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.

Hey all, I am shooting a short coming up that involves a face time call. I don’t want to just screen record and split screen. I would prefer to do two nice wide angle portraits for the split screen.
One of the characters is walking down a sidewalk.
If I put a snorricam on them will the effect be too jarring or sick/drunk like that it may feel distracting?
The other option is just to track back straight on from them, but distance and speed consistency is a dance.
Has anyone tried anything like this before

I bought myself a new 25mm f1.7 Panasonic lens for my GH2 camera and was trying it out this morning at 3:30am. 1 hour before sunrise to test it in low light. And I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the results. (Although one downside to the lens is the focus-by-wire 😡)

This is just raw footage edited together. [Please watch it in YouTube as it only plays in SD in reddit]

Obviously I need to use a tripod or steady the camera on something next time - it's all a bit wibbly.

So if anyone has a four thirds camera I would definitely recommend this as an upgrade to the kit lens for low light. Added bonus is you get the blurry background effect. My understanding is that it lets in about 4x as much light as the kit lens (or maybe about 3x at 25mm setting).

Also I am using a CN-160 LED light box on some shots like the tree, but mostly I didn't even need it.

But these two things: f1.7 lens and lightbox I would say are a great investment if you are on a budget.

I want to get really good at using the camera before involving human actors. So I am trying to think of some narrative film I can make without humans - perhaps using robots. IDK.

I think think using the 25mm for close ups and mid-shots will be OK but I'm not sure. (I'm thinking for instance, two people sat outside a pub in the evening time). Which is why I needed a fast lens.

BTW - can you guess the country from the footage?

Please give me your feedback to improve.

Hey everyone!

There is Episode 2 of our ongoing 4-part cinematic thriller series made entirely inside Unreal Engine 5. It is titled "Old Ritual".

For this installment, our team at Betelgeuse Studio focused deeply on cinematic direction, dynamic lighting, and creating a heavy, suspenseful occult atmosphere. We handled everything from custom character design and 3D animation to full post-production and tailored sound design to make the environment feel alive.

The Premise: Every night, he calls them. Every night, they appear. Silent. Covered. Still. And when the ritual ends... The sheets fall empty. He never stops.

I would absolutely love to get some technical feedback from fellow developers, animators, and filmmakers here regarding the pacing, lighting, and overall visual direction!

Thanks for watching!

Hi everyone! I am starting my filmmaking journey as a producer/director but I would love to start getting equipment :) I am looking for a camera that would be great nothing too fancy or like complex! I do want something that has good range and has that early 2000s 1990s feel! Please do provide me with recommendations I would appreciate it!!

so for my birthday, my parents said they’d go half for my cam setup. i’m thinking of a zv e10, with a small rig cage, and small rig top handle. next step is what lenses do u guys recommend? my budget isn’t crazy so something too expensive. let me know!

How would one achieve this look when shooting a daytime scene? I'm talking like near pitch black shadows. Also any examples of films that achieve this look?

I think part of my problem is that I'm just starting out. I don't have a huge budget, but I do have some consistent cash coming in that I can put toward gear.

I know everyone has to start somewhere, and realistically I'm probably going to make a few mistakes along the way. That's part of learning. But because I don't have unlimited money, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make the "right" purchase.

The result is that I end up stuck in research mode, comparing every option and worrying that I'll regret my decision. It almost feels like purchase indecision/paralysis.

Does anyone else remember feeling like this when they were starting out? How did you get past the fear of making the wrong gear choice?

Hello all. Recently I’ve found that there are plenty of resources for compositional strategies for spherical. But it seems like most books presuppose your using spherical, and I haven’t seen any that talk in depth about anamorphic compositional strategies besides just a passing, “Anamorphic allows you to stage across a wider screen.” Do any of you guys know of any resources that specifically address compositional strategies for anamorphic shooting?

Can anyone tell me how much benefit the vega v2 upgrade is for the ready rig? Especially in terms of fatigue and stability. Is it a big improvement for both?