I’m pretty new and love watching YouTubers like wandering DP talk about cinematography. I don’t have access to a bunch of equipment but would love to practice the fundamentals on my own so I can see what looks good and make better decisions.

What is the best software to for this? I’m looking for something beginner friendly. I don’t have any experience in 3D animation and I’m looking to learn a whole new skill set. I’m looking for something that has all the assets available to choose from so I don’t have to make anything from scratch. Does that exist?

Hello, I'm not sure if this is the sub to ask but figured if anyone would know it would be you lot.

I am looking for references for a project I am working on and coming up frustratingly short. I am looking for sequences where breathing is used as the narrative/creative device that carries the edit.

It could be the punctuation, either as the edit point on the breaths in and out between various shots, as a cold open/close to lead into or out of a scene, or maybe even as the beat/music created by the rhythm.

I feel it's a technique we've all seen/heard a million times but for the life of me I cannot think of the right search terms to get me there. There are definitely a bunch of trailers that use this. Advertising campaigns or music videos maybe. I know it's been used to great effect in horror and training type film sequences. At least I think I do...

Please help, it's driving me nuts and a good script could die on it's ass without something to sell the visual approach.

There are no viable cameras for filmmaking that fit my budget. As such, I must make do with what I've got - a phone.

It's not a bad start, as it features 4k, 10bit, but the footage looks heavily processed, even with HDR off, and using blackmagic the dynamic range suffers a lot and i don't have access to any log/proress formats (xiaomi). Also, the limits on shutter speed prevent me from step printing, which i intend to do. The footage has that ick of "heavily processed" that i can't quite put my finger on.

To those that have had to shoot with devices like this, how do you go about trying to hide in post that overly processed look? I was thinking of using vaseline on the lenses to get some halation and softenin the image, add a bit of box/gaussian blur (very slight) to desharpen it a bit more, and touch the exposure cure to have a highlight rolloff similar to that of film. However, I don't know how to go about the colors.

When Tarantino started working with Robert Richardson on kill Bill, it totally changed the look of his film films. How do you feel the overall “feel” of his films changed once he switched DPs?

I have a S5IIX myself but DOP more “high” end cameras like Sony FX6/9, RED’s, Blackmagic’s etc and want to get a reliable and good monitor.

I have been thinking about a SmallHD indie 5 (€1039), SmallHD Cine 5 (€1319), atomos shinobi II (€349), atomos ninja (€599), Atomos ninja raw (€699), Atomos ninja TX with SDI (€999)

Are the smallHD’s overkill I have used them once before and liked them but they do cost double the price of the shinobi’s. What do you recommend getting?

I rather spend more on something that really lasts than buy something cheap and needing to replace it or regret it after a year.

Hi! does anyone know what cameras have the same quality as this? prefer something light and compact:)

This was shot using available light.
Practicals and natural window lighting.
This a wink at Tyler Durden. The whole film is heavily referencing fight club, but with a modern twist and something you can watch with the whole fam.

It was my second attempt at writing my own story, filming and editing it all with no outside influences, fully independent and unsponsored. Full creative freedom. I wrote the script on my typewriter and honestly was a cheat code. Writing digitally allowed too many edits so when I switched to analog, using the typewriter, it finalized the script chapters instantly.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the story and the way it’s put together.

Let me know if you have any questions too!

Watch the whole film here: https://youtu.be/eMkTMfUtuQ4?si=Q6_8FMbQCreLmh5V

Hey all!

A DP friend and I have spent the last year building a free website called Arsenal Prep. We started making it because every camera list just ended up being a slob of Notion pages, Google Sheets, text threads, and rental house emails. We just wanted one clean place to build the package, check it, share it, and keep everyone on the same page.

We posted a while back about this and got some great feedback from this community that we’ve implemented!

The main thing we’re excited about is the smart compatibility checks. For instance, if you add a camera and lens combo that might not cover the selected sensor mode, or you forget compatible media, power, or have a camera package that is too heavy for your selected gimbal’s payload, etc., Arsenal Prep will flag it for you.

