Toby Orzano

Thank you Mitch, this is exactly what I was looking for. I knew about the removable pins but I hadn't made the conceptual jump to the possibilities that this unlocks. Very good to have in the arsenal. Freaks and Geeks is a phenomenal show and I'm so glad so see it running on IFC. As a young adolescent male when the show first aired, I had a huge crush on Linda Cardellini's character...

Mafers and cardellinis have similar intended functions, except it seems to me that cardellinis do more and can do it better. I think everyone that I've worked with will go to a cardellini over a mafer in most situations. Actually, the only times I can recall seeing mafers used is if we've run out of cardellinis, or clamped on the end of dolly track because we don't want to waste a cardellini for a non-critical application. So my question is whether cardellinis have made mafers obsolete, or is there some specific niche that mafers fill that I have failed to come up with?

My impulse is to see if you can get the streetlights turned off and then rig your own lights to them. Or if they can't be turned off, maybe you can flag them or just roll with them on but supplement with your own color-corrected lights up there as well. It'll take some time and man-power for a pre-rig but i think stands will be too obvious in the shot, especially if you bring up ambiance. I guess it might depend on how far back from the road you can put them.

The easiest answer is that it would not look "like a movie." That's not necessarily a bad thing. If the rest of your film is lit to look like a movie, then it might be an issue, but if you're relying on available light throughout the film as a consistent stylistic choice, then it could be quite effective. Audiences are more and more willing to accept films that don't "look like movies" what with the ascent of YouTube and the like. Natural light can even strike a subconscious cue that since the scene is not lit like a movie, it is more realistic, akin to run-and-gun documentary and home video footage. If the story is not immersive enough, movie lighting can be a noticeable contrivance. Are you familiar with the Dogme95 movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95)? It was a wave of filmmaking started in Denmark, the aim of which was to find true in cinema. The most notably stylistic aspects (actually they were requirements) of these films were that they must be handheld and must use natural light. If you've seen any of these films then you know that it can be quite effective when the performance and location and staging ring true. That has to do with your shutter angle and the refresh rate of the screen. Someone else who deals more with cameras will have to elaborate...

Do you have any reference images that demonstrate more specifically the look you are going for? Based on what you've said, I'm imagining you will want a good backlight to give her a halo rim light effect. Sounds like you won't have the big lights that you will need to do that for a day exterior, so you will have to rely on the sun by orienting her with her back to the sun. Then you will likely need to bounce some of that sunlight onto her face for fill and an eye light. Also, I'm assuming you don't actually want her to be out of focus, but rather to use a diffusion filter on the lens of your camera to give a soft look. I'm also visualizing this being shot in slow motion with a fan (or wind) blowing her hair and thin sundress. Or am I reading too far into it... B)

Thanks for the replies, guys! Looks like we're kind of stuck doing it manually for now. Adrian sent me his template and that looks like it will work well, certainly better than what I had been doing (thanks again Adrian!). The software packages I've looked at have some great features but just won't work for what I need. They keep track of all expenses and labor you have billed for and you can see at a glance which ones have been paid. The problem is they seem to be directed towards time-based work that is done on a computer and not really suitable for production work. Maybe this is a niche in the software market that could be filled...anyone know any programmers?

I might even stretch diffusion across the whole top of the stall and light down through that. It might not be totally realistic but I think soft and even would sell just fine. For fill from lower down, taping Kino tubes to the stall walls sounds promising. Or LED light panels may be useful in this situation considering their slim profile. Just have some correction gels handy; in my admittedly limited experience with them, color temperature of LEDs has seemed a bit off.

Yup, its a c-boom. There is the one version that looks like an ear for an overhead frame where you actually take the turtle base off a c-stand and clamp the post in it, which is held by a gobo head on a combo stand. I've also seen a modified version where rather than taking apart a c-stand, the boom is integrated into the "ear" which has a 5/8" receiver so it will go on another c-stand. Not as heavy duty and probably not properly called a c-boom but it is very similar. I think it is the Matth-boom. Also, a slightly un-PC anecdote about c-booms: I worked with a key grip who was all about using mambo-combos and speed-rail to make menace arms, even when that was complete overkill. One time when the c-boom was suggested to him for a smaller light, he was opposed and referred to it as the "gay arm." The name is beginning to stick in Rochester.

