Thanks for doing this. I'm an amature cinematographer that is shooting a low webseries, often outdoor and with a tiny crew - sometimes just myself and the director and actors. Seeing practical ways to raise the production quality with a minimal amount of equipment is incredibly helpful, as so many other channels on RUclips focus on a level of equipment and staffing that I just don't have. On the diffusion question: I anticipate having a few thousand bucks to invest in equipment shortly: do you think I'd be better off acquiring 2 4x4 diffusion panels, or one 8x8? I like the idea of the actors having a little room to move around in a two shot, but I also don't like the idea of managing the large diffusion panel with a tiny crew, or just myself. I haven't blocked or shot with panels like this, so I don't know the types of problems you'd likely run into with 2 small panels or one larger panel.
@@DrVentur3 This is such a great question! First off, thanks so much for watching and engaging with the content. I’m excited your on this journey, being a cinematographer rocks! Now to answer your question, I think getting 2x 40inch gel frames is the smartest move. That way you can put your own choice of diffusion gel in it. I.e. 216/250/251. You will need a c-stand for each gel frames and a sand bag each. The reason why I think this is it gives you the most modularity for the cheapest price point. You can change the diffusion relatively easily. They’re easier to move on you own. I understand wanting the characters to be able to move but maybe place them under trees or shade that is on location if the characters need to move in the scene. My concern about and 8x8 is you need the hardware which isn’t too expensive but it isn’t cheap. Plus do you have a vehicle which will hold a straight 8ft piece of square stock? Sometimes depending on the wind you might need to tie it down as well, can sometime become a sail. I usually like to put 8x on a bit heavier stand as well so like 2 electric combos stands. So your price point is getting a bit higher. Also when you move on to another job after this webseries the gel frames can be used to diffuse lights in smaller spaces. Building a 8x in a living room of an apartment ain’t impossible, but it could take some work. Overall my feeling is start smaller and learn how that works and what you will need bigger frames for. Also I think you could probably check a rental house in your local area and rent an 8x8 and see how you like working with it. Same for the gel frames. (Actually side note just realized a lot of cars won’t fit a 40inch gel frame either. If you have an suv you’re fine. But should prob measure your vehicle. I think canvas grip here in LA sell a 36inch gel frame which is really easy to maneuver.) Okay let me know if this is helpful. Hope your shoot ends up going well! Cheers!
@@NateCaywood - Such a detailed and informative response, thank you! I was leaning the same direction as your response, but you've settled the matter - I do my best to guess at this stuff, but it's great to get a much more informed perspective! I'll plan on just focusing on a few smaller frames that I also can use for booklights or neg or whatever. I'll still have a big PVC frame I can use for large area of diffusion if need be - it's janky as hell, but it works. But I think you're correct that the smaller mods will be used more often and in more varied spaces. The first shoot was done a few years ago by an experienced DP. But housing is now our biggest expense on the shoots, so I'm having to take up the mantle myself. It's fun, I have an eye for it, but I'm just so green I'm trying to keep everything as stoopidly simple as possible. The most recent shoot was in October and went really well - 3 days in Mariposa County (near Yosemite) and 2 days over on the East side of the Sierra in the desert. Super fun, but super quick run-n-gun... which just reinforces what you suggested: smaller mods that are faster to manage seem like the smarter move. Thank you, sir!
@@DrVentur3 Dope man!! So glad this was helpful to you. And excited to hear more about the project. Those locations sound like a dream! What a beautiful place to shoot. That will do a lot to elevate the images. Just shot people in gorgeous places and you're well on your way! Send over some frames once you've shot with the new grip set up. Would love to see what you're doing! Until then, shoot on!
@@NateCaywood - I can't post a link here to a few frames from my recent shoot, so I posted the link to you account over on BlueSky. Pretty quiet over there...
Thank you for also including the part on scheduling. It seems this is a part that many youtubers miss. Especially on a budget, good planning seems essential to get the shots.
Well well broken down, this can be really tricky given the speed at which the sun moves, probably some deep scouting was done way before hand and definitely a very early call sheet on that day. Good stuff, looking forward to more stuff like this.💪
Thanks so much for watching!! And yes, so many things to think about schedule wise that I feel like often gets over looked in these type of breakdowns sometimes!
