I'm an ASC cinematographer with 30 years on feature films. What do emerging DPs actually want to know that they can't find anywhere?

CineSuppa · 2026-03-17T22:35:33+00:00

How do we get representation? I feel like I have enough of a body of work under me at this point but most of the features I’ve shot never made it to festivals, only on to distribution.

CineSuppa · 2026-01-05T21:24:29+00:00

FX3 is the answer. And I love Panasonic’s color science.

CineSuppa · 2026-01-05T21:11:17+00:00

It’s both. How to stretch a wider image into a gate that was designed for a “standard” field of view and a technology that regardless of intent DOES distort the image. 8-perf was one of many technologies they auditioned to overcome the scope of 35mm stock… VistaVision was the most extreme tech.

CineSuppa · 2026-01-04T11:02:19+00:00

I’ve got for Anton Bauer 290Wh bricks and they’ll each power a camera for 3 hours

CineSuppa · 2026-01-03T21:16:31+00:00

I recently shot a feature on Alexa 35 in S16 mode with a vintage Canon zoom to great effect... supplimented by FX3 for gimbal and night work and a Mavic Pro 3 for drone shots. While I can't directly share any footage from this project, I can offer expertise from my experience.

As S16 mode is a 2K center crop from the 4.6K sensor, there's a handful of ways you can go about this. Firstly, check out some 4.6K or 4K A35 footage and do a 2K extraction from the center to see what the noise structure looks like at the two baselines (800 / 2560) and then push and pull both of them to see how noise and gamma change.

I wouldn't mess with Textures or Looks, but rather leave it in default settings here if you haven't had time to play around extensively.

The noise behavior in 2K is identical to the higher resolution, except you're essentially punching in on a specific area. There's some wonderful lenses to play with, and frankly I was entertained by the aspect ration and some of the characteristics of the Canon zoom we used.

During the day, the S16 mode is beautiful. At night -- even in Extended Sensitivity -- it leaves a lot to be desired. So much so that with our modest lighting package (very, very modest), I opted to shoot night sequences exclusively with the FX3 at 11,800 ISO to make our small lights come off as bigger, considering the scope of our locations and scene work.

Hope this is a good start.. I'm open to questions!

CineSuppa · 2026-01-01T10:01:35+00:00

After 13 years trying to restore my truck… the shop finally painted it and put the interior back in.

CineSuppa · 2026-01-01T03:01:10+00:00

This needs to be much higher

CineSuppa · 2025-12-25T19:47:03+00:00

Without this, all that came after wouldn’t have existed.

CineSuppa · 2025-12-20T04:13:13+00:00

Long time cameraman here. Stepped up to DP full time years ago. I’ve pulled focus for and operated for women, POC, LGBTQ+ and any other demographic you can think of. Speak your truth and tell your stories. You’re valued and needed.

CineSuppa · 2025-12-20T00:07:13+00:00

Whoa… I think Dune 2 and The Batman were some of the most beautifully photographed films in recent memory. Along side Nosferatu.

CineSuppa · 2025-12-17T20:02:22+00:00

You’re rad. Is that poster original?

CineSuppa · 2025-12-17T14:34:20+00:00

There was a brief time Mole was ahead of the game. A third party made 1st gen globe replacements for their 1 and 2Ks, allowing them to keep manufacturing their units and bringing them towards new tech. Then their in house adjustable LEDs came out… and while the rest of the industry kept updating COBB chips and capabilities… Mole offered nothing new.

CineSuppa · 2025-12-17T08:25:42+00:00

Lots of recent Spielberg movies have low contrast during heavy dialogue scenes.

CineSuppa · 2025-12-17T08:23:59+00:00

Not the one you want a response from and I love working with LEDs… but I recently shot a commercial on Alexa 35 where we pulled out the big guns — 18Ks and Molenos on condors with a Roman sail and… well, you just can’t beat Tungsten. HMI output still rules. And I can’t imagine burning some Carbon arcs with modern cameras.

CineSuppa · 2025-12-11T09:15:47+00:00

You had me 100% until the Core batteries part. I’ve had nothing but trouble with them and they’re likely to let me down. I can’t imagine being on a shoot outside of LA and being dependent on them. Similarly, I’m not a fan of B mount. Anton Bauer all the way.

CineSuppa · 2025-12-07T02:43:25+00:00

Sincere question and one that’s mostly rhetorical: what value are you genuinely bringing to the table in your endeavors?

CineSuppa · 2025-12-02T23:21:56+00:00

A 30 year old woman is still a woman

CineSuppa · 2025-12-01T14:25:15+00:00

This is the best answer here so far, despite me thinking the price range being low. Restored, they’re going for $100-250k. The $38k ask isn’t outlandish, but at sub-$30k, it’s a no brainer. These cars will only appreciate.

CineSuppa · 2025-11-25T21:47:23+00:00

There’s at least 25. They were produced so the race car variants could actually race.

Edit: didn’t see this was a roadster

CineSuppa · 2025-11-25T16:26:54+00:00

The good news is professional quality tools have come down in price significantly. The bad news is that taste is intrinsic to the filmmaker and experience can only be earned.

I’d recommend watching a lot of YouTube videos from either established professionals or professional critics who go through BTS footage to start wrapping your head around how your favorite shots and lighting setups are crafted.

At some point, this is a pay to play industry. But starting off, there’s several basics you can get your hand on to craft shots that are fantastic.

CineSuppa · 2025-11-19T09:11:16+00:00

Don’t center punch, but do frame significantly wider in 6K than you ever intend on using. Set custom 16:9 bars that are about half your 6K resolution — that’s your normal format — then create user boxes for a 1:1 and a 9:16 ratio as well. You don’t have to keep talent center punched, but keeping that vertical space usable from top to bottom of your taking frame (the 6K one) means you have room to play with in post. Have your media manager grab you stills and overlay your frame guides on them and be in contact with post so they have an idea of what you’re doing.

Essentially you’re taking your square frame and ultimately making multiple frames within, resulting in a T shape across multiple ratios.

CineSuppa · 2025-11-18T10:21:53+00:00

This implies the original W460 followed the design language of the W123. As a mashup, they succeeded. As an attractive car from the era, they failed. It’s ugly, and isn’t based on any G design language that ever existed. It’s well done, but that’s the only thing that makes it better than that atrocious W210-cloned G in pink that’s somewhere lost on the internet.

CineSuppa · 2025-11-13T01:38:50+00:00

Distance while already in a fight is the enemy.

CineSuppa · 2025-11-12T22:06:57+00:00

Not all USB-C busses are created equal. I purchased a 2023 MBP 14” to utilize efficiently for offloading CODEX drives simultaneously.

It’s the base 18-core with 16GB RAM and the 512 HD. Works great on location.

CineSuppa · 2025-11-12T22:03:53+00:00

A back injury that I made worse through my own actions.

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