KitPlus | Articles

On-camera monitors for today and tomorrow

by Paul Isaacs Issue 102 - June 2015 1) Why is monitoring so important for productions?Image quality is a central concern for users of any video product, so monitoring should be one of the foremost considerations for cinematographers and videographers. Along similar lines, the ability of consumer televisions and a range of personal devices to displ...

Submitted by Paul Issacs

Published 01 July 2015

Every election counts

by Charlie Watts Issue 102 - June 2015 "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.\" - JF KennedyThis may seem slightly overblown, but that is how we face things here in the University of Portsmouth. It\'s possibly because we have to try that little bit harder due to our...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 July 2015

REDucation - Real world RED camera training

by Ben Sherriff Issue 101 - May 2015 Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March saw the REDucation training workshop arrive in London at the Met Film School in Ealing Studios West London. I\'ve used a Red One but have yet to work on a shoot where I can get my hands dirty with the newer cameras they manufacture (Epic-X, Scarlet, Dragon and now Weapon). Whe...

Submitted by Ben Sherriff

Published 01 June 2015

Is it my eyes, is it in focus?

by Graham Reed Issue 100 - April 2015 Is it me or as I get older, and my eyes not as good as they were, are viewfinders getting smaller and less sharp?When I started as a cameraman the cameras were large (EMI 2001\'s) as were the viewfinders. They were large format cameras with a 30mm 4x3 sensors and the normal aperture was f 3.5, so a shallow dept...

Submitted by graham reed

Published 01 May 2015

Why video codecs matter

by Larry Jordan Issue 99 - March 2015 Video codecs confuse a lot of people. But understanding codecs is critical to just about every element of video production, editing and distribution. Codec is an acronym that stands for "COmpressor/DECompressor.\" It is easy to get intimidated by all the technical jargon surrounding codecs, but, at their core,...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 April 2015

The road to Sundance Film Festival

with Kivu Ruhorahoza Issue 98 - February 2015 Things of the Aimless Wanderer, the latest feature from Rwandese filmmaker Kivu Ruhorahoza (Grey Matter) is a beautifully crafted narrative about paranoia, mistrust and misunderstandings. Premiering at this year\'s Sundance Film Festival, audiences can expect an arresting film that reveals a series of c...

Submitted by Kivu Ruhorahoza

Published 01 March 2015

Bring up the bodies

by Dick Hobbs Issue 98 - February 2015 If you have even once turned on BBC television in the last couple of months, you could not fail to learn that the big blockbuster drama this winter is Wolf Hall, a television adaptation of Hilary Mantel\'s two-thirds complete trilogy about the Tudors, and Thomas Cromwell in particular. I subscribe to what seem...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 March 2015

Hearing is believing - but Testing Helps

We live in the age of measurement and all too often the results are prejudiced by the methods employed and the ease of digitally processing data. As Per Bruel, the founder of B&K, arguably the foremost measurement company in audio history put so succinctly,‘The development of standards is not always based on true science but more often a consensus...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2015

Sony PXW-FS7

by Alister Chapman Issue 94 - October 2014 At IBC Sony launched a new camera. In fact Sony launched several new cameras. This is nothing new, every year Sony launch cameras. But this year Sony really created quite a stir with one camera in particular, the Sony PXW-FS7. So what is it about the FS7 that is so special? Looking at the specs alone this...

Submitted by Alister Champman

Published 01 November 2014

Capture and Produce

Issue 93 - September 2014 Amongst all the new cameras, support and other production kit being touted prior to IBC, it was a less tangible announcement that really captured the imagination: Atomos’ announcement that it wants to standardize its Start/Stop Trigger connectivity for HDMI by making it available to other manufacturers. Locking SDI interfa...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 October 2014

What Directors do and dont do

by David Crossman Issue 92 - August 2014 Piers Haggard the BAFTA award-winning Director for his BBC TV work - says you can\'t teach Directing any more than you can teach Art. Piers may be right but I believe there are some directorial skills which can be passed on. Like many crew members and actors I have suffered at the hands of inexperienced Dire...

Submitted by David Crossman

Published 01 September 2014

The First Musketeer

by Neil Oseman Issue 91 - July 2014 Based on The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, The First Musketeer is a brand new take on this famous adventure. Written and directed by Harriet Sams, director of photography Neil Oseman takes us behind the lens of this new gritty six part mini drama shot on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Set in the South of Fr...

Submitted by Neil Oseman

Published 01 August 2014

At the forefront of digital asset management and publishi...

by Ian Mottashed Issue 91 - July 2014 Endemol is the largest independent television and digital production company in the world. Within 30 countries it has a global network of around 90 companies which produce over 350 multi genre series a year. Across the 90 companies there are currently around 29,000 hours of content being distributed. The produc...

Submitted by Ian Mottashed

Published 01 August 2014

Location: Seychelles with the Canon C300PL

by Kieron Seth Issue 86 - February 2014 The idea that the Seychelles are all about palm-lined beaches underplays the scale and diversity of this geologically rich group of islands. Unlike many other tropical paradise destinations, a beautiful seascape is only part of the picture for this gem of the Indian Ocean. From the 900 metre peak of Morne Sey...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 March 2014

Supporting the transition to 4K

by David AckroydIssue 84 - December 2013 Plasma, LCD and LED screen technologies brought broadcasters HD audiences that justified their investment in HDTV. Recent computer monitors, tablets, mobile phones, digital cinema and 3D have driven an explosion in viewing formats. Together they have created an appetite for continued change and development i...

Submitted by David Ackroyd

Published 01 January 2014