Jon Rosenbloom

Check out "American Centurion" at http://truththroughaction.org. I did a bit of complaining about the production in the "Business Practices" forum, but I think the film turned out pretty well. It was a tough, low budget shoot, but they did get me a good set of lenses, as well as a good shoulder rig and cine-saddle. This was my first prosumer + mini adapter gig. I had always resisted using it, because I always thought that for the cost of renting the adapter and lenses, you could rent a varicam w/ a digi-zoom and get a cleaner image. Having done this shoot, I still have mixed feelings about the system. The image is ok, but it's a one trick pony. Someone told me it looks like 35mm ... I don't know. Maybe it looks like 35mm w/ 1.5 Soft FX in front of the lens! Also, the HVX200 is a great little camera, but it is simply not a motion picture production camera. Happy to discuss if anyone watches!

Better to use 21' black pipe. The aluminum will bow and make everyone nervous, including me - and I won't even be there.

I feel like you're cropping everyone's head-room!

Well, it was pretty classic low-bugdet nonsense (two 18 hour shooting days for me and my two AC's on flat rates), but we seem to have made a film out of it. So does that mean the producer was right to book a package of crap equipment that I didn't want, and not buy ANY of the expendables I asked for? I specifically added a turnaround clause to my contract, but they "asked" to break it ... Can't wait to shoot the next one.

Camera shake + dust + lightning strikes.

After my last shoot, during which some of the film got mishandled, I determined it's not my job to say "I told you so," but to prevent my having to say it. It's too late to back out ... But things are coming together, even as others are threatening to fall apart. Now I know why DP's make so much money.

Style? He's a good Hollywood DP. His work is very handsome, but not overbearing. Check out "Laurel Canyon."

A big Key Grip once told me about doing prep on a big action movie, that kept getting pushed, but they didn't want him to leave the production ... So, for months he showed up at the studio everyday, left after a few hours and hit the golf course. So, what do I do, show up Sunday and if there's no set to shoot, just hand them my bill?

At what point do you just give up on a shoot? I've been prepping a little digital video shoot. It's 5 pages, 2 days, 2 characters, one exterior location, one interior stage set. My G/E package is very small, my camera package is very basic, yet I keep hearing I'm ordering way too much stuff, and now I hear there's no money to put together the set that's been in the script from day one. What's the professional thing to do? I could suggest pushing, but what if they forge ahead? Do I just show up and shoot whatever they put in front of the camera? If it comes to my shooting something that's totally ridiculous (and unusable), I'd rather just stay home for the day.

Underexposing film makes it grainy, IF you try to print it up. Is it too outlandish to suggest shooting a test? Remember, shooting is one thing, but what sort of telecine are you using? It's a big factor in the apparent "graininess" of your image. If you're shooting in the evening, the sky gets very blue as you get towards dusk.

Is 24pN just video-speak for true 24fps shooting? If so, that would seem to be the default choice, and you would subject the footage to a pulldown to 60i only in the event that the commercial gets picked up for broadcast. What I want to know is, is it totally cheesy to use the optical image stabilization? Does it degrade the image in any way? I have a shoot with a bunch of hand-held shots planned, and I'm a pretty shaky operator! (We're using the HVX200 + P&S Technic mini.)

You think zooms are getting lighter? All I ever see are Optimos, which seem to get bigger and heavier all the time.

There's some nice stuff in there but it's too long, and within that too long structure, the shots last too long. You have to be ruthless w/ yourself about cutting out shots that may have been a real challenge to shot, but that are not visually interesting. If that means having a 1 minute reel, so be it. You're just out of school. Last, the window is to small. Good luck!

What do you mean your meter was useless? Why wouldn't you just keep upping the ASA setting so you could find out how far under you were? If you click on my website and look at my reel (great self-promotion, huh?), the shot of the guy in the cab was shot on 7218, meter set at 500, the light inside the cab either read "E" or 1.0. We shot on a Superspeed, a hair closed from wide open (1.3). The film was not pushed.

What ever happened to Arri Variable Primes? I remember when they came out in the mid-90's, but I've almost never seen them on set. Would they be a useful option on a low-budget feature, just to carry the set of 3, rather than 6 or 8 fixed primes?

One thing you might want to consider is whether your store bought material is treated with fire-retardant. Once you've got that covered, you should go to a hardware store and get yourself a grommet kit. It's pretty straight-forward stuff ... Good for getting out some aggression!

Ok. How about using a Bartech remote focus? There's no reason that wouldn't work, right? Is there an ideal stop for the hvx? Do I need a sliding bridge plate to balance the rig?

"You just have a set of wheels chillin?" Yeah. I also have a platform with a push bar that fits into them. I used that set-up fro every dolly move on my reel.

If you're using it for position static shots, just grab it w/ a cardellini and a c-stand. As for leveling, I think the plate at the bottom has a four way leveler, but w/ the camera and weighted arm it will take some muscle. Try to keep the dolly level. If you need skateboard wheels, pm me. Now, please answer my question in the hvx forum! :)

If I'm shooting outdoors in bright daylight with this setup and want to maintain a shallow stop, can I still use the hvx's nd filter wheel, or do I have to put the filters in the matte-box? I want to shoot with the lens completely unprotected. (And the producer doesn't want to rent the filters.)

It's tough to say what the learning curve is. The times I've put it together I'm usually one of 10 grips and they' send me off w/ another guy and we mess around for a while until we figured it out. Just remember that once you start in on a chosen length, it's going to be very time consuming to change your mind. Are you putting a hot head on it? Also, you might call someone like Movie Mobile, and they'll send you a Giraffe crane w/ a tech who will put it together.

Yeah, I like the Fisher 23 quite a bit. It's a "crane in a box." The set-up is pretty easy, but you have to pay attention to which guy wire and posts go w/ the length you're building out to.

These are just different model names, like "Prius" or "Accord" for cars. Some are small, some are large, some are one piece, others are modular so they can be assembled to different lengths. Some can get longer and shorter at the touch of a button.

This is interesting stuff, but, maybe you can add some music ... -_-

Mostly good images, and they move right along in the reel. There's a shot of a fountain that "doesn't speak to me." Also, that shots that are more about the celebrity in the shot, rather than the shot itself, kind of bother me, but that's part of the game. Last, I think the reel is in a teeny-tiny window. Play around w/ the pixel sizes of your QT, and see if you can embed something bigger. Cheers.