Daniel Wallens

Hey all! I am working on a short right now which has a driving shot coming up. We're going to be putting a Varicam on the hood of a car, and using the Modern Equipment car mount to do it. Alas, I cannot find any info online about this apparatus. Hopefully, the unit will come with some instructions/paperwork, but I haven't seen our grip package yet. Can anyone help me out with any info on this particular car mount? Either a .pdf online or advice right here would be great! :) Cheers!

So, the camera assistants have The Camera Assistant's Manual by Elkins, and The Camera Assistant: A Complete Professional Handbook by Hart; the gaffers and electrics have the Set Lighting Technician's Handbook by Box; and DPs have about a million books. Is there any "bible" for grips?

thanks for the replies all. Seems like it comes down to common sense really (if marking a heavy shag rug, camera tape might be best). David, glad to see you on the board. Welcome! :) DW

Hi all, Thanks for all the helpful replies. David, I have actually read your book and love it! (I emailed you about it in fact, about the labels). Thanks for your fine resource. Unfortunately since then, I've lost it! Still a great book and website though. Muchas gracias! :)

I have been working sets for a while now (well, I'm still new, but its been about 6 or 7 years), and I still have not heard a real, solid explaination for why it is better to gel a light, be it a fresnel or a kino, on the inside. The only real reason that I've heard which seems logical is that, if you put the diffusion, gel, etc. on the barndoors, then adjusting the barndoors after the light's been gelled becomes a bit harder/more messy. I've heard people try to come up with physics-related and math-related explanations for what the light does when it hits a gel at 3" rather than 5". While this may be true for frames which sit a few feet away, I've never seen any real world difference in light when it hits a subject, depending on whether, say, a 4x4 kino has 1/4 O on the doors, or on the crate or next to the bulbs. Anyone?

Hi all, I just wanted to get an idea of how many of the gaffers out there are licensed electricians. I'm not talking about the gaffers on student and low-budget films, but is the percentage of union gaffers that are licensed electricians very high? Or, maybe they are all already licensed from when they were best boys?? :) Or, is there any way to know this at all?

Very sorry to hear the unfortunate news. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Mr. Mullen; may he rest in peace.

Um, why? I was just on a film where we had a Fisher 11 on the 5th floor of a tiny brownstone, no elevator. That is, unless you are doing shots on/around the stairs themself, in which case, I dont see how any dolly could be used.

resources that have helped me a lot, especially if you start doing film stuff: The Camera Assistant's Manual by David Elkins, all the Arriflex Books by Jon Fauer, and The Camera Assistant by Doug Hart

Well, I liked it a lot, my girlfriend LOVED it, but I cannot say that I did as much. It may be a bit overhyped... although still a very good film. I'm am not much of a fan of the "surreal, dreamy film" genre... i prefer much more to watch an amazing film that accomplishes amazing things within the hard contstraints of reality. Nevertheless, MG does do an amazing job of telling a love story conveyed through dreamy sequences. I would have liked to see more of MG's camera-trickery genius, like we saw in Eternal Sunshine or in his music videos, such as in Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World" (AMAZING video). Nevertheless, this movie does include some fantastic animation, although more self-explanitory. One thing I'm not sure how he did was 1 small shot: Stéphane (Gael García Bernal) uses his index fingers to do the hotdog trick (when you move them slowly together in front of your face, and you see a "floating hotdog") and we see the finger hotdog from his POV. In real life, this is a phenomenon caused by the brain receiving information from two seperate eyes.... I wonder if he used 2 cameras to do this....? If it was done in post, I'd be MUCHO dissapointed....

Does anyone know what stock was used for Gondry's The Science of Sleep? I ask only because I noticed in the opening scene (as well as in later ones) that the cardboard box-made cameras are made out of Fugi Eterna film stock shipping boxes! I wondered if he just looked around at what he had on set/in the shop, and used that.

