Janusz Kamiński, Wally Pfister, ASC and Phedon Papamichael: Recommendations on Equipment
Topics explored in this conversation include the ways that changing technology affects aesthetics, the pros and cons of owning your own equipment, and the advantages and disadvantages of widely available filmmaking tools. Pro filmmakers urge those starting out to focus on the story, and to make sure that more affordable tools don’t diminish the quality of the final product when it comes to storytelling with images.
0:00 – What do aspiring filmmakers need to know?
1:00 – Knowing what you need to know, when you need to know it
2:42—Don’t get bogged down with unnecessary information; depend on your technicians
3:30 – When the game changed with digital
4:40 – Changing the image; changing the process of storytelling
4:49 – Lighting to tell the story versus lighting to capture an image
6:00 – Storytelling with light: Why capture images when you can set them free?
7:15 – Selling your project is part of being a filmmaker
9:05 – How the method changes when the technology changes
11:48 – Film vs digital – the unavoidable question
13:40 – Can you shoot digital using a film mindset?
14:55 – Tests comparing film and ARRI ALEXA
19:29 – Will the aesthetics of film disappear along with film?
23:38 – Can film discipline be brought along without actual film stock?
27:40 – The pros and cons of buying your own gear
33:10 – With equipment that is available to everyone, you can make a film that can be projected at a film fest.
34:10 – The impact of Kino Flos, LEDs, China balls
36:03 – Practicing the art of telling a story is valuable
36:18 – Digital is not new – it has been developing for 25 years
39:35 – Is equipment overemphasized by market forces?
42:23 – The pitfalls of 3D and today’s animated movies
46:06 – New tools can be overused, and are usually adapted over time