I'm a performer who's been interested in learning cinematography and facing that creative fear.I already do my own editing and directing and storyboarding (shot composition) and writing, and I already directed one really short film, but I wanted to know how to use basic cinematography tools like cameras and lenses and light fixtures.I've been researching and buying camera and lighting products for maybe couple of years, all basic, affordable stuff.But I'm exhausted and I feel like I've been wasting my time. Some doubt is definitely creeping in. I'm gonna use the tools on a short film I'm currently storyboarding, but I have a feeling I'm going about this the wrong way.When did it get easier for you?
>>4378162No one on this board actually DOES anything except argue about gear. So you're already miles ahead of anyone who's going to answer you. Also this board has only a literal handful of people who shoot video.
>>4378162>>4378163Yeah same feeling here, OP is already miles ahead of the vast majority here, i am still in the saving-for-video phase, let alone lighting products or having any of sort of backing to do any kind of filming.
Researching gear is largely a waste of time due to the rapid pace of iteration and development in the space. You should basically only do it when you immediately have a budget to spend or a project or gig that requires it.Working on pre-pro like you’re doing is the only thing that’s going to materially improve your work, second only to actually making it and releasing it. Make, learn, repeat.
>>4378162How to gear:Avoid fuji, panasonic, olympus, nikon, leica, hasselblad, and anything discontinued or old. Autist use bad things sometimes ie: linux, thinkpads, miatas without power steering, suzuki sportbikes. Don’t listen to them. 4chan is an autism website. Just buy a nice canon or sony and some high CRI lighting and fuck off and be creative. You can literally shoot a feature film with the canon r8+kit lens+cheap gimbal. Equipment is good these days, if you’re canon/sony.
>>4378206autists finna spam 3 dead sonies and that bugged out r5ii now because you insulted the autism brands (panasonic and olympus)
It gets easier in steps and then it gets harder again. And that cycle repeats itself. In the beginning everything is hard and difficult to comprehend. 1. There is the artistic side (which is most important) and there is so much to it. The composition, how shots flow together, how you light, how you move or don't move the camera, what height the camera is, what the white balance is, what focal lenght you use etc. etc. What is the INTENTION of every visual storytelling decision you make. How do you visualize drama in an interesting way and in a way that is properly suited for the story you are telling. 2. There is the technical side, so things like codecs, framerates, bit depth, resolution, etc. Lots of numbers, lots of things to think about. Perhaps the most important thing is exposure and how you make your exposure choices. Exposure is a technical and a creative decision always. You always try to link the creative and technical aspects together.3. Then there's the gear and not just specs but also the know-how about the gear. How do you use the gear efficiently, how you rig stuff, how do you move gear, how you decide what you need and don't. There's also lots of logistical thinking involved, understanding when to move gear, how long different setups take etc. It doesn't really matter how grand your creative goals are if you can't execute them from a logistical and technical standpoint.4. A cinematographer/DOP is a department head. So big part of the job is not just about you having creative intent in your head, but it is also about communicating that effectively to the gaffer, to your camera assistants, to your key grip and his team etc. Huge part of being a good DOP is also understanding and working together with the other department heads working under the director. You need to know how to communicate with the production designer, the costume designer etc. and understand how you combine your efforts with their work in the best possible manner.
>>4378214Part 2:(4. continued) So you a team leader as the cinematographer, which takes lots of social skills. You need to be able to communicate clearly with different personalities and lead and manage people. Making movies is a huge team effort and you need to understand that.5. Lighting is a huge part of cinematography and it is often the thing beginners neglect, just like they neglect stuff like set design and costume desing, which like lighting affect cinematography massively. With lighting there is also the technical side, there is the logistical side: what lights to use, how heavy they are, how to rig them, how long does it take to rig them and so on. And of course the creative side of lighting is huge, but also undestanding that often the use of light also affects how you are going to expose or how you are forced to expose. At least for me it was impossible in the beginning to comprehend all these things at once. So like with everything you start to learn, you start from something. I decided to start focusing my early learning on exposure. How to get the best out of whatever camera you are using and knowing strengths and weaknesses of different cameras. Then of course shoot a lot because you need also the feel for the camera and especially at the beginning you are mostly operating yourself, so you need to know how to shoot from sticks, how to do handheld, how to pull your own focus etc. After I got hang of the white balance, exposure triangle and handling of the camera, I started moving more into lighting. How to use basic c-stands and smaller light fixtures. How to manipulate existing light to your benefit, from what angles to light if you use external sources etc. Lighting in my opinion is something you never really master fully, you always learn something new. But lots of people especially from the videography side, who try to move into cinematography, often seem to struggle with lighting and how you use it in storytelling.
