Ray Shab: Filmmaker and screenwriter in Oaklan…

Hi Ray. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 1,000,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

This is a network for you, built by you. Like mo...

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Hello Ray -

Welcome to the community! I'm Amanda Toney, the Managing Director at Stage 32. Since 2013 I've been proud to oversee Stage 32's Next Level Education, which provides you the most up-to-date tools necessary to become a better creative.

Over the years Stage 32 has worked with over 500 industry executives and professionals to teach online webinars, classes and intensive labs exclusively for you - our Stage 32 community. We bring you instructors who have worked directly on some of your favorite films, TV shows or theater productions to teach you in-the-trenches information that you won'...

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Doug Nelson

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3 people like this
4 years ago

More than a week now & nary a word outta him. I guess he's not all that interested after all.

Ray Shab

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1 person likes this
- Abby Verste
4 years ago

Dear Doug, I sent it to your Gmail on the 10th! Please send me a note using that account to make sure I have the correct email, and I'll reply to that.

Just sent you a DM.

JJ Hillard

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1 person likes this
- Adam James Mawson
4 years ago

Watched it. Very nice production for a short indie! Congrats to you for all the time and effort it must have involved!

Adam James Mawson

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1 person likes this
- JJ Hillard
4 years ago

Thank you JJ. It's my first film too.

I watched it too. Very impressive. Good luck on the next project.

Andrew Sobkovich

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1 person likes this
- Doug Nelson
4 years ago

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Ray, Yes you pick the camera that makes shooting your picture the best. Choosing what is best and working with that gear to achieve the best is specialized knowledge. Gained over years of experience. Without that almost any of the cameras currently available will do a very good job. Expectations for a director in the early planning stages of a project should be of the finished images in their picture not the process of getting there. As it has been a while since you made a film and you put this discussion in this lounge, I assume you will be directing among other things, but I don’t know if you intend to shoot your short as well. If you are hiring a DP, share your thoughts and ideas of the look and budget and allow them to have the major input on the gear they will utilize to put your vision on the screen. Hiring a DP for their gear means that the response to the best camera will always be the same, the camera they own is best. Obviously not true nor what you might wish to hear but what you will be told.

Perhaps in all the responses you’ve received, Doug answered your question most appropriately “Learn to shoot with what you got”. (insert applause track here).

I wholeheartedly agree that stills cameras shoot great stills. They are not made for motion in so many ways, both in the image and in the ergonomics. But if that’s what you have, prepare to light, and design shots and art direct your way around the problems.

The BlackMagic Ursa Mini 12K has a sensor that is neither Super 35 nor APS-C but nicely between them and they are not hugely different. Essentially there are no standards. Which is problematic. With information and knowledge it is just something we adapt to. Not all lenses made in specific mounts or that can be used on specific sensor sizes, are equal in their optical properties. So yes, sometimes a lens will not vignette on a given camera when you thought it might. That is one of those things we find in either testing or our knowledge and skill set. Whether a lens is appropriate for a given sensor size is determined first and foremost by the diagonal measurement of the sensor and the diameter of the image circle that comes out of the lens to the sensor. The image circle of the lens has to be greater than the diagonal of the sensor or there will be vignetting in the corners of the images. Some lenses have greater image circles that the mounts they come with and the sensor sizes they are “made for” indicate. Others don’t. Gotta test. Remember that in the case of the BlackMagic, not all of the formats available use the full sensor available area. The 12K 17:9 has an image circle of 30.56mm while the 12K 16:9 needs an image circle of 29.07mm. That millimeter and a half difference is a lot and some lenses will not work in the larger format. Anything you can do to get away from using the very edges of the image circle is a good thing. This assumes the sensor is centered behind the lens, which has not always the case.

4 years ago

Andrew, Wow, thanks for taking the time. Lots of valuable info. I have used an Arri sr2 16mm back in the day, and shot few shorts with a 3ccd min dv. I was the DP (mainly student type stuff). Also a f...

Ray, having shot with an SR2 says you will approach this with enough thought. I hope then that you will also shoot your piece, it might be therapeutic, or wildly frustrating :-)

Hmmm... shooting on an...

Hi Andy and thanks for accepting my invitation. I am getting ready to shoot a short film this summer with local talent. If we ever do anything larger, we'll ask for your help and mentorship.