Any DPs ON THIS FORUM?!?

[edwardlavender]

hey guys,

I was wondering if there are any DPs on this forum...

or for you Canadian Users, DOPs...

and in case you don't know what I'm talking about.
DP = Director of Photography (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCinemat ographer&ei=c278Rq6IDI6meu365ckC&usg=AFQjCNEMcZDdk5mnQS4Jyl61mvfgi6B5OA&sig2=d_RZdJbMwrKk7IAgzj3OPA)

I was wondering if there's anybody in here that likes this aspect of filmmaking and if they have any examples of there skills.

I'd love to check some out. I always love looking at an amazing piece of cinematography.

get at me

-zac

[WesScog]

I was the DP, edited part of it, Co-Director, Co-Writer, Lighting, sound, and Steadicam operator on that Public Service Announcement I posted.

I always film my own things.

[edwardlavender]

Well, aren't you just a Jack of all Trades, haha. That's cool Wes. But if my memory serves me correctly, you're more of an SPFX boy.

I'm talking about people who have a style when they shoot. People who are just honing their craft as a cinematographer. People that just want to be a DP and that's that (and then MAYBE go on to directing.)

I know that probably 85% of the people on this forum do everything on their flicks by themselves by default.

But is there anybody on this forum that just really wants to go into DPing? Or is learning to DP that has examples of their work?

-zac

[WesScog]

I want to be a Writer/Director and I want to be the Cinematographer, I couldn't imagine Directing a film and not doing the DP myself.

I don't really have an interest in being a SFX guy, I don't want to be Stan Winston, I want to Direct a film, and not have to hire Stan Winston and cut my budget some more because I don't have to hire a big name effects guy.

Knowing how to create illusion is important to me, and knowing how to edit, knowing lighting, knowing sound and sound editing, knowing prop construction, knowing cinematography,
knowing SFX, are all important to me, because it makes me a more rounded film maker, and i'm constantly thinking about how all the parts are going to converge into a great whole.

[KenOchalek]

As a career, I'm focusing more on post-production and editing, but I've earned a reputation among my video friends as being the "DP". I do really love designing shot compositions and shooting though, so its cool.

I lit and shot this short with some friends back in January:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erM3KhqozxA


And then I shot and did the all the editing and effects on this a few weeks ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxzCQFShKXU

And I really like shooting bands too (though I don't get to do it very often). The lighting is kind of spotty, especially on the drummer. I had a light set up on stage, but it fell during the set, and I couldn't get up there to fix it.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbXvt5YjUCQ

[edwardlavender]

Ken,

I loved the videos man. All of them looked fantastic. The first one, I dug a lot, and the acting was actually good. You don't see that often.

You're like my new favorite poster on this forum haha.

-zac

[WesScog]

As a career, I'm focusing more on post-production and editing, but I've earned a reputation among my video friends as being the "DP". I do really love designing shot compositions and shooting though, so its cool.

I lit and shot this short with some friends back in January:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erM3KhqozxA


And then I shot and did the all the editing and effects on this a few weeks ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxzCQFShKXU

And I really like shooting bands too (though I don't get to do it very often). The lighting is kind of spotty, especially on the drummer. I had a light set up on stage, but it fell during the set, and I couldn't get up there to fix it.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbXvt5YjUCQ


I loved the first one, I kept on expecting it to become something unexpected, and it kept on getting more and more uncomfortable until BAM, hit me, and it was great.

It was increasingly unsettling, funny, then really eerie, in that order.

Great job man.

[edwardlavender]

Alright so we have one DP sample here...anybody else a DP?

-zac

[WesScog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHWYSFLKeVE

This is the only surviving copy of my work, and i'm unhappy with it.

I need to shoot more things more often, but the feature i've been working on that I was going to be DP is still in pre-production.

[edwardlavender]

Hey I watched that video, it was pretty decent man. It was a high school thing tho right? Did you even have lights and shit?

Don't even think twice about it...it was good.

-zac

p.s. eager for you to get that feature going. I love watching films made by peers.

[WesScog]

Hey I watched that video, it was pretty decent man. It was a high school thing tho right? Did you even have lights and shit?

Don't even think twice about it...it was good.

-zac

p.s. eager for you to get that feature going. I love watching films made by peers.

Yea, my girlfriend (who is leads the Highschool's TV network thing) was commissioned by the school to produce a Anti-Drunk driving PSA before Prom.

We came up with the general idea, kidnapped a few actors from the Drama department, and shot the entire thing in about 4 hours. (2 hours one night, 2 hours the next) and got the fire department and local authorities involved.

One of the girls crying near the end, her Father owned a car wrecking place, and she said she could get us a busted up car if she could be in it.

So, we busted out some windows, I splashed some fake blood around, and bam there you go.

Me and my Galpal edited it in about 4 hours, so total production time was 8 hours, and no money spent.

Fake blood was provided by the Journalism teacher, make-up was provided by the girls, costumes were self-provided, car was provided by the girls father, and the Authorities were happy to co-operate as long as they thought they were making a difference.

There is a LOT of weakness in it, but i'm proud of what we were able to accomplish on no budget, with the clock ticking to shoot and edit it.

But I was steadicam operator, SFX supervisor, Co-Director, Co-Writer, sound editor, DP, and art director.

The crew was me and my girlfriend, we had no boom mic (it wasn't completed and operational at this time.), and no lighting.

It played on the Schoolwide network (about 123 TV's, and 1000 students), I think 8 times so far (they play it before every dance) and on local TV twice, with an extended viewership of 500,000+, but thats just POSSIBLE viewers, really I have no idea how many actually saw it, probably a few thousand at most since it was on local news at 10.

