Marty Hamrick

Besides the basics of protecting the camera from the elements and using a protection filter on the lens,what is the best way to prevent moisture buildup between the lens and the protection filter?You have to accept that there will be water on the lens in the shots (kind of the effect anyway,but would products like Rainex on the clear protection filter help here?),but what can you do about the moisture that builds up between the lens element and the filter? Marty

Crystal sync involves electronically controlling the speed of the camera to a precise speed.Usually 24 fps in NA or 25 fps in Europe.Of course you can also crystal sync a film camera for 23.97 fps or 29.97 for television work. The sound recorder is equipped with a crystal to put out a 60hz tone (50hz for Europe) to act as a sync refference.If I am to understand correctly,if you use a mini disc recorder,no modifications to the MD are required if your camera is crystal synced. Marty

I have shot ECO under by 2 stops and printed up,once by accident and once on purpose.I noticed an increase in grain and contrast,but deeper color saturation particularly in reds. I know some still photographers,particularly folks that shoot a lot of skin tones (gallery type nudes,fashion and jewelry stuff) who shoot reversal slide film and purpsely underexpose for those reasons. Marty

Offhand,no,although I did see one on ebay.I would suggest you look on this site http://jl-site.com/Super8/DirectoryII.html for a place to start.There are other cameras that have been converted to do what the Beaulieu 9008 can do.i.e. take 200 and 400 foot magazines and have real pressure plates.Hope this helps. Marty

Yes.The Beaulieu line (except the 1008 XL) will take "C" mount lenses as well as the Pathe and Bolex double super 8 cameras.The Fujica ZC1000 single 8 camera will also take C mounts.The Leica super 8 has interchangeable lenses,but I'm not sure what mount it uses. Be aware that if you opt to go this way,even though the mount may work,the lens itself may not work optically.Remeber your focal length is about half in super 8 what it is in 16mm.A 25mm lens,or what's considered about "normal" on 16mm will be the equivalent of a 50mm telephoto on a super 8 camera.Moreover,if you opt for a converted Bolex Rex 16mm camera that has been converted to DS 8,the lens will have to be special "Rex" mount lenses to take the camera's prism into consideration. Marty

My fiance lived in the small town of Vankleek Hill,Ontario during the time the film Billy Bathgate was in production.She says there were plans to shoot there for a couple of weeks (I haven't seen the movie,so I'm not sure about the scene that was planned).She tells me the location was all scouted out and extras,mostly children between the ages of 7 and 10 were hired from the town and everyone was excited about.All of a sudden,though,production in Vankleek Hill was cancelled because the leading actor,Dustin Hoffman,didn't want to work there so they cancelled,dissapointing the people of the town,many of them these small children who had gotten their hopes up only to be sadly dissapointed.My understanding is that they opted to shoot the scene in a small town outside of New York instead.Anyone know the story here? Marty

I was given some daylight balanced stock to experiement with back in the early 90's for some TV station promos I was shooting.I was told they would work well for the mixture of sources I was shooting in in a TV newsroom setting. While I found the results quite pleasing,flesh tones were a bit warm under both the ambient florescents and the corrected tungstens I was using for my tastes.It seemed to be more noticeable on fair skinned talent. Marty

I could agree there,but would using a tripod in some of the shots and a homemade reflector have been too much to ask?Bad audio is never acceptable IMO.They improved it after the couple got lost from the boat,so if they could post dub part,couldn't they have done the begining as well?It was hard to discern the dialogue.This is basic stuff. Marty

I've heard some really good things about the Workprinter.It's a projector that runs at 6fps into a condenser lens through which a videocam records it and sends it to a computer.Using software that can adjust the fps rate,you then covert to the frame rate you want. Marty

Actually I thought the premise of the story was a good solid foundation which fell through with bad writing,acting and a zero budget. Given those factors I could forgive the schlockiness of the movie but I cannot overlook jump cut edits,lousy audio and poor composition.These things wouldn't be acceptible at the TV station I work for on a news package or VO.I should accept that in the thater?I don't think so. Night of the Living Dead and Mark Pirro's Polish Vampire in Burbank were not as bad from a technical standpoint.At least Pirro can hold a camera steady and knows what the 180 rule is. Marty

How much difference would there be if one is shooting with a top quality camera like a Nizo,Nikon R-10,Beaulieu or Canon 1014?Would that not negate some of the problems associated with poor optics? Would shooting double super 8 with a real pressure plate negate the poor registration problems? Combining those factors,if you shot DS-8 with really good glass would that get the most res possible with the super 8 film frame? Marty

Good point,but I would be curious to know what the ratio of those who notice or care to those who just watch is.It would seem to me that poorly shot and put together films would cause an uproar in the audience and they wouldn't be accepted by the ditributor,if as you say the majority of the paying audience cared about such. I've worked on a few low budget grade "B" movies and even at that level there is a standard,or threshold of acceptibility. I have a cousin who unfotunately has a camcorder and fancies herself a videographer of sorts.I cringe whenever she collars me to suffer through her tapes in hopes of getting a good critique about her shooting.There really is nothing to critique.All of it sucks.I told her once when she asked me about her shooting skills and I told her not to give up her day job.After watching Open Water I can say there is now hope for my cousin's new career. Marty

This is what I find most disturbing that the public is accepting inferior quality. Marty

Thanks John,I actually learned what the ending was supposed to be.They ripped the acting,but I thought given the script,it wasn't too bad of a job. The only thing really worth looking at is the nude scene of the leading lady in the beginning.After that,it's time to go to another screen or play the video games in the lobby. I don't mind a DV originated film,I don't mind low budget indies,but do they have to be completely incompetant? Marty

