GH1 mattebox help

Filmkid2003 said:
Hahaha! Yeah, I would pay to see that. I didn't misunderstand the point at all. You were refering to the "psychological effect" that having all that stuff would have on the client. And my point is, what kind of psychological effect do you think Spielberg standing there with a simple GH1 in his extremely talented hands versus an average Joe film maker standing there with a GH1 and tons of other stuff in his hands would have on the client? Do you think they would choose the guy who is an extremely talented storyteller with a simple camera or the guy who is an okay storyteller with all this extra added "stuff" (and I'm not referring to you as an "okay" storyteller... I just mean anyone who doesn't have near the track record that Spielberg has). What I mean is, you can have all the added extra gear you want and the client will only be impressed IF the final outcome looks great.

Me personally, I was in the same boat as you. Before I started shooting my film, I bought all this extra gear because I thought I NEEDED it to make a decent film. Matte box with ND filters, Cinemek G35 adapter, Sennheiser G3 wireless audio system, Small DP1 monitor, DVRig Pro shoulder mount, etc. I ended up just using my HPX170 on a tripod or holding it with my own two hands because I didn't have time to tweek everything for every shot (I can only shoot one day a week at this point and I have a 60 page script so its go, go, go) and I discovered that the wireless sound system would crap out and I ended up with audio I couldn't even use. It all became too cumbersome. Sold my HPX170, Cinemek G35, Sennheiser wireless sound system and now I just shoot with my GH1 and a tripod and I plan on hooking up my DP1 monitor to it if Tester13 comes up with a HDMI out patch for monitoring. Like I said, more important than all that extra crap is a great story and the ability to tell it well. :happy:

If you think having all that stuff will help you be a better storyteller than, by all means, spend the money and buy it. But, for me, I ended up selling it (for less than what I paid for it, unfortunately) so I can shoot a lot quicker and get the movie finished since I have a crew of one. Me. Hahaha!
Click to expand...

dude spielberg is an established billionaire already, everyone knows him as the top genius in hollywood it doesn't matter what he shoots with. if YOU were anywhere near as established as him then sure you don't need a big rig either. but point is for people no where near his level, every little bit helps in getting a bigger impression from clients.
no one once mentioned in this thread (to my knowledge) that any of this equipment will make you a better story teller so while your points are valid I'm just not sure why you're harping on them when no one believes that nor mentioned it
 
You mean just spending a ton of money on random stuff won't make me a better filmmaker?

That's impossible.

Hollywood does it all the time and look how great- :Drogar-Shock(DBG): -no wait, I think I'm beginning to see your point...
 
PS. I don't think Spielberg is a genius.

I don't like his directing style. At all.

I wouldn't go so far as to say he is a complete hack, because I would trust him to film my children's birthday parties -if he had a sweet mattebox on his camera.
 
Like I said... attach random bike parts to your rig, and spray paint in shiny colors and make up fancy names for levers that do nothing just for the heck of it..

oh yeah and tell a good story too... ;)
 
I agree about spielberg, I was just making a point to how his perception is in hollywood. But personally I think Janusz Kaminski is far more responsible for the things I like about Spielberg's films than Spielberg himself is
 
Steven Spielberg HIRES the best the business has to offer from the ground up-he has worked his whole life for this priviledge-I had the opportunity to observe him on the set of "A.I." about 10 years ago and his is a master storyteller and I stood in awe of him on the set-seeing "JAWS" at 10 changed my life, all have opinions but show some respect for a still evolving filmmaker who has changed cinema as we know it.
 
