Alec Jarnagin

Daniel, A bit late to the party. Yes, you can be in Local 52 & 600 at the same time. Good luck.

Brad, Actually, I visited the set last year while in LA. I've know Steve socially for awhile because Jendra took a Master class with him some time ago. Last time Steve was in NYC shooting something I was unavailable to work with him so I'm really glad to finally make it happen. Regarding the forum, yes, its been a LONG time (so long that it seems I had to sign up and now I'm a Newbie since it no longer shares IDs with the Steadicam Forum - I just noticed all the typos from my exhausted state last night and I can't edit them!). Geez, you're out of it for a little while and look what happens (to paraphrase Han Solo's line from Return of the Jedi).... David Mullen joins the Union and then ASC! Congarts David. Don't even know if you remember me because I've always spent most of my time at the sister site, but I'm good friends with Mitch Gross and been following your career for awhile. I was going to introduce myself to you at the ASC awards (open house), but I couldn't ever get close enough to you because of your own entourage! Brad, have a blast tonight.

35mm. Arricam ST & LT. Lots of hand held and a little Steadicam. Visited the set and now working with the DP, Steve Fierberg on a film in NYC. Of, 535B is a boat anchor compared to an LT (and even an ST).

"These are all great tips, but no amount of muscle memory or barrel markings are going to help you in the situation described above. The depth of field on a wide open 80mm lens on a 35 adapter with its 1/2000th inch CofC is just not a reasonable amount to work with when shooting a moving human being. Even after taping out, there is no way to judge when an actor has leaned forward as little as 1". In this case it is best to inform the DP of this logistical nightmare rather than sit quietly and hope to get lucky. A professional DP will often plan ahead for these types of situations by lighting to a better stop. Unfortunately with the 35 lens adapters DP's feel they have free reign to stay wide open all the time. The best advice in this situation, is to make sure you have a really good view of the monitor and a 2nd AC who will listen to your complaints afterwords." Not sure I agree with all of this. I DO agree that the DP is also responsible for focus by lighting to a stop that the focus puller stands a chance with. This stop is on a shot by shot basis and in part depends on the abilities of the 1st AC. I'll assume the stop in question here is a 1.3 because the original poster mentioned an 85 on the PRO 35 adapter and this is what the Zeiss Super speeds open to (I'm ruling out Cook S-4s, Primos, etc. since they are expensive and usually seem to end up on film jobs - big difference, in my book though, between a 1.3 and a 2 though). Was the camera moving or just the actor? It sounded to me like it was just the actor. If so, the 85 is a common lens for CUs and one needs to be prepared to get MOST of it in focus - I say most because it is indeed hard. More experienced film actors tone it down a tad for CUs, but not all, making it hard on the operator and AC alike. When faced with shots like this, you need to figure out a percentage of acceptability, which in a nutshell means how much do I need to nail? As for it being impossible, I recently shot a bunch of Steadicam footage at a T2 on a 135mm in a boxing ring roaming about between the two boxers. Killer stuff, but I was keenly aware that only moments would be useable.