Matt Workman

This is another heated debate I'm happy to jump in on! On my last job, the lil'Pana job, we had our own little union. Clearly this was a non-union shoot but the crew was pretty experienced and insisted on meal penalties, OT after 12hours, etc. It wasn't the strictest following of those rules but it was made quite clear that if the crew felt they were being taken advantage of, there would be problems. Like no more making movie problems. For this job it was about respect. I think that is the best goal of a union, is to get workers respect for their work. Now I realize this isn't the case, but its perhaps the ideal of a union. I'm pretty new to this and as the DP I should probably have been leading the campaign for better conditions but the guys who really did the leg work were the sound mixer, gaffer, and 1st AC. They have been working more union-ish type jobs than I have. Without their "standards" that they've adopted from the union world and brought into the non-union world, we would have worked longer hours, made less money, been sadder :( , and the producers would go about their business expecting that the next show could be run like this. I am not a local 600 DP (YET!!!) but I'd have to say that even if the union is an imperfect system (in an imperfect world <_< ) that I'm glad they are around at least feigning to protect the workers. Minimum day rate? Health Insurance? Hot Chix Room? Sign me up!

this thread needs to be deleted and its contributers reduced to new member status... :ph34r: excluding me... :lol: I tried to read the latest and greatest? in Variety but there were too many acronyms and I decided to read a book instead. And I'm happier because of it.

JamesBeverly: Seeing that you edited your post I can't imagine what your wrote the first time, sicko :unsure: LandonParks: Hey stay on topic we are talking about what actress is hotter and not the fancy technical stuff, who cares about that stuff anyway. :lol: I wasn't on set so I don't know. But god I wish I was! B) Okay enough with the ogling the talents...

Frida - Prieto

Adobe After Effects, Eyeon Digital Fusion, Discreet Combustion, Toxic, Apple Shake. Any of these has great roto tools. My favorite being Shake for Mac and Digital Fusion for PC. AFX is more for motion graphics but their newest update is okay.

Interesting thread ya'll. I'm fresh out of school and more or less making a living in NYC working as a DP and gaffing. I'm not rich and famous but I'll say that it is do-able if you go about it the right way. What is that right way? Can't tell, you'll take my jobs. ;) Keep on grindin!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Seriously.

As for VFX and match-moving, slightly coming from that background: They definitely keep track of what millimeter the lense is, the tstop, lens height, focal distance, orientation etc. Thats why Cooke and has the lens data box, and Arri too. The better 3D tracking programs can figure out zooms etc. also. For compositing they also have built in grain match for various film stocks and processing. For something this high end they pull out Knoll/etc. to custom program build new ALG etc. Technology?! Same with Transformers and the like.

JB & JSB: I'm partial to Kathleen, last thing I saw her in was Scary Movie 2: but I'm a man of compromise :P : But yeah, the D20, hard lighting, come on. Forget it. <_<

Hey, Here is a little article on Tin Man with some of the finished composites. The D20 has its own look, from the stuff I've seen. Not sure how to describe it yet, but like smoother sexier HD feel. In the composite of the woman there is something about her skin tones that is familiar with the newer HD cameras. Reminds me of the Milk Girls from the early Red stills. Studio Daily http://www.studiodaily.com/main/topstory/8877.html Next music video/commercial that has a $5k budget for camera I'm going to try for a D20. :lol:

Those photos make me want to move to LA. True.. not everyone can pull out a Dino to add some warm fill. :lol:

