Category: Film Studies

Cinematic Naturalism – Using Practical Lighting (and some thoughts about the Lumix GH4)

9 April, 2017

As a independent and guerilla filmmaker, one often has to do with what is offered at the shooting location. When it comes to shooting exterior scenes, that comes natural and is shared with most big budget productions. But the real differentiation between shoe string budget and larger production involves shooting interior scenes, where the use … More Cinematic Naturalism – Using Practical Lighting (and some thoughts about the Lumix GH4)

Mirrors – Camera Test Movie with the OKS 3-10-1 and RafCamera Adapter

4 March, 2017

Exactly one month ago my RafCamera Kinor-16SX-2 to MFT adapter with screws arrived. I got it for free from Rafael Pankratau of RafCamera, because the bayonet lock version of that same adapter didn’t fit my LOMO 16 OKS 3-10-1 f/2.1 10 mm. But the simpler version with screws fits as a glove! The lens is … More Mirrors – Camera Test Movie with the OKS 3-10-1 and RafCamera Adapter

A Short Narrative Documentary – The XmasTree Hunt

13 January, 2017

Herein below is attached my first official short movie presented by Gorilla Film Studios (formerly MasterPlan Productions), entitled The XmasTree Hunt. It was directed, recorded, edited, mixed and graded by yours truly, Tomas Stacewicz. Music by courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) license, and the Jingle Punks. Drone … More A Short Narrative Documentary – The XmasTree Hunt

The Logic of RAW – Why it’s better to overexpose (than to underexpose) with the Blackmagic Cinema Cameras

7 January, 2017

In a previous blog post, where I delved somewhat into the question of over- and underexposure with CinemaDNG RAW, I stumbled upon the topic of the seeming similarites between the flat image of RAW and the Log (logarithmic) profile curve whose exposure f-stop range perfectly emulates the iris of the human eye. Let me reiterate … More The Logic of RAW – Why it’s better to overexpose (than to underexpose) with the Blackmagic Cinema Cameras

The RAW factor – Is it better to shoot overexposed or underexposed?

20 December, 2016

Studying Steven Ascher’s The Filmmaker’s Handbook has left me somewhat perplexed and made me reflect on the issue of exposure when shooting RAW. Or rather, what lattitude of error exists in wrong exposure. Is it better to overexpose or underexpose RAW footage? Exact and balanced exposure is of course always the preferrable, but what is … More The RAW factor – Is it better to shoot overexposed or underexposed?

Some Essential Advice – Dispelling all confusion between the Super 16 and 35 mm formats

10 December, 2016

I want to take the opportunity to pass on the writings of a distinguished forum member over at the BMCuser forum that really struck me as being one of the single most important lines that I have read on that forum or anywhere else in a long time. It was a true eye opener for … More Some Essential Advice – Dispelling all confusion between the Super 16 and 35 mm formats

Lux ex Tenebris HQ – The art of maximising your YouTube upload

4 December, 2016

For the last week or so I have worked tirelessly in finding a way of upolading my first camera test movie entitled Lux ex Tenebris with as high quality to the image retained as possible. Iv’e done all of my editing and grading in DaVinci Resolve 12.5 and when it was time to render the … More Lux ex Tenebris HQ – The art of maximising your YouTube upload

Lux ex Tenebris – Camera Test Movie I

29 November, 2016

Herein below is attached my first camera test movie presented by MasterPlan Productions, entitled Lux ex Tenebris. It was filmed, edited, mixed and graded by me, Tomas Stacewicz. Music by courtesy of Chase Rayment (starfrosch.com/hot-100/artist/chase+rayment) used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported Licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). The movie is 17:32 minutes long and it was published … More Lux ex Tenebris – Camera Test Movie I

Android Dreams – The Magic Cinema ViewFinder

8 November, 2016

A Director’s Viewfinder is a useful tool for framing a shot in preparation of a scene, without the need of bringing the camera with you, especially if it is a heavy piece, or a smaller size camera rigged up with a cage, rods, follow-focus, mattebox, external batteries, external monitor, etc., or when there is only … More Android Dreams – The Magic Cinema ViewFinder

The Black Mistress has arrived – My initial experiences with our new Workstation

31 October, 2016

Finally, our new computer reached our doorstep approximately one week after the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera had arrived. I ordered both items at the same time but the computer had to be assembled at the Swedish company Inet from scratch following my directives and specifications. Our expectations were high, especially my teenager son who looks … More The Black Mistress has arrived – My initial experiences with our new Workstation