The wife's mother replied, "That is the way my mother did it". A little while latter, they guy is talking to the wife's grandmother and asks her why she cuts the ends off of her hams when she cooks them. The grandmother held her hands up, about eight inches apart, and says, "Well, my pan is only this long".
Yes, tools, and also methods, are important, but they do change and improve. We shouldn't keep our thinking rigidly grounded to just one set of tools.
EDIT: My Mom's cast Iron Skillet, the "Before" picture.... it is currently soaking in oven cleaner in a garbage bag in the basement. A few more days of scrubbing and reapplying the oven cleaner then I will re-season it.
Experience and talent also mean a lot, a whole lot. I CAN cook fried chicken, but it ain't as good as my Mom's!! Yet, I am using the same ingredients. I have been trying for years to get it right and i am getting better at it, but I still have a ways to go. Ingredients are important but tools are a part of it and in fact, I am in the process of reconditioning my Mom's old cast iron skillet so I can use that, but it is trial and error over time that is going to make my fried chicken better.
There is another cooking metaphor that also applies to cinematography that I like.
"A guy is watching his wife cook a ham. He notices that she very deliberately measures and cuts about an inch off of each end of the ham. He asks her why it is that she cuts the ends off of the ham. The wife responds, "That is the way that my Mom did it". A while latter, he is talking to the wife's mother, and he asks her why she cut the ends off of her ham when she cooked one. The wife's mother replied, "That is the way my mother did it". A little while latter, they guy is talking to the wife's grandmother and asks her why she cuts the ends off of her hams when she cooks them. The grandmother held her hands up, about eight inches apart, and says, "Well, my pan is only this long".
Yes, tools, and also methods, are important, but they do change and improve. We shouldn't keep our thinking rigidly grounded to just one set of tools.
EDIT: My Mom's cast Iron Skillet, the "Before" picture.... it is currently soaking in oven cleaner in a garbage bag in the basement. A few more days of scrubbing and reapplying the oven cleaner then I will re-season it.
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j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
Well... if we are going to make this personal...
I learned to cook in selfdefense... Don't know where other moms went to cooking school but mine was apparently a truant. I continued cooking even after getting married, because while the Wife did get a degree in Hotel and Restaurant management, none of her 'recipes' were for basic 7 days a week, 365 days a year fare.. So, I got to subject the Wife and Child to hotdogs and macaroni... or anything else that came to mind... but even that did not spur the Wife in to action and take up the cook mitt... she had decided that Photography was a much more rewarding creative activity...
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
What prompted this thread was someone asking "what filters should I get?" on another dv website.
I thought it was annoyingly stupid considering, with the exception of ND's and Pola's, that almost all filters are for a look... specific looks. A 1/2 ProMist today could be a Coral or Tobacco tomorrow.
Cooking is much like Cinematography, but this thread title was more of a warning to those who solicit specific answers to enormously broad questions.
I thought it was annoyingly stupid considering, with the exception of ND's and Pola's, that almost all filters are for a look... specific looks. A 1/2 ProMist today could be a Coral or Tobacco tomorrow.
Cooking is much like Cinematography, but this thread title was more of a warning to those who solicit specific answers to enormously broad questions.
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
But if we are into the analogy, this quote came to mind:
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
I like that. Of course, from a French cinematographer.. who'da thunk it?!!
!