Friday, April 24, 2009

On Competition...

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

This is actually a quite favorable month where everything can work out just the way you want it to.
All of these events are occurring because you're under the influence of a 24/6 personal month. The 6 has a strong influence toward "cosmic parent." SUCCEED and LOVABLE are positive words to keep in mind this month because they both add up to the numeric value of 24/6.
My advice to you is to enjoy this month and all the good things that will come to you. Be generous and watch for results that will benefit all around you, and success WILL be yours!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Film Docs...

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

When it comes to documents this month, it's best to consult an expert before signing on that bottom line. Hasty or rash decisions could result in conflicts down the road and circumstances you could do without.

At any rate, the most important aspect of this month is your diligent attention and effort. Dropping the ball will only leave you feeling unfulfilled and unhappy. Instead, envision yourself on a crusade with an important mission to accomplish. Put in the time to learn all the details and study the options. You will then have the necessary facts and knowledge to achieve your success.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Participate

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

The one thing you don't want to ignore during this time of excitement and responsibility is your health. Don't let exhaustion from work, volunteering, or travel sap your energy. Remember to eat right and to make time in your schedule for healthy physical activity. Whether it's walking, jogging, swimming, working out in the gym, or taking part in a seasonal sport, find a regular activity and be a faithful participant.
With all the good news you have to look
forward to, be sure to avoid negative actions such as being too pushy, judgmental, or rigid. Remember, your ideas are sound, but they aren't the only ones worth hearing or trying. If you give in to negative traits, you can expect bad news, broken contracts, loss, or indecision. Instead look for strength from words such as RESPONSIBLE, SELF-CONFIDENT, and BALANCED.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

New Film Attiude

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.


And don't be afraid to send out a little SOS to others. They'll be happy to jump on the bandwagon with your positive attitude and give you all the help you need. This could quite possibly be the beginning of your fortune. All events in your life this month point the way toward wealth, prosperity, and the achievement of your goals, possibly even greater than you expected.

Now, here's something you do need to remember. No matter what obstacles get in your way or who disagrees with you, stick to your guns and don't deviate from what you feel is right. If you apply yourself, you have a great opportunity to transform all those bright ideas into reality.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Light The Way

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: – Foot Candle - Measurement of light. One foot candle is the light of one candle, one foot away. Many light meters will use foot candles as a starting number, which then must be converted into an f-stop based on the sensitivity of the film you are using. (Because of the great variety of different film speeds it is sometimes ambiguous to talk too much about foot candles, since a given number of foot candles will not yield the same f-stop from one film speed to another.)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Mathematics Of Film

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Home and family--not surprisingly--will be a special priority during this period. Give them the extra attention they need, even if you have to schedule it.
Taking a look at your specific numbers, you're under the influence of 22/4 (2 + 2 = 4) at this time. Because 22 is a Master Number, its influence will increase your need for patience, discipline, and practicality. A need for stability, organization, and honesty comes from the energy of the 4.
The 22/4 influence means this will be a time when dreams and goals have a chance to be realized. Some aspects of life will come full circle, so to speak, because 22 is the ancient numerical value for a circle and, as such, signifies completion.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Track Optics

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Optical Track - An intermediate step from going from your mix master to your final print is to have an optical track struck. An optical track is photographed onto a blank piece of special high contract stock by the facility where the mix is done, or by the lab. The optical track is a separate roll of film from the original negative and is combined with picture when a print is struck. (The track itself still remains a separate element from the A&B Rolls, it is printed in a separate pass through the contract printer.)

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Mark Cella' s Eyes

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Eye Line

Eye line is the direction an actor should look off-screen to match a reverse angle or a P.O.V. shot. It is best to give the actor an actual thing or spot to look at rather than a blank spot on an empty wall or an empty space in mid air.Estar Base - a brand name for Polyester Base.

Monday, March 23, 2009

New Film Terms

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today

I know, I know. You're probably saying to yourself, "Where's my silver platter!" Please make it easier on yourself--CONCENTRATE on ways to get around the obstacles. One piece of advice I can give you is never stop looking for the answers you need. Ask. Look. Research and ye shall find!

