Jeff Clegg

I would say that's the best way to look at it Mark. I have been on sets that had absolutely no food or water other than what everyone brought with them and the latter half of the day would get very rough. Sometimes just having some water and a bowl of generic brand cheap pretzels around can make the difference between a crew pushing through for the rest of the day or slowing down and everyone getting pretty cranky, especially on days where there wasn't enough time to stop off and get a proper meal or even enough fluids to rehydrate. I have seen all of the above suggestions put to good use. Some of the ways I have seen people try to feed everyone on the cheap: -The director/producers' wife and her friend would take orders in the morning from a preset list of sandwiches (peanut butter and jelly, turkey, etc.) along with side items (chips, potato salad, etc.), none of it top shelf or expensive stuff. They always had extra if anyone wanted it but this kept them from making 15 turkey sandwiches to find out no one wanted them and then wasting money on the food. -On one shoot in college (self funded by the crew/classmates so VERY low budget) we had a little bag lunch for each person on set with a sandwich, again a lot of peanut butter based delicacies, and apple or banana and some chips. A lot was bought in bulk to save on costs, and the whole bag idea worked well because it was about as portable a meal as we could have gotten. Along with a big bowl of of bulk bought pretzels that was always miraculously in easy reach kept us moving well even on some very long over night shoots. -Family style meals, usually pasta based, prepared the night before and heated up the day of. This may require some more preparation to make sure there is someplace close by to heat up the meal, but the pasta based stuff was fairly cheap and filling for everyone without being greasy or heavy. -Generic brands rule. You don't need to buy Evian or even name brand sodas. A generic soda called "Dr. Thunder" became in in joke and a sort of mascot on one shoot and was probably the cheapest morale booster for everyone. -One thing that I have seen help cut down on waste, especially with water bottles, is to let, everyone mark their bottle with their name. It is far to easy sometimes to set a bottle down and forget where it is and then have everyone running to grab a fresh one. If it's really hot out this can save an amazing amount of waste over the course of a week. One thing to make sure of is that you have a little more food handy than you think you absolutely need. You may find that you have some "hanging around people" who will gladly dig into what looks like free food. Make sure your cast and crew get first shot at lunch as well. The only thing that will make a everyone more hostile than never feeding them is finding out that while you were finishing that one last shot before lunch, the food mysteriously disappeared. Good luck with making your project Mark.

I haven't shot a wedding, but have spent some time recently getting some on the job training for event video, here are a few suggestions: I second the wireless mic, two if you can get them. The shotgun mic will be ok for anything up close or general ambient sound, but it can start to sound horrible with anything either far away or with the kind of echo you may get. Also, make sure you go over the day with the clients, if they have anything special planned or any particular activity that they really want taped, you want to know about it, well before the moment it starts. Along with that I would suggest getting to the location early, probably earlier than you may think, as there is almost always some little problem that will crop up and you want to make sure you have it handled. It is better to be set up early and take a breather than to be fidgeting with something as everything starts. Try to play with the settings on the cameras beforehand to match them as closely as you can. It can be a pain to attempt to make everything cut together visually in post if the two cameras are getting different looks. As for B-roll, if you are taping any of the speeches, getting some shots of happy or interested people can help if you do need to cut, otherwise happy dancing people is always nice, cute children doing pretty much anything can also help.

A quick and easy place to start from is to see what you can do with the lights that are already there. See if you can either change out the bulbs with a different wattage or leave some out entirely, depending on the look you are going for. If it is a drop ceiling you may be able to remove some panels and rig lights up in the ceiling, depending on your needs.

I did something like this once, though with just red for an ambulance driving by. We had a light with a red gel on it aimed into a large mirror, then had 2 or three people wave flags up and down in front of the light. The trick was to get the flags movement timed with each other to give an erratic flashing I see more from emergency lights these days rather than an evenly timed on/off look of the older strobe lights . We looked absolutely ridiculous doing this, but it came out fairly well. The mirror really helped in being able to easily move the light across the actor as if the ambulance were driving by.

I would second the 1K suggestion, even if just replacing one of the 350's in the arri kit with a 1K flood (I think there is still a kit with 2 650's, a 300 and a 1K). The 1k is good through diffusion, as a background broad light or really great if you want to bounce off of a ceiling or wall. It is much better to have to take it down a bit if you have to than to not have quite as much light as you would like/need.

I think porn probably has more of an impact on the final distribution format rather than the equipment used to make it, unless that equipment makes it easier or cheaper to get it to the home viewer. VHS and DVD made it easier for the consumer to be more discreet I believe. I am not sure if the average porn consumer is really looking for a perfect image, but is usually looking for an easier way to watch in private.

