Technique

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Technique

Production Takes: My Wife’s First Infomercial

Triple generator failure and seeping sewage on the set

About a year ago, the cosmetics company my wife was working for wanted to produce an infomercial.

Boot Camp

Shane Hurlbut, ASC, and his Elite Team lead the HD-DSLR revolution into battle

The call time was 6:30 a.m. Come again? Although quite the norm for film crews, this was strictly foreign territory for a journalist, especially for a camera workshop.

Misinformation: Clean Pictures

What are native ISOs, and do they really exist?

“Let’s just fix it in post” is a statement often heard on sets these days.

Audio Assist: Intelligent Scoring

Taking library music to the next level

Music and sound effects play a huge part in how your project is perceived by the audience.

Video Assist: Just The Facts

Is the Internet the best place to get your information?

This month’s column is a continuation of my last Video Assist column.

Everything Is Illuminated

Three cinematographers working in high def reveal lighting techniques for multi-camera sitcoms, documentaries and feature films

While television, documentaries and feature cinematographers might use a lot of the same lights, how they approach lighting each project takes a lot of creativity and planning.

The Right Tool For The Job

Canon EOS 7Ds capture the opening credits of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Since Nunes had experience working with the Canon EOS 7D on a few MTV promos, he was confident that the small, compact HD DSLR would be the right tool for the job.

Audio Assist: juicedLink DT454

Using professional microphones for your HD DSLR

I record audio with a Tascam DR-100 recorder and match up the audio in post using Singular Software’s PluralEyes.

We all saw it. Lurking under glass in a darkened corner of Panasonic’s NAB 2009 booth was a bug-eyed prototype of what would soon evolve into the first professional one-piece 3D digital production camera.

Production Takes: Hit The Switch

A DP remembers How the West Was Won

It’s 1977. I’m on location in Canyon City, Colo.

At A Glance: The Zacuto Z-Finder

Finding your focus

Let’s face it, you pretty much have to be a Zen master in focus-pulling to shoot high-def video with an HD DSLR camera.

Video Assist: Addressing Schemes

Explaining the difference between linear and log

I don't understand the whole issue of linear and log. I'll admit I've never been much of a math whiz so to me everything is just numbers. What difference does it really make?

Filtering For HD

Filter manufacturers offer creative choices for cinematographers to create a multitude of effects

When cinematographer Daryn Okada, ASC, went to a gathering held by Formatt, a U.K.-based filter manufacturer, and Bogen Imaging, its U.S. distributor, he heard the Formatt Filters factory manager Ann Davis ask for ideas for new filters.