Mike Panczenko

I've heard that they shot some very early scenes in NY back in 06, and I believe those were Super 16. But, yes, I've heard the rest of the movie is RED.

What can sometimes help is pushing in the center button of the core adapter, and releasing the whole thing- the roll of film and the core adapter- and then pushing the core adapter out. Just remember to take the core adapter out at the end and not to send it to the lab!

The other thing is that with Panavision the filter space is farther away from the film plane, so more imperfections can be gotten away with- with Arri it is so close- you put it in the gate- that your filter needs to be totally 100% clean. I know plenty of people who don't bat an eye doing it with Panavision, but won't touch the thing with Arri. It's just too close for comfort.

Wow John- what a week! Glad you're all stitched up and back at home.

cameraguild.com has links to it's member's sites. Just click on links at the left of the page.

It really only applies when you print only circled takes. You add up the lengths of the circled takes to get the "good" takes. The takes that are not circled then are added to get your NG totals. If you print everything, then your whole roll can be considered "good." Of course, the script supervisor will still have their nots of which takes were good or not good, but as far as camera reports go, if you're printing everything, the whole roll can be considered good.

Well, on most of the inventory sheets I use- the total column that you're referring to would include everything but the shortends essentially. All used film would go there, including NG and waste (even though the wasted film wasn't really used, it can't be used in the future). The shortends would not be included in that column. So, say you had a 1000' roll, where 680' were good, 120' was NG, and shortended the 200', the total would be 800'. If you had a 1000' roll where 800' was good, 120' was NG, and 80' was waste, the total would be 1000'. Inventory sheets can be different depending on the preferences of the person who made them, and while the "total" issue is pretty standard, it's a good idea to play around and plug some numbers into the new sheet beforehand and see how they relate. That's the best way to understand how the particular one you're using is laid out. As for etiquette, The loader's primary job is to load the film and do the paperwork. But most crews also expect that he will have time to be on set and help out. When they are on set, they basically fill in the role of an additional 2nd, while also making sure not to step on the toes or appear to be attempting to take over the job of the actual 2nd. Organizing carts is a biggie. It's also very dependent on who your camera crew is and what they expect you to do. As far as keeping mags near the camera- the loader should get the film from the loading area to set, and it would be a nice gesture to make sure that mags are always near the camera instead of on the carts (which shouldn't be too far away either), but it is really the 2nd's job. The only surefire answer though, is to feel it out depending on who you're working with. Different crews have different styles and expectations of what they want and don't want. Making sure mags are near the cameras will most often be seen as positive thing though, even if it falls more under the 2nd's role. If you can help do something and it's not overstepping your bounds or complicating things, then you should always do it. Working together as a team is important. When it comes to instructions for the lab, especially on the first day, I usually ask the first and the DP. I confer with the 1st first, though, because some like to be the channel for the camera crew through the DP, and if he wants to, he will ask them for me. If not though, I ask both, to confirm that I got the right answer. Make sure they match up though! Some people will say just to ask the DP though. It's a matter of personal comfort. Take care, Mike Panczenko

Shiny-ing the actors up and then blasting them with hot, hard light can give the Barbie type reflections. A lot of the Under Armour commercials do this very well.

I do see what you're saying- and I agree with you that well crafted projects will, with few exceptions, require experienced crews crafting them. But, before anyone works on paying jobs in the industry, they need to get a foothold in the basics, and that's usually on freebies. I would argue that cutting your teeth on pro-bono jobs are a natural part of one's career. In rereading, I'm wondering if we're not saying the same thing, but just slanting our focus to opposite sides of the spectrum?

You completely misunderstood what I was saying. If it's a 35 shoot, obviously they could bite the bullet and choose to pay crew. On microbudget video jobs, which state up front that there's no pay, I see no issue. If it was a 35mm job or even many super 16 jobs, an entire crew working for free would be very questionable and could potentially weaken the stance of the workers, but a one camera, lowell kit, mini dv feature is a different story. There I see no issue with people asking for free help from those who are interested in experience or building their reels.

I understand what you're saying, but I think a lot of it has to depend on the nature of the job. If it had some budget behind it, and could pay people, but chose not to for whatever reason, I think that would be a much different issue. Then it does absolutely weaken the stance of workers. But on other jobs, where they are have 2000 dollars in the budget, and they state upfront the terms of the job, I feel that is very different. There, the movie wouldn't be made if they paid people, and obviously they would be going with people who want to learn, or who had very little experience and wanted to get a experiment and further their craft. Who didn't take the latter type of job when they were starting out? So, I definitely hear what you're saying Kevin, and I agree with you when the budget is there and they hoard it, but on other types of jobs, I think if they state plainly up front the terms of the job, then there is no inherent reason why a freebie job should be wrong. How many established ACs and electrics decide to shoot a student film for meals and credit so they can build their reel?

I don't see what this person did wrong. He is not forcing anyone to take the job- he is putting it out there for those who are interested on his terms. If you don't like his terms, then don't take the job- it's as simple as that! I don't think anyone here should be insulting him or lecturing him on this. He posted this looking for help and laid the terms out plainly for everyone to see. I don't see why everyone who posts an ad for unpaid work should have to be insulted. If the job is not to your liking, don't take it!

