Tim O'Connor

Sometimes being stubborn is good and you sound like a get-the-job-done type of guy but LISTEN to these people! Most of us have done stuff that we wouldn't do anymore. " Know when to hold them and know when to fold them" as Kenny Rogers says in, appropriately, "The Gambler ". There are LOTS of safer ways to get the shot you want and several low-cost ones have been suggested here. You're just pushing it. I don't really understand your whole insistence on the locked-off camera being inorganic but if you have to pan and you can't afford a trailer, maybe tether a piece of PVC pipe or something to the handle on your fluid head (mounted on the hood by itself) and walk alongside the car and push and pull to pan back and forth. You can test that with the car parked to see how much you need to pan by looking through the viewfinder and then chalking or using glow tape on the fluid head to mark the pan limits as you then walk alongside and use them to measure your pan moves. By the way, this should be a lot steadier panning than handheld with a 16BL!

I just caught the end of "In Cold Blood" (1967 B/W) on cable. I don't know who was the DP but there is this great couple of shots of the executioner and this fantastic glint in his sinsister eyes -under a hat, I believe. Is anyone familiar with this movie or seen it and able to say/venture a guess as to how this great shot was done?

Why? Is it because of auto-focus on the video assist camera? Thanks.

Thanks. Is there an Arricam Studio 16? (I didn't see one when I looked.) Could they be shooting in Super 16 with the Studio?

I watched the HBO show "Entourage" for the first time -it looked great - and noticed in the credits that it was shot with an Arricam Studio camera. I'm not real familiar with the Studio but I wondered why they would use it as opposed to say a 535B when the Studio seems bigger and although perhaps more blimped; the extra degree of blimping (if I'm accurate about that) might not be necesssary and the seemingly larger size would maybe be harder to work with given the numerous location and car scenes I saw. I didn't see any scenes in which a whisper quiet camera would be called for as far as I could tell. Anybody know or have thoughts on this? Thanks!

Thanks guys!

I have a shot with two guys walking and talking for about a hundred feet into a close-up - day ext./wireless mics. I'm thinking about using a hard reflector and panning/tilting to soften it as they approach. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Just to be clear, You're all talking about gelling tungsten, right? Thanks.

For your price range, you might be able to do well with either a Panasonic DV30 or DV60. Both have the same specs. (except weight) but the 60 is traditional shoulder mount and has XLR's built in while you have to add (and should) the XLR adaptor to the 30 (which will be balanced.) Both have "film-look" settings don't use the letterbox option. Shoot 4x3 and letterbox it in post (easy to do in Final Cut Pro.) Both are nice cameras. Lots of shutter speed options. Focus manually as the auto focus likes to grab the background and can make a face in the center of the shot (i.e. your subject) go a little soft.) Similarly, manual white balance as the auto can grab onto something new and change the balance dramatically in the shot. It has b/w infrared shooting if you need to pick up some extra $ working for law enforcement or shooting wildlife at night. I've fooled a couple of people who thought some of my shorts done with the 30 were film.

Hal, so many horror stories I've heard. Matt, good point. I'm going to be in a big space. Thanks guys.

Thank you, David. I also learned today from reading some back posts here on the site that some detectors respond to interference with light ( I guess because smoke would do that. Never heard of that but at any rate, after the many back posts I've read about detectors going off; I'm going to be very careful - I mean I guess I should be anyway though, right?)

I'm concerned about smoke detectors at the location (int. about 40' x 60'.) Thanks.

Learn how to communicate. You'll need to explain your ideas and needs to lots of stressed out different minded people and still have them like you enough to want to work with you again. Good Luck, Cinematorgaphy is about alot more than exposure lenses and filmstock! Matt www.fuzby.com That is such a good tip. Lots of good notes here but sometimes you can be so right and yet learn the hard way how easy it is to talk yourself out of a job. Don't be obsequious but don't be the director either when you're the D.P. .

(5) 80w pars (homebuilt, using the pars you would buy for an ENG toplight, socket attached to spring clamps, powered by a E.E. test powersupply at 30v) (1) homebuilt LED pannel Also note no HMIs. the only HMIs for rent in this state are owned by one person, and when I called them looking for support (I was willing to pay fair rental rates for gear of course) I got the distinct impression that he was worried about loosing business to new production company, and felt he was trying to keep me out of the biz. Oh well, hes small potatos, as everyone is in this state. I wanna make films and sell them elsewhere where I can make a profit and a name) I digress. (a major problem for me if you follow my posts. I post in stream of conciousness. Probably not a good thing. Hmmm. cigarette break. that sounds good.) Michael, What do you use for a 30v power supply for your 80w pars? Can you describe your LED panel? Also, if you can say, what state are you in? Sounds oppresive. Thanks.

Thanks guys! Those were my two big questions.

Are they any good? How are they different from Rosco foggers? Do they set off smoke detectors? Thanks.

I used to use Rosco foggers a lot but my rental house now has Neutron Hazers instead. The rental guy is nice but unable to give me much information about certain things, this being one of them. Can anybody tell me about Neutron hazers? I want to have an atmosphere effect indoors. What kinds of sensitivity do smoke detectors have to these? (Yes, I asked at the rental house but didn't get a strong, clear answer.) My shoot is coming up soon so any help would be great. Thanks!

Thanks Michael, This site has been great for me. Earlier in my career I worked on bigger films and was exposed to lots of lighting options but in the last decade I've been in the low-budget world and so tend to see less of what might be the best options (even for the low-budget situation, just because I haven't come across them) so it's great to find out here about thing like 12v car Flos. Thanks for the link. Also, since I've been on this site, I've realized that I haven't been exerting due diligence, as the lawyers say, and I've been motivated to stop taking my traditional approaches for granted and catch myself up with what's new(er) by reading and searching the web. Appreciate it!

Jesisica, If you're not towing the car how do you power the Flos? Inverter? Why double stick tape and not gaffers tape? ? Thanks.

Awesome. Thanks!

If ou're really low-budget -and maybe even if you're not - I often use those clip-on visor spotlights from AutoZone (U.S. auto parts store) that sell for five dollars. Buy a bunch and diffuse/ gel them and they work great and don't blind the driver or make his/her knuckles hot. Measure the color temp. though and adjust to your liking as they're very blue.

That was an awesome tip about using ropelights to light driver's faces withouth the burnt knuckles. What are ropelights and where do you get them? By the way, I've been using these little clip-on visor lights that I buy at AutoZone for about five bucks. They're extremely blue (I measured 8200K although with a camera color temp. meter) and bright enought - about 15 footcandles from the visor to the driver- that you can diffuse a couple (I'll probably never diffuse/gel a smaller wattage light I would guess) and get good exposure while still seeing the night background well. I've even used them on overcast days for car interiors and they bring up a face like a piece of Foam-Cor. In regular daylight you'll never see them do anything though unless you have about a billion of them.

Thanks, Michael!

The Truman Show failed through no fault of its own. All the trailers told you that everyone but Truman knows that his life is a worldwide television show. So you watch it knowing that and it falls flat because it's written and edited so that's a discovery for the audience to make with the character and since that can't happen there's hardly any emotional connection possible as a viewer. The marketing of that movie killed it. Sold tickets but destroyed it. Why not show the Superbowl on pay-per-view tape delay? Read the newspaper first and get rid of the suspense. National Treasure? Come on. that was fun.