Well, I might blame here for her lack of attentiveness to your response email, but I wouldn't nessasarily say she made a "mistake," per se. She is probably completely unaware that there was any virus involved, and probably had no hand in it at all. Indeed, she may in fact have a completely virus-free computer, as the infected file could have been infected while sitting on a server miles away from her home computer. Depending on what kind of malware it is, the sender may be completely unaffected. But yes, she should respond to your email, regardless. :)

Great resource: http://www.cameraassistantmanual.com/ Many thanks to D. Elkins!

hmm... seems to be some varying opinions here too :D So far i have votes for 1/2" gaffer, 1/2" paper, and 1" paper. Any consensus on the typical standard? (and 1" seems a bit big, no?)

No, there is not one type of particular call sheet, however, they all basically serve the same function, and most of the time, end up looking at least somewhat similar. The important thing is that they contain the pertinant information, such as: Date, Day, Location(s) for the day, Contact details, Scenes to be shot for the day, schedule, Call times, Scenes, Travel, Breaks Estimated wrap time, Weather forecast, etc. Some contain a lot more info, some contain less. There are many examples posted on the net: http://www.frontiernet.net/~rcowart/callsheet.html http://www.dependentfilms.net/files.html http://www.bcuc.ac.uk/PDF/Cast_And_Crew_Ca...l%20sheet%22%22 http://www.thequickandthedead.net/sheet1.html Basically, you have to choose what works best for you and the production. :)

As far as I know, you can only accumulate union hours if you are dayplaying (that is, if you are getting paid and on the call sheet, really). Also, I really doubt you can write off "business expenses" such as lodging, etc. if you are not getting paid -- the IRS may not look kindly on that. BTW, as far as I know, you can never write off food -- this is something we all need to live ;) -- its not something work-specific. This is especially true on sets where, most of the time, you aren't spending your own money on eats. But hey, grab as many T-shirts and hats as you can! :)

There seems to be some confusion about this among resellers. So which is it? Camera/gaffers/cloth or paper?

Hey Everyone, I had a question about filling out camera reports. I've seen now a few places which dont have columns for lens and T-/F- stop. Just went to Technicolor, and also Cinefilm reports dont seem to do this. Are these columns not important? or is it really just the DP's/operator's/1st AC's/production office's/lab's call? How many of you actually fill out the whole thing, and how often do you just put in the "most important" info (like scene, take, footage, etc., etc.)? :)

Thanks for all the replies, guys! :) Doug Hart-- are you by any chance Douglas C. Hart? :D

ReadyTeddy, Well, we have a camera checkout next Friday, then we start shooting. before Monday, I would be free on Sunday, if that works for you. Really, I would appreciate it sooo much if it worked out that we were able to meet up. I'll send you a PM as well :) cheers! Daniel

Hey all, Thanks for all your replies -- they were a great help. It seems that there is some leeway with mag#'s -- as long as you keep it consistant, and make it which which one is which, it doesnt matter how they are called. Thanks again! :)

Hello all you IIC owners, I have a job coming up in which one of the cameras being used will be an Arri IIC. I was hoping to familiarize myself a bit with the camera, and practice a bit, but unfortunately, it seems like the rental houses here in New York don't have any IICs any more. Does anyone know where I might be able to get some hands-on time with this cam? (or, own one and be willing to give me a little time with it?). Thanks so much! -Daniel W

ah, so the mag number really has nothing to do with the film or the film can label at all -- it would seem best just to put the serial number Arri or Panavision has stamped on the mag itself...?

so the mag serial number comes from where? (sorry I'm being so dense about this). Or is it just an arbitrary number that keeps counting up (wouldn't it be the same as the roll# then?). In other words, if i were talking about this: http://image.i-soldit.com/images/0127/1012...04417_01_02.jpg the mag# to be labeled would be "6201" right? (or is it, say the Arri magazine serial number on the back of the actual mag that always stays the same for everything put in that mag?)

Hey all, I always thought the mag number was the 4 or 5 digit number from the original film can. For instance, if i was loading the first spool of kodak 5279 118 6601 on a shoot, i'd label it Mag#6601 CR#1 (single cam shoot). But then I saw a response here: http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/lo...php?t15580.html where someone gave the labeling example of Am I completely off here?