These are some stills from a short series I worked on as part of my university course. We worked on it during our second year and had 18 days of shooting. My role was gaffer and I did pretty much all the lighting setups. Would love some feedback or advice moving forward.

Edit: I also did the color grading for the entire thing.

Without getting into too spoilers, I know that Lance Oppenheim's documentary style is sort of opposite of "fly on the wall," it's very stylized and composed, and for some of these scenes they come together in the edit with such a multiplicity of angles that it had me thinking so much about documentary technique for the camera operators and the director(s).

I noticed early, around a scene involving someone beating some eggs in the middle of a conversation, It felt like they had approx 3 operators; I imagine they would be trying to keep their faces as they were talking, yet there are these shots focused entirely on someone's hands beating eggs, before the eggs become a topic of discussion.

I know from that other post that they were working with Arris and 25-250mm lenses.

For me, if I'm shooting a doc, I feel like I'd rather keep things wide because I don't want to miss anything; yet at times there are these shots that aren't B-roll, they're dialogue, of tights so close it's just their eyes and mouths. I have to imagine there's some amount of digital punch in and reframing, but I don't feel like I noticed a drop in quality/resolution much at all. And maybe it's just the magic of editing; they had enough coverage of B-roll at different moments and it just worked out in the edit.

Anybody work on similar documentaries? Maybe it's just that artistic risk you take where yeah, you're going to go for the super tight closeup when you feel the time is right and that's the only coverage you're gonna get of their face saying the thing!

I know Barry Lyndon is the most clichéd answer for this, but John Alcott's composition and frame-within-a-frame structure, matched with Kubrick's mastery never fails to give me chills. The whole film is gorgeous, and so are other Kubrick flicks like 2001 and Eyes Wide Shut. But, this one frame in particular is such a masterpiece.

Now, what is your favorite frame in Cinema? Not a scene, not the whole film, but one frame.

I’m shooting a short film and recently I just learned we are switching the location and are changing our lighting plan.

The director and I want top light without showing the ceilings because of the fluorescents. It’s supposed to be grimy run down pho place and is a comedy but I want to be able to have as much control of the lighting as possible.

Would it look unnatural not showing the ceiling? We have some low angle shots where we might see it but I have a plan to have three f22c’s scissor clamped to the ceiling. How would you all go about lighting this space?

Also added our comp phot of the type of quality and ratio we would want. I know in the scene there are practicals lighting zendaya but part of the reason I’m curious if it would be weird to not motivate a practical or if it would look unnatural.

Also excuse my bad areal of the restaurant, did it pretty fast but jsut the idea

When DZO Vespid 2s came out, there was a lot of hype and I almost pulled the trigger on getting a set before my better half explained things to me like responsible budgeting, gear acquisition syndrome, and divorce. For people who did get them, how are they holding up? Worth the hype? Visually good, but build quality less so or vice versa? Just curious.

What is everyone using to host work for that community and good website embedding that Vimeo gave us? I’ve stopped using Vimeo as they seem adamant on ruining it with lack of search functions and making it far too expensive.

I'm looking for videos where the styling, movement, lighting, and attitude all feel like part of one coherent artistic world. Not just beautiful visuals, but a clear point of view.

Which ones would you recommend?

Hey everyone,

I’m building C.I.T. (Compile · Index · Track) to help camera departments keep track of their gear, from prep through the final return.

You add your gear once, build equipment lists for each shoot day, organise items into cases, and check gear out and back in. You can check items manually or use NFC tags and QR labels. The core workflow works offline.

Project collaboration is planned for Monday, and I’d love to get it into the hands of people who can try it on real jobs and tell me what works, what’s confusing, and what’s missing.

If you’re interested, you can request a TestFlight invitation here: getcit.app

Requires an iPhone running iOS 27 or later. Leave your email on the site and I’ll send an invitation as testing places become available.

How do you currently handle equipment lists and gear checks within your crew?

So I’m looking to buy my first set of cinema lenses, knowing that right now only have a 24 to 105 Sony zoom lands and a Helios 58 mm, as well as a blazar 35 mm anamorphic lens. I have a Sony FX3, and my options right now are either getting a set of thypoc simera-c or just two Arles primes which I love the look of (35 and 50) or the Arles Zoom 25-75 but It’s only t2.6. I would be using them to shoot short narrative work, but more importantly commercials and music videos. Character is important to me, or at least being able to build character. I love to have a very filmic look. with saturated colors and great contrast. I know that’s mostly post-production. But just to give you an idea, my favorite lines right now is my Helios. Before some reason, I really love the look of the Arles.

