r/cinematography • • 21h ago

Original Content Some stills from My first serious short film

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6 Upvotes

Shot this on some mirrorless camera (I don't know the name tbh) since it was rented by a friend

All the shots were spontaneous and shot on manual mode, haven't really graded the shots and left it raw.

Kind of happy with how it all turned out considering had no shots nor story in mind, all done within an hour.

Would love some reviews on how we can do better next time! (Attaching the link to it in the comments)


r/cinematography • • 8h ago

Camera Question What camera under $6k to buy for my company?

0 Upvotes

Insanely boring question, sorry!

I work for a record label that’s trying to get the budget in order for next year. We shoot a lot of documentary/music videos/interviews/live videos/general social content for our artists. They’ve asked me to make a list of wants to add to our production gear. I’ve got lighting/grip/sound stuff under control, but they’ve asked if I’d like to add a cinema camera to our lineup. Obviously, if I’m not buying— sure, why not?

Currently, we’ve got 2 Sony A7s iiis and 1 A7 iv. We’ve got a 50mm, 17-28, 24-70, and 70-200mm lenses. My inclination is to kind of keep us within the Sony E mount ecosystem, but an FX6 is just out of budget. We’ve discussed the FX5, but it does seem kinda overpriced for what it is. I’d go FX3, but I’m kinda stuck on wanting open gate, since we do a lot of vertical deliverables (and I like the 3:2 aspect ratio a lot, too).

I’ve also looked at the Pyxis 6k (leaning PL mount), having used a BMPCC 4K as my personal camera workhorse for years and years— which is initially much cheaper than FX5, but then we’re sort of investing in a whole new lens system— which I’d prefer to make PL vs getting a Canon C50 and getting stuck in their world. PL seems more versatile as far as having lenses if we opt to rent an Alexa or whatever for the biggest shoots. I know we could buy a Pyxis and probably a few lenses for our budget. We’ve basically decided to ask for $8k, in the hopes we’ll get $6k, but they’re all in on content right now, so we might get the full 8! Never know with these people!

We do utilize auto-focus a lot during live shows, so that’s another reason I’m leaning Sony— but I also think our current lineup does totally fine for that, so I’d rather get a camera than can be our A cam for the interview/doc work, and supplement the more run and gun stuff with the A7s.

It’s been a decade since I remotely cared about keeping up with camera specs, so not really sure what way to lean. It’s sort of a “use it or lose it” situation, so definitely need to make a choice, but there seem to be so many cameras in the market right now that are all basically “very good”. I did used to like shooting with REDs too, but haven’t done that in a decade and their naming scheme is bizarrely confusing, so haven’t even looked into that— but should I?


r/cinematography • • 5h ago

Camera Question What's your methodology for choosing a camera?

1 Upvotes

I'm looking for a well-priced, all-around camera that could do well in docs, commercials, and narrative. Could be mirrorless or a cinema body; I'm not picky. I like shooting raw and 10 bit, timecode, and I like a fast rolling shutter or global shutter. I'm game for any recommendations if you have any, but I'm more curious about what you look for in a camera when you're looking to own it? Thanks!


r/cinematography • • 2h ago

Lighting Question Whys are so many filmmakers afraid of shadows? File under: I miss hard light.

16 Upvotes

"Shadows exist in real life."

"Shadows", as in deep, dark, impenetrable blackness, that utterly contrasts with what's actually visible in the scene.


r/cinematography • • 6h ago

Style/Technique Question Looking for Feedback!

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4 Upvotes

Hello! I'm a 22 y/o cinematographer (self-taught), and I'm looking for some feedback on some stills I shot for a 30 seconds commercial narrative piece. The goal was to emulate the look of Christmas Eve (warm tones, lighting motivated by the Christmas tree). This was pulled off in less than a week of planning and on no budget, any advice would be greatly appreciated!


r/cinematography • • 12h ago

Color Question How do I colour grade this?

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5 Upvotes

Ive shot a small mini project with my s24 log, and have converted it and regulated WB and exposure thanks to davinci and some helpful youtuve tutorials.

But I dont understand how to give it a colour "style "

Tutorials tell me to work with the 8 : 8 spiderweb and give it a "orange/teal" look, but it just looks really bad on my clip.

What should I do to make this look, well, film worthy I guess

Pardon the quality of image, real image is UHD

Ps: the entire mini project is shot in the same area as shot above


r/cinematography • • 9h ago

Other Production management app

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0 Upvotes

I am building an app for filmmakers to manage the entire production in one place. What features would you want in an app like this for it to be usefull for you?


r/cinematography • • 4h ago

Lighting Question Lumographe demo

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11 Upvotes

Hello guys sharing this video, I’m usually a gaffer, I directed and I shot for the new competitor of blackout. Tell me what do you think of the video. You may know me as come.nolo on instagram I make breakdowns


r/cinematography • • 8h ago

Camera Question Contax 35-70 f3.4

1 Upvotes

Has anyone ever used this lens for video / doc work?

