Recommended reading for aspiring Directors of Photography
- Thread starter Mj882
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Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Hahahaha. 
I like the new graphic! It sure is better then a simple link.
I like the new graphic! It sure is better then a simple link.
Marc Villafan
Well-known member
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
'Apprentice' makes me sound way more masterful than I am. Sure though, I'd be happy to help you in anyway I can. PM me about what you're thinking, and we can def work something out. Thanks for the kind words! :beer:
Max Lamare
Active member
I think we could just ask Ryan lol.
Here is a short list of some of the better books for the industry.
http://filmschoolnow.com/Books_DVDs.html
http://filmschoolnow.com/Books_DVDs.html
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Hahaha, I'm no master, but if you guys keep calling me one, I'm gonna start calling you all 'grasshopper'. Finnegan, if your school schedule has calmed down now that it's been a couple of weeks, give me a call. I met and am working with those guys from Irvine who said you worked with them on a previous project. Small world.
I'm trying to rent their SI-2K for my next project. Gonna slap on a PL mount zeiss Zoom 11-110 S16mm f/2.2. I'm pretty excited to use it. Gonna see what made Anthony Dodd Mantle, BSC use it (SI-2k not the lens) on Slumdog. I'm guessing it's for it's ridiculous size.
I'm trying to rent their SI-2K for my next project. Gonna slap on a PL mount zeiss Zoom 11-110 S16mm f/2.2. I'm pretty excited to use it. Gonna see what made Anthony Dodd Mantle, BSC use it (SI-2k not the lens) on Slumdog. I'm guessing it's for it's ridiculous size.
Finnegan
Well-known member
Whoa, it IS a small world. Just the other day I was talking with Larry Parker over at Mole Richardson (by the way he put me on his workshop team! woooooo) and he said a crew of five or so kids from UC Irvine came up to talk to him and sit in on one of his workshops, after I had mentioned that I graduated from UC Irvine. He didn't remember their names, so I gave my friend Julian a call (Julian is the producer who produced my last film) to see if he had taken his crew up there, and he had indeed. And now you're renting out his SI-2k!
Yeah, I just got my new schedule for the next month of school at LAFS and it looks busy but not overly. I'll give you a call this weekend or next, but if all goes to plan I'll be at Mole Richardson a lot of the time doing workshops and hopefully making an impression on ASC members who are in and out of the studio on a daily basis. But at the same time, I'd jump at the opportunity to learn from you and/or assist you on your future shoots since I hold you in pretty high regard as far as cinematographers go.
My film, the one that Julian produced, was the first one we'd shot on the SI-2k. It was....an experience. I didn't spend a lot of time working with the cam since I directed the project, but it seemed riddled with technical issues. How much of this is the cam, and how much is the cam op or 1st AC, I have no idea. All I know is that every other take the laptop we were recording to (the SI-2k mini is little more than just a lense that inputs a signal to a laptop which records data to the HDD) overheated every other take, and would RAM buffer in the middle of our longer takes/master shots which essentially interrupted the take entirely. But, from what I hear it is all sorted out and the issue was just a driver issue, and now everything works flawlessly. Let me know what you think though as far as the SI-2k goes because I'm still not convinced on it. For 2k, 4k, or 5k resolution images I'm still a big advocate of RED.
Yeah, I just got my new schedule for the next month of school at LAFS and it looks busy but not overly. I'll give you a call this weekend or next, but if all goes to plan I'll be at Mole Richardson a lot of the time doing workshops and hopefully making an impression on ASC members who are in and out of the studio on a daily basis. But at the same time, I'd jump at the opportunity to learn from you and/or assist you on your future shoots since I hold you in pretty high regard as far as cinematographers go.
My film, the one that Julian produced, was the first one we'd shot on the SI-2k. It was....an experience. I didn't spend a lot of time working with the cam since I directed the project, but it seemed riddled with technical issues. How much of this is the cam, and how much is the cam op or 1st AC, I have no idea. All I know is that every other take the laptop we were recording to (the SI-2k mini is little more than just a lense that inputs a signal to a laptop which records data to the HDD) overheated every other take, and would RAM buffer in the middle of our longer takes/master shots which essentially interrupted the take entirely. But, from what I hear it is all sorted out and the issue was just a driver issue, and now everything works flawlessly. Let me know what you think though as far as the SI-2k goes because I'm still not convinced on it. For 2k, 4k, or 5k resolution images I'm still a big advocate of RED.
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Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Hahaha I told them to go to the classes and introduced them to Larry. When were you at Mole?! I'm one of the regular volunteers over there. Must have missed you there! I'm guessing it was last week, during the one day I didn't go. Was there some Italian chick there for the first time? I bet that was the day.
