Matt Workman

Hey, In my opinion I would move to NYC or LA. I chose NYC. There are a lot of indie features, music videos, commercials, live events, live shows, etc. that getting the first job is pretty easy. The hard part is keeping it going. Stay INCREDIBLY positive on set and most importantly make good relationships with everyone. You might meet a PA/intern on set your first year, then one year later get a call from them as an AD/Producer/Director. Definitely keep your overhead low but try to enjoy life, even if its a simple one at first. Having a significant other who can support you is an amazing help, trust me. Not necessarily financially but emotionally, its a tough world in general and its harder alone. Hope that helps some. :lol: Good luck. Matt

Thanks Andrew. I've only heard of Elites in NYC, or Panavision. Does anyone know where you can rent Hawks or Todd AO in NY?

Who usually rents the Todd AO? in LA and NYC? Thanks for the info. Matt

Let me know when you get trained up on the Condors/ManLifts, I need someone with the connects and training :ph34r: Matt

I read this when I first started and is a pretty good start http://www.amazon.com/Strike-Baby-Kill-Blo...s/dp/1400097592 Just watch out, if you use half of this stuff people will look at you funny. I think more and more common is to use the actual names of equipment, from the manufacturer. Memorize all of the lights on the Mole Richardson site and all of the grip equipment on the Matthews site. That stuff is everywhere. Over a long project with a crew you might start to have nicknames for stuff. I definitely use short hand like book lights, skylights, foot lights, eyelight, etc. but that usually refers to my reasoning for the particular lighting setup. Make up new jargon and pretend like everyone else doesn't know what they are taking about. Likewise look out for the old bag of apertures gag... :lol: Matt

JM & SR: You mean in the set photos? Those aren't mine, just examples and having fun. The first one is just a row of 1.2 or 2.5/4ks I found and the second is some random fashion photo I found. :ph34r: :ph34r: But here are two pictures of 12ks from a shoot I did a few weeks ago in NYC. :P It was overcast so it was good we had them hanging out. Matt

Worth a read if you are into the RED Scarlet/Epic dramedy. http://www.fxguide.com/article507.html Matt

Artist: Los Del Rio feat. The DEY Song: Macarena Remix Director: Vid Arroyo DP: Matt Workman Shot a video for Los Del Rio and The DEY "Macarena Remix." Yes, the dance from the 90s. I didn't really believe it until they were on set and 20 girls were doing the dance to the music. We shot in Miami, FL (South Beach) at a great location. The dance floor raised up and down. The stairway was removable and had lights built into them. There were about 30 lights hung/focused/and patched to a dimmer board. A couple hazers, lasers, and strobes for the party stuff. And the usual tungsten and kino stuff. The hero of the day was the HMI followspot that had scrollers for color, iris, color temp, and dimming. We shot RED (build 17) with Zeiss Super Speeds and stayed mostly on the hard drive. No bugs or issues on set, guess I'm just lucky. My favorite setup was of the neon sign, where we hazed it heavily and did several lighting changes. Set Photos by my girlfriend Diana Levine, the only person I require to come with me on every shoot. Set Photos: http://www.dianalevine.com/setphotos/macarena/ I'll post the video when its out, hopefully on Vimeo or a HQ quicktime. Peace. Matt

SHY: Hey, thanks. Bob Richardson...gonna have to deflate my head now... :rolleyes: Your site is really nice, I like the design. I liked the video you shot for Victory Records also, they are a fun label for shooting grungy dirty rock videos. I was supposed to do Clipse video in Virginia Beach a while ago. Each director is different, especially in different genres but in general its important to watch all of their previous work and find out what looks they want to see in their videos and try to execute them. Matt Garrett would probably remember, but I think the running part was 3200k. Not sure, most likely wide open t2.1. We were using Standard Speeds which gave a nice look for the video I thought. Matt and Chris: I feel like I have a better idea of what is in focus by looking at the 23" monitor on the RED then the optical viewfinder of a 435. But I'm not trying to be scientific about it, most of my stuff ends up downrezzed to SD and youtube.

You'd be surprised how little an 18k does unless its pretty close to the subject, during the day. You might be better off with a row of 12/18k pars with narrow lenses and find clever ways to rig them where you need them, especially if they are supposed to be backlights. Also Xenons are nice for very narrow and focused hits, the 12/18k are pretty soft even at full spot. Good luck and post set photos. :lol: Matt PS: They also make great props ...

