Jon Rosenbloom

Lighting principles are constant, but big stuff takes more manpower. For instance, 18k's take 3 or 4 people to mount on a stand. If you've got 10 grips, then it's pretty normal to throw a couple of 12'x12's and 8'x8' and some dolly track around. But if you're still stuck with your indie-standard crew of 2+2 and a swing, you're digging quite a hole for yourself if you want to start lighting w/ the big guns.

Wouldn't you just call that position "Lighting Director?"

Tier 1, 2 & 3 movies are "national contract" films. The contracts are negotiated by the "international," rather than the locals. Tier 1 rates are low. I can be more specific: Holy Crap, those rates are low! Let it be said, that just because one is making a movie for under a million, that one couldn't pay scale. One could cut back on scope of the production rather than the crew's wages. I know, it's a crazy idea.

I think he said it's a hood mount.

Well, throw my name in the ring, another driver from NY. Click on the link below. Cheers!

What if you put a big techno-crane on the back of an insert car? Then you can use the telescope and the arm to do the "step-off" part of the move?

Yeah, I've been seeking controversy ever since I read that Norman Mailer article in the New Yorker! I've used chinese lanterns many times, and they are certainly an effective, low-cost, way to light a space, but I hate all the "fixing" (scraps of duve, etc.) they demand once you try to make them an actual source.

China balls are good for beer gardens and student films. I think the wattage is a function of the socket of the cord. You can definitely get a 250w bulb in one.

Works for me.

Mullen's first post: "We're also using the photos of Todd Hido as a reference: http://www.toddhido.com/" Also, the most recent Avis television campaign - the ones with the old family car griping about being spurned for a hot rental - used the same look.

How does that affect the flicker of hmi's and flos?

Micro budget? Straight down? If you find the right tree, you could just rig the camera to some pullies, drop it and then reverse the footage in post. You would need to make a little rig on the camera so you can get two or three balanced picks so that the camera doesn't spin wildly. Don't use hemp or cheap rope, as they're both too twisty.

Phil Abraham got the '08 emmy for this. Don't know what he's doing in LA, but on the Mad Men pilot, and that other show he shot, he didn't use any special, secret lights. Everyone has pretty much the same tools on the trucks. It's up to the individual's eye how they get used. Congrats, Phil.

Is this movie ever coming out?

Don't worry too much about adjusting the height; car interiors are pretty restricted. That said, you might want to order a three inch camera riser.

I got fired during prep for a 35mm student film, because the producer convinced the director that I didn't have enough experience operating a geared head. My answer was that since we couldn't afford both a geared head and a fluid head we wouldn't even have a geared head on the job, so it wasn't an issue. Then she explained that she had lots of experience making films and that big 35mm cameras work only on geared heads ... Well, I made more money getting fired than if I had shot the damn film.

Gelled a glass door yesterday. (You'll all see it on the Hallmark Hall of Fame.) How do I elaborate or clarify my previous post? My guess as to why I haven't seen the spray bottle is that DP's want to be able to switch their .nd's faster than that method allows, or they just say, "Hey, put some .nd on that window, NOW!" Maybe it's all the TV I do. My own method is to clean at least the edge of the glass, put 1/2" double stick clear tape around the entire edge, then adhere the gel in the center of each of the four sides, and then from the center of the window push the ripples out to each corner, with my hand, arm or squeegee. With my matte-knife at it's minimum extension, I then trim any excess gel. (This helps prevent accidental over-trimming.) My favorite bit of gelling was on "Rescue Me," at a porno video store on 8th ave. They liked the gel job so much, they asked us to leave it.

I glanced through this thread, and I think no one has said, "Well, what do you want the film to look like?"

Sorry, Michael, I think your's is bad advice. The gel has to be surface to surface, or else you risk having it blow around as well as produce a second reflection behind the glass you're gelling. Also, I haven't seen anyone use a spray bottle and squeegee in ten years.

Use your hand if the squeegee doesn't fit. Work from the center out. Use a brand new blade and cut off all the excess gel.

The rhythm of the cutting is rather sloooooow. Also, I don't think the opening contains your strongest work.

I don't mind the sky, except in the wide single of the girl with the dunes behind her. We shot that after sunset and there was no choice but to "push" it in post. Such are the constraints of budget and schedule. I'm not in love w/ the wide master; I think they pushed that as well in order to see the soldier's face a little better. But as far as looking at the waveform and protecting the highs from spiking, I never gave (or give) it a thought. I was going for the harshest look I could get ( I set the v. detail at +3). In fact, I would have preferred shooting w/ the lens bare in the desert, but since we couldn't stop down on the taking lens beyond an F4, I was fiddling with .nd filters all day, and thus obligated to use a mattebox.

I dig it.

Don't drive over the fiber optic cable!

Actually, look at it directly on vimeo. The other link is SD. http://www.vimeo.com/1550761