brian hendry

its local 52 actually....but thanks though

so i move to NYC in early Sept, and i have just a few contacts, but im not sure if i feel like they are enough. im a grip/electric...im union where i live. where can i find out about gigs other than craigs list that have a real rate? thanks.

It looks to me like a single soft source off of frame left, fairly high, gelled with straw or something similar. Probably some negative fill on the right side.

do ya think something like a 2k zip with a long snoot made from foam core maybe?

sorry, just wondering how you guys think they shot this bit of the music video. disreguard the music , yes, not the greatest, just turn down your volume, but at 1:38 in the video, how do ya think they lit that....what units were used as well. thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUspb0gFprI

sorry, just wondering how you guys think they shot this bit of the music video. disreguard the music , yes, not the greatest, just turn down your volume, but at 1:38 in the video, how do ya think they lit that. thanks so much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUspb0gFprI

What is "ultra-bounce"? Thanks.

its a rag that is used to bounce light back into something or somewhere...kinda like a b/w griff....ultra bounce is white on one side and black on the other. great rag....dear lord im horrible at trying to explain myself sometimes. ha

well im a grip for a living. im mostly a 3rd, and time to time im a best boy and a key on smaller stuff.

a grip, we shape and diffuse the light, any and all things that dont plug in really, we also do the rigging on set, set points for lights to hang , make things safe, rig back drops and green screens, pulleys and trusses and so on. ummm, as for basic equipment you should know...everything about a c-stand you can learn, 6x's to 20x's , cutters, and loads of other crap....just learn it all.

as for pay. you can make a good living as a grip....commercial rate is usually somewhere around 350 for 10 or 425 for 12 hours.....but if your starting out, you wont get rates like that, hop on some indie features, make around 215 a day for 12 and so on. between the rate, the overtime , the perdiem and everything else paid for like hotels and rental cars and so on, you can make a bunch...i just got off a 5 month feature, and yea....im gonna take a long long break. making 280 a day 6 days a week for 5 months. do the math.

as far as budget goes, looking to spend somewhere around 6,000. i think. haha....i dont need anything too wild and crazy, i like the hvx a bunch. used it on some shoots and i liked the work flow, other than loading p2 cards all day. but im really happy with the image, and down the line with the red rock adapter options, that is a darn good possibility if i wanted to shoot with some 35 lenses. its pretty much just for me to shoot stupid little things that i like. no features or anything, ha.

looks like everyone already covered it....only thing i can possibly say is try and use cutters more so than the doors on the head, let your grips do the work....and im sure you already know this, but when using bigger heads try and match the color with the angle of the head, always use color then dif, and match the angle of the head as well. and fill it out like everyone already said.

i know this is a lighting forum and all, but if you do that you miss out on a really (really) great beat. i just had to get on he floor for some six stepping before i could watch the rest. :-) if there was only a way to turn off the rappers only.

 

/matt

oh trust me, i like the song. haha, i just wouldnt think the majority of the people on this forum would. but thanks for the insight, i just had no idea how they got that kind of neg. fill.

im about to purchase an hvx200 and was wondering if i should just hold out for something else, but im not sure what that something else is. Are there some cameras that compare in price to the HVX200 that are going to be coming out fairly soon this year that i might want to look into by chance? thanks.

Are you talking in terms of just the back drop or the whole video?

back and the subjects. so yea, the whole video.

Just looks 3/4 cross/back light to me , the easy way to light dark skinned artists , and a couple of skypan type lamps on the green? white background . John Holland.

ok. cool. thanks.

so dont mind the music, just go ahead and turn down the volume.....but, how was this lit do you think? i know its a seamless white backdrop and what not...but what did they do for that look? (post, filters, what?)

thanks so much.

WOW well done Frank!!!!

 

Great to see many people succeeding and I wish you the best. The shot of Tito & Gonzalo is wow!!! For some reason that shot reminds me of a Brazilian film I seen last year: Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco. Well done and my best.!

