Brett Noe Productions

On Monday, Walter Isaacson’s biography ‘Steve Jobs’ was released. I’ve been reading it and find it a fascinating story. From birth till death, with no varnish added and with most of the players still alive to add commentary, Isaacson has assembled Jobs life in a compelling book that really allows you to understand Steve Jobs better.

All is revealed and paints a picture of the man who, with Steve Wozniak, founded Apple, was ousted by John Sculley, founded Pixar and returned later to bring Apple back from the brink of destruction. Not the picture of an especially kind man or an easy going man but of a driven man who wanted to “..put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

I’m only on Chapter 12 and I can’t put it down. I’m reading it on my iPad and iPhone (which I think is apropos) and I’m finding it riveting. There is much to admire about the man but, also, much to condemn. It makes me look at myself with a different light. I see many of the same traits, thought processes and demons that drove him in myself; the amelioration of which would probably have made both of our lives happier and easier.

In any case, I highly recommend you read this book. You won’t be disappointed.

Steve Jobs died on Wednesday, October 5, 2011. I was deeply involved in a project that day and didn’t have the time or energy to explore my mind and feelings and work it all out. I’ve spent the days since going about my own life but also reflecting on what this all means to me.

The first PC came on the market in 1975 when I was 7 years old. My father purchased a TRS-80 when I was 9. That same year, 1977, a little movie called Star Wars was also released. So I think I can say, with total honesty, that the 9th year for a nerdy boy from Central Illinois was pretty special.

I was aware of Apple computers, I even knew people who had them. By 1980 we had gone a different route, we had An Atari 800. My dad was on the school board and convinced them that computers were worthwhile. So, we got two Atari 400 computers installed in the school library. We moved to Michigan and I started high school in 1982. My first use of an Apple IIe was in high school in the computer lab. In 1983 we got an Atari 800XL for my brother and me to use. I used it until I graduated high school in 1986. In 1985, Steve resigned from Apple and founded NeXT.

After high school, I started college. I then proceeded to completely blow off my first semester. My father explained to me that if I wanted to continue college, I would need to fund it myself. So, I joined the army. I did do a little computer work then but it was minimal.

Three years later, I was discharged and resumed college. I started doing some contract work for Caterpillar. The work was all on one of Caterpillar’s IBM PCs using Lotus Freelance. Eventually, I purchased my own computer, an Acer 486DX. I then started learning networking and I.T. and made a business out of it.

In 1997, two major events occurred. Apple bought NeXT and Steve came back to Apple. Also, one of my clients offered to hire me as their I.T. Guy full-time. They were a creative company; a mixed assortment of Macs and Windows PCs running on a Novell NetWare network. I became very familiar with Macs then and began to develop an extreme dislike for Windows.

I learned Linux and began changing the servers over to it. It was easier to get the disparate machine types to speak to the servers and far more stable. I handled desktop support for nearly 50 client machines. My loathing for Windows continued to grow and I did this for almost 8 years.

In 2001, Apple released two major products; Mac OS X, a Unix-based operating system and the iPod. Both were ground breaking products and well designed products.

Around 2003, I purchased a video camera and began experimenting. I spent all available moments learning cameras, shooting technique and lighting. When offered the chance, I started working in the video department. In 2005, I bought my first Mac, a G5 tower and an iPod. Since I wasn’t doing the I.T. work anymore, I wanted a new and stable machine to do video work. The Mac was the right choice for me. I started paying attention to Apple releases and looked forward to Steve’s keynotes. In 2006, I bought the first Apple TV. In 2007, I bought the iPod touch. In 2008, I bought my first iPhone. In 2009, I bought a MacBook Pro.

In 2010, I bought an iPad and changed my life again. It has replaced my PC for all but video editing. I also purchased my 2nd iPhone In 2011, I received the 2nd generation Apple TV for my birthday and all the while; I was aware that one man brought a foundering company, responsible for making PCs a household item, back from the brink and made them a player again. He didn’t do it by making things, he did it by creating a culture of excellence that doesn’t exist at other companies.

