Frank Barrera

It's simply the only thing I try to avoid on set. When I used to grip I hated getting stuck with that detail. Not only does it take a certain skill/talent to do it correctly but it usually needs maintenance through out the day as the gel will start to peel off. You may have more luck with responses concerning technique over at the GRIP FORUM as this would be the grip department's responsibility. good luck.

Yes it can work. I just did it last week on a low budget job that had no money for ND or bobinet. I think production found a few rolls of screen at Wallmart or something for pretty cheap. It's a little tricky to work with but not to difficult. It's actually very light in terms of it's light reducing capabilities so you will need to layer it up pretty heavy. And this will create an odd patterned effect which is most undesirable. I had three layers which probably was about equivalent only to ND .3 and it clearly had a morie effect. I was able to place curtains over it and it worked alright. But this was a reality TV show and the "look" was not the priority. Can you say: "Down and dirty"? If you were doing CUs of someone right next to the window and you needed to knock off 2 or 3 stops it might not look very good. As for "much less effort than ND" the answer is no way because you will need to hang a bunch of layers and if you've ever tried to put up multiple layers of gel over one and another you will know that it's a very difficult thing to get done. good luck.

OMG

create what you can in camera in terms of contrast and then do some power windows in post. here's an example of lighting and post work: http://www.frankbarrera.com/comedycentral.html all white walls.

genius is simply the most over used word ever but Chris Doyle has been a great inspiration to me. yeah, he's a nutter. crazy like a fox. that youtube video is weird to most because he acted wild at a fu**ing awards ceremony and didn't follow the script. who cares? pleeeese. black tie????? come on. a load of crap really. did you see The Departed? Ballhaus admits he over lit the thing because he was shooting hollywood actors. Doyle doesn't even look drunk or out of control. he's just being himself and very sincere. the best shot is that cut away of some old dude at a table stoically looking on....

if we could forego the aesthetic discussion for a moment let's remember that a common decider of aspect ratio is the distributor. Obviously they have little concern of storytelling or framing or whatever. they just pay the bills and make it all happen. I have shot two features and the aspect ratio was not something that I and the director could discuss. It would be 16 X 9 or nothing.

i'll contact them and see what i can do. we all need all the help we can get.

ummmm, no. What is it?

Is it just me or is all this "Hey I need to do some electrical work so I need to go to the internet" stuff a little crazy? I mean if you want to contact someone on the phone through this site or something to talk you through it that's one thing but I would like to state for the record that internet electrical "advice" should be kept to a bare minimum. If this keeps up, one of these days somebody is going to get seriously injured. Mr. Zanit, what do you say about it?

A "right"? Cast don't have "rights". They have a contract and their contract stipulates certain conditions pertaining to an on screen credit. When I have done TV broadcast work I sign a contract that clearly states how my credit will be handled with no surprises. That's the way it is and has always been. That's why there is "above the line" and "below the line" in the budget. The former is perceived to be not expendable whilst the latter is. We "below the line" technicians simple do not have the leverage to demand anymore than what we currently receive. As long as the check clears I don't have a problem with that.

If he's buying I'd order the Lobster Bisque.

Are you yourself interested in being an editor?

Perhaps it's a little bigger than you were thinking but the Aaton A-Minima is extremely low profile.

The reason that you will not find any diagrams about wiring on this site is because it's a potentially dangerous task and to post such a diagram would implicate the poster with any hazard that the end user might experience. That having been said you can go to a book store and look at some do-it-yourself guides on wiring simple switches and lights etc. That should satisfy your needs. But the best way is for someone with experience to show you how to do it. Naturally one should always keep in mind that electricity can be very dangerous.

You can do a search about the pros and cons of film school here and find pages and pages of arguments... so you should do that. but to answer your question: I went to a small NY state art school called SUNY Purchase. As with any accredited school in the U.S. your class credits will be divided between your core curriculum (about 25% of total) which includes science, literature, history etc. and then the rest which will be credits from your concentration of film. This will be classes in editing, writing, directing, cinematography, film history/theory and actual production. So in a four year program (BFA) you spend a year on the core and then three years on film. That's not a whole heck of a lot of time to learn about all that film stuff. As a matter of fact it's sort of impossible to really do anything but scratch the surface of any one of those subjects. Any book you would be required to purchase can be found on the list available on this site. All film schools have their particular pros and cons. In the 13 years since I graduated I have discussed this topic with many other grads and also non grads and have come to one conclusion: It's nice to learn about about early Russian cinema but the real reason to go to film school is to make connections with your future co-workers and bosses. That's why NYU and USC are so great. There you will meet people not just with talent but MONEY. They will get you jobs later in life. Even though I went to a cheapo state school I can say that almost half of ALL my jobs over the years have been connected to my four years at Purchase. I am pretty convinced that if I had gone to NYU I would be further along right now. I also wish I was three inches taller... So there you go. If you really want to go to film school go to the highest profile one you can and be nice to all the rich kids.

