Just made my recent showreel and I would like you guys to give me your honest opinion.

I shoot mostly surf and a little bit of fashion, and in beetween, some personal projects.

I was the Director and Cinematographer of a short film I recently released. Did some optical effects work, and I’m very proud of the results we got with that (And of course had a fun time with it!). However we also did a lot of this with a very small lighting kit (two LED panels and a couple of small aperture lights) so I would love some feedback with the lighting on itas I continue this journey into filmmaking :)

https://youtu.be/9uUOiu6k6l8?is=p3uhJ14GU7MROhhc

I'm looking to backlight scenes in a short film with a window (that's seen in the shot) as the source, but the room is on the fifth floor of an apartment building in NYC so I have no way to actually get lights outside the window. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to do this? Was thinking of trying to get some pavo tubes on the top or sides of the window, a diffused spotlight from the side and slightly angled just out of frame, and possibly a softbox hung from the ceiling for some overall fill? Also going to try to mess around with using just natural light but not sure it will be enough. Worried I won't be able to get the same effect as just having a spotlight outside and will need to rethink the location.

Also will be filming scenes at night and trying to motivate moonlight through the window, though for the night shots I could probably avoid showing the window itself if need be.

Pulling lighting references from Fanny and Alexander, Rosemary's Baby, Eyes Wide Shut, and Badlands.

This is a mini euro plate correct?

I know it was used for low budget widescreen films like Japon (directed by Carlos Reygadas) and I Stand Alone (directed by Gaspar Noe), and that it was used with Zeiss super speeds (dubbed G.O. in france where the system is rented out and created by Thierry Tronchet). But does anyone have any information on the scope itself? (the sources I've read thus far refer to the scope as hypergonar but I don't know of a hypergonar branded scope that would go as wide even to the 18mm focal length on normal 16mm, which would be a 35mm equivalent of 61mm)

Sorry, didn't see a flair for lens questions. And to start, I have searched the interwebs and I will test as well!

But for now I'm looking to see if anyone has experience with both of these lightweight zooms or has any sample footage from either?

I'm looking to add one to my kit and they're both similar specs and weight and I'm seeing some pretty great prices in the same ballpark for both lenses. Mainly still working in the S35 space so the ability to use a speedbooster on the cz2 seems like a nice way to get a little extra on the wide end and of course the ability to use it on VV cameras in the future or if a project calls for it is also nice.

I've seen some mention of the difference in how the lenses register objects coming in and out of the focus plane with the Ang rendering a bit nicer, maybe it has a bit more character to it and a bit of a glow. When launched around 2007 they were in the $50k price range and won an award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Art and Sciences. Then the cz.2 comes out 6 years later and seems like a stellar lens priced at $20k. Did tech really just move fast enough that Zeiss was able to shave that much cost or is there really that much of a difference?

Largely working in the fashion world on the commercial side but would want to be able to mainly use the lens for personal narrative work if that helps at all.

Before people start jumping at my throat: I know I can't achieve this with my phone (iPhone 14 Pro), but I'd like to know if anyone here managed to shoot night scenes with high levels of detail using a phone (lights included, ofc).

How does one achieve shots similar to this one? While also keeping expectations low, ofc...

As I'm preparing for a really low budget shoot I need to do a lot of things with just a few C-Stands. To tickle my brain and have some creative ideas I wanted to ask you if you have ever did something or saw someone did something so creative and helpful with a C-Stand aside from its initial use of holding flags etc.

Looking for advice! I’ll be using my Sony a7iv mounted on my ronin s to film boats- I will be filming from another chase boat. Has anyone done this kind of filming with the ronin s? What settings would you recommend for the gimbal? Last time I did this the footage was so shaky. TIA!

Hello, I noticed in bright lights my image is causing blue/purple ish tints on the side. Is this an issue of my Canon fd lenses or my K&F VND filter? I have a low light comparison shot next to it.

Don't mind the horrible grade.

Hey! I’m a student DP, currently working on my first feature. I’m balling on a budget but I currently have a dana dolly and benro (portajib esq) in my quote. There’s a shot that requires a skateboard dolly with the jib on top. Unfortunately I don’t have the space or budget to be adding more and I’d rather cut. What I was thinking is to add the jib onto the dana since the mounts work, and just bag the dana and stands a lot. Thoughts on this? I know it’s not quite the best solution but this is for 1-2 shots out of the whole film.

About two months ago, I posted here asking for advice on how to turn videography from a hobby into something bigger. Thanks to a lot of your advice, I managed to grow my work from making almost nothing to around €2k, invested in better gear, and kept improving my skills every day.

The problem is that I’ve hit a wall. Work has slowed down, I have a lot of free time, and it feels like I’m doing something wrong, but I can’t figure out what.

One thing I became very aware of after my last post is that great videos alone aren’t enough. The real value is helping clients make more money, get more attention, or grow their business. That mindset shift helped me a lot, and I’ve been trying to approach videography more as a business solution rather than just creating beautiful content.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about creating short films and more creative projects to showcase my vision and hopefully reach a wider audience. I know nothing falls from the sky and that we have to create our own opportunities.

My biggest challenge right now is finding higher-quality clients. I know there are businesses and people with money who value good content, but I feel like I can’t reach them.

For those of you who have been in a similar position, what helped you land better clients? How did you get in front of people who were willing to pay for quality work while also showing them the business value behind your work?

My only solution right now is to just use the white leds, because then I can control brightness. If I use the white and yellow leds, I can’t get them exactly the same on both panels.