Yes, I completely agree. I saw a great pocast interview with Spence saying that they only carried 3 focal lengths on his run of End on the F**king World Series 2. So laser focused and intentional. I'm obsessed!
This was great, I loved that it felt like watching a detective work. You pointed out tons of things I know I wouldn't have even noticed. I also loved the static-y CRT in the background, the illustrations that helped me understand what you were saying, the brevity, and the minimalist presentation. Really entertaining, I subscribed
Hey man I've just come across your channel and seems like this vid is blowing up and rightfully so! Love the way you break everything down, you communicate it very clearly and I cant wait to see more!
This is such a useful video and full of insights i would have never thought of as someone new to the industry. Ignore the negative comments by those who create nothing but always have something useless to say. Keep up the great work!
the bridge is called the Gapstow Bridge, camera pointed south east. Looks like a real challenge to shoot, now where to hide. Great work on the analysis.
It seems highly likely that the closups in this scene were lit with HMIs, rather than a large frame and diffusion. It's a relatively long conversation and I'm reluctant to believe the DP would assume the whole scene could be filmed before the sun dropped much lower.
This is certainly a possibility. But the more I think about this scene the more I think they probably shot cross coverage with 2 cameras to expedite the time of shooting the scene. Because Did you see at the end of the video where I pointed out you can see Cumberbatch walk out from under the frame. So there is definitely a large diffusion frame above their heads. Not to say that couldn't be HMIs. But the whole reason I started this channel was to ask these questions and have discussions about it. Okay so let's say you are right and this scene did take a long time to shoot so they needed to keep continuity on the coverage. Can we agree the wide was shot midday in direct sunlight? If this is the case the sun will fall behind one of the actor, depending on which direction is west, that will cause the second actor to be front lit. So to me, one would have to fly a huge frame to block out the direct sunlight as the day goes on, for both actors. Otherwise continuity would not be the same. So you are bring in a fly swatter to block the sun? And then what you're added a second Condor to boom up your HMI fixtures enough to each the "top lighty" angle of the sun on the coverage for each character? So that is two cranes in a public park? That's why I am coming back to the idea of them shooting this with two cameras, the sun as the only light, a 20x frame of diffusion flown over head, and an oscar nominated actor who can deliver incredible takes in a short amount of time. Hopefully one day Benedict Spence, DoP who shot this will comment on this video and tell us the truth! 😂😂😂
Had to shoot a low budget short film over the summer that was pretty much entirely day exterior Max we could manage was 8x8 overhead, we used a diffusion material called hi lite & half soft frost both are great for taking the bite out of the harsh sun but doesn’t look drastically different from the rest of the scene that was getting hit by raw sun. Stronger diffusion like 1/4 grid can be used in a 4x4 frame when doing close ups We used 12x12 neg on a T bone to keep some contrast, but got to hard to manage with the amount of hands and sandbags needed to keep it down One mistake I made was using the “sun sandwich technique” it works,but really flattens out your image. Its better to bounce light back in from the sam side as the sun, slightly wrap it around your subject instead of coming from the opposite direction, just not really how light falls naturally
Yes!! This is such a great insight! I love Hi-Lite myself! Makes such a natural feeling sunlight but pull that harshness off. Especially when you have to fake your own sunlight, like putting an HMI thru some CTO and a hi-lite is so nice!! And agreed. Handling grip frames and T bones can be so difficult with a lack of labor as a resource. But hopefully each job or film analyzed will help us navigate how to be the best DPs in the future. Thanks so much for watching, and can't that you enough for sharing your experience!
I'd guess it was mid day facing south east. Right side of the frame was south at the start of Central Park. Probably just a few blocks North of 59th street. Do you know what the series is shot on?
@@scottievee330 ahhhh thank you for this!! I’ve been to NYC many times but not long enough do be able to place this in the park exactly! And from my understanding it was shot on Alexa 35, with Zeiss Supremes!
