This week for my post I have found a neat free application called Adobe Kuler which allows the individual to use their iPhone to capture color combinations and ultimately allow you to create a color series from the data. As I am currently working as the art director for my small production team on our short student film this nifty application can make choosing locations and set design color palates more organized and precise.
Here is some screen shots of what the application looks like and some of it capabilities...
The second application I'd like to mention in this post is an iTunes application called pCAM Film + Digital Calculator. This application is $29.99 and was developed by a Camera Assistant who understand the time sensitive calculations done on the set. This would be a great application during production to get the exact shots you have planned prior to the shoot, additionally the app has features such as gauging depth of field, relative size, field of view, focal length match and many more.
Here is some of the iPhone screen shots of this app...
Due to posting in Arturo's Motion Graphics & Animation class I am always looking for new technology associated with cinematography and its challenges. This week I would like to talk about an application called Shot Designer. Shot Designer is an application available for both iPad and iPhone in the iTunes app store that allows the individual to create lighting, camera movements and even blocking movements on a floor plan. This sort of floor plan set up can be used along with storyboards to significantly help create the story, especially with a production team with many different elements and view points. As we are recently discovering these issues working with our own production teams on the short films, I feel an application such as this could be a tool for our projects. Additionally a major feature that improves this technology is the ability for the program to sync multiple members of your production team.
While the application is free on the iTunes app store for only $19.99 you get the pro upgrade that provides for features such as exporting, saving and printing scenes and also a desktop version of the software. The app maybe in the beginning stages of its development nonetheless this can be a great tool when on the run or even for a short film. Here is another picture example of the app...
The name Stanley Kubrick is synonymous with innovation both on the screen and off. He was the first to bring the steadicam onto the scene for the filming of The Shining, and has also created other tools and techniques that make his films stand out as some of the best. As I was re-watching the cult classic A Clockwork Orange, I couldn't help but notice one specific scene where there appeared to be no set up lights, which I found astonishing.
The scene where Little Alex chases, and subsequently murders the Cat Lady is shot on a handheld 18mm Arriflex camera, and involves him moving around the room as the scene unfolds. The camera focuses on all four walls at some point throughout the shot, which means it would be impossible to set up lights in the room (you can see the ceiling too). Kubrick used his innovation, and actually included illuminated sculptures around the walls, which ended up lighting the room perfectly, and was soft enough to cast no shadows, including his own as he moved around the room.
This was not the first time Kubrick had used this technique; he used similar lighting in the war room in Dr. Strangelove and the circular space ship in 2001. I really like the whole aspect of him building the lighting into the scene as opposed to using set lighting. It adds a certain realistic and natural quality to the scene which in my opinion makes this shot rather eerie.