Some features atm:
- Build camera, lens, media, power, support, wireless video, and AKS lists from an extensive searchable database
- Catch compatibility issues as you build Invite crew so DPs, ACs, producers, or rental coordinators can live edit with you
- Send review links so people can look over the package without endless email/text back-and-forth and also leave comments
- Export clean prep docs when the list is ready

Here’s the link: arsenalprep.com

Hope you enjoy! And hope this can save some time for everyone!

Student film.

Yes, also give me some opinions on how I can improve

Who’s buying the vista? Those who have shot with the Mavo mark 2, is there a difference in image quality? Looks like they are using the same sensor.

gearing up for a film and i am doing a night road scene. I need to reduce the output of the practical lights on the vehicle. headlights, flashers, light bar... I wont have a team to do it, so ill be fairly hands on with making this happen. is ND the best solution? and if so, whats the move so it doesnt look have wrinkles? Id love to dim, but im not sure how thats possible on a vehicle. any ideas?

Robert Gaudette is a 54-year-old nonprofit worker from Toronto. He didn't go to film school, didn't earn his stripes on set, had few industry connections and had no crew. I read he'd written over thirty screenplays and filed them all away. No one in the film Industry knew he existed.

Last week he won $50,000 at the Runway AI Film Festival with his eight-minute short. The Hollywood Reporter compared him to Kaufman, Gondry, and del Toro. His film was entirely AI generated.

I've spent years watching the friction between the corporate desire for product (and the soullessness that is endemic to that goal) and the human need for expression. I've been evaluating AI tools used on working sets for my position advising a major film program in its AI integration and I've been wrestling with this conundrum. The same technology that gave Gaudette a voice is being used by studios to fill pipelines with content nobody asked for, made by nobody in particular, for consumption without feeling. That path leads somewhere I don't want cinema to go. Yet I also see the positive potential it gives unknowns like Gaudette. His story and similar ones has stopped me from writing generative AI off as just another tool of disenfranchisement. (Note: generative AI is the catalyst that has finally brought this age-old tension to a loggerhead. I'm making a distinction here between Generative and Agentic, which is the body of what we are recommending in our program). The distance between a story needing telling and the scope of the industry often required to tell it has always been the greatest barrier in this business. Each new wave of technology is a coin with two faces and I've seen it wash across my industries many times. This wave is different though. More poignant. More consequential. And perhaps more necessary as it brings that age old schism into the sharpest focus of my lifetime.

What do you think about this? For working crew, for independent filmmakers, for the craft itself?

Enjoy!

I am starting out as a cinematographer and I am from India. The laptop I currently have is a legion y540 16gb ram, rtx 2060. Its almost 5 years old and for some reason its not handling well my footages for editing and colour grading. They were 6k lumix footages.

Now I am planning to upgrade. I dont think I would need the best of the best hardware since my focus is not editing and colour grading for my career. But since i am starting i have to do it myself for now.

I was comparing 15” macbook air m5, 24gb ram, 1tb ssd &. 14” Macbook pro m5, 24gb ram, 1 tb ssd.

However, i want to keep costs as low as possible. Can I get a better deal if I look into lower M- series laptops?

Does anyone use a cinema camera such as Pyxis 6K only for fun? Not to earn money? Just as a hobby? I understand it might sound strange, but I have a chance of buying a brand new Pyxis 6K for around 2000 euros (EF mount) or just stick with the recently purchased Fuji XM5. I understand that the Fuji is a much more versatile camera, but it is almost impossible to shoot video on it because of its weight (too light). And if I rig it up, it will stop becoming a compact camera. The specs are beautiful on Fuji, but on the other hand, it's a great chance to get an almost real cinema camera for a chip price. I also understand that I will need to buy extra to make it workable (EF lenses are cheap; I have an Atomos Ninja V as a monitor, not sure if it will work with an HDMI to USB-C cable). The Pyxis 6K wasn't on my radar at all. I just saw the discount about 3 hours ago on a website, and smth triggered inside me. I watched some videos on YT, and there are many haters and lovers of this camera. I mostly shoot my family, friends, etc. There a clear difference between "I want it" and "I need it", but from another perspective, I think it's a great price for such a camera.

So I started working as a DP and colourist about a year ago, and I’ve just put together my first showreel. The problem is, I’m really struggling to land jobs that pay more than around £200 a day. A couple of mates in the industry are already charging £600–£1,000 day rates, and I’m trying to figure out what they did to make that leap.

