Cinematography in Canada Since 1957

#MichaelGalbraithCsc
@michaelgalbraithdp
How many folks out there think that light meters are a thing of the past? Something that old guys used to read light in the film days. In today’s digital acquisition landscape, what you see is what you get right? You’re on a set and you have your dit, you can reference a wave form on a decent monitor so who needs a meter anymore? You’re at home and suddenly you get the call to go out and shoot a quick shot outside no where near the main unit. You have a camera with a faulty viewing system so you can only look through the eyepiece. In my case, thank god I have my spot meter with me. Through testing and experience I know where on the scale I want my medium gray to be. (average caucasian skin tone) You read the blue sky, you read the grass and you read the face. You can now confidently expose the face a stop under which will make the blue sky 4 stops over and the grass 2 stops under. This all falls nicely within the latitude of your camera’s sensor and you have a well exposed negative so to speak. Everything is recoverable later in post. It all comes down to where you want ‘normal’ exposure to be within your image. I use a spot meter all the time. It keeps every shot in a scene consistent so I’m not adjusting from say T2 to T2.8 because I over lit on the reverse. My meter of choice is the Pentax spot meter and I work in EVs. (exposure values) Learn to use a meter and you will be able to tackle any situation that comes up. For more detailed explanation of how to use the Pentax please email me with your questions. michaelwilliamgalbraith@gmail.com. Let’s talk green screens and blue screens tomorrow. See you then.

#MichaelGalbraithCsc
@michaelgalbraithdp
So you want to be a director of photography. There are many paths you can take to achieve your goal. You can come up from camera, being an assistant, then operator then a dp. You can go to film school and experiment with cameras and lighting while not facing the money pressure of a real production. You can volunteer for every no money job out there to gain experience. Lots of ways. In my case I worked my way up in the lighting department, first as an electrician, then a best boy then a gaffer to finally making the move to dp. When I first started we shot mainly on film. After the days work, the producers, the director and the dp would go to the lab to view the previous days work projected onto a screen. No matter how long my day was and how early my call might be the next day, I also went to ‘dailies’. I was involved in every lighting set up for every shot for the entire film. I knew we had an 18k with a half cto going through a light grid frame about 6 feet away from that window. I knew we were using a kodac 500 asa tungsten film stock and that we shot the scene at 2.8. I saw the effect of that light and all the others that we used for the shot. It was the only way I felt that I could have an intelligent conversation with my dp. We could talk about the quality of the light, the direction, the colour temp. We could talk about things that we liked and did not like and what we could do better. Thanks to that process I was really able to learn from many dps their approach and methods. You need someone to take a chance on you to give you that break to start shooting. You need to be ready when that time comes. In my case, I needed to hire a great operator to help teach me that part of the process. As a person coming from camera you need to hire a great gaffer and key grip. These people will keep you out of trouble. Don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know. Film making is a team sport. Take advantage of the skill sets of your crew. If you want a more detailed explanation of my journey, then email me and I will fill you in on more details. michaelwilliamgalbraith@gmail.com Tomorrow is a discussion about light meters.

#MichaelGalbraithCsc
@MichaelGalbraithdp
This man in the photo has had the biggest influence on my career and my life. This is my father Howard Galbraith. He was an electrician and gaffer and he started his career at a television station in Toronto. I remember as a child, he would bring me into work with him and I would be mesmerized by all the lights and flags hanging off the set walls. At home I swould go into his room and see clothes pegs and gels on his dresser. Yes in those days they actually used gels to change colour temps on lamps. He taught me about work ethic, dedication and how to behave on a set. He would say to me that if you were a half hour early you were already an hour late. Things like keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. lol He taught me well and I miss him dearly. Thanks Dad for being a great mentor and father. I can only hope that I live up to his standards and that I can pass on valuable lessons to those people coming up behind me. Tomorrow we will get into some technical talk so see you all then and have a great day.

#MichaelGalbraithCsc @michaelgalbraithdp
Hi everyone. I would like to thank the CSC for allowing me the opportunity to be a guest host for the next two weeks. I look forward to sharing some stories and insights about my experience as a director of photography. I also want to hear about your journeys into the world of film making. How you first got interested in our business, the steps you took and still need to take to achieve your goals. The CSC is a great resource for connecting to film makers. The members are all very generous with their time and willing to share their knowledge so please check it out. You can look at some of my work by going to www.michaelgalbraith.ca or www.mikegalbraith.com. I am also the first Michael Galbraith listed on the IMDB. In the meantime we will get into it a bit more each day so let’s have some fun and I will see you tomorrow.