Paul Bruening

On behalf of all of us forum members that have learned so much, here, and derived enjoyment herein, many thanks and a happy birthday.

Yes. I did. I was hoping to see if any one of my fellows saw it and had the same reactions or are mine more unique to me.

Has no one, here, seen this thing?

Cate really stole the show. Russell meated his way through the whole thing. I'm still trying to grasp the sense of distance that ends up in all of Ridley's works. I never quite cross that line of full transference with his principles.

Hello Andrew,

May I ask you some legitimate questions? Why ghost hunting? Parapsychology is already a field of study that begs credibility. Ghost hunting is the glitziest, yet, least credible aspect of that field. Are you doing this as an aspect of parapsychology or an aspect of video production?

Looking for opinions on this movie.

I saw it yesterday in 35mm. It looked really good. I could see the individual threads in the lead's brown suit on medium and CU shots.

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This may be a brilliant idea. Why don't we come up with a list of replacement words for every other form of cinema technology and flood REDuser with discussions using the words. I think there are more than enough words for French pastry to cover the lexicon:

"The bichon au citron in the new upgrade of the gougère is more than 4canelé! I don't care what that guy, Phil Profiterole, over at C.com says!"

Best of luck!

I jumped on Vista 64 bit right away and am still regretting it. I went right back to XP Pro. I'm hearing good things about 7. But, I've learned that letting other people iron out problems before I lay down money is not a bad approach.

Smoke pots. The cheapest and simplest way is to use 55 gallon, steel drums. I get them up in Memphis for $6.00 each at a container recycle place. That's for larger areas. The design can be simple using steel lid/band clamp fasteners. You can punch some vent holes in the side (cutting torch is way faster) and some holes in the lid (three times more than in the sides). Keep the holes smaller than 1/2 inch to prevent sparks from wafting out. 1/4 inch would be even better. The best smolder material in these parts is pine needles. They smolder and smoke like all get out. I don't know what would be best in your parts. You set them up wind and at sensible intervals and you can smoke up a big battle field setting. Pine needles will smolder for a couple hours to half of a day long. The down side is that they take either water or time to put them out. Plus, you can't move them until they cool off. When the production's done with them, take them out to a scrap yard and wave bye-bye to them. If you just have to and don't mind that smokey smell, you can store them somewhere for future use. I mean like on someone's land. Don't put them in a storage building because the acrid, smokey smell can get into everything. They can rust for years in a field before becoming dubious for use. I've heard of people putting squirrel cage blowers on them to get them to really pour out some serious smoke. The designs you come up with can include adjustable vent holes as well. I don't know how big you are on DIY. Maybe some of your handier crew has nothing better to do on some days. Sounds like a job for the grip crew on the grip-less days.

I'd make up at least one and see how it behaves with your smolder material. Ask a local bee keeper what's the best smoke pot material in large quantities in your parts. You want something you can rake up easy and pile into construction sized garbage bags.

Then again, if the budget can afford it, the Tube does sound pretty convenient.

EDIT: You don't have to clamp the lids during use. They're heavy enough to stay on. With utility leather gloves the crews can pop off the lid and add pine needles or whatever you're using.

DOUBLE EDIT: I just took notice that you are in California. I'm guessing that your local fire people won't green light smoke pots.

Richard,

This might be a good opportunity to review production and marketing models. There are a couple Rappers in town that are getting by producing on a manual distribution model. They are happy if their product sells 50,000 CD's. Could a DA production system deliver satisfactory results for that distribution model and yield enough paycheck for a skeleton crew production staff? There seems to be some form of market that consumes no-name product out there.

Bruce. You're breaking my heart. If only you had offered this thing five years ago at this price. Wanna' trade for FrankenMitchell?

Will smoke do? Do you need a lot for cheap?

Joseph E. Levine that thang. Who needs to know anything about it. Let 'em find out the Canadian part after they've bought their tickets and popcorn.

What's your asset situation, Brian? I mean in terms of equipment? Do I recall that you are principally a renter? LLCs are an inexpensive way to separate equipment, vehicles included, from a production. That way, if the production causes some incident, it holds none of the significant assets. It can be a way to keep a production on the edge of starvation so that monies can be invested, trickle fashion, as the production ticks along without incident. While these are more of a concern for a producer instead of a freelancer, they are worth considering.

Then there's all that little, nuisance, yet, profitable right-off aspect that incorporation offers. The accounting is pretty straight forward. At our level, you don't really have to pay an accountant once you learn the tricks. Depends what your tolerance for math, organization and detail are.

If someone does build a new S8 camera, how sensible would it be to make one with a proper pressure plate, feed sprocket and magazines instead of the dubious cart approach? Aren't carts left over from the home movie camera days when loading had to be idiot proof? Pin registration might help that notorious registration problem that S8 suffers from.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=topnews

If this keeps up, Bri may make us all eat our hats.

Sometimes, that is called, "Putting the cat back in the bag." They did it on The Matrix trilogy. It's when you propose a troubling or challenging idea to society, only to discount it later in the presentation/s. It's a propaganda technique.

...or maybe they just screwed up the ending.

Legitimately reducing taxes and getting out of lawsuit trouble are the two principle reasons for incorporating. Is it legal to do this? Sure it is. Especially, in our overly litigious USA. People seem to think Hollywood budgets follow every camera around. But, squirming out of justifiable responsibility for incidents and actions is what it often gets used for. If you did incorporate, Brian, wouldn't you do the same based on survival and expediency? The ethical considerations are very real.

Did you feel the ending delivered on the set-up?

Ask Bruce Taylor how you can get twice more ratio out of your stock.

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I just assumed Brian Dzyak Inc already existed? With publishing and production divisions spanning the globe.

 

Hey Brian, here's the irony, you could become the very thing you despise.....a corporation!

 

I'm assuming Milton Friedman need not apply for a job. :D

 

R,

While I can parse the difference between a responsible and irresponsible corporate entity, Richard does bring up a curious predicament for you.