Also speaking from experience they most likely started from the coverage bc you have to fly over head frames which takes time to setup then they moved everything out and shot the wide last
That key is so toppy, the fill could literally just be bouncing up from the ground and the brick behind them. You can even see it in the final shot as Cumberbatch is walking away, the dad character is still exposed and there's no bounce or anything to the right of frame.
@@themikereda that’s a great point! I thought that might be the case but noticed a small catch in the father’s eyes when I was pulling stills. Might have been something as small as a pizza box out of frame with enough space for Cumberbatch to pass by. But honestly this is one of the reasons I’m wanting to do this channel. I think if we are all critically think about images this way, we can all raise our game. Thanks for watching and your feedback!!
@@droneeye2618 Totally! That is a huge drawback of big frames! Plus all the resource that goes into them. Not everyone has that. Thanks for watching! More to come!
@@lbrtvlldr Thanks so much for watching! I’m using Preview! Which I’m away isn’t the best. I’ll look into other apps too. But let me know if you have other suggestions!
@@NateCaywood I agree with him, I was able to learn a lot but it would've been better if u had some points or script and then analysed the scene, you r repeating many things too many times, that's maybe cos u r getting stuck so having a bunch of points to cover beforehand may help and make the videos more engaging, just constructive criticism man, loved the video though
Some constructive feedback for the future. The first 4 minutes of this feels like you are beating a dead horse with how much you emphasis the harsh lighting, over and over, and over, and over… 5 different ways. We get it! Move on to how to solve the issue you have just highlighted. More solutions less telling us why we are here. That will improve your content creations massively. Be yourself, but please ease up on how much you beat the point into our heads. You are actually exploring a really good topic. Give the question room to air out. Don’t crowd the topic with so much repetition.
Hey thanks for watching! So I don’t think I brought it up because when I was chatting about this scene, I was talking mostly about sun positions, time of shooting during the day, schedule and the softness of the light after they flew a 20x. I think false color is a great tool in understanding exposure and I use it all the time, but it feels like at the level of stuff I am talking about I am somewhat assuming people know how to expose and image to their liking. But that may be a false assumption and I should do a video about it? What explanation about false color would you have liked in the video?
The simple tool! In caps. You never name it, because there's not the one magic tool which fits every need. Improvisation is key, which would have been a legit title for your video. The clickbait title and the length of your video might be the result of your ambition to generate views and monetize your content. Well, fair enough. But please give us some good content and don't risk your audience's sanity with a lengthy introduction where you talk over one and a half minute about the single fact, that everybody who is vaguely interested in film recognized after a second: The still shows it very clearly. Yeah, this is a shot in direct sunlight. You can bounce some light into the frame or you can try to reduce the contrast at least in the critical face shots. amen.
Thanks for doing this. I'm an amature cinematographer that is shooting a low webseries, often outdoor and with a tiny crew - sometimes just myself and the director and actors. Seeing practical ways to raise the production quality with a minimal amount of equipment is incredibly helpful, as so many other channels on RUclips focus on a level of equipment and staffing that I just don't have.
On the diffusion question: I anticipate having a few thousand bucks to invest in equipment shortly: do you think I'd be better off acquiring 2 4x4 diffusion panels, or one 8x8? I like the idea of the actors having a little room to move around in a two shot, but I also don't like the idea of managing the large diffusion panel with a tiny crew, or just myself. I haven't blocked or shot with panels like this, so I don't know the types of problems you'd likely run into with 2 small panels or one larger panel.
@@DrVentur3 This is such a great question! First off, thanks so much for watching and engaging with the content. I’m excited your on this journey, being a cinematographer rocks! Now to answer your question, I think getting 2x 40inch gel frames is the smartest move. That way you can put your own choice of diffusion gel in it. I.e. 216/250/251. You will need a c-stand for each gel frames and a sand bag each.
The reason why I think this is it gives you the most modularity for the cheapest price point. You can change the diffusion relatively easily. They’re easier to move on you own. I understand wanting the characters to be able to move but maybe place them under trees or shade that is on location if the characters need to move in the scene.
My concern about and 8x8 is you need the hardware which isn’t too expensive but it isn’t cheap. Plus do you have a vehicle which will hold a straight 8ft piece of square stock? Sometimes depending on the wind you might need to tie it down as well, can sometime become a sail. I usually like to put 8x on a bit heavier stand as well so like 2 electric combos stands. So your price point is getting a bit higher.