BrianBrook said:
Steven Spielberg HIRES the best the business has to offer from the ground up-he has worked his whole life for this priviledge-I had the opportunity to observe him on the set of "A.I." about 10 years ago and his is a master storyteller and I stood in awe of him on the set-seeing "JAWS" at 10 changed my life, all have opinions but show some respect for a still evolving filmmaker who has changed cinema as we know it.
Click to expand...
well despite the fact that a.i. is one of my favorite films of all time, i also feel (like most others do) that spielberg utterly crippled a genius work that would have been under the reigns of Kubrick one of cinema's masterpieces. but once again that's just my opinion
 
Point taken, in lieu of Kubrick's death and NO A.I. at all, Spielberg took on an orphaned project that would otherwise no seen the light of day or perhaps in another less reverant director a vastly more truncated version-it was a tribute to Kubrick that it was made.
 
BrianBrook said:
Point taken, in lieu of Kubrick's death and NO A.I. at all, Spielberg took on an orphaned project that would otherwise no seen the light of day or perhaps in another less reverant director a vastly more truncated version-it was a tribute to Kubrick that it was made.
Click to expand...
and I still thought a.i. was genius, in fact my favorite spielberg work and one of my fav john williams soundtracks also. I just can't help but think what a true work of genius it would have been under Kubrick but hey maybe Stanley was right when he told Spielberg the film was closer to his sensibilities anyway
 
OR the fact that Kubrick sat on it for how many years? waiting for robotic technology or at least CGI to catch up to his original vision? Don't misunderstand me in that I believe Kubrick to be the consumate artist and "A Clockwork Orange" maybe the closet a human being has ever got to pure cinematic genius (not to metion, 2001, Barry Lyndon or Dr. Strangelove) he was in a class by himself. R.I. P. I've even reevaluated "Eyes wide Shut" and IMO it has pretty well!
 
BrianBrook said:
OR the fact that Kubrick sat on it for how many years? waiting for robotic technology or at least CGI to catch up to his original vision? Don't misunderstand me in that I believe Kubrick to be the consumate artist and "A Clockwork Orange" maybe the closet a human being has ever got to pure cinematic genius (not to metion, 2001, Barry Lyndon or Dr. Strangelove) he was in a class by himself. R.I. P. I've even reevaluated "Eyes wide Shut" and IMO it has pretty well!
Click to expand...
indeed. eyes wide shut is one of my fav of his beileve it or not .. I'm glad we're in agreement on Kubrick's greatness ;-)

by the way rumor has it kubrick a little before he died said that eyes wide shut was his favorite or greatest work ...but I don't know if that's true or not but I could see how it could be his most personal work perhaps
 
I love how people get sensitive over their directors (and I do too) :) It's not that I don't respect Spielberg or his career, or even some of his movies, I just don't like a lot of his storytelling methods. That doesn't mean he's "wrong" for using them, it just means that I would tend to do things differently (and I naturally feel that everybody should do things my way -that's why I like directing). I have some of the same issues with Hitchcock (which has led to some interesting conversations with one of my very best friends who is a huge fan of Hitchcock).

Still, you have to admit, Spielberg looks more impressive with a big mattebox next to him:
spielberg.jpg
 
It is silly, but so true. I don't drag all the gear out when I am stealth shooting for myself but if it is for a client and I attach all the 'stuff', no one has ever questioned my camera with a big matte box and rails on it. When I just put that camera on a tripod... people say to me, "no I hired you to do video not take pictures,"I then I have to give them the 'talk' and even then they don't believe me and kind of watch me nervously until they get the footage and say, "wow I had no idea THAT little thing could look this good i trust you now."

Since I am already bored giving "the talk" I just attach all "the stuff" and I don't have to.
 
Hey Guys just FYI check out this guy's blog, if you scroll down he's got a dvcity matte box on his GH-1 and it's $200 - don't know if this helps, but check the rest of his site out, he can't stop buying gear, is always looking for good value and on top of that he's picky, so he tries different brands until he finds something that's he likes. Hope it helps:
http://theeditman.com/blogg/CategoryView,category,GH1.aspx
 
No respect for Steven Spielberg .....


Damn shame this community has become by disrespecting a film maker who brought us such wonderful movies from Indiana Jones and Private Ryan to recent blockbuster hits. In life people can only wish to have the career this man had, please show some respect
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top