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Transcoding Services

POSTED ON February 29th  - POSTED IN Blog, Info, Promotion

How Does It Work? 

Hollywood Camera inc in partnership with Bertone Visuals will be offering transcoding services at $75 an hour to all our rental clients. How does it work? Simple! Bring in your production shuttle drive containing the raw footage in 6K / 5K / 4K of your feature/commercial/etc and we will do both the transcoding and the copying of the footage for your production’s editor.

Delivery

We can deliver back both Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD in HD for your editorial department working with most common NLE software. Also, we are capable of working with Sony Raw, Arri Raw, Red Raw and Canon Raw files. Finally, if you shoot 4K raw 16 bit with our Sony CineAlta F65 cameras, we can output for 6K or 8K DPX sequences in 10 or 16bit.

Timing

Keep in mind that we have state of the art hardware to complete the job. We will finish the job in far less time than you think. No more excuses to not shoot in RAW file format! While we transcode, we embed a rec 709 LUT for your editor. Whereas if you want a light pass of color correction for your dailies, that is just 15% more on our hourly rate!

Utilize RAW

Here at Hollywood Camera we understand digital, but we have a film background. We truly want you to shoot in RAW so you will end up with frames and not with a single compressed file giving you more options to enhance your color in post. This in other words means that your footage will be constituted of frames exactly like they were during the film stock age. Most importantly your colorist will be able to do much more to enhance it during the color correction session.

Do not hesitate to give us a call at 818-972-5000 for more information or email us at info@hollywoodcamera.com

Canon C500 PL Package – Jan/Feb Promo

POSTED ON January 21st  - POSTED IN Info, Promotion

We are excited to announce our New Year Promotion for the Canon C500 PL Package at low cost of $999 per day if rented in conjunction with either of these optics: Cooke S4i / Leica Summilux C / Angenieux Optimo 19.5-94mm / Fujinon 25-300mm T3.5.

In addition, training will be offered to the DIT for using the Canon C500 with a Codex S Raw Recorder. We will teach you the software named VFS (made by Codex) here at Hollywood Camera by Bertone Visuals. It will take approximately 3 hours. No more excuses for not shooting RAW!! You can now receive uncompressed quality like you were using film!!

Valid until February 29th 2016. Mention PROMO CODE: “Canon C500 Jan/Feb” to our rental agents via email or phone.

Incorporating Canon’s revolutionary Super 35mm 4KCMOS image sensor, the Canon C500 4K Digital Cinema Camera offers a number of contemporary high-resolution motion imaging choices. The camera delivers uncompressed 2k or HD 4:4:4 RGB video components at up to 60 progressive fps, which are externally recorded. By employing the YCbCr component-video set at 10-bit depth, the C500 extends that picture-capture rate up to 120 fps. The C500 also features a 4k imaging mode that delivers cinema-centric 4096 x 2160 format, or the TV-centric 3840 x 2160 UHDTV format (sometimes called QuadHD), available to external recorders via industry-standard SMPTO 3G-SDI serial interface for streamlines workflows.

Product Features & Product Specifications

Canon C500 PL Package

Package List:

  • Canon C500 PL 2K/4K
  • Codex S on board recorder to capture Canon Raw
  • Codex capture drives 512GB X 4
  • Codex docking station USB 3.0 (reader)
  • Codex Software VFS on MacBook Retina Display
  • Alphatron EVF ( SDI )
  • Noga arm (short)
  • SmallHD AC7 on board monitor
  • Noga arm
  • Cinoflex Rig
  • 4 Anton Bauer batteries and a recharger
  • Arri Matte Box
  • Shape WLB articulated handles
  • Letus master cinema series leather pillow with velcro
  • O’Connor CFF-1 follow focus
  • O’Connor 2575D fluid head
  • O’Connor sticks with spreaders
  • O’Connor baby legs with spreaders
  • Low Hat Mitchell
  • High Hat Mitchell

Codex and Canon C500

Anthony Richmond A.S.C., B.S.C.

POSTED ON December 9th  - POSTED IN Info

This week here at Hollywood Camera Inc I had the pleasure of interviewing renowned Cinematographer and current faculty chair of the New York Film Academy cinematography department, Anthony B. Richmond A.S.C., B.S.C. Mr. Richmond will be at Hollywood Camera for the next two weeks guiding New York Film Academy students on Film/lighting workshops and preparing them for their upcoming final project.