Also when you move on to another job after this webseries the gel frames can be used to diffuse lights in smaller spaces. Building a 8x in a living room of an apartment ain’t impossible, but it could take some work. Overall my feeling is start smaller and learn how that works and what you will need bigger frames for. Also I think you could probably check a rental house in your local area and rent an 8x8 and see how you like working with it. Same for the gel frames. (Actually side note just realized a lot of cars won’t fit a 40inch gel frame either. If you have an suv you’re fine. But should prob measure your vehicle. I think canvas grip here in LA sell a 36inch gel frame which is really easy to maneuver.)
Okay let me know if this is helpful. Hope your shoot ends up going well! Cheers!
@@NateCaywood - Such a detailed and informative response, thank you! I was leaning the same direction as your response, but you've settled the matter - I do my best to guess at this stuff, but it's great to get a much more informed perspective! I'll plan on just focusing on a few smaller frames that I also can use for booklights or neg or whatever. I'll still have a big PVC frame I can use for large area of diffusion if need be - it's janky as hell, but it works. But I think you're correct that the smaller mods will be used more often and in more varied spaces.
The first shoot was done a few years ago by an experienced DP. But housing is now our biggest expense on the shoots, so I'm having to take up the mantle myself. It's fun, I have an eye for it, but I'm just so green I'm trying to keep everything as stoopidly simple as possible. The most recent shoot was in October and went really well - 3 days in Mariposa County (near Yosemite) and 2 days over on the East side of the Sierra in the desert. Super fun, but super quick run-n-gun... which just reinforces what you suggested: smaller mods that are faster to manage seem like the smarter move.
Thank you, sir!
@@DrVentur3 Dope man!! So glad this was helpful to you. And excited to hear more about the project. Those locations sound like a dream! What a beautiful place to shoot. That will do a lot to elevate the images. Just shot people in gorgeous places and you're well on your way! Send over some frames once you've shot with the new grip set up. Would love to see what you're doing! Until then, shoot on!
@@NateCaywood - I can't post a link here to a few frames from my recent shoot, so I posted the link to you account over on BlueSky. Pretty quiet over there...
Thank you for also including the part on scheduling. It seems this is a part that many youtubers miss. Especially on a budget, good planning seems essential to get the shots.
@@roanbuma Thank you for watching. Yes, scheduling is such a huge part of production, we all have to be mindful of! Keep an eye out, more to come!
This is spectacular information! Thank you for sharing! Please keep making these!
@@WilliamHBaker Thanks for watching! And there will definitely be more on the way!
Great eye catching him walk out from under the sun block. Thanks for the tips
Thanks!! Appreciate you watching! More to come!
This is what I want from RUclips to show me. Keep going man
Thank you so much! Really appreciate the kind words. And there is absolutely more to come!
Interesting and detailed breakdown. Thanks. Keep 'em coming.
@@ToxicMetropolis Thank you! And definitely, more on the way!
Well well broken down, this can be really tricky given the speed at which the sun moves, probably some deep scouting was done way before hand and definitely a very early call sheet on that day.
Good stuff, looking forward to more stuff like this.💪
Thanks so much for watching!! And yes, so many things to think about schedule wise that I feel like often gets over looked in these type of breakdowns sometimes!
The lensing on this series is so good 👌🏼
Agreed! I think that is one of Benedict Spence's greatest attributes as a DP!
@ Also the use is not forced but intentional goes hand in hand with the series
Yes, I completely agree. I saw a great pocast interview with Spence saying that they only carried 3 focal lengths on his run of End on the F**king World Series 2. So laser focused and intentional. I'm obsessed!
@@NateCaywood will definitely check out the podcast
This was great, I loved that it felt like watching a detective work. You pointed out tons of things I know I wouldn't have even noticed. I also loved the static-y CRT in the background, the illustrations that helped me understand what you were saying, the brevity, and the minimalist presentation. Really entertaining, I subscribed
@@BlasterTon Thank you so much!! I really appreciate the view, subscription and kind words! More to come in the future! Cheers
Nice breakdown. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for watching! More to come!