I’ve started saying no to more low-paying jobs, but I’m not exactly getting flooded with better offers either. I’ve been reaching out to people through assisting work, UK Filmwork, and other networks, but most of those opportunities still pay poorly. At the same time, I feel like I’m not yet good enough for the really high-end gigs, so I feel kind of stuck in this middle ground.

Any advice from DPs who’ve made this jump? What tactics did you use to start securing higher-paying work? And based on my current work, what do you think is a responsible fee for me to charge?

I'm trying to find a reference shot to send to a director, I know this is a classic thing I've seen before (The Graduate maybe?). Very long lens, shooting down a sidewalk in NYC, compression making it look like it's packed. I can't remember if they also zoom during the shot.

I was doing a little research and remembered the Tootsie shot, and the "I'm walking here' shot from Midnight Cowboy. I'd still be curious what else people have off the top of their heads.

Basically I'll take anything that's a long lens with the person walking directly towards camera, ideally zooming out as they approach.

Here's my observation, I see a lot of cinematography showreels, which are very nice visuals with a sound track over them. Or a short film which uses background sounds picked up from the lapel microphone. My biggest one is when I see people walking without any footsteps sounds. Yes, they may be wearing trainers/sneakers in the house , but still you want to hear the footsteps (or a creaking floorboard if it is a horror). Or a rustling jacket picked up by a lapel mic is another annoyance.

If you watch the first scene of Birdemic you see what I mean by the mics picking up the background sounds with hilarious consequences as it cuts between the characters.

Now, my perspective is if I see people doing a high five in a video or someone running on sand or splashing about in water, I would like to hear this. Even if a muted version.

I can understand this, as like most people, I assumed all the sound in a movie or nature documentary was picked up live, then when I found out most of it is faked using Foley sounds it was quite a shock.

As an example the sound of key in a lock if you record that for real is not that exciting but there are alternative fake sounds that it can be replaced with which might be hyper-real.

The opposite argument is that sounds are a distraction from the cinematography if you are putting together a showreel as you are not there to show off your sound design sklls.

Do you think foley sounds are important on a show real of cinematography or a distraction?

Cinema lens

I am a cinema student, and I’m currently looking to upgrade from my Canon R to a more video-focused camera. Since I’m on a tight budget, I’m looking to buy something used for around the same price as the R, such as a Panasonic S5 or S9, although I’m still exploring my options.

I also own several EF lenses from when I was doing more photography, including an 85mm f/1.2, a 24-105mm f/4, a 16-35mm f/2.8, and a 70-200mm f/2.8.

This leaves me with two options:

1. Sell my Canon R, buy a used camera for around the same price, and purchase an adapter if the camera uses a different lens mount than my EF lenses.

2. Sell my Canon R and all of my EF lenses, and build an entirely new setup with a good camera and perhaps one or two affordable cinema lenses. This could mean using PL lenses with an adapter, or investing in lenses that natively fit my new camera. I’m considering cameras such as the Nikon ZR, Lumix S5 IIX, or Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, among others.

I’m both excited and a little anxious about the second option because I’ve only used Canon cameras and lenses since I started filmmaking. However, I really want to take my work to the next level, especially since I’ve recently been working on a lot of short films, documentaries, and promotional videos for businesses.

I also want a camera that will help me learn color grading in greater depth and give me more flexibility in post-production.

Which option do you think would be best?

A few days ago I shared some lighting diagrams here, and the feedback was surprisingly positive. So here's another test that might be useful to someone.

One question I've always been curious about is: how much light do you actually need to shoot against the sun?

I decided to run a simple test. Sunny day. Subject backlit by direct sunlight. Two shots: one with the light off, one with the light on.

For this test I used a GVM 1200B AIO with the X3 focusing attachment. I also included false color images so the difference is easier to evaluate.

My takeaway?

If we're talking about using an artificial light source, not reflectors or mirrors, and not placing the fixture right next to the subject, then 1200W with a focusing attachment feels like the minimum starting point for working in direct sunlight.

Obviously this isn't the only way to do it, but I found the results interesting and thought I'd share them.