G McMahon

Sounds good, is there an English version of this ? :)

Hello, Thanks for your reply, I appreciate your ideas but I think you may have misinterpreted my question. I am not talking about character direction as such, more about staging or blocking so the alignment in the frame is good i.e. the hand is not masking the product. The second part, being a celebrity, everyone knows their name. I assumed that someone calling you by your first name may be rude, if you don't know who the hell you are. Also, just because they are a house hold name doesn't mean you automatically know them and can call them by their first name. May be the way I was brought up though, but I like to hear feedback anyway. Cheers,

Hello all, Example, an actor or whomever is in front of camera. They are standing to square to camera, or they need step into a frame. I feel like my communication is too long winded or I need to come out from behind the camera to demonstrate. Do you have any suggestions or key phrases which help in communicating with the people in front of the lens (considering things are reversed too, or they may not know what a pre-frame is)? And while I have you here. Celebrities, that you haven't been introduced to, that you are shooting, do you call them by their surname or first name? I have been using their surname, but I don't know if that comes through as pretentious or not. Is that just bad form of the director not introducing you to them? Thanks,

Hello all, Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, due to my lack of experience, I cannot do allot of the things suggested. I haven't operated on long form drama. The only thing I have done is operating for myself DPing low budget TVC's, corporates and TV shows. Thanks

Hello all, My agent called me about an operator position on a series. I am currently assembling a reel for the DP I suspect. I am thinking of two short quicktimes. The first being a montage of various shots showing my compositions, eye, movement and handheld work. The second being just a longer take of following an actors performance on a long lens. Would this be the best way to sell myself? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks,

Hello all, Lighting in a garage/ service station. Wanting to go push the colours of working lights. The practical flouros are cool whites, and I am using tungsten lights. I am going to run with the tungstens with 1/2 cto + a red violet gel. White balance to them to allow the practical flouros (cool whites) to go green (instead of gelling all the pracs. What I need help with is I would like some of the tungsten sources to fall to the sodium vapour look. Instead of adding another gel to the already existing gel pack on the tungstens, what combination would I use (as the naked lamp will already look green)? The sodium look is probably a split complimentary or triad, but just doubling an already sodium vapour gel pack should not suffice surely (loss of allot of light)? Thanks,

Thanks guys

Hello all, I have been asked to shoot a simple thing a bit out of town over the week end. He told me the rate which I believed was fair (for one day). I said that + tax. I was clear on travel costs. Then he mentioned that i should arrive the afternoon before so I can go over the gear. So I am thinking now, hey I should be charging for a gear check, I mean, it is taking an extra 1/2 day out of my life. Then he briefly skipped over something about a twilight shoot the evening of the equipment check. (I do not know if I am required for that too). On top of that, i may need to collect and transport the gear up there as well. Now at what point are you being taken advantage of, or, alternatively, not being a team player. I try as much as possible to clarify costs as early as possible, but being flexible could mean more work. Thoughts, comments, observations? Thanks,

Mr Murashige, I wasn't necessarily insinuating that they do not use lights, just the look of their pictures are natural. They are good master classes by the way.

Hello all, To me the term "natural lighting" means no lighting, or no augmentation of what is in the location. So, shooting in an office environment under practical lights that are "naturally" there, to me, means natural lighting. The term "to look natural" means the use of anything in any means to make the look or style uncontrived or unnoticed, like no one pulled a production light out. I hope I am right, as some times I will say, " lets shoot it oysters", meaning, lets shoot it how it is. Did anyone add John Seale to the list? Witness, Dead Poets society, Rain man, and I believe he won an oscar too. Dean Semler (Dances with Wolves), and Russell Boyd (master and commander) as well. In fact, I believe they all come from the same country. Don't mind me, we just had our national day a couple of days ago. But I do believe they light to "look natural", I hear that is how they got allot of their gigs.

Hello all, I have been asked to shoot a small part (the only live action spot) on an animated spot. My part is a lemon being squeezed in front of a green screen. They want to see the juice to use that part. My concerns are, 1). that if I ask there fx guys this question that I may appear amateur, so I want to know whether it is a valid question to ask there fx guys. 2). As a lemon being squeezed juice is semi opaque, the green from the screen will be seen in the juice. Is that a concern to raise to them? 3). A more generic question, I seem to take on some production managing roles with the level I am working. They ask for a quote with no specifics. I give them a price, and turn around with some requirements. Example: after telling them prices, and what might be limitations of certain gear, they may say, " the creatives insist on HD with as high frame rates as possible". So I can think, go to town, and shoot on a vari cam and invoice for that. If i was to do that then, they may hit the roof. So surely they should give me an indication of the budget, or a least time to sit down and put a package together. Your thoughts, or how have you approached this dilemma. Thank you, G McMahon

Hello all, Just wanting to know what people use to stop fogging in the eyepiece from sweat/hot forehead or rainy weather. I am in Australia, so some products that you may use may go under a different name, so a brief description or the type of retail outlet where you would find it would be very helpful. Thanks,

Thanks

Thank you, I think I will print this out and show it to the director for security. I can't determine in my limited pre prod time whether to play with numerous point sources or fairy lights,or a single soft source. Time permitting, I will play. Thanks,