It's also a good time to listen to your inner voice. In order to do this, take some time out for yourself and spend it in a quiet place. Once you're calm, listen to that voice. The advice it can give you is surprisingly right on target.

Take some time to look after your health. Retreats and vacations can be a big boost to your physical and emotional outlook, especially if you're near water. Travel with care. If you can't take a full-blown vacation, even a quiet afternoon would be great. Physically, a vacation allows you to rest. Emotionally, a rest will allow you to hear the advice that your inner voice can offer.
Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Sunday, March 22, 2009

New Mark Cella Terms

Mark A. Cella is a well known film, restaurant, and lifestyle columnist for the San Jose Mercury newspaper. His column, first published in 1992 is considered a must- read in the area, with dozens of known collectors and online traders of his fine insights into movies.

F-stop - The scale used to measure the size of the opening of the iris on a lens. Opening the iris wider lets in more light, and closing it down, smaller, lets in less light. F-stops can be a little confusing, because the larger the number, the smaller the opening of the iris, and conversely the smaller the number, the larger the opening. The typical f-stop scale is 1.4 - 2 - 2.8 - 4 - 5.6 - 8 - 11 - 16 - 22. When the reading is between stops, this should be accounted for it setting the lens, however, it is much more clear, even if it sounds grammatically incorrect to the mathematically inclined, to say “One third above 5.6” rather than “5.8” because it is very hard to judge the distance in decimals between numbers like 5.6 and 8, whereas 1/3rd above 5.6 is perfectly clear.

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Foggy Edges

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Edge Fog - Exposure along the edge of the film from raw light, in most cases from a lightleak, due to the camera door not being taped. Edge Fog can sometimes be visible in the frame or sometimes outside of the frame effecting the clarity of the latent edge numbers.


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Monday, March 16, 2009

In The Frame

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Frame Handles - Frame handles are extra frames at the beginning and the end of every shot, the exact number will vary from one application to the next, which are used primarily when preparing original material for optical printing, such as the Zero Cut method of blow up, or the creation of a superimposed title, etc. The purpose they serve, in the case of zero cut, is to make sure the registration pin of the printer is not grabbing a splice, which can cause the image to wobble. With opticals they are often used merely to avoid printed-in dirt, which is much more prevalent close to a splice where bits of film cement can flake off.

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Lens Flares

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: – Flare - This has two meanings: 1.: When using film on a daylight spool, the erratic pattern of raw light that washes out the beginning and end of the roll are known as “the flares.” 2.: A flare of the other kind is a Lens Flare. It is caused when light strikes the lens and either causes the entire image to be fogged in appearance, or for a little row of polygons (the silhouette of the iris) to appear from the light hitting the surfaces of the many elements in the lens. It is solved by flagging the lens.

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Speedy Film

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Film Speed - The sensitivity to light for proper exposure of a given film stock. This is primarily a result of the size of the silver halides in the emulsion, the larger the grain, the less light is needed for exposure. Film stocks are generally spoken of as being fast or slow, a fast film having large grains and needing less light, a slow film having smaller grain and needing more light.

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Thursday, March 5, 2009

Batch Of Emulsion

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today :Emulsion Batch –

The emulsion batch is the series of numbers on the film can the come after the Emulsion Type. When the film is made, each batch is given a number so that you can shoot a single sequence with one particular batch. Just as a suit where the pants and jacket were cut from different bolts of fabric might be a little off, a sequence shot with different emulsion batches might also be a little off. From one sequence to the next, of course, this doesn’t matter. (And the batches themselves have become more consistent in recent years, so mixing them is less of a sin nowadays.)
Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Monday, March 2, 2009

Double Takes

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Double System - The term double system refers to sound and picture as two separate elements, recorded, edited or projected in sync. 16mm and 35mm use the double system format. A camera photographs the picture and a tape recorder records the sound. In the end, the final print is Single System, combining sound and picture onto the same piece of print stock.

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Flash Frame

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.