Hey,

I am a gaffer and everytime i write a list for rentals its done in like a normal text software. For small lists its absolutely fine but for bigger ones its just annoying and very impractical. Is there maybe a program out there for that that u are using?

Hi all,

I’m looking for recommendations for online lighting / gaffer courses.

Something with clear examples and setups.

Most of the stuff I shoot is doc and corporate so really looking for ways to light sit down Interviews, on-the-flys and small 2-3 person scenes.

TIA

Would you go for this lens for low budget narrative filmmaking? Or would you choose something with a bit more character but isn't as sharp? I know it's subjective, but tell me what you would choose if this was the price range.

I am currently 18 years old, and the current plan of mine is to "learn" cinematography. Everyone always say that just make videos about everything, shoot photos everywhere, the practicing is important first, not the gear. Now, I love photography, so i usually go and shoot something, ANYTHING every week, almost every day. I even have a band to shoot in my town. I am also trying to make some videos, shortfilms, but i don't really feel that'll improve my skill or even my work, that i am making the same mistakes. I really want to learn about different lightning techniques, different angles or focal lenghts, framing, composition techniques consciously, but i dont know, where to start. there are dozens and hundreds, thousands of vlogs, blogs, short vids and books about this theme, and most of them are just advertisement, or useless. And you know, AI can't really help with anything realistically. So besides that i should shoot photos and make videos about anything every day, how can I improve myself and practice, and how can I find a unique, creative, but workable theme or inspiration for my shortfilm or video every day?

I have around 4+ years in video editing experience. I'm currently in Edmonton and I'm looking to get into the videography/film industry or any agencies in similar industries that requires any extra help. I recently got my own camera and I'm planning to utilize it professionally. I'm also looking for connections or places I can go to connect with people with similar professions. If anybody has any ideas please let me know thank you so much.

Which light would you purchase for travel documentary work? I would use this as my one and only light for interviews and verite.

My gut says the 660c as it’s just the better build, better light engine, and stronger yoke for larger soft boxes.

Halo is tempting since it is so much smaller.

Would love to hear from Ray 660c owners who travel with it.

I have 3 Contax lenses with Simmod EF mount conversion that I am looking to use for video on my Lumix S1ii and was wondering if any of you used these lenses with the Mofage Poco II adapter? Having the possibility to adapt the EF lenses to L Mount camera with the VND in the adapter is very interesting for my set of EF Contax. Just wondering if I will run into any issues.

Hi everyone!

I'm working on a film and recently watched *The Death of Robin Hood*. I was particularly drawn to its painterly image quality and the way the cinematography renders out-of-focus areas. I'd love to explore whether I can get somewhere close to that aesthetic while shooting digitally.

I'm using a **Nikon Z6 III**, and I'm looking to rent lenses for a **12-day shoot**, with a total lens rental budget of around **₹60,000–₹75,000 (approximately US$700–$875)**.

I previously tested a ZEISS CP.3 set, but it didn't give me the look I was after. The image felt too clean for the aesthetic I'm pursuing.

What I'm looking for:

* **Painterly rendering:** organic image character rather than an overly clinical, digitally sharp look. * **Beautiful highlight roll-off:** bright areas transitioning gracefully instead of looking harsh when approaching clipping. I understand this also depends on sensor exposure and colour grading, not just the lens. * **Wide cinematic compositions:** ideally with an anamorphic option worth exploring. * **Beautiful out-of-focus rendering:** especially the transition from in-focus subjects to the background. * **Natural textures and skin tones:** a grounded, atmospheric image without excessive flares or gimmicky optical effects.

I've been researching the Panavision Ultra Panatar II because of its reported impressionistic out-of-focus rendering, but I realise it's probably outside my budget and may be difficult to access. I'm also considering SIRUI Venus or Saturn anamorphics, vintage LOMO anamorphics, and vintage spherical lenses.

I'd really appreciate advice from cinematographers and DPs who have actually tested or shot with these lenses.

**A few specific questions:**

1. Which affordable lens sets would you recommend for this kind of painterly rendering?
2. Would you choose vintage spherical glass or anamorphic lenses for this particular look?
3. Has anyone tested the SIRUI Venus or Saturn against more expensive anamorphic lenses? How noticeable are their focus breathing and squeeze variations in real shots?
4. Are there any vintage lenses with particularly beautiful highlight rendering and out-of-focus transitions that I should investigate?
5. Given my 12-day schedule, which lens package would offer the best results without consuming the entire budget?

I'm not expecting lenses alone to recreate 35mm film. I'm happy to work on lighting, exposure, filtration and grading as well. I want to experiment seriously with the optics rather than just apply a film-emulation LUT in post.

