SIGN YOUR POSTS

[Guest]

Well why not just enforce the real name rule?

 

Every one who registers must a credit card for registration purposes, your name and the address on the card must match or the site will not let you post. Read but not post.

 

Just asking people won't be good enough, any one can make up a real sounding name like, Dave Johnson or Steve Smith, instead of a nickname which we will know is a handle.

 

If a guy posts as Steve Smith when his real name is Eric Brown, how would any of us know the difference?

 

R,

[David Mullen ASC]

So you're just anonymous for the sake of being anonymous?

 

Look, I don't make the rules here -- Tim does. All I can do is try and ignore the anonymous posters. If they don't have the courtesy to use their name when talking to me, then why should I listen?

[Max Jacoby]

I agree with David. I don't think how you can have a meaningful profesional exchange if you don't know the person you are talking to.

[Manu Anand]

Well why not just enforce the real name rule?

 

Every one who registers must a credit card for registration purposes, your name and the address on the card must match or the site will not let you post.  Read but not post.

 

 

R,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Whoaaaaa!!!!!!

 

Not everyone keeps a credit card!!! Ive never needed a credit card in my life and really dont intend to get one... so the credit card would make a lot of people ineligible. I dont really know if debit cards would work. Im not sure but i dont think they are acceptable in most online transactions.

A lot of people arent even comfortable with sharing their credit card info online.

 

And a lot of students in India would not have credit cards.

 

 

Manu Anand

Bombay

[Robert Edge]

Participating in this site is actually not the same as having a discussion among filmmakers in a pub. It could be, but it isn't, because a conscious decision has been made to make everything people say about their identities, and the content of what they say, searchable to anyone with an internet connection.

 

Some people do not like to make personal information about themselves (name, city and occupation) and/or their views public to the entire world. This reticence, which may be based on a desire for privacy or concerns about internet security or both, does not strike me as in the least bit peculiar. In fact, it is perfectly understandable, or should be. The contrary view, which is that people put their legitimacy in question if they are unwilling to make their name, location, occupation and views public, including to people who have nothing to do with filmmaking, is the view that strikes me as odd. Given that making up personal information is not particularly difficult, I also don't see what demanding this information actually accomplishes, unless one is also prepared to demand that people reveal other data, such as their social insurance number, as well.

 

As for CML, it is true that there is a general policy requiring people to identify themselves. There is also a forum on CML specifically designed to let people post anonymously. Indeed, recently people were encouraged to do just that on a particular topic as a result of a problem with intimidation.

 

If I find this thread a bit troubling, it is because people who are happy to make their personal data and views available to anyone who wants to read this information are questioning the legitimacy, if not the integrity, of people who would rather not do the same. Is this an inability to understand the contrary view, or a refusal to understand?

[Jonathan Spear]

"""Psuedonyms have a long and distinguished history in the world of letters."""

 

Awwww.... that's a cute little nickname you've got there....

How fu-k-ng special.

[Tim Tyler]

> I also don't see what demanding this information

> actually accomplishes, unless one is also prepared

> to demand that people reveal other data,

> such as their social insurance number, as well.

 

It is in the best interest of a forum member to be honest and use his real name. If he's not honest and uses a false name he's not likely to ever be challenged on it (unless he is impersonating someone else) however by doing so he is forfeiting certain advantages of being who he says he is. He may have the opportunity to meet other forum members in person one day, etc.

 

> ... people ... are questioning the legitimacy, if not the integrity, of people

 

Yes they are. So far members are not required to prove their identity, but please tell me what the downside is to using one's real name in this forum?

[Robert Edge]

Tim, I don't think that I can make my views any clearer. Having chosen to respond, I would have preferred that you address the thrust of what I had to say, instead of isolating one sentence, and a rather secondary one at that, but that is your privilege. Look, this is your site, and you can run it as you see fit. I just don't think that the concerns that some people have about privacy and personal information, especially on a site that is deliberately accessible to hundreds of millions of people, are as hard to understand as some people make them out to be.

[David Mullen ASC]

I assume you drive a car, which a LOT more of a risky activity than using your name on this forum! It's a simple risk-to-benefit calculation.

 

Look, I've been posting on the internet and signing my posts ever since there was an internet practically, and I have yet to see a downside to using my real name anymore than when I publish a book or magazine article or mail someone a letter -- or any other form of written communication one can make, that there's a downside to using my real name on such correspondance. So excuse me if these people hiding behind pseudonyms strike me as paranoid.

 

I suppose you've never bought anything over the internet either, like an airline ticket.

 

Obviously participating on an internet forum is a form of written communication and interaction between people, which often benefits from a level of mutual trust & respect, signalled by something as simple as saying hello and indentifying yourself. Imagine if I job interviewed someone who refused to tell me their name because "it was dangerous to let out that information." Fine, one is free to hole themselves up in some cabin and avoid humanity, but that seems like an opposite impulse to wanting to talk to people on a forum.

 

I've put up a note on my computer to ignore all anonymous posts in the future, not that I'm so good at controlling MY impulse to communicate information!

[Guest razerfish]

Here's a simple reason to use a nickname -- you can keep track of your usernames on different boards.