Today: Flash Frame - 1.: A flash frame is a single frame that is completely clear between two shots. It occurs when the camera is stopped with the gate open, allowing for a very long exposure on that single frame. Rather than a problem, a flash frame can actually be a very helpful thing in the editing room, making it very easy to see where one shot ends and another begins. This type of flash frame usually does not occur with spring wound cameras, like the Bolex, except when the spring winds all the way down, but the second type is something with which to be more concerned.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Dupe

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today Dupe - A dupe is a positive copy of a positive. A dupe can also be a negative copy of a negative. A dupe is a print made in the reversal process. It can sometimes be clearer to call something a dupe, because to simply say “positive print” you could just mean a positive copy of a negative, which would not be a dupe

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Mark Cella's Extension

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today Extension Tubes - These are a handy way to turn any long lens into a macro lens for ultra-close shooting. They are hollow metal tubes that are mounted between the camera and the lens. Typically they come in a set of different lengths which can be combined. It is a good idea to open up the lens a little when using an extension tube, as a little light is lost. It should be noted that they do not work when used with wide lenses.
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Flares

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: – Flare - This has two meanings: 1.: When using film on a daylight spool, the erratic pattern of raw light that washes out the beginning and end of the roll are known as “the flares.” 2.: A flare of the other kind is a Lens Flare. It is caused when light strikes the lens and either causes the entire image to be fogged in appearance, or for a little row of polygons (the silhouette of the iris) to appear from the light hitting the surfaces of the many elements in the lens. It is solved by flagging the lens.
Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Filter

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Filter - A tinted glass or small tinted plastic sheet placed in front of the lens or behind the lens in a filter holder, used to change the color rendition of the entire shot. Filters are used to convert tungsten balanced film for use in daylight or vice versa. The can also be used for aesthetic reasons, such as a red filter to darken the sky when filming in black and white.

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Foot Candles?

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: – Foot Candle - Measurement of light. One foot candle is the light of one candle, one foot away. Many light meters will use foot candles as a starting number, which then must be converted into an f-stop based on the sensitivity of the film you are using. (Because of the great variety of different film speeds it is sometimes ambiguous to talk too much about foot candles, since a given number of foot candles will not yield the same f-stop from one film speed to another.)

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Flare

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: – Flare - This has two meanings: 1.: When using film on a daylight spool, the erratic pattern of raw light that washes out the beginning and end of the roll are known as “the flares.” 2.: A flare of the other kind is a Lens Flare. It is caused when light strikes the lens and either causes the entire image to be fogged in appearance, or for a little row of polygons (the silhouette of the iris) to appear from the light hitting the surfaces of the many elements in the lens. It is solved by flagging the lens.

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Monday, February 9, 2009

To The Edge

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Edge Numbers

Edge Numbers or Latent Edge Numbers - 1.: The edge numbers are small numbers running along the edge of the film, in between the perf in 16mm, and just to the far side of them in 35mm. The are photographed onto the film in its manufacture, and are there to aid the negative cutter in lining up shots in the process of conforming the negative. They are sometimes called latent edge numbers to distinguish them from inked-on code numbers. 2.: Code Numbers are sometimes called edge numbers.

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Master Fade

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Master Fade

A transition from a shot to black where the image gradually becomes darker is a Fade Out; or from black where the image gradually becomes brighter is a Fade In. Fades are done at the lab in the printing phase, but prepared by the negative cutter, who cuts in an overlap of black into the A&B rolls. Labs will only do fades in fixed amounts, such as 24 frames, 48 frames, etc.

Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Fill The Sound

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Sound Fill

Filler, Fill or Sound Fill - Filler is scrap film, most often used to keep a sound track running the same length as the picture, even though there is just silence. When used this way in can also be called sound fill. Filler is usually a print with the emulsion scraped off the center all the way along, perhaps to prevent bootlegging, but also useful in that a mark can be seen on both sides through this wide scratch.
Learn more at Mark Cella film theory , Mark Cella film studies

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Fade

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Fade –

A transition from a shot to black where the image gradually becomes darker is a Fade Out; or from black where the image gradually becomes brighter is a Fade In. Fades are done at the lab in the printing phase, but prepared by the negative cutter, who cuts in an overlap of black into the A&B rolls. Labs will only do fades in fixed amounts, such as 24 frames, 48 frames, etc.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Emulsion Type

