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iOS 17 Tips, Tricks, How-Tos, News

Dichromatic Disaster: Teal and Orange Everywhere

I'm really glad someone finally wrote this article. Todd Miro @ Into The Abyss details the teal and orange look that's pervading mainstream and independent films. In essence, because orange is the color that is the closest to skin tone, DI colorists are forcing its complementary color - teal - into the image. It's a simple trick that, when used subtly, can create color contrast and really pop an image. Unfortunately, more often than not, actors look like Snooki's cousin and trees and shadows ...

Shot on 7D: Ruins of Failaka Island, Kuwait

In January of this year, I went to Kuwait with director Fawaz Al-Matrouk to complete photography for the film "To Rest In Peace". We shot the majority of the film in Southern California, duping air force bases, homes, and beaches for authentic Kuwaiti locations. Because traveling was a significant theme for the film, we went to the small, nearly deserted island of Failaka (about 20km off the mainland). Captured by the Iraqi army and deserted by its citizens almost 20 years ago, this island wa...

The King's Speech (DP: Danny Cohen)

New trailer for "The King's Speech", directed by Tom Hooper (John Adams,The Damned United) and shot by Danny Cohen (John Adams,Pirate Radio). Really interesting use of framing (shortsided and headroom) and lenses. Among other things, it's refreshing to see the filmmakers choose to shoot a CU with a 24mm that's a foot below the eyeline instead of the conventional 180mm CU that feels like you're in another county.

News: HDR Video - FINALLY!

Soviet Montage put together this great demonstration of HDR (high dynamic range) video. Using 2 Canon 5D Mark II's, they used a beam splitter to create video images that previously have only been possible in still photography.

News: Roger Ebert Hates 3D

I'm particularly interested in his point about 3D being darker. I saw Avatar in 3D with 2 different projection systems: RealD 3D and 3D at the Arclight Dome. Both times, throughout the film, I snuck a peak over my glasses and saw the colors and exposure at the saturation and brightness I thought the DP (haha) intended. It looked beautiful. The colors were more saturated and I could see important story information in the shadows. When you're losing over a stop of light transmission through tho...

News: Eulogy for Kodachrome

Matt Zoller Seitz from Salon.com writes this beautiful ode to Kodachrome. "To shoot a roll of film was to take a leap of faith. The digital evolution has eliminated a lot of uncertainty from the process, and that's probably a net gain -- especially if you're an amateur shutterbug. Unfortunately, some other, wonderful elements have disappeared as well: mystery, poetry and the element of chance."

News: Shoot Anamorphic with a Clamp?

Here is a Philip Bloom Meet Up in Key West where they spent the day shooting Anamorphic, with an anamorphic clamp. I don't think this video looks that great, but Im not sure if its the clamp or the lenses they used in the clamp. The Anamorphic Clamp available for $75 USD at vid-atlantic.com/anamorphic