Production: All in the Game Director: Marc Maurino DP: Matt Workman Set Photos http://www.mattworkman.com/photography/work/allinthegame/ Just wrapped a 5 day short in Lenox, MA with the Panavision New Filmmakers Grant. We had a 5 ton grip truck, 2 AC's and 3 G/E crew, and a mini production crew. We shot 7218 for the whole thing. Daylight interior we shot w/o 85 and exterior we lived with a 85ND6 in the whole time. Having the full grip truck we got to do some fun rigs involving multiple wall spreaders and what not. My main reason for posting this is to dispel the rumors around the Panavision Elaine super16mm camera. Before doing this shoot I did a lot of research around the Elaine and only heard bad things about the camera. Each situation is different, our shoot could have been lucky and others could have had bad luck. We had a 1st AC from LA do a full camera check out and at Woodland Hills and he with the camera techs got the camera up and running. We were aware of the issue with the fuses blowing and the other quirks of the system. After 5 days in the freezing cold and using the camera heating system, eye piece heater, video tap, shutter angle changes, etc. we didn't have one problem with the camera. So I'd like to say that for anyone planning on using this system that it runs fine, if your AC knows how to deal with it. The ability of the camera to top mount and back mount the mag makes it a very versatile. On sticks the mag lived on top making it a very small footprint and for handheld/steadicam we did back mount to lower the COG. Oh yeah steadicam was fine, the op actually liked the weight and quick mount for the camera. Handheld came with a decent shoulder rig and the extension view piece was very quick to change. The primes and zoom we got were great. No issues. We got an OConnor 2575 with hi, low hat, babies, standards, and a monitor. Which all worked great. Given that the whole package only cost the price of shipping, service fee dropped, and the deal we got from Kodak and Fotokem through Panavision the package is a great deal. Elaine haters can register their opinions but I personally think the system is great. :ph34r: Cheers, Matt PS: though we are probably doing pickups on an Aaton XC :P

Wow, good looking. Thanks. JJ - So Excited http://music.aol.com/video/so-excited-feat...jackson/1718397 Seems like they went for a low contrast look. That video was pretty amazing. Definitely see some cross over between the Ayo Technology video with the see through walls and cars. I'm assuming they did some green screen work with the camera also. I wonder what filters/etc. they used. I liked the look, didn't really come off HD-like. Really great production design and half naked Janet doesn't hurt. This video could go in my Hollywood Wide Shot lighting thread also. Man, how did they do that effect?...hot. Thanks Wendell. PS: We should have a music video section in the forum :lol:

Hey, New video shot by Jon Fordham on the F23 in 4:2:2 I believe. Don't know the rest of the details and Jon isn't on this forum I don't think. Thursday Music Video http://www.jonfordham.com/thursdayf23.html So far I've seen videos from the F23, D20, RED, Phantom. :ph34r: Matt

WG: Thanks. It was the first time I've actually seen something on TV. I don't have cable right now. <_< It's a different time for watching music videos. I remember watching the top 10 count down or Making the Video and really being excited. I told the director he had to DVR it and use that version for Youtube, which he agreed. Unfortunately where most people will encounter the video..that and myspace :rolleyes: MTV Version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBfQ9hX7Nc

:lol: Ok lets let this side conversation go. I'll agree I don't know everything/everyone in the photography world but just the ones I've encountered have been shooting digital and I find that cool. Maybe I just don't interact with the film guys. Didn't really mean to retrench the digital vs. film thing, I feel lame for doing so. I still shoot film still and motion pictures. I do have a Panavision short in a week too :lol: Couldn't get a hold of a RED in time :P Cheers, Matt

To make this an official rant: The reason digital for both photography and film is appealing, necessary, and the future is because the changing of the times. The music industry is plagued with low record sales, mediocre artists, and a saturated market. Budgets for music videos as we've discussed are declining. So only the big artists have enough money to shoot a 35mm big budget music video. And the smart ones shoot a cheaper videos so they can have any hope of paying back their advance. So that leaves the rest of us who aren't working with Hype Williams, etc. with $50k budgets, where you can get great to acceptable results for much less with HD. The same model applies with fashion/music photography. David LaChapelle and Annie Leibovitz might be shooting film but for the rest of us on a budget shooting for artists/designers/agencies who don't have as deep pockets, or are getting smarter look to digital to achieve great to acceptable quality for much less with Digital. I think that people are feeling safe that HD/Digital won't creep its way into the feature market but the movie industry is going to go through the same thing that music industry is going through right now. And when those budgets come down guess what people will be shooting with... End rant. :ph34r: PS: Dion Bebe just shot a Ford commercial with the RED. Speed Racer went with 6 F23's and the Phantom can shoot 1000fps to a laptop. I'm not a fanboy but things are changing. Film is just an aesthetic not an integral part of "filmmaking" like your capitalized pun would suggest.

