Introduction - Hello

[Eric]

How's it going? I found this website several weeks ago and attended the Roy Wagner workshop because of it (Great workshop by the way).

I'm originally from the Bay Area (North Cali), and moved down to LA about a year and a half ago. My background is in videography/editing (ENG/Broadcast style), but now I want to start from scratch and focus on film cinematography.
I was trying to figure out the best way to learn lighting...exposure...light meter..etc...without going back to school and spending $40,000.

A few people have told me the best way to master the art of lighting is to learn still photography (film).
My question to all of you is this...should I take a class on film still photography (I'd buy my own camera equipment, etc..$1500 I guess).
OR go into a basic filmmaking class where they hand you a bolex from school (probably spend about $1500 of trial and error projects).

I'm ready to start off in basic cinematography, but I am really worried if my strategy is outdated (especially with the whole HD thing happening). Oh..I plan to take classes at a Junior College in LA...anyone here have any recommendations?
Take it easy and hope to collaborate with all of you in the future,
Eric

 

[Madwld19]

Hey, and welcome to the forums.

Yes, still photography does help one understand the concepts of lighting. However, taking a basic cinematography/film class would cover the basic of lighting anyway, so i say go with the film class.

Fortunetly, my dad is ( or was) a professional photographer. Not only am I well educated on the concept of lighting as a result, but I also I have a full lighting system and then some already in my household, and I didnt spend a penny on it!

Good Luck Eric

 

[MarkG]

I guess one point is that no matter what format you're shooting on (even if you're not 'shooting' at all, and producing your visuals as CG entirely inside a computer), knowing where to position lights and how to set them up to produce the look you want is always going to be valuable. Obviously there are significant differences between how film, video and computers react to light, but the basics of good lighting are going to be similar.

 

[Eric]

Madwld, MarkG, and Roy,
Thank you very much for the advice. I really appreciate it.

Roy,
Yeah, lighting has been something that has facinated me. I've been eager to make the transition towards cinematography lighting by reading, listening, experimenting, working, etc...I'm planning on getting that book you recommended - "Reflections" and also take a class.

One of the reasons why I want to take a class is to mainly be around other students/film people who could motivate me to get better and excel in what I do. While I was at school, I remembered working hard on projects because I knew that I'd have an audience to critique my work and give me tips on what I can do to improve. Also, having access to lights is a plus too.

Speaking of James Wong Howe, I emailed you a question a while back about him. About two years ago I was shooting a video for the Chinese Historical Society of America and a lady named Beaulah Quo was one of the people we were interviewing.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0704511/
After the interview, I started breaking down the equipment and started some small talk with her. She asked me what my future goals were and I told her that it was to eventually go into film camerawork. All of a sudden she started talking about a documentary that she is (or is planning) on producing. It was about James Wong Howe.
Now back then, I didn't really know too much about him. I was going to follow up on that project and ask if she needed any camera assistants or anything. Unfortunately, she died two months later of a heart attack (Oct 2002).
I started researching more about him (bought his CD interview and Visions of Light) and then also heard you mention his name at the HD workshop.

That got me thinking about that documentary project again. Do you know anything of it? Did it even start? If you know the contact person, I'd still like to volunteer on something like that (camera PA, grip, etc).
Anyways, thanks again for the advice. I'll keep you guys posted on how things go on my end. Am I allowed to post videos here? I'm working on this dj tour documentary video right now. It's not finished yet, but I'll throw a trailer up when it's ready.
Eric