Hey man I've just come across your channel and seems like this vid is blowing up and rightfully so! Love the way you break everything down, you communicate it very clearly and I cant wait to see more!
@@Graded_by_Oscar Thank you so much! Really appreciate it! And yes there will be more soon!
This is what I was looking for, great work . Keep up the awesome work.
@@rchandrawat Thank you very much! Really appreciate you watching! Keep an eye out for more breakdowns!
Nice breakdown. things dont need to be complicated to look good.
@@VRVitaly 100%!! and thanks so much for watching!
Would love to hear more about DIY setups and ideas
@@anewheartproductions Thanks for watching, and this is a great thought. Might put together a video to explore this idea!
This is such a useful video and full of insights i would have never thought of as someone new to the industry. Ignore the negative comments by those who create nothing but always have something useless to say. Keep up the great work!
@@stevens2279 Thanks for the kind words! And thanks for watching. More coming soon!
Solid detective work, great breakdown
@@shnarkanator thank you!! Hoping to do more and learning as much as possible!
the bridge is called the Gapstow Bridge, camera pointed south east. Looks like a real challenge to shoot, now where to hide. Great work on the analysis.
@@jamesbruce Ahh that is great to know! Thanks for watching!! More on the way!
It seems highly likely that the closups in this scene were lit with HMIs, rather than a large frame and diffusion. It's a relatively long conversation and I'm reluctant to believe the DP would assume the whole scene could be filmed before the sun dropped much lower.
This is certainly a possibility. But the more I think about this scene the more I think they probably shot cross coverage with 2 cameras to expedite the time of shooting the scene. Because Did you see at the end of the video where I pointed out you can see Cumberbatch walk out from under the frame. So there is definitely a large diffusion frame above their heads. Not to say that couldn't be HMIs. But the whole reason I started this channel was to ask these questions and have discussions about it. Okay so let's say you are right and this scene did take a long time to shoot so they needed to keep continuity on the coverage. Can we agree the wide was shot midday in direct sunlight? If this is the case the sun will fall behind one of the actor, depending on which direction is west, that will cause the second actor to be front lit. So to me, one would have to fly a huge frame to block out the direct sunlight as the day goes on, for both actors. Otherwise continuity would not be the same. So you are bring in a fly swatter to block the sun? And then what you're added a second Condor to boom up your HMI fixtures enough to each the "top lighty" angle of the sun on the coverage for each character? So that is two cranes in a public park? That's why I am coming back to the idea of them shooting this with two cameras, the sun as the only light, a 20x frame of diffusion flown over head, and an oscar nominated actor who can deliver incredible takes in a short amount of time. Hopefully one day Benedict Spence, DoP who shot this will comment on this video and tell us the truth! 😂😂😂
Had to shoot a low budget short film over the summer that was pretty much entirely day exterior
Max we could manage was 8x8 overhead, we used a diffusion material called hi lite & half soft frost both are great for taking the bite out of the harsh sun but doesn’t look drastically different from the rest of the scene that was getting hit by raw sun.
Stronger diffusion like 1/4 grid can be used in a 4x4 frame when doing close ups
We used 12x12 neg on a T bone to keep some contrast, but got to hard to manage with the amount of hands and sandbags needed to keep it down
One mistake I made was using the “sun sandwich technique” it works,but really flattens out your image.
Its better to bounce light back in from the sam side as the sun, slightly wrap it around your subject instead of coming from the opposite direction, just not really how light falls naturally
Yes!! This is such a great insight! I love Hi-Lite myself! Makes such a natural feeling sunlight but pull that harshness off. Especially when you have to fake your own sunlight, like putting an HMI thru some CTO and a hi-lite is so nice!!
And agreed. Handling grip frames and T bones can be so difficult with a lack of labor as a resource. But hopefully each job or film analyzed will help us navigate how to be the best DPs in the future. Thanks so much for watching, and can't that you enough for sharing your experience!
Really enjoyed this!
Thanks so much for watching!! More to come!
I'd guess it was mid day facing south east. Right side of the frame was south at the start of Central Park. Probably just a few blocks North of 59th street. Do you know what the series is shot on?