Clyde, I don't think you can import 30p (Frame Mode) into a 24p timeline as is. Anytime I shoot 30p on the XL's I use it in a 29.97 timeline (even when shooting "24p" mode on the XL-2). Are you trying to do this because you need to mix 30p and existing 24p footage? -Jeff Clegg Hudson, NH

Haven't seen it yet, but I do remember hearing about it a while ago. Where did you see it? I would love to check it out...

You can also try switching off certain lights if possible (or just disconnecting select bulbs). I have run into many rooms where one switch may shut off every other light or some pattern of lights. I have had to do this a couple of times, it wasn't perfect but coupled with some careful actor positioning it wasn't bad. If you have a little more time you could also try to flag the existing lights for the same effect. Good luck!

Recalling from memory, and looking at an online manual for the DVX just to be sure, the AC adapter is also the battery charger. Same as with a Canon XL-1 or XL-2 if you have used one of those before. So that kit seems to have the basic parts needed to shoot both from AC and battery power. When in doubt on something like this you can usually find the manual online and it will have a lot of little details you wouldn't find in an item description.

Sorry, I thought you were asking about a big package, I see from you other topic you may be asking if the camera would be good to go right out of the box. Any package should come with a battery and charger at the very least, though I didn't see anything specifically in that link. Check out a site like B&H Photo and Video for the camera as well. Generally they show the little bits that come with the camera, and B&H is a known vendor with a physical location which can be helpful if you have any problems. The basic package should be enough to just go out and shoot, though you may find that you need a few extras (tripod, wide angle adapter, maybe a microphone), especially if you are going to be an audio/visual "one person band".

Tommy, What do you think you will be using this for? Narrative, documentary, sports, events, etc. Your needs will be different depending on what you need to do. And all I am getting when I hit the link is a page for what looks like just the DVX camera alone with no accessories. I assume I am missing something on the page?

I've used Cinelab a couple of times for some personal stuff, so probably about 1500ft. of 16mm at most at any given time. I haven't had any problems with them. I can say that the transfer to DV of one film from college was definitely better quality than a video camera shooting the work print off of a screen.

From the articles I have read this seems to be exactly what will happen in IMAX theaters. This could either be great or one of the more distracting things you could do to an audience...

From a couple or articles I have read Nolan seems to want those scenes to "pop" in traditional theaters and expand to the full IMAX size in the IMAX theaters. Here's a quote from Nolan" "In continuing the story of such a great icon, I'm thrilled to be able to expand the scope of the film, not just in terms of its story, but in giving Batman and the Joker the largest possible canvas on which to face off. No existing technology compares with the Imax format in terms of its ability to throw the audience into the action, and we're very proud and excited to use this technology in a way that no one has before." And I cant find the article now, but I do remember him saying he would have like to shoot the whole thing in IMAX. I am very interested to see how the scenes will look in non IMAX theaters though.

Exellent! Thank you Mitch.

I checked out the Serious Gear website and didn't see a tap listed. Is there any chance someone has a direct link?

I am looking at options for a video tap for an Aaton LTR-7 (AZ Spectrum taps, Visual Products, top handle tap). Right now I am wondering what are the advantages/disadvantages to the top handle style. I believe that it does not need a pellicle (which my camera does not have)? Are there any other advantages to a top handle stlye tap? Any disadvantages versus a pellicle style? Also I am wondering opinions on B&W or color for the tap. I know opinions on this would be subjective, but I am curious to see if anyone has any suggestions or preferences. Thanks,

Definitely check out the DVX as well, its also a good camera in the same range as the XL-2. What are you planning on using the camera for? Short films? Practice? Event videos? Documentary? I know event videographers who do well with the Canon GL-2, not because its considered the "best" camera but it does exactly what they need and no more. They arent paying extra for features they will never really need or use. Choosing a camera can be a balancing act of what you need, what you would like to have and what you can afford. Of course there are also other considerations such as how comfortable the camera is for you personally to use. If you can I would find a way to "test drive" some of these cameras to see which one you like.

Jim, The library section on this site has some great books, personally I have been re-reading "Cinematography" and "Film Lighting" by Kris Malkiewicz recently, but they are all worth a look. Even though a book may deal with lighting for film, the same theory really does apply to video. I have found that along with reading on the subject, testing and shooting are great ways to learn what works and what doesnt. Since you already have a camera and lights, you are in a perfect situation to do some set ups on your own and see what they look like. A good calibrated monitor can be good for this, just any old TV wont really be too helpful as you cant really set them to give a proper image. Another thing that may help is watching movies or shows that you like the look of and then finding what it is you like about it, and attempt to replicate it in testing. Testing different looks in an enviroment like this where you can afford to take your time without holding up a whole production has been a great help to me. Hope that helps some.

