F55: Spike Lee shoots F55 on next film

Red hook summer was unwatchable. Looked like a bad student film. But I blame the DP, or the production schedule, as it looked completely rushed for exposure with no care for painting with the light.

I believe they shot both his kick starter videos on the f55 also.
 
The interview with Spike looks better than Red Hook.

But true its the DP problem not Spike Lee... It was obviously shot over-exposed and maybe even in REC709. tisk tisk.
 
If a director gets all the credit for a good movie, shouldn't they get blamed for a bad one?
As a director I'm responsible for the quality of the whole production, not just directing the actors. I get involved from casting to final delivery.
 
Douglas Villalba said:
If a director gets all the credit for a good movie, shouldn't they get blamed for a bad one?
As a director I'm responsible for the quality of the whole production, not just directing the actors. I get involved from casting to final delivery.
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+1

(EDIT: I still agree with you, but only in the case of a director getting all the credit good or bad. But directors are not always in the position to control those elements. )
 
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We're judging the DP in this case based how much the film lacked cinematography, but perhaps it is exactly what the director asked for - to fit the overall raw grittiness of the film and story.

Perhaps we shouldn't blame anyone. :huh:
 
LOL...no.....that's not what I was saying. That emoticon was Funny.

Sure someone should be blamed for this or that but what it comes down to...really... is taste. If that's what they wanted the movie to look like then....all we are left with are opinions (and you know what they say about opinions... :)) I have not seen the movie myself but I'll take your word on how bad it looks. "Bamboozled" comes to mind....I hated that look. But I read where he said that was the look he was after (especially given the budget at the time).

I actually learned something new about him by watching the above video. He basically begs/borrows/and steals when it comes to financing most of his movies. I thought all of his films were driven by large studios. So in that sense...all that crying from folks about him using Kickstarter as a means to finance his upcoming movie seems even more silly now to me. He sat down with the owners who basically said Kickstarter is for people like you...(basically everyone) which is what I've been thinking from the beginning.

My original comment was really reflecting on how it's a bit Passe to hate on Spike Lee. Personally, I think the man carries a bit of arrogance when he talks with folks (that's just who he is) and I have not seen all of his films but one thing's for sure...he's talented...and he's very successful at doing what he does (love him or hate him). You should see some other threads where people took turns at taking a jab at his film making abilities, attitude, audacity for using Kickstarter and on and on.

But I realize no one here was actually doing all of that. I guess it was just what I expected after seeing all of the previous...um..."Hateration." LOL
 
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The only bad thing I can say about Spike Lee is that the Kickstarter presentation I watched was awful. Do The Right Thing on the other hand is a classic. Many other very good films in his catalog.
 
Frankly we need to, as a film making community, take our hats off to Spike Lee......and I say that as someone who is not particularly a fan of his films. He is someone who follows his own star, like Woody Allen does to some degree too I guess. He is prepared to write his own checks if that is what it takes to roll on whatever his next story will be. That takes some guts. He could, maybe has now and again, lose his own bundle on a film. But he keeps on going, and that alone whether one likes any, some or all of his work or not is worth a salute.

To a large degree I think it's immaterial whether this or that camera looked good or bad, it's the story and performance that's the thing, did it work or didn't it?

He prefers to shoot on film, I would too in a heartbeat still despite all the new and shiny gear out there now.....but he bought a F3 himself to shoot his picture then because that's what he could afford with the overall budget he had. Maybe it could have looked better, maybe not.....again, it's the story that's the thing, not the gear.
The DP has been criticised here for the look, but really everything ends up with the director making the calls on how a film looks. Spike saw everything shot, everything edited, everything timed so one has to believe that the look is how he wanted it to be. It's his bag. We have to accept that it looks that way because that's what he wanted.

Look at the crummy looking but great European school of films of the 50's and 60's that were shot on the newly emerging 16-S16mm formats. They could have looked much better if shot on 35mm, but the storytellers worked with what they could afford, as Spike Lee is still doing to this date.

It's not the gear, it's the story and the passion to keep on creating one's work even if you're the only one who believes in what you're doing, his money is where his mouth is......Good luck to him.
 
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petermullett said:
Frankly we need to, as a film making community, take our hats off to Spike Lee......and I say that as someone who is not particularly a fan of his films. He is someone who follows his own star, like Woody Allen does to some degree too I guess. He is prepared to write his own checks if that is what it takes to roll on whatever his next story will be. That takes some guts. He could, maybe has now and again, lose his own bundle on a film. But he keeps on going, and that alone whether one likes any, some or all of his work or not is worth a salute.
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I'm not a fan of his films, but still +1 for your comments.
 
I do appreciate the "not hiding the video look" of Red Hook Summer. Though, it doesn't seem intentional, sadly. Maybe it was. I like the vibe though. If I didn't know video was bad, I might like it.
 
petermullett said:
The DP has been criticised here for the look, but really everything ends up with the director making the calls on how a film looks. Spike saw everything shot, everything edited, everything timed so one has to believe that the look is how he wanted it to be.
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I've seen enough directors NOT get what they wanted over the years, especially with choices in DPs, to not really subscribe to this view. Especially when directors sometimes just lean on DPs to make it look good with no specific, technical knowledge themselves of how to get there.

My opinion (again, just my own) is that the DP wasn't hip to how to get a pleasing image out of a new camera. I think this is easy to do if your experience is all 35mm film, or Alexa, or even Red.
 
Nate Weaver said:
IMy opinion (again, just my own) is that the DP wasn't hip to how to get a pleasing image out of a new camera. I think this is easy to do if your experience is all 35mm film, or Alexa, or even Red.
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Seems to be. I see guys running around with lightmeters (refusing to look at scopes and waveforms) when shooting with RED MX, and they expose real hot. (similar to the look of RedHookSummer) Then they go on about their film and Alexa diatribe over a few beers after work.
 
Nate Weaver said:
My opinion (again, just my own) is that the DP wasn't hip to how to get a pleasing image out of a new camera. I think this is easy to do if your experience is all 35mm film, or Alexa, or even Red.
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This could very well be true. And now, seeing how new the F55 is, they might be setting themselves up for the same type of issue.

Maybe where the director should be held responsible (in the end) is in who they decide to use as a DP. They should know the individual's experience (with different equipment etc.) and body of work before hiring them for the job. (Just a thought).
 
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James0b57 said:
Seems to be. I see guys running around with lightmeters (refusing to look at scopes and waveforms) when shooting with RED MX, and they expose real hot. (similar to the look of RedHookSummer) Then they go on about their film and Alexa diatribe over a few beers after work.
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Scopes and waveforms are relevant to transcoding and grading raw footage in post, but not particularly useful for exposure reference for a raw camera on set since the DR being captured exceeds the scope range by a significant margin. You need to profile the camera to a light meter just as you would a film stock and expose by the meter. False color mapping and histograms are more useful on a Red.
 
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