I've only recently started working with "big lights" on a semi-regular basis but my advice is to pick a Footcandle or TStop you want to work at and figure out how far the light has to be and how wide an area you can light at that FC/Tstop. This is mainly for night exterior work. When you are placing the Maxi or 18k, you want to get it right the first time, moving the rigs and relaying cable take forever... Also understanding the coverage is paramount, because you can't just say, oh lets look this way now. You'll be looking at a genie and a whole army of production vans and people. Unless you are lighting 360 and then its time to call AirStar. :lol: Matt

Dan: Cool. I don't get that magazine though :( There is the Angeniuex RED Optimos too :) Actually, in the brochure I've heard they are coming out with the RED Matte Box and I'd assume a RED follow focus as well. Chance: Thanks. <_< Jay: Definitely a legitimate concern but even if they delivered 1/2 of the specs they just announced that would be news. I'm not claiming its going to revolutionize filmmaking, but its still interesting to hear the new specs, even if they aren't exactly what is delivered. I have no current need for a 645/67 format camera, but I've already heard some interesting uses for the camera, especially for VFX etc. Though their new strategy seems to be to compete with Hasselblad and Mamiya in their digital stills market. There is plenty of positive and excited feedback on the red forum, but I'm interested in what they guys here have to say. Negative or positive, just more opinions. Matt

Seriously the last reply to my own post, but the new RED 35mm primes look a lot like cookes and are T2.0, thats all I'll say.

We just need RED follow focus, RED mattebox, RED tripods, RED dollies/cranes, RED lights and they'll have to break up the monopoly. :ph34r: I'll regret posting this later on. :P

Hey Guys, For those of you who haven't heard about the new RED Nov. 13th announcement of the new Epic and Scarlet specs you should definitely check this out: http://www.red.com/epic_scarlet/ This is going to make things very interesting. I'm honestly overwhelmed with this information. For my general work (music videos and commercials) the Epic 5k and Red 4k SS-35mm sensors are good enough. Very interested in how Hasselblad and Mamiya will react to the new large format and 645 cameras. D2/D3 were about $20-30k last I checked. The mini primes are the cutest things I've ever seen in my life. Can't wait to see their T1.9 S35mm primes also. I've heard great things about the 18-80mm T2.9 zoom also. Even crazier is the 647 and large format primes they are coming out with. I can't help but think its too much at once, but hey. The new viewfinders and handheld kits look great. And the new modularity to make very small or very big rigs is an AC's wet dream. Enough rant. Cheers, Matt

RED - Epik 645 Look into it. http://www.red.com/epic_scarlet/ :ph34r:

Thanks Jay. Mike S: The VF was fine, I especially like it for handheld because operating off a LCD is difficult, especially outside. When I shot with it there was not eyepiece leveler, but now Element Technica makes one, though I'm not sure its out. Once that is out this system is much better. Optically I think its fine, I didn't judge the lighting based on it, just framing.

Here is link to the BET version with an introduction and outro with Ludacris on 106&Park. http://www.vimeo.com/1857409

Hey, I just put up a decent sized quicktime of the video on my site: http://www.mattworkman.com Its the first video in music videos. It also premiered on 106 & Park on BET last night. FYI we did a 1k Proxy edit and grade in FCP6. No REDCINE or DaVinci on this one...maybe the next one. Cheers, Matt

Hey Rolfe, Thanks for the response. The black tent sounds interesting, I've never done that before. I agree on the soft front light, either ringlight or chimera. The 18k through a 12x grid cloth sounds about right also. Hopefully be testing this soon. Thanks, Matt

Hi, I'm interested in the lighting in the chorus (exterior sunset/day) scenes of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWasoCQnN2k...feature=related Also the bulk of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOEcM7KeDbc The main idea is to set the exposure for the background. Also the blown out highlights in the sky have been pulled back in post and tinted. For the foreground (singer) are they using hard light or soft? My main thought is a hard 18k for the wide shots and then a double diffusing it for the close ups. Do people still use Arc lights for these kinds of set ups? Matt

I've seen the press release with the one image of the woman in a cafe in .. somewhere. Are there more images or footage online somewhere? Thanks, Matt

AWESOME!! I'll be calling you guys, or a producer will be in the near future. Thanks! I was just going to wait until I had a shooting London again... <_< Matt

Derek: Thanks for the list, I had quite a few of those but now I have a good 20+ to add and research. Thanks. Kevin: I'll keep you in mind if I'm in China. :lol: I might have a shoot in Japan, but thats pretty far away. Matt

If you search the RED forum there are a few posts. No Panavision C-Series that I've seen though. Nick owns a set of LOMO Anamorphics and his last few videos have been RED. http://www.pixelloft.com/new/ Main issues are desqueezing the image for operating and then of course the same issues you have with shooting anamorphic in general. Matt