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Emulsion Type Part 1 -

A film’s emulsion type refers to the composition of its emulsion, whether it was manufactured to be fast, slow, grainy, fine-grained, colorful, pastel, black and white or color, daylight balanced, tungsten balanced, etc. The emulsion type is represented by a number. For Kodak it is a series of four numbers, such as 7248. The “72” always stands for 16mm camera stock, and the same emulsion type is found in 35mm as 5248, “52” being the designation of 35mm.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Fill The Filler

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Sound Fill

Filler, Fill or Sound Fill - Filler is scrap film, most often used to keep a sound track running the same length as the picture, even though there is just silence. When used this way in can also be called sound fill. Filler is usually a print with the emulsion scraped off the center all the way along, perhaps to prevent bootlegging, but also useful in that a mark can be seen on both sides through this wide scratch.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Mark Cella's Emulsion Batch

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Emulsion Batch

Emulsion Batch - The emulsion batch is the series of numbers on the film can the come after the Emulsion Type. When the film is made, each batch is given a number so that you can shoot a single sequence with one particular batch. Just as a suit where the pants and jacket were cut from different bolts of fabric might be a little off, a sequence shot with different emulsion batches might also be a little off. From one sequence to the next, of course, this doesn’t matter. (And the batches themselves have become more consistent in recent years, so mixing them is less of a sin nowadays.)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Edge

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Edge Numbers

Edge Numbers or Latent Edge Numbers - 1.: The edge numbers are small numbers running along the edge of the film, in between the perf in 16mm, and just to the far side of them in 35mm. The are photographed onto the film in its manufacture, and are there to aid the negative cutter in lining up shots in the process of conforming the negative. They are sometimes called latent edge numbers to distinguish them from inked-on code numbers. 2.: Code Numbers are sometimes called edge numbers.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Duped Again

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: The Dupe

Dupe - A dupe is a positive copy of a positive. A dupe can also be a negative copy of a negative. A dupe is a print made in the reversal process. It can sometimes be clearer to call something a dupe, because to simply say “positive print” you could just mean a positive copy of a negative, which would not be a dupe.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Double System

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Double System

Double System - The term double system refers to sound and picture as two separate elements, recorded, edited or projected in sync. 16mm and 35mm use the double system format. A camera photographs the picture and a tape recorder records the sound. In the end, the final print is Single System, combining sound and picture onto the same piece of print stock.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Edge fog

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Edge Fog


Edge Fog - Exposure along the edge of the film from raw light, in most cases from a lightleak, due to the camera door not being taped. Edge Fog can sometimes be visible in the frame or sometimes outside of the frame effecting the clarity of the latent edge numbers.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Animal Actors

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at Fresno State University. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2004 Slamdance short competition.

There are, if you're in a reductionist state of mind, only two types of people in the world: dog people and cat people. Dog people – I count myself among their ranks – will enjoy Frankel's adaptation of journalist John Grogan's bestselling account of life, love, deadlines, and death with the "world's worst dog," a yellow Labrador retriever named Marley.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Seeing Sound

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at San Diego State University. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Today: Optical Sound

Optical Sound - Optical Sound is the system used by a projector to play back sound from a film print. The sound is exposed onto the film as a clear modulating line against black. It corresponds to the moduations of the sound. The projector reads the track by passing it between the exciter lamp a light-sensitive photo-electric cell which generates a voltage that is amplified and fed into a speaker

Monday, January 5, 2009

How Deep Is Your Field?

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at Fresno State University. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2004 Slamdance short competition.

Today’s Topic: Depth Of Field

Depth of Field - While a lens focuses on a single plane of depth, there is usually an additional area in focus behind and in front of that plane. This is depth of field. Depth of field increases as the iris is closed. There is more depth of field the wider the lens and less the longer the lens. There is a deeper area in focus the further away a lens is focused than there is when a lens is focused close. Depth of field does not spread out evenly; the entire area is about 1/3rd in front and 2/3rds behind the plane of focus. To factor together all these variables it is best to consult a depth of field table, such as the ones found in the American Cinematographer’s Manual.