 

I belong to about 30 message boards, give or take a few. Some I may visit once a year, others quite often, some not more than once or twice before I'm finished with it. And when I don't use the same name each time, I inevitably forget my username for some of these boards, especially the ones I don't frequent often.

 

This has happened many times. And some of these sites wouldn't let me use my real name -- MS Game Zone already had a Greg Moulton, so I might be GregMo1232 at one place, Greg_Moulton another, GregMoul somewhere else. Well, once I dump the cookies from my computer or they do some house cleaning on their site, I'm really in trouble. I have to re-register.

 

So by using a nickname that is always accepted, I can use it for every single board. And because it's unique enough, I don't have to worry about it already being taken. And when I do pop into a board I haven't been on in 2 years, I don't have to scratch my brain to figure out my username.

 

I'm sure I'm not alone in this. That's why people might like using nicknames on boards; it's not just privacy issues.

 

If others don't want to respond to my posts because I use a nickname, that's fine with me. I'd rather not deal with someone so petty.

[Robert Edge]

David,

 

Many people draw a distinction between discussions on the internet and discussions face-to-face.

 

If I have trouble understanding the point of this thread, and in particular the vehemence of the language, it is because I know of a forum where this is not an issue and that has been very successful in fostering the type of environment that you and Tim and others talk about achieving for this forum.

 

There is a critic named Daniel Rogov who operates a forum about wine and food. Although Rogov is based in Israel, there are participants, both Jewish and non-Jewish, from all over the world. Some people use their full names, some use their first names, some use last names, some use initials and some use pseudonyms. I participate in Rogov?s forum because it is one of the very few internet fora, on any subject, where the discussions are invariably civil, even when the topic is politically or morally volatile.

 

Despite the fact that many of the participants in Rogov?s forum prefer not to divulge their name, rank and serial number, they frequently meet one-another face-to-face. These meetings take place in various parts of the globe, and it is common for a participant in, say, Jersualem or Sonoma County, to meet with someone from another country who is visiting.

 

In fact, on Monday night I went for dinner in New York with three other forum participants, including one who recently arrived from overseas to teach a course on human rights at Columbia. If you read about the dinner (http://stratsplace.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=9044) you will note that none of us use our full names on Rogov's site, but rather AmyD, Aeyal, Asher and RRE. You will also see comments in the thread from three other people who use only first names, Chaim (Tel Aviv), Leanne (California) and Matilda (South Australia).

 

I can assure you that none of the seven of us harbour an irrational fear about misuse of our personal information (that is, we are not "paranoid") and that none of us is mischievous ("the majority of problematic posters are the anonymous ones"). In an earlier post, you wrote: "Someone who posts behind a pseudonym simply cannot be trusted to be sincere or honest, nor can I respect anything they write if they can't bring themselves to attach their name to it. And you constantly wonder what they have to be so afraid of,or what they are hiding..." If you wrote that on Rogov's site, or on many, many other internet sites, people would not consider it an argument, but rather an unprovoked ad hominem attack.

 

Those of us who enjoyed dinner together on Monday night (well, enjoyed the company and the wine ? my own view is that the restaurant, WD-50, is more trendy than it is good) are just people who like their privacy, and who think that communications on the internet, viewable by the whole world, are not the same thing as a face-to-face meeting in a restaurant or pub. Come to think of it, I like my privacy in a restaurant or pub, too. And yes, some people are indeed concerned about leaving personal information all over the net. It is that simple, and ought to be pretty simple to understand.

 

I brought up the example of Rogov's site because it has been extremely successful at attracting a diverse group of people who are civil to one-another on the net, and who have been able, through the site, to meet interesting people face-to-face both in their native cities and in many parts of the world. Having followed cinematography.com for some time, and having more recently participated, I think that it has a way to go before it achieves the same state. If I have made a financial contribution to the site, it is because I think that it just might get there. That said, I hope that I can say, without being attacked as paranoid, insincere, dishonest, mischievous and unworthy of respect, that there are perhaps some lessons to be learned from Rogov?s little forum, not the least of them being common civility and tolerance for the views, including views on privacy, of others.

 

A Note To Forum Participants in New York:

I?ll be in the city for another four or five weeks, and frequently during the year. I?ve met Nathan (he?s working on my camera) and I?d love to meet others who participate in this site. If anyone is interested in getting a few people together, whether for lunch or dinner or a drink, send me an IM.

[Tim Tyler]

R.,

 

Firstly thanks for becoming a Sustaining Member!

 

I took a look at the Strat's Place forum. He's got about 900 members, which is about where this forum was 18 months ago. Our forum has grown quickly in the last year and a half, partly as a result of now being searchable by Google. We currently have over 6000 members, and with this growth the forum has attracted a few bad apples.

 

What I, David, and some others have found is that, more often than not, it's the bad apples in this forum who insist on being anonymous. Now, not all the anonymous members are bad apples, in fact it's probably just a few. David and other professionals spend a lot of time here answering questions and trying to be helpful, and every once in a while they end up wasting time in a message thread conversing with one of these bad apples.

