Frank Barrera

Just a follow up for anyone searching for crew in Maui. Paul Ehman production services took care of us. I was a little nervous bringing our brand of low budget tv madness to an unknown place (especially to a place famous for a laid back and slow paced environment) but Paul and his crew kept up with our speed of production and added great value in the process. If our pilot gets picked up and we wind up in Maui again I will know who to call. Find them here. http://ehmanproductions.com/ Aloha

Danner Thanks for the tip but we wound up bringing a 1st AC from LA and the local Director in Maui brought on a gaffer he knows well, so it looks like its going to all work out. In fact, I just arrived today and start prep tomorrow. It should be a fun one. thanks f

Hello folks. I will be shooting a small pilot in Hawaii in mid February. I have zero contacts. Does any one have recommendations for Gaffer, Key Grip and/or 1st AC? It will be an IATSE show. Thanks in advance for any help. f

Stuart, Ha. I know its in this month's issue but I can't find it in my house and cant access it online. I just saw the film yesterday and I need to know! Funny, I can find September and November issues.... thanks f

Hello all, What does anyone know about specific cameras and/or rigs used for the nightvision work at the end of Sicario? Do tell. Thanks f

David, I shot a short down there about 10 years ago and I will tell you what I know. It is a small community of filmmakers there. The production is almost exclusively for TV commercials. TV series are traditionally imported from neighboring countries. It is a wonderful country that has a frustrated feature film community that is almost non existent. I almost went back last year to shoot a low budget feature but my schedule wouldn't allow it. But just by talking to the producers it was clear that nothing had changed in the last 10 years. For what ever reason, movies simply are not made there. The 1st AC I worked with and whom I have not had direct contact with for several years is Richard Vera Caceres. Through his Facebook posts it appears he is working full time, on commercials of course. You could try reaching out to him and perhaps get some insight. This link has his contact info: http://www.perufilmcrew.com/base/fichas/vera_richard.htm Good luck. f

Hey folks, I shot a film called The Grief of Others that will be screening in the ACID section of the Cannes Film Festival 2015 and I will be there from May 15 to the 21st. Anyone else going? Lets meet up for some wine on the beach. Its my first time so if anyone has any advise about how to possibly get into any screening besides my own that would be helpful. I already missed all the badge registrations so I am going to have to get creative. Turns out its not so easy to see films there. thanks f

My friend and collegue, Patrick Wang has written an interesting article about the current trend to choose a 2.35:1 aspect ratio in feature production. Please take a look and dicuss. http://www.hammertonail.com/editorial/suddenly-cinemascope-by-patrick-wang/ Thanks Frank B

Guy, Thanks for the detailed explaination. As a former Gaffer myself I enjoy the topic. Also it clearly demonstrates why the original question could also be answered by saying,"You need to hire a qualified technician to handle this type of equipment which is not only easily damaged by improper use but also can cause phyisical injury. Thats what Best Boy Electrics are for."

As Adrian said, there are many factors affecting non-union rates. Those factors result in a wide range of numbers. For example a day rate for the DP can be anywhere from $200 - $1600. Gaffer or Key Grip $200-$800. Sound is the same as the Gaffer plus equipment rental. So, yes, its all over the place. Sounds like you need someone in your production team who has local experience in this matter. good luck

Whatever you use it should be something that is easily disconnected from your body. As in when you put the camera down you should in the same motion disconnect your able so you are free from camera and cable.I have used either Velcro strips or trick line rope attached to the cable and then attached that to a carabiner clip. The clip is then attached to your belt. Easy on, easy off. FYI the purpose IMO for the cable strain relief is not to prevent the cable from coming off the camera (this is unlikely no matter how hard you try). Its so if your cable wrangler gets jammed up and you run out of length for a moment while you are walking and shooting, you will know by the tug on your belt as opposed to a tug on the camera so as to maintain your shot.

Looks like California is about to jump into the game: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-california-film-tax-credit-20140820-story.html

It is very unsual for a recent college graduate to join any production union. There are many ways to join but the most common is applying for membership after gaining anywhere from 5 to 20 years of experience in the classification that you are on the way to mastering. It took me 15 years to join Local 600 as an operator and then an additional couple of years to qualify as a DP. You mentioned that you think union membership will lead to more work. That is incorrect. In fact, when you join, they will be very clear to you that they do not provide labor and you should not have that expectation. You find your work, always. They negotiate contracts, attempt to organize non union shows, produce workshops and other activities that could be discussed in another thread. To gain experience most people start working for free on student films and then no-budget movies. Then you meet some people who have a low paying job and they like you and like your work so they hire you. You do that for a few years. Then you meet someone who has a job that pays a little more money and they hire you. You repeat this cycle for many years and ideally every year you not only make a little bit more money but you also get better at and more focused on what it is that you do. One of the keys, of course, is meeting people, making solid connections and not usually having a lot of disposable income. My income hovered over the poverty line for several years. You have chosen a very competitive field. There are way too many workers for too few jobs. Combine this with inexpensive filmmaking equipment and the result is a massive low pay segment of production. Most of us have to push through this low wage level for several years in order to gain expereince to even compete with technical positions on mid to high budget production jobs. And just doing that requires a certain amount of luck. I hate to admit it. But it is true. You'll need some luck. As for LA or NY? There are too many subtleties to be discussed on this question to address here. But when you are starting out, it is probably best to be in the city where you know the most people either in the business already or attempting to break in. And most of your questions about getting into any union should be asked directly to your union of interest. They have people whose job it is to answer questions from people like you, and me. Good luck