This is the video stream edited down to a SD steam, so it doesn't look at good, and we didn't have time to boost a lot of audio, but I think we did an admirably job, even though it doesn't show what all I can do.

The Feature is going to be interesting, I am Co-Director, DP, SFX guy, and lighting.

It's a very cheap kind of "Requiem for a Dream" type story, about greed and addiction.

It was written by a high school buddy of mine, and he saw my work, and wants me on the project, right now we're waiting for the weather to cool, and for the actors to get a few days off.

And i'm going to be shooting my tutorial on how to make a person look like a ghost tonight, and i'm going to be DP on that as well.

[edwardlavender]

why don't you do one or the other. Most of the time...co-directors butt heads a lot. I'm just making a suggestion. Plus, if this is your first legit feature...it may be too much to handle. Never put too much on your plate.
I understand that you wanna go rodriguez on this thing but just don't bite off more than you can chew. That can hurt the production. My advise would be to just DP this thing. There will always be more features in the future. I have a feature i'm getting off the ground and wouldn't dream of cluttering my head with other jobs. Focus on one thing until you are a bit more experienced in feature work.

again...just a suggestion and you definately don't have to listen to it. Only trying to help.

-zac

[WesScog]

Oh I know, but there is no one I trust for any of the jobs, the entire crew for the film, is less than 8 people.

That's all actors, all editors, all sound mixers, directors, writers, everything.

Me and my friend have a kind of convergence of vision on the project, and we don't want anyone else muddling it up.

Not to mention I can do all of the jobs pretty easy, it's not super hard.

[edwardlavender]

I thought you went to a film school...or at least a film class. Unless there's only 7 people in that class...you should be able to get more than that together for a crew. The more hands you have. The easier the shoot will go. You don't have to pay them, people will usually help for nothing or at the most a $1 menu cheeseburger.

and if you cant find them in school...try craigs list.

remember. Just because you can do all the jobs doesn't mean you should. Delegate some of those responsibilities. You'll eventually burn yourself out if you do everything yourself all the time. And you should always give people the benefit of the doubt.

-zac

[WesScog]

I thought you went to a film school...or at least a film class. Unless there's only 7 people in that class...you should be able to get more than that together for a crew. The more hands you have. The easier the shoot will go. You don't have to pay them, people will usually help for nothing or at the most a $1 menu cheeseburger.

and if you cant find them in school...try craigs list.

remember. Just because you can do all the jobs doesn't mean you should. Delegate some of those responsibilities. You'll eventually burn yourself out if you do everything yourself all the time. And you should always give people the benefit of the doubt.

-zac



I started film school a few weeks ago, this is a high school buddy.

I've been in college for about two years now, but I HAD been going after a Psychology degree until I realized that I was way too... "Wacky" for that.

But, I haven't really met anyone else that I trust really with anything, I mean, I know editing, I know how I want it to look, I trust my sound and music person she is a genius, and my buddy is a great writer, I don't really feel like I need additional help.

MAYBE, if I find out its too much work, but for right now, i'm fine with the project as is.

[edwardlavender]

That's cool Wes, just remember, on movie sets you meet people you've never met before in your life...and you kinda have to trust them. People can and most likely will surprise you. This is where the "benefit of the doubt" thing comes in handy. Besides, there's grip positions and PA positions that always need to be filled.

I'm not talking about Post Production. Post production is always different. You're out of the hectic schedule of the actual production. You can take all the time in the world with post production. Production, however, is much more hectic. Grab some guys from your class for grip work and PA work. If they want anything to do with film, they'll help you out.

-zac

[edwardlavender]

Cmon, is there anybody else that's a budding DP?

LETS SEE SOME HANDS!!!!!!!!

and some samples of your work!

-zac

[17thletterfilms]

I want to direct in the future, and I know I will be directing in the future. (Even if it is just independent stuff.) I wouldn't consider myself a DP but I do try to make most of my movies as visually interesting as possible. I know that sometimes they aren't as good cinematography-wise, as they could be, but I'm still learning. If you'd like to check them out go to www.17thletterfilms.com/films.html (http://www.17thletterfilms.com/films.html) Some of my best shots are in the film, "Untitled."

[edwardlavender]

rad. anyone else have any DPing samples of their work?

POST THEM!!

-zac

[WesScog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOiLvDPqJmE

Someone just told me it was terrible. :)

[Todd]

IMO, a DP can make or break a film. Ive seen movies with terrible scripts, poor acting, poor directing, but exceptional cinematography -> good enough to make me enjoy the film. Im sure if i sat here long enough, I could think of an example of the opposite too. The subliminal effect of the cinematography is just as powerful as any other aspect of film presentation.

[John the Fish]

There is a thread on DVXuser similar to this, however, most people over there do not have the same idea of a DP as most people here. Ill see if I can find the thread.

EDIT: it's not as long as I thought but there are some good points I thought.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=110346

[danson]

DP right here
all my stuff is too large for youtube and i dont have a site
i ned to find a good compressor or converter that wont destroy quality
any suggestions, if i find a good app ill post some stuff up.

[edwardlavender]

I'll believe it when I see it.


haha just kidding. but seriously find someone who can post them for you.


-zac

p.s. In regards to that DVXuser thread: Video can look like shit if you don't know what your doing with it. If you can make video look extremely good/artistic then you should be able to call yourself a DP.

You really should have two examples tho...(you may have gotten lucky on your first try. If you can make 2 really solid pieces of cinematography, then you are able to call yourself a cinematographer or a DP. That should be a good example of a DP...