Lighting With What Is Available

Probably my favorite blog for practical information about filmmaking is the one by ASC Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut (Terminator Salvation, We Are Marshall, Act of Valor). Shane is happy to share his knowledge and has garnered quite a following among aspiring DP's. In a recent post entitled, "Lighting Basics: Going With What Is Available," he breaks down the lighting (almost nothing) and light control instruments used in the street scene of one of his films. It is not easy to find this type of breakdown anywhere (believe me, I have searched far and wide), so certainly take this opportunity to read about his decisions and learn from one of the best in the business. His newest movie about to hit theaters is Act of Valor, which he shot almost entirely with Canon 5D MkII DSLR's. Read and follow Shane here.

Targeting Your Audience

No matter who you are or what your business is, all of us can benefit from good promotion on the Internet. Lance Cummins of nearlyfreelance.com has a great post about building traffic on your website through great content that is narrowly targeted. You can read it here.

Canon C300 and RED Scarlet

For the past several months, filmmakers have been eagerly awaiting this day for the announcements from Canon and RED about their new "game-changing" cameras.

Canon's C300 seems to have hit the mark as far as rolling the best features of the large sensor DSLR's into a truly workable film production package. The footage looks great, of course, and the features are what everyone has been asking for. The only problem I see is the price point. I really was hoping they would realize who their largest market is on these things (not generally the same market as those who would and could buy a RED Epic) and offer this solution at a price no one could pass up. The MSRP that I heard was around $20,000. Not an unfair price at all, but still way higher than most of their current 7D/5DmkII owners can afford to upgrade to. That said, it looks like perhaps there could be another lower-cost version coming soon, though no guarantees on that. I am curious to see also what the price point will be on their new cinema prime lenses. Those certainly look enticing.

As for RED, the Scarlet (also a large-sensor 4k camera) looks great and is an amazing product for the price--probably a better deal than the Canon. The biggest downside to products from RED, however, is the post workflow and the number of expensive accessories needed to do it all properly. It would have been nice to see a test film using the Scarlet, like we did with LaForet's C300 film, but I guess we will have to wait a little for that. Learn all the details about both of these cameras at www.prolost.com. All in all, a good day for filmmakers. Always love having great options when it comes time to shoot a project!