News From Here & There

A Big Year For Cameras
Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur writes that "2011 promises to be the most exciting yet for professional shooters," and looks at what has come, and what might be just around the corner.

The article opens with a little hint of conspiracy theory:
The other problem I suspect has been the case for a long time is that Japanese companies seem to have informal agreements with each other. No one likes to shame another company by bringing out something that is so much better than any one else’s product.
And yet in talking about whether Canon will release something that competes with the Panasonic AG-AF100, he lists four very different reasons why they might not, and doesn't include the conspiracy theory:
  1. They may be very happy with selling DSLR’s and don’t want to take away potential sales in that area.
  2. It’s not cost effective for them to build a Hybrid DSLR/Video camera at this point in time.
  3. They are waiting to see what everyone else has done and then respond.
  4. They are planning on building a more high end camera to compete in a completely different market.

Also overlooked; the upcoming Sony NXCAM 35mm camera (though interestingly, the release of this camera probably won't be that startling, following on as it does from the Panasonic AG-AF100 and Sony PMW-F3.)

One good piece of advice; spend your money on lenses; they will probably last you longer than the camera!
DSLR News Shooter: 2011 A big your for cameras? An opinion by Al Jazeera Cameraman Matt Allard



Capturing the News in Cairo
And DSLR News Shooter also has an article by Duncan Sharp about shooting the Cairo revolution with a Canon 5D Mark II.
DSLR News Shooter: Duncan Sharp Capturing The Cairo Revolution For Sky News HD On A Canon 5DMKII



Gale Tattersall Interview
Photo Cine News has an interview with House Director of Photography, Gale Tattersall.
Tattersall told me there are two things to know as a cinematographer; you have to know how to compress life into the medium you are using. For example if you are shooting digital video how do you shoot a scene so that it reflects the almost limitless latitude of the human eye while contending with the technological limits of the medium. And second, you have to know what you want to your audience to look at, at that point in time in the story.
Photo Cine News: The Cinematography Arc – An Interview WIth House MD DP Gale Tattersall



Alexa vs. RED One
Another comparison video; this time, the Arri Alexa and RED One camera.
Pampuri's Blog: ARRI Alexa VS Red One Mx … suite …




Employing the Art of Editing Seminar by Thomas Ethan Harris
Eric Harnden writes about his experience at an editing seminar given by Thomas Harris:
What did we learn [from these two clips]?  Both great movies.  Both with pretty much the same scene.  There was some differences in the cutting.  Did the quicker cuts feed the frenzy of the later film? Yes.  Take away from this portion of the program: study these two scenes ('cause I can't describe all the cuts to you) and see what differences you can see.

The whole night and the entirety of my review will be a "go do some homework and improve your filmmaking" primer. 
Quintessential's Posterous: In the Cut: Employing the Art of Editing, My Impressions, Part Deux and Tr3s




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