As I sit here, writing this on my iPad, I am struck by how much I’ve come to rely on Apple products in my everyday life. I no longer want to have a machine I can tinker around on; I want one that just works, every time. I want one that is well built and beautiful to the eye.

We give Steve credit for these things but his most enduring creation, the one that will live on now that he is gone, is Apple itself. It’s culture is an example I’ve learned for my business. Strive to do something that will change the world and the rewards will follow. I like the sound of that.

This just in from Hand Held Hollywood:

Well my filmmaking friends, it took a while but the wait is finally over. Cinemek has released Storyboard Composer HD, and iPad functionality isn’t the only new trick.

Read the whole story here.

Technicolor released their CineStyle picture profile for Canon HDSLRs this week. It is a new “superflat” profile meant to eke out more shadow detail when shooting and allowing easier grading in post. It was created with the Canon 5D Mark II in mind but will work with any of the current Canon EOS line. I took the plunge and installed it. It loaded easily on my Canon Rebel T2i. It adjusts most settings when loaded but some minor tweaks had to be done to the settings in camera. I had to manually adjust the saturation to -2.

It comes with an S-curve LUT that you can apply using Red Giant Software’s LUT Buddy. Very handy and works in Premiere, After Effects and FCP 6 and 7. I have seen people ask why you would want to apply the LUT as makes the footage look almost the same as some of the in camera settings. The reason to use it is that the LUT is not burned in. You can apply the LUT, look at the footage and if you like the look keep it. Using in camera settings you’re stuck with that look, forever.

Here is what the image looks like without the LUT and CC and with:

There is more detail and grading was easy. Technicolor recommends that you use ISOs in increments of 160. These ISOs generally have less noise in the shadows. To do this on the T2i requires the Magic Lantern firmware mod.

This looks like a great profile and I will be using it from now on.

Thanks to Yahoo selling Delicious to the founders of YouTube, I went over and checked out my old links. Surprise! Some of them were broken.

Some information can be located via The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. Some, fortunately, I saved myself. Here is a great post by J. Van Auken, reposted in its entirety, from the now defunct cineobscure.com.

DYNAMIC RANGE AND LIGHTING FOR FILM

The new vision3 stock.

What if I told you you could get a crisper, poppier, higher contrast, more film like image out of your camera, spend less that $40, and save hours in post at the same time?

Keep reading.

The digital age has allowed for countless people who would otherwise be unable, to have the means of making their own films for a fraction of what it cost not 20 years ago. It has also allowed for them to become fat and lazy filmmakers, who have become dependant on the technology, and have abandoned the old, “obsolete,” techniques in favor of ‘easier’ ways of doing things.

The biggest crutch kids entering filmmaking cling to is their LCD monitor. The sales reps at Best Buy trick them into thinking that what they see on the screen is what they get, and the Spielbergs-to-be run off under the impression that they have everything that they need to make a great picture.

The problem is that the LCD on your camera isn’t calibrated. At all. And let’s say you have a big fancy external monitor, calibrated and leant to you by Roger Deakins for the weekend; well, that’s great, but the problem remains that you still aren’t seeing what you get. If you use that monitor as your only guide, you won’t be able to take full advantage of your camera’s dynamic range, and end up with a picture that was not lit for film, but lit for TV. So, unless you’re shooting for Monday afternoon Telemundo, read on.

First, the technical background;

Your LCD, under perfect circumstances (which you’ll never have) can resolve about 6 stops of latitude. That’s six f-stop levels between the darkest area where you can perceive detail, and the brightest area that you can perceive detail. Your camera, however, has greater range. How much? well, the majority of digital cameras have between 8 – 9 stops, Vision2 has near 10, Vision3 more than that, and Kodak Tmax400 has well over 14 stops of latitude.

That difference between what you can’t quite see on the screen, and what your camera is still picking up, can encompass a lot of screen space and detail. Leaving it under lit, only to find that there were details or problems you missed later on is taking a big chance. It also robs you of true “contrast.” Contrast shouldn’t be something you add to a shot in post with an effect slider. Doing that only cuts your dynamic range more, increases artifacting and visible noise, and leaves you with a messy picture that any 6 year old with a handycam can make. As a cinematographer, your frame is your canvas. You can’t go cutting portions out or leaving chunks of it to chance.

