Patrick Lavalley

Make sure to bring some zip-ties to strain relief the spindly cables that come out of the cam!

Costco online is selling p-touch labelers for 19.99 until September 21st. This model only prints up to 3/4'', but it still seems like a pretty good deal to me.... http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?...g=en-US&s=1

Yeah, definitely get out there and do it! This book will give you some good pointers to show up on set with

As a start, read "The Camera Assistant" by Douglas C. Hart.

Thanks for the reply. I guess the next question would be would 12 chinese lanterns with 250 watt globes hung from a 12' ceiling be enough to up my overhead key at all? I'll most likely be shooting with a 500 ASA on with the RED camera. I would like to shoot for a 2.8. Color temp and matching with the existing flo's is another problem, I'm hoping to borrow a color meter soon and get in there to check the temp, and hopefully a flicker meter too to see if the fixtures will even work. I might have to switch out the tubes for 3200k or gel the fixtures to match.... I guess I should break out the light meter and see what sort of stop I'm getting from one of the lanterns. Thanks again

I have a shoot coming up in the fall and the location has a drop ceiling with around 12 4' flouro fixtures. Due to time, and money, my plan is to augment the existing overhead with chinese lanterns to create a soft overhead key. Now, I know rigging anything to a drop ceiling is really sort of dangerous, but my question is if 12 or so 24-30'' chinese lanterns spread out will be too much weight. I know that it really depends on the drop ceiling itself, and it's impossible to tell from the internet, but I would just like a general opinion. It's a 12' ceiling, and I was thinking of using GE 211 or 213's in the lanterns.

Have you ordered aything from these guys before? How was the customer service? I am thinking of building some small flouro fixtures, and their kits look like just the ticket.

Another thing is to do your homework before you show up on set. Have a good idea of what the DP has shot, what the Operator, 1st, 2nd etc etc has worked on. It will help you get a better idea of the crew, and they might also quiz you. All the other advice is great, especially about being motivated to work, and having a good attitude. When you have time, take care of little things like sweeping the out the camera truck, hanging up peoples coats to dry, emptying the dark room trash, and generally just straightening up. However, don't move cases to different lcoations because they have everything organized in a very specific way. Also, they should provide you with a walkie, if they don't you should try your best to get one. Keep a few things in your pockets like extra batteries, diaper cloth etc etc so if you're standing near and someone asks for a new battery you can have it right there. Be willing to do whatever they ask (coffees, building boxes for packing film, making rain covers, whatever). They will appreciate you even though they might not show it. I recently learned all of this (and more) while being an intern on a show that was here for two weeks. I couldn't go in every day, but they offered to put me up out of town for a couple days while they were shooting at the coast- of course I took them up on the offer! I was only with them for a total of about 6 days, but I learned a TON.

One of my favorite photographers is William Eggleston. http://www.egglestontrust.com/

Kimwipes give you the best bang for your buck. I like to keep a pad of rosco tissue on my belt, mainly for ease of portability. Pancro is expensive if you're paying for it out of pocket, but it's the best out there.

I'm actually a fan of the Pancro over the ultra-clarity, however I think they're both fine and when it's on my dime I would rather save some money and get the ultra clarity. I found these heavy duty zip loc type bags that work well for keeping tissues and lens brushes in, they hold up longer than a standard zip loc, although they're a little more spendy: http://www.watchfuleyedesigns.com/index.cf...mp;categoryid=1

Another thing I learned is not to grab the stand with your fingers between the arm and the main stick. This is because your knuckles will probably get smashed when someone grabs the stand from you and does it the correct way. Always grab with your fingers NOT under the arm.

You could build a flat wooden box around 1-4 inches thick, depending on how many lanterns you want to carry.

I *highly* recommend getting an SLR. Buy cheap film at first, and just shoot shoot shoot. Get yourself some of those silver bowl clamp lights and some 100 watt bulbs or something so that you can practice with what sort of shadows you want to create. Also, I would suggest you take a lot of photos with natural light, since it's free and efficient and you'll realize also very beautiful. Get some white cards and practice bouncing. Also, watch a lot of movies and try to think how they might have lit the scene, where the shadows are, where the lights are coming from etc etc...

