spoke digital films

The whole kit cost about as much as one 300W fresnel without barn doors from a manufacturer like Arri. However, that Arri fixture would probably last a lifetime while the Briteks definitely will not. They are “instant gratification lights” for a limited budget rather than “sensible lights” built (and priced) for the long haul.

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So, obsessing over equipment has its value, so long as one remembers 1) that knowledge and technique are much more important than equipment, and 2) that one’s obsessing is of greatest value when it’s focused on what tools can achieve what results as opposed to what tools make one look or feel more “professional.”

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This camera also has several significant credits. The following films were shot wholly or in part with the DVX: Murderball (Oscar nominee), Mad Hot Ballroom, Iraq in Fragments (Sundance winner & Oscar nominee), Lonesome Jim, November (cinematography prize - Sundance), Jackass II, and at least a few others I’ve forgotten.

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Shielded Brutality examines the history of human rights abuses by members of the Chicago Police Department from the early 1970’s through the 1990’s. During this time, scores of African-American men were systematically tortured by brutal and racist means in order to coerce criminal confessions. The accounts are disturbingly similar to the images and accounts from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

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