Keep Rolling

There are long shots in film and then there are really long shots in film. I've always been fascinated by filmmakers that try to compose their film of only a few shots or even one. It's hard enough to try to put a film together but it's on another level trying to do everything in one take. Imagine making a film with over 10 minute takes and on minute 9 an actor screws up his line, now that film is now completely wasted. In Hitchcock's 1948 film Rope the director tried to create a film with only 11 shots, at the time this was a crazy notion and even crazier for a Hollywood film.

Andy Warhol and filmmaker Jonas Mekas' film Empire took the next step in 1964 when they created this 485 minute experimental film. Using 16mm film allowed the duo to now have up to 33 minute takes rather than being further restricted by 35mm film.

With the invention of the digital medium all the restriction were lifted, there was no longer a need to unload and re-load film and now the one take film could be created. Timecode, Russian Ark, PVC-1 and La casa muda are all feature length films that were shot in one take. It's something truly special to see how these films work and just thinking about making a film like this makes my brain hurt. 

But the long takes don't stop there! Birdman staring Michael Keaton has just been released in four theaters and much like Rope the film only consists of a few takes but looks as if there are none. So there it is kids, take risks, fail and then take some more cause you never know what can happen. 

Full Frame Craze

Over the past few weeks, some big name camera manufacturers came out with their cheapest full frame DSLR's. This includes Canon's 6D, Nikon's D600, and Sony's A99.

See links:
Nikon D600
Canon 6D
Sony A99

Nowadays many people have DSLR's, including almost every Park student. They are becoming a new way for amateur and professional filmmakers alike to enhance their movies. From a student production to The Avengers (which wrecked quite a few 5D's for their stunt shots), they are becoming increasingly popular for a few reasons. They are relatively inexpensive, produce crisp images, are small in size, and have a wide range of lenses that can be used on them. Not only that, but many DSLR's are now FX (or full frame) which makes them ideal for filmmakers who want to keep the 35mm sensor like all professional cameras have.

One downside to this is that everyone who owns a DSLR thinks they are a photographer or cinematographer. People overuse rack focuses and a shallow DOF. Sure anyone can make good looking images or shots, but that doesn't mean that it adds anything to a story or enhances it. I am glad though that everyone can have access to a DSLR because you never know who may be the next great Director of Photography. Who knows maybe it is someone here at Ithaca or in our class.

Back to the three new FX DSLR's that have been introduced recently, they are all in the same price range (being around $2,000 body only) and have similar technical specs including: megapixels, wifi capability, screen size and HD video formats and frame rates. No matter what brand of camera you already own or plan to buy, you will be able to produce very similar and comparable results. Canon vs Nikon vs Sony is like trying to compare three different types of apples. You can get the same result as the others. It is all about what you can do with the equipment that you have.