@@scottievee330 ahhhh thank you for this!! I’ve been to NYC many times but not long enough do be able to place this in the park exactly! And from my understanding it was shot on Alexa 35, with Zeiss Supremes!
Also speaking from experience they most likely started from the coverage bc you have to fly over head frames which takes time to setup then they moved everything out and shot the wide last
@@De_Randle ahhh yes this is a very good point! Thanks for pointing that out. A good tip to have in the arsenal. Thanks for watching!
keep these coming!
@@jarlathmckernan Thanks for watching! And will do!
really enjoyed this breakdown, solid stuff! - bfig
@@the505podcast Thanks so much for watching! Many more to come!
That key is so toppy, the fill could literally just be bouncing up from the ground and the brick behind them. You can even see it in the final shot as Cumberbatch is walking away, the dad character is still exposed and there's no bounce or anything to the right of frame.
@@themikereda that’s a great point! I thought that might be the case but noticed a small catch in the father’s eyes when I was pulling stills. Might have been something as small as a pizza box out of frame with enough space for Cumberbatch to pass by. But honestly this is one of the reasons I’m wanting to do this channel. I think if we are all critically think about images this way, we can all raise our game. Thanks for watching and your feedback!!
When I shoot commercials in Cape Town in the summer if it’s sunny, it’s very windy so you cannot put up big frames, it’s very frustrating!
@@droneeye2618 Totally! That is a huge drawback of big frames! Plus all the resource that goes into them. Not everyone has that. Thanks for watching! More to come!
I'm really enjoying your videos, but can't you find a way to draw without vectors? It's quite distracting. What software are you using?
@@lbrtvlldr Thanks so much for watching! I’m using Preview! Which I’m away isn’t the best. I’ll look into other apps too. But let me know if you have other suggestions!
Great video. But it didn't need to be 15 min
@@diamondlabelfilms Thanks so much for watching! And fair enough! Definitely gonna try and keep them shorter in the future!
@@NateCaywood I agree with him, I was able to learn a lot but it would've been better if u had some points or script and then analysed the scene, you r repeating many things too many times, that's maybe cos u r getting stuck so having a bunch of points to cover beforehand may help and make the videos more engaging, just constructive criticism man, loved the video though
@@SandyinRUclips totally! Great points! Thanks for watching and will try to be more concise in the future!
"This simple tool will take me 15 min to explain!"
@@J.K.productionsDE Haha true! The tool is simple, but when and why to use it take the 15 mins 🤣🤣🤣
Some constructive feedback for the future. The first 4 minutes of this feels like you are beating a dead horse with how much you emphasis the harsh lighting, over and over, and over, and over… 5 different ways. We get it! Move on to how to solve the issue you have just highlighted. More solutions less telling us why we are here. That will improve your content creations massively. Be yourself, but please ease up on how much you beat the point into our heads. You are actually exploring a really good topic. Give the question room to air out. Don’t crowd the topic with so much repetition.
Feedback always welcome!! Thanks for watching! I am early in the process and hope to hone my communication skills. More to come!
Why Didn't YA Use False Color in Explaining Right Exposure ❓
Hey thanks for watching! So I don’t think I brought it up because when I was chatting about this scene, I was talking mostly about sun positions, time of shooting during the day, schedule and the softness of the light after they flew a 20x. I think false color is a great tool in understanding exposure and I use it all the time, but it feels like at the level of stuff I am talking about I am somewhat assuming people know how to expose and image to their liking. But that may be a false assumption and I should do a video about it? What explanation about false color would you have liked in the video?
The simple tool! In caps. You never name it, because there's not the one magic tool which fits every need. Improvisation is key, which would have been a legit title for your video. The clickbait title and the length of your video might be the result of your ambition to generate views and monetize your content. Well, fair enough. But please give us some good content and don't risk your audience's sanity with a lengthy introduction where you talk over one and a half minute about the single fact, that everybody who is vaguely interested in film recognized after a second: The still shows it very clearly. Yeah, this is a shot in direct sunlight. You can bounce some light into the frame or you can try to reduce the contrast at least in the critical face shots. amen.
@@svengiebel9345 Thanks for watching! And always appreciate feedback!