 

Joey Dee

pixote is probally one of my fav films ever.

.....i didnt read what everyone else has said. buuuut......look into a silder as well, they work wonders. if im pushing dolly on a show, i try and get one for the DP if he asks for it or not. ha

ive worked for loads of keys and gaffers, and we dont use silks so much....we do use them when we are maybe using some ultra bounce and we will lay the silk on top of the ultra and what not to slow it down some.

i hardly ever use silk 4x's....mostly the run of 216, 250, opal, light grid and so on.

well it all depends on what kind of gak you had to work with. i didnt read the entire post.....but ive been gripping for 7 years now, and all i can say is work smarter not harder....too me that looks like just a 200 up there, and its kicking that 40 inch arms ass. was it bent before hand?....with that rig right there, make sure your last knuckle gets the most weight, big foot to the light, knuckles on the right, crank the fu** out of it. bag it, walk away.

I don't know whether or not the video isn't playing right on my PC or if it's the way it's edited. I do know that I haven't laughed this hard since I last saw "YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN"...

 

Please take no offence, but the conventions of rap videos are ridiculous....IMHO. I hope he paid for that Slim Jim...I know, I'm acting like an a**ho**...

 

Seriously, minding the conventions and borders you are confined to when making a rap video, and considering the circumstances you were under, I think you did a great job. It is hard for me to critique the aesthetics of a rap video, just so you understand where I'm coming from. This is my "fault"...

 

Some of the shots in the convenience store seemed to lack definition. Overall there was a lack of contrast for my tastes...As far as compositions, well, they were very conventional for rap videos, yes? If you were looking to do something different, you failed miserably. If you were looking to shoot a conventional rap video for music video experience, then you did well. But again, considering your situation, it's hard to say more.

 

Tell us more about it. How long was the shoot? A day or two? Film emulsion? Any lighting setups? Looks available to me...You just shot MOS, right ? No clapboard or anything?

 

Again, distancing myself as far away from the material as possible, I can see you did a fine job.

 

Anywho, thanks for posting. Please feel comfortable to post any time you feel as I/"we" like to see what people are up to. Good luck.

i guess ill respond. i actually directed the video and put the whole thing togther. for what we had to work with, which was NOTHING at all. the film stock was ALL short ends, nothing was over 250 feet really, and old stock at that. 5218 and 5205 (250D) ...i couldnt do much more than a performance video b/c of the amount of stock i had, amount of time to prep, resources i had, and so on. i had NO money to spend on locations, or art dept,or even pay the crew, or anything of that sort. so pretty much everything you see on the screen is all of what we shot. haha. we couldnt load up a 1000 foot mags and just run around and get inserts, or do different setups and what not....and lord knows we could never afford to do any sort of professional color correction or post work.

we shot on an arriflex, a really really old arriflex. it sorta looks like a 35-III , but its definalty not a 35-III....there were three really really slow lenses to chose from, and i do belive they were older than the camera. one Zoom, and two primes. i wana say one was a 35 or a 25....as far as a lighting package went, we had a couple 650s and two 2ks.....no 12x's , just white linens. ha....a really ghetto doorway dolly that was past done for.....alot of avaible light for sure....we tried to cut it up a bit outside with the branches and what not...i think the exposure of the guy walking down the side of the hotel looks great, its just a 2k bounce off the white ceiling.. we shot it over two days....and yea, no clapper. just insert slates.

thanks for the feedback for sure. keep em coming.

Here in Toronto, like everywhere else, rates vary.

 

I've been on low budget features where all techs made $50/day. I've been on commercials where I've gotten $300/day. I'm not union, but the rates seem to mirror B.C.'s, usually $375/day.

ive worked features where i was making $200-250 USD as a third...and then ive worked shows where i was making $400 as a third. depends on the show really.

but commercial work is where the money is. making 1200 some off bucks for a couple days isnt bad at all.

fyi: I use a DIY 3/4" PVC dolly (and add sand bags to the tripod spreaders for extra weight). I set my PVC into shelf channel which rides along 2x4's so I can easily shim for leveling, and the shelf channel keeps the PVC extremely stable (no flex), and it is VERY smooth.