Hey All, Shooting a spot with a fake diamond watch. How can I make the fake diamonds sparkle in the close ups ? I hold the watch a certain angles and it shimmers only on one diamond, not several. Thanks all HD people, please look at my question I posted there, thanks

One solution is to "break" the curve in the highlights, giving it a slower slope, decreasing gamma (contrast) after a certain point. Please correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't Dimitrios statement, "knee level up means details in the highlights", contradict yours? To me, knee level up means a steeper slope, higher gamma, less detail. Therefore, lower knee means more details in highlights. Is this correct? While I have you, can you confirm for me, a high gamma, means a steeper incline, meaning a higher contrast image? And why would you play with the vertical detail level as opposed to the whole detail level? Thanks all,

Hello all, Apologies, there are far too many pages on reels to wade through. Four months ago, I released a reel to moderate success. I am about to release my next one. My first reel was devided as such, drama/ lighting/ 2nd unit montage, corporate/ documentary and last a cut sequences page. I am at a loss with the new reel. Questions: 1. Do I follow the same track (I do not see the point in really updating my corporate, didn't really grab footage from work I did)? 2. Do I keep some of the old footage which I still believe makes the grade, or do companies want to only see the latter stuff? 3. If I do not keep the old footage, do I just mix all the new footage together and attach the old reels as an option? 4. Regarding the montage, should I try and block the shots to projects, or scenes, or just go hard out of the blocks with my stronger stuff at the front? 5. My opinion is to show diversity in the looks of the work I have done, even though there may be no dynamic to the shot, is that prudent? A side note. A short I have shot, the producer is being a child about letting me have the footage even though the project has been finished and screened. Besides being the right thing to do, do I have any legal legs to stand on to obtain this footage? Thank you,

Hello all, Apologies, there are far too many pages on reels to wade through. Four months ago, I released a reel to moderate success. I am about to release my next one. My first reel was devided as such, drama/ lighting/ 2nd unit montage, corporate/ documentary and last a cut sequences page. I am at a loss with the new reel. Questions: 1. Do I follow the same track (I do not see the point in really updating my corporate, didn't really grab footage from work I did)? 2. Do I keep some of the old footage which I still believe makes the grade, or do companies want to only see the latter stuff? 3. If I do not keep the old footage, do I just mix all the new footage together and attach the old reels as an option? 4. Regarding the montage, should I try and block the shots to projects, or scenes, or just go hard out of the blocks with my stronger stuff at the front? 5. My opinion is to show diversity in the looks of the work I have done, even though there may be no dynamic to the shot, is that prudent? A side note. A short I have shot, the producer is being a child about letting me have the footage even though the project has been finished and screened. Besides being the right thing to do, do I have any legal legs to stand on to obtain this footage? Thank you,

I just hate the fine line between being a team player or someone being taken advantage of. Thanks,

Hello all, I am on my first day of a three day paid corporate/ promotional. I arrived at location this morning and the weather was awful. We shot a couple of shots (mainly a test for the HD transfer for edit). The director called it and we are rescheduling for latter this week (wed thru fri). How do I charge? Is it a half day today? I now have to go and return camera gear, and most likely pick it up tomorrow. At present I am only charging an hourly rate for gear pick up. What happens if I invoice them and they kick up a stink. Should they be versed in costs for loss of shooting because of the weather? This leads me to another question. What happens with weather holds? Say you are shooting mon to wed and there is a weather hold thur. Do you invoice them for the weather hold day, considering you cannot get booked for that day? What happens if one of the days is cancelled before you leave home, do you still charge? Thank you,

Hello all, I am on my first day of a three day paid corporate/ promotional. I arrived at location this morning and the weather was awful. We shot a couple of shots (mainly a test for the HD transfer for edit). The director called it and we are rescheduling for latter this week (wed thru fri). How do I charge? Is it a half day today? I now have to go and return camera gear, and most likely pick it up tomorrow. At present I am only charging an hourly rate for gear pick up. What happens if I invoice them and they kick up a stink. Should they be versed in costs for loss of shooting because of the weather? This leads me to another question. What happens with weather holds? Say you are shooting mon to wed and there is a weather hold thur. Do you invoice them for the weather hold day, considering you cannot get booked for that day? What happens if one of the days is cancelled before you leave home, do you still charge? Thank you,

Hello all, Just like some aid with some troubleshooting. A few shots 1). A golf bunker shot, BG golfer has taken shot from bunker and FG is the hole. Would like the ball to roll into hole as we dolly across to hole (ball rolls toward camera). Thinking someone rolls ball 6 feet away and runs out of shot. Can see this taking a few takes though. 2). Sauna shot/ steam room. concerned that the steam will ruin camera. i thought of a smoke machine, but there is a particular shot where they want water being thrown onto the hot coals. 3). With the helicopter shots, can I nurse the camera on a cinesaddle? Will the shakes transfer through? (assuming I will have everything lashed down) Thanks,

Thanks all

Hello all, ABout to shoot a promo video (digi), in a couple of weeks. Coastal shots, morning, one hour in chopper, in harness. Any suggestions?, Concerns are stability, communication to pilot, checks on camera. Thanks all,

Location is someones private garden in southeast Queensland (Australia). I had to fight some contrast, see how it handles soon (photo was taken on overcast day).