Anthony B. Richmond, A.S.C. and B.S.C. is an accomplished Cinematographer whose career spans well over five decades. His most recent credits include: Good Luck Chuck; The Comebacks; Shade; Havana Nights;  Legally Blond; Ravenous;  Men Of Honor; The Sweetest Thing;  Someone Like You; Just Friends; John Tucker Must Die; Autopsy; Sex and Lies in Sin City; The Rocker; Alvin the Squeakquel; Coffee Town; as well as The Assets for Peter Medak.

Born and raised in London, Richmond literally worked his way up through the ranks to his current position of Director of Photography.  He began at the age of 16 as a messenger with Associate British Cinemas and later with Pathe-News, where he was promoted to the camera department.  He next worked as Assistant Cameraman on such films as: Call Me Bwana; From Russia with Love; Devil-Ship Pirates; The Gorgan; A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum; Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451 and David Leans’s Dr. Zhivago.

Richmond served as focus-puller on Casino Royale and on Far From the Madding Crowd for Director John Schlesinger – whom he also later served as Cinematographer of the documentary Israel: A Right To Live made just days after the Six-Day War.  Shortly after  wards, Richmond began to work as Director of Photography on feature films; his first in 1967 Only When I Larf directed by Basil Dearden.

This award-winning Cinematographer has had numerous collaborations with Director Nicolas Roeg, lensing five of his films: Don’t Look Now – for which Richmond won the prestigious BAFTA award; The Man Who Fell To EarthBad Timing; Heart Of Darkness; and Full Body Massage for Showtime.  Some of Richmond’s other credits include: The Sandlot; Candyman; Stardust for Michael Apted; Playing God; Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights; Rough Riders for John Milius; Silver Bears for Ivan Passer, That’s Life and Sunset for Blake Edwards; The Eagle Has Landed for John Sturges; and The Greek Tycoon for J. Lee Thompson. He also served as DP on Tony Goldwin’s directorial debut Walk On The Moon, Sean Penn’s directorial debut Indian Runner, and Anjelica Houston’s directorial debut Bastard Out Of Carolina, and collaborated again with her on: Agnes Brown and Riding The Bus With My Sister.

Richmond was also responsible for photography on the seminal British music scene of the late 60’s.  He shot the Rolling Stones classic, Sympathy For The Devil for Jean-Luc Godard, with which he then collaborated with Michael Lindsey Hogg on The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus and the Beatles Let It Be.  His other rock and roll credits include: the Who’s The Kids Are Alright, as well as the Documentary Glastonbury Fayre.

Most recently in 2015, Richmond has been brought on board as New York Film Academy’s faculty chair of the cinematography department. Anthony has taught the next generation of Cinematographers and frequently collaborates with Vendors and the outside community to development lasting relationships between his students and industry professionals. He relishes mentoring aspiring filmmakers and looks forward to meeting with students to discuss their needs on upcoming projects.

In addition, as an accomplished Cinematographer, Anthony is a member of the Academy Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (A.M.P.A.S), British Academy of Film & Television Arts (B.A.F.T.A), American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C), and British Society of Cinematographers (B.S.C).

After Interviewing A.S.C., B.S.C. Anthony Richmond, it was fascinating to hear how much knowledge, experience, and success Richmond has had throughout his established career. From starting in the camera department in 1959 and working his way up to his current success, Richmond is a prime example to all aspiring cinematographers that diligence and determination certainly goes a long way. Lastly, I asked Richmond what advice he would give to aspiring cinematographers. Mr. Richmond stated that taking chances, keep shooting, and learning from your mistakes is the remedy for success.

https://www.nyfa.edu/cinematography-school/

Arri AMIRA

POSTED ON October 8th  - POSTED IN Info, Photography

The Arri AMIRA takes the ALEXA’s sensor and puts it in a lightweight and compact body, designed to let you pick it up and start shooting. Since the AMIRA’s sensor is the same as that of the ALEXA, you’ll get 14 stops of dynamic range, fantastic skin-tone rendition, a native ISO of 800, and EI range from 160 to 3200.