As a freelancer, I am looking for a good system for keeping track of and creating invoices for the work that I do for a large number of clients. I've been just creating invoices in a word processor and organizing via a numbering system, but it is admittedly a clumsy system. I have tried the software called Billings and it is almost exactly what I am looking for, except there isn't a good way to bill for, say, a 12-hour day rate plus overtime at time and and half or double time, which is how pretty much all of the production work I do is handled. Has anyone else found an invoicing software that works particularly well for freelance film production work? Or does anyone else have another good system for keeping track of everything?

Par cans and ellipsoidals (leko, source 4) are used all the time in film lighting. I don't know specifics about theatre fresnels but I can't imagine they'd be too different from film fresnels. Especially if you're on a budget, I'd say go ahead and take whatever you can get. It really doesn't matter what kind of lights you use as long as you know what they can do and use them for the proper applications. See if you can check out these lights and see if any of them are comparable to film lights you'd like to have. As long as they are high enough wattage for your needs and you have adequate grip stuff to be able to control and shape the light you should be alright.

In my experience, if there has to be a stand hidden in the shot, then usually art department has to work some magic. A black stand in a dark corner isn't usually going to cut it. There's nothing wrong with black stands, but I wouldn't pay more for them.

I find that I primarily use gloves for matters of temperature (i.e. manipulating hot lights or keeping my hands warm when it is cold outside) rather than general protection. Work is just easier and more efficient without them. Skin is durable enough when you do enough work. Washing with soap a couple times a day keeps them from getting too dried out and nasty. I'll keep a pair of cheap leather work gloves handy, but I mostly use them for adjusting lights. Durability is not a huge issue, just some barrier between the hot surface and my hand. Pliers for scrims, it's just easier, especially when there are a couple in there and you need to pull just one. In cold weather I wear the warmest gloves I can find and just take them off when I need to do some intricate work. Sometimes the mittens that peel back to reveal fingerless gloves are handy. I know people rave about hot hands, but $40 for a pair of gloves seems silly (especially with such a gross logo).

nope, none

Sounds sketchy as hell...I like it! Only thing is it's going to be really close to the window and you don't really have the option to back it off. It could work in a pinch, but if the production is going to span four months then something permanent may be needed. Sounds like scaffolding is the thing. If you're worried about it being in shot, couldn't you just bring the scaffolding up to a level that's just below the level of the window and then use a regular stand on the scaffolding that could easily be moved out of shot?

In my opinion, one of the biggest keys to shooting good video is controlling contrast. Just because it's video and you can get exposure from most natural lighting conditions doesn't mean you can forget about lighting. Use lights to make sure everything falls within the (very limited) dynamic range of the camera. For example, when shooting day interiors, make sure you fill the room with enough light so that everything inside is properly exposed without the windows being completely blown out. Once something is blown out, there is no information there that can be corrected in post. With video there are no excuses for going out of dynamic range because you can look at what will be recorded before you shoot it. But in general, good lighting can make any format look good, even humble old 1/3" DV. Other than that, just use good photography principals. Think about your focal length rather than staying on the widest focal length and moving the camera around. Longer focal lengths can help with the illusion of shallow depth of field which is always a strain with video. Additionally, closeups (at whatever focal length) always appear sharper than wide shots (but don't let this get in the way of good visual storytelling).

Another thing that works pretty darn well is getting some of the shiny metallic spray paint and applying that directly to foam core. no wrinkles to worry about. comes in silver and gold. i think they have a textured version for a little softer bounce as well.

I haven't found vehicle shake to be a problem. Obviously if you hit a big bump it's going to show in the shot, but no amount of foam will prevent that. Even so, with the camera fixed to the car with a wide shot, the car's shocks do a pretty good job and you only see the bump as opposed to a reaction to the bump that may be prolonged. Here is a clip that I shot with an HVX200 on that car rig. It was shot on a stone-and-oil park access road (packed down over time). Alas, foam is probably cheaper than vacuum cups and grip arms so it can't do harm for someone to try it out. That would be much more useful than speculation.

I shot a short film that was comprised entirely of shots out the side of a car. I found that as long as the camera is secured tightly to the frame of the car, the car's shocks do most of the work. I got some very smooth shots at up to 45mph with a fairly wide lens, even on a dirt road (though not quite 45 on the dirt road). I had a piece of plywood with a tripod head mounted on it sitting on the window sill that was strapped down on the outside of the door and secured on the inside by two 20" grip arms going to two vacuum cups on the rear window and windshield. As long as the tripod is locked down and the strap outside the car is tight, the whole rig will be pulled tight against the car and the camera won't wiggle at all. This picture is close, but not the exact setup. Imagine everything's flipped to the inside of the car looking straight out the side.

