Frank Barrera

Congratulations. And it's cool that it won in the "Foreign" category. I mean, i just dont think of Canada as foreign. but that's just me. f

Greetings all, If anyone is around LA April 14th and wants to watch a fun movie I shot with the Red please come out to the Beverly Hills Film Festival and see As Good As Dead starring Andi MacDowell and Cary Elwes. I will be there handing out coffee mugs (not really). thanks f

just in: All Mobile Video & 3ality Digital are hosting a 3D Demo on Monday March 1st and Tuesday March 2nd at AMV/Unitel 515 West 57th Street - Stage A Please RSVP to Tom D’Angelo (917) 299-1583 Demos are available Monday and Tuesday from 12Noon to 4PM

its insane.

Balancing the legs is not just for generator power sources but also when using a tie-in from the local electric company. For example if you are working with 120V 3 phase @ something like 100AMP per leg you need to balance the load to efficiently use each leg. Each leg is often fused and blowing a fuse can cause a great deal of delay during production. Trust me, I blew a 200 amp fuse once and it was not pretty. We lost two hours until we could get access to the mains. Of course keeping balance when using local power is great practice for when you do need to balance a generator.

5279? mmmm let me recall it... yes, it is my favorite discontinued stock. rich colors. deep contrast. tight grain. fast speed. it had it all...

Eastern Effects is great for G & E. Also Handheld can provide a lot of G & E and are aggressively marketed their non camera gear. This can result in lower prices. Also Elefant films is an up and comer worth exploring. There are larger houses like Ceco but you'll pay a premium. These are largely union shops. gd luck

Greetings all, Please Netflix RUNAWAY starring Aaron Stanford and Robin Tunney. I shot it back in 2004; it did great at festivals but only today does it finally get a DVD release. Incredible but true. We were all happy with our hard work. Hope you enjoy it. thanks for the support. f

i'd like to nominate this as the weirdest thread of the year.

had to pull out the incident meter with flat disc and a fresh piece of opal. and David is correct of course: 1/3 stop exactly.

About 10 years ago i worked on a large music video that required lightning effects from multiple locations around a massive stage as the band performed. The Director and DP wanted near constant lighting throughout a 6 minute song. The production rented several high powered lightning strikes but that wasnt enough. So they brought in three of these homemade lighting strikes which were boxes made of wood, plexiglass and tin about 4'X4' with a bunch of large gauge carbon rods bunched on the bottom and the same up top. One end had #2 Entertainment cable attached to it coming from the neutral and the other end had the hot end. I operated one of these monsters by jamming one end into the other and then "riding" the arc for a couple of seconds at a time. this created not just a great lightning effect but also a very loud cracking sound. Unfortunately these things were not designed for the constant use that we wound up requiring from it. Finally my "box" began to melt and then burst into flames. i remember being very upset and concerned for not just my safety but the entire productions as we were indoors. But the senior electricians, seemingly knowing that the situation was under control, just smiled and stood around as i frantically smothered the flames with a sound blanket. although this is a low budget effect i would never recommend attempting it without a highly experienced electrician involved. its funny. over the years when ever a lightning effect is required i share that story with production when they inquire about a low budget solution. after hearing the part about flames they never seem to hesitate to cough up the money for a proper lightning strike. gd luck f

Richard I am with you 100% on the budget question. That is the main reason I want to make the movie I am developing. I know we can make a great film for this money as long as the right people are making the right decisions early on. But I am curious to know your thoughts about what I am proposing. Keeping in mind that this is a fairly unconventional film both in subject and approach. Its an adaptation of a celebrated translation of a classic non english language play. I would work with the director to design the entire production from the ground up; above and beyond the normal DP responsibilities. I would then take that hat off during shooting and then resume Producer role during post. Makes sense, right? thanks for your thoughts. f

the dp's job is to help the director tell the story. that might mean that you make decisions about everything from lighting, blocking, camera position, composition, wardrobe and makeup. or it might mean you become a mindless monkey who presses the record button. normally your true function lies in between these two extremes but it doesn't matter. this is your job. you are below-the-line. check your ego at the door. if you don't like it then become a director. part of what i find interesting about this job is exploring different relationships with different directors. some want minimal input from me creatively. some want me to do everything except work with the actors. its too easy to say that i don't like being "told what to do" because, for example, i can learn a lot from a strong director who doesnt require too much from me. i know there will always be another job were i get to "spread my winds" or whatever you call it. so if i work with a director who is that strong i can watch and learn.

