Author Archives: FDT Special
Panalight Rome and Milan Reopen
As part of J. L. Fisher’s ongoing RHC (Refined Hydraulic Control) upgrade program, Wick Hempleman was scheduled to travel to Rome on March 17th and stay for a few weeks, tending to clients in Rome and Milan. On March 10th, his flights were cancelled. In June, the lockdown eased across Europe. It looked like work would be cautiously restarting in Italy in July. David Jarratt and Carlo Loreti, Panalight Managing Directors, wanted to get their fleet of dollies upgraded and ready to return to work. So, Wick got in his car and drove from his base in Cologne to Rome — a two day trip.
Getting Back to Work
You probably tried to read various guidelines on going back to work on set or location. Your skepticism increased with each “it is highly recommended.” And you plowed through additional palaverous proposals of precautions for picking up production. Now, I’m no more qualified to give advice on getting back to work or working safely than some of the “experts” and magical thinkers expounding on TV, despite my few years in pre-med studies and a healthy skepticism of sheltering in place in a stunt coordinator’s “designated safe zone.” That’s too often the place where debris unexpectedly lands from an exploding car in a movie stunt, despite assurances to the contrary.
ARRI Lightweight Lens Support LLS-1
The sun is swiftly setting and you are scrambling with five more setups until wrap. You’re changing lenses faster than a short-order cook. But where are those essential lens supports? Instead of excavating the depths of the Bermuda Triangle that is your Camera Assistant bag, use ARRI’s versatile, adjustable lens support. The Lightweight Lens Support LLS-1 secures lenses with diameters from 39 mm to 153 mm. That’s a wide range from primes without support threads to big zooms.
Roger Cicala, Founder of Lensrentals
In an interview with Jon Fauer, Lensrentals founder Roger Cicala discusses how he started out as a medical doctor. “I was born in New York. We moved to Memphis. I started in trauma critical care. After six years of that, I retrained in pain management, anesthesia and worked in a neurosurgery group. I wrote five textbooks on medicine and about 60 scientific articles. All that time, my hobby was photography and that’s how I ended up shifting over to what I’m doing now: writing, testing and working with camera equipment.” read more…
Tags: Lensrentals, Roger Cicala
Interview with Michel Suissa, The Studio – B&H
This episode of “The Business of the Business” is an interview with Michel Suissa, General Manager of The Studio – B&H. Michel discusses what has changed at The Studio and what he thinks will change in the future. Topics include Super35 and Full Frame, Primes and Zooms, high-end and affordable, lighting, fiber networks, 5G, remote camera operating, social distancing and more. read more…
Canon EOS R5 and EOS R6
Canon launched the EOS R System in Hawaii on Sept 5, 2018 with the Full-Frame Mirrorless EOS R camera and RF lenses. At that time, it was made clear that there would be more to come. The more affordable EOS RP was released in March 2019. For the third act in the EOS R series, Canon introduced the R5 and R6 cameras on July 9, 2020. Both cameras are weather, dust and spray resistant. My favorite feature, carried from the original R, is the mechanical shutter that completely covers and protects the sensor from dust when changing lenses (when the camera is turned off). All cine and mirrorless still cameras should have this.
Tags: Canon, Canon EOS R5, Canon EOS R6, EOS R System
ARRI Bicycle Grip Adapters
Philip Vischer started out as a Camera Assistant, Focus Puller and Camera Operator. Next he worked as a camera rental manager and head of sales. These positions surely influenced the thoughtful designs he undertook in the latest phase of his career, as ARRI PCA (Pro Camera Accessories) Product Manager for more than the past ten years.Here are some of the latest Professional Camera Accessories from ARRI, including the BGA-2 and BGA-2. Note that these accessories are camera agnostic. read more…
Nicol Verheem on Creativity, Content and Coping
Nicol Verheem, Founder & CEO of Teradek and CEO of Creative Solutions discusses getting back to work and how entertainment methods will change and creativity. “I’d like to make the case that getting back to work in the media industry, and maybe in Hollywood specifically, is very important for all of us to prevent a landslide change that could permanently damage the industry that we know and love and are part of. Certainly, you have to walk a fine line and balance human lives. It’s not just economic interests. I do see a few outcomes in which we can make a difference as a group. We may even become stronger as a result and play a larger role in society.” read more…
John Brawley and The Great New 12K Camera
Grant Petty introduced the Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K on July 16, 2020. It has a 12,288 x 6,480 12K Super35 image sensor, 14 stops of dynamic range, and shoots up to 60 fps in 12K at 80 megapixels per frame as well as 8K up to 110 fps, and 4K DCI full sensor up to 110 fps. One of the first cinematographers to try it was “The Great” John Brawley (who shot “The Great.”) His demo footage showed silky smooth skin tones, gorgeous color and low to no noise. read more…
Huzzah. John Brawley and “The Great”
“The Great” is a bawdy farce streaming on Hulu, with Elle Fanning as the Empress of Russia and Nicholas Hoult as the Emperor. The creator, writer and producer Tony McNamara described this “occasionally true story” as being about a woman who wakes up and realizes that she’s in a really bad marriage. John Brawley was the cinematographer on 5 of the 10 episodes and he discusses how they captured this “punk history”drama in a contemporary way using ARRI ALEXA SXT and Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 cameras, with Cooke S5/i and ZEISS Super Speed lenses. read more…
DENZ FF Optical Director’s Finder
Because not all anamorphic lenses have a 2x squeeze ratio, DENZ has added two new desqueeze modules to their OIC FF Full Frame Optical Director’s Finder. Now you can view 1.8x and 1.5x in Full Frame anamorphic desqueezed glory.
Scorpio FFA and Glaswerks Anamorphics are 2x; Cooke Full Frame Anamorphics are 1.8x and Technovision Anamorphic lenses are 1.5x, among others.
The DENZ OIC FF has a lever to flip from spherical to anamorphic (desqueezed) viewing. read more…
Tags: Denz, DENZ Optical Director’s Finder, OIC-FF