 

I haven't experienced any squeaking (though that would be easy enough to treat with some silicon spray or maybe even baby powder). My next version will be larger to accommodate a seat and rider.

 

ummm pass on the steal track as much as possible, your thirds will thank you later. ha

i push dolly for a living. its no one factor. i prefer super pee-wee or fisher 10-11.

I don't know why I'mk giving you anyy advice...

 

I work doing music videos--mostly for small music labels that don't know how...

If you're idea of a Music Label shooting their own video with in-house people were to spread...

Soon all those cheap Music Labels that would hire me

Would go out and buy cameras and shoot the crap themselves.

I'd be out of business--scary thought!

 

Anyways while it seems easy to most of us experienced filmmakers...

Shooting a video isn't as easy as it sounds--there is some (not much but some) skill involved.

You can buy the tools but learning how to use them is the trick...

And that's why we (experienced filmmakers) cost money.

 

My advice to you is to learn all you can about Post production.

It's amazing what one can achieve with a computer--using Fincal Cut Pro and After Effects.

Most videos are made through Post Production...

 

The other thing I recomend is to watch plenty of Music Vids (yes I know most of them are crap)...

Soon you'll learn to identify the tricks they use--and the next step is to learn how to do them.

 

There is no way we can really teach you how to become a filmmaker

Writing a few quick paragraphs...it's not going to happen.

So go shoot you're first music video...it'll be crappy,

because that's the way it always is...

We all once were student filmmakers who shot a few crappy videos at first.

But soon you'll learn from your mistakes...and if you're dedicated you'll pull through.

 

& if you're not dedicated you'll soon learn why they pay us to do the job.

This always reminds me of the guys who think they can do their own plumbing

Until they flood the house and their wife has to call in a professional---<I'm sorry honey I thought... :huh: >

Good Luck (you'll need it)

pretty much what everyone else said, haha...... check out darren doane (http://xdxfilmcore.com/)...ive shoot two of his videos before, and he wants to use nothing more than the dvx100a and a set of 2k's. sooo my package is 3 2k's, a pepper kit, china balls, photofloods, loads of practicals, scoops, and thats about it. ha...oh and an 8x a 6x with about 5 rags and some cstands,cutters, diff, and random other crap.

there also HAS to be some college kids around there that would love to help. some broadcasting programs or some kind of film program there, go look into it, ask around, post some flyers, maybe if they hop on board they can borrow equipment from there school for the shoot. i still do that. haha. ...then again im 24 and really immature.

I haven't heard the term "one rack" before, but since "racks" are the devices that the film is wound in a helical path on while transporting through a processing machine, it sounds like your lab is reducing the time in the bleach by threading the film on only one rack of their bleach.  Unfortunately, just shortening the bleach time can lead to non-uniformity, since diffusion of the bleach into the film to convert silver back to silver halide is not perfectly uniform, and the process is designed to run "to completion" with full bleaching.  Some labs use a B&W developer after the bleach to achieve partial silver retention as it tends to be more controllable.

 

Run a test with your lab to be sure you get results that are satifactory for your production.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

welll...i loaded for a DP, and had me put one rack on the camera reports and what not. he told me its a form of skip bleach or something. im not tottally sure. but he practicly said the same thing, just one rack or something. sorry im confusing myself. ha. thanks though.

whats the difference between one rack and skip bleach? does anyone have any images online they can show me?

thanks.

just wondering if anyone has any tips for me...ill be loading my first big paid 35mm show, and wondering if anyone has any tips before i spend the next 30 days of my life sitting at a table uploading and downloading some near 300 mags a day. ha.

thanks.