Recording in ProRes formats up to 4:4:4 in HD and 2K modes with frame rates up to 200fps, the AMIRA also includes all the standard frame rates of the ALEXA, in addition to some interlaced frame rates (59.94i and 50i), which are necessary for some broadcast applications. All recording is done to CFast 2.0 cards, which are fast and affordable. The camera features an internal motorized ND filter wheel with 0.6, 1.2, and 2.1 ND filters.

The AMIRA Premium is the highest-end of the AMIRA varieties, with the ability to shoot 4K UHD 3840×2160, 2K 4444 ProRes, up to 200 fps, and in Log C installed in-camera.

Features:

Same sensor and image quality as the ARRI ALEXA
Records HD 1080 or 2K
Dynamic range of more than 14 stops, low noise, beautiful skintone and natural color rendering
Records Rec 709 or Log C images using ProRes LT, 422, 422HQ or 444 codecs
Speeds of up to 200 fps
Single-user ergonomics – perfect shoulder balance
Build-in ND filters
High-res OLED eyepiece and fold-away LCD monitor
Comes with a number of preloaded 3D Lut-based looks
Rugged and reliable build

ARRI Amira

Leica 35mm Summilux-C

POSTED ON September 28th  - POSTED IN Info, Lenses

Leica 35mm Summilux-C lenses are a ground breaking new line of PL mount primes designed to deliver ultra-high optical performance for film and digital capture.

These new T1.4 close focus primes employ a unique multi-aspheric design and high-precision cine lens mechanics to provide unmatched flat field illumination across the entire 35mm frame and suppression of color finging in the farthest corners of the frame with no discernable breathing.

All Leica Summilux-C lenses share a uniform length, 95mm threaded lens front, advanced distance focus scales and similar location of focus and iris rings – which allow quick interchange of lenses in a busy production environment. Another unique feature is an integrated net ring threaded into the rear element.

Designed to be lightweight yet rugged, the mount and lens barrel are manufactured from high-strength titanium. Leica Summilux-C lenses weigh between 1.6 and 1.8kg (3.5 – 4.0 lbs).

Call one of our rental professionals for further details on 818 972-5000.

Leica 35mm Summilux-C Primes

VFX FILMING AT HOLLYWOOD CAMERA

POSTED ON September 15th  - POSTED IN DIT Tools, Info, Photography
Director Jonathan Heap and cinematographer David Stump, ASC, came in to Hollywood Camera to shoot VFX plates and some pick ups for the horror / thriller feature film The Unwilling. David Stump has chosen the digital Sony cameras F65, F55 and FS7 from Hollywood Camera Inc and our partner Bertone Visuals, that also assisted the production with digital acquisition systems (Dreadnought 4K Cart) for Color Management, Data Management and transcoding from 4K resolution to HD. The editor is cutting the whole movie in Adobe Premiere CC using proxy files AppleProRes 4:2:2. After the edit is complete, Bertone Visuals will be doing the color correction in DaVinci Resolve and the DCP (theatrical release master) in its grading room located on the second floor of Hollywood Camera’s building in Burbank, CA.

Sound Stage with ‘The Unwilling” Crew

POSTED ON August 20th  - POSTED IN DIT Tools, Info, Lenses, Motion, Photography

Cast and crew from ‘The Unwilling’ came into Hollywood Camera to film some special effects pick-up shots on our sound stage.

‘The Unwilling’ is a psychological thriller directed by Jonathan Heap, produced by Philip Morton and starring Dina Meyer, Lance Henriksen and David Lipper. If the tag line has any indication, we are in for an edge of your seat experience.

“6 family members gather for the reading of a will. Who will leave alive?”

David Stump, ASC, the cinematographer for ‘The Unwilling’, is a member of the ASC and his credits include some amazing films. Mr. Stump decided to film the principle photography in 4K with the Sony F65, F55 and FS7 and the Leica Sumillux C primes paired with Fujinon 25-300mm T3.5 and 19-90mm T2.9.

The F65 became particular useful with its 16 bit color depth and all the scenes that had to have visual effects were shot with F65 mounted on a Cinetech Capinera dolly also provided from Hollywood Camera. The Sony F55 was used as the camera car and hand held camera, whereas the FS7 was used for the Movi M15 scenes.