Good advice, Robert. Your experience really shows in this and your other posts.

Tim, thanks alot for the information on masking the glass. Shane, I feared that would be the case, but being a student myself I understand completely. I'm just thinking that if you have to shoot film just to learn the workflow, then it might be best for the movie in question to shoot it all on HD and then just do a completely seperate exercise on a roll of film. If well-planned and rehearsed, it's not inconceivable to get a tight 3-4 minute short out of one 400' roll of 16. But alas, you'll have to do what you must to satisfy the class requirements.

Just out of curiosity, is there a good reason why this one scene has to be shot on film rather than staying with the HVX? If it is for aesthetic reasons, does the footage really have to match? If it's not for aesthetic reasons I don't see why it can't just be shot with the HVX. I have one experience with shooting vision2 500T for HD transfer and the results were very grainy. It definitely wouldn't match with HVX footage. There may have been some variables that exaggerated the grain, but I still don't think in most cases it will work. As stated, testing under your specific conditions is the only way to tell. Also, could you forward the information Tim gave you on masking the glass for framing for widescreen with an SR2. I am going to do this for a short I'm shooting and I'd like to hear what he says. Thanks and best wishes on this project.

If you need something in a pinch, you can build a frame out of 1"x3" lumber. Depending on the size, you may need to gusset the corners for stability. Baby plates can be attached to the sides so it can be held by a c-stand. In 'The Grip Book,' Michael Uva claims to have made frames as big as 10'x10' with this method. Also, if you just want 18"x24" flags, you don't even need a frame. You can just cover a piece of cardboard with blackwrap and gaff it to an extra light stand. I had to do this just today on a micro-budget shoot in which we had absolutely no real grip equipment besides the light stands (which were crappy plastic ones btw). I don't know how well this would go over on a more professional shoot, but it seems like if it mattered then there would be real flags available.

1. Yes, do watch Russian Ark and the "making of" that they have on the DVD. 2. DVX sounds like a good bet, especially if you can borrow it. 3. I honestly don't know how much quality is effected by shooting LP, as I've always stayed away from it, but if you test it out and it compromises the image it might be worth looking into those fancy direct-to-disk dv recorders. 4. Good freakin' luck man!

Tiffen and Schnieder are probably the manufacturers you're going to want to look at. I'm not sure if anyone makes budget 4X4 filters because they are for higher-end users to begin with, but even if they do you'll probably want to stay away from them because the adage "you get what you pay for" really is true for filters. If you go to these manufacturers websites, they will tell you exactly what all of their filters do, but here are some basics that I recommend for video: Neutral Density: These bring down exposure without effecting color. They are especially handy for acheiving shallower depth of field with video cameras. They come in a variety of grades -- .1=1/3 stop, .3=1 stop, .6=2 stops, etc. Also come graduated (half the frame will be clear) which is handy in landscapes for getting the exposure of the sky within range without effecting the land. Polarizer: Reduce reflections on non-metallic surfaces and make the sky darker. You'll need a rotating filter stage in your matte box for these to be of much use. Some sort of diffusion (pro-mist, soft effects, diffusion, or all): basically they spread some of the highlights into the darker portions of the frame to reduce contrast while also softening details. The three types (and their are even different types of those types) all work a little differently and have their own look so you'll have to look at some example images (tiffen's site has some) and then try them out to see what looks best. These also come in different grades; typically lower grades are used for wider shots and higher for close-ups. You may not even need these if you are using a 35 adapter, as the ground glass seems to add some diffusion (but I there are so many different adapters and I don't have experience with any so I can't say). I don't think I would recommend any color filters, especially if you are on a tight budget. Maybe graduated colors for enhancing or changing the color of the sky. For the most part, you should be able to get close to the effect you want with simple white balance or color correction in post. Also, if you really want to get into controlling your image with filters, I recommend the book "Image Control: Motion Picture and Video Camera Filters and Lab Techniques" by Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC.

I have a friend who just ordered a Glidecam. I assume it's the 4000 because he plans on using it with an HVX. I should be able to report on some tests and maybe post some footage in the next couple of weeks.