In the early days of the transition from analog film to digital still photography, the common wisdom was that you had to shoot digital images flat to get a proper exposure. This was a widespread misconception that I ended up debunking with many photographers when I showed them that not only could their film look be duplicated, but that it could be done in real time, shooting tethered using custom presets. The only real secret to capturing a great digital file is to properly light and expose the scene (shocking, I know). The rest of the image making chain comes down to workflow choices.
Now we are in the early days of the digital filmmaking transition and everyone looks to film/DI workflows that have been established for multi-million dollar projects using very expensive cameras and involving many steps and a multitude of specialists. This workflow compartmentalizes the jobs of Cinematographer, Camera Operator, Camera Assistant, DIT, Colorist, Editor, Lab etc.. The person exposing the film will not necessarily be involved in every step of this process. The workflow that makes sense in this world is to capture a scene with a wide latitude that has the most overhead to make corrections in post. Final color looks are rarely “baked-in” on the set.
Then comes inexpensive video capable DSLRs and the world of micro production and filmmaking is opened up to a much wider audience. The barrier to entry for creating high quality cinema style motion images is lowered … Continue Reading
There are a couple of slots left for the Shane Hurlbut HDSLR Bootcamp and the registration period has been extended thru this weekend. I am totally psyched about being there and learning from Shane and his team. Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn from a master and jump up several levels of filmmaking from where you are currently at. Email Anne at info@hdslrbootcamp.com and tell her you are a PhotoCineNews reader to get an amazing discount.