 

By choosing not to communicate with anonymous posters, David is just saving himself some time and aggrevation. Can't blame him for that :) He, or anyone else on this forum (besides me) is not obligated to be here.

 

I do not forsee this forum ever requiring a member to use his real name, but those who do will likely benefit from it.

[Max Jacoby]

Here's a simple reason to use a nickname -- you can keep track of your usernames on different boards. 

 

The discussion is not about nicknames, it't about signing your posts. Something which I do not consider a waste of bandwith.

[Greg Gross]

I have been a professional photographer for a lot of years and also a pro-

fessional in medicine for a long time. I'm 57 years old. All that will get me a

cup of coffee for one buck(in my city). When I first joined the forum I did not

know who David Mullen ASC was. I knew that he signed his posts David Mullen

Cinematographer, LA. Not too much longer after that I found out who he was.

I trust David's comments and lessons on his art and craft. I believe that the 3

letters ASC stand for integrity and knowledge of the art of cinematography. I

know that when I see David's posts listed that they are worth my time to read

and learn. Please read David's post (FAQ) on cinematography. One day I was

really feeling like I knew it all,debated David on the reason for viewing dailies.

Well I want to tell you he chopped me down to the size of an ant! At the very

end of his post he said "I'm sorry but thats the way it is Greg". I will never for-

get that M. David Mullen ASC taught me the real reason for viewing dailies. I will

not forget it until the day I die and I have a story to tell when I'm sitting around

with filmmakers. Sign your posts gentlemen if you wish, its not the law. Some-

thing wonderful happens when filmmakers get together and discuss their inter-

rests and work and identify which each other. Be proud of your art and craft.

 

Greg Gross

Always A Student Cinematographer

[Stuart Brereton]

The discussion is not about nicknames, it't about signing your posts. Something which I do not consider a waste of bandwith.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well said, Max.

 

Have whatever username you like, just sign your posts with your real name. I get enough email from "jojo123456", trying to sell me a fake college degrees, or prescription drugs, or god knows what else. I don't want to have to deal with that here as well. Tim has already stated that he's not going to make it mandatory, but it is polite. Would you have a conversation face to face with someone who refused to tell you their name?

 

Everyone here benefits from the exchange of information. It's only fair that we should know who we are exchanging information with.

[F Bulgarelli]

I saw David the other day at cine gear. I decided to approach him to introduce myself and he maybe recognized my name. Let's say I was anonymous, what will I say?

 

"Hi David, I'm "ANONYMOUS", nice to meet you. :blink:

[Oli Soravia]

Well...I agree with David. Clarifying your opinion without hiding yourself, is not really as terrible as some may think.

[Francis Kuhn]

Since I'm fairly new to this I have to say it's really cool to be rubbing virtual shoulders with the kind of talent posting here. Lots of guys with initials after their last names giving great advice for free. Along with their first names and their locations.

 

Now, I'm no different, and I'd love to have my name up there in lights, too. But this is the Internet, so I'm not really inclined to list my name and hometown. Why? Aside from the fact that I'm not famous enough for anyone to care about, let's say I have devious intentions. (I don't, but follow this for a moment). I can scan through here and quickly find the name and city--and with a little trip over to Google--the address of some folks here who might have a lot of expensive equipment sitting around their residence. Pre-qualified for a little breaking-and-entering action. Maybe buzz over when they're down at FotoKem and pick up a new MoviCam Compact or those Super Baltars in PL mount for a client in Tijuana. There's a reason eBay forced everyone who signed up with name-specific email addresses for user IDs to change to anonymous monikers last year. I don't want to be the next beneficiary of a free ad listing my stolen stuff on the front cover of In-Sync.

 

Now, it's not like I'm anti-social or disrespectful, and I know it sounds crazy and a little paranoid, but this is a hot tip from my insurance agent, my home security company and the local constabulary. And my wife who's scared of her own shadow and won't sleep at night convinced I'm secretly being sized-up by all those criminally-insane cinematographers out there.

[Stephen Williams]

those Super Baltars in PL mount for a client in Tijuana.

 

 

Hi,

 

I think there is only 1 set in the world, so I think you would find them!

 

Stephen

[Francis Kuhn]

Hi,

 

I think there is only 1 set in the world, so I think you would find them!

 

Stephen

 

Yes, and I believe they were listed, along with the most outrageously entertaining "I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore" rant, on eBay with the rest of Vincent Gallo's equipment when he quit the biz after "The Brown Bunny" got panned last year.

 

I have to say, I really liked Buffalo 66, though. My wife's from Nebraska (Go Huskers!), so, you know, the whole football thing was really spot-on.

 

And what's so Super about Super Baltars anyway?

Edited October 2, 2005 by Francis Kuhn

[Stephen Williams]

And what's so Super about Super Baltars anyway?

 

 

Hi,

 

Older lenses such as Cooke series II/III and Super Baltars have a much less clinical look of modern lenses. They have a special 'bokah'. It all depends on the look your after.

 

I know of a DoP who had a set of Cookes stolen last year. He was so desperate to replace them, he paid a huge amount of money for a another set from a DoP in England. He could have bought a second hand set of current lenses for the same money!

 

Stephen