The News

Hollywood’s Biggest Bang for Its Buck | Economix | The New York Times
This is fascinating:
The genre with the biggest box office R.O.I. was actually documentary, with domestic box office returns averaging 12 times the original production budget, and global returns at nearly 27 times the original budget. 


VIDEO: ARE ALL NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS CREATED EQUAL? TRUE ND SAY NO | News Shooter
Interesting piece about Neutral Density filters:
Like most people I have never really taken the time to look into how ND filters shift colour, so the results were quite surprising. While a lot of modern day video cameras have built-in ND and IR protection even these can produce a certain amount of colour shift.


Say Hello to Rec. 2020, the Color Space of the Future | Wolfcrow
Rec. 2020 is the designated color space for ultra high definition TV, or UHDTV, in both its variants: 4K and 8K. It gets its name from the standards classification: ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020. Rec stands for ‘recommendation’.


MediaStorm Guide to Setting Up Shots | MediaStorm
Here’s how Director of Photography Rick Gershon explains it, “When you ask a person to repeat something, you’re no longer documenting what’s real. You’re making your subject act. The implication is that what they’re doing is not good enough. 


How To Create Something From Nothing On the #BMCC | Den Lennie | F-Stop Academy
I always begin with the 18mm lens. I settle on an establishing shot. I call this the postcard shot. If you imagine you were hired to shoot a postcard of the place you are in what would you show in one frame that would best represent they scene that you are seeing? This has the added benefit of allowing you to survey the scene and look for other interesting shots


First Full-Quality ProRes Clips from the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Have Been Released | No Film School
Dynamic range looks pretty good in these test clips. The footage has a very similar look to the original BMCC, and that makes perfect sense since they are supposedly from the same sensor family — with the Pocket simply being a scaled down version. 


3-Axis Brushless Gimbal Camera Rig From China For $1,000 Delivered | Cinescopophilia
Everyone is making brushless gimbals now:
One of the good things about Aliexpress is you don’t have to buy in bulk like other online wholesale platforms, instead it’s very easy to purchase a one off item. So a Chinese 3-axis brushless gimbal camera rig will set you back just US$1,068.00 with free shipping.


WHY MOST MODERN ACTION FILMS ARE TERRIBLE | Nick Schager | Roger Ebert
By employing directors with backgrounds in drama, the studios hope action-heavy films will be infused with greater depth. The catch, however, is that drama directors are usually inexperienced at, and thus incapable of, properly handling their material that is the film's main selling point, or one of them.


Apple’s evolving view of “pro” | Ken Segall
What is Apple's grand plan for their "pro" apps? Who do they think will buy the upcoming Mac Pro?
So Steve ultimately renewed his commitment to the pros—but he never said that this commitment wouldn’t evolve. Clearly Apple has changed its thinking about the pro market, and how it can best serve its pro users. Some won’t like it, but basically it’s the difference between Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X.

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