I'll Be Gone For Two Weeks

December 13, 2005

Hello All,

Yes it's true I will be gone for a few weeks as of Thursday. I know many if not all of you will miss me greatly... my words of wisdom, my vast technical knowledge etc :)

So I'll wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

BTW, any one here shot at the south pole? What un-expected surprises might I encounter?

Temps will be 20-50F this time of year.

Thanks

R,

Peter J DeCrescenzo · December 13, 2005

Have a fun and safe trip, Richard!

Myself, I'm unlikely to get anywhere near the South or North Poles. I lived 14 years in Maine and that was enough cold for me for a lifetime, and I understand Maine is downright tropical compared to the Poles. (Although I once stared dumbfounded looking at a thermometer on a house porch in SE Canada near Kingston early one Xmas morning about 20 years agao -- something like -35 degrees F!)

If you haven't already seen them, you may find some useful info on these cinematography.NET pages:

http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%20GB/cold.htm

http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%20GB/WINTER.HTM

I'd love to see some of your footage after you get back!

All the best.

Adam Frisch FSF · December 13, 2005

Come on, you wuss. It's summer there now! :D

Get back to me when you've worked in some REAL cold conditions.. :P

Robert Edge · December 13, 2005

If I were going to Antarctica, I would re-read a book by Bruce Chatwin called In Patagonia. I can't explain this, given that it a book about the mainland, but I would consider it as important preparatory reading.

The other thing that I'd do is find out why there are penguins in places like New Zealand as well as Antarctica and why the habitat and behaviour of the one's that I've spent hours waiting to see emerge from the forest in NZ are so different from that of the ones in Antarctica.

Tim Tyler · December 13, 2005

I know many if not all of you will miss me greatly

What? They don't have the internet down there??

Chris Keth · December 13, 2005

Good luck and remember your warm socks...nothing worse than cold feet. :P

One of my profs just finished a couple weeks in northern Quebec (apparently quite near the area where "Nanook of the North" was shot) shooting polar bears on super 8, 16mm, and DVCPro50.

Micah Fernandez · December 13, 2005

Wow! Any chance you'd tell us what the project's for?

December 13, 2005

Gee so many responses, I'm really touched guys, sniff :)

As for Tim's question: What? They don't have the internet down there??

Yes we'll have internet on the ship but to send and receive e-mail only, we can't surf a web page. We'll live aboard an icebreaker and go ashore in zodiacs.

As for the cold...as Adam Frisch pointed out it's their "summer" so it won't be freezing cold. 20-50F. I doubt I'll even have to instal the warmer on the camera motor. This is high season for the penguin chicks to hatch so I'm hoping to get some young fellars on film. In addition to seals and whales.

I'll be shooting 35mm the entire time on 5245.

After this shoot just one continent left, and cinematography will have taken me to all seven continents! What a great career eh? How many other jobs can do that for you?

Oh and of course I'm hoping to get the great "on location" production still for my IMDB profile. Hey this is show biz it's all in the marketing right?

R,

David Mullen ASC · December 13, 2005

I'm envious -- it sounds like you'll get to see things that most us never do.

Stay safe!

Peter J DeCrescenzo · December 13, 2005

... Oh and of course I'm hoping to get the great "on location" production still for my IMDB profile. Hey this is show biz it's all in the marketing right?

Makes sure the other folks in your group carry heavier gear than you, so you can more easily outrun the polar bears.

Well, maybe except for the person you've pre-arranged with to take _that_ photo! :)

December 13, 2005

"I'm envious -- it sounds like you'll get to see things that most us never do."

Thanks David, that means a lot coming from some one with your resume.

As for....

"so you can more easily outrun the polar bears."

Now Peter I assume that's a joke because surely you know there are no polar bears at the south pole :)

Yes I know Coke is running a CGI ad that would have us believe polar bears and penguins enjoy Coke together, but it's quite impossible. I once got a shot request from a guy who wanted a shot of a tiger eating a zebra, I explained to him that it would never happen as the two animals live on different continents. He didn't believe me.

The most dangerous animal at the south pole is most likely the elephant seal, and you can easily out run one on land. Of course if one is managing to crush me to death my last words will be, "forget me! save the film! the film!"

R,