Hybrid camera, Piccolo and Colour Grading
Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 1:00 pm
Hybrids
Fast forward to the digital age the film amateur is working with equipment capable of delivering very fine image quality... Still cameras are now hybrids for both motion pictures ad stills ... That's what Ned Cordery wrote somewhere.
When seeing the still camera on the front page of "Film&Video Maker" I would like to buy one. Tom Hardwick presented the Sony A7RMk5 and the 20-7mm f/4 zoom, formidable £4,100 (street price). Together with this camera I would also like to have a new Casablanca 4 Piccolo small and already full fledged 4K UHD video editing system, £1,700. And why not a new 4K TV-set?
I fear falling behind if I don't invest in my future. It all costs about £7,000. Can I afford this? Maybe, but with tears in my eyes I think it is wise only to write scripts in the future. Let's call it making films on paper... I feel I can no longer cross the newest technological bridges. But if you are younger than me, and more energetic, and creative, and aiming for the best quality and relatively well off, please, buy the new camera and piccolo!
With tape and glue
Do you remember the time when footage was hand cut and attached with tape and later with glue? I never did it, but some friends did. It all changed around the turn of the century. The editing technigues changed dramatically. Also the cameras. Old amateur filmmakers dropped out. I was relatively young. I bought a casablanca. I had only written and read narrations for friends. But in 1998 I started to edit movies. It became a passion. Now, we are 25 years later. I'm 77. Approaching 80. Time for dropping out myself?
Colour grading
Two years ago I asked a friend to do camera work for me. I had made more than one hundred pencil sketches. It was my picture story! I would direct and edit everything. He had a Sony FS5 video camera. Just like mine. But we started a heavy discussion. It was extremely difficult. He is much younger and studied at a filmschool. I am "only" an autodidact. The word "only" sounded shocking an denigrating. He had just bought a still camera. A hybrid! He insisted on trying out his own brand new camera. Thinking of my backache I let him do. But I was surprised when he took all the footage home. He had used his hybrid camera and colour grading was a necessity, he said. He wanted to manipulate the images to create the right tones throughout my film. He made me desperate. It took months and months and could not do any editing. Moreover he claimed that the format would not fit my casablanca. Obviously I let my film slip out of my hands. But me, I felt like "The Old man and the Sea", I persisted.
No experience
I didn't agree about the colours he had chosen. The green in my garden had a orange tint. The trees seemed to be very unnatural. He claimed his tan was more professional. Apparently he didn't have any experience in colour grading. I went to his house and I chose the colours myself. Eventually I could edit my movie and I felt it had remained my own creation. But to be honest, it had taken sweat and tears. On the IAC-forum I explained what had happened to me. But not in a detailed way. If you are plagued by back pains do not stop making films, a very kind IAC-lady said. But try to find a reliable person who does what you want to achieve. In one of the next issues of FVM I will tell you what I have decided to do. I want to be free from stressful situations. Making films must be fun!!!!!
Fast forward to the digital age the film amateur is working with equipment capable of delivering very fine image quality... Still cameras are now hybrids for both motion pictures ad stills ... That's what Ned Cordery wrote somewhere.
When seeing the still camera on the front page of "Film&Video Maker" I would like to buy one. Tom Hardwick presented the Sony A7RMk5 and the 20-7mm f/4 zoom, formidable £4,100 (street price). Together with this camera I would also like to have a new Casablanca 4 Piccolo small and already full fledged 4K UHD video editing system, £1,700. And why not a new 4K TV-set?
I fear falling behind if I don't invest in my future. It all costs about £7,000. Can I afford this? Maybe, but with tears in my eyes I think it is wise only to write scripts in the future. Let's call it making films on paper... I feel I can no longer cross the newest technological bridges. But if you are younger than me, and more energetic, and creative, and aiming for the best quality and relatively well off, please, buy the new camera and piccolo!
With tape and glue
Do you remember the time when footage was hand cut and attached with tape and later with glue? I never did it, but some friends did. It all changed around the turn of the century. The editing technigues changed dramatically. Also the cameras. Old amateur filmmakers dropped out. I was relatively young. I bought a casablanca. I had only written and read narrations for friends. But in 1998 I started to edit movies. It became a passion. Now, we are 25 years later. I'm 77. Approaching 80. Time for dropping out myself?
Colour grading
Two years ago I asked a friend to do camera work for me. I had made more than one hundred pencil sketches. It was my picture story! I would direct and edit everything. He had a Sony FS5 video camera. Just like mine. But we started a heavy discussion. It was extremely difficult. He is much younger and studied at a filmschool. I am "only" an autodidact. The word "only" sounded shocking an denigrating. He had just bought a still camera. A hybrid! He insisted on trying out his own brand new camera. Thinking of my backache I let him do. But I was surprised when he took all the footage home. He had used his hybrid camera and colour grading was a necessity, he said. He wanted to manipulate the images to create the right tones throughout my film. He made me desperate. It took months and months and could not do any editing. Moreover he claimed that the format would not fit my casablanca. Obviously I let my film slip out of my hands. But me, I felt like "The Old man and the Sea", I persisted.
No experience
I didn't agree about the colours he had chosen. The green in my garden had a orange tint. The trees seemed to be very unnatural. He claimed his tan was more professional. Apparently he didn't have any experience in colour grading. I went to his house and I chose the colours myself. Eventually I could edit my movie and I felt it had remained my own creation. But to be honest, it had taken sweat and tears. On the IAC-forum I explained what had happened to me. But not in a detailed way. If you are plagued by back pains do not stop making films, a very kind IAC-lady said. But try to find a reliable person who does what you want to achieve. In one of the next issues of FVM I will tell you what I have decided to do. I want to be free from stressful situations. Making films must be fun!!!!!