Mike Thorn Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 Principle photography on SUMMERTIME CHRISTMAS wrapped on Tuesday - on schedule and on budget! By the end of the shoot, one other battery was intermittently not making contact on the charger. Seems to be the same issue. Looked like one of the battery contacts had warmed up to the point of melting slightly. Elysian Pictures out of LA was our rental house and was happy to exchange the one dead battery for us. Chris Armstrong is a great guy - definitely recommend his package. In retrospect, I loved the Nikon lenses. Besides the obvious lack of witness marks, they produced a very nice image in a compact form factor. The Nikon mount was sturdy and well constructed, a piece of cake to swap for the PL mount, and held up superbly to many lens changes every day over the course of 25 shooting days. The lenses performed admirably even in low light - we shot most of the movie at T2.8 and even pushed to T1.8 for a few night exteriors. All of them got a bit bloomy and soft at full wide, but I've seen Super Speeds do the same thing. Coupled with gear rings from SGPro and an Arri FF4, I was quite pleased. As an added bonus, the reverse throw of the Nikons felt much more natural to me than the normal throw of cine lenses. Go figure. I think I'll pick up the new Arri MFF-1 and use the reversal gear all the time... ;) In the future, I'll definitely recommend the Nikon option for low-budget shoots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Giambrone Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Hi Mike, I am also considering shooting a low budget project on Red/Nikons. I'd be interested to see some footage or photos and hear some more of your tribulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Thorn Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 I am also considering shooting a low budget project on Red/Nikons. I'd be interested to see some footage or photos and hear some more of your tribulations. Joe, The producers are keeping a tight handle even on the official behind-the-scenes photos, so getting frame stills would be quite difficult. They look pretty, though - Chad Terpstra of CineVera Pictures was the DP and did a nice job. In all honesty, shooting with the Nikon glass is not much different than Super Speeds. The focus scales are very compressed so your AC will have to be familiar and comfortable with focusing by eye via the monitor (focus charts help, and your wardrobe people can be very helpful in selecting costumes with easy-to-see patterns or textures). He will also need to be comfortable with the short focus throw - most of the pulls I did during this movie, which had a pretty standard variety of shots, were less than 1/2 inch. I'm sure your AC will come prepared, but I would definitely suggest he make sure that his kit includes some super-fine point markers (I love the Lumochrome .4mm's) and that the rental kit includes a speed crank. It makes the micromoves much easier. I also suggest that your AC do a back focus check during the inventory checkout. Since you're swapping lens mounts, it would be easy for something to go awry. It's an easy test - look up the Red Null video on the Abel Cine website. By the way - I'm available. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Cochran Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Mike, are you in Michigan? If so, e-mail me your number at info@ahptic.com with 1st AC in the subject line. I'm asking because I think Chad is in MI right? Anyway, if you are we'd like to add you to our call list. Glad the shoot went well! Dominic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Thorn Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Mike, are you in Michigan? If so, e-mail me your number at info@ahptic.com with 1st AC in the subject line. I'm asking because I think Chad is in MI right? Anyway, if you are we'd like to add you to our call list. Dominic, I'm actually living near Akron, Ohio right now. I was referred to Chad by a friend of the producer's and Chad liked my references. I love to travel, though, so I wouldn't think twice about driving my ol' Chevy to Michigan, even for day jobs (my personal best is 14 hours roundtrip for one night's work!). If you'd still like my info, I'd be more than happy to send it to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Cochran Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Dominic, I'm actually living near Akron, Ohio right now. I was referred to Chad by a friend of the producer's and Chad liked my references. I love to travel, though, so I wouldn't think twice about driving my ol' Chevy to Michigan, even for day jobs (my personal best is 14 hours roundtrip for one night's work!). If you'd still like my info, I'd be more than happy to send it to you. Send it! Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Rudenberg Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Wow Mike, that shoot sounds like total hell. I can't believe you're hungry for more. I'm massively impressed with your attitude, and depressed that this is what the wonder of low cost 35mm digital cinematography has brought us to. Did you really have to hire your own 2nd AC? I could maybe see someone surviving that a couple of days - a music vid or a short - but a 25 day feature. I think halfway through the second week I would have gone crazy, grabbed a ford axle, and viciously murdered everyone on set. But hey, that's just me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Thorn Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 Wow Mike, that shoot sounds like total hell. I can't believe you're hungry for more. I'm massively impressed with your attitude, and depressed that this is what the wonder of low cost 35mm digital cinematography has brought us to. Did you really have to hire your own 2nd AC? I could maybe see someone surviving that a couple of days - a music vid or a short - but a 25 day feature. I think halfway through the second week I would have gone crazy, grabbed a ford axle, and viciously murdered everyone on set. But hey, that's just me... It wasn't hell, it was heaven - because it was a story and a purpose I believe in. That's really the difference between people who love what they do, and people who love what they get paid. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat - in fact, I'm strongly considering taking a job in August that will probably pay even less, be even more difficult, shooting on a camera over twice as old as I am, and to cap it off, I've never even seen a piece of real Super 16mm film before, let alone played 1st AC to one. Why would I even think about it? Because there's a good story to be told, and that's what this business is all about. Making money, being famous, living well - it's so materialistic. What about the lives you can touch, the stories you can tell, the differences you can make in peoples' lives through the movies you help become a reality? What is sleep, or comfort, or "proper" technique or tools in the face of a story that might not get told without the sacrifice that you or I make? Story is king. Let us never forget that. Everything else...is just gravy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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