Not really wondering as much about live zooms but more just about working with a push-pull zoom

We’re potentially trying to find a nice copy that we can then “cine-mod”


r/cinematography • • 6h ago

Original Content My filmmaking showreel

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1 Upvotes

My filmmaking showreel. This includes many projects I’ve worked on as director, DOP, gaffer, colorist and editor. Please let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy!


r/cinematography • • 12h ago

Lighting Question Any soft box attachments compatible with Aputure 400x light?

0 Upvotes

I purchased a 400x assuming all my light domes and lanterns I've been using on the 600 and 1200's would be compatible (thank you google ai overview 🤦), but it has a proprietary mount. I haven't found any aputure brand softboxes on B&H that says they work with the 400. Does anyone know any that do? Is there an adapter for it? Thanks!


r/cinematography • • 15h ago

Lighting Question How to get this type of lighting? (Tears in Heaven Music Video)

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4 Upvotes

I really love the way the lighting looks in these 2 shots, how do I recreate this lighting style? What specific lights do I need and watts? Were these done with fresnels?


r/cinematography • • 8h ago

Other Hold up wait a minute, this might be fire actually!

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529 Upvotes

r/cinematography • • 5h ago

Samples And Inspiration How I light my Tv Reporters

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844 Upvotes

r/cinematography • • 13h ago

Original Content I removed the straps to make the actress appear to float with VFX

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112 Upvotes

r/cinematography • • 19h ago

Camera Question Looking to buy an Arri Ultra Primes (UK/EU)

2 Upvotes

Looking to buy some Ultra Primes - happy for them to be in used used condition.

24mm, 32mm, 50mm, 85mm, 135mm all interest me and not after buying all at once.

Best places to look or contacts?


r/cinematography • • 19h ago

Lighting Question Lighting for Day Exteriors

1 Upvotes

Quick question my fellow cinematographers, I’m shooting day exterior in an open field, across a few days. Narrative wise, in the script, it’s just one scene and happens in real time within 10 minutes so logically, the lighting needs to remain the same and consistent. How do you prepare and plan for the moving sun throughout the day? What are some lighting/diffusion/truss rigs that you use, and what fabrics do you prefer the most for diffusion?

PS:
-the shooting area is about 40 feet by 150 feet and since it’s an action scene we’re practically shooting 360 degrees.

-we already created a truss setup for an overhead diffusion with Silk but the silk shines too much under the harsh sun and when the wind blows, it creates a lot of unwanted moving shadows on the ground and on the characters.


r/cinematography • • 14m left

Lighting Question Exterior lighting on overcast day

• Upvotes

Is this a good idea to try to light an exterior of a whole house as background on an overcast day to create fake sunlight? How much light should I use?


r/cinematography • • 19h ago

Other Blazar Anamorphic’s Customs Fees.

3 Upvotes

With the (hopefully final) announcement of the Blazar Talon for L mount in December, i’m heavily considering buying the Talon 35, 50 and 75 as a set with the pre order discount.

My question is, has anyone bought from Blazar directly outside of the USA or China? I live in the UK and am wondering if it’s a guarantee that’s ill get slapped with an extra £1,000 for custom/duty fees on top of my order when it arrives 🙄


r/cinematography • • 7h ago

Career/Industry Advice What is the best wireless monitoring system on a budget

3 Upvotes

hi everyone,

currently own a hollylands mars 400s transmission kit , looking to sell to upgrade.

run the system through s5iix and S5ii (A & B cam setup)

have seen the hollyland pyro hdmi kit isnt a huge amount more to spend to upgrade , weighing this up and then maybe later grabbing the pyro 7.

to be able to switch betere the two cameras on set would be a useful feature of this setup.

I Currently own 3x 5 inch monitors so a 7 inch monitor would be usedit , is this a good idea or is there much better options I should consider within similar budget , I’m aware accsoon also got plenty of products on the market,

the main purpose is for setting up on rigs to go correct to directors monitor , but ideally focus pulling also on the cards as have new cine lenses that would benefit from this.

biggest thing I don’t want to do is sell the 400s to not really get any improvement from the upgrade.

future proofing is also ideal as well.

any help would be super appreciated,

use cases would be drone to directors monitor , events ,documentary and short films etc

Thanks