DSLRs

Recreating an Iconic Moment from the Civil Rights Era

Fri, 12/20/2013 - 12:11 -- Nick Dager

Re-creating the past can be challenging for filmmakers, especially when tasked to duplicate the look of a particular time in history for a period movie. Add a tight budget, cramped locations, and underwater photography, and you have the situation James Chressanthis, ASC, faced as cinematographer for the movie The Watsons Go to Birmingham. Based on the novel by Christopher Paul Curtis, the film depicts a fictional family’s 1963 road trip intersecting with an actual terrorist bombing during the civil-rights era.

Size Matters on The Aviators Shoots

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 11:58 -- Nick Dager

When Devin Lund, director of photography for The Aviators on PBS, goes on assignment, he’s got to be ready for constant change. “Sometimes we’re dealing with the military. Sometimes we’re dealing with private aircraft owners. I’ve got to be ready to deal with last-minute changes. It always happens,” Lund explains.

Zephyr Benson Overcomes Many Obstacles in Feature Debut

Mon, 11/04/2013 - 15:57 -- Nick Dager

The movie’s budget was ultra-low, the shooting schedule just 21 days, and the studio mostly the mean streets and cramped tenements of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Add a first-time director/screenwriter who is also portraying the film’s main character, and it was clear that making Straight Outta Tompkins presented multiple challenges.

Combining Camera Support with Speed

Wed, 10/30/2013 - 13:44 -- Nick Dager

“When I was on The Office, we started off with the traditional three man tripod and head set up” says Randall Einhorn, cinematographer turned producer/director. “We had great support but it simply took too much time and manpower to set up. So, I started looking around and realized that the OConnor 1030D with the CF tripod could be the solution.

DP Graham Creates Intimate Character Portrait with the Canon EOS 5D

Thu, 10/03/2013 - 15:44 -- Nick Dager

“In the true tradition of independent film, Cold Turkey is a dialogue- and character-driven movie,” explained director of photography Lucas Lee Graham. “We wanted an intimate, personal look with a really shallow depth of field and nice portraiture so that the visual emphasis would be on the characters and what they were doing.”

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