Robert, Of the three cameras the XL-2 is the newest model, with more features (24p mode, 16x9 mode, more image adjustent, built in XLR), so my general opinion would be to go for that. Should cost somewhere around $3400 US right now, if you find a price too much lower than that you should be careful, as there are a lot of potential scam websites out there. Although it does depend on what you are looking to do. You may not neccessarily need the features of the XL-2, and if you have a small budget, then one of the older cameras may be what you need to go for. Not sure what the cost on the XL-1 models would be, but it would almost certainly be a used camera

Ryan, Bascially you have two light sources which will show up differently. Daylight has a bluer tone relative to tungsten, tungsten is orange relative to daylight. Tungsten lights made for photography should be about 3200 degrees kelvin, daylight approximately 5500 (though this is not a constant as cloud cover, shade, or sunrise and sunset may change this). Many house hold tungsten lights have an even lower color temperature, meaning they look even more orange relative to daylight, even more orange than 3200K photo lights. This is where a color temperature meter can come in very handy, as you can read different light sources and see what color temperature they really are, especially when you have to use house lights in a location. Guessing can sometimes lead to undesired results. You could balance your tungsten lights to the daylight source. You would need to use CTB gels to make the tungsten lights match the daylight. At this point you would need to decide if you wanted to pump up the tunsgten lights to the f-22 or f11 1/2 (if you wanted the outsdie to be 1 1/2 stops brighter). CTB takes away about 2 1/3 stops of light, so you would need very strong tungsten sources to match the level of light as well as the color. Or you could still CTB the tungsten lights, but use neutral density filter on the window, which would change the intensity of the light but not the color characteristic, to keep from having to use a lot of tunsgten light to match the level of the daylight. ND gel takes down 1/3 of a stop for every .1 increment (so ND.3 would take down 1 full stop, .9 would take down three stops, etc.). Now your light would be consistent with with daylight color temperature all around. You could use a daylight balanced film, so your daylight balanced light will look "white". If you had to use a tungsten blanced film at this point, where tungsten light is "white", then your daylight balanced light sources would look blue. You would need to then add an 85 (orange) filter to make the light appear "white" on the film. You could also leave your tungsten sources alone, and decide to put CTO (orange) gel on the window to make your daylight match your tungsten light, which will also take the light level down about 2/3 a stop. Again you could also use ND gel to bring the light level from the window down, or use more powerful tungsten light. In this case since the tungsten lights are left alone, and the daylight has been corrected to tungsten color temperature, you could use tungsten balanced stock and have the light look "white" as is. I hope that helped some. If you do have access to a color temperature meter, you maybe want to just walk around with it and take some readings from various light sources and see what you get. Also, it can be helpful to take a video camera, set to manual with the white balance set either on daylight or tungsten preset and do some different lighting set ups and see what they look like.

- Ill put another vote in for no shot list or storyboards, or such a half-assed attempt that no one can understand them - Not rehearsing or working with actors during lighting setup, then making the crew sit around for an hour while the actors try to figure out what they are supposed to be doing and saying - Rolling on the rehearsal, especially with any tricky camera moves or actions in the scene. This usually leads to a bad first take and some frazzled nerves. - "We have an hour at this location to shoot these 7 pages of dialogue... and that includes set up and breakdown." - "The live band playing 50 feet away from us won't be a problem for sound right?" - Not "technically" having permission to shoot at a private location, but telling everyone that you do. At least Security and the Police were fairly pleasant.... - Telling the crew that shooting will begin on X date so everyone clears their schedule and turns down other offers, then a day before date X shooting gets put off 2 weeks, then a month, then another month.... - a $20 TV from Wal Mart is just as good as a properly calibrated field monitor for video work... - If time or day light is running short then you should just rush through the overly ambitious shot list... A lot of mediocre footage is better than getting the essentials really well. - "We only have the main actor who is in almost every shot for half the day" - This one didn't happen to me but its instructional none the less: Losing the actor release for a main actor who decided to back out after 6 months of weekend shooting and demands her footage not be used. Pretty much had to reshoot the entire film... All I can think of for now. I think i need to go post in the "Mistakes you learned the most from" thread to remind myself of some of the stupid things I have done....

Thanks, some very useful tips there. I am curious about pressure fogging as I dont think I have heard too much about that. I shot a light leak test and am having it processed now. Just very confused as to why it would happen on only part of the roll. Thanks, Jeff clegg

I recently shot a project on an Aaton LTR 7 and had some odd flashes come up on the right side of the screen, rythmically flashing and disappearing. They happened only in one setup, and then didn't happen again on the next setup (same roll). I am trying to track down what it might be to make sure it doesn't happen again. I've included a link to a short clip. Link to video clip: http://www.thejlnc.com/WD%20Edge%20flash1Mbps_Stream.mov Thanks, Jeff Clegg DP NH