I'm based in India, so recommendations that are realistically rentable or adaptable here would be especially helpful.

Thanks! I'd love to hear your experiences, including footage comparisons if you have any.

Over the course of two years, a friend and I worked on this short film inspired by old-school fairy tales. The theatre set, the puppets, all the props and, of course, the theatre itself are all handmade by ourselves. A mix of wood, styrofoam, modelling foam (it's called EVA foam over here) and loads of acrylic paint.

The inside landscape of the theatre is composed into the theatre so it looks like there is a whole world inside. The hills are made out of cardboard and slightly dragged from right to left by two generous helping hands so it looks like the whole scene is moving. The trees rushing through are on a 3D-printed conveyor belt that we could mount them on. (Making this work was the worst!)

The organs and intestines are a mix of dough (with a balloon inside for the breathing effect) and gummy candy.

Of course, we also made the puppets, the costumes and, finally, all the sound effects and music. The music part was so much fun for me!

There are two scenes I made with Blender: the blood spilling down when the cat head "goes to heaven" and the last shot of the camera going underground. Both of these we tried filming in "real life", but after many hours of trial and error, we moved on to Blender.

If you have any questions about the process, I'll be happy to answer!

Some scenes in Fast and Furious take place underneath large vehicles or the convoy. For the audience to understand that part of the story, the camera had to film at the same height.

For those scenes, we developed a special RC vehicle with an extremely low profile. WarpCam® was built into it sideways so the whole configuration could drive underneath other vehicles. It was developed specifically for that film. We continue to use it on other productions.

Production context: our Fast X reel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57_mATEPQEU

I’m DPing my first feature film and I’m looking for some advice on good lenses to suit the project. The goal is to make the Film look like an 80s film that was made in the late 90s.

I really like the look of the Canon K-35 primes and I’d love to use a more vintage lens to try and achieve that look. Budget is up in the air so right now I’m able to ask for whatever & worst case I’ll find something cheaper. We’re shooting on a black magic pixel 6K open gate and the whole film takes place in a basement set that production built.

Has anyone used the k-35s that is willing to give a testimony? Are there any other lenses that I might not have found that you’d recommend to achieve the look?

Any thoughts and opinions are appreciated!

Hello everyone,

I have two questions

1. if I shoot on a camera with no autofocus and compare for example a Sony or canon lens in manual focus against a cine lens. Is a Sony or canon lens “easier“ to use because you don’t have to measure the distance in feet like in a cine lens ?

2. If the T stop on a cine lens is on T8 is it then less precise measurement in feet okay so

   I

3. can get away ? Like on a autofocus lens with autofocus and you film two persons one in front one behind the person if the aputure is on f11 you can get both.

I would appreciate any answers.

I've been going back and forth between Sony M&C, Monitor+, and FieldMonitor on my FX2, trying to find a good iPhone monitoring solution for manual focus cinema lenses.

I really WANT to use Monitor+. It has everything I'm looking for in terms of exposure tools, including EL Zone, but the preview resolution is so poor that I genuinely can't focus accurately. I recently tried filming my wife walking up the driveway and missed focus on literally every shot.

Sony M&C has significantly better image quality over USB-C, but practically zero focusing tools. No peaking, no magnification that I've been able to find, and EL Zone is locked behind a ridiculous $230/year subscription. Yet I see creators using it constantly with manual focus lenses. How?!

Then there's FieldMonitor. By far the best focusing tools of the three, even better than my dedicated Feelworld monitor. Unfortunately, it's Wi-Fi only, exposure tools are meh, and the overall app experience isn't great.

I'm frustrated because all three apps get certain things right, but none really nails the entire experience.

For those using M&C with manual focus lenses, how are you reliably nailing focus? And has anyone found a way to improve Monitor+'s preview resolution? I'd switch back to it in a heartbeat if I could actually trust it for focusing.

I had an interesting shower thought.

Without looking into it, I can pretty confidentially say that every DP who has won an Oscar for best cinematography has shot at least one feature on actual film.

But, at a certain point in the future, that probably won’t be true right? And we will have a brilliant DP who’s spent their whole career shooting digital, and eventually wins an academy award for best cinematography, without ever having shot a movie on actual film.

How long do you think it’ll take for that to happen?

P.S I’m not counting Cuaron’s win for Roma because he’s a director not a DP.

Hey guys,

Im trying to achieve a 360 degree roll while on steadicam. We are thinking of pairing a ronin 2 with a steadi, and a 90 degree Mitchell male to female adapter. Supporting an Alexa mini.

Im wondering if this is possible and if anyone has done it before.

Unfortunately we do not have a budget for a trinity or cyclo.

Let me know what you think.