let me get this straight- you've only only been out of school for only a year and people are letting you touch their cameras? it took me several years after i got out of film school before i got to the point where some one would actually trust me to shoot even the lamest corporate video. anyway you're young and if you dont take this job you're nuts. its not about the money. its about the experience. filmmakers are storytellers pure and simple. and without life experiences you have no stories to tell. all the technical knowledge in the world doesnt hold a candle to one great story. btw i've been to Orlando and i've been on a giant cruise ship. and i guarantee you there many more interesting things going on on that ship than in Orlando. get on that ship. take lots of picture. take notes. and come back a better story teller. good luck.

i've said it before and i'll say it again: the only people who need to be concerned about 2012 are the Mayans. Its their calendar that will end not ours.

Production found some at Barbizon. thanks f

Hi. Does anyone know of a store where I can get some black bobinet in NYC? thanks

get a still camera. start taking pictures. get a video camera. start shooting video. watch lots of movies. read about the movies you watch. read American Cinematographer magazine. Read everything on this website. if you do all of those things you will have an excellent foundation to move forward with telling stories with moving pictures. and above all have fun

Hey Joe, Howz things? the last time I saw you we learned that sheep have zero problem climbing up stairs in a house but refuse to go down stairs. Sean, CTS is Color Temperature Straw. It converts daylight to tungsten with an added yellow cast.

this was a commercial for Built By Wendy. right? i believe it would be what ad people call a "viral" campaign. perhaps i am mistaken but there is no more to this interview.

I am seeking advice from experience with this type of situation. I am in development on a feature with somewhat high profile actors involved. The budget should be about $2 million. It might shoot in NYC which would invite union interest. I have partnered with the director and will act as her producer. I will assist on all things creative and also help raise the financing. This happens to be a fairly un-orthodoxed project which inspired us to take several un-orthodoxed approaches. One of which is that I plan to be the DP. I realize that once we actually begin shooting I would for the most part have to take off the producer's hat and fully concentrate on the cinematography. Once we wrap I would again assume certain post production responsibilities up to and including marketing of the film. I know that on ultra low budget features it is common for below the line crew to also be involved as producers. But with our cast and budget and potential union involvement I am wondering what pitfalls and/or problems I may prepare for. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

not to get too off topic but this idea of banks being hostel to freelancers is an interesting one. when my wife and i got a loan to buy our little nyc apartment it was basically her full time job that got us the loan. so i just thought that on my own i wouldnt be able to qualify. but over the past few years i've met more and more guys who are freelancing in this business and either are single or their partners are also freelancers and they did get loans. they didnt put large sums down for down payments and they got excellent (better than mine) rates. so i dont know what to think about it anymore. i guess some banks just have a lower thresh hold for qualification than i thought. hmmmm... perhaps this is very much connected to the recent mess in the credit industry. btw congrats brian on the ASC nod. thats awesome.

you could go with the a classic: the Pentax K1000. could get one right now on ebay (i just checked) with a zoom lens for under $200. i learned most of what i know with this camera uh um about 25 years ago. for the purpose you stated there's no reason to get a digital slr. however it would be wise to get both a digital and a film camera. after all we do live in a time where both are widely used. i just used the canon 5D for the first time this weekend for a music video and it is a fine camera for both video and stills. an incident light meter would be an excellent compliment to the Pentax as well. good luck. f

this looks like some spam link so i won't click on the above link but i do think it fitting that this particular thread end in some weird electronic mess. cant explain it more than that. just seems funny to me.

I haven't seen an Imax film in many years. Took the kids to the Natural History Museum here in NYC to see "Wild Ocean". Wowie zowie. I cant put into words how beautiful it was. I mean on one hand it seems like you really can't go wrong. The Imax format recording from a helicopter off of cliffs as dolphins, sharks, seals and diving birds all go for giant "bait balls" of swarming sardines. Its just incredible. The clarity of all the images is just breathtaking. Oh yeah and the kids (ages 3 and 5) really loved it too. If you are in NY and have 40 minutes to kill its worth seeing. f