Digital Viewfinder for Cinematography (DView)

       I am back again with another application that may be able to aid in you in your kit as a filmmaker. This week I am posting about an iTunes application called Digital Viewfinder after Arturo mentioned the The Wolf of Wall Street in the ASC and more specifically how the director chose from various camera's and lenses in order to achieve the final look of the scene. This app does just that by allowing you to easily visualize shot framing for a number of different cameras and lenses without having to actually bring all the equipment along to the location. By replacing the classic director's viewfinder this invaluable application not only mimics a wide variety of professional film equipment but it also gives desired aspect ratios, focal length, full meta-data and GPS coordinates. Additional features include being able to organize your location photos into projects, share your photos or create a PDF report and lastly if that isn't enough it also allows for the selection of 45 professional digital and film motion picture cameras including names like Panavision, RED, Sony and Phantom. Lastly the app allows for you to share your shots by sending them via iMessage, AirDrop, Email, Facebook and Twitter. Digital Viewfinder for Cinematography is $29.99 on the iTunes app store and is available for both the iPad and iPhone. This could be a handy tool for upcoming projects especially if you are involved with preproduction planning!

Here a few screen shots showing some of the features I have outlined above...

Adobe Kuler & pCAM Film + Digital Calculator Cinematic Applications

       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...

Shot Designer Application

              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...