Gregory Thanks for the reply. As it is the weekend I will have to wait for Technicolor to reply on Monday I suppose. Apparently, it was just on one shot (intermittant yes). And they said it was easily corrected in post. I still havent seen it so I dont know how severe it is. Meanwhile we are shooting all weekend. Fun. F

Hi. I am shooting a feature on Super 16. Working with Technicolor NY. I just heard from our editor that Technicolor told him that a couple of shots had "blue pressure plate marks that are easily correctible in post". I have asked them what this is and what might cause it (havent heard an answer yet) but would love to get an answer asap. thanks for any guidance. f

its hard to reserve judgement until the investigation is complete but it really does appear that at least one person with full knowlegde of the land owner's restrictions disregarded those limitations and literally ordered some crew on to that bridge. and even if the camera was never actually on the tracks themselves a prop certainly was placed on the tracks. someone had to place that prop. i beleive that person or persons (from the art/prop dept) is among the injured.

Let Sarah's death be a horrible reminder for all of us to slow down from time to time when you're on set and ask yourself or a co -worker this question: "Is what the production unit currently doing 100% safe or not?" And if the answer is "No" then immediately speak with a department head or if you are the department head speak with the 1st AD and have your safety concerns addressed. I can not hide my anger over the completely avoidable death of this young crew member. The following link is from a local newspaper that helps put a face to the name of Sarah Jones. http://www.thestate.com/2014/02/20/3281238/train-strikes-allman-biopic-film.html

Donavan, I am sorry you are having trouble qualifying for the roster but I am not certain what you mean when you state that CSATF "doesnt count days worked for internet distribution ". FIrst of all, if you have a pay stub from a pay roll service it will not distinguish what type of ditribution your job has planned. The only thing CSATF wants to see is that you were employed as a member of the camera department (DP, Operator, AC, Loader) for 100 days over 3 years. Distribution does not enter into equation. Local 600 and the Studios have negotiated a contract that includes web only programs. It is included in the so-called New Media Contract. I have worked under this agreement many times in the past 2 years. Mostly I have worked for Paramount's Digital DIvision. The Netflix shows you mentioned are also under the New Media Contract. The union and its memebers have been very vocal regarding the continued growth of studio investment in internet distribution. It is the future after all.

Problem solved!!! The DP quit and they asked me to take over. So I will now have someone else operating. Funny business this is. thanks for all the replies. f

Once the rental house is booked I will call them up and see whats possible with EVF. But the Easy Rig does seem like the smart way to go. Although the rental will most likely come out of my pocket on a low budget such as I will be faced with on this show. I have never used the Easy Rig and always dismissed it because it seems like one would be limited in certain run and gun situations. But if it will save my shoulder then I suppose its a viable option.

Bill, I am not too concerned about getting accustomed to it. I am curious tho how you use the view finder. On an ENG type camera (ie:F800) can you just flip over the eye piece with the standard mount and then flip the image in the VF menu? thanks f

Thanks. The film has been rolling out very slowly all of the U.S. and Canada and will continue through Europe in 2013. You should check out the Face Book page as they always update future screenings. f

Hello all I will be doing a 4 week show, all hand held with a full sized HD rig. I recently injured my right shoulder and need to flip everything over to my left shoulder and left eye (of course). Any experience with this? thanks in advance. Frank Barrera

Noah what up? the reel looks very good. i will preface my comments by saying that there are many ways to approach the reel and no single way that is right or wrong. but this is mine: i think a reel should only be 60 seconds long. it should be a teaser of your work. it should be a commercial for your range of talent. in your case i think you could easily cut it down and have a very strong reel. Keep in mind that it is widely held that the people watching your reel are probably watching lots of them and they probably will remember either the first or last shot of the reel. so make those as striking as possible. somewhere else on your website you could have completed scenes to show your ability to cover a scene properly and execute continuity in lighting, composition and operation. in your case i found the jumping back and forth from different projects to be disjunctive. i would keep projects adjacent to themselves. this also reminds the viewer of your range and the continuity of look within those projects. nice work. good luck. f

Getting IA jobs is an alchemy all of it's own. Good luck with that. What I do know is that the current DP fee is just over $12K ($3K down upon membership). For Operators it's just over $7K ($2K down upon membership). You then make monthly payments for your balance spread out over 2 years. I just joined as an operator in NY. Most of my clients are still non union (I am starting to get a couple of calls for union work) but the way I look at it is that someday I would have joined this union anyway and the longer I wait the more expensive the initiation fee will be as it steadily increases over time. So join now: save money. Also if you join as an operator you can still be hired as a DP. Once you've logged 40 days as a DP then you must upgrade your classification and pay the difference in fees. But don't take it from me, just call up the union membership officer. He's a friendly guy who's job is to answer all of your questions. good luck f