I guess I'll be seeing you around Mole, if you plan on going back. I've been there for over a year now. Volunteered before I even was living in LA, haha. The cinematographers don't come in all the time, so it might be a couple of weeks. If you get into the volunteer slots for the AFI classes, you will meet many many more instructors and DP's then if you just attend regular grip/lighting 101's.
I guess I'll be seeing you around Mole, if you plan on going back. I've been there for over a year now. Volunteered before I even was living in LA, haha. The cinematographers don't come in all the time, so it might be a couple of weeks. If you get into the volunteer slots for the AFI classes, you will meet many many more instructors and DP's then if you just attend regular grip/lighting 101's.
Finnegan
Well-known member
I was there Friday afternoon. I had a final at LAFS in the morning and then my hands on final was delayed until Monday so I figured I'd head over to Mole Richardson and see if I could talk to Larry, since all of my teachers say that working over there is a great opportunity to meet other driven and skilled people. Evidently, Larry has a great relationship with my school as well.
I didn't actually do anything that day, we just sat in Larry's office and talked for like, two hours. He said that most students who come in say they want to be cinematographers but can't name any, and then he asked me who my favorites were. I said Deakins, Kaminski, Mullen, Libatique, Pfister, Roizman, and Lenoir. Then he asked me who my favorite cinematographer was pre-1950s. I said Gregg Toland. He laughed and said everyone says Toland but ultimately I guess he was impressed with my attitude and knowledge so he stuck me on the team and told me not to tell anyone he was putting me in the AFI class but that his assistant would handle it. Unfortunately I don't think I can make that day because of class.
But yeah, I guess I will be seeing you around there! That's really cool. I'm super excited about the whole thing, Larry is such a nice guy and the opportunity to meet other people in the craft is of course, invaluable. It's like, all of a sudden this world just got really small with the whole Mole thing and also you meeting up with my old Irvine crew. Haha.
I didn't actually do anything that day, we just sat in Larry's office and talked for like, two hours. He said that most students who come in say they want to be cinematographers but can't name any, and then he asked me who my favorites were. I said Deakins, Kaminski, Mullen, Libatique, Pfister, Roizman, and Lenoir. Then he asked me who my favorite cinematographer was pre-1950s. I said Gregg Toland. He laughed and said everyone says Toland but ultimately I guess he was impressed with my attitude and knowledge so he stuck me on the team and told me not to tell anyone he was putting me in the AFI class but that his assistant would handle it. Unfortunately I don't think I can make that day because of class.
But yeah, I guess I will be seeing you around there! That's really cool. I'm super excited about the whole thing, Larry is such a nice guy and the opportunity to meet other people in the craft is of course, invaluable. It's like, all of a sudden this world just got really small with the whole Mole thing and also you meeting up with my old Irvine crew. Haha.
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Marc Villafan
Well-known member
So did you get that down yet, are you going to use the SI-2K for sure or your still trying to get it?
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
I'm pitching the camera to the director soon... and I don't think there will be an issue. So if I get the go ahead, yes, I've been sold on the SI-2k workflow and camera... Now it's time to push the image to the limits.
It works for this next project for two reasons:
1) We are shooting extreme angles, so I'll need the camera as low on the floor as possible and also, at times, way above average height. Perhaps 11 feet. Maybe more for an establishing shot.
2) I was really impressed with the workflow and computer controls. I liked the ability to freeze frame and ghost image the picture, the ability to have on the fly greenscreen composite preview, and more.
I'm not super excited that it's only 2/3" and 250 sensitive... even 1/3" chips are 320 or 500... but I believe it's a tungsten balanced chip, which is different and kinda cool. I'll light to a 2.4 on set and use layered lighting and/or light haze to create the depth where needed. Plus the guys who own the camera are really chill guys and I'd like to work with them. It's also a rare breed of camera, and I'm just a camera geek biting at the chomp to make some great images off of it.
My concern right now is many things... and DoF is last on the list. I need to keep in mind the 2/3" chip and my f/2.8 lighting stop.... is what it is... but to further complicate things, we are shooting anamorphic... but not with anamorphic lenses... so in order to keep basic compositions like a MS or CU, I'll need to back the camera off a bit to get the shot lined up. This will increase DoF even more, so I'm starring down the barrel of a medium to deep DoF. Not perfect for my taste, but like I said, I'll be lighting to really heighten depth and using other tricks to pull as much illusion of depth from the screen as possible.
I'll probably start a thread for the film coming up as the production draws nearer. We are about 5 weeks outside of shooting.
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Marc Villafan
Well-known member
That sounds great, can't wait to see the camera in action. It sounds good, I looked it up and it looks pretty powerful.