The special effects pick up shots today were for a mirror shot that was needed for a scene. Filming with the Sony F65, and the Fujinon 25-300mm they needed a more heavy duty dolly. We provided them with the Cinetech Falcon 2 that is usually available for rental to the customers that are shooting in our stage. David placed the camera on its side to give you the illusion the footage was vertical, yet the prop and actor were in a horizontal position.

Bertone Visuals, our partner company provided the digital acquisition systems (Dreadnought 4K cart) which allow the DIT not only to store and archive the whole film, but also, to take care of the color management and the transcoding on set from 4K Raw and XAVC to 2K Apple pro-res 4:2:2 codec. The editor for the unwilling is currently cutting the thriller/horror movie in Premiere CC.

Gianluca Bertone the president of Bertone Visuals participated as second camera operator and second unit DP, whereas his assistant Marco Paonessa worked as DIT.

The Unwilling is being edited at the new Bertone Visuals grading room located on the second floor of Hollywood Camera. The editor will import his cut via EDL to DaVinci Resolve where Bertone Visuals and Mr. Stump ASC, will grade the whole feature in P3-DCI (for theatrical release via DCP) and Rec 709 for Internet, TV and DVD applications.

We love having productions come over and use our facilities. Our 30 x 35 foot sound stage is available to rent for film, commercial and rehearsals. Call one of our rental agents to book you in for a walk through on 818 972 5000.

MATCH THE CAMERA MATCH THE LENS

POSTED ON June 26th  - POSTED IN Info, Lenses, Photography
We take pride in offering exceptional service to our clients and building long term relationships. Our lens collection at Hollywood Camera ranges from some of the all time classics to the latest zoom, anamorphic and primes available on the market. All our camera packages are accessorized for the productions needs and budgets.

Arri Alexa Plus – The ALEXA Plus is known for its exceptional image performance with 14+ stops of dynamic range. The ARRI color science in the ALEXA Plus provides natural color replication and excellent color separation. Our Alexa cameras besides capturing Apple ProRes internally are also capable of acquiring 3K Arri Raw with our onboard Codex M and S recorders.

Sony F65 CineAlta 4K – F65 uses a unique 20 million photosite Super-35 sensor which has higher resolution than any previous digital motion picture camera. Although digital, it gives the feeling of a film based camera due to its mechanical rotary shutter.  Its 16-bit color depth together with 4K/6K/8K footage output make the F65 unmatched by any other digital camera on the market today.

Sony FS7 –  The Sony FS7 records in XAVC codec on internal XQD media cards in UHDTV 4K resolution (3840×2160), but it can also acquire 4K RAW footage when it is paired with the Sony AXS-R5 recorder and the HXR-IFR5 deck or the Convergent Design monitor/recorder Odyssey 7Q. The FS7 camera is capable of shooting slow motion at 60fps in 4K and 180fps at HD resolution.

ODYSSEY 7Q RECORDER

POSTED ON May 27th  - POSTED IN DIT Tools, Info
One of our favorite products right now is the Odyssey 7Q recorder/monitor here at Hollywood Camera. We have the license bundle with our Odyssey 7Q so now you can record RAW in ARRI, Canon and Sony. As a monitor, Odyssey7Q features a 7.7” OLED screen with 1280×800 resolution. Additional exposure aids include a programmable false color mode, zebras a waveform monitor and a histogram.

As a recorder the Odyssey7Q captures multiple signals and formats reliably to Solid State Drives. Odyssey7Q records HD or 4K Apple ProRes 422(HQ) or uncompressed video DPX files. RAW data signals from the ARRI ALEXA, the Canon C500 or the Sony FS700/FS7/A7S. Convert the RAW signal into high quality compressed video files for quicker turnaround in post.

COLOR GRADING ROOM

POSTED ON May 26th  - POSTED IN DIT Tools, Info
Designed and developed with filmmakers needs in mind, our brand new Color Grading room features a 4K theater style projector. The partnership with Bertone Visuals allows us to have a full Digital Intermediates facility for grading and mastering all the way to the theatrical DCP at Hollywood Camera. We have put together one of the most advanced and up to date post-production rooms in LA.

With a Sony 4K projector and a full DaVinci color correction system, our clients will have the luxury of grading in 4K with our colorist or have the option of just renting our color bay.

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