>>4378219After I got a decent handle on basic exposure and basic lighting, my work improved a little. A lot of it is just brute force repetition. You shoot lots of shitty student movies where the crew has various skill levels. Some of them are really motivated, some of them are are there just for the credits and they don't give a shit. Some of them are really passionate but they don't even know the basics of whatever role they are doing, or they didn't prepare enough. So you are constantly running out of time on set and you also yourself make lots of stupid mistakes. You just keep grinding and making shitty movies with shitty scripts and most likely your visual storytelling is as shitty as the directing, acting, writing and sound are. Then every now and then you actually have a crew that is also pretty good and you guys together and maybe you make something that is half-decent. Maybe even good. At some point as a DP I realized that I need to get even better at exposure and better at lighting. And then I also realized a bit later that it isn't enough how I expose and how I want the lighting to be, I also need to understand set design, costumes etc. Because without those elements, the cinematography isn't fully working.
>>4378220And really understanding how to communicate with different people on set is so crucially important to make the cinematography work. You need to be creative and also have experience to understand how to execute things. Learning how to prepare shoots is super important, it is overall perhaps the most important things. At least to me the prep is the most crucial part of cinematography. That's where you come up with the core creative, logistical and technical decisions. Then on set it is more about executing those decisions and not just running and gunning. Usually if you are constantly having to think up things on the fly, it tends not to work very well. Or you go with the first idea that pops up in your head because you are under stress and speed. End of my little rambling blog post. I am a freelancer cinematographer and camer assistant. Currently in the phase of my career where I am doing mostly low to mid buget commercials and shortly breaking into features (which is my end goal). I have experiences as a lighting technician, best, boy, gaffer, 1st and 2nd AC and as a cinematographer. Also done some grip work here and there. Spent a pretty long time in university shooting lots of shitty student films, music videos etc. but learned a lot from that process and I actually made a living during my studies from filmmaking related things. During the end of my studies managed to get couple of short movies and a documentary to bigger festivals. So I am not a high end DP or anything yet, but I do work in the industry and the things I wrote may be of help. Or not. I don't know. It's a very hard business, always has been. Might be worse now than ever to get into it, the competition is so severe, AI is coming and shit. But majority of the people that have historically made it are not necessarily the most talented. But they tend to be very resilient and keep getting up after they've been knocked down.
>>4378163>>4378167God bless you guys.
>>4378214>>4378219>>4378220>Zero replies on this effortpost Yeah /p/ee is dead. Thank you anon. I hope you make it in the feature film industry. Fuck you OP
>>4379410You missed the comment directly above yours.
>>4379410>Zero replies on this effortpostI don't even have a video-capable camera despite reading tons of theory, how can i interact with these replies without feeling guilty that i know how to command a gaffer but not how to set a normal shutter rule?
>>4379412You can at least say him thank you for writing a mini essay for you. >i know how to command a gaffer but not how to set a normal shutter rule?If you are not addicted to feeling guilt then you can start by reading a technical book.
>>4379410How about a screencap from my shitty phone?[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]Camera-Specific Properties:Image-Specific Properties:Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution300 dpiVertical Resolution300 dpiColor Space InformationUncalibratedImage Width2048Image Height2048
>>4379418Oops, wrong pic.
>>4379412>but not how to set a normal shutter rule?Also if you know your aesthetics and writing as a director then don't worry about technical shit. Most directors know fuck all about technical shite. For Bergman diffusing light was with parchment paper was somehow a god-tier technical trick, kek.
>>4379419good shit
>>4379421>Most directors know fuck all about technical shite.Directing is easy, just expensive. I don't have the money so i need to know the basics for cinematography, audio, writing and lighting. I already got into photography years ago to the point of loving it and i am now training a little bit with writing, then the union of both which is editing-montage, then lighting is next and i will probably relegate audio to a buddy.Writing is hard because when you put details and intention into paper it all feels awkward, campy, cringeworthy, i feel like a beatnik huffing farts trying to explain something as basic as why a character is in a bad mood.
>>4378162for me all that changes is that you know how to solve more problems but there are always new problems. maybe just become comfortable with not always having everything figured out. nothing wrong with that
>>4379427I would suggest you to join a film production crew if you want to learn technical shit. And meanwhile keep working on your scripts and ideas.
>>4378227I missed this post but this ending line is wicked good:"But they tend to be very resilient and keep getting up after they've been knocked down."
>>4379429>I would suggest you to join a film production crewDoesn't exist in my area in a professional way, some independents tried it but they are either very individual or tight-knit, i was friend of a group but since the pandemic i lost contact or play silly with the idea, can't get a job here even for free.It's a really shitty spot but the good thing is getting noticed is fairly easy when done.
>>4378214These posts are cool, thanks man.
>>4379469Btw, I'm OP. Tried to reply to this sooner but the thread was actually archived and then brought back.
>>4379450learn whatever you can on your own for one year. and then go to a film school.
