News From Here & There

You Don't Need A Light With This Camera
Rick Darge took the Sony NEX-FS100 out at night, no extra lights, and got spectacular results in low light at -30db (that's reportedly the equivalent of 16000 ISO!).
This camera can 'see' in the dark better than the human eye can. Used 2 Canon k35 Superspeed PL lenses. An 18mm T1.5 and a 24mm T1.6. Picture Profile was set to CinemaGamma2. Detail was shaved off by 3 points. Contrast was lowered by 3 points as well. Used the MTF PL adapter.
Vimeo: Sony FS100 - 30db Night-time Test
CineTechnica: Sony FS100 Ratings and Dynamic Range

Speaking of the NEX-FS100, Mitch Gross of AbleCine posted a photo of NEX-FS100's waiting to be shipped!: yfrog



Overcranking the PMW-F3
Greg Hren shows what you can do over-cranking the PMW-F3 with a short video made in Wompatuck State Park, MA
Vimeo: Behind the Scenes: Vol 24 Overcranking the Sony F3



The End Of Film
Just last week I was speculating wildly about the end of film in a conversation with a friend, and here comes Ben Dobbin from the AP with an article about just that topic:
Equally startling has been the plunge in film camera sales over the last decade. Domestic purchases have tumbled from 19.7 million cameras in 2000 to 280,000 in 2009 and might dip below 100,000 this year, says Yukihiko Matsumoto, the Jackson, Mich.-based association's chief researcher.
Film will mostly be gone by the end of the decade....
Yahoo.com: How much longer can photographic film hold on?



A Rough And Tough Camera
The Sony NEX-FS100 has pretty much sucked all of the oxygen out of the HXR-NX70 announcement, a small ruggedized camcorder which could be the perfect choice for those routinely shooting in wet and dusty condiitons. It's interesting to note that to receive IPX54 certification it had to:
...stand up to 8 hours of agitation in a dust test chamber plus 10 minutes of continuous water flow from 25 different spray nozzles in a spray water test.
CineTechNews: Sony HXR-NX70



Editing "Thor"
An article in the latest issue of Editors Guild Magazine features Paul Rubell, the editor for the movie Thor. Much of the article focuses on the movie itself, and interaction with the movies director; Kenneth Branagh. There's also some notes about the 3D conversion.
Rubell also discusses the numerous hurdles in editing Thor: “The biggest challenges were juggling the range of tones and settling on the right amount of back story needed to jump into a complex mythological world.” As an example, he offers, “In the comics, Thor’s warrior friends were very broadly drawn, even bordering on slapstick at times. We spent quite a lot of time modulating this in the film. And we eventually added a kind of prologue, which sets the historical scene so that the audience doesn’t have to work quite so hard to catch up with the story and characters.”
EditorsGuild: May the Norse be with You



Scriptwriter? Get Thee A Manager!
John August is skeptical himself, but he had Justin Marks - a scriptwriter who comparatively recently came to his success - explain why he believes having a manager is a good idea for a scriptwriter:
Here’s the thing about the writers who say you don’t need a manager: chances are they “broke in” during a very different era. As early as five years ago, there were better DVD sales, a writers’ strike that hadn’t yet happened, and far more studios willing to spend far more money on the development of scripts.

Today, not so much. There are fewer screenwriters being paid to do what they do. Even if you’re an established writer, it means doing a lot more work for free, competing with a lot more writers for assignments, and accepting significantly less than your quote for the assignments you get.
JohnAugust: Get a manager



Keeping It Real
Filmmaker Paul Anitco - who's currently finishing up The Visualmakers about filmmakers taking advantage of low-cost digital tools - offers three tips for inspiration:
People want to see something they can relate to in their heart, in their mind’s eye as possible and real. Even in fantasy or scifi genres, what you might think couldn’t be “real” certainly can feel that way if you keep your style and methods honest, true, and close to the core that is you personally as a filmmaker.
MasteringFilm: Three Ways to Keep Your Film Real






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