Jon Rosenbloom

It's admirably short, but the rhythm seems a little off. As others have mentioned, the shots feel just a little long.

It's a pretty neat camera, but it's still "prosumer" not pro. (A pro camera would let you see outside your shooting area.)

That looks like a job well done. What about the camera system?

Hi Tim, I say too many MCU's! For a while, it looks like you shot a bunch of different films, but always rented the same medium telephoto lens. I would love to see the more adventurous stuff earlier in the reel. Last, I think the opening shot is a bad choice. The actress is shiny. You have her looking better and in a more dynamic shot later in the reel. Just the thoughts of an old broken down grip!

I'm shooting a little exercise on the ex-1, and I've found my viewfinder marker options are everything from 4:3 to 15:9, but no 16:9. WTF? Does this have something to do with the chips being 1/2"? Everything looks fine in review, it's just a little confusing. (And, I'm already confused ;).)

Sanjay, So, you owned the train and could bolt through the ceiling?

You have to make sure that washing doesn't diminish the rag's fire retardant.

I thought they have everything in Dubai!

Haven't done it, myself, but I would think you'd have a tough time controlling the sway of the crane cable. There is such a thing called the Strada Crane, which has a 100' arm. Or, why not use a 50' super Techno Crane? On a wide lens, 50' looks really, really high.

First: I can't believe Peter Nolan's shoulder didn't fall off from all those episodes of "Rescue Me." Second: Just do it. It's 16mm. What are you worried about? That said, if you can get something like the Arri shoulder rig, go get it. Don't be afraid to go hand-held on a doorway dolly if it takes some walking out of the equation.

Light board is white, opaque, about 3/16" thick. It's kind of like the foam inside foam core. It's a thick, but malleable diffusion. It's good if you want to use the light from the top of a lampshade, but not get a horror movie effect. It's really flimsy, and a little expensive.

That's a lot to digest. 2 suggestions: 1: Hire an operator! 2: Since they'll be playing a big role in the film, I would definitely set aside some time to prep the practicals: Stock up on different wattage bulbs, make zip cord extensions, pre-cut ND gel for lampshades, and build a bunch of hand dimmers. One nice trick is to cap the top of a lampshade with light-board. Good luck!

I think he narrowed the field down to two or three thousand qualified people ...

"The frame doesn't actually get any wider." That's what I thought. So, when you're marking actors for a three shot - or whatever, you can't physically put them farther apart, or get more stuff in the frame. So we should tell our student, that he's not going to get compositions that are any more widescreen than if he keeps the 16:9 frame lines. So yes, watch widescreen movies like 2046, but don't think those methods will translate seamlessly to a narrower field of view. (He could try to fake it by staying wide, but video is at it weakest wide.) All that happens is he'll be chopping off info on the top and bottom, which is neither "good" or "bad." It's a creative decision. It will help you keep overhead equipment out of the shot, but at the festival, you'll be projecting from a smaller source. My advice is - if you can stand a little imprecision - to use the 16:9 frame lines, keep the headroom loose, then put on whatever kind of mask you want in post.

Is he talking about a 16:9 camera doing an "anamorphic squeeze" and unsqueezing to 2.35:1, or does the camera just put a 2.35:1 mask on a 16:9 image? Either way, if you don't put on an anamorphic adaptor, how does your frame get any wider?

"All non-union shoots are awful and all union shoots are wonderful?" On a strict yes/no basis, the answer to that question is no. I suppose there are sweet non-union gigs out there, but the best non-union gig will only match what you would get in the union, but without the pension or welfare. Let's get real, if I tear up my union card, on average I'll make maybe half the wage, work three times as hard, work five times as dumb, give up any kind of pension and health, and have no functional ability to enforce the deals I make with my employers.

"Companies must pay overtime to non-union workers who work past 40 hours a week in every jurisdiction in Canada and the USA that I can think of. Walmart has been burned on this one a few times now. There are minimum wage laws in all 50 states and 10 provinces. Work place safety laws prevent employers from putting employees into harms way whether they are union or not. I can go on." Well, if you could be a grip on a union show one day, and then a grip on a non-union show the next, I think you would eat those words.

Very nice. Maybe a hair too much fill for Antonio?

This is from a string of pre-production emails regarding my equipment order between the producer, and a vendor: "What do you suggest? Forget the dolly -- drop it from the order -- then go with the package plus whatever additional items from the order you can find? My DP -- like all DP's -- always asks for much more than he needs." Thanks, Dude.

Nice work. Less is more! (Yeah, you could have flipped the arm so the excess was pointing up.)

Whenever anyone comes on this board and asks what format to shoot on, what film-stock to use, and so-on, I feel like answering, "Well, you visualize what you want the film to look like, then you figure out the tools that get you that look ... And then the producer tells you what you'll be using." Wish I knew how to win that fight. You're stuff looks great.

Your question brings up painful memories of my last student film shoot... Tough to answer the basic lighting question without doing a scout! One street can be very different from another. I will say, headlights are kind of ugly, and they're not easy to aim. My best advice is to try to shoot on streets that have a lot of native light, and use fast lenses. Par-cans are a good, cheap source. If you're shooting on 35mm, you can probably get away with pushing a stop. See if you can give someone twenty bucks to allow you to run power from their store-front. Little Honda generators will run a 1.2k hmi just fine, but they do create problems for the sound dept. If all you've got are little tungsten lights, don't be afraid to put them right in the shot. (You can always hide them with black wrap.) Night exteriors are hard! That's when you need extra Grips and Electrics. 500t, super-16mm. (The picture is very compressed.) Prior to shooting this, I begged for a brighter street, but I guess there are enough street lights to just make it work. The sourcey light in the middle distance on the right edge is a 1.2k par hmi through a heavy apricot gel, and the actor is standing in a relatively low-power tungsten key + fill light, which I scrimmed down so it wouldn't overpower the street lights. Everything else is what was on the street. Our putt-putt refused to work, but we had the producer's mother's house, and a lot of stingers for power.

To paraphrase a wise - and successful - DP: The way you make a film is you shut-up and turn the camera on.

12k's must go on supercranks.

Not much info to go on, but I would look into getting multiple 6k pars rather than 1 18K. But, yes, 18k's are used all the time for day exteriors.