Just ran this film at the drive in.Not sure what to think because I'm not sure what I just saw.Was it a low budget experiement or an attempt to make a statement by looking intentionally amateurish. The story itself isn't bad,based on a real life event I think.A couple takes a diving vacation and the dive boat leaves them by mistake and they're left in the open sea to fend for themselves. First of all it looks like one of those films shot on a standard definition prosumer video format,which it probably was.The audio in the first part of the film is so bad it's as if it were shot using a prosumer camera's on cam mic and nothing else.You have to strain to hear it.There are numerous jump cut edits and there was no attempt made at proper lighting.Cutaway shots are shaky,many are out of focus with zoom ins and an attempt at compensating composition to get a shot before it cuts back to main action. Anyone got the skinny on this movie?If they were making a statement,I didn't get it and if it was an experiment,it failed.This was a shame as the actors did a decent job and like I said the story line was good.Don't worry I won't spoil the ending because I'm not sure what the ending was,it left you hanging. Marty

There was a made for TV film by that title shot in Jacksonville,Fl back in the 80's.It starred Stacy Keach,Terri Garr and Kathie Lee Crosby.I remeber very little about the film that's how unimpressive it was. Marty

Very good points,John.The scene where after the body falls on the taxicab and Jamie Fox jumps out and crawls backwards away from it was particularly troublesome to me. Marty

Geez now Im reminded of a scene in the film "120 Days in Sodom". Marty

Very perceptive ,the moral I got from the story was that innocence has it's price.Yet I still felt no connection with the people and their plight with the so called threat.In the scene where the "monsters" are invading and the male protagonist is hiding and we see the red robed figure in the BG,I kept wanting to say,"Just get a 12 guage and shoot him square in the ass!" The handheld shots I was referring to were closer to the end where the ADD kid,disguised as the red monster was stalking the blind girl.That sequence almost had a student film look to me.

Pretty close.It's the Playtime Drive In,located about3 miles north of 295.Only drive in left operating in Jax.The place is a dive,but successful nonetheless.Summers are busy with very packed weekends,so much so the manager has been cited by the cops for traffic back ups on Blanding. During the 70's and 80's it was X rated and in 1980 the Baptists had hard core outlawed and only edited versions of Debby Does Dallas and the like could be run.That would've been the kiss of death except the flea market they run in the daytime kept it going.In the 90's they started running first run general release and made a family drive in out of it again and since then it's been very successful. Currently we're running Collateral,The Village,The Bourne Supremacy,Yugio and Alien vs.Predator.It has 3 screens Business has slacked off as kids went back to school but will pick up again around Christmas. The crowd comes from all over but is for the most part very working class.We have regular customers who won't go anywhere else. I'm doing this spot just so I don't get stale from shooting so much video.Purely an exercise,my gift to the owner.Probably going to use a friend's Moviecam (sold my Arri 2 C)or if I can't get that an old Mitchell NC. If you come through Jax,let me know, a cold one's on me.

Thanks,Alvin.The liquid nitro sounds intriguing,but I don't see how you could dip a burger in nitro without turning it into a block that wouldn't just turn into a frostbitten mess and crumble.I used dry ice in water off camera for a frozen food spot once. I forgot to mention popcorn and pizza.Thinking about showing the popcorn in the popper quick cut to it being dowsed in butter.Any suggestions? Actually for drive in food it's not bad.Better than the fare you find at the walk in cinemas at about half the price.Probably forgot to mention popcorn because I loathe the stuff! Since this will be shown on the drive in screen,I'll be shooting 35mm,any suggestions on stock? Marty

Interesting way to write that SFX,I saw a National Geographic Explorer behind the scenes doc about the folks that shoot that show.They were showing one of the cinematographers working with gorillas with a 35 III.Bet he had a veteran loader on that shoot. I too would love to have that camera as I shoot quite a bit ENG style,or at least that's what I've become acustomed to over the last 20 years.Many cinematographers don't like that camera because of that fact.To my knowledge it's the only 35mm cine camera that's built like that,am I correct in that asumption? Marty

Gonna be shooting an ad for the one surviving drive in in town,very low budget,we're talking freebie here.Few instruments,studio stuff and some location.Been a while since I've shot food before and I don't think there will be money for a food stylist.Here are some of the items we're looking at shooting.Hot dogs on a rotissary,sausage dogs on a grill with peppers and onions,hamburgers (completely fixed with all the stuff,lazy susan shot) and fountain sodas(Unilux strobe lighting would be nice here,but I know that ain't happening).The drive in also serves as a flea market during the daymso Im gonna need some shots of that too. The target audience here is very working class,probably going to use some Hip Hop style music in the background and one of the local DJ's for voice over from the Hip Hop station.Looking for ideas here.Think about the old drive in ads some of you old timers grew up with updated for today's audience. Marty

They're loud.Somewhere between a washing machine and a meat grinder.You can get them converted to reflex with a rotating mirror shutter.Not sure who does that or how much it costs but it's well worth it.They're awesome little cameras.My first job in the film industry was at a lab,the old guy that owned it shot newsreels in the 30's and 40's.He was shooting with one before it was considered cool.He tols them they would be shooting with one in a few years.Sure enough,it was one of the most popular cameras of the WW 2 era. Marty

I haven't read any of the synopsis on the film,but last week the trailers were running on the other screens.The way the trailers looked,you would've thought they were hyping a Halloween type film. Marty