Cineflex

[ctomo]

Hi Rotorheads,

I have been lurking on the site for a few years now but have never posted anything.

I always wanted to be in the RAF and fly helis but never got the chance because of my eye sight being bad and it also looks like I am colourblind. Head up though Im currently saving for my PPL so will get to do some flying (even if I do get a restricted license).

However I fell back on my degree which was film production and now I work for an awesome film production company assisting on shoots at McLaren, Lotus, lots of sailing and other bits and bobs.

What I want to incorporate now is filming and flying together. I was wondering if any of you guys out there are aerial filmers and had any information in how to get in the game? Im only 22 so I have got a bit of time to train up.

Any help will be great. Thanks

[Pandalet]

If you're colour blind, you may have difficulty getting a class 2 medical, which is required for a PPL, much less a class 1 (required for a commercial). Given your suspicions, I would strongly suggest getting the medical done BEFORE you start any flight training - it doesn't cost a lot, and there is an AME at Wycombe Air Park (Dr. Tobias, if I remember correctly); you'll need to get one done before you go solo on the PPL anyway, so you're not spending any money you wouldn't have to spend in due course, and it might save you investing in an impossible license.

[ctomo]

Oh right! Thanks for this I thought you could get a class two medical no problem with colour blindness as you dont need to fly at night. Thats a bit annoying. I will book one ASAP. Thanks for the reply.

[rattle]

Also, colour blindness will make it very difficult to shoot video footage where you have to be in full control of the colour balance of the camera. Sorry.

[ctomo]

Im not retarded rattle. I do actually shoot on cameras already. I can see colours just not dark purples and dark blues when they are together.

[Buitenzorg]

Also, colour blindness will make it very difficult to shoot video footage where you have to be in full control of the colour balance of the camera.

Actually, rattle, that’s not true.

Graphics professionals (including videographers) don’t judge colour content – they measure. What your eyes see and what your brain registers are, as we all know, often not quite the same. What your eyes see and what your camera registers is very different and depends on lenses, light levels, light angle, registration software (including film sensitivity) and a host of other minutiae. Then what your camera has registered will be modified during display depending on display medium, ambient light conditions, image refresh rate and another plethora of details we laymen never consider. Even the professional cannot control all these factors unless they are measured.

A little background behind my certainty on this matter: my brother graduated as a graphics design specialist and ended up partner in a graphics consulting firm, dealing with and providing training in just these kind of matters. His partner, who is still running the firm, is seriously colourblind but was always most effective because he was physically unable to make a judgement on colour content – he had to measure it, thereby creating consistenly reproducible results.

[rattle]

OK, I am lost now, but I work every day alongside television vision engineers shooting HD productions and they colour balance by looking at the Grade 1 monitor in front of them by judging what they see with their eyes. There is no measuring other than by the brain! We are not talking about graphic design, we are talking about maybe 5 highly trained engineers controlling 20 cameras by each looking at a monitor that is lined up identically to their colleagues' monitors. I find it hard to believe that you can achieve this with any level of color blindness which is probably why the BBC put every one of us through a colour blindness test before employing us. Yes there are different levels of blindness, but if your particular strand mixes purples and blues, it would be difficult to correct a blue tint in the blacks if it could actually be purple. Surely?

[JimBall]

Ah yes - but it was easier in the past because the cameras (even colour cameras) only had B&W monitors!

Some other poor corduroy-wearing creature in the dark would take care of the colour balance & racking.

Bit different now though with all cam ops expected to balance, shoot, record and eat custard creams.

[mickjoebill]

Bit different now though with all cam ops expected to balance, shoot, record and eat custard creams.

Unless you are doing live TV work a camera op does not need to fine tune color.

Putting colour temp in the ball park with presets and then recording on low compression 10 bit recorder allows for significant changes to be done in post.

CTOMO, subject heading is cineplex are you asking for advice on becoming a cineflex operator?

In respect to Jim Ball's observation it is not so much eating of custard creams but skill required in avoiding the custard pies that is useful, in what is a very competitive industry!

Mickjoebill

[JimBall]

MJB: Unless you are doing live TV work a camera op does not need to fine tune color.

Disagree. The rapid turnaround now offered by tapeless acquisition and ingest, combined with NLEs doing "desktop" edits, has meant that a lot of (UK) tv productions and corporate simply don't have the time (or money) to colour balance in post.

Surely the point is that the modern camera offers the operator every chance to get it right. And if you have the right onboard monitors installed correctly, your idea of colour balance is much closer than it used to be.

So why take the lazy route?

[ctomo]

I work with colour bars everyday and I see them fine. I am not saying that I am completely colour blind. I can see blues reds yellows greens etc. All the main bold colours. The optician said I was 'sort of' colour blind. I set up cameras all the time on shoots.

To try and go back to what I actually started talking about on this thread could anyone give me information on how they have become cineflex operators or if anyone owns a company who does both fly and operate.

Thanks

[JimBall]

To try and go back to what I actually started talking about on this thread could anyone give me information on how they have become cineflex operators or if anyone owns a company who does both fly and operate.

Well, you're at High Wycombe. You could talk with an operator at WAP, another one at Denham (2 in fact), and another at Redhill. They all Google and they all use Cineflex and other gyrostabs.There is no training course as such. Your best bet is to get a "job" (internship, no doubt) with someone like ACS. They have more Cineflex systems than anyone in the UK - using them mainly for ground and wire-based systems. For the Olympics every venue will have a "wirecam" system with flying Cineflex systems on cables - all by ACS.