Hi, I did a Varicam job with the pro 35 and 24-290 Optimo, and we had to have two sets of rods. The 19mm ones being for the lens support and the 15mm rods being for accessories. I don't remember if all the accessories were on the 15mm rods but it was necessary to have both rods to accommodate everything. Don't know how this applies to the 17-80mm but I would assume it might be the same kind of situation.

John- you are an incredible asset to this board, to cinematography in general, and to the world as a person. Your depth of knowledge has always been a secondary trait, the primary being your incredible generosity and eagerness to share it. Thank you for all you do. Get better soon- my thoughts and my prayers are with you and your family. Incredibly appreciatively, Mike Panczenko

Hi, Jon Fauer shoots a lot of beauty commercials, and another good beauty DP is David Stockton.

Hi, yes, leave the end of the spool loose. As for instructions, it depends on what you are planning to do. What type of film is it? If it's reversal, just tell them to process it however you want- normal, pushed, pulled, etc. If it's negative, tell them how you want it processed, and if you are doing a telecine, say "Prep of Telecine, Transfer All (unless you are transferring only the circled takes on the camera report, in which case specify that.) If you are getting a workprint made, say "Process Normal, Workprint, Print All (or print circled takes.) You normally do all this not on the back of the spool container, though, but on a separate piece of paper known as a Purchase Order. An example would be like this: Job Title: such and such whatever Date: 5/15/07 300' of 5218 500T 740' of 5245 50D --------------------- 1040' Total Process Normal, Prep for Telecine, Transfer All If it's for telecine, you should make a note of the aspect ratio you want it transferred in as well. I always include a camera report, too, taped to the can or spool, but if it's 100' its not needed. As for payment, give the lab a call tomorrow, and also go over this and everything else with them. That's probably the best thing to do, and the lab will appreciate knowing exactly what you want. Hope this helps!

In Olex's manual loading instructions, what is the last step telling you to do?

What is a harp test- I can't find much on google.

I would definitely stay away from the same color tape/different pen system. In a rush I would not want to rely on looking at ink color in a dim room. I would stay away from that at at all costs and pocket the price of different colors if production wouldn't pay for them. Much rather use one color per stock. With that said, I usually use white if there is only one stock, or red if it is a high speed tungsten only stock. With one stock, the color doesn't really matter, I just use what I would normally. But the standard is usually red for high speed tungsten, or if no slow speed tungsten, still normally red. Blue or green for daylight, with white sometimes used. But basically the hard and fast rules are red for hs tungsten/only tungsten, and blue/green for daylight. The important factor is to be able to tell your stocks apart and to not give counterintuitive combinations, like red or orange for daylight or blue for a slow tungsten. Other than that, there is a bit of flexing room if you go up to 3 or 4 stocks.

Well, you don't get breakfast, lunch, and dinner usually here in the states. Normally as a courtesy, they will have breakfast- thats pretty standard- but it's ready half an hour before call, so you need to show up early for call to get it. Most people do; pretty standard. Lunch is a given on all but the most insane shoots. Dinner I'm finding is more rare, at least where I work. The union requirements are a sit down meal for a half hour every six hours of working. But if you work a 14 hour day, ort a 16 hour day, or whatever, often the production will rather pay the extremely minimal meal penalties than stop for a half hour to feed the crew and pay the caterer more money for a second meal. The meal penalties really are pretty abysmal- I did a 20 hour music video a few months ago, where we ate once in 20 hours, and made $100 dollars in meal penalties. I, and I think probably most everyone on the crew, would sacrifice the extra hundred dollars for a half hour to sit down and recharge batteries. And remember, meal penalties only apply to union people- what about the PAs who can't eat on time because they need to watch gear while the rest of the crew eats, and who work for flat rates for those 20 hour days. So these 12 hour days, at least where I work, are not normally a 10.5 hour day with 3 meals. And these 12 hour days are just as frequent as 14 hour days, with 1 meal, or the occasional 20 hour day, etc.

Tim, no one would want that! :P I've been hearing amazing things about your LA move- big kudos to you on that! Keep posting and share that big time LA assistant info. Hope you're well, Tim!

It was actually a Moviecam Compact and a 435ES.

I have it straight from the horse's mouth: the aforementioned Mark Stoddard,- it was not just the SDX900 that we used, it was "both Ikegami DVCAM and Sony DVCPro cameras at the 25mb rate to closely match the DVCAM (and make the editor happy.) I used a Fujinon HD lens for the Panasonics." So there you have it.

I can't speak for the rest of the shoot, but when I worked on it, they used the SDX900 with normal video lenses. I don't know if they shot DVCPRO50 or regular DVCPRO. I'll check up on that though. We only had about a half hour (if that) setup time to shoot Dan Bartlett, so what you see in that interview was setup from cases to shooting in that time! A wonderful cameraman named Mark Stoddard lit and shot that interview, with another great camerawoman named Sheila Smith operating 2nd Camera. And that was the extent of my working on that show. We got some B Roll of DC before and some shots of Lowell Bergman walking the White House grounds after, and thats all she wrote for my part!

Haha, thanks Tim! Good to see you around! Along with my normal AC work, I also occasionally grip for ENG style shoots- and I can say that this one is very well crafted- and should be very interesting, at least from what I saw. I actually only did one day on it; apparently they shot for 9 months. So I have to commend them on giving credit to the crew! Thanks Tim for a great laugh this morning. For those interested in politics and media, from what I saw this one should be an interesting watch!