KB: That is rather aggressive tone for a rather benign comment. I'm not sure why you believe that everyone on this forum would prefer film or digital. Photography went digital a while ago. So much that the Hasselblad H2 is known as one of the last medium format cameras to actually have an interface with a film back and not just a digital one. Photojournalism is ALL digital and mostly Canon. Fashion for print is mainly digital also. And if it was acquired on film it sure as hell was scanned and pixel pushed before going to print. Look at most of the photography for the music industry, some form of HDR and or extensive photoshop is always present. Workflow for most big budget photo shoots includes the camera tethered to a laptop with a creative director choosing what shots they want and directing. Annoying to be tethered? ... irrelevant thats how it works. Agencies. I've worked on several large photo shoots in NYC that have been digital. And from the photographers I know they shoot all digital. Film is for purists/artists/students/hobbyists and yes NYC has a lot of those. I'm talking about commercial photography for Fashion/Music. Some of the older guns still shoot film but the trend is clearly moving to digital on all fronts for still photography. Check the want ads for RZ67's you can buy a complete package w/ film backs, poloraid backs, lenses, and meter for under $1600. People are sellling them for 5D, Mark III, D300, and D3X. If not just renting H2s or Mamiya Digitals. Talk to Calumet. .... Anyway...music video industry... oh now I'm sad again. Though a music video I just shot is on MTV now :P

WG: Yeah, I saw the behind the scenes video for the Seether video and I was less impressed with his "satire." I still don't think the formula is necessarily the major factor in the decline of music videos. A friend of mine Erika Fazio of Sleepless City Productions summarized it very well: while commercials are selling products people actually buy, music videos are selling something people can get for free [CD's]. I'm still committed to working in the music video industry but I know that its changing, towards the low budget. So seeking out commercials, corporate videos, and potentially big enough features to stay alive in NYC is very important. But even commercials/etc. are being targeted towards the web, which will effect their budgets in the end I'm sure. Also a sister industry to music videos is fashion/music photography which I've seen share the same sets and models for music videos. With Digital Backs for the Hasselblads and Mamiyas that is an attractive route also. Matt PS: The Rihanna video is pretty clever. Applebaum knows how to put a look with an artist/track to make it commercial, i.e. making him commercial. If he had done a Michel Gondry treatment most likely he would alienate Rihanna's demographic while perhaps impressing a few fans on youtube. 2 cents. :lol:

Obviously you can just use a scale/meter/waveform to actully derive a rating for the camera but the specs Sony were dropping at ProTech were: @ 0db 400 ASA Dynamic Range Normal 530 ASA Dynamic Extended Changing the color space from ITU to DCU and using SLOG/HyperGamma will effect what you rate the camera at. He also mentioned that because the camera can see into the blacks about 2 stops before film DP's rate it much higher. Then you get into Gain etc. 12-13 stops shooting with SLOG. Cinetal monitors and SpeedGrade demos were helpful, but trying to bring around all the tech gear on a shoot just sounds like a headache. He mentioned that HyperGamma 1/2 I believe were designed with -3db. There are a lot of improvements on this camera for sure, but there are also A LOT of new things to keep track of. Matt

Hey watch this video http://www.seether.com/fakeit/ I wonder how much of these lights are actually being used and how much are props. BUT.. - I saw a few Briese lights, which I haven't used yet, but I remember Adam Frisch talking about them. - Also for the green screen setup there are some big chimera/silks with crate doing the downlight. I really like that approach, it looks like they were dimming them also. - Gotta remember forced perspective/CG can make sets look a lot bigger than they really are i.e. making lighting easier in actual production. MN: Too bad about the video. Music videos are known for being cancelled/canned. At least in my experience. Also MTV has had some odd issue with censorship lately. Directors cut straight to youtube! What is 400ASA? Film or Digital? I'm still hesitant to rig 20x20's becuase then they can't move. I'll just put the set on wheels on a turntable. "spacelites" - Yeah, sometimes it takes a few times for thinks to "sink in." Thats why I do my thinking outloud on the forum first. Pre-Production. CS: Yeah like for Pirates they were using 100's of them for the blue screen ship shots. What did they do back in the day before spacelites? They were also using balloon lights for blue screen and for practical night exteriors on the ship. Big setups. What shoot were you on that had 46 of them? Gotta pack up, going to ProTech. So far the only guy I know going is Mitch (Abel), but I suspect I'll see other people there I know also. Peace. Matt

Tony Petrossian knows whats up. Seether Music Video http://www.seether.com/fakeit/ This wouldn't be so good if it wasn't true. Very true. Nice lighting though! Matt