Try and see if there are any features coming to town, they usually have camera-intern positions for people just like yourself. Basically, you would be a PA for the camera dept. I would say that this is the most entry level position into the camera dept. Have you done any PA work before, or would this be your first time getting on a project? The first thing I would say is just get on a set! You could also try to get a job/internship at a local rental house, since all of the productions in your area will most likely make use of it, and also the people who will get funneled in there will most likely be AC's since they're the ones who prep the camera package at the rental house. Anyhow, hope this helps and good luck! Be smart, work hard, and don't show any attitude!

I am interested in the camera bag, do you have any photos of it that you could send me? Which model is it? Thanks!

I'm a big fan of Mattews stuff. Also, if you can find it, American Grip makes great stuff too...get some cardellini clamps while you're at it.

maybe dirty up the air just a tad with some fog?

Out of curiosity, how do you go about calibrating your meter to your DP's meter? I thought calibrating a light meter was only something that the manafacturer did? It sounds like a good idea to calibrate your meter to the DP's meter, I just wouldn't want to screw anything up. As for the kit, most of the expendables and gear (tape, duvetyne, c-stands, etc etc) should be covered by the show. I think it's important to have good set of gloves, comfortable shoes, a leatherman (some people prefer gerber multi-tools), a 10'' crescent wrench, a headlamp and a flashlight, a good comfortable belt, laser pointers come in handy a lot when you're checking frame lines and such. A good insulated coffee mug is also a must, as well as a t-shirt from your favorite local grip house....

I am looking to see if anyone is interested in selling their Spectra or Sekonic light meters? I have an old analog sekonic meter, but I would like to get a newer more sensitive meter. Send me a private message, or email me at crushedcanproductions@gmail.com if you would be willing to part with a meter for a good price. Thanks!

I favor the tissue for cleaning the actual lens and/or filters, but I do use my microfiber for cleaning the eyepiece. This is because I know that the tissue will be clean/untouched when I rip it off the pad, whereas with my microfiber, I'm not sure if it will have picked up finger oils or debris from the last cleaning. I keep my rosco lens tissue pads in a zip loc bag in my pouch, the same with everything that comes in contact with the lens, like a camels hair brush...

Hey Everyone, Thanks a lot for all the help and suggestions. All of them are valid, and all seem like good ideas. I think for this set of shots, our best bet is going to be to get the generator and run the 5k off of it, and supplement it with 1k's that we can get for free from school (and run off a seperate, borrowed lower powered genny of course). It has come down to a cost/benefit thing. This will be a relatively small scene, so we'll have to do the best we can with what we're able to get. Another thing that we want to do is get one of those Chimera china balls for some soft fill, does anyone have any advice about those?

All good suggestions. I might be getting an internship at a rental house soon, so I might be able to swing a deal to get an HMI from them, and a generator, but trying to come up with a plan if that doesn't work out. For reference, the piece is a western, and there will be a person carrying a lantern along a trail, it will probably be lightly wooded. I was also thinking of using a china ball for fill, and to try and motivate it as if it were coming from the lantern. Since we won't be able to light a huge area, I think we will be saying somewhat close...

Thanks for the suggestion. I suspected as much about the power of the 5k versus an HMI. I'm trying to push for an HMI, but we'll see how that goes. I just took a quick look, and it seems like the price of a 10kw tungsten and a 13kw genny would be about the same as a 2.5kw HMI and a smaller genny. Most likely we will have to gel the light, which would really cut down on our output. It's hard to convince them to spend the equivilent to our entire food budget on a single light, but it's really going to be necessary if they want to properly expose our night scene.....

I am shooting a senior thesis project this summer, and one of the scenes calles for a night exterior. We don't have the money to rent an HMI, so we were thinking of going a bit cheaper and using a 5k tungsten light, and renting a 7500 watt Honda generator from a hardware store to power it. My question is first, will this work and be safe? And also, will we need any special adapters to distribute the power from the generator to the light itself? We are still early in pre-production, so we're feeling out our options as far as the lighting for this scene goes. Another option might be to try and rent a 2500 HMI and a smaller generator. Any help/suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. For reference, we will be using an HVX200 with a RedRock 35mm adapter and Nikon Lenses.