“But Joe!” you whine, “If I can’t easily see everything on my preview monitor, how could I predict how to light for it?”

Now we get to why the article is entitled “lighting for film.”

Though there are a number of tools that help in determining proper lighting and exposure, the one we are going to cover today is the classic: the Light meter. When we shoot film, there is no accurate preview. If you’re lucky enough to have a video tap, it still suffers from the same problems of all LCD’s as listed above. So, you need to break out the ol’ light meter, and do things the old fashioned way.

In short, a light meter is a tool that measures the amount of light falling on an element of your scene. You can find them on ebay. I’ve seen Sekonic studio meters go for $40, and it does the job.

HOW TO ADD CONTRAST WITH A LIGHT METER:

Contrast in a shot can be set using the principle of lighting ratios. A ratio is determined by finding the intensity or brightness of your key light (in a unit of measure known as a footcandle), and then finding the intensity of your fill light. To do so, you turn on ONLY the light you’re trying to measure, and then take a light reading from your subject. When you have the two values, you add the key light value to the fill light value, then divide the sum by the fill light value.

Para exemplo: if you have a key light of 800 foot candles, and a fill of 200 footcandles, then your equation would be (800+200) / 200. which reduces to 5 /1, which makes your lighting ratio 5:1. That’s right. I just used math in the real world. Call Ripley’s.

Now, the higher your lighting ratio, the more contrast is in your scene. A ratio of 2:1 is relatively low contrast, and would be used for comedies, or sitcoms. A ratio of 8:1 is high contrast, and would be in use for horrors or noirs.

Okay, so let’s say you’re shooting a drama. You’ve decided you want a 5:1 light ratio. Cool. How does dynamic range come into play?

LIGHTING FOR DYNAMIC RANGE:

So, you have a scene. Your ratio is 5:1, and your key light is 800 foot candles, and you’re shooting with your HVX which has 8 stops of latitude, and coincidentally, a broken LCD (cause you tried a flip hack and voided the hell out of your warranty).

Well, if you set exposure with your light meter, and the key light on your subject was at 800 footcandles, that makes 800 your peg. What’s a peg? Consider a peg the middle of your dynamic range. When you take a meter reading, and the meter gives you the f-stop to set your camera to, that’s the middle of your range. If you have 8 stops of dynamic range, that means you have 4 stops above (brighter) the peg, and 4 stops under (darker).

Stops of light are measurable exponentially, in that every stop of light is twice as much as the one under it.

Knowing that, we can take our peg, 800, and measure 4 stops up; 1600, 3200, 6400, 12,800. So, we know that anything in our frame that meters over 12,800 foot candles will blow out, and we won’t be able to see it.

On the other side, if we measure down, (400, 200, 100, 50) we find that objects metering below 50 foot candles will not show up in our frame.

Great. We did all that math, and now our heads hurt. Now What?

If you light every element within your frame so that at least 50 footcandles of light fall on it, and no more than 12,800 footcandles fall on it, then everything in the frame will be visible. More over, if you include some elements in your frame that are lit at the bottom of your dynamic range, and some that are lit at the top, along with a subject metered in the middle, you are taking full advantage of your medium. This is called being a cinematographer.

THE BEAUTY PART:

You now know enough so that

you can make your frame as contrasty as you want
you know exactly the most and least amount of light to put on any object in the frame.

By following these steps, you keep everything in your frame within your dynamic range and take full advantage of your camera, while at the same time avoiding flat and low contrast pictures, and avoid losing all your range by correcting in post.

Perhaps the biggest benefit will be training yourself to use the industry standard method of exposing a picture. Heaven willing, you’ll get on a big shoot with a budget some day, and you don’t want to be the laughingstock on set because you spent half an hour trying to find the flipout LCD on an Arri. I see a lot of kids come in, representing themselves as ‘pros’, but lacking the skillset that’s required to make a living in feature films. Don’t be a casualty of the comforts offered by digital technology, and learn the skills now.