I would re post the first question over in the LENSES SUB FORUM and the P2 question in the PANASONIC SUB FORUM. You may have more success that way. good luck. f

I'll second all that has been said about Desisti in this and the other thread. The only thing i will add is that the last time I used them (which was about 10 years ago here in NYC) they had designed them with a plastic barn door lock down clamp on the top of the lamp. you know, the clamp that swings open so you can remove the doors or place or remove scrims? well i don't know if they still make it out of plastic but guess what- when you wrapped the head with black wrap to control a little light spill the heat would build up and literally MELT the clamp. We wound up unscrewing all of the clamps before use. We complained to Desisti about it but don't know if they ever changed that. Arri an Mole use a metal clamp. That was the last time I saw a Desisti head on set in NYC. How much will you save if you go with them instead of the Arri's?

Yes we do know what his duties are. He is setting up "the whole inhouse TV broadcast suite and on top of that select the most appropriate studio gear". He rightfully is nervous about screwing it all up. This is a huge undertaking which should be preformed by someone with experience. Otherwise it will wind up botched up just as he said someone else had done previously. And no, asking here is not such a bad thing. I just don't know who is going to sit down and address the very long and detailed list of information that he has asked for. I was just curious as to how he got the job. And his answer was that he got it because he has "attention to detail" and he is capable of "making decisions with precision perfection". I wish him luck. He will need it.

I don't mean to insult you but I must ask in all sincerity: How did you manage to get this job when you are obviously not qualified to perform the duties required? Do you really expect some one on this forum to sit down and do your job for you?

Errol Morris calls it The Interrotron: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errol_Morris#The_Interrotron

If you have a DP who you plan on working with you should ask their advice on this. If you don't have anyone you probably should get one. This is a unique opportunity to start a production from the ground up with all parties involved having a say early on. Regardless, if you decide not to hire a DP so early on (which would certainly be understandable) you definetly need to shoot some tests with all of these cameras. After all, you are about to spend $100K on it and you should be not just happy with the picture quality but also confident with the various post paths. The truth is that any of these cameras would perform very well for your purposes. You just need to either do your own test and decide for yourself or hire a DP and have them help you decide. By the way, I am available... good luck. f

Your instincts, of course, are correct. The Xenon is the more appropriate tool for a hard shaft of light. The only question is does the budget dictate that you can only have one or the other. That is: do you have to choose between the 12K and the Xenon? If so then that raises some other questions like do you have any other needs for a large source during the production? The 12K is a much more versatile tool and you could get fairly hard light out of it when you pull it away from your subject and still use it for something else. Ideally, you would have both units on the truck. Another alternative is to get a 12K Par so that you could use a narrow lens for the shaft of light. Again this is not as effective as the Xenon but then you have the other lenses to create other looks. But if it's just the one set up then go for the Xenon especially because you've never used it before. They're fun and can look convincingly like direct sun light. A little smoke can really sell this as well. Not to mention they do draw a lot less power than the 12K.

http://www.elefantfilms.com/innerindex.php...fca011e5e1f6c1d these guys are awesome for the small rental. they even deliver and pick up. it's great. i've used them a few times for short films and corporate stuff. they have a somewhat new approach to rentals and are able to keep the prices real low. give them a call and tell Ivan that I sent you. He should remember me as the guy who got one of his apple boxes thrown out by the NY Sanitation department. It wasn't my fault though...

A few years ago I searched and searched and found very little. I suppose the reason is that primarily only engineers need to really know the ins and outs of the gear and they are trained to do so. There is simply not much of a mass market for this info. Most everyone else just keeps it between 0 and 100 IRE and it always seems to "turn out ok" for reasons that Walter G mentioned. Zebras are pretty much designed to keep us in line with spec for the most part. For me I finally had to sit down with an engineer during a check out and he explained all the buttons to me. So now I know. I did find a good article by Gerald McGinty in the American Cinematographer Video Manual 3rd Edition called Test Equipment In Digital Video Operations. A very sexy title... f

what do you mean by a "copact"?