Nice more set photos. That "panoramic" pic defies space and time. Only half a scissor lift. MN: So for that set it doesn't look like you have a "ambient" spacelite thing going on. The Maxi's through what now? Just silks? That is the kind of setup I think I'm going to go for, although I really want to get the Source as much at a 45 degree to the talent as I can, so that means high. ML: I know, I've gotten mixed results with spacelights also, just need to keep trying new positioning etc. Here is the biggest green screen set I've lit, I obviously went spacelights. Our only big light was a 10k in a chimera, that we rolled pretty much right up to the talent. Other 2k/5k combos for edge/fill. If I could do this one again I would use image80s on the grid for the screen and then do the double/trouble Maxi approach with maybe 2 spacelights with blackwrap silks and a silk bottom. Like the ones Jon Fordham uses. I have a hard time controlling the spacelights, I guess they aren't meant to be "controlled" they are just big soft fill. Which doesn't always work for green screen if you want a more contrasty foreground. MN: For the bottomer on your 12x12 2xHMI setup I'm sure that helped alot. Thanks for the tip on the duvetyne, I probably wouldn't have ordered enough. How did you hook up with Mike Rizzi, seems like you work with him a good amount. And in music videos! If you pulled that big of a stage off with Maxi's then I'm definitely not ordering Wendys. Maybe just an extra Maxi and the cabling needed just incase we meed more kick. Is that video online anywhere? For car commercials if you don't have a fischer light this seems like the way to go. Like a huge 100x20' silk and then maxis. Thanks, Matt

MN/FB: Thanks, I've never actually used Brutes/Dino/Wendy's on set, they just reminded me of stadium lighting so I stayed away from them. But they seem like the right tool for big front fill. FB: Yeah the dancehall is a very toppy source, probably spacelites. I remember for RENT, in ASC they built a really big chicken coup above the tabel where the people dance. I suppose the difference between that and spacelites is that the chicken coup doesn't spill onto the walls. Also, if I want to setup the "source" about 18' high, I have to imagine you'd have to go through the silks and not bounce into them. Or bounce in to Griff/Ultrabounce. On the Aguilera Hangar setup I'm guessing they setup the 12x12/20x20 and Wendy on condor cranes to get that height? Thats a lot of work :unsure: Finally with a huge source like that do you have to scrim/control the bottom of the source to make the output even? Or does backing it up pretty much handle the spread? I'll take readings on set but I'll have to have a different g/e order sheet to accomdate trying to control these sources. Anyone know a PA/Spark from that shoot? Matt

Hey, This is super late notice but is anyone going to the ProTech Expo at Steiner NYC tommorow? I just registered with Ed and there are some really awesome demo/workshops going on. Protech Expo http://www.protechexpo.com/index.htm F23/RED/4kPhantom/Cook iTech/P2 demos... :ph34r: Let me know if you are going. I'm bringing my D80 and reporter notebook, so I'll have photos and notes I'll post on my blog etc. Cheers, Matt

Hey, I really appreciate the responses. Especially the ones with pictures. :lol: DM: Copy that, big chinese lanterns. Chimera makes the birdcages now too. MN: I had the same problem with a 2 wall white cyc we were shooting. The studio pre-hung a 6k spacelite probably only 10' high and it was blowing out anyone underneath it. I felt compelled to use it becuase it was pre-hung and the stage manager gave me a funny look when I asked if we could take it down. In retrospect your tracing paper idea would have been perfect. I think the 2k spacelites are better for smaller studios. Actually the studio has to be pretty big, at least 16'-20' to grid. That studio who put up a space lite in a 12' studios was just lazy. And I was just dumb for using it. I still like the idea of massive kino rigs and fischer lights :angry: Also, I just did a shoot with a 6k Bag-Lite, and man are those good. They are like space-lites but in chimeras. Their output is SOO much better than 5ks in chimera or even 10ks, just becuase of the size. They are really light and don't need super-cranks. Hell I could boom one on a Max stand or Menace arm. Okay this is an odd picture of the director, but look past him (literally to the 6k bag lite) This light with all 6 bulbs up is amazing. I only used at most 4 bulbs up from about 6-8' away. more photos from this shoot http://www.mattworkman.com/photography/work/noztra After doing a few studio shoots I have to imagine the lights for the Aguilera video and comparable setups must be really big. 20ks do very little through silks and are just heavy and crappy, IMO. Hard to tweak etc. I think it must be more like maxi/dino/wendys through 12x12/20x20 w/ grid to front-soft-light big spaces like that. I think that is the way I'm going to go. Plus spacelites for ambient. Thanks. Matt