Quote (and Photo Tip) of the Day
“The great thing about this camera is you don’t need permits because nobody knows you’re shooting” – Monte Hellman, the 77 year old director of ‘Road to Nowhere’ commenting in a New York Times interview on how he shot the entire film using a Canon 5D Mark II.
Hellman, whose directing credits include ‘Two-Lane Blacktop’ (1971) found the 5D Mark II invaluable for reasons other than its stealthiness. “It has the capability of shooting high-def movies. On a little flashcard. You can shoot 12 minutes at a time, which is more than what you can shoot on 35mm; a 35mm reel is 10 minutes. It’s fantastic. And it looks like a still camera!” Hellman also credits the Mark II as being partially responsible for keeping the production costs of ‘Road to Nowhere' under 5-million dollars.
And do keep in mind: this is coming from someone who built his first camera out of a soup can and a cigar box when he was 10 years old.
Comments
05/18/2010 - 11:25.
I seem to remember that not too long ago NY City wanted anyonewho was shooting with a tripod and any type of still camera on any city property (sidewalks, etc) to take out one million dollars in insurance. The city was trying to claim that anyone one with a tripod must be a 'professional' photographer and therefore should be held to the same liability requirements. After a lot of fight that decision was repeeled, thankfully. The thing is - this director may have made his comment in the NY Times - but furthering this type of commentary (ie. spreading it around the internet) only makes me wonder when the city will try again. Maybe this time they can try to enforce that anyone shooting with a DSLR in public must purchase insurance. While what he says is true - Not so sure I'd be tossing around this brilliant quote. I, for one, am sick of being held up by movie sets walking around the city. And, really can you hide the movie crew/actors, etc as easily as you can disguise the camera? Eventually somebody's going to catch on and the rest of us will get to pay for it everytime we want a snapshot on the great streets of old NY.
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